Celebrity Silhouette Main Dining Room Experience an Embarrassment

[upwarduk]

11 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Thanks. So double prawns, soup, extra dish of veg, Yorkshire pud and no limit on the bread all still available- Reflection here we come. 

We are not sailing until 30/09/23 on Silhouette so I’m sure your menu on the App will be updated.

[Mark_T]

I thought this was going to be another hyperbolic, overreaction thread, but having just looked at the current menus on Millennium I see that it is all very real, and very sad indeed...

 

We've never previously felt the need to order more than one app / entrée / desert, and rarely had to go to the 'always available section, but based on the current menu we'd have to do that almost every day.

 

The apps are down to soup/salad plus the old always available selection so sadly boring and uninteresting almost every day, and the entrées truly are of a school dinner standard with the unremitting side of mashed potatoes on everything except the pasta dishes.

 

We've been holding on to a Japan booking on Millennium despite all the changes, but with the MDR being a write-off and only Tuscan and So5 as alternatives it is looking less and less likely that we will keep that booking.

 

Still have time for Celebrity to reverse these recent menu quality reductions, but absent that we are probably done at this point...

[wrk2cruise]

57 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

They are on my menu on the App.

 

 

 

The 3rd attachment says Sides under Entrees and the only item that is at extra cost is Beef Filet Mignon & Surf & Turf which I was unable to capture on the screen shot.

 

I didn't realize this before I saw this menu for a UK sailing.  They are charging a 20% gratuity on the $19.99 upcharge Filet (included in the UK price)?  I thought the dining staff was already paid a gratuity in my auto grats.  I'm not anti tipping but really in the MDR where you have already tipped these people?  

 

I understand it for specialty dining as it's different servers than the ones in your assigned dining room where your tip is supporting your assigned wait staff.

[Oceangoer2]

18 hours ago, ladylemondrop said:

I feel sorry for whoever is in charge of peeling or mashing potatoes on the ship. They need all the tips. 

I suspect it's not peel and mash...most likely open box, pour, add water.  (Not sure of this, I've never made instant mashed potatoes).

[OysterD]

11 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I suspect it's not peel and mash...most likely open box, pour, add water.  (Not sure of this, I've never made instant mashed potatoes).

There are actually machines which peel potatoes. I worked in a fish and chip takeaway when I was younger, we had a machine you would tip a load of fresh potatoes into and a few mins later they'd come out peeled. Basically like a washing machine with a sort of sandpaper type lining is the best way I could describe it! We would then feed them through another machine which cut them into shape. 

Large commercial kitchens have all sorts of labour saving devices but there are still a lot of very time consuming and boring tasks which must be done manually, the people doing those jobs (and those in the laundry room) definitely deserve decent pay!

[Rustyman]

I’m pretty sure that the staff onboard, including all chefs, have nothing to do with the changes to menus, service or quality of the food, this is clearly a decision from head office made by senior management. The staff on Celebrity are exceptional but it appears that their hands are tied in that they are following orders from above.

The only way things can revert back to the previously excellent product is if those at the top chose to do so. I for one hope they do make the change back so we can continue to cruise with Celebrity. If not then no big deal, we’ll go/do something else.

[emmas gran]

Rustyman I was talking to a friend about your comments and they totally agree with your summary regarding food they were offered in late June/early July on Silhouette

[Rustyman]

6 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

Rustyman I was talking to a friend about your comments and they totally agree with your summary regarding food they were offered in late June/early July on Silhouette

We were so disappointed as we were on the TA on Silhouette last November and it was a joy in the MDR. Here’s hoping someone in authority is watching and we can go back to the good old days of only months ago.

 

 

 

 

[NMTraveller]

46 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I suspect it's not peel and mash...most likely open box, pour, add water.  (Not sure of this, I've never made instant mashed potatoes).

It would likely be a 40 or 50 pound bag of instant flakes,  add butter,  water, and salt is my recollection.  The mix is put in a very large mixer.

Edited August 21, 2023 by NMTraveller

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the updates.  It is interesting that when Royal dropped the always available items, people were very vocal that they wanted the plain food back.  Now Celebrity seems to have swung to too much plain food.  Also I never get excited looking at a menu on an app, guess I am too old and like the more flowery descriptions on old school menus.

 

These reports help set expectations.

[PinkSandGirl]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

They also did not ration the bread in BLU!

 

Haha.   I do like the little baguettes in Luminae.  I wish they would serve a basket along with the 3 butters/spreads like they do in Blu.  I would ask for two baguettes at a time.  Yes, I was given them but I felt I was being judged. 😆    I only eat the crust on bread (it's a texture thing) and those crusty little baguettes were pretty good.    

 

<Sorry to go off thread topic>  I laughed at your rationing comment but it does seem like that's what they do.  No bread for you!  😂

[iandjm]

On 8/19/2023 at 3:10 PM, jelayne said:

I’m sorry your dining experience wasn’t up to par.  Maybe there were some supply shortages that impacted your sailing.  
Looking at the menu for the current Silhouette sailing I see the 1st night prime rib, lobster night, pork a couple of nights, lamb, fish and turkey ( as you mentioned) in addition to the vegetarian options.  
They did have something I had not seen before which was a choice of 3 sides; Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese and buttered potatoes. 
 

 

Aaaaaaaaaaah. You mentioned the dreaded Yorkshire puddings.  Tried them on most nights in Silhouette last year.  Stone cold and as hard as concrete each time.  Even when the matre d went and got fresh ones specially.  The meals were mostly pretty dreadful and worse than a £8 carvery meal in the U.K.    

Edited August 21, 2023 by iandjm

[hcat]

59 minutes ago, PinkSandGirl said:

 

Haha.   I do like the little baguettes in Luminae.  I wish they would serve a basket along with the 3 butters/spreads like they do in Blu.  I would ask for two baguettes at a time.  Yes, I was given them but I felt I was being judged. 😆    I only eat the crust on bread (it's a texture thing) and those crusty little baguettes were pretty good.    

 

<Sorry to go off thread topic>  I laughed at your rationing comment but it does seem like that's what they do.  No bread for you!  😂

  The poor Luminae  bread  server could not  adequately cover the entire room.  On a few days she aplogized and said  the dinner  bread did not arrive. And it never came in!

 

Much prefer  the pre dinner  items  they serve in BLU on one's tbl ,   esp compared to the mystery amuse bouche..most of which we did not eat  .

Great breadsticks and flatbreads in BLU too

[jerseygirl3]

On 8/19/2023 at 5:42 AM, Rustyman said:

I’ve done the survey.

Please let us know how the Beyond goes as we’re booked on it and the Ascent next year……….at the moment!

When I spoke with the Captains Club about the poor food and said I wanted reassurance that the Beyond isn’t the same, the lady told me she had a good experience dining on the Beyond, however that was before the new food regime under the new CEO.

I would hope there would not be a difference in the quality of food based on which ship you sail.  

[bjahil47]

Looking at the current menu on Equinox in MDR, I would say they are starting to cater to us old folks  that have digestive issues (or no teeth) as every entree is accompanied by mashed potatoes, puréed parsnips or puréed potatoes.  Oh, and carrots and green beans!  🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️. It’s really sad considering last October when we sailed the food was excellent and varied!

[karmamule]

16 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I'll be on Infinity soon and will report back.

Previously, I've found Celebrity food to be very good to excellent and Royal food to be poor.  I'm probably in the minority, but I'd rate MSC's MDR food as superior to Royal's, but Celebrity's better than both of them.  It will be interesting to see if things have changed.

 

We've been on those 3 lines and would rate them the same as you. (MSC's MDR has a few terrible clunkers but overall I was pleasantly surprised.) We'll be on the Summit this October and it'll be interesting to compare that to our first time on Celebrity on the Apex.

[dreamer321]

15 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Here are the entrees for Day 1 of our upcoming cruise on Reflection.

 

 

The future menus are not accurate. Look at the menus for the current cruise to see what is likely to be available for your future cruise. Of course, they can completely change the menus again between now and your cruise date.

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

Thanks. So double prawns, soup, extra dish of veg, Yorkshire pud and no limit on the bread all still available- Reflection here we come. 

 

You forgot to ask for an extra scoop of Mashed Potatoes.  🙂    Last time I did, they brought me a whole bowl.  LOL

[PinkSandGirl]

49 minutes ago, hcat said:

  The poor Luminae  bread  server could not  adequately cover the entire room.  On a few days she aplogized and said  the dinner  bread did not arrive. And it never came in!

 

Much prefer  the pre dinner  items  they serve in BLU on one's tbl ,   esp compared to the mystery amuse bouche..most of which we did not eat  .

Great breadsticks and flatbreads in BLU too

 

We always had bread but usually only came by one time so we would have to ask for more.   

 

We compared Luminae to Blu (on a different ship) many times. 

 

🍹

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, karmamule said:

 

We've been on those 3 lines and would rate them the same as you. (MSC's MDR has a few terrible clunkers but overall I was pleasantly surprised.) We'll be on the Summit this October and it'll be interesting to compare that to our first time on Celebrity on the Apex.

MSC gets some bad reviews food-wise.  I think they're unfair more often than not.  While true, you won't get the same quality one might expect on a premium or luxury line, most of it is actually pretty good.  Typically served hot, plenty of appetizers and a good choice of desserts.  Some of the appetizers are pretty small, so I often order extras.  We've also been happy w/the onboard service in the restaurants, most of the time.

I also think they have the best pizza and best gelato at sea.  I was spoiled by MSC's gelato, so we didn't even finish our free gelato on Celebrity during our last sailing.

As a side note, MSC does have more than their share of shoreside customer service issues, but that's a separate topic.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Stockjock

[basil1]

Sounds like our experience on Constellation in February. I got a couple of good items in the MDR but most was just as you described. 

[tigervixxxen]

9 hours ago, the penguins said:

The number of shrimp was reduced on our last Silhouette cruise ( May 22) we just ordered 2, with soup to follow then the main. We top up the main with a Yorkshire pudding and a side dish of vegetables (not on the menu but always available). Are the Yorkshire Puds and side vegetables now not available?

Those are only available on the Silhouette which still has a few expanded options like individual sides, the other ships do not, 

[MarkWiltonM]

Sorry, I saw my question had been answered above.  

Edited August 21, 2023 by MarkWiltonM

[Captain-John]

8 hours ago, Mark_T said:

We've been holding on to a Japan booking on Millennium despite all the changes, but with the MDR being a write-off and only Tuscan and So5 as alternatives it is looking less and less likely that we will keep that booking.

 

Still have time for Celebrity to reverse these recent menu quality reductions, but absent that we are probably done at this point...

 

For our first Celebrity cruise, we are booked on Millenium around Japan on 27/05/24. I have booked a dining package at not inconsiderable expense (probably would have done anyway, just for variety, as you say limited options on Millenium).

 

Quite concerned about the apparent direction of the line in terms of food quality. Being a predominately NCL and MSC cruiser (Haven and Yacht Club sometimes), I had always considered X a 'cut above' and had hitherto been really excited to try a sailing with them. When the refurbished Millenium came up for Japan we couldn't wait to book. We were previously booked on Reflection for a Southern Caribbean itinerary back in April 2020 (which obviously didn't go ahead).

 

We are locked in at a fair price but the price has only climbed, dramatically, since we booked and by all accounts the onboard experience is being diminished so I would not be happy to pay 'today's' rates.

 

I have booked airfare and hotel and there is no ready alternative to switch to on the same dates, so can only cross my fingers things improve again by next May. I will be watching early reviews of the 2024 Japan season closely when it kicks off. I could cancel hotel and airfare for a small penalty but really don't want to...

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Those are only available on the Silhouette which still has a few expanded options like individual sides, the other ships do not,