Has the food choices and quality improved?

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, luv2cruzuk said:

The TV choices are very limited, which didn’t help.

I'm sort of dreading this on our upcoming cruise.  We cruise Princess most and they have a fantastic selection of ondemand programming to watch.

We tend to like to go back to our cabin and just chill most nights after dinner, so having some good TV to watch is  big deal for us.

I did purchase the premium wifi at an outrageous price, so I'm hoping I can connect to hulu, netflix, max, etc and stream a bunch of stuff.  I might even take a HDMI cable and try to connect to the TV.  

[C4HCG]

30 minutes ago, RichYak said:

 

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by C4HCG
Don’t want to be called a repeat incessant whiner, am out of the food debate. It’s tiresome.

[cricketlover]

6 hours ago, di T said:

Sorry, but we have just been on the Reflection for 19 nights and found the food in the main dinning room very disappointing, buffet at night had more choice and we paid for specialty restaurants on quite a few occasions.We always do b2b as we like longer cruises, I have 2 of these booked for next year with Celebrity and hope things improve regarding food. Service around the ship was as good as ever,we had a few minor issues with the room attendant ( no towels one day just two face cloths😂) There was no hairdryer in the room and because I didn’t check I washed my wavy hair and dried it outside.Left him a note and he brought one the next day.Room wasn’t serviced until afternoon most days and we are early risers, I wonder if these guys are having to do more rooms than before! Have been trying other lines and will continue to do so.

 

Our room attendant told us he had 19 rooms to do on his own!!

[di T]

Well a room attendant doing so many rooms! That’s not good, but why are we paying so  much more for our cruises,Celebrity are not looking after us very loyal members.

[tce40]

12 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I'm sort of dreading this on our upcoming cruise.  We cruise Princess most and they have a fantastic selection of ondemand programming to watch.

We tend to like to go back to our cabin and just chill most nights after dinner, so having some good TV to watch is  big deal for us.

I did purchase the premium wifi at an outrageous price, so I'm hoping I can connect to hulu, netflix, max, etc and stream a bunch of stuff.  I might even take a HDMI cable and try to connect to the TV.  

I was on the Apex a few weeks ago and guess what was on my TV?  It said "streaming services."

I was excited to see it as I'd never seen it before. 

 

First of all, you click on it and it comes back and gives you 4-digits.  It then tells you to log into http://tv.celebrity.com, which gave me another type of code (longer with numbers/letters).  That's where I was stuck because nothing happened.  When I called IT they came over and showed me what to do.  

 

You have to have the Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. apps on your telephone and can log in, which I did.  

Then, on my phone, I found the show I wanted to watch and clicked it.  That second longer code was listed and I clicked that and ALSO clicked the "casting" button (see below - hope this works)

 

After I did that, it came up on my TV and I was able to watch anything I wanted.  I didn't have to have them downloaded, just logged in to the streaming apps.  I hope this helps!

 

P.S. Hello Kentucky.  We have different teams but that's OK 🙂

Edited September 29, 2023 by tce40

[Cruise till you drop]

55 minutes ago, RichYak said:

 

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.

No problem but when the concerns start to sound like whining about the food from Retreat and Aqua Class passengers, it starts to get tiresome

 

I’m out

[Cruise till you drop]

57 minutes ago, RichYak said:

 

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.

No problem but when the concerns start to sound like whining about the food from Retreat and Aqua Class passengers, it starts to get tiresome

 

I’m out

[marianoam]

21 minutes ago, tce40 said:

I was on the Apex a few weeks ago and guess what was on my TV?  It said "streaming services."

I was excited to see it as I'd never seen it before. 

 

First of all, you click on it and it comes back and gives you 4-digits.  It then tells you to log into http://tv.celebrity.com, which gave me another type of code (longer with numbers/letters).  That's where I was stuck because nothing happened.  When I called IT they came over and showed me what to do.  

 

You have to have the Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. apps on your telephone and can log in, which I did.  

Then, on my phone, I found the show I wanted to watch and clicked it.  That second longer code was listed and I clicked that and ALSO clicked the "casting" button (see below - hope this works)

 

After I did that, it came up on my TV and I was able to watch anything I wanted.  I didn't have to have them downloaded, just logged in to the streaming apps.  I hope this helps!

 

P.S. Hello Kentucky.  We have different teams but that's OK 🙂

 

But do you have to purchase a WiFi package in order to stream to the TV?

[Cruise till you drop]

57 minutes ago, RichYak said:

 

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.

No problem but when the concerns start to sound like whining about the food from Retreat and Aqua Class passengers, it starts to get tiresome

 

I’m out

[Cruise till you drop]

58 minutes ago, RichYak said:

 

I find the incessant whining about the content on this board so tiresome. Let people voice their concerns. That's what CruiseCritic is for.

 

duplicate sorry

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Guera53]

33 minutes ago, tce40 said:

I was on the Apex a few weeks ago and guess what was on my TV?  It said "streaming services."

I was excited to see it as I'd never seen it before. 

 

First of all, you click on it and it comes back and gives you 4-digits.  It then tells you to log into http://tv.celebrity.com, which gave me another type of code (longer with numbers/letters).  That's where I was stuck because nothing happened.  When I called IT they came over and showed me what to do.  

 

You have to have the Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. apps on your telephone and can log in, which I did.  

Then, on my phone, I found the show I wanted to watch and clicked it.  That second longer code was listed and I clicked that and ALSO clicked the "casting" button (see below - hope this works)

 

After I did that, it came up on my TV and I was able to watch anything I wanted.  I didn't have to have them downloaded, just logged in to the streaming apps.  I hope this helps!

 

P.S. Hello Kentucky.  We have different teams but that's OK 🙂

Great info! Just to clarify, you can access without an internet package, correct?

[kywildcatfanone]

36 minutes ago, tce40 said:

You have to have the Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. apps on your telephone and can log in, which I did.  

Then, on my phone, I found the show I wanted to watch and clicked it.  That second longer code was listed and I clicked that and ALSO clicked the "casting" button (see below - hope this works)

 

After I did that, it came up on my TV and I was able to watch anything I wanted.  I didn't have to have them downloaded, just logged in to the streaming apps.  I hope this helps!

Hello to you!  I have no animosity to Louisville sports fans.  I might have been the only Kentucky fan who was glad to see Pitino back in the state, lol.

 

Okay, so let me see if I get this right.  You have say Netflix logged in on your mobile phone on Celebrity Wifi I guess. You click streaming, get a code, then get the ability to cast, which I have never done.  How do your phone and the TV "talk" to know this?  Is that where the codes come in, you get prompted?  

That sounds interesting.  I've never done that before, but I would love to give it a try.  

 

Edit to add:  I'm going to be on Equinox, not sure if that matters.  Hopefully all ships operate the same.

Edited September 29, 2023 by kywildcatfanone

[RichYak]

7 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

No problem but when the concerns start to sound like whining about the food from Retreat and Aqua Class passengers, it starts to get tiresome

 

I’m out

You should feel free to share your opinions of the food in Luminae and Blu or anywhere else to refute, as should everyone else. But to belittle the OP who doesn't often post here was uncalled for.

 

The comment by @C4HCG upthread would have been perfectly fine, if only they left out the first sentence.

[tce40]

14 minutes ago, marianoam said:

 

But do you have to purchase a WiFi package in order to stream to the TV?

 

Yes, because you have to access the app on your telephone.

[tce40]

5 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Hello to you!  I have no animosity to Louisville sports fans.  I might have been the only Kentucky fan who was glad to see Pitino back in the state, lol.

 

Okay, so let me see if I get this right.  You have say Netflix logged in on your mobile phone on Celebrity Wifi I guess. You click streaming, get a code, then get the ability to cast, which I have never done.  How do your phone and the TV "talk" to know this?  Is that where the codes come in, you get prompted?  

That sounds interesting.  I've never done that before, but I would love to give it a try.  

 

Edit to add:  I'm going to be on Equinox, not sure if that matters.  Hopefully all ships operate the same.

 

Yes, that's sort of how it worked.  I hope Equinox has the ability to do this but I'm not sure.  I'd never done it before either but I used it every night.  It was great!  Have a wonderful cruise!  🙂

[soccermommy]

I was on the Summit in August and found the MDR menu a little limited, but I can say I did not lose any weight on that cruise. We’ll be on Millennium next month, and I expect I’ll be fine. And no lighter.

In the past year, we sailed Princess, RCI and NCL, and we were not thrilled with the food on any of them. Cutbacks in food are plaguing many mainstream lines. We actually thought Celebrity was the best for food, but that’s just our own subjective opinion. 

 

[kywildcatfanone]

Back to food.  Food is very subjective, but I have found cruise food to be reasonably equivalent to a chain sit down restaurant with better presentation, similar to say Cheesecake factory.  The difference on the ship is you can easily get a different entree or have choices of food venues that you don't have at a sit down restaurant.

 

We used to go to Crown Grill on Princess on formal nights, but stopped doing that when they raised prices and used cheaper cuts of meat, and this was before covid.

 

Cutting costs, and raising prices is everywhere now.

[CaroleSS]

If I think back to many of the food postings, it seems to me that those on the new E class ships report better food than the older ships. Maybe there is something different about the menus, choices, etc which make that true? Maybe X is trying to attract more people to the new ships, so they have higher standards for "things"?
 

We cruise in Aqua, have for quite some time and do so as we enjoy Blu. Our last sailing was our 5th on Equinox and we certainly noticed a drop in the selections and quality of the food. I cannot speak to the food in the MDR as we did not eat there, but did eat lunches in the OVC and did notice the reduction in selections. 
 

Did we go hungry, no.....but the decline has certainly been noticeable over the past 5-ish years (to include pre-Covid, so that excuse doesn't work for me). I can understand trying to recoup monies lost during Covid plus the additional costs of things now, but with all the changes, the nickel and diming, the cutbacks, etc.....X is losing its luster for us. More of the sameo-sameo for moreo dollerso 🥺

[Purplsmurf]

We have zero complaints about the food we have had for any of our sailings this year. Has all been wonderful!

[marianoam]

1 hour ago, tce40 said:

 

Yes, because you have to access the app on your telephone.

And what would happen if I previously download a couple of episodes at home and then try to cast them onboard without a WiFi package?

[cgolf1]

5 hours ago, cw2go said:

 

Yes for us the MDR's were about the same between the two sailings. Both very slow service and with limited options.The buffet had far more options in Aug compared to Feb but many of the stations were repeats. I saw a thread earlier about mashed potatoes and opted to avoid posting BUT they were in 3/4 stations daily in the buffet and the desserts were heavily banana based. I even joked that this was a high starch cruise. You could even get roasted taters in the Asian section... we just giggled. Fries were every where. Baked potato bar was the dinner theme one night. I didn't starve! I found food that was "fine" but not memorable. I posted in Feb that the famous lemon tarts in Al Bacio were different, in Aug they were MIA for all but 2 days of an 11 night cruise. They did appear in the buffet once to my knowledge but without a doubt they were not what we had pre covid. 

 

So for us we will sail Celebrity knowing it's not about the food! Much like we do when we sail Princess or RCCL. 

 

Patty 

I have been guilty of doing mashed potatoes at every buffet meal on our 3 X cruises. The reason isn’t the potatoes, it’s the gluten free gravy. In the last 12 plus years since I have been gluten free X has been the only place I can have the gravy:)

 

The true saving grace for me with the buffet was they had the minute steaks all but one day and they were precooked so that you could pick a thicker cut and get a nice medium rare piece. The Indian food was very disappointing on the buffet. 
 

I am hoping it gets better by 2025, our next X cruise, or sooner if we decide to do a second after our Galapagos cruise next year. Thought about a third this year, but just too many misc things going on to fit it in. 

[cgolf1]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Cutting costs, and raising prices is everywhere now.

For the most part agree with this. One of our favorite local restaurants kept the same price for the entree, but now sides are 3-4 bucks a piece for the sides that used to be included. So we aren’t getting out of there at the same cost pre Covid. The outlier seems to be some of the supper clubs we go to. There prices seem to be the same as pre Covid even with the steaks. Not sure how they do it, but it’s a win for us, 3 old rashioneds, rib-eye and baked potato, wife had White meat fried chicken and hash browns plus all the supper club extras for under 80 with a 20%+ tip included in that. 
 

If the supper clubs can do it on volume of customers, you would think cruise lines could too. 

[tigervixxxen]

2 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

No problem but when the concerns start to sound like whining about the food from Retreat and Aqua Class passengers, it starts to get tiresome

 

I’m out

It’s more like Aqua and Retreat passengers saying everything is fine. 

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, C4HCG said:

How novel, a thread about food 🙈, a while since I’ve seen one of them.

 

On the MDR debate we sailed Equinox early September, ate in MDR 6 out of 8 nights and thought the quality and variety of food was excellent. Was my son and his girlfriends first cruise and they are foodies and they were very impressed.

 

Also worth adding we dined at a similar time each night and there were the same familiar faces on surrounding tables so they kept returning and saw only one person complaining all week.

 

Maybe the food isn’t as good as it once was (I wouldn’t know as we only started cruising in 2019 but I have seen the odd post on here stating that 🤪) but no complaints from us. And this was backed up by first class service.

 

 

I have been reading the food reviews as much as anyone.

 

The positive reviews scare me more than the negative ones.  Phrases such as:

 

"Perfectly adequate", "The food was good but we went to specialty dining for two days because we did not find anything on the menu that we liked (paraphrased)", and "A step above Golden Corral".

 

 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

I have been reading the food reviews as much as anyone.

 

The positive reviews scare me more than the negative ones.  Phrases such as:

 

"Perfectly adequate", "The food was good but we went to specialty dining for two days because we did not find anything on the menu that we liked (paraphrased)", and "A step above Golden Corral".

 

 

Reading any product review is more art than science. Identifying certain phrases like you have allows one to weigh the review from "completely useless" to "invaluable". By frequenting this board, one can easily apply those same rankings to the folks who post here.