lousy dinners on the Summit...

[raudacruise]

Just a thought on this. Maybe the hurricanes they had caused some of the problems. Guarentee, there was some supply chain interruptions during this and probably still are ongoing. Celebrity might have had to settle for second best.

[Tatka]

Tatka. You obviously didn't have the infamous HAL meatloaf with red wine sauce. It was served the last night of the cruise. Worst dish I've had on 15 cruises.

I never said I absolutely loved every dish (by the way even on my favourite Century cruise I had to send one dish back, and order another)....but on Zuiderdam's menu I could always find dishes I liked.:) You didn't have to eat meatloaf if you didn't like it. You could've ordered something else instead, right?

[garykool81]

Not only was I one this cruise with Gary, but we sat at the same table.

 

Guess what? I thought the food was just as good as it was on all 6 of my Celebrity cruises...it does go to show you that perceptions are just perceptions. The food could be essentially the same, it's how you think about the food that can change.

 

Ed -- I totally agree 100 percent with you. Food, much like anything else, is *extremely* subjective to personal preference and a host of other things. I will honestly say that my standards for food are probably *MUCH* higher than the average cruiser due to my background, but that's again all subjective.

 

I shouldn't say the food on Galaxy during our repo was horrible, as it wasn't. As we discussed, many a time over dinner hehe, I just felt the meat dishes were a bit bland and dry at times. Other than the meat, though, the food was wonderful.

 

Onboard Mercury this October, Ian and I both agreed the meats were *excellent*.

 

Are you going on any cruises sometime soon, Ed? We've got Millie in October and are considered a 10-night Century in November 2005.

[tshort6000]

Maybe the waiters have an innate sense of who is going to put them through the wringer and then stiff them on tips. Maybe you noticed the extra "wang" in the Tabasco sause?

[missac]

Gosh, Amanda, that's too bad - we were also on this cruise, also late seating - and thought the food was great. We had a wonderful waiter - and after I got a steak that was too cooked for me one night, it was always perfect from then on. We were pleased with how moist the meat was, in fact.

 

I hope you enjoyed yourself otherwise. We really loved the Summit.

[smj]

I was on the same cruise as Amanda also on the late sitting. I thought the food was good but it was somewhat hit or miss. For example on the night we had rack of lamb mine was perfect but my wifes was tough and very overcooked. We both ordered medium! I almost always had the beef and it was good. Others at our table were often not happy with the fish dishes. I felt the dinning room food was not up to Celebrity past standards.

I did see many improvements in food service. The suchi is great, the waffles are exceptional and the food service hours had been expanded. You can get a hot breakfast until 11:00 or 12:00. It seemed ice cream was always open.

The service was great. I feel sure our waiter would have exchanged any food item that we did not like.

[tomvk]

I was on the Summit's 11/26 cruise and enjoyed the food in the dining room very much.The rock lobsters really don't compare very well with a Maine lobster but I knew that when I ordered it.I had the veal,lamb,beef and a pasta entree and each was wonderful.

 

Tom

[mbp]

Hello all,

 

We were also on the summit 11/26-12/6 and we could go on and on about the service and quality of the food, it was consistently above average. I don’t think you have to evaluate the quality of food by the number of cruises; or what type of vehicle you drove in to get to the meal…. after all you eat with you mouth! We have eaten in many restaurants, some 5 star and many 3 –4 stars. The food served on the Summit was competitive and combined with the service we received we really couldn’t say anything but Thank you to the entire kitchen staff. (The service just enhanced the taste and presentation.) I have a mild flair for food experiments where my husband loves to try anything. Presentation for both of us is always essential as well as cleanliness. Again, we always walked away from the table with full stomachs and big smiles from many laughs. The frosting on the cake was the fact that they serve 2000 people basically 18 hours a day!!(I wish I could say that influenced our decision to say the food was great but it was a bonus, above and beyond the quality.)

 

I agree with many of the posters that implied many factors go into making a great cruise or great meal or great entertainment. We went on the Summit so grateful for the opportunity to vacation without the kids; it was going to be hard to rock our boat. Our cabin attendant was so accommodating, just cleaning the room and changing the towels made me want to take him home with us.

 

I guess I don’t want a cruise that I don’t care for the food because at that point I will probably choose another type of vacation.

Case and point, each year we go to the Cape, stay in the same place. They have the same summer schedules, same continental breakfast etc as they have the last twelve years, -give or take. We have tired of the food and suite choices, they still provide a great package but it is us that need to make the change, not them.

 

On a scale of 1-10, one being the worst ten being the best, the food in our opinion was a solid 8+.

Hello to all of you that we meet on the ship, we enjoyed meeting you all!

Barbara and Michael aka mbp

[amanda blake]

I was on the same cruise as Amanda also on the late sitting. I thought the food was good but it was somewhat hit or miss. For example on the night we had rack of lamb mine was perfect but my wifes was tough and very overcooked. We both ordered medium! I almost always had the beef and it was good. Others at our table were often not happy with the fish dishes. I felt the dinning room food was not up to Celebrity past standards.

I did see many improvements in food service. The suchi is great, the waffles are exceptional and the food service hours had been expanded. You can get a hot breakfast until 11:00 or 12:00. It seemed ice cream was always open.

The service was great. I feel sure our waiter would have exchanged any food item that we did not like.

 

ditto....

[amanda blake]

we have gotten off topic here...

 

my comments were about the dining experience in the dining room ...not the service...not the food in general....not the cabin person...not travelling without kids.....not the cruise experience...not what we thought of the ship ....that is all part of Host Andy's review of the Summit...although I am always suspect of any perfect review....

 

for us and those who dined with us,dinners in the dining room were lousy...except in the casual dining area , where the meat was tender and flavourful ...had this been a 14 night cruise we would have boycotted the dining room all together for the aqua spa, where food was prepared till 6 or the casual dining...although you need reservations there...

 

many opted for the casual dining and not because of casual atmosphere but simply because of the food.....

 

in all our cruises this is the first time we did not enjoy the dinner dining room food, we were not there for any other meals...

 

all in all I think we have been pretty lucky...but will no longer take for granted that Celebrity offers the best food in the dining room of all the cruise lines..nor should they boast that they do....

[tommy]

Well Amanda I will agree with you the food in the dining room on the Summit was with out question the worse we have had on any of our 18 cruises,on any lines including a couple Carnival. TOM

[Ma Bell]

I think everyone has your message. You didn't like the food. It's not a contest...everyone seems to have his own opinion and yours is appreciated.

[SoCalGal]

We spent 14 nights on the Summit this past May...the food was fantastic. We always book the main (early) seating, so have no idea about the later seating. Not only was dinner scrumptious every evening, so was "High Tea" and the Cova Cafe goodies were to die for. We have been on several cruise ships including the Mille and have to say that the Summit has been our favorite. The lunch buffets were fine, but we particularly enjoyed the AquaSpa fare for lunch. Since our cruise was to Alaska, we were always greeted with the most wonderful hot chocolate upon returning from our excursions.

[halos]

Tatka. You obviously didn't have the infamous HAL meatloaf with red wine sauce. It was served the last night of the cruise. Worst dish I've had on 15 cruises.

 

 

YUK.

Serving meatloaf on a cruise is just.....well, it's just wrong. :eek:

 

I want to add that there have been occasions when I called a 4 or 5 star land restaurant in an attempt to make reservations for a large group.....in all cases a really good restaurant won't. Why? Because feeding that many people simultaneously makes it impossible to keep the standard of the food at the 5 star range. Keep that in mind while on a ship, and there are a thousand people being fed at once.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Well I'm sure glad some of you liked the food because one of the biggest reasons we're switching back to Celebrity from HAL is the food:) . We've only been on 2 Celebrity cruises, but both times the food was out of this world.

 

But I still don't get why everyone gets so nuts over the HAL meatloaf. I don't happen to like it, but DH does, and there are plenty of other choices so why not let it be for those who enjoy it?