Quality of food on Royal Caribbean

I'll start off by saying I'm not an employee of Royal Caribbean, don't have any relatives who work for Royal Caribbean or anything like that. I just wanted to start this thread to get a feel for what others think of the food quality on Royal Caribbean.

I've been cruising for 10 years - predominantly with Royal Caribbean but have also tried some other cruise lines as well. Over the last couple of years it seems to me that the food quality in the main dining room (not the specialty restaurants) - variety, quality of food itself - has decreased on Royal Caribbean.

People who I've talked to onboard seem to feel the same way - new cruisers, cruisers who have cruised other cruise lines and loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers.

Do others find this as well? How does the quality of food compare to say Princess these days? Be interested to hear people's thoughts on this.

Food is incredibly subjective, as you know. Ask one hundred people and you will get one hundred opinions. :) Having said that, we always find something delicious and healthy (or not!!) on board. I actually find the quality and the temperature (either supposed to be hot or supposed to be cold) of the offerings is a bit better on the "smaller" ships, if you will. We have sailed most classes and find Radiance-class ships to have the best food. Why is that? Fewer guests? Your guess is as good as mine.

I never complain about the food. I can always get something else if I am disappointed in what I have chosen.

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I travel for my vacation and occasionally take a cruise with my hard earned money. Food quality does not need to be hindered even lower in quality. I do believe that Royal Caribbean has hindered the quality of meals over the years from when I first took a cruise with Royal Caribbean. It is disappointing since the fares on the cruise have not lessened. I would hope that the Food and Beverage directors within Royal Caribbean read cruisecritic.com from time to time to see that customers who cruise with them are disappointed and are hoping for change and improvements in the positive direction. I am disappointed in desserts that are too filled with some sort of gelatin additives instead of normal bakery ingredients.

I would hope that they review not only the Windjammer and the Main Dining menus but also the specialty restaurants to keep quality at their finest. I travel occasionally and when I am on vacation I too want better food than I can make at home. I am a talented cook but the food quality and ingredients are not as special as they used to be. For all the additional costs of things that they are constantly selling I would hope that some revenue of profits can be used to enhance the Windjammer and the Main Dining menus.

I remember the days of quality breads on the tables and now these fine artisan breads just are no longer.

Food is incredibly subjective, as you know. Ask one hundred people and you will get one hundred opinions. :) Having said that, we always find something delicious and healthy (or not!!) on board. I actually find the quality and the temperature (either supposed to be hot or supposed to be cold) of the offerings is a bit better on the "smaller" ships, if you will. We have sailed most classes and find Radiance-class ships to have the best food. Why is that? Fewer guests? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

I never complain about the food. I can always get something else if I am disappointed in what I have chosen.

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Agree.

 

 

 

Do others find this as well? How does the quality of food compare to say Princess these days? Be interested to hear people's thoughts on this.

while I pretty much only sail Royal( one side trip on Celebrity recently..and even that was like 5 years ago)

I got say our dinner dining habits have changed greatly.

used to be we did every meal save maybe one in MDR. now its almost all specialty, or, believe it or not, making dinner out of the cocktail hour appetizers in the Concierge Lounge. on those ships with a Promenade we often grab stuff from Sorrentos and the cafe.

between boredom with the menu and a feeling that they are just over worked, Its no longer as fun.

we don't find anything inedible, or bad, but we no longer sigh in ecstasy at the first bite.

we used to do lunch there,. but service is abysmally slow. thankfully breakfast is usually in Chops now so I can avoid the WJ almost completely.

I have been cruising for 40 years , last cruise in September on Brilliance MDR was bad WJ even worse ( had 2 meals in each) even Izumi was bad, but Chops and 6 meals in Giovanni's were great, will sign up for 5 specialty meals for next cruise in April- 5 meals for 105 is a good deal food is much better in specialty

I'm far from an experienced cruiser (though I'm working on correcting that :) ), but I guess I have the, maybe, unique perspective of the only two cruises I've done being on the same ship, and separated by a number of years. That ship being RCI's Enchantment.

Anyway, all that to say, I found the second time I went on Enchantment, over 10 years after the first cruise, I thought the food was at least as good if not better in some cases. My experience is that Windjammer was pretty much on par with my first experience, but I think buffet food is buffet food. I didn't do Chops so can't speak to the specialty restaurant. But my wife and I particularly enjoyed the selections at the cafe in the Solarium, which to me seemed better quality than when I went on Enchantment last decade.

Honestly though, for us, food is somewhat utilitarian when it comes to the cruise experience. I mean, we don't want it to be awful, but it's also for us not the reason we are cruising. But I do get the sense that if you are a Foodie, and food is central to your cruise experience, I can see where RCI might not always live up to expectations.

So we'll see what our experience is on Indy later this month. :D

I have been cruising since 1989. I feel the food has definitely declined. The selections of meat is almost at a commercial quality. We completed a Transatlantic in November and thought they were cleaning out the refrigerators and freezers before returning to the United States. There were items that should have been pitched rather than served to guests.

We have cruises coming up in January and if the food has not improved will seriously consider moving to another cruise line.

We were on Navigator in December 2014 then Liberty in December 2016.

We both thought food quality had taken a dive. Less choices at breakfast in WJ as well.

The steak in Chop's last month was a bad joke.

Sabor saved the day:)

We met others with similar opinions.

Recently off Allure of the Seas and have done 3 other Royal ships over the last 10 years. Definitely believe the food and the choices have decreased in quality over the years but in all fairness I found the same to be true on both Holland America and Carnival. That being said, while prices may not have gone down, they haven't gone up much either. We paid less now then we did 10 years ago and received a number of perks as well both from Royal and our TA. So yes we wound up eating specialty 4 out of 7 nights which may have added to our overall cost, but definitely increased the quality of the cruise experience and in total our costs for 2 were still FAR BELOW what a land trip would have cost us (albeit we have the luxury of driving to the port).

We were on Navigator in December 2014 then Liberty in December 2016.

 

We both thought food quality had taken a dive. Less choices at breakfast in WJ as well.

 

The steak in Chop's last month was a bad joke.

Sabor saved the day:)

 

We met others with similar opinions.

Chops was not good on our 2014 and 2015 Navigator cruises, but excellent on Liberty and Brilliance in 2016

I don't have to:

1. Buy it

2. Prep it

3. Cook it

4. Serve it

5. Clean up after it

I consider myself as a decent cook....not great, but pretty good. I have been on at least 10 cruises and all different cruise lines. I only recall ONE dish (salty) that I could not eat or considered inedible. Other than that ONE dish....I have enjoyed every meal on every cruise line from soup to nuts.

I have no complaints. I've never sent anything back for being inedible, under cooked, etc.

While the meals in the specialty restaurants are sometimes more tasty, meat more tender, presentation nicer, I have still enjoyed every meal in the MDR.

It depends. On our last trip on the Empress, we felt the Windjammer (Buffet) was better than the MDR, which was not the case on any cruise we have taken. The Empress had a special menu which was a real downgrade from our first Royal cruise, the Radiance OTS. I'm not sure if it's just the Empress, but the menu felt small and there wasn't any "everyday" items. The food wasn't bad, but the tempature of dishes were sporadic like they came off the windjammer. We liked Carnival's food better, but like Royal in all other aspects. Hopefully, the food will be better on our cruise in 2 weeks on the Indy.

I have been cruising for 40 years , last cruise in September on Brilliance MDR was bad WJ even worse ( had 2 meals in each) even Izumi was bad, but Chops and 6 meals in Giovanni's were great, will sign up for 5 specialty meals for next cruise in April- 5 meals for 105 is a good deal food is much better in specialty

This is why the quality has declined....before "specialty" restaurants, the food options were plentiful, artfully presented, and quite tasty! Then, they decided to lessen the "included food options", and if you wanted what you had in the past, you'd pay extra for it....and it seems folks are willing to do that.

I foresee, in the not too distant future, that only the buffet will be included in your fare....if you want anything else, it will be an uncharge.

I don't have to:

 

1. Buy it

2. Prep it

3. Cook it

4. Serve it

5. Clean up after it

...... I only recall ONE dish (salty) that I could not eat or considered inedible. Other than that ONE dish....I have enjoyed every meal on every cruise line from soup to nuts.

There is a lot to be said about the first five points of the post. In general, if I don't have to buy, prep, cook, serve and/or clean up after it- I am usually pretty happy.

I too have only had one dish I considered really inedible. I tried the same entrée on a different ship a year later, and it was one of the best thing I had. Sometimes it's just an "off" night. We were on Allure last spring, and ate at Chops. I did not enjoy my meal in Chops at all. I had far better meals in the MDR.

I think there is a lot of emphasis on the "specialty" dining to get people there. They lower the selections in the "Free" venues to drive people to specialty dining. I also miss dining with other people in the MDR. I love my husband, but I can dine with him at a table for two on any night in the world. I enjoy meeting new people, and broadening our horizons. Yes, I know you can still eat at a large table. I think sometimes when you eat with other people, you may be more willing to try something new when you see others eating it. Just some random thoughts.

This is why the quality has declined....before "specialty" restaurants, the food options were plentiful, artfully presented, and quite tasty!

I foresee, in the not too distant future, that only the buffet will be included in your fare....if you want anything else, it will be an uncharge.

I agree. If people are willing to pay more for the specialty restaurants, it lessens their incentive to get the "included dining" back up to a better level.

I felt like the MDR used to be a pretty nice dining experience. If I compared the quality of steaks only- it used to be that the MDR would be like going to a Longhorn. Solid quality, but affordable run of the mill. Chops was like going to Ruth Chris. As people started shifting their focus to the specialty venues, the food folks made the MDR steaks like a Golden Corral steak and you paid the upcharge for a Longhorn steak. The waiters may dress like Ruth Chris, but the food is more Longhorn quality IMO. I don't care to spend extra money for what used to be the basic.

As long as people are willing to fork out the money for "specialty" the food in the MDR won't get any better.

I agree. If people are willing to pay more for the specialty restaurants, it lessens their incentive to get the "included dining" back up to a better level.

 

I felt like the MDR used to be a pretty nice dining experience. If I compared the quality of steaks only- it used to be that the MDR would be like going to a Longhorn. Solid quality, but affordable run of the mill. Chops was like going to Ruth Chris. As people started shifting their focus to the specialty venues, the food folks made the MDR steaks like a Golden Corral steak and you paid the upcharge for a Longhorn steak. The waiters may dress like Ruth Chris, but the food is more Longhorn quality IMO. I don't care to spend extra money for what used to be the basic.

 

As long as people are willing to fork out the money for "specialty" the food in the MDR won't get any better.

Definitely agree with legaljen1969

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In the last ten years we have accumulated over 1,000 cruise nights(not points) with RCCL. Over the last few years we have seen a slow but steady decline in both quality and offerings of the food on board. For example, the food and service in Chops and Giovanni's closely approximate that which was in the MDR. While we can still find reasonably satisfactory meals, to deny the decline is a fact. Having spoken to some head chefs, they acknowledge that the per person food budget has declined and that it makes them be "creative." Only time will tell us if the food someday reaches such a low level that we no longer are loyal to Royal.

Breakfast in the Grand ?

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Here's my take on the MDR experience on RCI. We've been cruising with RCI since 1994, with a few other cruise lines thrown in......but almost exclusively with RCI. MDR used to be a wonderful dining experience. Even the Windjammer was pretty good. In the last few years, we've noticed a real decline in almost every aspect of the "included" dining. We were on Allure recently, and the Windjammer, IMO, was absolutely awful. Less selections than in previous years, and what was there looked very unappealing. We avoided it and found other venues--Solarium Bistro and Park Cafe, both excellent. It took me a couple of days of being in the MDR at dinner time to figure out the problem--the choices that were on the daily menus were more limited than in previous years, and the selections, for the most part, were only "meh." Yes they had my favorites--lamb shanks and prime rib, but those were the only two nights that had very appealing selections. The other nights were only "meh," and while the preparations were nice, most of it wasn't appealing.

And while I agree with the previous poster who said she didn't have to shop for it, prepare it, or clean up, that's all well and good. To a certain extent I agree with that. But when I'm on vacation, I'd prefer the level of dining enjoyment to be way above that minimal criteria. After all, if I were going out to dinner in my own neighborhood at home, I wouldn't choose a meal that only fit that minimal criteria.

We have only been on 3 cruises (4th coming up in June on RCI) so i have limited knowledge to share. Our first cruise was with Princess and the food was amazing in the MDR - we eat there every night. And the staff was amazing! Next we sailed on NCL - never again - the food was bad everywhere. We struggled to find eatable breakfast anywhere! And dinner in the MDR was bad and the service was worse then the food. Next we sailed on RCI where the food was pretty good in MDR, great at CHOPS and great at Giovanni's. but the buffet was okay - nothing to brag about but i didn't have to prepare it or clean it up!

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The RC MDR experience has been on constant decline in recent years.

Anyone who has been cruising for the last 10-20 years understands.

After my last trip, I cancelled 2 future cruises with RC mainly because of the poor quality and selection.

If you have to rate it on the fact that you are not prepping/cooking/cleaning than your expectations are very low.

Sure there is always something on the menu, but after paying thousands of dollars for your trip do you really want to settle for " I can find something"?

But I know people who eat fast food for dinner almost everyday......

We agree that the food has most definitely gone downhill.

Breakfast in the Grand ?

I thought they used American Icon for breakfast.