NCL vs RC food

Have to take a NCL cruise (NZ) this January on the Jewel; as we have a significant amount of credit coupons from the NCL Star disaster in Jan 2016 :mad:. Ship kept breaking down. Missed about 1/2 the ports.

Abandoned ship a week early in Melbourne.

After the Jewel we will get on the Explorer for an Australian cruise.

I must admit that NCL has been better in the food category a "B+" vs "C+" for RC.

I was told by DR head waiters that much of RC's food is prepared off the ship and Microwaved. Thus the lower quality.

Anyone can offer a response about this?

I am an RCI guy through and through. Just booked our 5th cruise with them. Ship design is the best in my opinion especially large ship design. I feel the passenger flow is WAY better, not a lot of bottlenecks.

That being said NCL on the one cruise we did with them the food way not just better but better by a large margin. From free to pay better. The buffet was closer but still NCL was better.

I will say Anthem was a bit closer overall. I thought the food on Anthem was very good but NCL in my opinion still beat it out by a good margin still. I don't know what NCL is doing different but that is my take.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Have to take a NCL cruise (NZ) this January on the Jewel; as we have a significant amount of credit coupons from the NCL Star disaster in Jan 2016 :mad:. Ship kept breaking down. Missed about 1/2 the ports.

Abandoned ship a week early in Melbourne.

 

 

After the Jewel we will get on the Explorer for an Australian cruise.

 

I must admit that NCL has been better in the food category a "B+" vs "C+" for RC.

I was told by DR head waiters that much of RC's food is prepared off the ship and Microwaved. Thus the lower quality.

 

Anyone can offer a response about this?

WE cruised RCI ships Allure, Oasis, Harmony and Rhapsody within the past 12 months.

WE have cruise NCL Getaway and Escape within past 12 months.

Food overall in Specialty Restaurants and MDR better on NCL.

In fact we would rate food on those 2 NCL ships better than Celebrity, Princess and MSC who we have cruised extensively during the past 2 years. JMHO!

Don't know anything about the 2 NCL ships you mentioned.

Happy Cruising!!

We have done galley tours on RCI many, many times. Recently. We saw zero evidence that food was being prepared off ship and microwaved! We saw made from scratch soups every single day. All breads, cakes and pastries made from scratch daily. Potatoes peeled fresh in large machines or by hand one time when the peeling machine was broken.

Only been on one NCL cruise and four RCL but much prefer RCL; found NCL almost inedible. However, I don't eat in the dining room on RCL, primarily specialty but also go to the buffet at least once or twice.

If you ever saw how a Royal Caribbean ship is provisioned you will see something a little different than as described.

Cryovaced primal cuts of beef, pork and lamb. Chicken (RAW) parts. Thousands of pounds of flour, sugar, whole eggs and fresh vegetables. The steaks are cut from whole sections and cooked FRESH.

It looks hard to do but they have it down to a science and the grills prepare them according to doneness and set out quickly for the waiters and the production is carefully gauged to the demand. They may have fifty or a hundred going at one time but are grilled as needed.

I can tell you from experience that the hot loaves of bread served in the specialty restaurants on NCL are not freshly baked and appear to be frozen then baked till done in the VISIBLE ovens at the various venues.

The croissants on NCL are terrible and left on my plate. Desserts are flat tasting and unappetizing.

Side dished in the NCL specialty restaurants are for sure held in warmers and were not very good most of the time.

As far as soups, salads go it would appear that they are made fresh on both lines. Simple to do in bulk and prior to dining times.

On Royal Caribbean it is easy to see and taste the difference in not only the breads and rolls but also in the deserts, which can be seen on dozens of YouTube videos being prepared by the hundreds a few hours before serving times. . Yes hundreds and most are kept in fridges until they are picked up, has to done this way since they are very temperature fragile and don't last long sitting around for any great length of time.

I have years of restaurant and catering experience and can tell you food service on Royal Caribbean is nothing like catering at weddings or other venues where most items are prepared at least a day prior and finished just before an event begins.

No comparison between NCL food and that of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or HAL.

Sorry but that is what I have observed, tasted and experienced first hand in not only the MDR's but also in the specialty restaurants on all of those lines.

bosco

Now, our 23YO does not have a distinctive palate--in fact, he is quite picky (caesar salad, fettuccine, steak, vanilla ice cream is his normal cruise dinner).

We have cruised DCL, RCL, Celebrity & Princess as a family; DS has also done NCL.

His opinion is that NCL is a tick down from these other lines in every way.

I do remember feeling RCL has the best desserts of all--and I'm not much of a dessert person.

I like RCI’s MDR and buffet slightly better than NCL’s.

However, I like NCL’s specialty restaurants way more than RCI’s.

NCL also gets huge bonus points for the ships that have a 24-hour O’Sheehans/Local.

We have done galley tours on RCI many, many times. Recently. We saw zero evidence that food was being prepared off ship and microwaved! We saw made from scratch soups every single day. All breads, cakes and pastries made from scratch daily. Potatoes peeled fresh in large machines or by hand one time when the peeling machine was broken.

I agree that the soups and breads are most likely made on ship.

I ordered chicken cordon blue and lasagna and both were made OFF ship and confirmed by the waiter and head waiter . Both said there is always one or two entries made on board but most brought in completed Costco style.

If you ever saw how a Royal Caribbean ship is provisioned you will see something a little different than as described.

 

Cryovaced primal cuts of beef, pork and lamb. Chicken (RAW) parts. Thousands of pounds of flour, sugar, whole eggs and fresh vegetables. The steaks are cut from whole sections and cooked FRESH.

 

It looks hard to do but they have it down to a science and the grills prepare them according to doneness and set out quickly for the waiters and the production is carefully gauged to the demand. They may have fifty or a hundred going at one time but are grilled as needed.

 

I can tell you from experience that the hot loaves of bread served in the specialty restaurants on NCL are not freshly baked and appear to be frozen then baked till done in the VISIBLE ovens at the various venues.

 

The croissants on NCL are terrible and left on my plate. Desserts are flat tasting and unappetizing.

 

Side dished in the NCL specialty restaurants are for sure held in warmers and were not very good most of the time.

 

As far as soups, salads go it would appear that they are made fresh on both lines. Simple to do in bulk and prior to dining times.

 

On Royal Caribbean it is easy to see and taste the difference in not only the breads and rolls but also in the deserts, which can be seen on dozens of YouTube videos being prepared by the hundreds a few hours before serving times. . Yes hundreds and most are kept in fridges until they are picked up, has to done this way since they are very temperature fragile and don't last long sitting around for any great length of time.

 

I have years of restaurant and catering experience and can tell you food service on Royal Caribbean is nothing like catering at weddings or other venues where most items are prepared at least a day prior and finished just before an event begins.

 

No comparison between NCL food and that of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or HAL.

 

Sorry but that is what I have observed, tasted and experienced first hand in not only the MDR's but also in the specialty restaurants on all of those lines.

 

bosco

Appreciate your opinion and expertise.

While I'm a loyal D+ and stockholder I have not seen RC maintain its standards.

Disappointing.

I have done about 16 RCCL cruises over the past 30 plus years. Obviously I have seen food quality go down on that time but I still have never had a bad meal and would rate all of them as A- to A+. Maybe a B for the Windjammer.

I recently did a 4 night cruise on NCL Sky, my first and last NCL cruise. From the Garden Cafe to the MDR to Cagney’s Steakhouse I did not experience one meal hat I would rate higher than a C. There was not one decent dessert, and some were actually inedible. The pasta was hard and the meats flavorless.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have been on Royal, NCL, and Princess. Liked the food best on Princess, but taking everything into account, Royal has been the best fit for us. The food on NCL was pretty blah, and a big reason we are unlikely to try them again (gave them a second chance hoping food and service would be better on a different ship, but not so much).

I wouldn't be surprised if some food was pre-prepared and microwaved on any cruise ship - I think that is pretty common on land in chain restaurants too, allowing them to remain consistent between locations and get orders our quickly. Food is quite subjective though, and probably varies from ship to ship too.

We usually cruise RCCL but did an NCL for the first time last New Year's on the Dawn. We do not eat in the upcharge restaurants, and rarely in the buffet. As for the MDR food on both, it was similar. We found the meat (especially beef) on the Dawn to be cooked perfectly, whereas on RCCL, this was quite often not the case. We found the rest of the plate on NCL meals (potatoes and vegetables) to not be as good as on the RCCL cruises. Seafood was about equal on both ships (though NCL had no lobster). Desserts were comparable to each other, but we loved the crepe station every night in the buffet on the NCL Dawn (this was the only time we really went in there other than for ice cream).

I agree that the soups and breads are most likely made on ship.

 

I ordered chicken cordon blue and lasagna and both were made OFF ship and confirmed by the waiter and head waiter . Both said there is always one or two entries made on board but most brought in completed Costco style.

This is a random sampling of RC menu main courses::

Linguini vongole

Coq au vin

Seared duck breast

Prime rib

Porcini mushroom farro risotto

Chickjen marsala

Horseradish crusted salmon

Grilled pork chop

Baked polenta and feta cheese

Seafood linguini

Almond crusted snapper

Braised pork shank

Roasted duck

Roasted beef tenderloin

Vegetable pot pie (easier & less expensive to make from scratch than from frozen)

Lasagna al forno (again easier and cheaper to make fresh) I have seen it being made on board.

Roast jerk spiced chicken

Braised short rib

Butternut squash risotto

Maybe a lasagna or a pot pie, but this would be easily a money loss considering the equipment and labor cost on a cruise ship.

I have worked in places that used items even as disgusting a frozen pre-marinated Black Diamond steaks, chicken wrapped around a piece of ham and cheese then breaded and frozen. The price is a bout three time that of fresh ingredients and all they do is save on labor costs. On a cruise ship the least thing they are concerned with is LABOR COSTS, compared to a US based restaurant.

Whether it is making a tray of Lasagna or laying out a few hundred orders of Chicken Cordon Bleu it is not only less expensive to produce fresh, considering the facilities, labor cost and staff in a large cruise ship's galley, but it also takes less time to heat up than five or six hundred 20 below zero door stops since the fresh product is made from room temp or refrigerated ingredients.

I can tell you it would be a serious mistake for ANY restaurant to attempt buying and serving almost any of the above dishes pre-made and frozen from any outside source. The cost alone would be prohibitive and the quality highly inferior as well as noticeable to most folk with a few functioning taste buds.

Sorry but once again just from my experience and careful observation and consumption of cruise ship food and its preparation.

This link is self explanatory and shows you this isn't Catered Food or Sysco pre cooked crap.

bosco

...

 

I wouldn't be surprised if some food was pre-prepared and microwaved on any cruise ship - I think that is pretty common on land in chain restaurants too, allowing them to remain consistent between locations and get orders our quickly. Food is quite subjective though, and probably varies from ship to ship too.

I agree. I would think most people would be surprised at how much of the food is pre-made.

We've had some EXCELLENT meals on RCI in the past...but they are nowhere near that standard now, IMO. It's not just the "taste" of the food, but the presentation...very lacking. Overall, you won't go hungry, but it's not the dining experience that we've come to expect.

I agree. I would think most people would be surprised at how much of the food is pre-made.

Please take the time to watch this video.

bosco

You should post the same question on the NCL boards.

You should post the same question on the NCL boards.

NCL galleys operate in the same fashion.

I just THINK their baked goods are not freshly made or they just don't know how to make breads, rolls, croissants or pastries.:confused:

bosco

Please take the time to watch this video.

 

 

 

bosco

I did. Thank you.

I did my second RCL in May on the Ovation. The food in the MDR anD Windjammer was. It good. 9 nights and no lobster. If the baked goods were fresh and not frozen they would need to show me. I did not ask because the rolls were soft and the small pastries in Cafe Promenade tasted obviously frozen. I tasted no baked goods that felt or tasted fresh. From reading the boards, it appears that the food varies greatly from ship to ship. I will be going on the Adventure in February and am curious to see if it will be any better.

Do not believe the continental breakfast pastries and croissants are made on the ship, because I have had the exact same items many times at Hyatt hotels.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Overall Royal's better tasting then NCL a little. Pay for/Specialty meals Royal was better 19yrs ago, NCL is better now...

I’ve always wondered, what incentive does Royal or NCL have to improve or maintain the quality of FREE food? Don’t they want you to pay more for the upgraded dinning.... Aren’t they penalizing themselves and making less money if they make MDR and other included food great?

I’ve always wondered, what incentive does Royal or NCL have to improve or maintain the quality of FREE food? Don’t they want you to pay more for the upgraded dinning.... Aren’t they penalizing themselves and making less money if they make MDR and other included food great?

The only incentive they have for maintaining or improving the quality of the food is to retain and attract customers. As long as those things are happening (which they clearly are, since their ships seem to sail full), you're right, they have no incentive to improve or even maintain the quality of the food.