Which lines have the best food?

We tried Princess and found the food to be mediocre. What are the cruise lines with the best food? My husband studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and he is a big foodie. If it says "Apple Tarte Tatin" he wants a REAL apple Tarte Tatin with the Pate sucre.

Probably Silver Seas - with their "Relais et Chateaux" membership.

This consortia comprises c.500 of SOME of the finest hotels in the world.

They have 25 members in the UK - We have dined at 12 of them and can say that all the experiences have been highly memorable.

If you're thinking of the mass market lines....

I think, from my experience, Carnival has better food than RCCL, and I really don't remember Princess, as it's been too long ago.

I'm a retired chef from a 5-star restaurant in N.O., and find that I always critique food in any restaurant and on ships; to myself, not to others.:D I've found that Carnival's cuisine is very, very good. To me, the preparation, presentation, quality, and taste is just about right for a cruiseship. Most of their entrees are quite good!

I can't say anything about the buffet food. I don't do buffets. I prefer my meals fresh and hot from the kitchen, not sitting in warming pans with hundreds of folks digging into it.

My experience so far :

Mass Market - Celebrity Cruises

Luxury (large ship)- Crystal Cruises

I haven't sail with the luxury (small ship) lines like Silver Seas yet ...

I agree out of all the BIG cruise lines Celebrity Has the best food...

Thanks Everyone. I'll look into Silver Seas, Crystal, and Celebrity, which I have heard are good.

Cotton, where were you a chef in N.O.? I used to sing there in a band called Vince Vance & the Valients. We also played Gulfport a lot too. My husband went to cooking school with Roy F. Gust Jr. from Antoines. Do you know him?

Thanks again everyone for your helpful suggestions. I hope you're all around when I am looking for great restaurants in different ports, like, ESTONIA!!!

Sailed on the Celebrity Mille on May 25th and have to say we were very disappointed with the food in the dining room. We had always heard that Celebrity was a step above . We took the whole extended family on a cruise in Dec on carnival and have to say it is VERY hard to beleive but the quality, and selections was much better than Celebrity. RCCL also was better than Celebrity. I do have to give the nod to Celebrity in the specialty dining room...the Olympic was second to none. They obviously have the talent on the ship but are not using it

If you are looking at the 'big' cruise lines then I would say Celebrity or Holland America for sure. And Celebrity's specialty dining is not to be missed

Of the lines we have cruised, I would place them in this order, with the best on top:

#1-- Azamara

#2-- Celebrity

#3-- Holland America

#4-- Princess

#5-- Toss up between NCL and Royal Caribbean

We have pretty much given up on Princess, NCL and Royal Caribbean because they seem to favor Quanity over Quality.

Enjoy!

Kel:)

Thanks Everyone. I'll look into Silver Seas, Crystal, and Celebrity, which I have heard are good.

 

Cotton, where were you a chef in N.O.? I used to sing there in a band called Vince Vance & the Valients. We also played Gulfport a lot too. My husband went to cooking school with Roy F. Gust Jr. from Antoines. Do you know him?

 

Thanks again everyone for your helpful suggestions. I hope you're all around when I am looking for great restaurants in different ports, like, ESTONIA!!!

No one has mentioned Oceania yet. Best on the sea, IMO, but I can't remember if there was Tarte Tatin the time we were on. They have menus on their web site.

Oceania's and Silver Sea are our favorites. Both have excellent food and we enjoyed both very much. The difference is the price of their cruises and the amenities they offer.

By the way, if you don't see something on the menu that you would like to have, ask the chef for it. If the ingredients are available, the chefs will try to make it especially for you. Oceania has done this twice for me, although on different cruises.

Cotton, where were you a chef in N.O.? I used to sing there in a band called Vince Vance & the Valients. We also played Gulfport a lot too. My husband went to cooking school with Roy F. Gust Jr. from Antoines. Do you know him?

WOW! I'm impressed. I have danced to, and enjoyed the music of Vince Vance and the Valiants many times! You were a Valianette, right?

I was a chef at Commander's Palace. I worked w/Emeril at one time, and also the late great Jamie Shannon. Now retired, and I still miss it.

I was born and raised in the Garden District. One of my DDs still lives in the Quarter, so I'm there quite a bit. Yes, I knew Roy, but not very well. What a coincidence - I just referred to his "Restaurants of New Orleans" cookbook yesterday for a recipe from Manales.:)

Another thing - You and my other DD are neighbors...sorta. She lives in Malibu, but manages a restaurant in Marina del Rey.

Hi Cotton,

So we are thinking about traveling on the Celebrity Constellation in August of 2008. We'd like to go off season when it is less crowded, but this particular itinerary was only offered on ONE sailing date which includes Lithuania and Latvia. Do you think my husband will like the food better on Celebrity than Princess? One thing he learned from working in a kitchen in Paris for a summer is that he did not want to be a chef for a living. So, lucky me, he cooks at home for pleasure! You have been on that Baltic cruise, haven't you? I looked at some other more exclusive and high end companies, but we can't stand pretension, and it seems like a high end cruise with service like your own private butler would set that tone.

Yes, I was Veronica Valianette. I was with them in 1985. My friend Lisa stayed with them after I left and sang the song "All I want for Christmas is you" that I believe is still played on the radio in the south at Christmas. I still keep in touch with the leader. He lost his home in Waveland during Katrina. I have a picture with him and Lisa at the bottom of this page of my website: http://www.susanasbjornson.com/photos.html Go all the way to the bottom of the page and then scroll up and the picture is about 7 pictures from the bottom of the page.

We go to a restaurant in Marinadel Rey called "Cafe Del Rey" but we mostly go up to West L.A. for dinner. What restaurant does your friend manage? My husband said that The Commander's Palace is one of the oldest great restaurants in N.O. along with Antoine's, Arnaud's, Brennan's, Gallatoie's... I was only there singing in a band, so all I remember are the hurricanes at Patrick O'brien's...

Also, a friend of ours just starting dating a guy named Rick Branson who grew up in N.O. and Gulfport and now lives in Beverly Hills. He was in the oil business I think. Do you know him?

We did Celebrity for our first cruise in 2003. We did Carnival in 2004. Celebrity's menu was put together by a french chef. All the breads were homemade and way too good. The food was great. Each morning we had all kinds of fancy pastries. Carnival's desserts, at least in my opinion, seemed like they came out of a box and were not homemade. We had some great dinners on Celebrity. On Carnival we opted only for the informal dining room because this was a weekend cruise and we didn't bring any long pants. So I can't comment on the dining room food on that cruise.

There's no comparison. Just put me in a row boat and haul me up Royale, over to St. Charles and float down the side streets. Gallatoires has the best roumelard, Antoines' tournodos, Absinthe House suisesse at breakfast, and the pompado in Paper,etc. My spelling isn't correct but I'm to lazy to check my cookbooks. I wish I could find another copy of the old "best chef's recipes of New Orleans. The maroon covered book that a friend borrowed and left in his hotel room. I think I bought it on Canal in the 60's.

Maybe some cruise line could have a N.O. chefs cruise with all the local specialties demonstrated and then on the dinner menu.

We tried Princess and found the food to be mediocre. What are the cruise lines with the best food? My husband studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and he is a big foodie. If it says "Apple Tarte Tatin" he wants a REAL apple Tarte Tatin with the Pate sucre.

IMHO, I have based it on just 2 lines I have tried, but NCL wins big time over CCL !

it's the preparation and quality of the ingredients that matter. X has really declined in food quality especially the beef.

Of the major Lines there is no question that we find that Celebrity wins the best food category for us hands down! In fact we love EVERYTHING about Celebrity!

Second we would pick Holland America, which is also a very enjoyable cruise line to sail on.

As for Carnival we really disliked the majority of their food, the service was terrible all over the ship! It was a horrible experience!

As for the Luxury Lines - Cunard's food was fabulous!

We LOVE CRUISING - BUT I will admit that bad food and service will ruin it for us. We would rather sail less so that we can afford Celebrity, HAL, etc.

Do you know where I can find a copy of the old NO cookbook-favorite recipes of the chefs of NO?

By the way when we cruised on Carnival Legend in May their supper club was so outstanding that we ate there 5 of 7 nights. What a difference from the main dining room! We never eat dinner at the buffet. Steamed food, ugh!

Hi Steve - I just now saw your question to me. I really have no idea where you could find that book. Offchance that you might find it on Ebay? I found an old book on there once. Good luck.

We sailed on Celebrity a in 2001, 2002 on Century and 2003 on Summit. Best food thru then was definitely on Century. Smaller ships have more control on quality. We sailed on Carnival Elation in 2005 and dinners were ok; desserts so-so as there did not seem to be real whipped cream. We sailed on Constellation six months ago with high expectations of a return to good X food and were greatly disappointed. On a 11-night cruise we enjoyed maybe two dinners. Meat quality was very poor - especially their beef. Desserts at least were very good.

I'm in NY and love good food. Regent's food on the Voyager is excellent. I didn't have a bad meal there. They also have a partnership with the Cordon Bleu cooking school and do "classes" for those who are interested.

As for a luxury line being stuffy, I can't vouch for the other lines, but I can say Regent is very laid back and is not stuffy at all. Plus the lower cabins do not have butler service but most do have balconies and are approx 300 sq feet. (read the article here about why to switch to a luxury line.)

BTW: If you were to ask my SO which mass line has the best food, he'd say Holland America wins hands down. He still talks about their bread pudding.

Hommebronze--those menus bring back memories--great ones. We've not sailed Infinity, but the menus on Summit Galaxy and Mercury are similar. Now that another chef has taken over the X menus, the hope is that the food will be at least as good as before. Preliminary opinions are mixed. We will be sailing Mercury again in Jan. to Aust/NZ and will have a chance to see what's what.

We have had great food on RCCL, too. The best was on Jewel of the Seas last year, maybe a bit better than X. :D Who would've thought that could be?? We are looking forward to our next cruise and it's only about 3 1/2 mos. away. :D

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 nights in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ

Hey Cotton,

Newbie here, as you can see by the number of posts, but I just wanted to cime in and say, "hello". Another "retired" chef here from New Orleans. Alas, I'm still working, but not in the industry any longer. I worked with Kevin Vizard when he was at Bayou Ridge and Andrea Apuzzo (Andrea's) before leaving to become the Exec at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Ct. Now, I just wow friends and family at home!

I haven't been on very many cruises. The food on NCL's Sun in the main dining rooms was pretty good when we went this past January and the food at Le Bistro was even better. I'm going on the Spirit out of NO in February.