Royal Caribbean vs Carnival FOOD?

[DPurcell58]

Ok , I forgot about the chocolate melting cake, had that every night. . But I would still go with Royal with all those kids.

[broberts]

My experience / opinion:

MDR - Carnival has a more imaginative, more interesting and generally better prepared menu. But Royal Caribbean does have a couple of very nice mains and the occasional spectacular dessert - although most of their desserts are pretty pedestrian. The ingredient quality of many Royal Caribbean dishes, especially beef, is lower than Carnival.

Buffet - Royal Caribbean by a hair. But this is offset by, depending on the ship class, Carnival's specialty areas - fish & chips, deli, Asian. Where I think Royal Caribbean fails in the buffet is its desserts - generally mediocre but occasionally quite good.

Sushi - about the same, pedestrian.

Specialty -Royal Caribbean has more options. I don't find these restaurants as spectacular as others seem to and rarely frequent them.

Edited June 9, 2010 by broberts

[Aquahound]

Royal Caribbean has no chocolate melting cake...

 

Yes, they do. I don't remember what they call it, though.

[terisu10]

I just got off the Liberty of the Seas, my first RCI cruise. IMO, the food in the MDR is better on Carnival. The layout of the Windjammer (lido deck) on RCI is better but they serve the same bland food DAILY and it became very boring. Carnival's lido deck buffet has a daily "theme" so therefore it is different food daily. Many ships also have a mongolian BBQ with fresh stir fry and an asian section that makes different dishes every day. Carnival also serves made to order deli sandwiches and wraps, including, turkey, ham, reubens, etc. RCI had a tray of sandwiches that had been made ahead of time on the buffet line. They were really bad. Carnival's pizza ovens also serve up fresh calzones and caesar salads. You cannot beat Carnival's fresh grilled burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, steak sandwiches, french fries, nachos, chili, etc. served until midnight daily. There was nothing like that on RCI. I really missed the freshly grilled burgers by the pool. Also Carnival has the ice cream and yogurt machines open 24 hours. The yogurt machine on RCI was shut down at 6 PM! After, you had to PAY at Ben and Jerry's if you wanted ice cream. Carnival also has a late night party two or three times during a 7 day trip where they serve a Mexican or Caribbean buffet. I DID HAVE A GREAT time on the LOS and loved the ship - I would not keep from cruising on RCI because of the food but I do like the food much better on Carnival.

 

PS - The ship was INCREDIBLE and my kids loved it - there is a lot to do.

Edited June 10, 2010 by terisu10

[hubofhockey]

We just sailed on Carnival last week. We find RCI's food much better, especially the buffet selections.

 

Carnival's breakfast buffet is the biggest collection of grease at sea. It would give the BP oil spill a run for its money.

 

Carnival dinners in their MDR are pretty good. I'd rate them a little better than RCI's and much better than Princess.

[Illinoisgal]

carnival is better at -variety in the buffets, fresh burgers , chips and dip, chicken fingers poolside, pizza, free drink options and ice cream/yogurt availability

 

Royal is better at buffet layout, breakfast variety, no long lines etc including for omelets, fresh oj at breakfast . I think they both had ok room service

[ijoonick]

I just returned from the May 30th sailing of the Mariner, our two previous cruises were with Carnival. I wanted to try RC because I felt the food on Carnival was very disappointing. I loved both the Pride and the Splendor but could not face the below average food again. I thought the food on RC was very good.

[Jakeplays]

Thanks for all the input.....seems to be a consensus that Carnival may be a bit better food wise but RCI wins for ships and activities........booking two junior suites on the Explorer of the Seas for my oldest son's graduation from high school next June 2011........we loved the Pride and had fun being our first cruise but the kids did seem to run out of things to do at times...........hoping RCI keeps them busier and the 9 nights and itinerary looks great....st thomas, san juan, st maartin and Bermuda.....thanks again for all the input.......can't imagine planning a cruise with checking things here at CC............good day all'

[CruiserChloe]

I guess I need to take a lot more cruises before I can say for sure which line has better food. I did an Imagination/Majesty of the Seas B2B last year. I thought the food on the Carnival ship was slightly better. However, I thought the food on my recent Oasis cruise was the best I have had so far.

[lettienets]

Carnival main dining room food is the best for presentation, quality, and quantity. I am amazed at the good food, esp since their cruise prices are cheaper. Mongolian wok and deli sandwich bar at lunch are very good too.

Room service menu not too appealing.

[h2ocruiser]

Just returned from Alaska on The Radiance and have to say the food in main dining room was excellent. They were rolling out many new menu items and the head chef from Miami Coorperate was on board to oversee this transition. It was "Hands Down" much better than the previous Carnival Cruise and an improvement over Jewel of the Seas taken in Fall 2000.

[fw2020]

Clicked the wrong button. I meant to post a new thread. Please ignore it.

Edited June 10, 2010 by fw2020

[JerseyBird]

CCL buffet was terrible, but MDR was way better than RCL. Sad to find out CCL food is still better than RCL now days (from what I read so far), because I already paid the whole thing for upcoming August sail on RCL, no "change of mind" here any more :(. Hope I won't be too disappointed.

[mtchg]

"Just returned from Alaska... They were rolling out many new menu items and the head chef from Miami Coorperate was on board to oversee this transition. It was "Hands Down" much better than the previous Carnival Cruise and an improvement over Jewel of the Seas taken in Fall 2000"

 

I imagine so, since Jewel of the Seas didn't debut unitl the Spring of 2004. ???

 

Mitch

Edited June 10, 2010 by mtchg

[Jumbiecruiser]

After reading this thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1215262

sounds like Carnival is sliding down a slippery slope.

[Quigley10]

We've done three cruises each on RCI and CCL, including one on each last year. For food, my husband and I both put RCI as the winner, hands-down. We found the choices and presentation to be noticeably better at the MDR and the buffet.

 

The MDR food on the Carnival Freedom last summer was inconsistent and disappointing. We frankly chose meals that they were least likely to ruin. Surprisingly, this was better than our experiences on the Fascination and Ecstasy. I remember having cold spaghetti in the MDR one night on one of the earlier cruises.

 

The MDR and WJ food on the Monarch last year was fantastic, despite being a 3-night cruise. We took pictures of many of our dishes, and the taste matched the presentation. It may have slipped a little from our trips on the Sovereign and Nordic Empress, but it was still well beyond our experiences on Carnival.

 

We'll still travel with Carnival - their food isn't bad by any means. My husband especially likes the ice cream machines. However, we definitely prefer RCI. We're headed on the Freedom of the Seas this week and look forward to our meals!

[mek]

I think Carnival's food is considerably better.

[mike1trim]

I feel the food on Carnival is much better.

with that being said i am sailing on my 5th rci ship in september.

I have only sailed carnival once.

[Nekochan]

Carnival pizza is the best at sea I think. And I would sail them again just for the chocolate melting cake. Buffet is better on RCCL. I think, as far as MDR food goes, that is a matter of what you prefer. I prefer vegetarian, and RCCL is much, much better than carnival as far as vegetarian choices. In fact, there were times when I had trouble finding something to eat on Carnival, since I am allergic to alot of foods (mostly animal products - beef, veal, shellfish, turkey, pork). RCCL has Johnny Rockets which was very nice. I really like the activities on RCCL much, much better, especially since I travel with a teen. It seems that meat eaters really like Carnival food alot, but I thnk RCCL does much better with the variety of dishes offered.

[cruisinlawn]

I have eaten in the lunch buffets of every major cruise line countless times. I honestly can't say there is a uniform difference. Some days are better than others, but truthfully, it all tastes the same to me.

 

The suttle differences are more related to different ships, not cruise lines.

 

 

excellent, well stated and unbiased...ditto here.

[mtchg]

After reading this thread

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1215262

sounds like Carnival is sliding down a slippery slope.

 

...if by "slippery slope' you mean they have banned power strips, are enforcing the liquor ban more stringently, and have eliminated repeater "pins". Those are pretty much the complaints on that CCL thread. Marginal issues at most. Alot of complaints of the new CEO compared to the legendery John Dickenson; but more in style than substance.

 

Royal Caribbean has it's own issues; and to be fair to all the cruiselines; they are just trying to cope with a bad economic atmosphere; and historically low price points; a necessity to fill berths; but a strain on the bottom line.

 

Mitch

Edited June 11, 2010 by mtchg

[Cindy]

We think an area where Carnival really shines is food selection and quality, especially in the MDR. Food on a cruise is very important to us, and we were very impressed on both our Carnival cruises. The quality of the meat and seafood seems to be quite a bit better on CCL vs. RCCL.

We eat almost all our dinners (one night in a specialty restaurant) in the MDR, and choose the dining room for lunch whenever it's open. I prefer the rotating lunch menus on Carnival and Princess to the set menu on RCCL.

As for the buffet, I find them all to be quite similar, but we eat there as little as possible...that means lunch on port days on both Carnival and RCCL. One thing I like about Carnival is all the Lido options that aren't buffet...Mongolian Grill, Deli, fresh pizza, the grill, Burrito Bar, Rotisserie Chicken, etc. We found ourselves choosing one of those when the dining room was closed for lunch...much better then the buffet!

There are things I like better about Royal Caribbean, but food isn't one of them.:)

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Your kids will have a better time on Explorer.

 

The buffet on the Lido deck on CCL is fresher and has much more variety and there are changes daily. Burgers are off the grill along with hot dogs, unlike RCI where the burgers sit in a heating try and folks pick at them. CCL also has fresh made sandwiches and pannini, again against Royals sandwiches presented in a tray where they sit. The only thing CCL lost (for me) was the Salad area, way too small, not enough selection. On our crusie that is where there was always a line (small), but there was nothing worth waiting for, really. The MDR food on CCL was very, very good. It is pretty comparitive with Royals MDR. We had a personal dining consultant come to the table every night to take DS's order for the next day b/c he is allergic to nuts..>Royal has never offerred this or asked if anyone has food allergies, CCL actually asks. They prepared his food using seperate pans etc. Even though we thought the food was fresher and tastier (just by a tiny bit) on CCL, we prefer Royal. The kids like it much better and the Crew and staff on Royal is much friendlier.

 

This is a link to my review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=898081&page=2

[Jimnbigd]

I was very disappointed with the MDR food on the Carnival Ecstasy this past January. I was happy with the MDR food on RCI's Voyager of the Seas this past March. But I think it really won't matter that much which ship you pick. After all, it is "all you can eat". If someone orders something and it is bad, order something else.

 

I like the desserts and coffee in RCI's Cafe Promenade (deck 5). Pretty good ready-made sandwiches and pizza too.

 

The ice show on the EOS alone is worth RCI over Carnival, I think (even though this is not related to food).

Edited June 11, 2010 by Jimnbigd

[mek]

I feel the food on Carnival is much better.

with that being said i am sailing on my 5th rci ship in september.

I have only sailed carnival once.

 

Five years ago, we did the Brilliance in the Med. I wasn't thrilled with the food and in fact that experience kept me away from RCCL until this year when - big surprise - we're sailing on the Brilliance again. Sometimes the itinerary is so much more important than the food! :D