Royal Caribbean vs Carnival FOOD?

[brn2crz]

another pride review..And while the pics are somewhat more appealing, the review of the food mostly dismal.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1229637

[centurycruiser]

For breakfast from room service, Royal Caribbean is far better. For lunch in the buffet, Royal Caribbean is better in that it has stations rather than a long line. The grill, deli, Mongolian Wok, pasta bar, burrito bar and pizza are tons better than anything Royal Caribbean has for lunch.

 

I like to get eggs Benedict at least once each cruise. Royal and Celebrity are the only lines that serve that with a loose yolk. I believe that's the way it should be served, so, they are the only ones who do that right.

 

If you consider fresh hamburgs from the "grill, deli, Mongolian Wok, pasta bar, burrito bar and pizza," and pandoori as part of the lunch buffet (as I do), NO other cruise line comes close to CCL's lunch buffet. They offer more options than there are days of the cruise. I don't know how anyone can say this is boring. I always end up wishing for more days.

 

I've been on around 30 RCI, 20 CCL, 15 Princess, 11 HAL, 8 NCL and many, many other lines, so I've gotten a lot of eating experience.

[Dreamwonder]

Just an update. I'm a foody person also.

 

I recently cruise on RCL Liberty of the Seas. My comments on food:

 

WJC Buffet - Breakfast is fine.

Lunch & Dinner. There are times good and there are times a little below average. As everybody says, as day pass the taste of food starts to be bland. No fresh grill or stir fries. So on the 5th & 6th day. We ate our lunch outside the ship.

 

MDR - Starters, soups, & dessert are good or above average but Main entree. Honestly, it's below average. Specially on steaks. Lobster is for a fee $30. I think that why they offer Chops grill.

 

From the reviews of others. It seems CCL is better. although I've not cruise with CCL. From the reviews and videos I've seen. I will try to cruise with CCL.

 

RCL offers many activities all day. Somestimes, it hard to choose which one.:)

Edited November 12, 2013 by Dreamwonder

[John Reid]

• Main Dining Room - I think Carnival is slightly better but I didn't have a bad meal on RCI.
  
• Buffet - RCI has much better food and the layout on their ships is much more efficient at handling the crowds.
  
• Room Service - RCI was much better and I think they have better choices.
  

 

I agree here. I enjoyed Carnival MDR dinners more. However, Carnival's buffet dining (I sailed Pride twice) is nowhere near as good as RCI. And the comment about the layout is absolutely correct. Ate dinner once in the Pride buffet. Would not do it again. Have had dinner in Windjammer several times. Much better. I find that getting something to eat on off hours is easier on RCI/Explorer. RCI also has better dining room lunch access, though I did enjoy the Sea Day Brunch choices on Pride.

[Thesaltlife81]

I will say, that of the three cruises I have done, I did like the room service of Carnival better (and its free 24 hours on Carnival), however I prefer the buffet and MDR of Royal.

[EverydayDiesel]

I just got off navigator of the seas with royal caribbean and I thought the food was terrible compared to carnival. This was the opinion shared with all the cruisers that I met, I was very disappointed. It seems you can get good food (in the up charge areas on RC) but who wants to pay MORE when you already paid MORE to get on the ship?

Edited September 8, 2014 by EverydayDiesel

[scapel]

I just got off navigator of the seas with royal caribbean and I thought the food was terrible compared to carnival. This was the opinion shared with all the cruisers that I met, I was very disappointed. It seems you can get good food (in the up charge areas on RC) but who wants to pay MORE when you already paid MORE to get on the ship?

 

After 45 cruise I have found Carnival's food to be as good as RCCL and Celebrity.

[nbsjcruiser]

My family of 6 (kis 10-18) are trying to plan our second cruise. We took Carnival Pride last year and had a great time. We are leaning toward the Explorer of the Seas for June 2011.........everyone says the food is much better on Carnival. We are foodies and know good food....we thought the food on the Pride was good to very good (the supper club being superb) Do you think we will be disappointed with RC.....everyone says for Carnival has better food RC has better pools/activities comments please!

 

We left Carnival 3 or 4 years ago because of the food. I thought it was a step above a Golden Corral to be honest. While food is always subjective, to me RCI's food is better.

[hellsop]

After 45 cruise I have found Carnival's food to be as good as RCCL and Celebrity.

 

That's okay as an absolute, but I find RC and X's food remarkably different. Celebrity was (last trip about three years ago) better executed over all for the most part than Royal Caribbean's, but RC did better stretching the palette and their best was exceptional, while X seldom strayed outside of "really quite good".

[tidygirl]

We have sailed Carnival and Royal and as we only eat at the Windjammer would say we like Royal better! Examples more varieties of fruit, salad toppings, more options for supper such as lamb, sushi, turkey and chicken and many different dishes every night! The times we were on Carnival my family was scrounging for food as they are fussy eaters! DH resorted to pizza quite often which isn't his favorite food! So we prefer Royal, plus enjoy the shows and entertainment alot more!