Quality food on Cruise lines- who is the best?

[mtk]

I've been on the mass market ships many times.

I know that you get what you pay for regarding the quality vs price on Cruises.

I am now interested in a smaller, upscale cruise. My wife and I are in our early 50's and would like a more luxury line - smaller ship. We are in the NYC area and can find excellent restaurants in our area. What cruise lines would others recommend. We have considered Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn, RSSC. Any recommendations?

[travelgals]

Well it's not smaller, but certainly upscale, how about Cunard P or Q level. Sails out of NY quite a bit.

[A J Theodore]

"Smaller" and "luxury" are relative and highly subjective.

 

In terms of size, Crystal ships can carry about 1000 passengers each, Seabourne about 200, Silversea between 200 and 300, and Radisson about 700 on the Voyager and Mariner and about 500 on the Voyager. To me, Seabourne, Silversea, and Crystal are distinctly in the luxury market with Radisson and Cunard (Princess Grill and Quenns Grill cabins) a couple of notches below the truly luxury level.

 

In terms of food, the ingredients, preparation, and service are noticeably better on Seabourne, Silversea, and Crystal than on Radisson and Cunard. Among the three, my personal preference is Crystal. This is primarily because of the existence of two first-rate specialty restaurants on their ships - Chinese and Italian on the Symphony and the Japanese and Italian on the Harmony. I have not been on the Serenity but have been told that the Silk Road is on a par with the others. On the whole, however, the dining rooms in Seabourne and Silversea may slightly exceed the Crystal dining room.

[bonni99]

I would agree that Cuanrd is not small scale- but the food we had on the QM2 on a transatlantic crossing was outstanding. We then cruised with Royal Caribbean on the Splendour of the seas and was hugely disappointed- such a difference in quality- we couldn't believe it! The rbeakfasts in particular were virtually inedible on the Splendour-

[lord of the seas]

What are RBEAKFAST'S ?:rolleyes:

[CruiseIsGood]

Also consider Oceania if you like food and a smaller line.

[celbercrz333]

We did Celebrity Zenith from NYC to Bermuda. I think that goes out of NJ now. The food was very good on it. French pastries were out of this world! When we did Carnival Fascination, it felt like they opened a box of Sara Lee pastries and put it on their buffet. At the lunch buffet they cut you one slice of a cake/pie/dessert. On Celebrity you took whatever you wanted as much as you wanted and believe me............you really wanted it all. I won't compare the dinners from Celebrity to Carnival because on our 3 day Carnival we opted only for casual dining. I've heard that Celebrity Zenith is a smaller ship, being about 700 feet long. It had less than 2,000 passengers. I'm not sure how small you want to go, but I would recommend Celebrity Zenith.

[lillibean]

What are RBEAKFAST'S ?:rolleyes:

 

Maybe slightly dyslexic breakfasts?