Jewel MDR vs chain restaurants

[cperk97]

I keep reading reviews stating the MDR quality isn't quite as good as the speciality restaurants on board. How does the MDR compare to say, Applebee's , Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, etc? We have only sailed RCI & Carnival when there was no "speciality restaurants" available, and we never had a problem with the food. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Jo Anne

[Bobbye]

I keep reading reviews stating the MDR quality isn't quite as good as the speciality restaurants on board. How does the MDR compare to say, Applebee's , Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, etc? We have only sailed RCI & Carnival when there was no "speciality restaurants" available, and we never had a problem with the food. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Jo Anne

 

I'd say the food compares to Ruby Tuesdays but Ruby Tuesdays has a MUCH larger menu.

[cperk97]

I was hoping for better than Ruby Tuesdays. But at least it will be eatable. Thanks!

 

Jo Anne

[yoyocruiser]

Let me just say that in my opinion the issue is mroe one that the food varies. That is why I do not compare it to a chain--in chain restaurants the food rarely varies. The menus are a bit more adventurous. I have had marvelous meals int he MDR, and then really not so good.

 

Okay, I don't travel in a large crowd so I do have some leeway. If the meal is bad we leave and literally go elsewhere. I don't understand people moaning about having A BAD DISH. Order another one or leave and go to anotehr restaurant There is SO MUCH wonderful food on the ship. Maybe you ahve to work a little to find it--because there is some mediocre food too (or perhaps there is jsut food for all different tastes). I ave had some wonderful food on NCL--there is no reason to eat anything but wonderful food because there is wonderful food to be had. You may have to look around, work a little to find it. . .we have eaten in three different places for one meal to have the BEST that there is. . .

 

honestly, I do NOt get the complaints about food, I think people are lazy if they can't find good food. Now if you're like with your grandparents and extended family and trying to have meals together--well it may be more of a challenge. But otherwise, GET OUT THERE AND FIND GREAT FOOD.

 

Aged cheeses, marvelous smoked fish, great chilled soups, fantastic coffee, great pretzel rolls, magnificant caesar salads. . .on and on. ..

[johnql]

Let me just say that in my opinion the issue is mroe one that the food varies. That is why I do not compare it to a chain--in chain restaurants the food rarely varies. The menus are a bit more adventurous. I have had marvelous meals int he MDR, and then really not so good.

 

Okay, I don't travel in a large crowd so I do have some leeway. If the meal is bad we leave and literally go elsewhere. I don't understand people moaning about having A BAD DISH. Order another one or leave and go to anotehr restaurant There is SO MUCH wonderful food on the ship. Maybe you ahve to work a little to find it--because there is some mediocre food too (or perhaps there is jsut food for all different tastes). I ave had some wonderful food on NCL--there is no reason to eat anything but wonderful food because there is wonderful food to be had. You may have to look around, work a little to find it. . .we have eaten in three different places for one meal to have the BEST that there is. . .

 

honestly, I do NOt get the complaints about food, I think people are lazy if they can't find good food. Now if you're like with your grandparents and extended family and trying to have meals together--well it may be more of a challenge. But otherwise, GET OUT THERE AND FIND GREAT FOOD.

 

Aged cheeses, marvelous smoked fish, great chilled soups, fantastic coffee, great pretzel rolls, magnificant caesar salads. . .on and on. ..

I completely agree. There is plenty of good food to be had. It may not all be to everyone's taste but that's how food works. If you find a particular dish not to your liking, simply replace it. I once received a jambalaya that I found very disappointing. The waiter noticed my displeasure and immediately offered to get me a replacement entree. So, I ordered the "Always Available" steak and it was delicious.

[emcelh]

I keep reading reviews stating the MDR quality isn't quite as good as the speciality restaurants on board. How does the MDR compare to say, Applebee's , Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, etc? We have only sailed RCI & Carnival when there was no "speciality restaurants" available, and we never had a problem with the food. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Jo Anne

 

I've sailed on the Jewel 2 times and, yes, the food is as good if not better than any of the chains you mentioned. The food (and service) in the specialty restaurants is a bit better, as it should be if you're paying a surcharge for it. We've tried them all and enjoyed them. If you're expecting a 5 star dining experience you'll be disappointed but there are so many choices, you should find plenty of food to enjoy.

[STARFISH*4]

9 cruises on NCL including the JEWEL and have NEVER paid EXTRA for food!! PLENTY of GOOD food and you wont go away hungry~~we NEVER do!!

[Crusin6]

I keep reading reviews stating the MDR quality isn't quite as good as the speciality restaurants on board. How does the MDR compare to say, Applebee's , Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, etc? We have only sailed RCI & Carnival when there was no "speciality restaurants" available, and we never had a problem with the food. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Jo Anne

I don't particularly care for any of the chain restauants mentioned..but this is true...those chain restaurants are BETTER than the Jewel MDR!!!

 

We only ate 2X in the MDR, which is unusual for us, but we were happy to pay for the specialty restaurants...as we had $200 in OBC.

 

The buffet on the Jewel was good..close to excellent...but Tsars was horrible....you would not believe what they put in front of my daughter and called it shrimp cocktail...I told her not to order it...she couldn't eat it of course.....and I am sure the chef see loads of uneaten shrimp cocktails being thrown out...so much so that you would think they would just take it off the menu...it is insulting to serve it and they can't think the pax are so uneducated that they would actually like the shrimp cocktail.

 

Now, Cagneys shrimp coktail was MASSIVE and delicious...and they will bring you 2 if you want.

 

We only took NCL because of the itin, dates and price...not the food as we knew what to expect in the MDR...the cruise was wonderful btw...just the MDR dinners were terrible. Sorry..but true.

[Crusin6]

9 cruises on NCL including the JEWEL and have NEVER paid EXTRA for food!! PLENTY of GOOD food and you wont go away hungry~~we NEVER do!!

yes, the buffet is excellent and the MDR breakfast was delicious

[bakerintn]

As has been said, there are fewer choices.

 

The presentation and service in NCL main dinning rooms in my opinion, far outshines Applebee's.

 

Remember that this is "banquet food" and that in general, the food could be considered bland (but maybe too salty). You won't find "chicken volcano" or "hot hades flounder" on NCL....any banquet type operation needs to cater to the mass audience, or maybe even lower food tastes.

 

I on occassion hadd food on NCL (main dinning room) that is too salty, too well done, too cold or too dry, But...I have had the same experience at catered weddings, organization banquets and the like. That did not make in inedible, just not 4 or 5 star dinning experience.

 

Anyone cruising on a mass market line should not expect 4-5 star dinning and if they happen to get it, they are just plain lucky and should relax and smile!!.

[emcelh]

I don't particularly care for any of the chain restauants mentioned..but this is true...those chain restaurants are BETTER than the Jewel MDR!!!

 

We only ate 2X in the MDR, which is unusual for us, but we were happy to pay for the specialty restaurants...as we had $200 in OBC.

 

The buffet on the Jewel was good..close to excellent...but Tsars was horrible....you would not believe what they put in front of my daughter and called it shrimp cocktail...I told her not to order it...she couldn't eat it of course.....and I am sure the chef see loads of uneaten shrimp cocktails being thrown out...so much so that you would think they would just take it off the menu...it is insulting to serve it and they can't think the pax are so uneducated that they would actually like the shrimp cocktail.

 

 

Now, Cagneys shrimp coktail was MASSIVE and delicious...and they will bring you 2 if you want.

 

We only took NCL because of the itin, dates and price...not the food as we knew what to expect in the MDR...the cruise was wonderful btw...just the MDR dinners were terrible. Sorry..but true.

 

I must be uneducated then. I liked it. I knew exactly what I was getting when I ordered the shrimp cocktail...baby shrimp with a remoulade sauce.

[Crusin6]

I must be uneducated then. I liked it. I knew exactly what I was getting when I ordered the shrimp cocktail...baby shrimp with a remoulade sauce.

we knew it as well and I wasn't surprised, it is just that my 10yo likes good food such as escargot, filet mignon and the like thanks to cruising on DCL and CCL...but I wasn't going to stop her from ordering the shrimp as she may have just liked it anyway...but she wouldn't eat it..cant say I blame her....now the great shrimp cocktail in Cagneys was a totally different story.

 

The point is that so many posters here look forward to "lobster night":rolleyes: and "shrimp cocktail":rolleyes: in the MDR and that really surprises me. Being from NY and Cape Cod, those 2 dishes are not something I salivate for on mass market cruise ships.....because what they produce, especially in the MDR on NCL, is certainly not an outstanding quality shrimp or lobster......baby shrimp the size of a small fingernail is not shrimp cocktail regardless of what they call it....so if middle America expects Jumbo Shrimp with horseradish cocktail sauce and a large lobster tail...they aint gettin it in the MDR. That is just a fact I am stating..and anyone who says they had fabulous lobster or jumbo shrimp cocktail must have had it in Cagneys and just didn't know it.

 

FWIW, I have stated here that the buffet was excellent as were the specialty restaurants...it is just that the NCL MDR is quite frankly not as good as the other mass market lines...that is my only complaint....but hey, if they give me a great price again and continue to sail out of my backyard on the dates I am available...I will book NCL again..but will book 4 specialty restaurants and eat at the delicious buffet the other 3 nights.

[bbryan5]

Just got back from a cruise on the jewel, IMO, the food in the MDR was great. Food is a very subjective matter, what one person likes, one will hate..

[FLAHAM]

Just got back from a cruise on the jewel, IMO, the food in the MDR was great. Food is a very subjective matter, what one person likes, one will hate..

 

 

My main problem with the Jewel MDRs is the inconsistent service. If I received service like that in a restaurant chain, I would eat elsewhere.

[newmexicoNita]

I keep reading reviews stating the MDR quality isn't quite as good as the speciality restaurants on board. How does the MDR compare to say, Applebee's , Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesdays, etc? We have only sailed RCI & Carnival when there was no "speciality restaurants" available, and we never had a problem with the food. Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

Jo Anne

 

Jo Anne, I used to say, if you are happy with places like you mentioned (I always gave TGI Fridays as an example) you would be happy, but it is hard to compare as food even in the MDRs are going to use more sauses, and are more specialized, like beef Wellington, strogonoff, roast pork with apple compote etc. If you are thinking "always avail" which is chicken breast, salmon steak or 8 oz top sirloin, yes I would say it is on the same leve. though the servings might be smaller.

 

Nita

[che5904]

Okay, I don't travel in a large crowd so I do have some leeway. If the meal is bad we leave and literally go elsewhere. I don't understand people moaning about having A BAD DISH. Order another one or leave and go to anotehr restaurant There is SO MUCH wonderful food on the ship. Maybe you ahve to work a little to find it--because there is some mediocre food too (or perhaps there is jsut food for all different tastes). I ave had some wonderful food on NCL--there is no reason to eat anything but wonderful food because there is wonderful food to be had. You may have to look around, work a little to find it. . .we have eaten in three different places for one meal to have the BEST that there is. . .

 

honestly, I do NOt get the complaints about food, I think people are lazy if they can't find good food. Now if you're like with your grandparents and extended family and trying to have meals together--well it may be more of a challenge. But otherwise, GET OUT THERE AND FIND GREAT FOOD.

 

OK I think I can give you at least one answer to this and it's not lazy. I did complain, not that the food was bad but about the lack of being able to find food I liked (I'm picky) on our first cruise (I didn't complain on an open forum, just among my friends).

Why didn't I do as you suggested...Inexperience, lack of thinking, lack of creativity. Most people that have never cruised before treat their included meal as any other restaurant meal. They would not think of picking up and going to another restaurant, probably just leave nagging that they weren't impressed!

This time we were wise, well researched and ready. If we didn't like something we ordered or it was not cooked properly we knew we could order something else. If we loved something, we knew we could order 2. If we wanted 3 appetizers and no entree we knew we could do that too. Or grab a salad or soup from the buffet, move onto the MDR (or the grill) for our main course and desert on an ice cream cone if we felt the need.

[dasmonkey]

we knew it as well and I wasn't surprised, it is just that my 10yo likes good food such as escargot, filet mignon and the like thanks to cruising on DCL and CCL...but I wasn't going to stop her from ordering the shrimp as she may have just liked it anyway...but she wouldn't eat it..cant say I blame her....now the great shrimp cocktail in Cagneys was a totally different story.

 

The point is that so many posters here look forward to "lobster night":rolleyes: and "shrimp cocktail":rolleyes: in the MDR and that really surprises me. Being from NY and Cape Cod, those 2 dishes are not something I salivate for on mass market cruise ships.....because what they produce, especially in the MDR on NCL, is certainly not an outstanding quality shrimp or lobster......baby shrimp the size of a small fingernail is not shrimp cocktail regardless of what they call it....so if middle America expects Jumbo Shrimp with horseradish cocktail sauce and a large lobster tail...they aint gettin it in the MDR. That is just a fact I am stating..and anyone who says they had fabulous lobster or jumbo shrimp cocktail must have had it in Cagneys and just didn't know it.

 

FWIW, I have stated here that the buffet was excellent as were the specialty restaurants...it is just that the NCL MDR is quite frankly not as good as the other mass market lines...that is my only complaint....but hey, if they give me a great price again and continue to sail out of my backyard on the dates I am available...I will book NCL again..but will book 4 specialty restaurants and eat at the delicious buffet the other 3 nights.

 

Interesting that you state this "fact" and the last other mainstream cruise line you were on was 3 years ago.

 

So your 10 year old developed her epicurean taste while eating escargot etc on DCL when she was 3. Amazing!

 

For my point of reference I have been on 5 NCL cruises, 2 CCL, 3 Celebrity and 2 RCL in the last 18 months.

 

There were minimal differences in the food between all of them with the worst being one of the RCL ships and one of the Carnival ships.

 

The shrimp cocktail on NCL was a bit silly however.