Zuiderdam.. horrific food. March 12, 2005

[Iggipolka]

We have the best rib place! Park Avenue BBQ ... the best!

 

My wife grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, so when we were there last year she took me to Sonny's BBQ.

 

Oh

 

My

 

I have never had such good BBQ as we had there. Sooo scrumptious I'm just craving their sauce!

Mmm..hmm..ok..I have to leave work and get some lunch! It's not like I'm getting a lot work done with the CC board window open anyway! :D

[Oceanwench]

I guess it's all what you're used to!

I lived in Texas for two years, and have never had Mexican or barbecue that compares!

Of course I lived in Ohio for 16 years after that, and I must say the Akron area did not have much in the way of restaurants.

 

As far as South Florida, it's generally thought [among the locals] that the quality of food in a restaurant is inversely proportional to its proximity to the water.

I think I said that right!

In other words, if you're giving the people a view, you don't have to give them good food!

I'm not sure I go along with that 100 percent, but I have been disappointed.

 

We have a Sonny's BBQ in our town and after eating there once, I'd never go again! I like my ribs fallin' off the bone.

 

And of course we have the best Cuban food outside of Cuba! :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

Yes, Oceanwench, you are right.

 

But to say the food deteriorates by the water would mean they never went to Jetty's! I love that restaurant ... my favorite .. with some wonderful memories.

[JDee]

Now that we're on BBQ's, certainly each region has their own perfections. First off, you must like that type of food, otherwise, the best BBQ in the world would be a looser.

 

While I do not profess to be a connoiseur of fine BBQ, have had my share of winners and loosers. Found a really good BBQ in North Carolina appropriately called Carolina BBQ. It is located just of I-77 near Statesville (that's about 50 miles N of Charlotte). Plenty of road signs so you can't miss it. A very popular place for locals and tourists. Travel that way 3 or 4 times a year going to DW's "holler estate" in WV -- yeah, we call call it an estate since it's 60 acres plus.....

 

As fir Sunny's, plenty of those around these parts. It's a decent place for lunch, nice clean places. A good alternative for the burger joints when traveling.....

 

Happy cruising.....

[Time2sail]

The best mesquite beef barbeque is in Texas--too many places to name. Just can't find it anywhere else like the Texans' do it. Even the mesquite barbeque at the Mesquite Rodeo is awesome.:)

 

The best barbeque ribs anywhere are at Dreamland Barbeque in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They serve only ribs, fresh loaf of bread and their sauce. No sides nor do you want them. Dreamland has other locations in Mobile and Birmingham but don't bother with those--they are not in the league with the original location and we do not recommend those. They will ship UPS.

 

Sonny's has great sliced barbeque pork but forget the ribs, turkey or chicken. After the Dreamland ribs, the rest can be lumped together as second best.

[Iggipolka]

We at the pulled bbq pork at Sonny's and didn't try the ribs. It was highly yummy!

[doone]

Pereiras, you mentioned that you were in a suite, so weren't we. We had that corner aft suite, 5187, which suite were you in? Was it a corner aft suite? Did you go to the suite party? Wasn't the Neptune Lounge wonderful???

[dakrewser]

Heather, I had the absolute BEST Cuban food in Ft. Lauderdale last April

 

For some reason, there's an excellent Cuban restaurant in San Jose. And there is supposed to be a decent BBQ place in Watsonville - but we always get sidetracked by the strawberries!

 

For you Easterners - and anyone driving to the Maasdam in Norfolk - Pierce's in Williamsburg has the best pulled pork. Bar none.

[ekerr19]

Oh, you Cuban food lover's - if you get to Denver, please stop in and try the Samba Room in downtown Denver... it is one of our absolute favorites - they also make a very mean pitcher of Mojito's, made properly, unlike some places.

[HeatherInFlorida]

We just went out for Cuban food tonight at our little place called Cuban Rice 'n' Beans. Catchy name, don't you think? They have strolling singer who sing so loud by your table you can't hear a thing:D . We love it 'cause it's just fun and light hearted. Food was delicious.

[Pereiras]

We were on the 7th floor, down the hall from the Neptune..

 

Pereiras, you mentioned that you were in a suite, so weren't we. We had that corner aft suite, 5187, which suite were you in? Was it a corner aft suite? Did you go to the suite party? Wasn't the Neptune Lounge wonderful???

[Pereiras]

Lawyer from Texas.

 

He was the one with the jelly sandwiches for his children in the suite.

 

Apparently, the Zuiderdam room service will deliver a whole loaf of bread to your room with butter.

 

They didn't have a horrific meal like we did, but shared the crappy food experience in general. I will provide more complete details soon.

 

We were on the 7th floor, down the hall from the Neptune..

[Tide Pride]

Just getting back to you.

I have thoroughly enjoyed RCCL... I have found their ships to be absolutely beautiful and well designed. Their crew has always been friendly and helpful and we have always enjoyed their DR personnel who are friendly and appear to enjoy their jobs and with interacting with the passengers. They are not what you would call " reserved ".

The ships seem to be high energy but I have never personally witnessed loud obnoxious people at all.

The drawback to RCCL to me is that we have witnessed a decline in overall food quality over the past five years. Our most recent cruise was in April 2004 on the gorgeous " Serenade of the Seas " and we found the food temperature in the DR to be Cool to slightly cold. This was everynight so it was not an isolated event. An example of poor food qualilty was bacon. You could hold it up and it looked to be 95% fat with a minute line of actual meat running down the middle. The bacon wiggled like a worm. No crispness.

Having said that I have enjoyed all five previous RCLL cruises and would cruise with them again.

As for X we are booked on them on the Millennium this month.

Regards

[Pereiras]

Hi Tide Pride.

 

Thank you VERY much for this. It is a concern to hear that. I do want to cruise again in December, .. perhaps I will look at the Millenium. Do you feel the food will be better on that ship? Have you investigated some?

 

Just getting back to you.

I have thoroughly enjoyed RCCL... I have found their ships to be absolutely beautiful and well designed. Their crew has always been friendly and helpful and we have always enjoyed their DR personnel who are friendly and appear to enjoy their jobs and with interacting with the passengers. They are not what you would call " reserved ".

The ships seem to be high energy but I have never personally witnessed loud obnoxious people at all.

The drawback to RCCL to me is that we have witnessed a decline in overall food quality over the past five years. Our most recent cruise was in April 2004 on the gorgeous " Serenade of the Seas " and we found the food temperature in the DR to be Cool to slightly cold. This was everynight so it was not an isolated event. An example of poor food qualilty was bacon. You could hold it up and it looked to be 95% fat with a minute line of actual meat running down the middle. The bacon wiggled like a worm. No crispness.

Having said that I have enjoyed all five previous RCLL cruises and would cruise with them again.

As for X we are booked on them on the Millennium this month.

Regards

[Tide Pride]

I have heard that the food on X might be better in presentation and in quality than the other mass market lines. We will find out shortly. From reading these boards it is reported that Celebrity spends more per day per passenger on food than many of the other lines. My travel agent keeps pushing us to Crystal so we might take a look at that in the future.

Regards

[doone]

Food is so subjective, my friend who sails Carnival loves their food, but she did try Celebrity once because everyone raved about Celebrity's food. She said the food on Celebrity was not as good as what people had said. She said Carnival's food was alot better. So, to each his own.

[Pereiras]

Hi Doone, you are right. My neighbour went on Carnival last Dec, and said the food was comparable to the Princess we did together 2 years ago. I had heard so many negatives about Carnival, but his info defied that thought. This is why I have begun to ask about specific ships.... Ie.. the new Carnival ship they went on had very good food... at least in their opinion..

 

Thanks for taking the time..

 

Food is so subjective, my friend who sails Carnival loves their food, but she did try Celebrity once because everyone raved about Celebrity's food. She said the food on Celebrity was not as good as what people had said. She said Carnival's food was alot better. So, to each his own.

[Pereiras]

That is very helpful.. thanks Doone. Any folks here who have taken a Crystal cruise?

I have heard that the food on X might be better in presentation and in quality than the other mass market lines. We will find out shortly. From reading these boards it is reported that Celebrity spends more per day per passenger on food than many of the other lines. My travel agent keeps pushing us to Crystal so we might take a look at that in the future.

Regards

[Pereiras]

Sorry, didn't answer your question totally.. we did like the Neptune. The ladies in there remembered everyone by name.. it was a good thing..

 

I think our cabin was 7068... it's been 3 weeks already. My wife would laugh. It became a mental block for me, as we had a room assignment in SS, and upgraded at the last minute... Kept quoting the old room number to everyone regarding where we were staying! Ah.. you have to be able to laugh at yourself, and not take everying so seriously..eh (as we Canadians say..)

 

We were on the 7th floor, down the hall from the Neptune..

[JDee]

P, Sorry you feel hi-jacked. However, any thread that is pushing 4,000 views, is bound to drift somewhat. Not only on HAL boards, but pretty much all others. Many topics, such as food, tipping, dress codes, service, etc., which tend to draw many varied responses, are the very ones that drift somewhat. But really, food is food, and there will continue to be a variety of postings, some directly related to cruising, some not.

 

Just as a suggestion, maybe you ought to start a new thread as a poll to find some preferences. Believe many people are hesitant to make their views known on this thread, simply because of its length. We are now on page 11. I do respond to polls if the choices are carefully worded and the choices not extensive--don't like choosing from 10 options, nor just two. Or a choice that is slanted to express the poster's viewpoint....

 

Anyhow, it's Sunday, and have a nice day.......happy cruising.....

 

(I started a thread on the news articles from the SPTimes, and probably a good thing it doesn't include any food sections. )

[trubey]

We just went out for Cuban food tonight at our little place called Cuban Rice 'n' Beans. Catchy name, don't you think? They have strolling singer who sing so loud by your table you can't hear a thing:D . We love it 'cause it's just fun and light hearted. Food was delicious.

 

Gotta try it! We LOVE el Siboney in Key West, owned run, staffed and cooked by Cubans, Marielitos I think. Roast pork with Naranja (sour orange), garlic and Oregano!!! Naranjas are as common as spit here and the Azoreans won't eat them so we can get ALL we want. I juice them freeze the juice into ice cube trays. They make a heck of a Margarita, too!

 

Unfortunately, after the hurricane Shiver's (rte 1 in Homestead) was sold and it's not BBQ any more, just flavorless sliced pork shoulder. Haven't been to Shorty's lately because I take the freeway down to KW now.

 

There's a great Dim Sum in Miami now, too, off Bird Road, I think. . . .

 

Hungry Lane

[Pereiras]

Hi Jdee..

 

Great info.. thanks. I will try that. Eh.. not worried really about the hijack... good people mostly here! Thanks to you!

 

P, Sorry you feel hi-jacked. However, any thread that is pushing 4,000 views, is bound to drift somewhat. Not only on HAL boards, but pretty much all others. Many topics, such as food, tipping, dress codes, service, etc., which tend to draw many varied responses, are the very ones that drift somewhat. But really, food is food, and there will continue to be a variety of postings, some directly related to cruising, some not.

 

Just as a suggestion, maybe you ought to start a new thread as a poll to find some preferences. Believe many people are hesitant to make their views known on this thread, simply because of its length. We are now on page 11. I do respond to polls if the choices are carefully worded and the choices not extensive--don't like choosing from 10 options, nor just two. Or a choice that is slanted to express the poster's viewpoint....

 

Anyhow, it's Sunday, and have a nice day.......happy cruising.....

 

(I started a thread on the news articles from the SPTimes, and probably a good thing it doesn't include any food sections. )

[flamingogal]

BTW, it's really called a thread "title" more than a "bi-line". You don't get points on the CC boards for a thread staying on top. If you did, I'd have taken home the silver cup a long time ago:D.

 

 

Here we go again... Marcia, Marcia, Marcia :p

[Pereiras]

By the way Doone, we hemed and hawed about the corner aft suites.. and in the end, decided against for a couple of reasons.. my BH can get seasick, and felt mid or close to it would be better, and that the main cabin is a wee bit smaller .. though it is more than made up by the size of the balcony. What say you? Would you do that one again, or move to where we were? (ie, of course, assuming you would sail HAL again..)

 

 

 

Pereiras, you mentioned that you were in a suite, so weren't we. We had that corner aft suite, 5187, which suite were you in? Was it a corner aft suite? Did you go to the suite party? Wasn't the Neptune Lounge wonderful???

[Pereiras]

Oh boy... tongue is heavily been bitten... (owch). I love it when the analogies pop out that require heavy 70's TV watching to understand! The people on this thread are very very interesting! Thanks for posting!

 

Here we go again... Marcia, Marcia, Marcia :p