:( Well Bye bye Carnival :(

[suzski]

What changes? Have you been on the Grand class?

 

Yes, we were on Star. We had steaks that would have been better cut with a saw (even though they were thin enough to have been considered minute steaks) and even the famous pasta alfredo was off one night.

 

We did not go hungry, mind you, but we did notice the difference from our Princess cruise a year earlier.

[frito58]

I am chuckling at the thread about can we just be postive , why dont we just all run around with hands over ears going LALALALALALALALALA , I'm not a basher of any line I try to make the best out of any situation , but I think we are living in a pipe dream if we think cruising of today is anything like it was 5 -10 years ago. Now thats not saying cruising isnt a GREAT vacation just think its a lot different than it was and the cruise companys are doing what they have to make money. But I am not going to post this on that thread I am not going to pee on their cheerios:):)

[iTouch]

Yes, we were on Star. We had steaks that would have been better cut with a saw (even though they were thin enough to have been considered minute steaks) and even the famous pasta alfredo was off one night.

 

We did not go hungry, mind you, but we did notice the difference from our Princess cruise a year earlier.

 

I will never argue over quality.....because we all have different tastes. What I have found is Carnival offered less selections than previous...their buffet was almost bare at night.....

Did they have the international Cafe on the Star and was the seafood buffet offered one night?

[suzski]

Did they have the international Cafe on the Star YES

 

and was the seafood buffet offered one night? NO

 

Don't recall seeing anything about a seafood buffet

[cruise_girl2002]

prime rib is suppose to have alot of fat.its what gives it flavor. my aunt just made it last night as well, and it had a crap load of fat lol. if you think you'll find better food on rcl, good luck. after cruising them, their food and service was down right awful. smaller portions for sure and wasnt cooked right. but that was my experience

[elcuchio24]

I will never argue over quality.....because we all have different tastes. What I have found is Carnival offered less selections than previous...their buffet was almost bare at night.....

Did they have the international Cafe on the Star and was the seafood buffet offered one night?

 

Now, come on. Even if you don't like all the offerings, "almost bare?" I have seen many things on CCL ships, but bare buffets are not among them. In fact, they are almost overflowing with food.:rolleyes:

[iTouch]

Now, come on. Even if you don't like all the offerings, "almost bare?" I have seen many things on CCL ships, but bare buffets are not among them. In fact, they are almost overflowing with food.:rolleyes:

 

You can roll your eyes all you want. On the Spirit last December in the buffet they only had one line open for dinner when in the past they had several. I kid you not they had the same soggy steak fries every night. One choice of meat and one veggie and some sort of fish dish. And what dessert they had was mostly sugarless....I even broke down and got a piece of pizza for dinner one night......and I hate their pizza. The 2 nites I ate in the dining room the food was good but service was horrible.

I never experienced lack of buffet food for dinner on Carnival before....

[elcuchio24]

You can roll your eyes all you want. On the Spirit last December in the buffet they only had one line open for dinner when in the past they had several. I kid you not they had the same soggy steak fries every night. One choice of meat and one veggie and some sort of fish dish. And what dessert they had was mostly sugarless....I even broke down and got a piece of pizza for dinner one night......and I hate their pizza. The 2 nites I ate in the dining room the food was good but service was horrible.

I never experienced lack of buffet food for dinner on Carnival before....

 

Well thats a new one on me then. We almost never eat at the buffet for dinner, but when we have I've found that most of what is on the MDR menu is also on the Buffet, except for certain things like lobster tails, etc.

[iTouch]

Well thats a new one on me then. We almost never eat at the buffet for dinner, but when we have I've found that most of what is on the MDR menu is also on the Buffet, except for certain things like lobster tails, etc.

 

Exactly! They didn't even have prime rib on formal nite in the buffet or all the soups like they used to. And this was a 9 nite cruise. And I'm not a foodie.....I can get by with their awesome soups and salad.....but they only had soup maybe 3 nites......

[frito58]

Well thats part of the reason we left RCI the buffet was bad , same food every night , if I saw one more Black Angus steak I was going to scream and I only recall one line but then not a lot of people so no big deal.

[Cruise Organizer]

It may be my cynical side, but it appears to me that Carnival is using the poor economy as an opportunity for corporate greed.

We got off the Triumph on Saturday. The seas were light to moderate, but the ship was moving at times like we were in heavy seas. There was no evidence that the stabilizers were deployed. Using the stabilizers creates some drag and uses more fuel to be sure, but when did the comfort of the passengers lose its importance. Penny wise and pound foolish! How many first time cruisers on the Triumph will never cruise again?

 

I have issues with the new food selections and the quality of the ingrediants. I do not agree with putting comfort food and simple fare in a dining room where elegance is supposed to be the order of the evening. However, if that kind of fare is to be on the menu, then it should be the most amazing meatloaf/chicken fingers/hamburger/etc. that ever hit a plate.

 

I was excited to see chateaubriand on the menu until I found that it could not be stabbed with a fork. It was not just my serving. Everyone at the table had tough tenderloin. I do not even know where to go to buy tenderloin that tough.

 

Steven Faber

 

Some restaurants are using a shoulder cut and passing it off as tenderloin - it is called a shoulder filet - not that good.

flat iron "steak" also comes from the shoulder.

I think it is Applebee's that is advertising a shoulder filet on TV

 

Carnival's food has gone down - buffet has less hot food and less meats/proteins. Quality and quantity has been less.

I guess when you go to Applebees/Olive Garden or Chili's - you pay less and get less. You are not getting a Morton's steak for $12.

I was disappointed on my last CCL cruise and by expectations were not high. My cruises for next year do not include CCL. I am drifting away from CCL as the low price is not a bargain to me as I look forward to fine dining on a cruise. I rather pay more and get more, but that is my choice.

[elcuchio24]

Exactly! They didn't even have prime rib on formal nite in the buffet or all the soups like they used to. And this was a 9 nite cruise. And I'm not a foodie.....I can get by with their awesome soups and salad.....but they only had soup maybe 3 nites......

 

Well if that's true, and I have no reason to doubt you, that's aweful.

[iTouch]

Well thats part of the reason we left RCI the buffet was bad , same food every night , if I saw one more Black Angus steak I was going to scream and I only recall one line but then not a lot of people so no big deal.

 

The RCCL ships I have been on had the food stations no line buffets and a hugh variety in the buffet.....

[beshears]

I have not read all the responses to this statement/question, but I was wondering if anyone just recently, has been on the Liberty, since it has been redone, and how the food is?

 

Someone mentioned CCL pizza. I have always LOVED it, unless it has changed, hopefully not.:(

[iTouch]

Well if that's true, and I have no reason to doubt you, that's aweful.

 

But now that they implemented this new menu and all the other upgrades I am excited to sail the Liberty again. Which is my favorite Carnival ship. But I think our change back to Princess this year is what we needed.....to also get away from the samo samo.....

[Cruise Organizer]

yup. our last ccl cruise, before the menu change, the food was horribly downgraded. the food was fatty and poor quality, and we couldn't escape it, as the ship did not have a steakhouse.

 

i knew something was wrong the first night when the spring lamb, which used to fall off the bone, was full of fat and grizzle, even when we requested a second one.

 

and to top it off, our waiters got our orders right only once the entire cruise.

 

we actually ran off the ship in each of our ports to eat, which we had never done before.

 

 

 

I think CCL fares have become too cheap. Food and service have worsened. CCL is more ala carte and pushes the extras - drinks are more expensive.

I compare the entire cost of a cruise, not just the fare.

[crusinpsychRN]

When I asked the waiter to have the pasta dish heated after it was served at room temperature it was much better. The next night though my lamb he made sure was hot was way overcooked and ruined. I'd like to say something to the waiter on the next trip but worry what might happen.

 

It never used to be like this. I wonder what they have done differently that is causing salads to be room temp and entres to be cold or tepid.

[flyonmaster]

It's pretty simple to understand why the food cutbacks are in place. The economy is a magic wand to justify any lowering of selection and quality. Keeping prices low gets you on-board which is what Carnival is all about. Now that the food is mediocre (cheaper) you may choose to go to that steakhouse more often. Then just add in the new branded bars and shortened shows in the comedy clubs to sell more expensive drinks, it all makes cents. I'm sure even the Guy's burgers (which I'm sure are delicious) is cheaper to self-serve than higher quality steak and lobster in the dining room. Cruising is still great, you just have to pay more once on board for the things you used to get for free a few years back.

[firefly333]

It may be my cynical side, but it appears to me that Carnival is using the poor economy as an opportunity for corporate greed.

We got off the Triumph on Saturday. The seas were light to moderate, but the ship was moving at times like we were in heavy seas. There was no evidence that the stabilizers were deployed. Using the stabilizers creates some drag and uses more fuel to be sure, but when did the comfort of the passengers lose its importance. Penny wise and pound foolish! How many first time cruisers on the Triumph will never cruise again?

Steven Faber

 

I was on the same ship and they were sailing into a 45 mph wind and I was told stablizers dont help withe rocky, it has to be a side to side motion and this was just bumpy. We were sailing almost straight into the wind. Maybe some tech guy can explain to you why stablizers dont help with bumpy like that.

 

I enjoyed the new food for the most part. Service was slow, but I never had a bad meal. My vegetarian dinner mates loved the Indian on the menu every night. My whole table liked the food, just the opposite of you. .. so not everyone was displeased.

 

Maybe Im easy to please, but except for the slow service, no complaints.

[iceleven]

I will have to try the Trout Almondine for lunch on Saturday we leave on the Liberty :)

 

I had the trout two weeks ago on the Splendor. It was very dry; no fish should be that dry. In fact, I ended up choking on the fish and had to leave the dining room because it got stuck in my throat and I couldn't breath. Yes, I realize that is a once in a million event but it certainly has turned me off of the fish on the ship.

 

I mentioned on another thread that I believe that the quality of food is dependent upon the head chef for each ship. I suspect that The Dream could use a bit of shifting around some personnel. I cruised the Dream in January and the food was horrible. If it didn't have a name on the menu, I would have called it "mystery meat." In May I cruised HAL and had the best meals ever on a cruise ship. (I will be booking HAL more often in the future) Then we cruised Splendor in October and the food was good, not great, but far, far better than The Dream.

 

Hopefully "The Beards" will get enough feed-back from these boards and correct the problem that The Dream is encountering.

[cruzn buckeye]

Luckily food doesn't make or break a cruise for us....:)

 

Me neither... but.. I have to say, I used to look forward to going to the mdr and having dinner... used to be delicious... now it is okay... not really an exciting part of the cruise anymore... but it is food, some of it is very good... it is just not as good as it used to be... so it doesnt really matter to me if I eat there , order pizza, or room service...

[ib4cruzn]

With all the cutbacks and such we're having a family reunion at Sandles in Jamaica. We had considered a cruise but I'm just not comfortable with the current product. In other words I don't want to be blamed for the rotten food quality.

 

There should be close to 80 of us so we got a very good rate at the AI. We've been before so we know what to expect.

[larkz]

I have admittedly very simple tastes when it comes to food, so I'm probably not the best judge of what is and is not fine dining. Nearly all of the meals I've had on Carnival have been very good, and the rest were at least adequate.

 

If it meant that much to me to have a food orgy every night, and particularly if I were a big meat eater, I'd go for the pay restaurants.

 

Hitting middle age (whatever that is) caused me to eat more like an intelligent adult -- more greens and veggies, some fruit, lots of protein foods like nuts, beans, and the few meats that I actually enjoy. I didn't have much trouble finding fresh, nutritious options on Carnival.

[azpilot]

Exactly! They didn't even have prime rib on formal nite in the buffet or all the soups like they used to. And this was a 9 nite cruise. And I'm not a foodie.....I can get by with their awesome soups and salad.....but they only had soup maybe 3 nites......

 

Had Prime Rib 2 weeks ago on the Spirit in the Buffet, great end cut I had. And all the buffet was open each night we walked past. I think 2 nights we ate in the buffet the rest the dining room for the new items on the menu.

[iTouch]

Had Prime Rib 2 weeks ago on the Spirit in the Buffet, great end cut I had. And all the buffet was open each night we walked past. I think 2 nights we ate in the buffet the rest the dining room for the new items on the menu.

 

We got ripped.....