Food on Carnival VS Royal Caribbean

[abbyndrewmom]

Hi,

 

We have done two cruises on Carnival and are considering RCI for our next cruise (January 2006, Majesty or Enchantment.) On our first carnival Cruise (Ectasy 1996) we were not impressed with the food however on our recent Holiday cruise we were pleasanty surprised by the imporvement in the quality.

 

I would love to try a RCI ship but am a little hesitant due to some of the reviews I have read about the food. DH is a chef so food is pretty important to us, we do not expect Cruise ship fare to be the same as a 5 star restaurant. But we do expect good qualtiy food prepared properly.

 

I am looking for some honest open evaluations from people who have recently cruised on both lines and how they would compare the quality of the food between the two lines.

[cherylc]

I just got back from the April 17, 2005 Rhapsody of the Seas cruise.

 

I love all kinds of food. And I'm a tough critic. I had not been on a cruise in 15 years and I wondered WHAT HAPPENED. I used to look forward to dinner. It didn't help that we had an awful waiter at our table.

 

We at most breakfasts at the buffet. We enjoyed it alot. It had a big variety. My son had his omelets, i had my lox and bagels and my husband had his bacon and eggs.

 

Lunch in the dining room was my favorite time to eat there. Soups were excellent. They had a standard menu plus a featured menu each day. The ribs were good, the calamari excellent.

 

We ate at the buffet on the days we were sunbathing and the sandwiches and salad were good.

 

Dinner, like I said was disappointing. I'll try anything. Always take the soups. They were excellent. I'm the type of person that wants to try everything. But one night I gave up and had the steak from the alternate menu because nothing else sounded good. Give me veal scallopini. I can have chicken at home............In fact I had the beef option most nights and it was lack luster. It was tough, chewy and luke warm. The lobster was okay, but I'm from New England so it's not that special.

 

Desserts were okay. My favorite was the cream puff swan from the sugarless menu. My waiter said it was courageous of me. He did not know what he was talking about most nights.

 

If you're cruising for gourmet food, this isn't it.

 

My good friend just cruised on the Carnival Triumph and said she loved it. She'd complain if she didn't like it coming from a big Italian family out of Bostn that ran a restaurant.

 

My two cents...........

 

C.

[Taco]

Carnival Spirit only----------30 day cruise, then 14 day trip------------we eat just about everything, and LOVED it all. Buffet stations were great--------6 or 7 separate stations, so lines were not long. Lunch was chinese/sushi/japanese/korean, different country site every day, sandwiches, soups, american, reubens (like ny deli choices) italian and a few others. Lunch in dining room was fine, but, of course, took longer for a sit down.

 

rci--14 day and 7 day last fall-----smaller ship, but we enjoyed it.

 

Both had choices and choices for dinner. I agree w/poster who said we can get chicken at home. We eat what we ordinarily don't eat at home. We are from New England, also, but lobsters were better on carnival . rci, I think, broils them. I am used to Maine. Only my opinion!!

[celbercrz333]

Abby,

We have done Carnival and Celebrity. While I can't speak for RCCL, who owns Celebrity, I can say that Carnival didn't compare. Where Celebrity had luscious french pastries that were good quality, Carnival looked like they opened a box of Sara Lee and put them out on a table. Not only that they wouldn't let us take our own, they sliced each slice and handed it to us. Celebrity let us take as much or as little as we wanted. Food for dinner on Celebrity was very good. We did a 3 nighter on Carnival and we didnt' do the formal dining room at all. I can't imagine Celebrity having such good food and their parent company RCCL having bad. But then as I've said, I've never done a RCCL cruise.

[bonni99]

We sailed on RCI splendour of the seas in the med last fall and were not impressed- buffet food a strange mixture and not appetising and lunch menu virtually the same every day- we opted to have rbeakfast in our room every day as it was poor in the main king and I dining room- even the hot chocolate was undrinkable! I have to admit it has put me off RCI ships- which is a shame as I am sure that other RCI ships must be a lot better

[Cotton]

QUOTE=celbercrz333]Abby,

Not only that they wouldn't let us take our own, they sliced each slice and handed it to us. Celebrity let us take as much or as little as we wanted.

 

You're referring to the dessert table on Lido Deck on Carnival, right? Those folks are 'serving you' desserts, much nicer than just laying them out on a buffet line, and of course you can have as much as you like. Go back ten times, get ten desserts, if you wish.:rolleyes:

 

We did a 3 nighter on Carnival and we didnt' do the formal dining room at all.[quote

 

:o If you didn't have any meals in the formal dining room, how can you possibly say the food on Carnival wasn't good? (Lido Deck buffet food is just 'buffet food' like you can get at any buffet back home.) Carnival has fabulous meals in the dining room! The dining room food, presentation, and ambiance cannot be compared to buffet food. I think they do a wonderful job with Spring lamb, Roast duckling, Beef Wellington, Chateaubriand, Chilien sea bass, etc. (Can't get that type meal at the buffet.) You definitely missed out by skipping the dining room. I'm a retired Food & Beverage director for hotels in N.O., and also a caterer....so I know good food.

[Kuyaba]

My BF and I both thought the food on Carnival Victory generally was better than the Celebrity Constellation and we're pretty critical. With the exception of only a couple of things.

[environ2]

We cruised on RCI Rhapsody of the Seas October 2004 and thought the food was splendid! Our party of 4 looked forward to a luscious dinner in the dining room every evening and our waiter, Ericson (sp) was outstanding. The buffet was, as other posters mentioned, good but nothing you wouldn't find at a buffet-style restaurant. I definitely recommend the Rhapsody as we were pampered and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the cruise. The head chef even did a "cooking demonstration" in the central area which was entertaining as well as delicious. Don't bother with the pizza and burger grill as I've had better frozen cuisine.

[cruizinrican]

My heart belongs to RCL but I hate to say the food is just yummier on Carnival than RCL. But to each his own, I guess that is why they call it an opinion! ;)

 

Cruizinrican

[Cotton]

We cruised on RCI Rhapsody of the Seas......Don't bother with the pizza and burger grill as I've had better frozen cuisine.

 

I've heard several other people talk about how bad the pizza was on RCI. That's a shame. They really should get Carnival's secret. I've never had better pizza! I don't know how they do those crusts, but they're the tastiest and most tender I've ever had....and the toppings are numerous. Love the goat cheese/mushroom.

 

As for burgers, I've never tried one on any ship.:rolleyes:

[Texsungirl]

I thought the food on Rhapsody of the Seas was very good and while I am not a culinary expert, I am no stranger to good food.

 

I prefer to eat breakfast and lunch in the windjammer, with the exception of the night we were in Key West we ate in the main dinning room.

 

I hope they still offer the Grand Marnier Souflee when I cruise again in September.

[ferret]

there is no comparisson

 

literally

 

you can't compare them because they are too similar

---------

And michelle, I've had the grand marnier souffle (all time favorite dessert) on Carnival and RCI...it was exactly the same. I think it's a cruise staple, like tiramisu and baked alaska. I had out of this world GM souffle on Celebrity in the specialty dining room. I promise that if you ever had this you would turn your nose at the ones offered in the dining room on Carnival and RCI. (actually, I eat it anyway, but you know what I"m saying.)

[Live_2_cruise05]

I much prefer Carnival food over Rccl!!!

[kenandlaura06]

I've heard several other people talk about how bad the pizza was on RCI. That's a shame. They really should get Carnival's secret. I've never had better pizza! I don't know how they do those crusts, but they're the tastiest and most tender I've ever had....and the toppings are numerous. Love the goat cheese/mushroom.

 

As for burgers, I've never tried one on any ship.:rolleyes:

 

And I personally thought the pizza on Carnival was terrible.

[love2vacation]

I thought there were more dessert choices on the Miracle buffet than the Explorer buffet. There were so many choices- the green tea cheese cake was so good. Also there where so many stations- we also had the best spring rolls on the Miracle at one of the stations. My husband and I both agree that the rueben sandwiches served on the Miracle were awesome, we dont' do pizza because we eat it at home. We had late dinner seating oon the Miracle so we always went and got a rueben about 4:30 to tide us over till dinner. We both agree that the dining room food, as a whole, was better on the Explorer and the dining room staff was far superior to that of the Miracle. Did not have room service on either so can't attest to room service food. Also the Explorer had wonderful midnight appetizers, served near the Champagne Lounge, the waiters will bring back more of whatever you like to keep you happy. :D I can't wait till March!!

[elron]

As we see here by everyone's replies, we all have different tastes! My 2cents taste as follows: A) RCCL's buffets over Carnival's - B) Carnival's main dining room food over RCCL's - C) RCCL's pizza over Carnival's - D) RCCL's Johnny Rockets and Carnival's pool eateries are even. Since someone mentioned Celebrity, their pizza wasn't the best but their food(buffet, Sushi & dinner) on a whole was great! This is by our tastes though!

[takeavacation]

The best pizza is on Princess - just thought I'd share that thought.:)

[Jen&Bill5104]

We just cruised on Carnival and were pretty bored with the dining. The buffet and casual eats were good, but the dinners you look forward to were rather below average-boring and often over or under cooked, drenched in sauces or covered up by odd garnishes.

 

My parents sailed in Royal Caribbean and they compared our dining on Carnival this week to RC and they feel RC is better by a long shot.

[Cotton]

:D But Jen - you really can't compare unless you taste. Talking about food and actually having that food can't be a fair comparison.

 

It really doesn't matter anyway. One's taste is always different from another's. I've seen fellow passengers who thought the Bearnaise sauce tasted 'funny', only to find out they wanted Hollandaise - just didn't care for the taste of tarragon in the Bearnaise - so it was "awful!"...:D Sometimes, it's all in not knowing what you're actually ordering that makes you disappointed in a dish.

[mstea]

;) Did a RCCL Majesty in November 2004, Just did a Carnival- Elation June 2005, I have sailed both before and I have the same answer as before... Carnival Food is much better than RCCL. Esp the steaks.. RCCL just can't cook a good steak.. Now this is in the regular dining room, since I haven't been to one of the special dining rooms. and then fries and burgers I thought were great, maybe we were just starved after laying in the sun..LOL...:D

[Txcruisers04]

Over all I have found the food to be good on all my cruises. If I order something I don't like I just re-order. I will say that the food on Carnival is the best. Carnival has by far the best pizza and awsome fries. I think dinner on Carnival is better than RCI. The food is great and I enjoy the activities. If your meal is under or over cooked, drenched in sauces or covered with garnish, send it back. They will make it right! This is applicable on any line.

[DBCH911]

I think that the dining room food is better on Carnival but the alternative dining on the RCCL Navigator of the Sea was excellent! The food in their dining room was average. It was not bad but nothing to run home about either.

[redsoxgrlt]

I have only cruised once, on Carnival Triumph, but I can attest to the fact that the food is great on the Triumph! Loved it so much, I'm going back for more in 2 days! I will let you know how it was the second time around!

[redsoxgrlt]

Just as good the second time around! Now for the Miracle in Jan. '08!!

[EggDropErin]

For me, I like the food in the dining room much better on RCI, however, I prefer Carnival's desserts.