RCCL - overall food quality poll

[Soxfan05]

[QUOTE=WeBeCruisin']I read somewhere recently that the average price of a cruise was about $100 a day, with some being as low as $50-$60 a day. If you break that down into travel expense, room, and food, you're spending about $17 to $33 a day for each category. If you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and nothing else, that's about $6 to $11 per meal. If they served you nothing but hotdogs, french fries, and hamburgers, you would still be far exceeding your "money's worth in quality." On a land vacation, even if you take all your meals at places like Denny's, Shoney's, IHOP, or Chili's, you'll still be spending more than you would per day on food on a cruise ship. Now, if you figure transportation and lodging at [i][b]more [/b][/i]than a third each (which is far more probable) your food cost on a cruise might drop as low as $5 to $10 a day.
And, for those of you who are going to yell that you spend far more than $100 a day for your suite, penthouse or balcony, the extra cost is for the "superior" quality of the room and has nothing to do with food costs.

Allen[/QUOTE

Allen, Allen, Allen. I don't expect burgers and dogs. And even if that is what the cruiseline offered who is to say that I won't get ground chuck and tubesteak made of snouts and tails and chicken lips, which will not meet MY quality standards. :D When I go on vacation, heck when I dine out even at home, I don't eat at Denny's, Shoneys, or IHOP. We are definitely a quality over quantity family. I'm just hearing more and more that the food isn't very good. We eat pretty well at home. Tonight it was salmon, yesterday chicken marsala and another night this week rib eye on the grill. I was raised in a very old fashioned household and that's just what we did and I continue the tradition. The whole family sits down together for a nice meal each evening at a set table with salad, starch, veggie and main course. It's important to us. It promotes togetherness and I enjoy doing it.

That having been said, I'm just trying to temper my expectations so I don't go in with higher expectations than I should and feel disappointment. I'm not "looking for problems" just trying to expect less and maybe be pleasantly surprised?? I'm also not satisfied with "if I don't cook it it's good to me". I LOVE to cook so for me it's relaxing- it helps that the kiddos set the table and hubby does the dishes- well he and Whirlpool. :rolleyes:

[Soxfan05]

[quote name='1corona4u']I have never been on NCl, so I can't speak to their food, however, I think if you go into this dining experience, or any other for that matter, with an OPEN MIND, you will enjoy anything you eat. If you go into it, thinking that you have heard bad things about it, then you will look for things to be critical of.

As I said, I enjoyed ALL of the food, even in the WJ. Go with an open mind!!!!![/QUOTE]

I'm very openminded- just not Pollyanna. I prefer to have diminished expectations and be pleasantly surprised- that's all. I'm not negative, just realistic.

[WeBeCruisin']

[QUOTE=Soxfan05 Allen, Allen, Allen. I don't expect burgers and dogs. And even if that is what the cruiseline offered who is to say that I won't get ground chuck and tubesteak made of snouts and tails and chicken lips, which will not meet MY quality standards. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

Soxfan05, Soxfan05, Soxfan05. You missed the point. I was not being critical of your "high" quality of food demands. I was pointing out that the percentage of your cruise fare which probably goes for food, would in the real world probably not buy you food even as good as burgers and dogs. I was taking exception to your complaint that you weren't getting your "money's worth" for cruise food.

Allen

[Soxfan05]

[QUOTE=WeBeCruisin']Soxfan05, Soxfan05, Soxfan05. You missed the point. I was not being critical of your "high" quality of food demands. I was pointing out that the percentage of your cruise fare which probably goes for food, would in the real world probably not buy you food even as good as burgers and dogs. I was taking exception to your complaint that you weren't getting your "money's worth" for cruise food.

Allen[/QUOTE]

I know you were..hence the pigs snouts and chicken lips comment. Like I said, just trying to temper my expectations and will hopefully be pleasantly surprised. The breakdown of per capita costs you provided is very interesting.

[brianroberts2526]

On my last RCCL cruise I thought the food was very good.

[skandls]

Thanks for all the input! it's really appreciated but I'm sorry to say we're still on the fence - any other thoughts on this "touchy" subject?

 

Do you want a value vacation - thats what the mass market cruise lines are today. We go and expect 'hotel food', a decent room, good service, entertainment, gambling and maybe interesting ports. If you want food - we did a barge trip in Burgundy - tiny room, no entertainment, a tour included every day, wine (white and red - different every day) at lunch and dinner. A French chef - prix fixed meals - but really good food. When we added up what we got it was not cheap but not that out of line. I am still jealous that you live where the best restaurants in the country are in driving distance.

[dd&tom]

Just want to conduct an overall poll about RCCL main dining room food. This is NOT meant to start the great food war debates - I want to book the new Freedom of the Seas and, am a bit gun shy because of the bad food reviews.

We just took the Splendour Trans-Atlantic. I thought the food was wonderful. My husband was less impressed, but liked the food. Dining room was uniformly great. Windjammer: breakfast was good once they figured out how to make the bacon crisp, for lunch and dinner the veggies, salads and desserts were memorable, the meats (which for me always means fish) were OK, but often a bit overcooked; the pool snack bar was good - nice sandwiches and pizza. Enjoy!!

[mrg0433]

We've sailed on several RCL and Carnival Ships, but did our first Norwegian last December. Norwegian was so far superior with freestyle dining--meaning you eat where and whenever you want without assigned dining times. We loved the choice of 10 different restaurants (French, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, English Pub, Steak House, 2 American, Children's/Adult Buffet, Poolside BBQ,Deli, and finally an Outdoor Bar/BBQ on top level overlooking pool). Two months ago we sailed RCL Legend of the Seas and were so disappointed with just one two-story dining room, Windjammer buffet, and a solarium with burgers in the back of the indoor pool. At least Carnival has a pizzeria with REAL pizza that is outstanding. We are going on another RCL ship (Jewel) in October and hope the food is better than Legend of the Seas because we had trouble eating on that ship (especially since the food was terriblyh salty and service was slooooooow). In Feb. we will try a newer Carnival ship, and then Thanksgiving 2006 we are hoping to go back on Norwegian again. You have to shop and compare to find out what you really like best.

Good Luck on your cruise. I've learned to not focus on the food on RCL and enjoy the ports of call.

Mary

Plymouth, MA

[slotaddict]

Food was good on Voyager, not great, good. There was plenty of it and our waiter was more than willing to take it back if you didn;t like it and bring something else. They did have one night a veal shank, which was probably the worst thing I ever tasted. It was fatty, (how can that be with veal) I didn;t finish it or get anything else. I reallly had no more complaints, I think perhaps that the variety was not good, although you could always get the standard things on the menu, chicken, steak, etc you could get any night.

Hands down Celebrity wins with the food, it is the best on the sea that I have eaten.

[celebrity]

How can you lose 3lbs on a cruise? Well I did last year on VOS. I am a vegetarian & the dinners were awful! Celebrity has a separate vegetarian menu which was wonderful. RCCL does not cater to people like me. Breakfast & lunch buffets were ok since I eat fruit for breakfast & salad for lunch but how many nights can I eat overcooked pasta with sauce that resembles ketchup on it? I even splurged on Portofino's since they told me they would customize my dinner. Big waste of doillars & I told the waiter I was not pleased. He tried to remedy the situation but at that point I lost my appetite. I am attempting RCCL one more time to satisfy my kids on AOS in July. Maybe I will have better luck this time?

[herecomesthesun]

Of course Celebrity is going to have better food. It is a more upscale (and expensive) line than Royal Caribbean. The passengers pay more and thus expect more. From what I've heard, their ships are not as gi-normous as Royal Caribbean, so they are not preparing meals for a bazillion people. Thus it easier to prepare more gourmet food.

[WeBeCruisin']

Of course Celebrity is going to have better food. It is a more upscale (and expensive) line than Royal Caribbean. The passengers pay more and thus expect more. From what I've heard, their ships are not as gi-normous as Royal Caribbean, so they are not preparing meals for a bazillion people. Thus it easier to prepare more gourmet food.

 

I respectfully disagree on most counts. I've been on Celebrity three times and am going on my fifth RCCL trip next month. Celebrity is slightly more upscale than RCCL and the food is slightly more varied and a little less bland. Blandness is probably necessary on most ships because so many of the passengers either have dietary restrictions or pitch a fit about food being too spicy.

 

As for cost, I think the two lines are pretty much identical in what they charge (at least for the balcony-and-under rooms..... I haven't compared prices on suites and penthouses). I don't think there's much difference in pricing among Celebrity, RCCL, Carnival, Princess, and NCL. There will be variations based upon itineraries and lengths, but to stay competitive, they have to be pretty much in line with each other.

 

Celebrity's four M-class ships are the same size as RCCL's Radiance class, and Celebrity's C-class ships are just slightly smaller. Celebrity usually has a smaller passenger-to-size ratio, than RCCL, however.

 

Allen

[Kanukkacruise]

Apparently food quality varies from one ship to another. We also booked a Celebrity cruise on the Galaxy expecting an "upgrade" over both Princess and Royal Caribbean. We were really disappointed. Yes, the food was very good in the evenings in the dining room but no better than Princess or the RCI "Rhapsody" which is outstanding in every aspect. Princess and RCI both have far superior morning & noon buffets offering great salad bars, wonderful desserts including a wide variety of sugar-free pies, custards, etc. On the Galaxy, the offering for a sugar-free dessert was rubbery Jell-O with a texture of a Gummy Bear (only not as tasty.) And, in the evenings, Celebrity doesn't offer a buffet at all which is really inconvenient on those intensive port days when you don't have time to bathe & dress for dinner. Your choice after 6 p.m. is pizza - or pizza accompanied by a wilted iceberg lettuce & pasta. On Princess, the evening buffets offer just about the same thing that's served in the dining room plus the selection of desserts is outstanding. The Baked Alaska on the Galaxy was funny - the cake looked like a soggy piece of white bread with melted ice cream. The waiters were so embarrassed explaining that there wasn't time for it to freeze property. What we noticed with Celebrity is cost-cutting measures and a lack of management all the way around - at least on this one ship.

[herecomesthesun]

You all know better than me - I have never cruised Celebrity. However, Celebrity has a reputation with being more upscale, so I would expect their food is on par with it.

[ella99]

Four cruises with RCI over the last six years. Always "good". No better and no worse. I actually think Carnival DR food is a tad better. None compare with Celebrity.

I agree Celebrity my favorite and despite what most people think about Carnival, I found the food to be a bit better than RCI. Just my opinion.

[harrodsfan]

Apparently food quality varies from one ship to another. We also booked a Celebrity cruise on the Galaxy expecting an "upgrade" over both Princess and Royal Caribbean. We were really disappointed. Yes, the food was very good in the evenings in the dining room but no better than Princess or the RCI "Rhapsody" which is outstanding in every aspect. Princess and RCI both have far superior morning & noon buffets offering great salad bars, wonderful desserts including a wide variety of sugar-free pies, custards, etc. On the Galaxy, the offering for a sugar-free dessert was rubbery Jell-O with a texture of a Gummy Bear (only not as tasty.) And, in the evenings, Celebrity doesn't offer a buffet at all which is really inconvenient on those intensive port days when you don't have time to bathe & dress for dinner. Your choice after 6 p.m. is pizza - or pizza accompanied by a wilted iceberg lettuce & pasta. On Princess, the evening buffets offer just about the same thing that's served in the dining room plus the selection of desserts is outstanding. The Baked Alaska on the Galaxy was funny - the cake looked like a soggy piece of white bread with melted ice cream. The waiters were so embarrassed explaining that there wasn't time for it to freeze property. What we noticed with Celebrity is cost-cutting measures and a lack of management all the way around - at least on this one ship.

Totally agree...went on Millinium last summer and the food was the worst of any cruise. Limp lettuce salads for dinner and no good soups. Every night they had mystery fish...and roast beef with a different name.

service was very slow too.

Not a good value for the money. (And I am not picky...):mad:

[mrg0433]

My husband is not crazy about cruiseline food because he feels it is overcooked. Since cruiseline food is prepared in such large quantities, it is not personally prepared for each individual. I am not disappointed in the food, just realistic about my expectations.

[mrg0433]

We loved eating on the Norwegian Dawn last December. Restaurants included Mexican, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, English Pub, Steak House, 2 American and a formal (Venetian) dining room , as well as buffets and poolside BBQ. We loved eating where and when we chose. Most of all we loved the food choices.

 

In March we sailed on another RCCL cruiseship. There was one two-story noisey dining room and a Buffet (Windjammer). One night there was dinner in the solarium and another dinner by the pool. That was the extent of dining choices. The food was overcooked and the service was slow because our waiter was too involved with a table of 10 next to us instead of our table for 2. Next RCL cruise we will have a table for 4, so maybe the service will improve. I won't have high expectations because the food is prepared differently than in a standard restaurant. Perhaps Jewel of the Seas will exceed our dining expectations. We'll see.

[TC Cruiser]

I refer to true 5 star restaurants such as French Laundry in Yountville, CA -www.frenchlaundry.com - where I eat once a month

 

How in the world can you get a table there every month? We tried for weeks to get through to the reservation line from Minnesota. I kept walking over from our B&B every morning and left my cell phone number. They called and we got in but never expected to.

[SanFranBayCruiser]

Helps if you know the chef! :D

[LizC]

Monte' date=' you're kidding, right? Why, here in Charlotte we have a lot of five-star restaurants. Let's see.... there's Red Lobster, Chili's, Golden Corral, Shoney's, Quincy's, TGIFridays, Ruby Tuesday, Western Sizzlin'...... the list goes on and on! Oh, and I almost forgot Bob Evans!

 

Allen[/quote']

 

 

Now now Allen,the food in Charlotte is not that bad we do have some excellent restaurants and with the introduction of Johnson and Wales it will only improve. There is Zebra, Luce, and several others.

 

Liz

Charlotte Area

[LizC]

Anyone try the foodon AOS? Does the quality vary from ship to ship?

Someone please tell me the food is better than NCL. :(

[WeBeCruisin']

Now now Allen,the food in Charlotte is not that bad we do have some excellent restaurants and with the introduction of Johnson and Wales it will only improve. There is Zebra, Luce, and several others.

 

Liz

Charlotte Area

 

Hi neighbor!

 

I was just being facetious about what some people's concepts of a five-star restaurant was.

 

I think we have some great restaurants in Charlotte. We've been to Zebra and loved it, and we also like Blue, Patou, Mickey and Mooch, and the new Dresslers up at Birkdale Village. It's not very well-known yet and is never crowded, even on weekends, but it's a very good restaurant with very good service. And we're really looking forward to what Johnson and Wales will bring us.

 

Allen

[Robby2299]

I found the food to be quite nice on RCI.

[jlajla]

I am no gourmet, but I talked ALOT about this with our wait staff. Basically, my waiter (in the biz 15+ years) says that his belief is that quality has declined largely due to the size of ships these days.

 

For example, it is impossible to make 3000 "Real" baked alaska deserts, so instead they make a huge baked alaska "log" and slice it up. Good, but not like it used to be. Also, there are cuts of meat that you must order either medium rare or medium well because they make them in huge slabs and then cut them to serve. So, your choices are limited.

 

If you are expecting 5 star, you'll be disappointed. If you want good food (and understand that thousands of others are eating at the same time you are) you'll be fine.