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Food on Dream and Spirit.


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Firstly, I feel quite bad about asking this as I've read so many posts saying how the food is great etc , just wanted to see if anyone else thinks there is room for improvement before I ask FE about this on the Q&A.

 

We went on the Spirit last year and had a lovely cruise but we found the food in mdr quite disappointing. Some nights it was ok but about half of the week we thought it was quite poor .We did try the speciality restaurant one night and loved that though.

We really arnt snobby or picky and possibly just expected too much.

When I worked as a TA and went to s/hampton for P&O ship visits etc I thought the food was great and I suppose I was expecting it to be like that.On Rci this year the food again was fantastic, attention to detail, top quality etc.

The price of a Thomson cruise is so similar to P&O or Rci I would have just thought the food would be much the same quality.

Having said all that we have booked Thomsons for next year as we really like the atmosphere, staff,shows etc We are on the Dream next time, is the food sim to the Spirit or do all the ships vary?

Is it possible we just had a bad week food wise last time ?

Again, I don't want to seem rude or upset anyone, please just put me straight if I'm being a moaning Minnie!! ;);)

 

 

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TBO food is a difficult one, one persons ding is another’s dong

 

Personally i have found the food on thomsons ships varies only slightly, some ships have a problem with keeping food hot but I haven’t noticed this on the dream

 

I'm not really fussy and will eat whatever is on offer (when you have spent a week or two living on fish eyes & tails (fish paste) on biscuits brown (army crackers) you will eat anything)

 

portions are small in the mdr but there are 5 or 6 courses....I can never get thru them all some dishes are better than others but it all a matter of personal taste

 

there are always plenty of choices so you should find something you like each day, I have to admit that, for me, after a 14 day cruise the food does begin to get a bit samey in the buffets,

 

on offer is usually rice/pasta/chips, meat/chicken in gravy or fried fish with a selection of hot vegs and salads,

 

puddings all seem to taste the same to me wherever I am so does the soup

 

the bread is all home baked, fresh and delicious I challenge anyone to not like the bread!

 

they do lay on specials each day, steak diane, cornish hen, lobster bisque etc

 

and some ships (not sure if this is across the fleet or not?) have a british pub lunch in one of the bars once a week and a deck barbeque one lunch a week too which is nicely done

 

there is also the burger/hot dog/pizza grill if you get fed up with the fancy food in the restaurants

 

the waiters will always try to get you something if you really dont like anything on the menu or want something specific and there is a separate kids menu with chicken nuggets and ice cream and the like

 

as I say there is always plenty of choice 24/7 and is perfectly nice as far as mass catering can be

 

I have never had cause to complain and my notoriously fussy kids havnt either

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Thanks for that, the Dream sounds like it has lots of choice. The Spirit buffet was fine and the outside pizza etc it was just in the evening. One night (the first night actually) I ordered chicken curry, it came as a thin slice of chicken in breadcrumbs with a curry sauce on it. Looked dreadful , tasted sort of ok. Our starter had been awful too that night and nearly put us off the mdr but then some nights were much better. One night we had a sort if stew that was nearly all grissle. We really arnt fussy eaters and are usually easily pleased on the whole just thought the standard would be better . Perhaps as I said we had a bad week, chef had prob had a row at home :( .

Anyway no wories will look forward to seeing what the Dream has to offer and maybe if it's going to be platinum the food will be too :)

 

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"puddings all seem to taste the same to me"

 

To me most of the small desserts have no taste despite fancy names and the hot puddings all have fancy names but are inevitably a sponge !!

 

On our recent cruise the Lido Ice Cream machine was dispensing Ice Cream that was more Ice than Cream !

 

The main courses on the Dream were superb in both Sirens and the Lido - the Pizza outside on Deck was invariably a bit dry.

 

So a mixed bag in my opinion - could do better in parts but you will never go hungry. Just a shame one or two areas let the rest down.

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We have been on both Spirit and Oceana. The food was slightly (Only) slightly better on P&O, Our big complaint was that on Spirit the MDR Breakfast were not that good compared to the nice Main Meals. The Lido was better.

 

I wonder if we were just unlucky and things were not as good as normal? One or two regulars said they didn't rate the food, not so worried now, thanks everyone.

 

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How opinions differ ?

 

When I read internet reviews of holiday hotels we've stayed at I often wonder if we were in the same accommodation, especially when it comes to food.

 

Some folks must dine on 5 Star Cordon Bleu at home ?

 

As they say, one man's meat is another's poison.

 

We've been on Spirit twice this year, once on our own, and then with relatives - found the dining room food to be excellent on both occasions.

 

Perhaps the desserts were a bit average, otherwise absolutely no complaints.

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How opinions differ ?

 

When I read internet reviews of holiday hotels we've stayed at I often wonder if we were in the same accommodation, especially when it comes to food.

 

Some folks must dine on 5 Star Cordon Bleu at home ?

 

As they say, one man's meat is another's poison.

 

We've been on Spirit twice this year, once on our own, and then with relatives - found the dining room food to be excellent on both occasions.

 

Perhaps the desserts were a bit average, otherwise absolutely no complaints.

 

Thanks, I am really sure now we must have just had a bad week. We are not fussy eaters at all but as I said at least two meals were very bad ( all on our table thought so on each occasion and others we chatted to). Must have just been a blip, perhaps some staffing probs or something just not right that week.

 

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Thanks, I am really sure now we must have just had a bad week. We are not fussy eaters at all but as I said at least two meals were very bad ( all on our table thought so on each occasion and others we chatted to). Must have just been a blip, perhaps some staffing probs or something just not right that week.

 

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The dining room staff are more than happy to offer another dish if you don't like your initial choice.

 

In July I had a delicious steak and when finished the waiter asked if I'd like another, to which I jokingly replied yes - and was duly served.

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Will rem that then. The Spirit was our first cruise so we were very new to it all . On the Brilliance this year sat with two lovely Americans , they ordered twice for most courses, they were very slim too don't know where they put it all. By the end of the cruise I was getting more daring and sometimes had two sweets or asked for extra bits and bobs. Now I know I can do that on a Thomson ship too they will be rolling me off :eek:

 

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We've always been very happy with the MDR food on Spirit. Been on twice this year and no complaints, although not been on other cruise lines to compare.

The only menu item that lets the atmosphere down IMO is "fish & chips"! What's this doing in a "silver service" restaurant. (However, it does seem very popular.)

 

Malc.

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"The only menu item that lets the atmosphere down IMO is "fish & chips"! What's this doing in a "silver service" restaurant. (However, it does seem very popular.)"

 

If you take a boat load of ordinary Brits away from home for any length of time - what food will they "miss" most ? :)

 

Really nice piece of cod, although we Jocks prefer haddock which is the norm north of Hadrian's Wall.

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Thanks, I am really sure now we must have just had a bad week. We are not fussy eaters at all but as I said at least two meals were very bad ( all on our table thought so on each occasion and others we chatted to). Must have just been a blip, perhaps some staffing probs or something just not right that week.

 

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This is a really relevant point, we stayed on for a week in Majorca after our cruise at the end of September, the food in our hotel was absolutely dire, and it wasn't just a hangover from the cruise menu's, i wouldn't have fed some of it to my dog, i posted a review on Trip Advisor and i got pelters from a woman in Aberdeen telling me i should get a life and the food was excellent (she stayed the same week as i did).

I was on Dream in Sept and found the MDR to be excellent in it's choices and taste.

Other restaurants were also good choices, no problems finding something nice to eat.

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This is a really relevant point, we stayed on for a week in Majorca after our cruise at the end of September, the food in our hotel was absolutely dire, and it wasn't just a hangover from the cruise menu's, i wouldn't have fed some of it to my dog, i posted a review on Trip Advisor and i got pelters from a woman in Aberdeen telling me i should get a life and the food was excellent (she stayed the same week as i did).

I was on Dream in Sept and found the MDR to be excellent in it's choices and taste.

Other restaurants were also good choices, no problems finding something nice to eat.

 

Thanks Tony, I felt bad asking as so many people rave about the food but on the spirit last year it was very three star ordinary and quite hit and miss. Sounds like the Dream will be better so quite happy now. Staying at the son matias after and heard good reviews about that too so should be in for a good two weeks. Unless that's the hotel you were talking about :eek: let's hope not eh ! :rolleyes:

 

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Staying at the son matias after and heard good reviews about that too so should be in for a good two weeks. Unless that's the hotel you were talking about :eek: let's hope not eh ! :rolleyes:

 

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Dreamgirl

 

Have stayed at the Son Matias for the past three years,it`ll be four next year.Lovely hotel,excellent food

 

Regards the Dream.The food for me has improved year on year.

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I agree with the other comments. I must say on all the ships we've always been happy with the food, have always found something we like on the menu and put on too much weight!!!:eek:

 

But if I was to try to draw comparisons (in the vein of constructive criticism) imo, it's true to say the desserts often lack imagination and are very 'samey' in taste and appearance and don't bear much relation to the kind of sweets you would get on a good hotel menu. It's the weak link in the dinner offerings on most of the ships and was especially so on Dream we thought (on several different trips - too many gelatinous crumbles with very little crumble, fruit pies again little fruit, lots of gelatine/thickening agent especially in the Lido and few tempting patisserie style offerings - come to think of it this was the case on Celebration too last time we were on her). I've commented several times on the questionnaire so it obviously struck me sufficiently to comment and I'm not one to look for negatives. Of course it may have improved or there could have been a change of executive chef.

 

When we were on Spirit in September I must say I thought the sweets were much better both in variety and taste and the portions were actually rather large. For me after a meal of so many courses, they could easily have economised a little and reduced the size a bit. (Just an observation - not a complaint!) We found the meals in the mdr good - the meat especially so and with good portion sizes.

 

The Majesty in May had perhaps the best food we've had on Thomson - good variety, decent sweets and all very well cooked. It was in fact a very positive feature of Majesty - and better than our experience of the other ships (although we've always found the food to be good on all the ships - little criticisms to one side).

 

I think perhaps it depends a little on the executive chef - but perhaps there is scope for more transfer of ideas/best practice from one ship to the others. (Something else for Mr Ellacott?). They must get a feel of which menus/ships are meeting with the best customer satisfaction gradings (for food) and that would be in such numbers that it paints a fuller picture than individual opinions. Perhaps looking at where there are marked differences in gradings and comparing the fare/menus between the ships they could spot what the better features are and bring the poorer ratings up to the best. (Perhaps they do already - you would imagine any good business would be analysing feedback carefully but any glitches would take a while to be identified and remedied.)

 

But on the whole we've been very happy with the food - and the speciality retaurants are particularly good.

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Dreamgirl

 

Have stayed at the Son Matias for the past three years,it`ll be four next year.Lovely hotel,excellent food

 

Regards the Dream.The food for me has improved year on year.

 

All looking good then Jim, maybe very good if the Platinum upgrade goes as far as the food ! Roll on next Oct :):):)

 

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TBO re the puddings, especially the gelatinous ones (opera mouse/tiramisu etc) i think the problem is that they cannot be made with dairy cream, it doesn’t keep, I don’t think this can be helped? so they are made up with what I would call Dream Topping or instand whip.....now I like Dream Topping, but its flavour does permeate everything and it is a little ...well...greasy compared to dairy cream, this is possibly why all the deserts taste the same and have the same consistency and the crumbles/hot puddings, I agree no fruit some kind of sponge/crumble with custard....and the patisseries, again filled with dream topping....its not really that bad in small portions.......kids love em all BTW

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All looking good then Jim, maybe very good if the Platinum upgrade goes as far as the food ! Roll on next Oct :):):)

 

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I`d like to think so :)..I`ll let you know on both Son Matias and the Dream Dreamgirl as we will have sampled it before you go

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TBO re the puddings, especially the gelatinous ones (opera mouse/tiramisu etc) i think the problem is that they cannot be made with dairy cream, it doesn’t keep, I don’t think this can be helped? so they are made up with what I would call Dream Topping or instand whip.....now I like Dream Topping, but its flavour does permeate everything and it is a little ...well...greasy compared to dairy cream, this is possibly why all the deserts taste the same and have the same consistency and the crumbles/hot puddings, I agree no fruit some kind of sponge/crumble with custard....and the patisseries, again filled with dream topping....its not really that bad in small portions.......kids love em all BTW

 

Yeh, takes you back to the sixties and seventies , just no way round it I suppose although the puds on RCI wernt like that, they must have a magic ingredient :):)

 

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