Goota Say This

[Host Star]

I agree, you can't starve on a cruise. There's always something to eat somewhere. However, when you spend thousand(s) of dollars to cruise, especially those of us who are seasoned cruisers, you do expect the level of quality to be fairly high.

 

If we'd just had one bad dish during the cruise I would say that was a fluke. But, to have dishes multiple nights, along with tablemates who ordered other dishes and were unhappy with theirs, means that there's something wrong in those kitchens.

 

By the way, just to let people know. On our cruise they were out of escargot, which wasn't an issue for me but others were disappointed. One night they offered an appetizer of scallops au gratin. Instead, of it being true au gratin, they served these scallops in the dishes they usually serve the escargot, and made it escargot style with garlic and melted butter. Under no circumstances is that "au gratin". There was no cheese sauce at all, and it certainly didn't match the description of the original dish.

 

Taking liberties with a dish is okay if you call it something other than what's expected, and change the description. One of the women at our table heartily dislikes garlic, and couldn't eat the dish.

we got the same scallop dish on Indy a couple of weeks ago... altho the menu, a formal nite clearly stated escargot.... waiter said they didn't even have any escargot on the ship..

we were disappointed in the food having been on Allure and Liberty recently and had much better food...we ended up eating at the Windjammer a few nites where we enjoyed the selections vs. the MDR... At Windjammer we could get a NY strip steak cooked to order just the way we wanted it...the antipasta bar on Windjammer was excellent with a different variety every nite...we were pleasantly surprised and wished we had eaten all our meals there.. except for the nite we had the lamb chops at Portofinos which were excellent..

[ksuds]

Our group was not that impressed with the dining room food on the Jewel. We only ate there a couple nights of our 5 night cruise though.

 

Lobster night- they didn't have the larger size, they were the small 4 oz size. They were very salty.....not that good. Tom Turkey was OK. Gave plenty of meat and mashed potato, but not that much stuffing.

 

Chicken Marsala was the same as before. I usually always like that. Also ordered a Lasagna for the table to try. Overall we didn't like it. They use the Bolognese souce. Way too much meat. The Eggplant Parmasagne was very good.

 

Deserts- the selections seemed good. But the execution not so good. On Christmas they had a special Yule Roll. Looked delicious. Our table of 6 each ordered on. We each took a bite and just about died. It tasted like they accidentally used salt instead of sugare. It was horrible. We told our server that they might want to try it before sending it out to anyone else. He went back and spoke to the chef and they said that is how it is supposed to taste.

[mrsdoc3]

Its funny how the food is subjective only when being defended by the RCI appologists. We were on Mariner (old menu) earlier this month. One night in the MDR we were served something the menu named beef stroganoff. Not only was it on the menu but it was the feature. Not only was it featured but it was recommended by our waiter (there went the additional gratuity). It was, without question, the least palletable meal I have ever been served on a cruise ship.

It also was not beef stroganoff. This was some kind of stir fry made from trimmings probably left over from the up charge steakhouse and some sauces from a squeeze bottle squirted on top. Beef stroganoff is a classic dish - a recipe appears in Mastering the Art of French Cooking- a reference standard for a well established dish. Its not like if the chefs at RCI wanted to invent a new name for a new dish (like fancy feast stir fry) they would have to pay a license fee for a new name. The Russians should be pissed.

 

MDR food increasingly glorified institutional food (I was served better beef stroganoff in the dorm in college) and they are retooling their menus to make their up charge dining appear more attractive now that they have traction. Soon you will have an upcharge for a cooked to order breakfast (which in the mdr obviously comes from a steam table where ever possible).

 

I'm sure that some of the.positive reviews of the new menu are just because its new (people bought an Edsel). Or maybe its subjective.

 

I ordered the stroganoff on the Navigator a few weeks ago and was equally shocked. It was more like pepper steak served over rice. Although it was not what I was expecting, I did enjoy it.

[mommabean]

A few years ago they served vegetarian chili - the best thing on the menu. They offered to make it for me once, I accepted, and it just wasn't the same. They need to put it back on the menu and make it according to the large pot recipe. The vegetarians on board would love it as another option.

 

As much as I like the Indian option each night, I don't think it's a suitable regular option for the full time non-Indian vegetarians on board (not me).

 

Gina

[WillWorkForCruise121]

I have to say we were on Oasis during the second week of new menus and the food was fantastic! We were disappointed by the MDR on previous cruises, but we wound up eating 6 out of 7 nights in the MDR on Oasis and almost everything was exceptional.

 

Maybe they put extra special attention on everything considering the menus had just changed, I am not sure. I just know that I noticed a substantial improvement in the quality of the food with the new menu. We'll see if that's the case on Indy in March. I think they get the new menus in late January.

[Paulxyz2004]

I´m not a fish/seafood Person, but I have to say I was very happy with the new menu.

Sure there´s a few things from the old menu I liked and I would have liked to see again, but then I think Overall the new menu is a nice Change to me and I was pleased by it.

 

Having said this, the new menu needed more effort on my side, as I actually had to read the menu again after so many years with the old menu, just glancing at it and... oh yeah, it´s this night, so I know what to order.;)

[skiiergirl]

Food is subjective. I found the new menu to be quite appealing, but as others have mentioned, there are a few of the old time favorites that need to come back. The Vadilia Onion tart for one. However, on the flip side, escargot are now available every evening.

 

I know that Royal Caribbean knows that they have been at the bottom when it comes to food, for the mass cruise market, and are trying to provide a better product.

 

They also read CC, and I'm sure are noting the feedback. IMHO, the food needs to be more consistant, and not vary so much from ship to ship and chef to chef.

 

Rick

 

Maybe BR is doing better with the new menus than the rest of the fleet. We were on BR the same 3 weeks as Rick. We hated the Mon night menu and weren't excited about the Weds night menu but the other nights we thought were really good with nice variety. We definitely missed the Vidalia onion tart....even mentioned it on the survey....but otherwise we thought the new menus were nice with the exceptions noted here. We loved the escargot option nightly. The barramundi with tomato sauce was nice. We thought the lasagna was really tasty. We were pleased with the variety and our selections every night except Monday (and Weds was so so). (I know the order of the nightly menu varies from ship to ship.). We had grown really tired of the old menus so were happy to hear about the new menus and even happier when we experienced them.

[Jimnbigd]

I'll let you know how I like the new menu after my March 31 Mariner. I think I'll miss having Prime Rib served again on the 2nd formal night, but I'll try the Braised Beef Duo (whatever that is), or maybe the steak, as well as lobster (Fisherman's Plate).

Here's pictures of the new menu foods: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714824

[P&C4/16/67]

The Braised Beef Duo is a small slice of beef shoulder and a small piece of short rib meat (no rib bone). It was very tasty. Next time I'll order two.:D

[joe6666]

On Enchantment on the old menu I ordered the trout.

What came was obviously salmon.

I asked the waiter. He said it was salmon trout......

[joe6666]

I think the cruise lines ( all of them ) are making the food in the MD worse are the time, so every one will go to the upgrade places more and more, and the ships will make more money. Befor you know it, all of the dinning rooms will be pay ones.

 

How much room is there in the specialty restaurants?

What percent of the MDR people could eat at the specialty places before there was no more room?

[Clarea]

How much room is there in the specialty restaurants?

What percent of the MDR people could eat at the specialty places before there was no more room?

On Freedom, Chops and Portofino hold about 100 guests each.

[P&C4/16/67]

How much room is there in the specialty restaurants?

What percent of the MDR people could eat at the specialty places before there was no more room?

 

Portafino on the Explorer is very small.

[rutgersgirl27]

I found the new menu to be very hit or miss; whereas the old menu ranged from good enough to great. Eating as a vegetarian, there were nights that I particularly enjoyed (like the crepes), and nights where I ended up ordering the pasta marinara, and grabbing a snack at the cafe. Same with the desserts. Some were amazing, and some weren't worth sacrificing calories.

 

On the other hand, I didn't gain weight during my Oct cruise. So I suppose that puts the new menu ahead of the old :D.

[mommabean]

On Enchantment on the old menu I ordered the trout.

What came was obviously salmon.

I asked the waiter. He said it was salmon trout......

 

That wonderful orange flesh trout they serve at lunch is definitely trout. I've also said it looks like salmon. It's the best thing on the lunch menu. And just maybe that waiter knows what he's talking about. Of course Wikipedia could be wrong. :D This is worth a read so you'll see what I mean.

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout

[F27TW]

I'll let you know how I like the new menu after my March 31 Mariner. I think I'll miss having Prime Rib served again on the 2nd formal night, but I'll try the Braised Beef Duo (whatever that is), or maybe the steak, as well as lobster (Fisherman's Plate).

Here's pictures of the new menu foods: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714824

 

Just checked the pics out ... but what IS WATERMELON PUDDING ??!!! OMG .. Gag me with a spoon!

[Guest maddycat]

Maybe BR is doing better with the new menus than the rest of the fleet. We were on BR the same 3 weeks as Rick. We hated the Mon night menu and weren't excited about the Weds night menu but the other nights we thought were really good with nice variety. We definitely missed the Vidalia onion tart....even mentioned it on the survey....but otherwise we thought the new menus were nice with the exceptions noted here. We loved the escargot option nightly. The barramundi with tomato sauce was nice. We thought the lasagna was really tasty. We were pleased with the variety and our selections every night except Monday (and Weds was so so). (I know the order of the nightly menu varies from ship to ship.). We had grown really tired of the old menus so were happy to hear about the new menus and even happier when we experienced them.

 

We were on the Explorer in Nov. and had the new menu. I love sea food and ordered the barramundi one night. It was awful, completely tasteless. I had cod several nights and it was excellent. The new, larger lobster tails were much better. They were tender and tasty. It was great having shrimp cocktail on the menu every night.

 

My husband is a meat lover. He found the steaks to be tough and over cooked. He really enjoyed the steaks on the old menu. He also didn't care for the turkey. We usually share a pasta dish and definitely prefered the pastas on the old menu to those on the new menu.

[skiiergirl]

We were on the Explorer in Nov. and had the new menu. I love sea food and ordered the barramundi one night. It was awful, completely tasteless. I had cod several nights and it was excellent. The new, larger lobster tails were much better. They were tender and tasty. It was great having shrimp cocktail on the menu every night.

 

My husband is a meat lover. He found the steaks to be tough and over cooked. He really enjoyed the steaks on the old menu. He also didn't care for the turkey. We usually share a pasta dish and definitely prefered the pastas on the old menu to those on the new menu.

 

 

Wow...different ship, different fish supplier, different cook, different taste buds!?!?! I had the barramundi 3 weeks in a row on BR and thought it was delicious all 3 weeks. However, I will say the tomato sauce is what made it so yummy. I requested extra sauce all 3 weeks. Mr. Ski had the barramundi in Chops and we both thought mine in the MDR was much better. I ordered it the first week because I remembered a comment here on CC that it was tasty. I ordered it weeks 2 and 3 because it was so yummy week 1. However, if you don't like the sauce I can understand why you might not lke the whole dish.

 

As someone pointed out while we were onboard, just because I thought the Weds night menu was horrible...someone else might think it is the best menu of the week. We all have different tastes and preferences. So I'm sure it is hard for any cruiseline to please everyone.

 

This even happens with our friends at home. We have a group of 4 couples that eat toghether almost every Friday and/or Saturday night. One couple would eat at the same restaurant/bar every night of the month. Mr. Ski and I hate that restaurant but go just to be with the friends. Some of the restaurants we love, one couple won't go to at all because they aren't to their liking.

 

I most certainly am glad the cruiseline has changed the menus as the old ones were just that....old. They had been around for too many years with food quality declining. Hopefully, the comments on the new menus will give RC good feedback so that they can adjust the menus more often. I think the menus should be revamped at least every 2 years if not more often. Yes, I miss a few of the old things but am glad to have the change. I will probably miss a few of the new things when they become "old" and are removed. I am just thankful that RC is making the changes and hopefully will continue to work toward variety and increasing food quality.

[toxicfairy]

We have been very disappointed in the food on our last several cruises, to the point of considering not doing any more cruises for a while. But of course the powers of cruising are far stronger than we are, so we are going again next week on Liberty. Im a little scared of the new menu. I noticed it seems very seafood heavy and we are not seafood people. Yes we can get pizza or sandwhiches and such at other venues, but when you pay a decent amount of money and want a nice dining experience, it would also be nice to actually enjoy the food. We would rather not have to pay for an "upgrade" for the optional dining experiences. We are not picky or foodies by far, but if the food is not decent on this cruise, we're probably going to give all-inclusive land vacations a try for comparison. But Im truly hoping that is not the case!

oh please come back and review the Liberty. We are going on her in February and I need to hear details !!

[Guest maddycat]

Wow...different ship, different fish supplier, different cook, different taste buds!?!?! I had the barramundi 3 weeks in a row on BR and thought it was delicious all 3 weeks. However, I will say the tomato sauce is what made it so yummy. I requested extra sauce all 3 weeks. Mr. Ski had the barramundi in Chops and we both thought mine in the MDR was much better. I ordered it the first week because I remembered a comment here on CC that it was tasty. I ordered it weeks 2 and 3 because it was so yummy week 1. However, if you don't like the sauce I can understand why you might not lke the whole dish.

 

You might have hit on the problem with the barramundi that I had on the Explorer. It wasn't served with the tomato sauce. It was very bland, tasteless.