Tell me about the food quality on RCI

[JudithLynne]

My husband and I are seasoned cruisers having completed 32. Years ago we did 3 cruises with RCI, the last 1998, 15 years ago. Although we loved their ships and staff, we felt that the food was lacking. To us it tasted bland and like it had been sitting on a warming tray for hours.

 

Since that time we have cruised exclusively on Celebrity, Princess and HAL.

 

We love to cruise to Hawaii and have found a cruise that appeals to us on the Radiance of the Seas. We are considering giving RCI another try as it has been 15 years.

 

Has the food improved?

[DM_KidAtHeart]

You'll get many varying opinions on this. I love their food, and have never really had a problem in finding something I like. I am a picky eater too. But I know others on these boards think their quality is not as good though. But for me, I love it.

[TEXASMUNK]

We crusie with Royal.....alot. But the food is on par with a decent convention meal....Nothing to rave about. Not like it was many years ago.

Just one person's opinion.

[Paul65]

It's awesome, pretty good, mediocre, poor or disgusting, depending upon who you ask. :D

 

I'm in the pretty good camp.

 

PS - I would have to say "No" to your question, overall, of whether it's improved vs. 15 years ago, but it can vary a lot from ship to ship, depending upon the chef and galley staff. So, your below par experience may have just been bad luck at that point in time. I've never found the food to be as you described it. (But, again, these opinions are very subjective.)

[WetToes]

We crusie with Royal.....alot. But the food is on par with a decent convention meal....Nothing to rave about. Not like it was many years ago.

Just one person's opinion.

 

 

I'd consider 15 years "many years ago" (when the OP last cruised RCCL), so I'm thinking they won't like the food any better now.

[Dayenu]

Still blah. And you pay for OJ unless you settle for oj drink, not juice. Ew :cool:

[OCruisers]

Not fans of the MDR on RCCL ...but the food in their $peciality restaurants is OUTSTANDING!

 

LuLu

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[ryano]

I love RCI's food but if you are use to HAL, Princess and Celebrity, you may be a little disappointed unless you go with specialty dining. I hear most people around here that have sailed other lines put their food above RCI.

 

I wasnt cruising 15 years ago but If anything, in the last 15 years, I imagine the food has went down some in quality with all the cutbacks and such. Too many people around here refer to missing "the good ol days" of food on RCI ships.

 

With that said, Radiance of the Seas is a BEAUTIFUL ship with many different dining options now that she has been through dry dock.

[ryano]

It's awesome, pretty good, mediocre, poor or disgusting, depending upon who you ask. :D

 

I'm in the pretty good camp.

 

same here!

[Paul65]

Still blah. And you pay for OJ unless you settle for oj drink, not juice. Ew :cool:

 

That's not really true on the OJ. You pay for fresh-squeezed vs. reconstituted OJ concentrate. It's real OJ, but just not nearly as good as fresh OJ.

[ryano]

That's not really true on the OJ. You pay for fresh-squeezed vs. reconstituted OJ concentrate. It's real OJ, but just not nearly as good as fresh OJ.

 

Exactly and 99.9% of OJ served anywhere is made from concentrate.

 

When I see "orange drink" I think of Sunny Delight. The OJ onboard RCI ships IS orange juice and IS better than Sunny D.

[hshowalter]

My wife & I were on the Enchantment of the Seas from 1-14-13 to 2-4-13.We did a 12 night Carrib & a 9 night Carrib cruise & the food was not too good on either cruise but the second cruise I had a hard time finishing my meal. The food is definately better on Celebrity & HAL & Princess is also better than RCCL but not quite as good as Celebrity or HAL. We have been on 92 cruises so we know who has good food & who doesn!t The worst was Costa with Carnival being pretty bad & Cunard was only fair.

[hshowalter]

My wife & I were on the Enchantment of the Seas from 1-14-13 to 2-4-13.We did a 12 night Carrib & a 9 night Carrib cruise & the food was not too good on either cruise but the second cruise I had a hard time finishing my meal. The food is definately better on Celebrity & HAL & Princess is also better than RCCL but not quite as good as Celebrity or HAL. We have been on 92 cruises so we know who has good food & who doesn!t The worst was Costa with Carnival being pretty bad & Cunard was only fair.Azamara was the best of all

[amybear912]

We are foodies... DH is a professional chef... When we cruise, we know what to expect with food... Mass prepared, suitable for a banquet...

 

Our most recent cruise was 2 weeks ago on FOS and we were hopeful about the new menus... We booked 4 nights in specialty restaurants thinking that we could always cancel if MDR had kicked it up a notch...

 

We kept all 4 ressies for Chops and Portofino... Our meals there were fabulous...

 

Our experience in the MDR was what we expected... A few hits on starters and some desserts... Quite a few misses on entrees... In most cases, it wasn't a flavor problem but a bad prep of the protein (overcooked or just bad quality) which hindered the flavor profile...

 

Only one night did DH go searching for food after leaving the MDR hungry...

 

Banquet food is what it is and prepping food for the masses is not an easy feat... We accept it as such and know that some dishes don't stand a chance of being really good given the prep process involved with mass production...

 

Our solution is to book specialty restaurants and we are glad that option is available...

 

If you are expecting a $200 per couple land-based restaurant meal, you should lower your expectations...

[markeb]

Adequate and acceptable...

 

It's been a few years since our last HAL cruise, but most meals on HAL were memorable; most meals on RCCL are not. Chops and Portofino can be very good (but still not the Pinnacle Grill on HAL). We cruise RCCL for the lifestyle and activities, not the food (or wine, for that matter).

 

Having said that, I've rarely had a "bad" meal on RCCL. And if you're willing to be adventurous and try their various ethnic offerings, they can be very good!

[grand isle joe]

A.G.A.A. As Good As Applebees.;) IMO......

[philip_g]

A.G.A.A. As Good As Applebees.;) IMO......

 

I would have gone with chilis, but yes I concur.

[sr4mjc]

We are foodies... DH is a professional chef... When we cruise, we know what to expect with food... Mass prepared, suitable for a banquet...

 

Our most recent cruise was 2 weeks ago on FOS and we were hopeful about the new menus... We booked 4 nights in specialty restaurants thinking that we could always cancel if MDR had kicked it up a notch...

 

We kept all 4 ressies for Chops and Portofino... Our meals there were fabulous...

 

Our experience in the MDR was what we expected... A few hits on starters and some desserts... Quite a few misses on entrees... In most cases, it wasn't a flavor problem but a bad prep of the protein (overcooked or just bad quality) which hindered the flavor profile...

 

Only one night did DH go searching for food after leaving the MDR hungry...

 

Banquet food is what it is and prepping food for the masses is not an easy feat... We accept it as such and know that some dishes don't stand a chance of being really good given the prep process involved with mass production...

 

Our solution is to book specialty restaurants and we are glad that option is available...

 

If you are expecting a $200 per couple land-based restaurant meal, you should lower your expectations...

 

I agree with you. Usually it's the protein which is the issue for me, preparation and quality. Like at weddings and with airline food, I tend to go for the vegetarian option. Unless we book Chops or Portofino. I still can't figure out what animal was my prime rib on the jewel, it didn't taste like beef lol. I regretted that choice.

[baggal]

On Celebrity, Princess and HAL I have a difficult time narrowing down my choices for appetizer and entree- so many of them whet my appetite and all of them - IMO are good. On RCI, sometimes I have a difficult time finding something on the menu that I want to eat. If food on the cruise is really important to you, I would choose another ship.

[dplusd]

I think the MDR food is very comparable to Princess. Been too long since I sailed Celebrity so can't comment. The Cafe Promenade can not compare to the International Cafe on Princess...not even close. Princess also has much better pizza and burgers options with their poolside grill.

 

That said, we still have a slight preference for Royal due to ship design and entertainment options.

[JulieRose]

I would sum up the food on RCI in 2 words: 'Not impressed'

Want 3?: 'Princess was better.'

[retird]

Whether you consider the food good or not depends on your expectations. I tend to think that when you are paying 150 to 200 dollars per day for accomodations, all meals and all entertainment, I do not expect a meal that I would get in a five star restaurant. For me I rate RCCL MDR meals on par with the average restaurant in town but not on par with the upscale restaurants in town.

[JulieRose]

We actually had a dinner in the MDR where when the waiter asked how it was we told him it was good. He laughed and said that he didn't like what we had ordered at all and was surprised that we thought it was good...

[abridalmaven]

Food is so subjective. On a recent visit to NYC a friend said she did not care for NY pizza?????? I really don't care what others think. You will not starve.

But what really annoys me is the people who get really snobby about it as if they ate gourmet at home every night. Yes so meals are better than others but to some they could be over spiced, to others blah.

[JudithLynne]

I appreciate the time that all of you took to respond to my question, Thank you so much.

 

We are going to go ahead and book this cruise as it stands above others in terms of what we are looking for. We want to do a Hawaii cruise that only has one segment that is 5 days at sea (not two) and does not end up in Ensenada with busing to San Diego. Try finding that. There are a lot of port days with the cruise and I imagine we will often have a meal on shore. Specialty dining was a good suggestion too.

 

Judith