American Table & American Feast Menu

[buellblaster]

Thanks for sharing. I for one do appreciate the info as this is new and I like a heads up for things.

[Sfdtiller]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not a huge fan of the choc cake either, but that's just because I'm not a big choc eater. It is very good though and I always get it once per cruise.

[SkyMaster]

Looks pretty good to me,,,but I'm a "Meat and Potatoes" kind of a guy. :D

 

"SKY"

[amyjoy202697]

I am very concerned about the amount of time we will be there for dinner. I have a 5 year old and she cannot sit still for that long. We went on a different cruise a few years ago (not Carnival) and had to eat at the buffet every night because the service was slow in the sit-down restaurants :(

[Lerin]

I am very concerned about the amount of time we will be there for dinner. I have a 5 year old and she cannot sit still for that long. We went on a different cruise a few years ago (not Carnival) and had to eat at the buffet every night because the service was slow in the sit-down restaurants :(

 

1.5-3+ hours is standard for any somewhat fancy restaurant including those on cruise ships. Either do the buffet, take turns, brings things for her to do at the table, or send your child to the day care.

[Vidimom]

Anyone notice if the kids menu changed? I have a very picky son and burgers are a staple along with FF. I personally loved the fruit cup once in awhile. Wonder if it will be changed too?

[JustCruiseMe]

OK, so Carnival has rolled out it's new American Table & American Feast menus. And we were among the "lucky ones" to experience it first. (Actually we were on the second cruise with this new menu.) For more information about this new menu check out this link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5632

 

Now for our take... We hated it. And here is why:

 

1) The menu is too “busy” and therefore more confusing than it needs to be. We were able to figure it out so that wasn’t the biggest negative. But it was an annoyance.

2) In the past there were always like 3 or 4 items in each category that we wanted to try. With this new menu, we were lucky if there was 1 item in each category that we wanted to try. Matter of fact, I think for the first time ever we actually skipped going to the main dining room a few nights. There just wasn’t anything on the menu worth going for.

3) If you had ordered multiple dishes, even appetizers, they would only deliver 1 plate at a time. All that you ordered was brought out to the server’s station all at once. But they would only bring over 1 dish at a time. So by the time you finished the first plate they served you, then they cleared that plate, then they served you the next plate, the food was cold or not fresh.

4) Because of the practice stated in point number 3 (food sat at server’s station while only 1 dish at a time was served), it took a minimum of 2 hours every night to eat. So if you wanted to do anything else (shows, etc.), forget about it. You couldn’t do both because dinner took so long.

 

In our humble opinion, it sucked… bad.

 

And by no means do I blame the servers. Because we had different servers as we do the “My Time Dinning”. And all the servers did the same. So this was a directive from above.

 

There was only 1 person / couple that we spoke to that did NOT have a negative opinion of the new menu. So if you have already experienced this new menu / service system, what is your take? Let us know.

Sorry you didn't like it. I haven't had it yet but I can tell you that ordering several items they only brought one at a time to the table for us on the old menu, so I don't think that's new.

[kgriff]

Anyone notice if the kids menu changed? I have a very picky son and burgers are a staple along with FF. I personally loved the fruit cup once in awhile. Wonder if it will be changed too?

 

I cannot say as I don't know what the old kids menu was like to compare it to the new kids menu. But my daughter-in-law ordered from the new kids menu nightly as she is a very picky eater sticking with basic simple foods. She said the Carnival corndog and mashed potatoes were at the tops of her all time food list. Although the corndog was not on the menu nightly. It was a one night "Chef's special".

[cruiseclues]

Thank you for all your details and viewpoint regarding the new American Table & the American Feast Menus and Food and your request for others remarks. :):):):)

[craigster46]

Just got off of the Glory yesterday for our first Christmas cruise, it was me and my daughter who just turned 18 on Dec 20th so it was a cruise to celebrate her bday and Christmas. We were excited to try this new menu and were disappointed as well to the extent that we just started going to the buffet for dinner instead. We were on the Glory this past February and really enjoyed the service and food but this was just a letdown. As others have stated it was dreadfully slow. We had 8:15 dining and by 9:30 we would have easily been done with desert and headed back to the room on the last cruise but not this time. We both love the chocolate melting cake and had it the first night and we didn't get out until almost 10pm.

Besides being slow as others have mentioned it just doesn't have the variety that the old menu had and we didn't see the cold soups like they had before either. Also on the second night we were just served a piece of cake without even being asked whether we wanted it or not. Honestly it was good but it wasn't what we wanted. So we got desert 2 nights and choc melting cake once. We just got disgusted and went to the buffet instead after the 4th night we just couldn't take it anymore. I cant tell you how annoyed I am that we paid so much for the Christmas cruise only to be so let down by the dining experience. I have a cruise booked on the Dream in Feb and I really hope we don't have to endure this again or it will be my last Carnival cruise.

[Ocean Dancer]

I have been able to order a normal salad for over 20 years, and plan to continue to do so!!!!! When does this new menu go fleet wide? We are on the Pride in late Jan. No way am I planning to eat over 3 hours! Any hints I should know about what is available off menu? Do we dress even more casual? We have late dinner and do not want to miss our shows or entertainment. It might be time to take our cruising business elsewhere.

[JustCruiseMe]

Gosh, I'm willing to give it a go in Feb but I certainly hope it's faster by then. We aren't "diners" per se anyway. We eat and leave. Dining isn't something we do as experience. I know lots like it but we aren't ones who do.

[tonit964]

OK, so Carnival has rolled out it's new American Table & American Feast menus. And we were among the "lucky ones" to experience it first. (Actually we were on the second cruise with this new menu.) For more information about this new menu check out this link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5632

 

Now for our take... We hated it. And here is why:

 

1) The menu is too “busy” and therefore more confusing than it needs to be. We were able to figure it out so that wasn’t the biggest negative. But it was an annoyance.

2) In the past there were always like 3 or 4 items in each category that we wanted to try. With this new menu, we were lucky if there was 1 item in each category that we wanted to try. Matter of fact, I think for the first time ever we actually skipped going to the main dining room a few nights. There just wasn’t anything on the menu worth going for.

3) If you had ordered multiple dishes, even appetizers, they would only deliver 1 plate at a time. All that you ordered was brought out to the server’s station all at once. But they would only bring over 1 dish at a time. So by the time you finished the first plate they served you, then they cleared that plate, then they served you the next plate, the food was cold or not fresh.

4) Because of the practice stated in point number 3 (food sat at server’s station while only 1 dish at a time was served), it took a minimum of 2 hours every night to eat. So if you wanted to do anything else (shows, etc.), forget about it. You couldn’t do both because dinner took so long.

 

In our humble opinion, it sucked… bad.

 

And by no means do I blame the servers. Because we had different servers as we do the “My Time Dinning”. And all the servers did the same. So this was a directive from above.

 

There was only 1 person / couple that we spoke to that did NOT have a negative opinion of the new menu. So if you have already experienced this new menu / service system, what is your take? Let us know.

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. :)

[Ranyw]

Do they still offer an everyday menu to choose from ???

[najnelle]

I have Celiac Disease and must follow a gluten free diet. In the past, Carnival has always had lots of options for me at meal times. I am wondering how they handle special dietary needs on this new menu. Anyone have any experience with that?

[kgriff]

Do they still offer an everyday menu to choose from ???

 

Yes they will have some steak or chicken dish daily. Look at the "From The Grill" section in the "Mains" group of this menu and that will provide you with a good example: http://2c5ce52b0912fbc9a82b-84437363...%20Cozumel.jpg

 

The choices change but you will have some steak or chicken option.

[kgriff]

Just got off of the Glory yesterday for our first Christmas cruise, it was me and my daughter who just turned 18 on Dec 20th so it was a cruise to celebrate her bday and Christmas. We were excited to try this new menu and were disappointed as well to the extent that we just started going to the buffet for dinner instead. We were on the Glory this past February and really enjoyed the service and food but this was just a letdown. As others have stated it was dreadfully slow. We had 8:15 dining and by 9:30 we would have easily been done with desert and headed back to the room on the last cruise but not this time. We both love the chocolate melting cake and had it the first night and we didn't get out until almost 10pm.

Besides being slow as others have mentioned it just doesn't have the variety that the old menu had and we didn't see the cold soups like they had before either. Also on the second night we were just served a piece of cake without even being asked whether we wanted it or not. Honestly it was good but it wasn't what we wanted. So we got desert 2 nights and choc melting cake once. We just got disgusted and went to the buffet instead after the 4th night we just couldn't take it anymore. I cant tell you how annoyed I am that we paid so much for the Christmas cruise only to be so let down by the dining experience. I have a cruise booked on the Dream in Feb and I really hope we don't have to endure this again or it will be my last Carnival cruise.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. The more that respond the more people might realize that I'm not crazy. OK, so maybe I am crazy. But about this new menu issue I'm right. :D Anyway...

 

It was my understanding that this new menu is only on the Glory at this time. So hopefully you have no issues on your upcoming Dream cruise.

 

I didn't pay as much as you did for the Christmas cruise, but I paid enough for a family of 5. And I booked it nearly a year in advance. So yes I do agree that it is highly disappointing that something that you paid a lot for and were really looking forward to was not quite what was delivered.

[kgriff]

When does this new menu go fleet wide? We are on the Pride in late Jan.

 

It is my understanding that this new menu is only on the Glory at this time. And I thought that I saw that the plan was to implement fleet wide by 2015. But that maybe they would start rolling it out in the middle of 2014. So I'm not real sure of the exact schedule.

 

And with enough comments maybe they either completely drop it or at least revise it quite a bit. We can only hope that will happen.

[kgriff]

Here are a few comments from our roll call regarding the menu situation...

 

So' date=' we weren't impressed with the new menus either. We didn't mind the lack of tablecloths on non-elegant nights, and we liked the water carafes on the tables. We liked the port-of-call choices for variety, but we never ordered any of those. I have a lot of food intolerances, so I stick with safer, more familiar choices. The New York strip I got was not very good, and it was smothered in garlic. The carrot cake looked beautiful, but the frosting tasted like they had left out the sugar--I noticed a lot of uneaten carrot cake that night. I really missed the pumpkin soup, and DH missed the baked Alaska, which has always been one of his favorites. When the maitre d' stopped by, we were nice but said we liked the old menu better. He told us it was about 80% against 20% for the changes. Interesting to see what they do with that bit of information, although that was very informal. I got a survey and completed it, so I did my part. We had not-so-good service the first night, but then we were moved to a different section and lucked out with a great headwaiter for the rest of the week.[/quote']

 

I already gave my thoughts on the tablecloths and water carafes in the American Table & American Feast Menu forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1959346. As well as my daughter’s experience with her cold steak.

 

There were lots of food choices that we missed. But just regarding the desserts the Creme Brulee was at the top of the list. And Black Forest Gateau. And Grand Marnier Souffle. And Amaretto Cake. And the bread pudding (forgot the exact name of the dessert). (I had to consult our previous menus to compile this list.) Our experience with the Baked Alaska was hit or miss. On our first cruise the Baked Alaska was very good. On our second cruise the Baked Alaska was not good at all. So now on the third cruise the Baked Alaska was non-existent.

 

We didn’t say anything to the maitre d' when he stopped by. At the time we didn’t quite know how to politely say “this new menu sucks!” So we didn’t say anything. Shame on us.

 

And as far as the service goes, our first night was the worst. But I would blame the new menu and the lack of familiarity with it as the number one issue opposed to the efforts of the servers. Personally I think all of the service personnel that we have encountered on all of our cruises work their butts off and I wouldn’t hold them accountable to any of these issues.

 

I concur on the menu fiasco....

They truly got bad advice from whatever group they hired to make recommendations.

 

Well we told both the maitre d' and the Hotel Manager that they needed to rethink the menu. And sucks may have been used at some point.......

 

LOL! Well, we definitely used the word sucks... but we kept it to ourselves.

[kgriff]

It is my understanding that this new menu is only on the Glory at this time. And I thought that I saw that the plan was to implement fleet wide by 2015. But that maybe they would start rolling it out in the middle of 2014. So I'm not real sure of the exact schedule.

 

And with enough comments maybe they either completely drop it or at least revise it quite a bit. We can only hope that will happen.

 

Ah' date=' here is what I read:

The line currently has plans to test the concepts on four ships: Carnival Glory in December, Carnival Liberty in January, and Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration in February. If the new menu items win over passengers on sailings in the early part of 2014, the new concepts are slated to go fleetwide through the remainder of 2014 and into 2015. Gulliksen says passenger feedback will be collected via onboard focus groups and post-cruise passenger surveys.

That was found at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5632

[PINEVIEW01]

I am really sad to hear all this. I just came back from Four RCCL cruises b2b. While the food was better on these cruises than previous cruises, I and others were still bragging up how Carnival has better food.

 

Now I come back and see hear what is being rolled out and regret sending folks to Carnival for the great food.

 

I don't go cruising to eat buffet/family style eating. If I want low class dinning I can get that at Denny's here at home.

 

No pumpkin can be a deal breaker for me. I was so looking forward to it as the soup on RCCL can't hold a candle to Carnivals Pumpkin Soup

[kgriff]

I don't go cruising to eat buffet/family style eating. If I want low class dinning I can get that at Denny's here at home.

 

No pumpkin can be a deal breaker for me. I was so looking forward to it as the soup on RCCL can't hold a candle to Carnivals Pumpkin Soup

 

Personally, I would say Denny's is better than this buffet food. I would liken Carnival buffet food to Old Country Buffet. Not good. At least at Denny's you get fresh made to order food. :D But I agree. I'm not cruising for Denny's anymore than I'm cruising for Old Country Buffet.

 

Regarding the cold soup, I never thought that sounded good. But on our last cruise my son got all the cold soups and I sampled. They were very good! So I was so looking forward to getting my own cold soups this time. But they didn't have them.

[GRAMMYTAN]

The menu looks very limited and sounds terrible. I'm glad it won't be on our upcoming January cruise. After 25 or so cruises with CCL, I too think we will be taking our cruise dollars elsewhere. There have been far too many changes (for the worse) over the past few years, while the things that really need to change, such as entertainment, remain stale.

[GottaLuvCruising]

The menu looks very limited and sounds terrible. I'm glad it won't be on our upcoming January cruise. After 25 or so cruises with CCL, I too think we will be taking our cruise dollars elsewhere. There have been far too many changes (for the worse) over the past few years, while the things that really need to change, such as entertainment, remain stale.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. There are some things that look good on the new menu, but it is segmented in a very confusing way and options are very limited. Glad you are taking your cruise dollars elsewhere (as we are also) because that's the best way to get Carnival to improve their product - or find one that better suits us as consumers!

[Princess Ariel]

I have a few questions from those that have experienced the new menu:

 

Did they serve you ALL the appetizers on Feast night as a smapler?

 

Also, were you served a dessert that you didn't specifically order?

 

My DH doesn't eat dessert, his mother is a diabetic, and 2 of my children don't eat dessert. I am the only one at the table that would eat dessert at all so I see a ton of wasted food!

 

Last question, did the sides all come out as family style (potato, veg, etc) or has anyone requested these served individually?