Seabourn Food Reviews

[tv24]

We thought the food on Crystal was fine. We thought the food on Silversea was fine. We thought the food on Seabourn was a little better than the other two. We generally like plainer food and are not keen on exotic spices. We are sailing on Seabourn again this summer and I am looking forward to not having to plan, cook, serve, and clean up dinner for two weeks. For me, that's at least 50% of what makes the food enjoyable.

 

If you like plainer food and are not keen on exotic spices, then you will not be disappointed with Seabourn. And you will be well taken care of.

[commodoredave]

The one with the warm, red center. Which is what a medium rare is supposed to be. From your description, neither of you got what you ordered.

 

I agree. But the point is that he sent his back for being under-cooked!

[whystayhome]

If you like plainer food and are not keen on exotic spices, then you will not be disappointed with Seabourn. And you will be well taken care of.

 

I know. I cannot wait. When we left the Quest after 20 days last summer, I was heartbroken.

[Emperor Norton]

Emperor Norton

 

Good news for you. During our 26 day segment meat was cooked to ordered temp and no raw chicken. Paula

 

I didn't have temp issues on my last two cruises (other than excessive UV time):D

[Emperor Norton]

If you like plainer food and are not keen on exotic spices, then you will not be disappointed with Seabourn. And you will be well taken care of.

 

Thats an issue I've found on all the cruise lines I've been on. Unless you chase the chef most of whats served would be perfectly at home in rest home.

[wripro]

Point me to a rest home that has Restaurant 2.

[Emperor Norton]

Point me to a rest home that has Restaurant 2.

 

IMO thats a strawman. The amount or variety of food is irrelevant if it isn't prepared correctly. The issue is that Seabourn and every other cruise line I've been on doesn't acknowledge palettes other than rest home bland. That is if a dish calls for garlic, there's no garlic. If a dish calls for black pepper that's missing. If a dish calls for anything spicy, thats absent.

[commodoredave]

IMO thats a strawman. The amount or variety of food is irrelevant if it isn't prepared correctly. The issue is that Seabourn and every other cruise line I've been on doesn't acknowledge palettes other than rest home bland. That is if a dish calls for garlic, there's no garlic. If a dish calls for black pepper that's missing. If a dish calls for anything spicy, thats absent.

 

In my experience, that has been true on occasion, but not all the time. In fact, I've had some very memorable "spicy" dishes, including curries and Asian.

[wripro]

As have I. Most of the dishes I've had on SB have been very well seasoned.

[Flamin_June]

I like to think of myself as a well-seasoned dish, though my wife tells me I'm just a half-baked couch potato.

[ravenclaw]

Point me to a rest home that has Restaurant 2.

 

Not up to rest home standards.

 

Point me to a Restaurant 2-like establishment in the USA that would still be in business after 6 months let alone the almost 4 years on Seabourn.

[Emperor Norton]

In my experience, that has been true on occasion, but not all the time. In fact, I've had some very memorable "spicy" dishes, including curries and Asian.

 

Well for me Crystal, Radisson/Regent/Disney/SilverSea/Seabourn have ALL given me a sub par product where spice is concerned. The closest for me was on my less than stellar trips on Oceania where crew members provided me with chili paste. THAT had heat. Anything the bland mouths in Seattle came up with paled in comparison.

 

/why yes, my head exploding is too nice for me so long as that goes against what the locals deal with.

[wripro]

People either love Restaurant 2 or hate it. I find it a welcome difference from the other dining options and far more interesting than the typical Italian or Steak house found on most ships.

[commodoredave]

Tastes in food are far ranging, which is why one can find a negative review on Trip Advisor for even the very best Michelin star restaurants.

For my money, I would take Seabourn, Crystal and Regent cuisine over any other cruise line afloat. And, over many land-based restaurants.

[lincslady]

Regarding the quality and cooking of meat - on a recent cruise we found the rack of lamb tough and not very good (maybe the source has changed?) but there was more marinading/slow cooking of some meat, which made for a great improvement. Slow cooked roast beef was excellent; coq au vin where the chicken had been properly marinaded was, to me, as good as in a good French bistro, and kebabs etc. were also good. I personally think this is a change for the better - more authentic cooking, and less quick fillet steaks, chewy and tasteless lobster, which used to be considered luxury foods. However, the Nigerian shrimp we had once were delicious.

[PaulaJK]

Are you speaking of sojourn? Chef Graeme was doing a fair amount of slow and low cooking which was reflected in the roast filet of beef, venison and other dishes. I ask because I wonder whether this is a fleet wide change.

 

Someone on CC said lamb has been resourced.

 

The lobster is tough because it is frozen tail. Grilled filet mignon should be very tender due to the cut of meat. When grilled steak is tough we generally are talking about quality.

[lincslady]

No - Quest, with Chef Martin. It would be good if this was a fleet wide change, IMO. It would also be good to think that those in charge of food at headquarters took notice of what gets posted here, regarding both meat and spices in cooking, which I agree are usually lacking.

[tv24]

Well for me Crystal, Radisson/Regent/Disney/SilverSea/Seabourn have ALL given me a sub par product where spice is concerned. The closest for me was on my less than stellar trips on Oceania where crew members provided me with chili paste. THAT had heat. Anything the bland mouths in Seattle came up with paled in comparison.

 

/why yes, my head exploding is too nice for me so long as that goes against what the locals deal with.

 

Emperor: Have you tried the pop-up restaurant that is set up on Cunard in the evenings in the Kings Court buffet area? They convert part of the buffet to a resto with table cloths & atmosphere and serve a menu according to a theme. We've had great curry there, similar to what one would find in a good Indian resto in a big city US or UK. I know that Cunard is a (gasp!) mass market line, and that the buffet is normally a free-for-all, but this set-up has worked well for us. The food was consistently better than the ethnic food on Seabourn.

[commodoredave]

Emperor: Have you tried the pop-up restaurant that is set up on Cunard in the evenings in the Kings Court buffet area? They convert part of the buffet to a resto with table cloths & atmosphere and serve a menu according to a theme. We've had great curry there, similar to what one would find in a good Indian resto in a big city US or UK. I know that Cunard is a (gasp!) mass market line, and that the buffet is normally a free-for-all, but this set-up has worked well for us. The food was consistently better than the ethnic food on Seabourn.

 

I would also recommend the English fare in the Golden Lion Pub. Top quality English pub food.

[pdx13]

Food quality is a primary consideration for us in choosing a cruise line. Food and service are the criteria for booking a particular line. Our past two cruises have been on Crystal and we were very pleased with the quality of the food, and the willingness to accommodate special requests. For instance, I requested fresh blueberries and raspberries every morning for breakfast in our room and they were available every day on a 21 day cruise in the med. We also enjoyed the alternative restaurants, but generally took our meals in the MDR. We have now booked a cruise with Seabourn and expect that the food will be on par with Crystal, but chose Seabourn this time due to itinerary, larger cabin, and newer ship. We found that the Crystal ships, although meticulously maintained, are showing their age in subtle ways. Our Seabourn cruise is significantly more expensive than Crystal, but I attribute that to a smaller ship and more personalized service. We are very much looking forward to comparing Seabourn with Crystal.

[Jim Avery]

Emperor: Have you tried the pop-up restaurant that is set up on Cunard in the evenings in the Kings Court buffet area? They convert part of the buffet to a resto with table cloths & atmosphere and serve a menu according to a theme. We've had great curry there, similar to what one would find in a good Indian resto in a big city US or UK. I know that Cunard is a (gasp!) mass market line, and that the buffet is normally a free-for-all, but this set-up has worked well for us. The food was consistently better than the ethnic food on Seabourn.

 

We enjoyed these venues on Queen Victoria. The food and service was as good as we have had on any ship, including Seabourn and SeaDream. Really very good when we had it. And the drink pairings were, at that time $15 for 5 different drinks. 5 sake for the Pan Asian night, 5 wines for the others. Quite a bargain, especially for how good it was. The rest of the food on board, including Todd English's specialty restaurant was, imho, just average. Not bad, just not special.

[rols]

We've always found the food on Seabourn to be of good quality, good enough that it's often hard to choose exactly where to eat on a given day because all the menus look great.

 

Our complaints, if we have any

 

.. that the R2 special menus and Colonnade evening themes appear not to have changed over the last number of cruises we've taken. Not only the themes haven't changed, but mostly the dishes haven't either. I think they need to refresh those a little more often.

 

.. any non-european, non-US dish can be a bit hit or miss. The ingredients are fine, the food has been prepared with care but bears little relation to the label. My feeling is often that the recipe came from head office somewhere and is followed to the letter, but whoever invented the menu both didn't really know the dish and then tweaked whatever recipe they had to make it less exotic.

 

.. and at the risk of getting shot at, I don't think the bread on the ship is very good, especially knowing and having seen that it's freshly baked on board.

[secoma4]

The point I agree with is that the "non-traditional" menus get dumbed down. "Asian" is the example I would use. Whereas there is really no "Asian" cuisine - it is either Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese etc - what is offered tends to be an amalgam of these with the spice and chili content taken to a minimum. I think you are right in your suggestion that this is to cater for the much blander palates of the group that generally makes up the majority of the passenger mix. Having said that, we have experienced a really good Indian night with dishes reasonably representative of what constitutes real Indian food.

 

When you put this all in the context of providing, at every meal, for 450 guests over extended periods the overall quality is pretty good. I'm happy to trade off a little bit of blandness for the consistency and service that goes with it.