Food on a Mediterranean cruise

[mvh]

Can anyone tell me with first hand experience if the food on a Mediterranean cruise is any different than a Caribbean cruise? We are going on the Freedom out of Barcelona next September and all I keep reading is how bad the food has become. Just wondering if it is and better in Europe or if it is all the same. With all the great places to eat on the stops, we have no intention to get any specialty restaurants.

[Langley Cruisers]

The menus in the MDR and the offerings in the Windjammer are usually the same/similar fleet-wide, with some subtle changes. The small cups of yogurt will be different (sourced and shipped in Europe, obviously), but we did find the cheesecake to be EXCELLENT. Our compliments to the Executive Chef on this one, but I also believe it was the cream cheese used in the recipe, different than anything I have tasted on board before, perhaps again due to the different suppliers in European home ports.

[cruzgryphon]

The menus in Europe are very similar to the menus in the Caribbean - one noticeable difference being no lobster tails.

 

In terms of the quality of the food - there will be some locally sourced things as the previous poster pointed out - but really the quality depends on the Executive Chef and his team. I've cruised a few times in the Med/ Europe and haven't noticed any significant decreases in food quality compared to the Caribbean.

 

I wonder if the poor reviews have come early in the European season as there may be more crew turnover and thus things aren't quite as crisp (pardon the pun) as later in the season when the crew gets into its rhythm.

[George C]

Can anyone tell me with first hand experience if the food on a Mediterranean cruise is any different than a Caribbean cruise? We are going on the Freedom out of Barcelona next September and all I keep reading is how bad the food has become. Just wondering if it is and better in Europe or if it is all the same. With all the great places to eat on the stops, we have no intention to get any specialty restaurants.

 

We did Brilliance this September and food in MDR and also WJ was just bad, we had 5 night specialty package and added a couple of nights, we were hoping for something better than Caribbean and it was worse. Barcelona and other ports were great.

[PCWalton1]

It was not recent ( 2010 & 2012) but for our cruises the menus were the same. Except no lobster as stated earlier

 

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[griffy116]

We've done two Med cruises with Royal and we really didn't notice any difference in the menus in the Med and the Caribbean. We were enjoying such fabulous food in the port cities that we really didn't really complain about the menus at dinner. We had spent a few days in Europe prior to both of our cruises and we were ready for the breakfast foods in the Windjammer and DIET coke instead of Lite Coke (served in Europe) so we were happy about the breakfast on the ship, lunch in the port cities and dinner menus at night on the ship was just fine with us. We were SO tired at the end of the day that we didn't really see very much of the ship. On our one sea day, we hit the MDR for the Tutti salad.

[papaflamingo]

We did Greek Isles (I know, not exactly the Med). The food on the ship was good, same as Caribbean. BUT the food in port! FANTASTIC! Plan time to eat at one of the many cafes available and enjoy local cuisine. Then the food on the ship will be just.... food. :)

[cruisequeen4ever]

I know it's not RC, but on our Princess Med cruises, they have sourced their food from Europe, which makes even the same items different. The grapes were almost the size of golf balls, the tomatoes were fresh from Napoli, and the fries were true Pomme Frites from France!! The food was out of this world!

 

 

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[clarky213]

We did Greek Isles (I know, not exactly the Med). The food on the ship was good, same as Caribbean. BUT the food in port! FANTASTIC! Plan time to eat at one of the many cafes available and enjoy local cuisine. Then the food on the ship will be just.... food. :)

 

Last time I looked, the Greek Isles were still in the Med:D

[happy trailer]

On my Rhapsody Italy/ Greek Isles cruise last fall, I experienced a lack of variety of vegetables, both fresh and cooked. I was really taken aback, as I live on the Med, and we have great fruits and vegetables all year, and I had no problem finding produce on our port stops. It made for very dismal eating for a vegan.

[sandancer]

We were on the Jewel this past June out of Rome and thought the food was very good. We had not been on a Royal cruise for a few years and felt while there was less choice, the quality had improved. No complaints.

 

 

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[framboesa]

We have been cruising in Caribbean and Mediterranean equally and,at least for us, it seems that everything is similar...There are even american products that we only can typically find in USA (like some breakfast cereals).If there is a difference we never saw it!:)

[north29]

do not believe all you read about food. Someone mentioned about that the raw food is sourced from different providers in Europe which is true. last October we found the food basically the same but some things like Prime Rib was very different.

[Ned49]

We did a med cruise in September and the food was not very good, the late dining time of 9pm didn't help either.

[crosby99]

Can anyone tell me with first hand experience if the food on a Mediterranean cruise is any different than a Caribbean cruise? We are going on the Freedom out of Barcelona next September and all I keep reading is how bad the food has become. Just wondering if it is and better in Europe or if it is all the same. With all the great places to eat on the stops, we have no intention to get any specialty restaurants.

 

Did the same route on Harmony this summer. the food is very similar and they DID serve lobster.

It was new menus and personally; especially for appetisers; I was not as fussed.

The one caveat I would make is with food allergies/intolerances they are not as well setup; especially for kids menu; due to different suppliers and will make specials instead.

[troykahack]

Can anyone tell me with first hand experience if the food on a Mediterranean cruise is any different than a Caribbean cruise? We are going on the Freedom out of Barcelona next September and all I keep reading is how bad the food has become. Just wondering if it is and better in Europe or if it is all the same. With all the great places to eat on the stops, we have no intention to get any specialty restaurants.

 

We are on the cruise Sep 17. What date is yours?