Quality of Food

[jimbo5544]

I did not start cruising till 2010 but have been on 10 since and have 2 more booked.

 

the largest cutback imo is doing away with the tablecloths and going to the American Table theme.

 

as far as quality of food I see no difference during the time I have been cruising but only have experience back to 2010.

 

 

 

Your assessment is pretty much right on, and I go back to cruising since 96.

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

I'm not sure if you're asking for a definition or illustration. the definition is pretty obvious "sub" "standard", below the standard or below the median benchmark.

 

 

 

It looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait a minute is that slop or gruel? If it's slop than I think you are way off base, but if it's gruel....hmmmm. I really can't say.

 

Obviously my question was rhetorical. Your reply just shows how subjective (notice I do not say objective) ones thoughts on food are. I may be sorry for asking, but which cruise line has ......standard food? Please don't say the Navy.

 

 

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[bUU]

LOL, what the heck is substandard?

Many people do tend to work the English language to make their points seem more vital than they really are. The word "standard" sounds official and important, but the reality is that we all have our own standards for things, so an individual saying that something is "substandard" is saying that they don't like it, but saying so in a more grandiose manner.

 

What you'd probably be more interested in is how the offering compares to an objective standard. As someone who use to appraise to objective standards I can tell you it is really difficult to do, and almost impossible without a rather significant amount of training and supervised experience. The best we can do vis a vis objective standards is latch onto an objective metric that is a reasonable tracking metric for the matter being assessed. For anything related to a cruise, the only thing we can latch onto is the average fare paid, and that's going to naturally reflect an average of the entire offering, not any one aspect (such as dining).

[IntrepidFromDC]

Wait a minute is that slop or gruel? If it's slop than I think you are way off base, but if it's gruel....hmmmm. I really can't say.

 

You can look up definitions of slop and gruel yourself, I already helped you with the definition of substandard.

 

MDR is substandard, not slop or gruel.

 

If you really want slop, I suggest you visit Lido deck.

 

I have yet to experience gruel on a cruise, but the way things are going, I can imagine the food on Lido approaching that on the infamous ship "Potemkin" at some point in the distant future.

[jimbo5544]

You can look up definitions of slop and gruel yourself, I already helped you with the definition of substandard.

 

 

 

MDR is substandard, not slop or gruel.

 

 

 

If you really want slop, I suggest you visit Lido deck.

 

 

 

I have yet to experience gruel on a cruise, but the way things are going, I can imagine the food on Lido approaching that on the infamous ship "Potemkin" at some point in the distant future.

 

 

 

Think I got your perceived standards the first time, but thanks again. Where do other cruise lines fit in?

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Many people do tend to work the English language to make their points seem more vital than they really are. The word "standard" sounds official and important, but the reality is that we all have our own standards for things, so an individual saying that something is "substandard" is saying that they don't like it, but saying so in a more grandiose manner.

 

 

 

What you'd probably be more interested in is how the offering compares to an objective standard. As someone who use to appraise to objective standards I can tell you it is really difficult to do, and almost impossible without a rather significant amount of training and supervised experience. The best we can do vis a vis objective standards is latch onto an objective metric that is a reasonable tracking metric for the matter being assessed. For anything related to a cruise, the only thing we can latch onto is the average fare paid, and that's going to naturally reflect an average of the entire offering, not any one aspect (such as dining).

 

 

 

That very well may be the best answer to a question that I have ever gotten. Thanks!

 

 

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[IntrepidFromDC]

Think I got your perceived standards the first time, but thanks again. Where do other cruise lines fit in?

 

I have no idea, nor am I interested, but I have skimmed over other posts comparing and contrasting Carnival food to other lines' food.

 

I love Carnival too much to try another line.

 

FUN? Yes.

Value? Yes, especially the free cruises! :D

Employees with great training and great attitudes? YES.

Good food? Only in the Steakhouse and other "pay-extra" venues. MDR is ok at best. Lido is, well, you remember...

[jimbo5544]

I have no idea, nor am I interested, but I have skimmed over other posts comparing and contrasting Carnival food to other lines' food.

 

 

 

I love Carnival too much to try another line.

 

 

 

FUN? Yes.

 

Value? Yes, especially the free cruises! :D

 

Employees with great training and great attitudes? YES.

 

Good food? Only in the Steakhouse and other "pay-extra" venues. MDR is ok at best. Lido is, well, you remember...

 

 

 

Lol fair enough

 

 

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[Gallivanting Souls]

Is the food as good as I remember the very first cruise I went on? ------>No. Why is it that when I travel back to my home town and eat at food places that used to love they are not as good as I remember? (In and Out Burger, for example) Short answer, They just aren't living up to MY memories. Maybe MY tastes have evolved? I Don't know, but I do think that sadly, I am going out to eat too much and food has just become ordinary. Restaurants and cruise lines are all going cheaper, but with that being said,I can hardly get decent beef at the grocery store either, so who is to blame? It has already been mentioned, as bad as (we are complaining) the food is, I doubt anyone is walking away hungry. I am not, even if the food is not living up to my memories.

[bUU]

Short answer, They just aren't living up to MY memories. Maybe MY tastes have evolved?

I agree that the power of nostalgia is strong, but given how fares have declined over time adjusted for inflation, and how the ship's now have specialty restaurants to serve to high quality meals, which they didn't have before, I do believe it is reasonable to expect an actual decline in quality.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[CBuick]

Can't believe this thread is still going. Here is the deal for me. Most of the time the food is pretty good. Guys is really good, and I don't even like burgers. The surchage food is very high quality - and the perception to me is that Carnival does not charge unreasonable fees for these surcharge options. (I feel NCL and RCL are very expensive for comprable meals)

 

Either way I still see cruising as an excellent value.

[siestakeys04]

On my last cruise I didn't like to much in the MDR it was the first time ever. I left hungry than before I went in. It still has not stopped me enough to not book Carnival again and eat in the MDR. The bread was really good!!:')

[Cyber Kat]

As you can tell in my signature I’ve not been particularly loyal to any one line. I’m starting to have a few “theories” about cruise food:

 

 

 

1. If your food arrives fresh from the kitchen, it’s more likely to be good. If it sits on the waiter’s station while you or someone at your table is finishing a course, or because the two large tables next to you are being served, the quality will suffer. My main complaint about the “New American Table” on Carnival is that it seems designed to allow them to serve in the dining room with a smaller staff. That just exacerbates this problem. If you find a waiter who can give you prompt service each night, you’ll probably be happier.

 

 

 

2. The food will never again be like what I keep hearing it was in the 1980s, because the lines won’t spend the money on it.

 

 

 

3. There seems to be as much variation in quality between the ships of a given line as there is between the various lines, so I’m becoming less convinced that, overall, any mass-market line has “better” food than another. I’d be more tempted to ask what the food is like on a particular ship.

 

 

 

So if anyone has any tips or reports for dining on the Carnival Pride, I’d like to hear it because I’ll be there in October. I would be highly surprised if it’s quite as good as on the newer flagships, though, so I don’t expect the Pride to have great food just because the Dream does.

 

 

 

Of all the Carnival ships I've been on, the Pride had the best food IMO anyway. Food is so subjective. We have experienced both the old menus and the new American Table - which I felt was a notch down both in food and dining experience. It was still better than meals on the other ships we've been on recently.

 

DH is a fussy eater but he agreed.

 

I will note that even though I think Carnival's food has gone downhill of late, it's still better than my one cruise with RCI.

 

We don't choose our cruises by the lowest price and we are looking for a better overall experience out of the mainstream, but I will always consider the Pride when making a choice. It's a great ship and we loved everything about it.

 

 

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[ja_martin]

I love a good steak, and I'm not overly fussy, but I generally do not have good luck with their flat-iron, and I keep trying. Same with their filet offered in the MDR. Sometimes it's fatty, sometimes it's tough. Sometimes it's both.

 

If the ship has a steakhouse, and you choose to go, it will be better. Steakhouse selections are also offered in the MDR for a charge, though I've never done that.

 

Ice cream and frozen yogurt are soft-serve, but I honestly can't tell the difference. Vanilla, chocolate, and sometimes strawberry. There are ice cream machines and is also available in the MDR.