Food on HAL

[*Miss G*]

2 hours ago, molemaui said:

Another poster mentioned upselIing. I find it distasteful to have the steak or lobster on every nights menu with an additional charge.

 

Steak is available, for free, on the everyday menu in both the MDR and the Lido.  The Tomahawk steak is available in the MDR for an additional charge, as is lobster.  In addition, lobster is usually served, for free, on gala nights.

[terrydtx]

11 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Steak is available, for free, on the everyday menu in both the MDR and the Lido.  The Tomahawk steak is available in the MDR for an additional charge, as is lobster.  In addition, lobster is usually served, for free, on gala nights.

That free lobster on Gala Night is hardly anything to brag about. A 4oz lobster tail, often over cooked and tasteless, can not be compared to the whole cold water lobster offered for an extra fee in the MDR. It is nice that it is an option, if you are willing to pay the extra charge. I wonder how many ever order the Tomahawk steak? I didn't see any on our cruise in July, but I saw a couple of lobsters being served. BTW I didn't order either but the MDR food I found to be very good for the most part.

Edited November 6, 2019 by terrydtx

[pete_coach]

I have been on a number of Celebrity cruises and found the food very good. I am not sure fair comparisons can be made. Taste is personal and very changeable and different each and every day, depending on how your day went. You can have the exact same meal 2 days in a row and like it one day and not so much the next.

I believe that the general consensus on all cruise lines is that the food quality has declined. I think the reasons are twofold.

One, with the advent of "specialty" restaurants, the "better quality" food and service will be in there and revenue is generated for the line,

Two, perhaps people have grown up to expect better quality than years before. Being able to make comparisons between "specialty" eateries, which never existed before, makes the dining room seem pale.

So, the cruise lines have achieved their goals. People now feel the dining room food is inferior so, they pay extra and go to the extra charge places.

Edited November 6, 2019 by pete_coach

[Mary229]

I agree with Pete in that the specialty restaurants are impacting the food quality but worse the service.  They have not increased the wait staff over time only spread them thin.  It has also reduced other guest social areas, those restaurants need to go somewhere, after all.  I would much prefer to have a paid menu in the MDR for the specialties.  

 

I have not been on the top luxury cruises, the highest level I guess was Oceania and I found it no better and for some dishes worse than HAL.   The only superior food I have ever enjoyed was on a RCL one night maiden voyage for top producing travel agents and their guests.  Lobster at the buffet lunch!!!

[bamelin]

On ‎10‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 10:10 AM, ProfCruise said:

Here are all the menus I compiled on my recent sailing aboard the Eurodam.  These might give you some idea of the items you can expect.  I personally love the food on HAL.  Most extensive breakfast menu of any line I've sailed (Carnival, NCL, Princess, Celebrity, and RCCL) and overall good quality.  https://profcruise.com/holland-america-menus/

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Wonderful!  Thank you.

[ProfCruise]

On 11/6/2019 at 10:01 AM, bamelin said:

 

Wonderful!  Thank you.

 

Sure thing!

[molemaui]

On 11/5/2019 at 4:46 PM, molemaui said:

Through day 6 I have to say the food has been “decent to good” in the dining room. Not great or memorable but better than OK. I think Celebrity was better but reading everyone’s comments, it’s not out of the question that they have gone down a bit. 
 

My expectations are reasonable now. HAL is not going to deliver Oceania, Silversea or even Viking Ocean quality. What they do deliver is a great itinerary, nice suites and pretty good pricing. 
 

Another poster mentioned upselIing. I find it distasteful to have the steak or lobster on every nights menu with an additional charge. It’s not too long ago that even RCL had  “Lobster Night”.  
 

I had feared after the first day I might lose weight on this cruise. Happy to report that will not be the case. 

 

 

Just finished my first cruise with HAL and appreciated all the dialog generated by my "food" question. Overall, I can say the food was pretty good and sometimes very good. Breakfasts in Pinnacle Grill were outstanding. That alone (plus free laundry) mean I'll always likely book a Neptune Suite. 

 

I never tried the speciality restaurants and found the Lido Cafe totally acceptable for lunch. The Asian section was consistently excellent. One disappointment was the "Dive In". My order was never right on three separate attempts and neither was the redo. There may be a language issue but the orders were written correctly, just not delivered correctly. Small issue. 

 

Realizing food is is always a subjective subject, I put Silversea and Oceania at the top for food realizing the price point is likely a factor. (To me the difference is enjoying dinner without having to get dressed up. While I love Silversea, it's a bit too formal for my taste) Windstar's was excellent just under Silversea/Oceania. Viking Ocean is hit/miss with sometimes being quite excellent and other times quite sub par.  Holland American is pretty much on par with Celebrity or vice versa. A surprise was Regent. Food was very average at best. Sailed them this past January so it a pretty recent observation. 

 

Thanks again for for the great discussion.