Which cruise line has the worst food?

[ren0312]

Excluding the luxury cruise lines like Crystal, which mass market cruise line has the worst food for the price? Basically which cruise line has the worst food considering how much you pay for the cruise?

[sparks1093]

This is a very subjective topic. I've sailed with the three mainstream lines and have found their offerings in the main dining room and buffets to be very close quality-wise. All three had dishes that I couldn't get enough of and dishes that I wouldn't order again. Where there may be some discussion is with the specialty restaurants, but we've only eaten in one. That was the Italian restaurant on NCL (pre-Del Rio) and while it was okay we had the same dish in the MDR on our next Carnival cruise and it was noticeably better.

[MCC retired]

Food is too subjective for such a question to have a legitimate answer .

Any cruise line can not exist if it was considered by most to be the worse at food opinions.

[leaveitallbehind]

Since most mass market cruise lines are all relatively comparable in price and offer similar options with dining venues IMO it is not a valid measure to begin with to compare food quality to fare paid as they would all be more similar than different in that regard.

 

And as others have mentioned food comparisons are far too subjective to provide a legitimate answer as everyone's taste and preferences are different and can only be judged on individual experience.  In other words, what is considered very good by one may be viewed as equally bad by another.

[Joebucks]

Food is a overrated discussion which has been done to death. All of the lines have things most people will like, and things they may not like. And different people will have different opinions on the same dish. No one is serving banquet TV dinners.

 

There is so much food available on any ship that I will be just fine. I don't need 5 star dining at a 5 star price every night to tell everyone how refined my pallet is and that I have exquisite taste. I can go eat 5 star dining here if I want, but I just don't.

[navybankerteacher]

In my experience, the MDR food (and service) on NCL ships is uniformly less enjoyable than that on other lines.  NCL pushes their alternative dining more vigorously - which makes sense.  Their alternative restaurants seem on a par with alternatives on other lines.

[Hlitner]

I would disagree with Joebucks because we think food/cuisine is a very legit discussion issue, especially among those of us who find it an important part of cruising.  We know folks who specifically book Seabourn because they like things like their caviar, which is available in unlimited amounts at any of the bars.  Others book and praise Oceania, which does charge somewhat higher prices, but offers upscale food in their dining room.

 

But the question of the worst food is one we would not want to tackle.  Having been on 16 cruise lines we suspect the worst food is on a line we have not experienced.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I would disagree with Joebucks because we think food/cuisine is a very legit discussion issue, especially among those of us who find it an important part of cruising.  We know folks who specifically book Seabourn because they like things like their caviar, which is available in unlimited amounts at any of the bars.  Others book and praise Oceania, which does charge somewhat higher prices, but offers upscale food in their dining room.

 

But the question of the worst food is one we would not want to tackle.  Having been on 16 cruise lines we suspect the worst food is on a line we have not experienced.

 

Hank

Of course it is possible (in fact, highly probable) that there is always something worse out there than that which has already been experienced — in whatever category.  But, back on topic:  did you not find any personal preference among those 16 lines you DID experience?  

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course it is possible (in fact, highly probable) that there is always something worse out there than that which has already been experienced — in whatever category.  But, back on topic:  did you not find any personal preference among those 16 lines you DID experience?  

Ahhh,  now that is a different question which many of us have addressed over the years.  The problem, for us, is that the quality of food/cuisine has changed so much over the years that its impossible to rate current ships unless one has been on the ships within the past few months.  For example, we used to think that Celebrity had the best mdr food among the mass market lines.  But that changed shortly after Lisa Lutoff-Perlo took over the company and imposed various cut-backs.  Friends tell us that Oceania offers the best food for the price paid, but that is one of the few major lines upon which we have never cruised.  We do think that the best food is generally found on the smallest ships...operated by the luxury lines.  But one would have to factor in paying $600+ per passenger day on those ships vs $100 per passenger day on some other lines.

 

Hank

[PORT ROYAL]

2 hours ago, ren0312 said:

Excluding the luxury cruise lines like Crystal, which mass market cruise line has the worst food for the price? Basically which cruise line has the worst food considering how much you pay for the cruise?

 

Food not the one issue, as one can dine in speciality offerings.  Neither is it the amount paid.  It's a combination of things, accommodation, basic menus, availability of decent beds/deck space after breakfast, shows, service, entertainment, and other guests.

Then having experienced the worst possible package, one does not book again.

[George C]

Have not sailed ncl in a long time but there food is one of the reasons we will not cruise with them again.

[lenquixote66]

We have been on 6 cruise lines and in my opinion the worst was Carnival.

[njhorseman]

If you haven't cruised on a particular cruise ship (and I mean ship, not line) within the last few months your opinion is worthless. Menus change frequently and even on any single cruise line food quality can vary greatly from one ship to another depending on the skills of the executive chef and his/her staff. 

 

Beyond that, personal tastes are extraordinarily important. I might like the way a dish is prepared and you may feel the opposite.

 

Really the same holds for restaurants on land. Ownership, menus and chefs in restaurants change more frequently than some people change their underwear, and yesterday's star can be today's dud...or vice versa .

[lenquixote66]

29 minutes ago, George C said:

Have not sailed ncl in a long time but there food is one of the reasons we will not cruise with them again.

One of the reasons we would cruise with NCL again,if possible would be because we like the food.Everyone has different opinions.It would be a very dull world if we all shared the same opinion.

[navybankerteacher]

55 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Ahhh,  now that is a different question which many of us have addressed over the years.  The problem, for us, is that the quality of food/cuisine has changed so much over the years that its impossible to rate current ships unless one has been on the ships within the past few months.  For example, we used to think that Celebrity had the best mdr food among the mass market lines.  But that changed shortly after Lisa Lutoff-Perlo took over the company and imposed various cut-backs.  Friends tell us that Oceania offers the best food for the price paid, but that is one of the few major lines upon which we have never cruised.  We do think that the best food is generally found on the smallest ships...operated by the luxury lines.  But one would have to factor in paying $600+ per passenger day on those ships vs $100 per passenger day on some other lines.

 

Hank

Of course you should expect to pay more for significantly better food - this thread is not about higher fares translating into better food — it is about the worst food. Not the worst food per dollar - just the worst food.   Also - the worst food experienced is the worst food experienced - not necessarily the worst food experienced in the last couple of weeks.  Once I have identified a cruise line with significantly worse food than any other, I am not inclined to keep going back to refresh my bad experience.

[leaveitallbehind]

2 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 - this thread is not about higher fares translating into better food — it is about the worst food. Not the worst food per dollar - just the worst food.   

 Actually per the OP as quoted below, I think it is about relating the fare paid to food quality.....

 

"Excluding the luxury cruise lines like Crystal, which mass market cruise line has the worst food for the price? Basically which cruise line has the worst food considering how much you pay for the cruise?"

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, navybankerteacher said:

Of course you should expect to pay more for significantly better food - this thread is not about higher fares translating into better food — it is about the worst food. Not the worst food per dollar - just the worst food.   Also - the worst food experienced is the worst food experienced - not necessarily the worst food experienced in the last couple of weeks.  Once I have identified a cruise line with significantly worse food than any other, I am not inclined to keep going back to refresh my bad experience.

The question is "worst food for the price" and while paying more may equate to better food overall for me personally if I am paying more then my expectations are going to be that much higher and could lead to a disappointing experience. 

[sparks1093]

22 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

If you haven't cruised on a particular cruise ship (and I mean ship, not line) within the last few months your opinion is worthless. Menus change frequently and even on any single cruise line food quality can vary greatly from one ship to another depending on the skills of the executive chef and his/her staff. 

 

Beyond that, personal tastes are extraordinarily important. I might like the way a dish is prepared and you may feel the opposite.

 

Really the same holds for restaurants on land. Ownership, menus and chefs in restaurants change more frequently than some people change their underwear, and yesterday's star can be today's dud...or vice versa .

How the dish is prepared is part of the equation, certainly, but the underlying quality of the food should be fairly consistent ship to ship on the same cruise line. You can prepare a select grade steak and a prime grade steak the same way and should be able to discern the difference in quality between the two.

[sanger727]

I’ve cruise on carnival, Norwegian, and celebrity. Of those 3, I found the least enjoyable MDR food on Norwegian. Of course every cruise is a mixed bag of some dishes you really enjoy and some you don’t. But for me, Norwegian has the fewest enjoyable meals and a few that I literally found inedible and had to go to the buffet after dinner. However, food is only one part of the cruise experience for us. Norwegian is still my preferred cruise line due to the freestyle concept, the lack of dress code, the entertainment, and the specialty restaurant variety and food quality.

[njhorseman]

19 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

How the dish is prepared is part of the equation, certainly, but the underlying quality of the food should be fairly consistent ship to ship on the same cruise line. You can prepare a select grade steak and a prime grade steak the same way and should be able to discern the difference in quality between the two.

 A prime steak should be better than a select steak but I've had good and bad of both because of preparation. One of the worst steaks I've ever had anywhere was an prime aged rib steak that was butchered and cooked improperly on an upscale small ship cruise line that heavily advertises and promotes its food quality. We also had the worst lobster we've ever eaten on the same ship in the same specialty restaurant that served the lousy prime steak. On another ship of the same cruise line the next year we had none of those problems.

 

 My experience and opinion are based on numerous fairly long cruises ranging from 3 to 8 weeks in duration. Even on a single ship we've seen very noticeable differences in the quality of the final product when an executive chef changed mid cruise.

 

This year we even saw a change in how particular dishes were prepared under a single executive chef. We had  experienced an ongoing problem with how they were preparing fish, which we explained to the maitre d' and we showed him exactly what it was. He immediately got on the phone to the executive chef and thereafter we never had a problem...and we order fish quite often. This was on a mass market line. They weren't serving fancy species of fish prepared in an exotic way. These were cheaper types fish prepared simply, but made quite edible based on more careful preparation.

[broberts]

As others have said, differences between mass market lines are trivial. And as @njhorseman has said there  can be a remarkable difference between ships. Some of the poorest and some of the best food I have had has been on same class ships serving the same menu.

[PORT ROYAL]

11 minutes ago, broberts said:

As others have said, differences between mass market lines are trivial. And as @njhorseman has said there  can be a remarkable difference between ships. Some of the poorest and some of the best food I have had has been on same class ships serving the same menu.

 

Agree the Chef is important, as they can be the difference.

 

[Aquahound]

I have no problem answering this question.  Of the lines I've sailed, the worst food I've had was on NCL.  

 

 

[iancal]

We have had excellent food on Celebrity, HAL, Princess, RCI, NCL, and Carnival.

 

We have had very mediocre food on Celebrity, HAL, Princess, RCI, NCL, and Carnival.

 

Never had bad food on any of them.  Have sent food back on some, have requested a different meal to the one that arrived on several of the lines.  Seems to us to be more ship and crew dependent than anything else.

[George C]

5 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

I have no problem answering this question.  Of the lines I've sailed, the worst food I've had was on NCL.  

 

 

I used to love NCL cruised them over a dozen times Norway was a great ship in 1980’s had honeymoon on the Norway also, about twenty years ago I thought they went downhill, will never cruise them again. There are too many other lines to sail.