How good/bad is Norwegian food, vs. Disney and Celebrity?

[Against Irrational People]

Thinking about a family booking for the week before X-Mas, and I’m conflicted between Norwegian and Celebrity. I know Celebrity has better food, but we have a 12 y.o. son that may get too bored on the Edge so we are considering the Encore. But here’s the rub, we are hardcore foodies - we eat at three Michelin star restaurants 4-6 times year, and even our son loves caviar, foie gras and steak tartare.  If we could, we would cruise Silver or Crystal for the food if the crowd were younger.  I’ve heard mixed reviews of Norwegian food, with some saying on Reddit the Italian restaurant is worse than Olive Garden, and the steaks are terribly overcooked.  If the food on Encore were at least acceptable, I would be OK, but I fear it could be so bad I will never hear the end of it from the spouse and son.  For more context, I’ve been on Disney cruises most recently and would consider their food to be acceptable to good. Thoughts?
 

Consistency would also be important to me, so if Norwegian is very inconsistent, I would rather pass.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 3, 2021 by Against Irrational People
Spelling error in title

[OrlandoSquirrel]

I find the main dining room food to be meh but have enjoyed speciality dining. We always buy enough speciality dining to cover all our nights on boards. Haven’t sailed in the haven but have heard their restaurant has the best food on board. 
 

I’ve never had an issue with overcooked steaks and have sailed with NCL 3 times on different ships.
 

They’ve always been very accommodating if a dish we’ve ordered was not to our taste to allow us to select something different or remake the dish to our liking. If memory serves correct once my moms steak was too rare for her at Cagney and they remade it it and my husband ordered a new to him dish at Le Bistro that was too salty for him and they replaced with a different dish no problem. 
 

I wouldn’t call the food Michelin star quality but I would say speciality dining is similar enough to Disney.

[Acruzaholic]

Myself and DW are serious foodies. Have been on NCL, Disney, And Celebrity. Celebrity food is always excellent.  MDR on NCL-meh-always book NCL with dining only in Specialty Restaurants for every night. As stated earlier-If food should come out not cooked to your liking-they will quickly make another. LOVE SPECIALTY DINING-better/quicker service and food cooked to order.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, Against Irrational People said:

Thinking about a family booking for the week before X-Mas, and I’m conflicted between Norwegian and Celebrity. I know Celebrity has better food, but we have a 12 y.o. son that may get too bored on the Edge so we are considering the Encore. But here’s the rub, we are hardcore foodies - we eat at three Michelin star restaurants 4-6 times year, and even our son loves caviar, foie gras and steak tartare.  If we could, we would cruise Silver or Crystal for the food if the crowd were younger.  I’ve heard mixed reviews of Norwegian food, with some saying on Reddit the Italian restaurant is worse than Olive Garden, and the steaks are terribly overcooked.  If the food on Encore were at least acceptable, I would be OK, but I fear it could be so bad I will never hear the end of it from the spouse and son.  For more context, I’ve been on Disney cruises most recently and would consider their food to be acceptable to good. Thoughts?
 

Consistency would also be important to me, so if Norwegian is very inconsistent, I would rather pass.

 

Thanks!

The food in NCL’s MDR is good. It is mass produced to serve 2000+ covers a night. And they try to have a variety of international foods on the menu.
 

Specialty restaurants are good. and cooked to order. 
 

The MDR is definitely not Michelin star. But you’re booking a mid-class cruise. 

 

Here are the specialty dining menus from the Encore

Here’s a few of the MDR menus from the Encore. 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by BirdTravels

[craig01020]

My first Norwegian cruise was just 2 months ago on the Gem. We found the MDR fare to be consistently excellent.

 

Then again, we're not snobs, so your mileage may vary. 🧐

[Yinster]

Food is very subjective. Personally for me, I never have any issues with anything on NCL. If something wasn't quite to my taste, I either send it back or just go to a different restaurant. 

 

Haven restaurant is very good but it caters to less people than the MDR. Any of the speciality restaurant are equally as good as they cater to a particular type of food. 

 

Another thing to note. I have been on the same ship three times. Each time, the restaurant quality differs every so slightly. Why? Standard of food bought in. Different crews making the food up. So like chain restaurants where everything should identical. Little factors like this changes how a dish taste. 

 

The only way you would know if NCL is to your food standard is to go on it and try.it. 

[kitty-sail]

If you are that particular on food, I would say pass on NCL.

[karmamule]

We've only been on 1 NCL cruise (the Escape about 3 years ago) and thought the buffet was ok, main dining rooms were good, and the specialty dining consistently excellent. (Le Bistro and Food Republic were particular faves.)

 

To put it in perspective: when I say 'good' or 'excellent' it is relative to restaurants someone who goes out to eat a couple times a month would probably rate it, not someone who is a foodie always eagerly dining at the latest celebrated chef's new eatery.

 

We'll be on the Joy later this year and the Prima next year so looking forward to rounding out our NCL experiences and hearing about others!

[JamieLogical]

If you are willing to pay for a Specialty Dining package that will cover the full sailing, Le Bistro on NCL is amazing. They redid their menu during COVID and it is even better than it was before. If you are sticking to the buffet and MDRs, Celebrity is lightyears better than NCL.

[phillygwm]

I find the service in the specialty restaurants to be excellent.  One example:  My last cruise, I took my niece and her gf to the Greek Isles for her college graduation.  I took them to Le Bistro (French) just to expand their horizons (OK, and annoy them.)  The gf ordered a scallops app, having never tasted scallops before.  She was not a fan.

 

No biggie, at least she tried it.  Well the waiter came over, then the maitre d'.  They all but BEGGED her to order a different app.  We joked that they were going to be thrown overboard because she didn't like scallops.  I wanted her to make them happy and order the escargot instead but that was a hard no. 🙂  Also, the servers have no problem keeping drinks filled which is always a peeve of mine.

 

The food in the specialty restaurants is consistently good to very good.  Not Michelin quality, but certainly better than mid-range chain restaurants.  I can be a pretentious twit and it usually suits me fine.

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by phillygwm

[beltsbear]

8 hours ago, Against Irrational People said:

Thinking about a family booking for the week before X-Mas, and I’m conflicted between Norwegian and Celebrity. I know Celebrity has better food, but we have a 12 y.o. son that may get too bored on the Edge so we are considering the Encore. But here’s the rub, we are hardcore foodies - we eat at three Michelin star restaurants 4-6 times year, and even our son loves caviar, foie gras and steak tartare.  If we could, we would cruise Silver or Crystal for the food if the crowd were younger.  I’ve heard mixed reviews of Norwegian food, with some saying on Reddit the Italian restaurant is worse than Olive Garden, and the steaks are terribly overcooked.  If the food on Encore were at least acceptable, I would be OK, but I fear it could be so bad I will never hear the end of it from the spouse and son.  For more context, I’ve been on Disney cruises most recently and would consider their food to be acceptable to good. Thoughts?
 

Consistency would also be important to me, so if Norwegian is very inconsistent, I would rather pass.

 

Thanks!

Its going to be possibly boring for your kid.  We went on the Edge, and it was wonderful.  Exceeded in every way.  But its a 2900 person ship and there were 850 pax.  So there were maybe 20 kids??  So even though they have great things for kids on the Edge, there will not be many most probably.  Same would be true on Norwegian.  I hear Norwegian is also running way under capacity.   But you have much better food on the Edge.  

[BennyBrun]

NCL MDR is good, specialty restaurant is better.  Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants are better than NCL specialty dinning and RC have UDP (unlimited specialty dinning).  Celebrity has the best food overall MDR/Retreat/Specialty/Blu.  It’s very subjective so YMMV.  I do have to agree that Olive Garden is better than Cucina.

[AndyCapn]

8 hours ago, Against Irrational People said:

If the food on Encore were at least acceptable, I would be OK, but I fear it could be so bad I will never hear the end of it from the spouse and son.
 

Consistency would also be important to me, so if Norwegian is very inconsistent, I would rather pass.

Based on this statement, I think if you bought the specialty dining package and rotated between the higher end selections (Cagney's, Le Bistro, Ocean Blue) you should hit the "acceptable" level every night for about $25 per person per night.

 

It should be noted that Encore has a new Italian restaurant ("Onda") that is apparently a step above their usual La Cucina, which is likely the restaurant you saw in those Reddit reviews.

 

NCL is definitely not destination dining. And the breakfast and lunch options are pretty basic outside of the Haven.

[phillygwm]

10 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

 I do have to agree that Olive Garden is better than Cucina.

I stopped going to Cucina.  For whatever reason, the two times I sailed on Epic I loved it.  But on every other ship, meh.  Sub-OG quality is a fair assessment.  

 

My upcoming cruise on Bliss, I have a free Platinum meal either at Cucina or Los Lobos and I'll probably try it again (unless people tell me I'm making a terrible mistake missing Lobos.)  Otherwise, best to stick to Cagneys, Bistro or Ocean Blue.  I'd like to try Onda but haven't been on those ships yet.

[Goldconnection]

It is all on the level of banquet food. We have sailed on NCL, RC, Celebrity, Princess, and Carnival and I was not overly thrilled with the food on any of them. That includes specialty dining. The food is just OK. I have not eaten anything on any of these ships that I would recommend as a must try. This is my opinion based on my taste buds. 

[CruiseMH]

You get what you pay for. 😉

 

If you cruise on a average cruise line you will get average services and food.

Some cruise lines do focus more on the entertainment, some do focus more on the food.

But in the end in most cases the food is similar to the quality/price level of the cruise line.

 

[CarolinaMamma]

We are foodies, too, Celebrity’s MDR food is ok, NCL’s is meh, When booking NCL, we factor in the cost of eating in specialty restaurants every night.  It is cruise food, so never going to be as good as a high-end land/based restaurant, but we’ve been very satisfied with the food in NCL specialty restaurants. the Italian restaurant you heard bad things about was probably La Cucina. I was not impressed with it either, but Encore has a new one called Ondo by Scarpetta, which is supposed to be much better. 
 

On our last cruise, rather than upgrade to the premium plus beverage package, we brought seven bottles of our own good wine and paid the $15/bottle corkage fee. Well worth it.  Something that you as a foodie may find annoying about NCL is that they don’t have anything like Celebrity’s premium

nonalcoholic beverage package, which includes specialty coffees and sparkling and bottled water. To get those things included on NCL, you have to buy the premium plus beverage package. For kids, the only option is the soda package, which just includes Pepsi products. Yuck.
 

One thing that you may want to consider is the ages for the teen clubs on different lines. I seem to remember Celebrity starts the teen club at age 12.  NCL starts at 13. When we sailed with my 12 year old daughter on NCL, Breakaway, she took one look at the “baby” furniture in the kids’ club, heard about how they mix age groups when there aren’t many kids in there, and had zero interest in the kids’ club. She spent the entire cruise being pissed off that she was three months shy of being allowed on the teen club. 
 

What tipped the scales for us when booking our upcoming Encore cruise was the Havenn2-BR family villa. Sharing a bathroom with my kids is not a vacation, so we were looking at either two balconies with upgraded food (NCL specialty dining or Aqua class on X) or a suite with two bathrooms. On Celebrity, we would have had to get two sky suites, which was more than the price of the Havenn2-bedroom family villa. Plus Encore has better entertainment and a lot more stuff for kids to do. 
 

We booked a year ago, and prices may be totally different now. 

[Goldconnection]

45 minutes ago, CruiseMH said:

You get what you pay for. 😉

 

If you cruise on a average cruise line you will get average services and food.

Some cruise lines do focus more on the entertainment, some do focus more on the food.

But in the end in most cases the food is similar to the quality/price level of the cruise line.

 

So true. That is why I don’t go on a cruise ship expecting ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ meals. I expect average at best. When I want ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I know where to go and a cruise ship is not the place to go.

[crystlvylt1]

I enjoyed the upgraded venue and offerings  of Onda on Encore this September, waaaaay better than La Cucina.   I would recommend not eating in the Main Dining rooms for dinner (Manhattan, Taste & Savor) if you want to avoid feeling disappointed.  Do the speciality dining and/or the Teppanyaki instead. TBH, you can also curate a nice plate for yourself from the the buffet, especially if you like Indian/South Asian food. Sounds counterintuitive to enjoy the buffet over plated meals but it can work out better if you want to sample items.  Haven dining would also be worth the upgrade for the enhanced menu on the private restaurant.

[The Traveling Man]

On 12/3/2021 at 2:33 PM, BennyBrun said:

It’s very subjective so YMMV.  I do have to agree that Olive Garden is better than Cucina.

Yes, YMMV.  The best, and I mean VERY BEST steak I have ever eaten was in La Cucina on the Epic a month ago.  Some of the pasta dishes may not be anything to write home about, but that steak was absolute perfection.

[MsTabbyKats]

@Against Irrational People

If you like healthy food, go to the buffet.  You get as much of what you want and can put together delicious meals. A 12 year old might (secretly of course) prefer this to foie gras.

 

 

[CruiseMH]

2 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

So true. That is why I don’t go on a cruise ship expecting ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ meals. I expect average at best. When I want ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I know where to go and a cruise ship is not the place to go.

 

There are for sure cruise ships that offer 5-star food but most people can`t afford to cruise with these cruise lines. 😉

[edspec]

It depends on what you eat. I love the Indian food on NCL, and the chicken strips and Palo on DCL. Carnival blows both out of the water for free food choices. MCS has great food. If you want to know what you’re getting and some type of guarantee on quality I wouldn’t look for it on a cruise ship.

 

 

[Goldconnection]

4 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

There are for sure cruise ships that offer 5-star food but most people can`t afford to cruise with these cruise lines. 😉

I personally don’t cruise looking for 5 star food. When I want to eat 5 star trust me I will not go on a cruise to do so. 😜

[suometar]

If you are "hard-core foodies" who dine in Michelin restaurants 4-6 times a year and your 12 year son loves caviar, foie gras and steak tartare, NCL is definitely not the cruiseline for you.