Carnival Food Quality Very Subpar

[solinar]

Took our 7th Carnival cruise on 12/18 on the Valor out of New Orleans. It has been 5 years since our last Carnival cruise. We had a good time (excellent service, boat was nice, excursions fun) but the food was just awful. I have been on a diet, and I weighed the day I left and they day I got back and I lost 1/2lb over the 5 day cruise.

 

• Same cookies every night (overcooked chocolate chip, a sandy, double chocolate at the deli). The cookies were BAD. I have 3 kids (6,11,16) and only one would eat the cookies and the other two are the sugar addicts and said they were horrible.  One night they had brownies at the dining room for desert, and two kids ordered them, ate one bite, and asked if they could have something else. The brownies looked like dry crumbly cake.
• All of the food was super bland. No flavor, no salt. Upon reflection, my wife and decided that dinner at a local cafeteria would have been a better option than the food offered at the dining room and Lido on every night.
• The Lido buffet was the exact same food as the dining room every night, just served in pans. Its been 5 years, but I don't recall this ever being the case before.
• The specialty dining options were all pretty good (Guys burgers were great, Deli was good, Seafood was good, Steakhouse was very good but not great), but there are only so many times you can eat them before they get old with the same menu all the time.

 

The staff was wonderful. It seemed like everyone was very appreciative to be back at work. The food quality was just very subpar, and very disappointing; so much so that I doubt we will do Carnival again unless I see evidence on the boards that their food gets a big upgrade.

[PSU2LSU]

I think the cookies are subjective.  I actually enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies as I prefer them really crispy.  I didn't enjoy the cookies from the deli as they were a little softer.  My brother in law loved the chocolate chip cookies and ate a plateful every day.  

 

I don't think I ever ate the cookies on my previous cruise. 

[MsTabbyKats]

@solinarOne of the reasons I like Carnival is that I know I won't gain weight.

 

DH and I are "buffet people".  Except for breakfast, there is just about no variety and not good.  The food in the MDR was almost inedible (so back to the buffet for us). The sandwiches at the deli left a lot to be desired.  Guys Burgers were good (I only eat burgers if nothing else is available).

 

But the one thing they had that was good was cakes in the lunch buffet.

[Don Kehote]

Color me crazy, but I am thoroughly unimpressed with Guy's Burgers.  I preferred the old seaside grill.  There was real flavor there.

[ColeThornton]

39 minutes ago, solinar said:

I have been on a diet, and I weighed the day I left and they day I got back and I lost 1/2lb over the 5 day cruise.

 

 

Not sure if that's supposed to be a good or bad thing.  🙂

[sparks1093]

Food is subjective because we found the food to be quite good on our recent Legend sailing. To the best of my recollection they have always offered the same things on lido that are in the MDR. We didn't try the cookies so can't comment on those.

[Saint Greg]

I didn’t particularly enjoy my vista food. The included food at least. I found myself deciding to book specialty restaurants the last two nights because I really didn’t enjoy any of my MDR dinners. 
 

In the deli the Buffalo chicken sandwich they cut the chicken breast in half so you had more bun than chicken. There was a chicken bone in my southwest chicken wrap. The Reuben was great. 
 

Steakhouse and JiJi’s were great. Guys was good. BBQ was good. I’ve never been a fan of this pizza version or blue iguana. 

[mz-s]

I think Carnival's food is delicious, by and large. Each to their own.

[icft]

On our two Glory cruises this year we found the MDR food to be very good. The rest varied a lot. For example on our first cruise Guy's was good. On our second Guy's wasn't good. The Lido buffet was sub-par both times. I think that has a lot to do with there being less people on board (about 50% first cruise and 65% second) and thus batches of food sitting out longer. Until supply chain issues are fixed I think we are going to find the food will vary ship to ship, venue to venue, sailing to sailing. I think they have to take what they can get in the way of supplies right now.

 

I noticed someone mentioned the cakes being good and that is a wonderful example of different folks have different tastes. We found the cakes pre-covid to be not to our taste. They, in our mind, don't really have cakes. They are all layers of cake and icing with too much icing. These last two cruises it was even worse. Whereas in the past I could separate the icing from the cake and actually eat some cake, now the cake layer is incredibly thin - about a quarter inch - followed by about a half inch of icing - followed by a quarter inch layer of cake, etc. and it is impossible to separate the cake from the icing. When I was a kid I would have loved all that sweet but not so much now.

[CruisingAgain]

I agree with mz-s.  The food on our November Horizon cruise was great. I gained 6 pounds for an 8 day cruise.  There were a few things I didn't like at dinner but with app, entree and dessert it was good that I didn't finish everything.  And you can always order something else. My favorite time tho is lunch ... Guy's, deli, pizza, burritos, seaday brunch .... all are great and there are never enough days to try it all.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Having cruised in late October on the Vista, wife and I found the food to be a positive part of our overall great experience on board.  We are not foodies, but I think we have a good grasp on taste, texture, and temperature.  Not everything we ate was a winner, but the servers were quick to trade out when we didn't like something.

 

We haven't eaten at the buffet in a long time.  I am not opposed to the Marketplace, but there are so many other options that I prefer more.

 

A word about the pizza.  I am a big fan, mainly because I love the crust.  I may be a minority on this, because at home when I am with a group sharing a pizza, I always get voted down on the type of crust we order.

[ultrafighter]

I also wasn't wowed by the food on the Breeze in mid November.  Still plenty of good stuff to find, but nothing I had was amazing.

 

Their soup game in the MDR was on point, though.  👍

[BlerkOne]

17 minutes ago, Top_of_the_Cube said:

 

A word about the pizza.  I am a big fan, mainly because I love the crust.  I may be a minority on this, because at home when I am with a group sharing a pizza, I always get voted down on the type of crust we order.

Love the pizza on Carnival. Much closer to the real deal you get in Naples than most. Perhaps the only better pizza is from Alfredo's on some of the Princess ships.

[Bases5]

2 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

Color me crazy, but I am thoroughly unimpressed with Guy's Burgers.  I preferred the old seaside grill.  There was real flavor there.

Couldn’t agree more

[crewsweeper]

I've always found the food on Carnival subjective and depending upon what gets ordered.  We try to skip the MDR and Lido buffet as much as possible.  But at both careful selection counts.  Specialty dining for dinner is better than MDR.  Blue Iguana over Guys.  And on the new Mardi Gras, Street Eats and the Serenity Salad Bar are the way to go for lunch time, except for the Lido gelato and the cakes over cookies.

 

[Calnev1]

31 minutes ago, Bases5 said:

Couldn’t agree more

And I couldn't disagree more.  In my view, Guy's burgers are still some of the best I have ever had. Anywhere.  Way superior to any other fast food burgers, such as In and Out. And better than burgers on other cruise lines, including Johnny Rockets on RCCL (which we had to pay extra for!!).  And no degredation in the quality of Guys from pre to post  COVID, at least on the Carnival Panorama.

 

Do wish Carnival had kept the Indian lunch counter.  But that is another topic.

[sparks1093]

3 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

And I couldn't disagree more.  In my view, Guy's burgers are still some of the best I have ever had. Anywhere.  Way superior to any other fast food burgers, such as In and Out. And better than burgers on other cruise lines, including Johnny Rockets on RCCL (which we had to pay extra for!!).  And no degredation in the quality of Guys from pre to post  COVID, at least on the Carnival Panorama.

 

Do wish Carnival had kept the Indian lunch counter.  But that is another topic.

We had the opportunity to eat at a land based Johnny Rockets on our way to a Carnival cruise a few years ago and I was underwhelmed by the burger that I had. Nice atmosphere and all, but I am more about the food than the atmosphere. I was prepared to hate Guy's because of all of the people that hyped it up, but found it to be a pretty darned good burger for being included in the cruise fare. We love to grab one as a snack after getting back onboard after an excursion.

[Tiger0613]

For chain burgers I prefer McDonald's, Steak 'n Shake, Freddy's, Johnny Rockets, and Fuddruckers over Guy's.  The only compliment I can give Guy's is that it is better than Burger King, but that doesn't take much.

[Decali]

Eat to cruise the mass-produced food don't cruise to eat the mass-produced food. It's been that way for a long time. 

[Don Kehote]

29 minutes ago, Tiger0613 said:

For chain burgers I prefer McDonald's, Steak 'n Shake, Freddy's, Johnny Rockets, and Fuddruckers over Guy's.  The only compliment I can give Guy's is that it is better than Burger King, but that doesn't take much.

I honestly think that the thing everyone *really* likes about Guy's is the toppings bar.  Otherwise, it's just a patty.  There's nothing inherently special about a griddled burger unless it makes me hear Smash Mouth in my head when I take a bite of that donkamole smothered meatsplosion.

[KmomChicago]

7 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Food is subjective because we found the food to be quite good on our recent Legend sailing. To the best of my recollection they have always offered the same things on lido that are in the MDR. We didn't try the cookies so can't comment on those.

So good on Legend last week. Chopsticks, deli, and Good Eats all nummy in the buffet. Guy’s tasty. Incredible fresh brewed “Americano” coffee each morning, decent options in the MDR overall with some hits and some misses. Had so many options I never got to Blue iguana but it’s always been good in the past. 

 

I do agree desserts, cakes and cookies are somewhat weak on both Carnival and RCI, sometimes bland or poor textures, but chocolate melting cake is always good, cheesecakes are usually fine, and there’s still always way too much food available. 12 cruises and still haven’t gone hungry for a single minute. 

[HappySails4U]

8 hours ago, icft said:

On our two Glory cruises this year we found the MDR food to be very good. The rest varied a lot. For example on our first cruise Guy's was good. On our second Guy's wasn't good. The Lido buffet was sub-par both times. I think that has a lot to do with there being less people on board (about 50% first cruise and 65% second) and thus batches of food sitting out longer. Until supply chain issues are fixed I think we are going to find the food will vary ship to ship, venue to venue, sailing to sailing. I think they have to take what they can get in the way of supplies right now.

 

I noticed someone mentioned the cakes being good and that is a wonderful example of different folks have different tastes. We found the cakes pre-covid to be not to our taste. They, in our mind, don't really have cakes. They are all layers of cake and icing with too much icing. These last two cruises it was even worse. Whereas in the past I could separate the icing from the cake and actually eat some cake, now the cake layer is incredibly thin - about a quarter inch - followed by about a half inch of icing - followed by a quarter inch layer of cake, etc. and it is impossible to separate the cake from the icing. When I was a kid I would have loved all that sweet but not so much now.

We sailed on the Mardi Gras in late October and we found Mississippi Mud cake in the Lido.   OMG what a find !!!  The cake was warm, moist and lots of nuts!   We looked for this again on our remaining days but unfortunately this was a one and done !

 

[modes]

12 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

Color me crazy, but I am thoroughly unimpressed with Guy's Burgers.  I preferred the old seaside grill.  There was real flavor there.

Totally agree those are the worst burgers at sea.

[joeyancho]

Our November cruise on the Radiance,   I found the free food to be horrible.   They weren't even trying.  Guys was good.  Shaq chicken was fair.  Deli was nasty and service was painfully slow.  The Mexican place was not Mexican.   Buffet was repulsive with limited offerings.  MDR food was tasteless and poorly executed.   On the other hand the specialty venues were terrific .   I guess the trained staff works there. No more Carnival for us.

Edited December 28, 2021 by joeyancho

[scpirate]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Love the pizza on Carnival. Much closer to the real deal you get in Naples than most. Perhaps the only better pizza is from Alfredo's on some of the Princess ships.

I disagree. I have a house south of naples. Carnival pizza is not anything like naples or anywhere in italy for that matter. I had some on MSC that was good though. Almost like my 5'2" italian grandma's pizza. Hers was better of course.  To each their own. Somebody needs to eat carnivals pizza. It just will not be me.