Carnival Food Quality Very Subpar

[ninjacat123]

Guy's burgers are sooo good!  I was underwhelmed by the MDR cuisine on Magic and MG.  Emeril's is awesome.  Why someone wouldn't check Emeril's out while on MG is beyond me (I'm looking at you @BennyBrun) but to each his own.  This decline in MDR food has us deciding in booking specialty restaurants for our cruise this Jan 13 on Sunshine.  YMMV.

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, scpirate said:

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.

We agree to disagree. 

[joeyancho]

6 minutes ago, scpirate said:

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.

Agree.  Carnival pizza was lousy.  MSC was great

 

[Calnev1]

9 minutes ago, scpirate said:

Carnival pizza is not anything like naples or anywhere in italy for that matter. I had some on MSC that was good though. 

Unfortunately, the pizza on our one MSC cruise was the ONLY food that was any good.   MSC should stick to being a cargo line.  They certainly treated us like cargo.

[cruisingguy007]

11 hours 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.

 

Oh, no you didn't! Thems fighting words! 😁

Edited December 28, 2021 by cruisingguy007

[siestakeys04]

I usually like the food on carnival. The only ship I didn’t like the food on was the Valor. The dining room was not good to me or dh.

[SNJCruisers]

20 hours ago, solinar said:

Took our 7th Carnival cruise on 12/18 on the Valor out of New Orleans......I doubt we will do Carnival again unless I see evidence on the boards that their food gets a big upgrade.

Many people have complained recently about the cookies.  But the problem could have been the ship.  No body has complained too much about the quality and especially the variety on the Mardi Gras.  Try her or the Celebration out of Miami or the Jubilee when she starts in Galveston.  They will change your mind. 

[crewsweeper]

7 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Many people have complained recently about the cookies.  But the problem could have been the ship.  No body has complained too much about the quality and especially the variety on the Mardi Gras.  Try her or the Celebration out of Miami or the Jubilee when she starts in Galveston.  They will change your mind. 

Agree on the food options on the MG.  Trusting Celebration and Jubilee will have similar.  But the cookies were different from the past.  Everyone has different opinion s on cookies--soft, chewy, hard crunchy.  On the MG they were more crunchy but the chocolate chips still had chocolate chips and the peanut butte had peanut butter taste and the cookie bowls were nearly empty every time I saw them. I saw people grabbing more than just a couple of each type. So as long as passengers are eating them, Carnival isn't going to change their recipes much. 

[PhotoMike]

Honestly, I think that being overly critical of a mass-market cruise line's food quality is an extremely first-world problem. For the price I pay for a Carnival cruise, I'm more than satisfied with the quality. I mean, we're not talking about Seabourn or Crystal here, we're talking about a cruise line where people have no problem wearing swimwear & such to a "formal" dining setting. Just keep it in perspective, I guess. Remember the old days when you could take a galley tour? These kitchens look like what you'd see in a hospital, school cafeteria, or prison. (I'm speculating on the prison, as I've never been there..lol) They are mass-cooking for thousands. You have to keep that in mind when you receive a dish that's "bland" or "lacking salt", etc. I love Carnival, RCI, Norwegian cruises, and have always left feeling that I got a bang for my buck, even if I didn't care for a particular dish or 2.

[sparks1093]

The lacking salt comment triggered something that I forgot to say. When one is cooking for the masses (as on a cruise ship) one needs to be mindful of the spices that are being used, especially salt. DW and I both have high blood pressure so we minimize salt in our diet (which is probably why we didn't notice its absence). Salt and pepper are on the table for a reason. 

[Jasonsterling]

20 hours ago, solinar said:

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.

The food on the Buffet at night I've always thought mirrored the MDR. Then if you don't feel like dressing "up" you can have the same options for ordered. I can't remember it being different than that, although there might have been occasional variants along with the MDR menu selections. As for the rest, well personal preference ties in to the mix. I like the cookies, I like ALL cookies, lol but the brownies I'd probably agree because I like then dense and chewy but a cake like version exists to. All in all I don't cruise just for food and different ships have different styles I think in the kitchen as far as prep. I'd suggest trying a larger ship so that there are more options if you should be inclined. I thought the food on both the Breeze and the Vista was very good.  

[frostedthreads]

We just got back from the Magic and we thought the food has changed since we last cruised before covid.  There were not different types of butter in the morning.  Sausage in the morning was either super cooked to bricks or super greasy.  Quality was very inconsistent. Some nights, it was difficult to find something that sounded interesting on the menu. 

 

We tried to stay positive through the cruise.  We cruise for the whole experience. But food is a big part that we look forward to.  I love to eat things I cannot find easily at home or that I cannot cook myself. 

 

I am not sure that the price we paid for a Christmas Cruise equalled the quality of the food and experience.

 

 

 

 

[Wennfred]

Keto review onboard Panorama 3 times, first the sugarfree cakes were not sugar free, the cake was made with wheat flour and not with almond or coconut flours, they use Splenda (sucralose) instead of stevia, Splenda will spike most diabetics so if you’re reversing diabetes stay away from those cakes at the buffet.

 

brunch alway at the Vista restaurant for breakfast in the mornings where I would have my omelette (cheddar, spinach, bacon) and 2 over medium, side of extra bacon.

 

For Lunch if I was hungry, Mongolian Wok, people forgot this place is open every day at noon. The food is amazing. I only have the chicken with zucchini & broccoli and I have them cook it in butter.

 

Salad bar up on Serenity deck 15 was also very good.

 

At the MDR, mostly everything I had to Sub out, like Potatoes, Carrots, Tomato sauce and corn. On some cruises the waiter would work with me and bring me a side of broccoli, on other cruises I just removed the sides and just had the steak, chicken or salmon but from the others at the table the food wasn’t as good as years back.

 

Steakhouse onboard Panorama was a total disappointment, the food was not only bad but they kept Messing up my order, the Surf & Turf was a 2 inch Filet Mignon and a lobster no bigger then a shrimp. Also their so called big slice of cheesecake has Zero Flavor, I had to try just a tiny corner and she was right, I thought we had Covid because of no taste.

 

after we headed to the coffee shop Blue Java Cafe were she purchased a slice of cheesecake there is she was like Wow that was cheesecake, I tried a tiny piece and it did have an amazing cheesecake flavor, then I spit it out.

 

Its unfortunate that Carnival’s MDR is so boring and tasteless. And on these 3 cruises the food quality didn’t improve, even after submitting the surveys.

 

Im a Platinum guest member and almost Diamond on Carnival and we have a Miracle, Conquest and Magic cruise booked for 2022 but after that it’s time to try NCL & Celebrity, they say their food is way better.

 

Fred

[Wennfred]

Blue Iguana Mexican bar was good also, no sugars added in their chicken nor beef and you can have it like a salad there with no tortillas, they also have sour cream and guacamole, but the quac wasn’t as good.

 

Guys Burgers I would have 2 cheese Pattie’s over their shredded lettuce with no sauce, the mushrooms and the grilled onions was also a great tasty addition. No buns on all 3 cruises I only had this once a cruise.
 

Nothing at the buffet I could eat because it was all starchy foods or foods with some type of sugary sauce like teriyaki, if you ask for ribs without the sauce they can go back to the kitchen and get you what you want.

 

Same at the outside Pigs & Anchor buffet, you can request the pulled pork without the BBQ sauce and this was open on sea days only for lunch.

 

The buffet did have an Omelette station in the morning and you can also orders eggs there any style as well, sunny side up etc. the lines moved pretty fast there. But for the most part hardly anything keto there so I stayed away.

 

Fred

Edited December 29, 2021 by Wennfred

[jimbo5544]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:57 AM, 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.

Bingo

[Pyrate13]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:15 AM, solinar said:

 

• 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 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;  

Agree 100%. The food on Pride back at the beginning of the month was awful in our opinion and I said just that on my post cruise survey.

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Keto review onboard Panorama 3 times, first the sugarfree cakes were not sugar free, the cake was made with wheat flour and not with almond or coconut flours, they use Splenda (sucralose) instead of stevia, Splenda will spike most diabetics so if you’re reversing diabetes stay away from those cakes at the buffet.

 

brunch alway at the Vista restaurant for breakfast in the mornings where I would have my omelette (cheddar, spinach, bacon) and 2 over medium, side of extra bacon.

 

For Lunch if I was hungry, Mongolian Wok, people forgot this place is open every day at noon. The food is amazing. I only have the chicken with zucchini & broccoli and I have them cook it in butter.

 

Salad bar up on Serenity deck 15 was also very good.

 

At the MDR, mostly everything I had to Sub out, like Potatoes, Carrots, Tomato sauce and corn. On some cruises the waiter would work with me and bring me a side of broccoli, on other cruises I just removed the sides and just had the steak, chicken or salmon but from the others at the table the food wasn’t as good as years back.

 

Steakhouse onboard Panorama was a total disappointment, the food was not only bad but they kept Messing up my order, the Surf & Turf was a 2 inch Filet Mignon and a lobster no bigger then a shrimp. Also their so called big slice of cheesecake has Zero Flavor, I had to try just a tiny corner and she was right, I thought we had Covid because of no taste.

 

after we headed to the coffee shop Blue Java Cafe were she purchased a slice of cheesecake there is she was like Wow that was cheesecake, I tried a tiny piece and it did have an amazing cheesecake flavor, then I spit it out.

 

Its unfortunate that Carnival’s MDR is so boring and tasteless. And on these 3 cruises the food quality didn’t improve, even after submitting the surveys.

 

Im a Platinum guest member and almost Diamond on Carnival and we have a Miracle, Conquest and Magic cruise booked for 2022 but after that it’s time to try NCL & Celebrity, they say their food is way better.

 

Fred

Celebrity might be better, but unless NCL has really stepped up their game their MDR food is comparable to CCL. NCL has more specialty restaurants though which may or may not meet your needs (we only ate in one specialty, the Italian restaurant, and while the apps, entre' and desserts were very good the spaghetti side that came with our chicken parm was overdone noodles in tomato soup).

[heidikay]

I was on the Legend this month.  The Breakfast menu and the brunch menu were both excellent.  They have some new things on then that I really enjoyed.  The olive oil muffin on the brunch  menu is amazing.  So happy to see avocado toast and poached eggs.  

[sharon&family]

We recently sailed on the Mardis Gras back in October.

 

I can't understand how anyone likes Carnivals pizzas.  They are thin and tasteless.  They have almost no sauce and little cheese and toppings.  I try one each time I cruise but never care for them.

 

I also do not like the breakfast buffet at all.  None of the pancakes/french toast taste good.  The bacon is not crisp and is half fat.  The pastries are no good.  The only thing I like is the omelette.  I even resorted to cereal on the last day because I was so tired of all of it.  The sit down breakfast options were much better.

 

I really enjoyed the lunch and dinner buffets.  There were lots of choices and I always found at least one desert that was good.

 

The dining room was ok but nothing tasted as good as it used to.  I dont eat seafood so that cut out half the appetizers and the rest were not very good.  There were no side items to choose from any more.  You only get what comes with the meal.

 

The Italian restaurant had a wierd taste in the sauces so I didn't really care for it.

 

Big chicken was similar to chick fil a at home so I didn't really find it impressive.

 

Guys was ok but the beans were awful.  I think they were burnt.

 

Enjoyed the burgers.

 

The new chocolate chip cookies are nowhere as good as how they used to be.  I used to eat about 30 on each cruise.  Now maybe 4 at most.

 

I also found the ice cream to taste different.  Maybe that was just me though.  The chocolate did not really have as good of a flavor as in the past I thought.

[JT1962]

Food is obviously subjective. We’ve always found a good selection and acceptable quality on all the cruise  lines we have sailed. Banquet / Cafeteria quality is about the best you can expect when they are feeding thousands of people 3 meals a day.   As long as we aren’t cooking it and cleaning up the dishes, we are happy.

 

I also wonder how many of the complaints of bland / tasteless food may be due to Covid and people don’t realize they are or have been infected previously. I saw a report that many were posting complaints about receiving Yankee Candles for Christmas that had little or no scent. It turns out that there was nothing wrong with most of the candles, but many reviewers had no or a reduced sense of smell due to Covid, but they were unaware they were positive. 

Edited December 29, 2021 by JT1962

[kdr69]

11 hours ago, Wennfred said:

but after that it’s time to try NCL & Celebrity, they say their food is way better.

I hear the grass on their mini golf course is greener too. 😁

[Pyrate13]

1 hour ago, JT1962 said:

 

I also wonder how many of the complaints of bland / tasteless food may be due to Covid and people don’t realize they are or have been infected previously.  

Speaking for us, not caused by covid. Off the ship, food was just fine. Plenty of flavor at guys as well, especially the fries.

[Joebucks]

On 12/28/2021 at 8:07 AM, sparks1093 said:

The lacking salt comment triggered something that I forgot to say. When one is cooking for the masses (as on a cruise ship) one needs to be mindful of the spices that are being used, especially salt. DW and I both have high blood pressure so we minimize salt in our diet (which is probably why we didn't notice its absence). Salt and pepper are on the table for a reason. 

 

It's hard to please everyone. If it is salted then you hear "IT IS TOO SALTY AND INEDIBLE". If it's not salted "IT IS BLAND AND INEDIBLE". Salt can be added a lot easier than it can be removed from a dish.

 

In order of my favorite meals on Carnival, lunch has always been my favorite. Then breakfast. Then dinner. The MDR has served me much more fine meals than bad ones. I can see how it doesn't dazzle though. The direction Carnival has taken with their food on Mardi Gras is almost unbelievable to me. Adding things like street foods and big chicken to their already large lunch is hard to not like. Cucina and Chibang to dinner adds a big variety. We will see what the future of that looks like. It would be nice to have more dinner options included. 

[SNJCruisers]

12 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Im a Platinum guest member and almost Diamond on Carnival and we have a Miracle, Conquest and Magic cruise booked for 2022 but after that it’s time to try NCL & Celebrity, they say their food is way better.

 

Fred

Also Platinum, with 20 cruises on Carnival over 35 years on 8 different classes of ships.  Been on NCL 4 times and Celebrity 5 times, with a B2B booked for next week on their newest, the Apex. The food on NCL is comparable to Carnival, with the best thing being their 24 hour pub/diner on board so you can get actual sit down food at 100 am.  Celebrity does take it up a notch, especially on their new Edge Class ships.  Celebrity does include tips, wifi and classic drink package unless you book last minute, when you can sometimes find the bare bones cruise only fare.

[EngIceDave]

Wife and I sailed Horizon back in September and back then I reported that I felt the food was a notch lower.

We've sailed RCCL, MSC and more, and we both have always considered Carnival to be just a little better. 

Not stellar, but not bad...above many chain restaurants.

 

During the Horizon cruise we didn't feel the same. It just seemed a little less.

 

Now I fully understand the staffing and supply issues, so I really am not complaining, only giving an observation.