Carnival Food Quality Very Subpar

[Calnev1]

14 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

As much as I want to believe that the MDR has an "entire Indian menu" separate and apart from the featured vegetarian dish   . . . I do find it hard to believe!   Did you personally experience this post-pandemic?  What ship(s)?   Thanks. (My mouth is watering already . . . )

Hmm  I found this thread on prepandemic cruises with a lot of different info.  

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2670377-indian-menu/

Wondering about post pandemic.

Edited January 23, 2022 by Calnev1

[sparks1093]

21 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

I guess it must have been a bad investment in the ovens if they are no longer offering it.  I don't eat the stuff so I have no dog in the game, but it would be hard to believe that something on the Carnival buffet would be more authentic than the buffet on Celebrity.  In general, the food quality at the buffet on Celebrity blows away the quality of the buffets on Carnival, RCI, MSC, & NCL.

One would certainly hope Celebrity's food quality is better given what they charge.

[icft]

We just got back today from our third cruise since reopening on the Glory. The Glory seems to be suffering from supply chain problems and perhaps some personnel skill problems when it comes to food. We have not starved though and have found good food.

 

The venues with good food and the good dishes change from cruise to cruise so it takes a bit of hit and miss searching. For example on one cruise Guy’s was just plain bad with fatty meat and fake French fries. This time Guy’s was back to being good. The pizza was pretty good this cruise which was not the norm even precovid.

 

There were three main food problems on the Glory this cruise and one just had to work around them to find the good food. The first problem was the steaks were very poor quality -  even some steaks in the steakhouse. I suspect that is a supply chain problem. These were just lower grades of meat. The second problem was that other then French fries other fried foods seem to have been fried in oil that was not hot enough; it was soggy and greasy. The third problem was some buffet items being cold.

 

A continuing problem is no bacon at the buffet. I like to sleep later than having breakfast on port days in the MDR allows. I can make Lido though, and the omelet station does eggs nicely. Not a major problem but at this point it is clear this is a management decision. They have had ample time to secure supplies and this is an intentional cost cutting move.

[SNJCruisers]

11 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

One would certainly hope Celebrity's food quality is better given what they charge.

Trust me, it is.  The old saying about you get what you pay for is true.  I know what to expect ahead of time whether I'm sailing on Celebrity, Carnival, NCL or Royal.  They each have their own pluses and minuses, but as a general rule the pluses outweigh the minuses with Celebrity, especially with the Edge Class.

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Trust me, it is.  The old saying about you get what you pay for is true.  I know what to expect ahead of time whether I'm sailing on Celebrity, Carnival, NCL or Royal.  They each have their own pluses and minuses, but as a general rule the pluses outweigh the minuses with Celebrity, especially with the Edge Class.

I have no doubt that what you say is true, none at all. Now that we will be flying to the port instead of driving (since even the 8/10 drive to NYC/Baltimore is too much for DW's back) we will be including Celebrity in our cruise searches and I expect that we will be sailing with them sooner rather than later.

[Joebucks]

18 hours ago, icft said:

There were three main food problems on the Glory this cruise and one just had to work around them to find the good food. The first problem was the steaks were very poor quality -  even some steaks in the steakhouse. I suspect that is a supply chain problem. These were just lower grades of meat. 

 

While I posted before that the food was great on my recent cruise, I will partially agree with this one. I did the famous steak and eggs at brunch, and that did not disappoint (both times).

 

However, at dinner, the flat iron was replaced by some sort of "broiled strip loin" or something. This was a disappointing cut. Still, was fairly tasty with the chimichurri.

[asalligo]

There used to be a running joke in my family about who to ask about a good restaurant. If you asked my father, he would tell you where to get basic food and as much of it as possible for your dollar and if you asked my mother she would tell you based on how nice the restaurant was and how classy the decor was. My father liked Carnival Food. 

 

[pinto18]

I loved the tandoor as well, had it every day for lunch. But yea..there were not exactly lines of people like there are for guys burgers.....

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I have no doubt that what you say is true, none at all. Now that we will be flying to the port instead of driving (since even the 8/10 drive to NYC/Baltimore is too much for DW's back) we will be including Celebrity in our cruise searches and I expect that we will be sailing with them sooner rather than later.

Have sailed on them 7 times on 4 different classes of ships going all the way back to 1995.  Their new Edge Class, which has two built (Edge & Apex) and three in the pipeline (Beyond 2022, Ascent 2023, Unnamed 2024) are a step above in quality.  They are primarily all inclusive these days with wifi, gratuities and classic drinks package included, but you can get a bare bones cruise only fare on certain sailings.  Happy cruising.

[CoasterGuy]

Just returned from a four night sailing on Conquest, and have also sailed Mardi Gras since the relaunch.

 

BBQ is where my big complaint is at the moment. Both ships I got the BBQ for my first meal, and within two minutes on my plate the meat was cold. Something I'm going to mention to carnival, seems like the BBQ meat isn't staying warm nearly long enough.

 

Everything else was so-so to great. Guy's Burgers and the breakfast Omelette's continue to be excellent. Enjoyed steak and eggs at the seaday brunch. Main dining room had no complaints, everything was good and warm. I had two Deserts in the buffet sweet spot area. A red velvet cake and caramel cheesecake. Both cakes the top layer was a little bland, but once you got to the inner layers they were very tasty. The pizza is pretty much the same everytime. I've always thought it was ok but everyone has their own opinion on it. 

 

Mardi Gras steakhouse and Cuchina were excellent meals. Didn't have to pay for cuchina either which is nice. 

[Jay5]

7 hours ago, pinto18 said:

I loved the tandoor as well, had it every day for lunch. But yea..there were not exactly lines of people like there are for guys burgers.....

 

Horizon has an Indian food section of their lido buffet one day a week, at least on an eight day cruise it was one day a week.  A lot of office staff and crew were in line that day and the food was superb.

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

On 12/29/2021 at 7:35 PM, KmomChicago said:

I have not been all that impressed with cruise pizza on either Carnival or RCI. But you know, Chicago. I can get way better pizza right here, baby!  
 

I really don’t look for pizza on a cruise, at all, in other words. Cookies either, for that matter.   It’s just not kinda their thing, IMHO. 

Listen that lasagna you call pizza isn’t pizza either 😜
 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 12/29/2021 at 6:58 PM, BlerkOne said:

Doesn't look like the picture is from a Carnival ship.

Well it is.

[brilliantseas]

On 1/23/2022 at 1:17 PM, icft said:

 

The venues with good food and the good dishes change from cruise to cruise so it takes a bit of hit and miss searching. For example on one cruise Guy’s was just plain bad with fatty meat and fake French fries. This time Guy’s was back to being good. 

 

Have they gone back to fresh cut fries at Guy's, or just using a different frozen product? I was very disappointed with the switch to frozen fries at Guy's on my Legend sailing in December. 

[icft]

7 hours ago, brilliantseas said:

 

Have they gone back to fresh cut fries at Guy's, or just using a different frozen product? I was very disappointed with the switch to frozen fries at Guy's on my Legend sailing in December. 

They were back to the good ol' ways.