Anyone enjoying the new menu selections?

[Tatka]

16 minutes ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Yikes. As someone planning to go on my first Royal cruise this has me worried. At bare minimum, I expect warm food, hot preferred, and certainly not some of the ice cold food they were served in the MDR.

 

 

 

I'd say go with open mind and see for yourself.

 

In some weird reason the weakest food we had on Royal was in 2004 on Splendor and 2007 on Explorer. Food in 2010x especially in 2013 and onward improved greatly. Now I'd say it is a bit weaker than it was till 2023, but it is still enjoyable. Also quality depends on ship and chef. We cruise 5 times a year and we see a difference.

 

 Remember  bad news sell well, so you read/hear complaints more than good opinions.

[TravelBluebird]

1 minute ago, Tatka said:

I'd say go with open mind and see for yourself.

 

In some weird reason the weakest food we had on Royal was in 2004 on Splendor and 2007 on Explorer. Food in 2010x especially in 2013 and onward improved greatly. Now I'd say it is a bit weaker than it was till 2023, but it is still enjoyable. Also quality depends on ship and chef. We cruise 5 times a year and we see a difference.

 

 Remember  bad news sell well, so you read/hear complaints more than good opinions.

 

Thanks. Well, since I’m new to Royal I won’t be comparing it to what has been before.  Only reason I particularly reacted to the YT reviewers was I have watched them before and they are not generally negative, and really love Royal.

[Tatka]

Your choice. I always make my judgement as I read horrible reviews about same cruises we were on. Complete opposite to what we witnessed. Menus did change, many people miss classic selections they are accustomed too.

 

Anyway, have a nice cruise and hopefully you won't be disappointed.

[BennyandBo]

3 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

I'd say go with open mind and see for yourself.

 

In some weird reason the weakest food we had on Royal was in 2004 on Splendor and 2007 on Explorer. Food in 2010x especially in 2013 and onward improved greatly. Now I'd say it is a bit weaker than it was till 2023, but it is still enjoyable. Also quality depends on ship and chef. We cruise 5 times a year and we see a difference.

 

 Remember  bad news sell well, so you read/hear complaints more than good opinions.

Hey, for me I'm trying really hard to keep an open mind. But honestly it shouldn't be this much work. Food is subjective yes. But the amount of complaints and bad reviews by sheer volume is really very hard to ignore. 

 

The main problem is there is no do over. On land if one meal stinks, you move on to the next place. On a cruise they already have your money and you cannot go down road to another restaurant. 

 

The cut backs in quality,variety, and service feels like a bait and switch to those who have paid in full with expectations based on past reviews of things that seem to have gone away or gone downhill over the past six months. 

[Tatka]

6 minutes ago, BennyandBo said:

Hey, for me I'm trying really hard to keep an open mind. But honestly it shouldn't be this much work. Food is subjective yes. But the amount of complaints and bad reviews by sheer volume is really very hard to ignore. 

 

The main problem is there is no do over. On land if one meal stinks, you move on to the next place. On a cruise they already have your money and you cannot go down road to another restaurant. 

 

The cut backs in quality,variety, and service feels like a bait and switch to those who have paid in full with expectations based on past reviews of things that seem to have gone away or gone downhill over the past six months. 

 

Have you cruised lately or is this all based on review?

We did in January on Anthem and March on Enchantment, in a couple of weeks we will be on Liberty. We also pay for cruises 🙂 . We have not noticed any horrors.

 

What I am saying is see for yourself. You may have different opinion. Also you are in restaurant. If dish is bad or cold you ask for another. You complain.

 

I see no reason to stress badly before your cruise.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Tatka

[BennyandBo]

Oh the thing about negative reviews from you tubers like Ben and David is this is there bread and butter. Giving negative reviews that could help end a cruise line would not be a good thing for them long term. So I really think it has to be bad for them to go in that direction. Also, I'm not a fan of the cheerleader you tube Royal Caribbean blog type stuff. They want business and and bookings. Plus the money made from the online blog/vlog end. I don't feel you ever get a truly objective review from them. It's not in their best interest.

[Tatka]

What is your point? Are you worried about end of RCI because of YouTubers you like voiced their opinion? I do not even know what to say.

 

For me they are not more credible than others, I trust my experience.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Tatka

[BennyandBo]

3 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

Have you cruised lately or is this all based on review?

We did in January on Anthem and March on Enchantment, in a couple of weeks we will be on Liberty. We also pay for cruises 🙂 . We have not noticed any horrors.

 

What I am saying is see for yourself. You may have different opinion. Also you are in restaurant. If dish is bad or cold you ask for another. You complain.

 

I see no reason to stress badly before your cruise.

Oh, I have no problem complaining. LOL.

 

Only difference is in a restaurant you don't pre pay and if it's bad you don't go back six more nights in a row. Time will tell I guess.

[BennyandBo]

2 minutes ago, Tatka said:

What is your point? Are you worried about end of RCI because of YouTubers you like voiced their opinion? I do not even know what to say.

 

For me they are not more credible than others, I trust my experience.

Wow. How did you get that?

Royal Caribbean could go belly up tomorrow and I would not give a rats.

 

I don't "like" any you tubers. I'm not a sycophant to any thing or anyone.

 

My point is (again) I'm more inclined to believe this bad review because there is nothing for them to gain from it. Only to loose. One less cruise line would mean less videos to make money of. And they don't sell travel as agents as far as I know. They have nothing to gain, but potentially loose long term with harsh honest reviews. So all logic points to the negatives they mentioned as being genuine. 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

We are on Anthem on the 28th May and if MDR food is as bad as in the above review we will certainly be complaining. 

[ZachIsHere]

11 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Oh dear - terrible review of the MDR new menus.

 

 

 

Eye opening because these guys are always so delightful and positive. I have never seen them trash anything like in this video. It looks like almost everything they got was bland and cold. This was enough to take RCL off my list in the future.

[bucfan2]

4 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

 

Thanks. Well, since I’m new to Royal I won’t be comparing it to what has been before.  Only reason I particularly reacted to the YT reviewers was I have watched them before and they are not generally negative, and really love Royal.

Go have a great time, and formulate your own opinion of the experience.  For all the negative reviews you'll see here/elsewhere, most likely at least that many unwritten positive reviews.  Bottom line: they sail full...come to your own conclusion.

 

You'll know if this line/experience is for you or not.  If it's not enough, the option to move from a family line to a luxury line is available.  If it's more than you need, the option to move down is also available.

 

We're realists, not cheerleaders.  That being said, you'll read negative reviews from people on here that don't even cruise...once you sort them out, it's actually comical.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by bucfan2

[mramella]

34 minutes ago, ZachIsHere said:

 

Eye opening because these guys are always so delightful and positive. I have never seen them trash anything like in this video. It looks like almost everything they got was bland and cold. This was enough to take RCL off my list in the future.

 

Yikes! Very eye opening for sure! I sure hope Royal sees this review and gets their act together. Right now! I'm seriously thinking about reconsidering booking another Royal cruise. Yikes! And this review is very recent (posted on 4/30/23).

[moposh]

The spaghetti was awful.  The fried chicken was okay.  The onion soup is good.  I like the bread.  Overall I enjoyed the food, but there were a few meals that were not good.

[zebra36]

Not as bad as Ben & David but on cruise earlier this year with "new" menus I had a few issues similar to their review. Disappointed in elimination of the always available items and makeup of items on new menus does not fit very well with the themed night .

[Newcruiser2012]

On 3/29/2023 at 8:36 AM, poocher said:

This is what we call making sauce (it’s a 20 qt pot)

 

Looks delicious! I still make my Gigi’s recipe and we call it gravy 🍝🇮🇹

[TheHawk1]

3 hours ago, ZachIsHere said:

 

Eye opening because these guys are always so delightful and positive. I have never seen them trash anything like in this video. It looks like almost everything they got was bland and cold. This was enough to take RCL off my list in the future.

Food tastes are very subjective, so whether someone likes a particular dish or not doesn't usually affect my opinion.  But food is either hot or it's not, no subjectivity there.  If Royal can't even get that right, they are in trouble.  I'm booked on the same Symphony cruise as their review, but not until the fall... hopefully things improve before then.

 

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, TheHawk1 said:

Food tastes are very subjective, so whether someone likes a particular dish or not doesn't usually affect my opinion.  But food is either hot or it's not, no subjectivity there.  If Royal can't even get that right, they are in trouble.  I'm booked on the same Symphony cruise as their review, but not until the fall... hopefully things improve before then.

 

 

We had food with good temps on recent Enchantment cruise.

Maybe it is also subjective?

Also I think quality of food... and temperatures could be specific to the ship.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Tatka

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 3/26/2023 at 10:31 PM, Bizaro86 said:

Wouldn't be an issue except the portion sizes are (imo) quite small. Today was French night and the tenderloin serving was about 4 oz of beef. My 55 lb nine year old was still hungry after finishing it.

my 120# 12 yo was NOT hungry after eating about 1/2 of any MDR dish on Oasis last month. By the way, he was 55# at 6 yo, so that tells you he is not a lightweight by any means.

 

I am an obese glutton and even I didn't think the portions were all that small. They were normal. Like what a normal person eats during a meal. Add to that an appetizer and a dessert and pretty much anyone would be full by then.

4 oz of meat is considered ONE serving of meat in the US.

 

To everyone else who is curious, I posted photos of pretty much all the food items we had at MDR during our April Oasis sailing. Not once did we walk out hungry, even if we ordered only one entree each.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:24 PM, DebJ14 said:

In the past they have always tried to be very accommodating.  On my last RCI cruise in Feb. 2023 the word I heard all the time was NO.  No GF pasta, no changes to any entree to make it gluten free, even when pre-ordering, no desserts that did not also contain dairy, and weirdly no Caesar salad, even without croutons.The only GF salad dressing was oil and vinegar.   I know the poor waiter felt bad when he had to deliver the NO, NO, NO.  Removing the GF designation from the menus makes the job much harder for the waiters as they have to continually ask the chef.  

that's awful.

 

Have you talked to the head waiter or MD? or the special needs department in advance?

[DebJ14]

Just now, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's awful.

 

Have you talked to the head waiter or MD? or the special needs department in advance?

Yes to all.  Giovanni's Table was actually the most helpful as our waitress from Peru has a child back home with severe food allergies, so she went out of her way to get the chef to do things, as well as going out into Windjammer trying to find food I could have.  My husband is also GF, but doesn't have any other issues, so he fared better than I did. 

[allyfree]

17 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Oh dear - terrible review of the MDR new menus.

 

Was just about to post this ... you've saved me the trouble 😁  ... we're on Anthem 14/05 and worse, Symphony on 08/10 ... let's hope things improve !

 

[Bizaro86]

22 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

my 120# 12 yo was NOT hungry after eating about 1/2 of any MDR dish on Oasis last month. By the way, he was 55# at 6 yo, so that tells you he is not a lightweight by any means.

 

I am an obese glutton and even I didn't think the portions were all that small. They were normal. Like what a normal person eats during a meal. Add to that an appetizer and a dessert and pretty much anyone would be full by then.

4 oz of meat is considered ONE serving of meat in the US.

 

To everyone else who is curious, I posted photos of pretty much all the food items we had at MDR during our April Oasis sailing. Not once did we walk out hungry, even if we ordered only one entree each.

 

Glad you were pleased. I think it's possible different ships/sailings are implementing in a different way - can you link to the photos you took? I'd be curious to see whether it was different than what we had. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

Just got off Wonder and the food was far from Wonderful. All 4 of us agreed it has gone downhill.  Also most of what we ordered was served cold. Done with RC.  It's just not worth the $$ to cruise with them. 

[BennyandBo]

5 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

Go have a great time, and formulate your own opinion of the experience.  For all the negative reviews you'll see here/elsewhere, most likely at least that many unwritten positive reviews.  Bottom line: they sail full...come to your own conclusion.

 

You'll know if this line/experience is for you or not.  If it's not enough, the option to move from a family line to a luxury line is available.  If it's more than you need, the option to move down is also available.

 

We're realists, not cheerleaders.  That being said, you'll read negative reviews from people on here that don't even cruise...once you sort them out, it's actually comical.

 

 

"Bottom line they sail full" tells you nothing. More than 50% of new bookings are first time cruisers. They have no way of knowing what they are in for. Most don't read or watch reviews. The one's that do are usually at the very least non refundable deposit paid before investigating much of anything.