Anyone enjoying the new menu selections?

[poocher]

On 5/10/2023 at 12:37 PM, dman1 said:

It’s gravy, @poocher, not sauce!!😂😉

Yeah not where I live.  No Italians in my extended family call that gravy.  Gravy is the brown stuff that goes on turkey.  That pot is sauce.

[Morecruisesplz]

5 minutes ago, poocher said:

Yeah not where I live.  No Italians in my extended family call that gravy.  Gravy is the brown stuff that goes on turkey.  That pot is sauce.

So true!

[Jerseygirl1416]

Just off Liberty today. We had early seating and ate in the MDR every night. The food was very good. Everything I ordered I liked. I was always able to find something on the menu that I liked and the one night nothing stood out I got the strip steak. The service was very good and we were out in less than an hour every night. I really was impressed with the food overall on the Liberty and was glad we didn’t spend extra on specialty dining. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

5 minutes ago, poocher said:

Yeah not where I live.  No Italians in my extended family call that gravy.  Gravy is the brown stuff that goes on turkey.  That pot is sauce.

Was always gravy on Sundays in our NY Italian family dinner.

[poocher]

Just back from a week on Harmony with MTD.  Same table & waitstaff every night.  Just waved in with no wait every night but one.  We all enjoyed tasty, appropriately hot/cold dishes (there were 3-6 of us each night) every night.  Only night we did not enjoy was Mexican night.  Sent back the chicken and the salmon.  Settled for a couple of shrimp cocktails.  Pulled pork enchiladas were dry with very little filling.  Everything else was delicious and the lobster tails were an improvement over the ones they used to serve.  Still not the best, but certainly edible,

Edited May 18, 2023 by poocher

[poocher]

1 minute ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Was always gravy on Sundays in our NY Italian family dinner.

Seems to be a NY/NJ thing.  Not called gravy in CT.

Edited May 18, 2023 by poocher

[foodsvcmgr]

To concur with Jerseygirl - we also disembarked Liberty today, had late seating and spent all five nights in the MDR.

Enjoyed all our dinners, found the quality and portions the same or better than what we have experienced on Holland America and Celebrity in recent years, excellent service also.

We were not in any rush but four courses still only took and hour to hour and a quarter.

Before sailing we were somewhat concerned about the menus from reading comments here but no issues at all. All dishes were served at proper temps also.

Had also read on CC about the ship being somewhat tired and run down.

I looked but could find nothing worn or neglected other than the backs of the theater chairs are pretty scuffed up, again nothing worse and much quite a bit better than other ships.

After 55+ cruises and this being my first on Royal, would not hesitate to book again.

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Was always gravy on Sundays in our NY Italian family dinner.

Must not be Italian.

[keishashadow]

Recently off a 9 night on adventure of seas.  Lovely, complimentary upgrade at pier to “a suite”, turned out to be an accessible near the royal suite…nice to be escorted up to the suite waiting area & cookies 🙂

 

no complaints re the food in WJ or MDR.  Saw many pp ordering two entrees, did have to finish the first one before second delivered.

 

Ordered two appetizers each night, without any issue.  One brought out at a time.

 

the mr ordered the chops fillet a couple of nights and the lobster tail (small but, tasty) once

 

See below for some Some favorites:  prime rib (med rare), med well steak (small but, well seasoned), tenderloin (med rare), lobster tail add on to the steak, beef carpaccio (yum), fillet (med), shrimp cocktail & chicken parm (I’m picky re Italian, it was good, not great).

 

last night did WJ for dinner, wasn’t feeling dressing up.  Was surprised to see Greek items.  The Gyro (combo beef/lamb, was a treat), along with the stuffed grape leaves…the chef knew his stuff there!

 

onion soup, just not the same.  Tried two different nights, far too salty

 

mentioned we’d skip Mexican night to head waiter as can’t tolerate cilantro, he arranged for a dinner salad and tasty grilled chicken breast.  Much appreciated.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by keishashadow

[soxin2000]

Nope

[dman1]

10 hours ago, poocher said:

Seems to be a NY/NJ thing.  Not called gravy in CT.

I’m from CT…it’s gravy if you’re from the “old country”! I still won’t turn down a piece of your lasagna, though!😂

[FionaMG]

I've been having a look at the menus currently on Anthem in readiness for my upcoming Norway sailing. Now that the ship is sailing out of Southampton again, they have added a daily pie to the menus in keeping with British tastes. Although I have to say I was less than impressed to see shepherd's pie one day and cottage pie the next.

[poocher]

On 5/19/2023 at 5:45 AM, dman1 said:

I’m from CT…it’s gravy if you’re from the “old country”! I still won’t turn down a piece of your lasagna, though!😂

My grandparents and several aunts & uncles are from the old country (we are Marchegian) and none of them ever called it gravy.  Could it be regional?

Edited May 20, 2023 by poocher

[joeyancho]

Just returned from a 5 day repositioning cruise on the Radiance.   The ship was very nice.  However the MDR experience left a lot to be desired.   The new menus are definitely not a step up. Several nights I ordered the Indian entrée because I couldn't find anything I liked on the menu.  For some reason they offer salmon quite a bit.  While salmon is good, we have it frequently at home so I am not really keen to order it on vacation.  My wife ordered the NY strip the night it was offered. It was of very poor quality.   Gone is the "always available " menu which always was a fall back when you didn't like anything on the daily menu.  The food in the Windjammer is  not what it once was.  It has gotten to the point where we have decided to take our next cruise on Princess.   We feel they try a bit harder.  The menus are a step up  and a bit more ambitious and the desserts are definitely more varied.  For the first time ever I did not give a straight 10 for the dining room experience,  as asked for by the waitstaff.  I hated to do that as it affects them adversely but things will not change until Royal gets complaints from enough people.   Hopefully that is soon.  We are diamond plus and we give up a lot when we cruise other lines.  But food is an important part of the cruise experience for us and Royal has really dropped the ball.   

[lovesthebeach2]

9 minutes ago, joeyancho said:

Just returned from a 5 day repositioning cruise on the Radiance.   The ship was very nice.  However the MDR experience left a lot to be desired.   The new menus are definitely not a step up. Several nights I ordered the Indian entrée because I couldn't find anything I liked on the menu.  For some reason they offer salmon quite a bit.  While salmon is good, we have it frequently at home so I am not really keen to order it on vacation.  My wife ordered the NY strip the night it was offered. It was of very poor quality.   Gone is the "always available " menu which always was a fall back when you didn't like anything on the daily menu.  The food in the Windjammer is  not what it once was.  It has gotten to the point where we have decided to take our next cruise on Princess.   We feel they try a bit harder.  The menus are a step up  and a bit more ambitious and the desserts are definitely more varied.  For the first time ever I did not give a straight 10 for the dining room experience,  as asked for by the waitstaff.  I hated to do that as it affects them adversely but things will not change until Royal gets complaints from enough people.   Hopefully that is soon.  We are diamond plus and we give up a lot when we cruise other lines.  But food is an important part of the cruise experience for us and Royal has really dropped the ball.   

we had the exact same experience with the food in the MDR, in lack of choices as well as lower quality and food being over cooked and served cold.

 

I think I saw in the paper this week that Princess was bringing a ship to Pt Canaveral and for the first time in a long time, I’m thinking of booking if it comes there. We’ve  only been on 1 Princess ship - the Pacific Princess AKA The Love Boat - on its last year of service before it was sold.

The food on that ship was the best we had ever had on any cruise up to that point and even afterwards. I’ll watch the reviews.
.

[dman1]

2 hours ago, poocher said:

My grandparents and several aunts & uncles are from the old country (we are Marchegian) and none of them ever called it gravy.  Could it be regional?

Did a little Google research as I spiked my curiosity. You are correct that “sauce” is the preferred word in Italy.  When the immigrants came over they used the term “gravy” to better assimilate in the US! Maybe they copied the term used at Thanksgiving. Found this interesting!!

[Jerseygirl1416]

2 hours ago, poocher said:

My grandparents and several aunts & uncles are from the old country (we are Marchegian) and none of them ever called it gravy.  Could it be regional?

Maybe it is regional because there are a lot of Italian restaurants in my area that serve a “Sunday gravy” special on their menus.

[joeyancho]

I grew up in Jersey, in an all Italian neighborhood.   Old school 1st generation Italians,  in the NYC metropolitan area,  call it gravy.  It takes all day to cook.  It is the basis for the huge Sunday family dinner.   Everyone claims their mom/grandmother makes it best. 

[Morecruisesplz]

5 hours ago, joeyancho said:

Just returned from a 5 day repositioning cruise on the Radiance.   The ship was very nice.  However the MDR experience left a lot to be desired.   The new menus are definitely not a step up. Several nights I ordered the Indian entrée because I couldn't find anything I liked on the menu.  For some reason they offer salmon quite a bit.  While salmon is good, we have it frequently at home so I am not really keen to order it on vacation.  My wife ordered the NY strip the night it was offered. It was of very poor quality.   Gone is the "always available " menu which always was a fall back when you didn't like anything on the daily menu.  The food in the Windjammer is  not what it once was.  It has gotten to the point where we have decided to take our next cruise on Princess.   We feel they try a bit harder.  The menus are a step up  and a bit more ambitious and the desserts are definitely more varied.  For the first time ever I did not give a straight 10 for the dining room experience,  as asked for by the waitstaff.  I hated to do that as it affects them adversely but things will not change until Royal gets complaints from enough people.   Hopefully that is soon.  We are diamond plus and we give up a lot when we cruise other lines.  But food is an important part of the cruise experience for us and Royal has really dropped the ball.   

Try MSC we found it a refreshing change. 

[LouChamp]

On 5/18/2023 at 7:15 PM, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Was always gravy on Sundays in our NY Italian family dinner.

Aloha. Agree! I remember Sunday gravy with grandparents at their home on long island. Two dozen eating at a huge table. Gravy on Sunday had all different kinds of meat. The rest of the week it was sauce.  Those not Italian respectfully probably don’t understand it but it brings back great memories! 

[poocher]

When we’d help my aunt make sauce, it was 50 quarts at a time prepared in 25 qt pots.  When I make it at home, I only make 20 qts.

Recipe includes:

onions/garlic

oil

salt pork

hamburg plus meatballs 

ground sausage plus links 

puréed chicken livers

short ribs

chicken thighs

tomato paste and canned crushed tomatoes 

crushed basil/oregano/salt/pepper

takes about 90 minutes to prep it all then all day simmer.

 

[dman1]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

When we’d help my aunt make sauce, it was 50 quarts at a time prepared in 25 qt pots.  When I make it at home, I only make 20 qts.

Recipe includes:

onions/garlic

oil

salt pork

hamburg plus meatballs 

ground sausage plus links 

puréed chicken livers

short ribs

chicken thighs

tomato paste and canned crushed tomatoes 

crushed basil/oregano/salt/pepper

takes about 90 minutes to prep it all then all day simmer.

 

That’s amazing! We don’t have the chicken livers/thighs/ribs in our recipe! We add a little red wine! Love this!!

[poocher]

The chicken parts came about from not wasting food.  The leftover parts of a cut up whole chicken, neck, liver, what Nonna called the coolie, all went into the sauce.  Not sure about the short ribs but they taste sooo good!

[baileybrad]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:22 PM, pittnh said:

So, here’s my thoughts on the new menu after our recent Oasis cruise.  This was cruise #4, last one was on Allure with the original menu.  In comparison, of course the obvious difference is the reduced selections available, and especially the elimination of the same “classics” each night.  But in terms of quality, I didn’t see much difference from my experience with Allure.  I never ordered off the “classics” so it wasn’t something I missed.  I usually try to order the nightly special or chef recommendation.  Sticking with those selections, I had no issues, everything was very good.  The meat specials were good, including the prime rib, beef tenderloin, carne asada, and the beef bourguignonne (could have used a little more gravy).  Others in my party ordered the Indian dishes and really liked it, along with some of the vegetarian entrée’s like the creamy risotto with asparagus and the stuffed portobello mushroom.  And white meat such as the blackened pork chop and roast chicken all got positive reviews from the people who ordered them.  I posted previously, the lobster tail was also outstanding.  Important to remember, we aren’t talking Morton’s here in terms of size & quality of the meat cuts.  But to tell the truth I’m glad it wasn’t a huge portion; it was more than enough on the plate and the quality was sufficient.  Here's a shot of the beef tenderloin, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Of course, as with the old menu, there were misses.  The Tofu Taco’s on Mexican night may have been the worse entrée I’ve ever seen.  The person we were with who ordered it had to send it back and ask for something else.  And the fried chicken didn’t taste as good as it looked.  Side topic, what’s with the way RCI butchers their chickens?  Anytime it is served, it is cut in a very strange way, hard to pin point exactly what you are eating.  Get the old “parts is parts” feeling from McDonalds Chicken McNuggets.  But I will say the same chicken parts were tasty in the solarium for lunch, and when served jerk-style on the buffet in Labadee.  Here's a picture of the chicken, looks good, but didn't taste like it looked.  Note the strange looking parts, lol

 

In terms of deserts and appetizers, no real issues.  Classics like shrimp cocktail, escargot, and French onion soup were there most nights, enough to keep me happy.  And some of the other ones which I assume were new were definitely hits, especially the poblano soup (warning it has a kick), the Asian pork bao taco’s, and the Coconut Shrimp.  And I liked all of the deserts I ordered.  The warm chocolate chip cookie was outstanding.  But I think someone posted in another thread, the cookies with raspberries was very lame.  Seemed like two hard boxed cookies served on a plate with one raspberry.  That was the desert that got the biggest complaint on the cruise from our traveling party.  Here's a shot of the Asian taco's and coconut shrimp. 

 

I’m definitely not a picky eater, so I like most things.  But I can tell when things aren’t good, like any time I eat at Bravo or Olive Garden, lol.  My opinion is there isn’t any discernable decline in food quality with the MDR.  In fact, my only complaint with food that I ordered was the pasta dishes at Giovanni’s.  Not good at all.  This was my only real food disappointment on the cruise (although the filet more than made up for it).  Could a few dishes have been served a little warmer?  Sure, but when feeding that many people I’m willing to cut them some slack.

 

One final thought….cruise was packed.  Given pent up demand and staffing issues due to the pandemic, I can understand if one of the reasons for implementing the new menu was to make things easier on the staff.  Hopefully it does as this can’t be an easy job.  I will also add that the secret is out on the Solarium Bistro.  Crowded most days at breakfast and lunch.  Also, forget about Loco Fresh on sea days, line stretched for miles at lunchtime.  I’d usually run down to the boardwalk for a hot dog (very good) or Park Café for the Kummelweck sandwich (ok, I’ll make one more complaint here.  The Kummelweck lost something off its fastball from my last cruise on Allure.  The bun was too big this time, and not enough meat was on the sandwich.  And the meat that was used was somewhat tough and grisly.  So if you want to vote for something that declined from a previous cruise I would say this is my choice).

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a helpful roundup of your experience with the new menu operation. 

[Submariner]

I just got off the Liberty on a 5 dayer to Bermuda. 

 

My wife and I agreed that the food in the MDR had gone down in terms of quality. Also, I assume, its because we were on a 5 day cruise, we were not offered a Lobster Tail in our menu selections (except if you wanted to pay the ridiculous $16.99).

 

I used to love selecting a delicious meal on part cruises on RCL. This time, the meals were like they got a catering school 1st Year student to design the menu. Needless to say, it was a tad disappointing but even more now that this trend is probably going to become the new normal.