Awful food on Harmony of the Seas

[Tatka]

22 minutes ago, rjrpar said:

We just got off a 10-nite Celebrity cruise and both thought the food was worse than on Royal.  

 

What ship did you sail on? I am getting mixed reviews between different X ships.

But generally Celebrity is better.

[rolloman]

1 hour ago, jencruzin said:

Hubby, on cruise food (he takes over keyboard here, he's off today too):

 

On Cruise ship food:

It's better than US Navy dining. Be fortunate that you can all go on these cruises; bless the food you dine on whilst sailing on those big party boats, but stop and think about the people who are helping to keep those sea lanes open so you can bellyache about cruise ship food. Wonder what THEY'RE having for dinner?

 

 

Let's not get carried away... the food on the FID after a REPO was on occasion spectacular... however it was not worth waiting in the two hour long line extending up into the Hangar Bay!  Quite honestly the fwd mess burger blows away any cruise ship burger I have ever ate. Maybe because it had real cheese. 

 

[Tlbecker1]

6 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

What ship did you sail on? I am getting mixed reviews between different X ships.

But generally Celebrity is better.

We were on the Infinity for 14 days last month and the food was okay, not great.

[rjrpar]

23 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

What ship did you sail on? I am getting mixed reviews between different X ships.

But generally Celebrity is better.

We were on the Equinox.  The food in the main dining room was not good, especially the soups, sides, and salads.

[joeyancho]

We have decided to cruise Princess for our next cruise because the food on Royal has fallen so far down in all venues. We are diamond plus, so we give up a lot to cruise Princess but we feel that Princess just tries a little harder and is a bit more creative in all aspects of dining.  Their International Cafe is head and shoulders above the Promenade Cafe.  Their MDR dessert are much more creative.   The buffet offers much more variety and higher quality food.  

 

[jencruzin]

33 minutes ago, rolloman said:

Let's not get carried away... the food on the FID after a REPO was on occasion spectacular... however it was not worth waiting in the two hour long line extending up into the Hangar Bay!  Quite honestly the fwd mess burger blows away any cruise ship burger I have ever ate. Maybe because it had real cheese. 

 

DH asks when were you on FID? He was on 81-83.

[Tatka]

We love Princess, but our last cruise with them in 2019 on Crown Princess was a big disappointment. It was New Year 2020 cruise which was not cheap so we expected usual Princess great food we experienced last time (New year 2017) on Royal Princess. We were disappointed. There was no usual variety in seafood... there was no steak on daily menu, It was interesting as This 10 day cruise followed 5 days Christmas cruise on Explorer and surprisingly food there was more interesting.

 

Is this a ship thing?

[sgmn]

45 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

What ship did you sail on? I am getting mixed reviews between different X ships.

But generally Celebrity is better.

We were a little disappointed with the food on Beyond last Summer. It was ok but IMO nothing special.  Maybe everyone on these boards saying that Celebrity food was better than RC gave us too much expectations. 

For context I haven't been on RC since 2019 

[topnole]

1 hour ago, jencruzin said:

Yeah, I caught it. So did DH, he said, "give them an ignorant laugh emoticon....."

Being fair here, but by the logic you are presenting no one should ever complaint about food anywhere (on land, sea, or otherwise) because without the military we wouldn’t have the freedom and liberty to eat (or eat as we please).  
 

Well, I understand and appreciate your intention, but I don’t buy this logic.  Now I’m not complaining about the food here, but I’m not going to suggest others should be happy just because Navy food is worse.  
 

I’m also well aware that experiences in the Navy and other branches vary greatly and many I know quite often talk about how cushy their military jobs were.  Some of these same folks are miraculously on full disability, but somehow workout all the time and never miss their multiple rounds of golf per week.  So I’ll just point out that not every veteran had the same experience.  Many people sacrifice to make this country great and it isn’t just military veterans.   Within every profession there are good and bad.  I have great respect for most who served, but I’m aware it isn’t absolute (just like food being good or bad).  

[jencruzin]

24 minutes ago, topnole said:

Being fair here, but by the logic you are presenting no one should ever complaint about food anywhere (on land, sea, or otherwise) because without the military we wouldn’t have the freedom and liberty to eat (or eat as we please).  
 

Well, I understand and appreciate your intention, but I don’t buy this logic.  Now I’m not complaining about the food here, but I’m not going to suggest others should be happy just because Navy food is worse.  
 

I’m also well aware that experiences in the Navy and other branches vary greatly and many I know quite often talk about how cushy their military jobs were.  Some of these same folks are miraculously on full disability, but somehow workout all the time and never miss their multiple rounds of golf per week.  So I’ll just point out that not every veteran had the same experience.  Many people sacrifice to make this country great and it isn’t just military veterans.   Within every profession there are good and bad.  I have great respect for most who served, but I’m aware it isn’t absolute (just like food being good or bad).  

We're just talking about food quality😗

[garywatson]

3 hours ago, Cayman1 said:

Being in Supply Chain for the past 10 years, here is my personal opinion on the cruise ship food decline.

 

5) Suppliers are trying to combat inflation with lower quality products as well, similar to the shrink-flation issue.

 

 

I don't consider myself a food gourmet - the food at Golden Corral is adequate for me. I'm just mystified at the poor quality of the meats on Royal, especially the beef.  I don't know where in the world they are going to find such tough and odd-tasting meat - the frozen meat at the Dollar Store is better, and I'm including Chops in this comparison. Oh, sometimes it tastes more-or-less restaurant quality, but usually not. I'm on Independence in a couple weeks and have booked Chops for a lunch and two dinners, and will try the MDR and Jammer the rest of the time, and report back here because if there's one thing I know it's that subjective reviews of the food are in high demand here on the Cruise Critic Boards.

[rolloman]

43 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

DH asks when were you on FID? He was on 81-83.

I was on during that time frame as well...IC E-Div

[jencruzin]

1 minute ago, rolloman said:

I was on during that time frame as well...IC E-Div

He said he was in CR division, comms. He was in one of the ship's bands and played on the flight deck. That's pretty cool you guys were on there at the same time. He wrote a book about it.

[rolloman]

1 minute ago, jencruzin said:

He said he was in CR division, comms. He was in one of the ship's bands and played on the flight deck. That's pretty cool you guys were on there at the same time. He wrote a book about it.

Steel beach...We had the best steaks on those few and far between down days...way better than Chops!!! If he has the book from the 82 Lebanon deployment, I can be found in a picture on page 457 showing my ID to the master at arms to collect my allotted 2 cans of beer for being at sea over 100 days. Hopefully he has the book...lots of photos of the bands in there as well.

[topnole]

19 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

We're just talking about food quality😗

Except for the part about just be glad your fortunate enough to go on cruises because others sacrifice so you that you have that freedom.  That isn’t typical of food discussions. Hence my comment.  

[Cayman1]

37 minutes ago, garywatson said:

 

I don't consider myself a food gourmet - the food at Golden Corral is adequate for me. I'm just mystified at the poor quality of the meats on Royal, especially the beef.  I don't know where in the world they are going to find such tough and odd-tasting meat - the frozen meat at the Dollar Store is better, and I'm including Chops in this comparison. Oh, sometimes it tastes more-or-less restaurant quality, but usually not. I'm on Independence in a couple weeks and have booked Chops for a lunch and two dinners, and will try the MDR and Jammer the rest of the time, and report back here because if there's one thing I know it's that subjective reviews of the food are in high demand here on the Cruise Critic Boards.

 

Yes, please let us know your findings. Hopefully it is getting better.

 

[PACrew]

I also just got off Harmony. I will write a review in a few days. A few notes about the food:

 

- I thought the quality in the Windjammer was pretty good. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there. 

- I thought there was a lack of selection especially with respect to salads and cold items. It was caesar salad most days. There was a good hot food variety I thought. Some days better than others. Like others have said, the same 3 rolls all week. 

- I thought the MDR quality was good. The appetizer selection was poor. Always escargot, french onion, ceasar salad and 3-4 rotating. I understand the point was to quicken service but ours still ended up being 90-100 min each night. 

- Ate at Chops one night - it was good. Nothing spectacular. To me, similar to outback steakhouse frankly. 

 

RCCL isnt a foodie cruise line. I will go on RCCL for the activities, entertainment, ships, etc. I have 4 kids and will continue to cruise RCCL because there is plenty to keep them busy and its just plain fun on the ships. If I want better cuisine, Ill go on Celebrity. 

Edited April 10, 2023 by PACrew

[Montanagirlalways]

I feel the same about the quality of the food. I was on the Jewel and the Wonder recently. Food in the MDR left a lot to be desired in my opinion. We joined a table of 6 couples last month on the Jewel. Every night someone was sending something back- meat was too tough, food was cold, food just wasn't good.  I guess the best way to let them know is to tell the head waiters and the chefs and to put remarks on the surveys.

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, Montanagirlalways said:

Every night someone was sending something back- meat was too tough, food was cold, food just wasn't good.  I guess the best way to let them know is to tell the head waiters and the chefs and to put remarks on the surveys.

 

I truly think sending stuff back is the true way to get them to change.   They didn't make the MDR changes to please customers.  They did it to save money, and likely to get early diners to clear out to make more empty tables for MTD.  If the change doesn't accomplish that, THEN they'll make changes.    

[poocher]

9 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

I truly think sending stuff back is the true way to get them to change.   They didn't make the MDR changes to please customers.  They did it to save money, and likely to get early diners to clear out to make more empty tables for MTD.  If the change doesn't accomplish that, THEN they'll make changes.    

Have to agree here.  I expect to find reasonable choices each night.  I’m not a foodie, don’t expect fine dining.  But if a plate is served at the wrong temp or a cut of meat is over/undercooked, I will send it back for a replacement.  If enough dishes go back, it will increase costs and slow down table turning.  I would do this in a land based restaurant so why would I not at sea?

Edited April 10, 2023 by poocher

[topnole]

37 minutes ago, jencruzin said:

You're special, aren't you....I can tell.

Apparently I’m not the one that thinks I’m special.  I don’t get too fussy about food and I’m not in the camp that the food is inedible.  But I also don’t think folks shouldn’t complain just because we have folks in the Navy.  Weird analogy to suggest people complaining about the quality of the food should just be grateful to cruise because others serve in the Navy.  Like I said, by that logic,

no one should complain about much of anything, ever.   I always thought the folks in the military fought to protect our freedom of speech (in this case

to complain about food).  Shouldn’t we celebrate the rights of those to complain versus telling them they should be grateful to those in the Navy?  

[rolloman]

34 minutes ago, topnole said:

Apparently I’m not the one that thinks I’m special.  I don’t get too fussy about food and I’m not in the camp that the food is inedible.  But I also don’t think folks shouldn’t complain just because we have folks in the Navy.  Weird analogy to suggest people complaining about the quality of the food should just be grateful to cruise because others serve in the Navy.  Like I said, by that logic,

no one should complain about much of anything, ever.   I always thought the folks in the military fought to protect our freedom of speech (in this case

to complain about food).  Shouldn’t we celebrate the rights of those to complain versus telling them they should be grateful to those in the Navy?  

You don't get too fussy about food but you are reading and posting multiple times on a fussy food thread??? Lighten up about the Navy...he is just proud to be a Sailor and made a comment about food and how it equates to the food onboard a warship. Sorry you took it so literally. 

[topnole]

1 hour ago, rolloman said:

You don't get too fussy about food but you are reading and posting multiple times on a fussy food thread??? Lighten up about the Navy...he is just proud to be a Sailor and made a comment about food and how it equates to the food onboard a warship. Sorry you took it so literally. 

That’s great for him.  I’m happy for him.  But the eyeroll part would suggest something a little more than that.  It would seem they looked down on the other poster for their comment.  
 

And I didn’t bring up the whole Navy thing in the first place (which one assumes they are taking this a bit too seriously-not me).  As can be seen in my first post on this side topic in the thread, I stated “to be fair” and then simply said what I said because you can always go to that example for anything if you want.  But that doesn’t mean everyone is unappreciative of the military and freedom if they complain about something.  I could theoretically complain about the food on a cruise and still appreciate the brave men and women who serve our country in many capacities (including outside of the military).  Ironic that I’m the one defending the other poster’s freedom of speech.  Nothing too serious about my point.  Just obvious logic.  

[Ret MP]

On 4/9/2023 at 5:13 PM, rolloman said:

Delusional. The ingredients are the same, regardless of who prepares it. The food in the main dining room has taken a steep dive. You are not helping the situation by claiming it is an anomaly.  Soon there will be no such thing as a free main dining room. Thanks in part to posts like yours. 

I'd like to know where I said that anything was/is an anomaly!  The entire premise of my post, as stated, was that the ship doesn't cook or present food.  PEOPLE do.  Also I touched on, food quality can be effected by distributors.  Two cooks can take the exact same ingredients and come up with differently taste.  It's called techniques.  I may cook a roast at 350 for 4 hours with salt and pepper sprinkled all over, while someone else may cooke the same grade, size, and weight meat at 300, for 5 hours, the last 30 minutes at 550, with salt, pepper, and garlic all over it.  Totally different experience.  AND, I never made a comment eluding to the rise or fall of the MDR.  I very rarely eat there.  Again, my premise was about the ship vs the people cooking food and a ship's constant turn-over.

[jetta8300]

On 4/9/2023 at 5:55 PM, LobsterStalker said:

 

...Hmmm??

I’m not sure what you mean hmmmm?  I mean the Indian dishes were very flavorful and well done.  And if we had a high tolerance for spice they would be delicious. However we do not have a high tolerance for spice so they were inedible. I could take 2 bites and say “yum”! And then couldn’t eat more than two bites because we were on fire.