WORLD CRUISE- eat the same food for 2 months?

[At7Seas]

1 hour ago, rapister said:

not true.  the comparison with 'home' is silly. 

 

As I was using this argument as well: it is definitely true! Although there is no shortage of ingredients I could buy and I love trying new things I don’t produce such a variation at home as I get aboard of those cruise lines with a positive focus on food. Not to forget that it should be a hard decision what to order - repetitions could be welcome because you get a second chance to try them. And I did not mention yet destination dishes offered once only.

 

1 hour ago, rapister said:

and to those people saying you won't get sick of it because of the ability to try food from different parts of the world, 

i think you dont understand what a world cruise entails. 

MOST are sea days.

 

I really do understand what a world cruise is about. A good world cruise has at least about halve the time port days, although not equally distributed. There are port days in a row as well as five sea days for crossing an ocean on a row. So half the time eating out is definitely possible for at least one meal of the day. And overnights can be used to extend this experience.

 

1 hour ago, rapister said:

thus that isn't really answering the query.

 

I for my part think that the initial query contains a couple of misconceptions. For example that stewed beef could taste the same as grilled octopus because it comes out of the same “kitchen”. Even if sushi and seafood risotto might be prepared in the same galley and both use up to some degree comparable ingredients the result is totally different. Or that a world cruise takes usually two months. If the search for confirmation of your own prejudices doesn't work you should not blame those who took the time to answer your question.

[Mary229]

I have read all of your posts. You are not cut out for a world cruise if the humdrum is so bothersome. 

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, rapister said:

 

i think you dont understand what a world cruise entails. 

MOST are sea days.

thus that isn't really answering the query.

 

 

 

With 35+ yrs seatime and 3 trips around the World, 1 on a cargo ship and 2 by cruise ship, I certainly understand what a World Cruise entails. However, you may know less about World Cruises than you think, as you are wrong again.

 

With mainstream mega ships completing World Cruises in about 100 days, more than 50% are usually sea days, but a World Cruise on a luxury/premium smaller ship, most likely has about 55 - 60% port days to 40 - 45 % sea days. 

 

Viking World Cruise 120 days - port days 66, sea days 54

[exiledowl]

We're setting off on our first world cruise in just under 2 weeks time, and as our ship is in dry dock atm undergoing renovations I've been consulting, somewhat nerdishly, the daily menus and dishes of her sister ships as they ply round their itineraries. 

Yes , most dishes are repeated in some shape or form and on the pescatarian side, different descriptions are often used for what is essentially the same fish.

However, they do make an effort, especially on port days,to include a dinner dish which reflects the place where they're docked, or the region through which they are travelling. 

But as other contributors have said, there is always the opportunity to eat ashore if you want to sample the local stuff.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, exiledowl said:

We're setting off on our first world cruise in just under 2 weeks time, and as our ship is in dry dock atm undergoing renovations I've been consulting, somewhat nerdishly, the daily menus and dishes of her sister ships as they ply round their itineraries. 

Yes , most dishes are repeated in some shape or form and on the pescatarian side, different descriptions are often used for what is essentially the same fish.

However, they do make an effort, especially on port days,to include a dinner dish which reflects the place where they're docked, or the region through which they are travelling. 

But as other contributors have said, there is always the opportunity to eat ashore if you want to sample the local stuff.

 

I can't remember which cruise line you are using, but the ones I worked for and cruised with as a pax, did make an effort to increase the number of menus available on World Cruises and Grand Voyages.

 

Therefore, you may be pleasantly surprised once aboard your cruise that the WC menus are different from sister ships, on shorter itineraries.

[exiledowl]

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I can't remember which cruise line you are using, but the ones I worked for and cruised with as a pax, did make an effort to increase the number of menus available on World Cruises and Grand Voyages.

 

Therefore, you may be pleasantly surprised once aboard your cruise that the WC menus are different from sister ships, on shorter itineraries.

Thanks for the tip Heidi13, I always seem to be able to rely on you for advice!

We are sailing with Phoenix Reisen on the MS Amera, originally out of Hamburg but as the ship won't be ready on time we're now starting the first leg to Cape Town from Genoa on the Celestyal Journey which has been borrowed by Phoenix for this purpose. 

[At7Seas]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

With 35+ yrs seatime and 3 trips around the World, 1 on a cargo ship and 2 by cruise ship, I certainly understand what a World Cruise entails. However, you may know less about World Cruises than you think, as you are wrong again.

 

With mainstream mega ships completing World Cruises in about 100 days, more than 50% are usually sea days, but a World Cruise on a luxury/premium smaller ship, most likely has about 55 - 60% port days to 40 - 45 % sea days. 

 

Viking World Cruise 120 days - port days 66, sea days 54

 

Of course you are right regarding the basic idea rapister has. It is definitely not hard to get the opportunity to go ashore and find food locally. But you also have some misconceptions.
 
There is no unified definition of mega ships, depending who you ask the answers are for example the 10 or 20 largest ships world-wide or those with a capacity of at least 5,000 or 6,000 passengers, so the answer is difficult. But the answer how many mega ships go on a world cruise is easy: none. As far as I know the largest ship on a world cruise this season is Queen Mary 2. When she entered service 20 years ago - long before the mega ship area - she was massive, but newer vessels are about twice as big and can carry even more passengers.
 
Among the mass market lines there are a few indeed rushing around the globe in about 90 to 100 days, while most world cruises go for more than 120 days, some much longer. The mentioned Viking cruise did not circumvent the globe completely but went from the USA to the UK. Of course the ratio of days in port is different on different segments. The oceans to be crossed on a full world cruise aren’t getting smaller if you pay much more, physical reasons prevent the average speed being turned up massively. You really should be aware of these facts! But if you go on a cruise that lasts a month longer and you are still sailing the same distance you have more time to visit ports. Very simple maths.

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by At7Seas

[At7Seas]

13 hours ago, exiledowl said:

We're setting off on our first world cruise in just under 2 weeks time, and as our ship is in dry dock atm undergoing renovations I've been consulting, somewhat nerdishly, the daily menus and dishes of her sister ships as they ply round their itineraries. 

Yes , most dishes are repeated in some shape or form and on the pescatarian side, different descriptions are often used for what is essentially the same fish.

However, they do make an effort, especially on port days,to include a dinner dish which reflects the place where they're docked, or the region through which they are travelling. 

But as other contributors have said, there is always the opportunity to eat ashore if you want to sample the local stuff.

 

My own experience with Phoenix - although I did no cruise that long with them yet either - is that they try offer a broad variation. And two consecutive cruises are not the same as a world cruise. You said that they essentially use the same fish again and again. Yes, of course. You will be offered a bit less than 300 main courses with lunch and dinner and at least one of them will be fish. Thinking about this fact it becomes very obvious that the same fish is used again and again. But the way of preparation will make the difference! Think about the different things beef can be turned into…

[exiledowl]

57 minutes ago, At7Seas said:

 

My own experience with Phoenix - although I did no cruise that long with them yet either - is that they try offer a broad variation. And two consecutive cruises are not the same as a world cruise. You said that they essentially use the same fish again and again. Yes, of course. You will be offered a bit less than 300 main courses with lunch and dinner and at least one of them will be fish. Thinking about this fact it becomes very obvious that the same fish is used again and again. But the way of preparation will make the difference! Think about the different things beef can be turned into…

My remarks about the fish were not meant as a criticism; we have been with Phoenix twice before, to Norway and Greenland and on both occasions the food was good, and superb in the speciality restaurant, with reservation only but for no extra cost .

I take your statistical analysis entirely regarding the preparation of the dishes. 

On many days we will be on excursions with lunch included, giving us the opportunity to sample local cuisine anyway. 

Less than 2 weeks now , really looking forward to it!

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, exiledowl said:

Thanks for the tip Heidi13, I always seem to be able to rely on you for advice!

We are sailing with Phoenix Reisen on the MS Amera, originally out of Hamburg but as the ship won't be ready on time we're now starting the first leg to Cape Town from Genoa on the Celestyal Journey which has been borrowed by Phoenix for this purpose. 

 

I hope they get the ship finished fairly quickly, as while she is getting on in years, she was an amazing ship. Built by Royal Viking Line, as Royal Viking Sun, their 4th ship. Sounds like she is undergoing a major drydocking and wet dock for 3 months, so it should almost be a new ship.

[At7Seas]

36 minutes ago, exiledowl said:

the food was good, and superb in the speciality restaurant

 

Absolutely!
 
My only problems with Phoenix are that they are fully booked very early. So I will leave in January on another ship. Have a great cruise!

[exiledowl]

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I hope they get the ship finished fairly quickly, as while she is getting on in years, she was an amazing ship. Built by Royal Viking Line, as Royal Viking Sun, their 4th ship. Sounds like she is undergoing a major drydocking and wet dock for 3 months, so it should almost be a new ship.

We hope so too!

Actually, we feel we've dropped quite lucky. Celestyal Journey usually cruises the eastern Med and the reason it has become available is due to cancellations of passengers (many American) and therefore whole cruises by the company, because of the Israeli/Hamas conflict. 

We could have ended up having to start the whole cruise in Cape Town, or even worse.

[exiledowl]

8 hours ago, At7Seas said:

 

Absolutely!
 
My only problems with Phoenix are that they are fully booked very early. So I will leave in January on another ship. Have a great cruise!

Thanks very much. 

We booked ours in May last year, shortly after our return from Norway, and it was well on the way to being a sell out even then. 

[whogo]

Will you blogging from your cruise, exiledowl? I would love to follow along on a Phoenix Reisen cruise.

[exiledowl]

8 hours ago, whogo said:

Will you blogging from your cruise, exiledowl? I would love to follow along on a Phoenix Reisen cruise.

Unfortunately not whogo, due to 

(A) Expensive and sketchy Wi-Fi on board and in many of the ports. 

(B) Technological incompetence on my part.

However, I'm more than willing to offer advice and experiences on CC after we return on May 12th.

If you want to follow the route it's in the Phoenix Seereisen catalogue 2023,

entitled " Einmal um die ganze welt mit MS Amera in 143 tagen ".

Obviously it's in German but it's easy enough to follow if you hit the translation button. 

[At7Seas]

On 12/10/2023 at 11:16 PM, exiledowl said:

Thanks very much. 

We booked ours in May last year, shortly after our return from Norway, and it was well on the way to being a sell out even then. 

 

Depends a lot on cruise, desired cabin - and luck! As solo cruiser getting a suitable cabin can be hard, the demand for them is high. I’ve since two days a confirmed booking for the 125-day cruise on the Artania circumventing South America in 2026 - and I stood for a short time on the waiting list!

[exiledowl]

3 hours ago, At7Seas said:

 

Depends a lot on cruise, desired cabin - and luck! As solo cruiser getting a suitable cabin can be hard, the demand for them is high. I’ve since two days a confirmed booking for the 125-day cruise on the Artania circumventing South America in 2026 - and I stood for a short time on the waiting list!

Well done!

If I could only cruise one part of the world, it would be South America. 

We'll be visiting Peru ( with an excursion to Machu Picchu) and Ecuador on our world cruise, but obviously that's only a small part.

We start in Genoa on Thursday next week but have to travel to Frankfurt Airport a day earlier to take a bus to Freiburg, where we stay overnight and then travel next morning to Genoa. 

It's annoying, because the bus passes Karlsruhe, where we live, but doesn't stop.

However, all these changes are at Phoenix Reisen's own expense so we get dinner, bed and breakfast paid for. 

[At7Seas]

13 hours ago, exiledowl said:

If I could only cruise one part of the world, it would be South America. 

 

Well, it is not about a “could”, but about a “both and”. Cruising the Americas is on the agenda now for exactly two years after my own world cruise, which is going to sail away in January 2024. I am not less excited than you probably are these days, the wardrobe in my guest room is filling with the things I‘m going to pack, the paperwork is sorted out as far as possible, next week I may apply for Indian visa. The America cruise is simply something very different, there are only three ports visited the same as on the world cruise, one on Canary Islands, one in the Caribbean and one port on South American mainland. Out there is an entire world to be discovered and I try my best to do so.

[BVILady]

exiledowl thank you so much for pointing to Phoenix Reisen. I went on their website and discovered the same cruise At7Seas will be going on and he fortunately was able to put me onto the segment of the Caribbean and South America to Rio, which was better suitable for me, having been around South America already twice. That is the best cruise for the Caribbean Islands I have seen so far with visiting so many islands usually not on cruise-schedules and spending the night in several. Should you have previously been in Buenos Aires I recommend doing the excursion to Iguazo Falls. I did it early this year on the Costa World Cruise and loved it. 

[exiledowl]

7 hours ago, BVILady said:

exiledowl thank you so much for pointing to Phoenix Reisen. I went on their website and discovered the same cruise At7Seas will be going on and he fortunately was able to put me onto the segment of the Caribbean and South America to Rio, which was better suitable for me, having been around South America already twice. That is the best cruise for the Caribbean Islands I have seen so far with visiting so many islands usually not on cruise-schedules and spending the night in several. Should you have previously been in Buenos Aires I recommend doing the excursion to Iguazo Falls. I did it early this year on the Costa World Cruise and loved it. 

The Phoenix fleet are relatively small ships, for instance the Amera has only 850+ pax, the Artania I believe slightly more. 

This may well be the reason that they can reach smaller ports that the floating cities can't. 

Another nice touch, having been on the Amera twice before, was   that  having fewer passengers has led to casual acquaintances made on board becoming long lasting friendships at the end of the cruise. 

[MacMadame]

 

On 12/9/2023 at 2:49 AM, rapister said:

not true.  the comparison with 'home' is silly. 

at home you can certain swap up different ingredients , brands, supplies etc

Well, I *can* but will I?

 

IME most people when at home are in a rut and tend to cook the same things the same way the majority of the time. I know my dh does. I can tell you the day of the week it is by what we're having for dinner. LOL And my mom was the same way growing up.

 

Thank goodness for eating out!

[RICHARD@SEA]

One of the best benefits of a cruise is the availability  of various types of food almost 24 hours a day.

I am booked on a January 2025 World Cruise - I like to eat in the ports for a local meal(anything from a local family restaurant to 4star restaurants & hotel dining rooms.

While at sea on longer cruises I tend to get "fooded out" and so a meal in my cabin will be simpler & I also like my 4 oclock cocktail hour  - where I find a chair in the aft & sit w  a drink and some guac & chips, or a shrimp cocktail or a charcuterie plate...casual & some cookies finish off the meal.

I go for a swim, shower and return to my a cabin for an in home evening on my balcony.

 

Once a week I have pizza nite(w salad)(only if the pizza onboard is good) & hopefully some good gelato.

Also I try the specialty restaurants & partake of special evenings in the main didning room.

 

Instead of cakes or rich deserts I have an after dinner cordial.

 

No need to go to the dining room every nite or when I don't feel like getting dressed.

 

I could also fast for a day when I have enough!!!

 

This seems to mix things enough for me - 

[JanR]

We completed the MSC Poesia World Cruise.  The menu in both the main dining room and buffet changed nearly every day.  While a portion of the menu stayed the same, the left side of the menu was always different--with few repeats over the 118 days.  The ship also sought to celebrate the cuisine of whichever region we were visiting--with differing levels of success.

 

What did become tiring was only having two food venues--despite the menus in them changing (The Posesia's specialty restaurant was changed into the arts-crafts center for the WC).   However, that too isn't that huge of an issue.  At home, in a month we have a collection of maybe 4 restaurants that we move between whenever we eat out over a month.  The difference with a WC is (as others have noted) you will be in a series of ports--many overnight--which actually expands the number of venues that you will be able to dine from during the 110+ days of the WC.

 

So, while there are reasonable reasons to decide against embarking on a WC (cost, time away from family, etc.) the OP's concern of having the same food 

We completed the MSC Poesia World Cruise.  The menu in both the main dining room and buffet changed nearly every day.  While a portion of the menu stayed the same, the left side of the menu was always different.  The ship also sought to celebrate the cuisine of whichever region we were visiting--with differing levels of success.

 

What did become tiring was only having two food venues--despite the menus in them changing (The Posesia's specialty restaurant was changed into the arts-crafts center for the WC).   However, that too isn't that huge of an issue.  At home, in a month we have a collection of maybe 4 restaurants that we move between whenever we eat out over a month.  The difference with a WC is (as others have noted) you will be in a series of ports--many overnight--which actually expands the number of venues that you will be able to dine from during the 110+ days of the WC.

 

So, while there are reasonable reasons to decide against embarking on a WC (cost, time away from family, etc.) the OP's concern of having the "same food" really is a concern that doesn't actually meet with the reality of a WC.  

 

My two cents . . .

[At7Seas]

10 minutes ago, JanR said:

We completed the MSC Poesia World Cruise.  The menu in both the main dining room and buffet changed nearly every day.

 

And this on MSC! That cruise line is infamous for having by far the worst food at sea I ever experienced. On my last MSC cruise of 30 days the discussion at talble was what could be eatable at all. Imagine now a decent cruise line with at least good food, while most have a really great reputation...

[JanR]

3 hours ago, At7Seas said:

 

And this on MSC! That cruise line is infamous for having by far the worst food at sea I ever experienced. On my last MSC cruise of 30 days the discussion at talble was what could be eatable at all. Imagine now a decent cruise line with at least good food, while most have a really great reputation...

Yes.   We thought the food was as ok.  Not everything was a hit, and there were misses, but we always were able to find something that was decent.  Our stand-bys if nothing in the rotating menu didn’t interest us was the steamed salmon and the sirloin.  Both were nearly always good and to be truthful, the cooks nailed the temperature in the thin steaks more consistently than the cooks on our most recent Oceania cruise—including the Polo Grill.  

 

The buffet was decent—buoyed by one of the largest salad bars I’ve seen at sea, a similar assortment of fresh and unique fruits (snake fruit on the buffet fruit bar, really?), and some of the best pizza I’ve had on any ship.