Food in decline?

[Tree_skier]

59 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I had a conversation with the HD  and he said that Miami got the message loud and clear on the feedback forms.  He also said that a lot of the supply chain issues have also been worked out but he definitely was not blaming everything on that

What was interesting was the difference between the two weeks I was on.  

 

The first week we had about 100% the second week we had 120% capacity.  That second week the ship was packed.  You definitely felt a difference in the MDR. The food was fine but the service was definitely different.

 

Weirdly, the Solarium was a ghost town the second week.  I don't think we went into the Windjammer once.  Breakfast was usually Solarium Bistro and never crowded and lunch varied between a couple specialty restaurants, Sorrento's and Park cafe or Mini Bites. I think we hit up Solarium Bistro for a late lunch on a a port day one day they were open for lunch  We lunch off the ship in Cozumel.  

[chiguypaul]

16 hours ago, twonpcb said:

I know this is a very touchy subject but I have seen several posts regarding how Royal’s food quality has gone south recently.  My husband and I were on a Celebrity cruise last January to Antarctica and we found the food superb.

 

Can anyone expound on this?  We have not cruised Royal since before the pandemic.

 

 

Lots of chatter on this site about the food. I have been on 20 Royal Caribbean cruises. Three in the past 18 months. Just got off the Odyssey in December. Food in the main dining room is not good. All of the favorites we had like ossa buca , braised short rib, rack of lamb, fruit, soups, soufflé, etc. etc. etc. - all gone. Significantly fewer options in the main dining room. Overall main dining room quality is below average at this point.  We’ve actually been rethinking our icon of the seas New Year’s Eve cruise because of it. Just my two cents. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

17 minutes ago, chiguypaul said:

Lots of chatter on this site about the food. I have been on 20 Royal Caribbean cruises. Three in the past 18 months. Just got off the Odyssey in December. Food in the main dining room is not good. All of the favorites we had like ossa buca , braised short rib, rack of lamb, fruit, soups, soufflé, etc. etc. etc. - all gone. Significantly fewer options in the main dining room. Overall main dining room quality is below average at this point.  We’ve actually been rethinking our icon of the seas New Year’s Eve cruise because of it. Just my two cents. 

 I have been with RCI since 1988 when food was the main focal point. Six cruises since the opening after the pandemic. My last one in November finally reminded me of what I was used to in a good quality experience in the food area.

 

I see myself in your review. Fruit was missing in action for the first three cruises. The braised lamb was either wonderful or awful. Soups were limited and could have come out of a can. Salad bars were severely limited in choice, and all of the chicken and meats seemed to disappear in some sauce that was nondescript.

 

If you got your Icon cruise at  good price, I would go just to experience a new ship. I would hope being the new darling of the fleet, it might have the best food and chefs onboard.

 

I have two more reserved this year that I reserved awhile ago. I am hoping for the best.

[Lakelife4me]

6 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Indeed! I started out bringing a couple for cookies... now we bring more than we need "just in case." One has become my wife's chocolate croissant bag b/c in the past we have seen chocolate come and go and that's one of her favorite things. Of course on our last 2 cruises they had them every morning in SL/CL and we didn't need to be taking extra but better safe than sorry.

OK, so you just grab a few cookies from the WJ, drop them in the bag and keep them in your cabin?

 

That is a PRO TIP and TY!

 

When my wife and I cruised Celebrity, we did the concierge class room. Didn't really get you much of anything however they did bring a tray of different snacks each day around 5. The canapés were not our cup of tea so we just asked them to bring a small charcutier plate.

 

One of our favorite things to do was to go the cabin at 5, have a couple of glasses of wine and nosh sitting on the balcony watching the ocean.

 

Going to bring an extra baggie or two for cheese and meats in March. 🥂😁

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Lakelife4me said:

OK, so you just grab a few cookies from the WJ, drop them in the bag and keep them in your cabin?

If I’m leaving WJ or somewhere else with cookies & know I’m heading back to my cabin I’ll usually pile some on a plate and take them with me… however many are left by the time I get there go in the ziploc. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

27 minutes ago, Lakelife4me said:

Going to bring an extra baggie or two for cheese and meats in March. 🥂😁

Legal disclaimer:

 

"I believe what the poster intended to say is that the cheese and meats will have a very short period of time before they are being consumed after leaving the Windjammer and as such, they do not require any sort of refrigeration."

 

I give those items a very short life-span on your balcony!

 

😆

[RockHoundTX]

My wife and I rate food as much as 1/3 of the overall "cruise experience". Did Harmony in December and the food was a mixed bag. First two nights in the MDR was actually much better than I had expected but went down from there. First time in 30+ cruises that we actually skipped a night in MDR (did Solarium Bistro and WJ that night). Most nights we would pick one or two items in the MDR and then immediately go up to WJ. On this trip the food quality was much better than I feared but definitely not up to pre-COVID RC standards. Selection in the MDR was definitely an issue given the new menus. 

 

Food has always been variable and across all my cruises has varied from 2/10 (during COVID when I think half the cooking staff was in quarientine) and 9/10 (a trip in 2017 that was a limited capacity 7-day sailing that had rack of lamb in the WJ!!!). Across all my RC cruises I would say my personal average would be in the 7- 7.5/10 range. I would rate my recent Harmony trip at about a 6/10. Had I not had expectations from the past on what "good" actually used to be, then probably would have rated it more along the lines of 7.5/10. I completely understand "inflation" and "making up for COVID", but it just did not sit right with me that I paid almost twice the price for this cruise while my food choice (and quality) were significantly reduced. I currently have ZERO cruises booked 😞 Until prices come down or food quality goes up, there are other better options for my retirement $$$.    

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, RockHoundTX said:

My wife and I rate food as much as 1/3 of the overall "cruise experience". Did Harmony in December and the food was a mixed bag. First two nights in the MDR was actually much better than I had expected but went down from there. First time in 30+ cruises that we actually skipped a night in MDR (did Solarium Bistro and WJ that night). Most nights we would pick one or two items in the MDR and then immediately go up to WJ. On this trip the food quality was much better than I feared but definitely not up to pre-COVID RC standards. Selection in the MDR was definitely an issue given the new menus. 

 

Food has always been variable and across all my cruises has varied from 2/10 (during COVID when I think half the cooking staff was in quarientine) and 9/10 (a trip in 2017 that was a limited capacity 7-day sailing that had rack of lamb in the WJ!!!). Across all my RC cruises I would say my personal average would be in the 7- 7.5/10 range. I would rate my recent Harmony trip at about a 6/10. Had I not had expectations from the past on what "good" actually used to be, then probably would have rated it more along the lines of 7.5/10. I completely understand "inflation" and "making up for COVID", but it just did not sit right with me that I paid almost twice the price for this cruise while my food choice (and quality) were significantly reduced. I currently have ZERO cruises booked 😞 Until prices come down or food quality goes up, there are other better options for my retirement $$$.    

This is the quandary of cruisers like us who remember the "good-ole-days" of MDR. We are bias because of our memories of the past and cannot ever relive them in the present situation. 

 

I have really loved cruising and RCI is the company I will forever remember. I do not want to let go but maybe it is for the best. We cannot keep looking in the rear view mirror for destinations and experiences which cannot be duplicated in today's environment.

 

You are not alone as many of us must move on and stop yearning for the days that will not happen again.

 

It is a brave new world and we must look for new horizons.

[RockHoundTX]

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

This is the quandary of cruisers like us who remember the "good-ole-days" of MDR. We are bias because of our memories of the past and cannot ever relive them in the present situation. 

 

I have really loved cruising and RCI is the company I will forever remember. I do not want to let go but maybe it is for the best. We cannot keep looking in the rear view mirror for destinations and experiences which cannot be duplicated in today's environment.

 

You are not alone as many of us must move on and stop yearning for the days that will not happen again.

 

It is a brave new world and we must look for new horizons.

Completely understand. However, I have been cruising long enough that I have seen the pendulum swing both ways. When enough people vote with their wallet, things change. There was a time in the mid 2010s where food and service also took a nose-dive (2013-2016?) at least on the RCL cruises I was taking at the time (and per the comments here on Cruise Critic for other ships). Then from about 2017-2020 it got much better. Post-COVID, I was on 2 ships (while they were still begging for passengers) where food was fantastic. They had some of the biggest, juiciest prime rib I had ever eaten. That was followed by 3 cruises where the food was absolutely horrid (food poisoning, the whole 9 yards) where both "supply chain" and "crew quarentine" were blamed. Been on 2 cruises since the "belt tightening" happened with the new menus, etc. and for both the food was "OK" but far from great. If this becomes the "new standard", prices will need to fall significantly before the price/quality ratio is again within my budget. I went on cruises since it was "the best bang for the buck" but that is no longer the case. I can fly to an island and sit on a beach for 2 weeks (eating and drinking quite well) for what it costs for my family to do a 7-day cruise these days. 

 

The real question is how many people will vote with their wallet? RCL has done a good job of attracting lots of new customers. RCL really no longer cares about us Diamonds/Diamond+ and likely sees us as a hinderance.  As long as the cabins are getting filled without RCL having to pour a ton of money into advertising, then nothing is really going to change. However, all it takes is one "poop cruise", sinking, or virus to hit the news and go viral for passengers to suddenly dry up. How soon that happens and what the cruise industry does about it (lower fares? better food? more activites?) is the question. I love cruising and have $$ set aside to book if/when quality goes up or prices come down. Just will patiently wait and plan all my other vacations in the mean-time. Lots of other (non-cruise) memories to make.       

[Moltar]

2 minutes ago, RockHoundTX said:

Completely understand. However, I have been cruising long enough that I have seen the pendulum swing both ways. When enough people vote with their wallet, things change. There was a time in the mid 2010s where food and service also took a nose-dive (2013-2016?) at least on the RCL cruises I was taking at the time (and per the comments here on Cruise Critic for other ships). Then from about 2017-2020 it got much better. Post-COVID, I was on 2 ships (while they were still begging for passengers) where food was fantastic. They had some of the biggest, juiciest prime rib I had ever eaten. That was followed by 3 cruises where the food was absolutely horrid (food poisoning, the whole 9 yards) where both "supply chain" and "crew quarentine" were blamed. Been on 2 cruises since the "belt tightening" happened with the new menus, etc. and for both the food was "OK" but far from great. If this becomes the "new standard", prices will need to fall significantly before the price/quality ratio is again within my budget. I went on cruises since it was "the best bang for the buck" but that is no longer the case. I can fly to an island and sit on a beach for 2 weeks (eating and drinking quite well) for what it costs for my family to do a 7-day cruise these days. 

 

The real question is how many people will vote with their wallet? RCL has done a good job of attracting lots of new customers. RCL really no longer cares about us Diamonds/Diamond+ and likely sees us as a hinderance.  As long as the cabins are getting filled without RCL having to pour a ton of money into advertising, then nothing is really going to change. However, all it takes is one "poop cruise", sinking, or virus to hit the news and go viral for passengers to suddenly dry up. How soon that happens and what the cruise industry does about it (lower fares? better food? more activites?) is the question. I love cruising and have $$ set aside to book if/when quality goes up or prices come down. Just will patiently wait and plan all my other vacations in the mean-time. Lots of other (non-cruise) memories to make.       

I wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment. Agree to disagree

[Engineroom Snipe]

9 minutes ago, RockHoundTX said:

Completely understand. However, I have been cruising long enough that I have seen the pendulum swing both ways. When enough people vote with their wallet, things change. There was a time in the mid 2010s where food and service also took a nose-dive (2013-2016?) at least on the RCL cruises I was taking at the time (and per the comments here on Cruise Critic for other ships). Then from about 2017-2020 it got much better. Post-COVID, I was on 2 ships (while they were still begging for passengers) where food was fantastic. They had some of the biggest, juiciest prime rib I had ever eaten. That was followed by 3 cruises where the food was absolutely horrid (food poisoning, the whole 9 yards) where both "supply chain" and "crew quarentine" were blamed. Been on 2 cruises since the "belt tightening" happened with the new menus, etc. and for both the food was "OK" but far from great. If this becomes the "new standard", prices will need to fall significantly before the price/quality ratio is again within my budget. I went on cruises since it was "the best bang for the buck" but that is no longer the case. I can fly to an island and sit on a beach for 2 weeks (eating and drinking quite well) for what it costs for my family to do a 7-day cruise these days. 

 

The real question is how many people will vote with their wallet? RCL has done a good job of attracting lots of new customers. RCL really no longer cares about us Diamonds/Diamond+ and likely sees us as a hinderance.  As long as the cabins are getting filled without RCL having to pour a ton of money into advertising, then nothing is really going to change. However, all it takes is one "poop cruise", sinking, or virus to hit the news and go viral for passengers to suddenly dry up. How soon that happens and what the cruise industry does about it (lower fares? better food? more activites?) is the question. I love cruising and have $$ set aside to book if/when quality goes up or prices come down. Just will patiently wait and plan all my other vacations in the mean-time. Lots of other (non-cruise) memories to make.       

Patience is a virtue.

 

 

[time4u2go]

51 minutes ago, RockHoundTX said:

Completely understand. However, I have been cruising long enough that I have seen the pendulum swing both ways. When enough people vote with their wallet, things change. There was a time in the mid 2010s where food and service also took a nose-dive (2013-2016?) at least on the RCL cruises I was taking at the time (and per the comments here on Cruise Critic for other ships). Then from about 2017-2020 it got much better. Post-COVID, I was on 2 ships (while they were still begging for passengers) where food was fantastic. They had some of the biggest, juiciest prime rib I had ever eaten. That was followed by 3 cruises where the food was absolutely horrid (food poisoning, the whole 9 yards) where both "supply chain" and "crew quarentine" were blamed. Been on 2 cruises since the "belt tightening" happened with the new menus, etc. and for both the food was "OK" but far from great. If this becomes the "new standard", prices will need to fall significantly before the price/quality ratio is again within my budget. I went on cruises since it was "the best bang for the buck" but that is no longer the case. I can fly to an island and sit on a beach for 2 weeks (eating and drinking quite well) for what it costs for my family to do a 7-day cruise these days. 

 

The real question is how many people will vote with their wallet? RCL has done a good job of attracting lots of new customers. RCL really no longer cares about us Diamonds/Diamond+ and likely sees us as a hinderance.  As long as the cabins are getting filled without RCL having to pour a ton of money into advertising, then nothing is really going to change. However, all it takes is one "poop cruise", sinking, or virus to hit the news and go viral for passengers to suddenly dry up. How soon that happens and what the cruise industry does about it (lower fares? better food? more activites?) is the question. I love cruising and have $$ set aside to book if/when quality goes up or prices come down. Just will patiently wait and plan all my other vacations in the mean-time. Lots of other (non-cruise) memories to make.       

Very well said.

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

 

we take cookies to our cabin to snack on at night and I also bring ziplock baggies for them, along with the long crispy breadsticks if they have them. But lately the cookies aren’t what they used to be….even hardly see chocolate chip, except in the Crown Lounge on Radiance. I miss the white chocolate, macadamia, cranberry ones! Those were my favorite!!

 

Yes, also hard find is Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies, little better then the regular ones to me... 

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

If you got your Icon cruise at  good price, I would go just to experience a new ship. I would hope being the new darling of the fleet, it might have the best food and chefs onboard.

 

I have two more reserved this year that I reserved awhile ago. I am hoping for the best.

Back in 90's Royal would take top Rated Crew from other Ships to send to the New Flag Ship. A full 30% of Crew on New Ships was Best of the Best. Always though kinda sucks for older Ships loosing their best people

Edited January 13 by ONECRUISER

[OCSC Mike]

8 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Back in 90's Royal would take top Rated Crew from other Ships to send to the New Flag Ship.

They still do this but possibly to a lesser extent (I wasn’t cruising in the 90s). We spoke to the amazing crew we had in the SL/CK on Wonder last June. Several of them had opened Wonder & told us they would be opening Icon.

Edited January 13 by OCSC Mike

[bucfan2]

Just off Allure yesterday.  Food was typical....very good to excellent.

 

If we weren't satisfied w/ RC's food, we'd either sail another line, or choose another type of vacation.  So far, of the dozen or so places on board to find something to eat, we've yet to be disappointed.  (Only been cruising for 40 years or so, so expecting the 'other shoe' to drop at anytime lol).

Edited January 13 by bucfan2

[lovesthebeach2]

13 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

If I’m leaving WJ or somewhere else with cookies & know I’m heading back to my cabin I’ll usually pile some on a plate and take them with me… however many are left by the time I get there go in the ziploc. 

That’s why I put the cookies in a bowl to bring to the cabin 😉

[Engineroom Snipe]

 

Food is SO subjective.

 

This is the reason I like to read people's opinions on multiple posts and think of my audience before responding to food reviews. I am not sure if some people will ever be satisfied with any food RCI presents. On the other hand, I have a hard time understanding how some people are so fortunate to get a perfect cruise food experience every time for decades.

 

To each their own.

 

Isn't great that we can voice our opinions and be heard?

 

😊

 

 

 

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

That’s why I put the cookies in a bowl to bring to the cabin 😉

A smart "Doomsday" idea: Always have a bowl of cookies in your cabin at night when you go to sleep. Should there be an emergency and you need space on the lifeboat, show the bowl and fellow passengers will be welcoming you with open arms (and hands for the cookies!). Make sure it is a big bowl. You might have to share it with about 378 of your closest "friends".

 

🤣

[lovesthebeach2]

16 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I had a conversation with the HD  and he said that Miami got the message loud and clear on the feedback forms.  He also said that a lot of the supply chain issues have also been worked out but he definitely was not blaming everything on that

I hope they get the message. Food isn’t the main reason we cruise, but this past one it was very noticeable, and with what we paid it wasn’t worth it and we won’t do it again.  We did notice that most of the guests were newbies and there were lots of kids, so burgers, hot dogs, fries, pizza, ice cream cones and usually 3 trays of mystery meat in red sauce were mostly what was available. I hope the HD was serious that Miami is listening.  😕

[PhillyFan33579]

15 hours ago, chiguypaul said:

Lots of chatter on this site about the food. I have been on 20 Royal Caribbean cruises. Three in the past 18 months. Just got off the Odyssey in December. Food in the main dining room is not good. All of the favorites we had like ossa buca , braised short rib, rack of lamb, fruit, soups, soufflé, etc. etc. etc. - all gone. Significantly fewer options in the main dining room. Overall main dining room quality is below average at this point.  We’ve actually been rethinking our icon of the seas New Year’s Eve cruise because of it. Just my two cents. 

I would never tell someone their opinion on food was wrong, since food is very subjective. However, if I felt like you did about RCI’s food quality, I definitely wouldn’t cruise on RCI again. 

[PhillyFan33579]

22 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I hope they get the message. Food isn’t the main reason we cruise, but this past one it was very noticeable, and with what we paid it wasn’t worth it and we won’t do it again.  We did notice that most of the guests were newbies and there were lots of kids, so burgers, hot dogs, fries, pizza, ice cream cones and usually 3 trays of mystery meat in red sauce were mostly what was available. I hope the HD was serious that Miami is listening.  😕

I think you bring up a good point about a lot of newbies and kids. There is no doubt RCI is focusing more and more towards attracting families who aren’t frequent cruisers. New cruisers don’t have anything to compare to how it used to be (this applies to a lot of areas beyond just food), so their expectations are likely far different than long time cruisers. Time will tell if this approach by RCI pays off. It is obviously working short term based on ships selling out despite fares that seem to increase every day. 

[marymunro]

The food on Celebrity is so much better quality, taste, presentation and variety than Royal.

[Engineroom Snipe]

9 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I think you bring up a good point about a lot of newbies and kids. There is no doubt RCI is focusing more and more towards attracting families who aren’t frequent cruisers. New cruisers don’t have anything to compare to how it used to be (this applies to a lot of areas beyond just food), so their expectations are likely far different than long time cruisers. Time will tell if this approach by RCI pays off. It is obviously working short term based on ships selling out despite fares that seem to increase every day. 

Your idea about RCI "moving on" from their past model of older cruisers into the future of young families is plausible. Many of the Crown & Anchor perks are slowly being whittled away. If RCI was really concerned about losing these older long time cruisers, they would be adding perks, not limiting them.

 

The newer ships are leaning towards theme parks and high end customers which RCI believes is the future of their company: otherwise, they would be building ships without slides, water parks, high-line adventures, etc., etc.

 

While I hope that RCI still wants its older loyal cruisers, your opinion is based on reality.

 

Reality can suck sometimes.

[OCSC Mike]

40 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

On the other hand, I have a hard time understanding how some people are so fortunate to get a perfect cruise food experience every time for decades.

 

To each their own.

 

I can tell you why mine skew so positive (nothing is perfect) and it fits with that last line...

 

It seems to me, from reading many food posts, that a significant number of them focus on or at least prominently mention the MDR. I was never a huge MDR fan, even back in the 2000's. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't as special to me as it was to others. Additionally, it wasn't optimal for my wife b/c she is very picky (as far as what she eats, not quality-wise) and would wind up ordering a caesar salad and the classic, boring grilled chicken far too often.

 

So over the years, we realized that the WJ worked better for us b/c I eat a lot and it gave her more options. WJ's that had/have cook to order pasta/wok station were the perfect solution for us. She could obviously design her own dish and, honestly, they usually came out tasting hotter and fresher than anything in the MDR. I also enjoy quantity, trying lots of different things, and am not picky, so I do enjoy buffets.

 

One last reason why I have always enjoyed the food is that dinner (again, a common focus of food posts) is not all that important to me. Why? I spend all day snacking and eating from the early AM when I get something to go with my CL cappuccino to my actual breakfast (always found breakfast enjoyable) to my lunch and afternoon snacks from Park Cafe, ELF, WJ, Sorrento's (the pizza was actually very good on my last 2 cruises), to some pre-dinner snacks in the Crown Lounge. Unless we have specialty dining booked, which is rare, by the time I get to dinner, I'm not looking for a huge, stellar meal. And if I'm still hungry after that, I'll check out WJ or grab some more pizza.

 

Anyway, I know that was long-winded, but just sharing an example of why certain people may not view the food experience the same as others. If I was focused on main meals in the MDR, my opinion would likely be quite different.