The points guy says carnival among 6 top cruise lines for food

[skywalkr2]

On 3/24/2024 at 9:26 AM, Joebucks said:

I just recently returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise. I can unequivocally say that the food was way better on Carnival. 

I have heard this a few times.   Do you have any details?  For the extra cost that RC charges, I am just still confused on how their MDR can do sub-par work.

[Joebucks]

1 hour ago, skywalkr2 said:

I have heard this a few times.   Do you have any details?  For the extra cost that RC charges, I am just still confused on how their MDR can do sub-par work.

 

I found the MDR and Buffet to be "about equal" for lunch and dinner. Some some trade-offs here and there, and splitting some hairs to draw a line in the sand. Carnival's Sea Day Brunch selection is vastly superior to Royal MDR breakfast. Complementary "Deli" on Royal is like 4 rotating, pre-made, light options, compared to the heft of the Carnival Deli. I found the Pizza to be higher quality on Carnival. Royal's pizza screamed of pre-made. Carnival has garlic, cheese, oregano, red pepper flake, and chili oil to put on it. Royal has tobasco, cheese, and oregano in the tiniest containers I've ever seen. 

 

My Royal ship was a Voyager class and didn't have any extra non-specialty venues than what was listed above. Some of the larger ships do. However, Carnival's ships all do. Having Guy's, Blue Iguana, Deli, etc. it wasn't even fair. The burgers in the windjammer were awful, dry, buffet burgers. Same with the breakfast burrito in the MDR vs a make your own, delicious burrito from BI. I couldn't even get a taco at all. Not that there would have been a good option. 

 

I'm not going to sit here and say "everything was inedible and terrible." However, like you stated for the price difference, it certainly wasn't a more premium experience, it wasn't even equal. There were many times where we found ourselves wishing we were on Carnival as there were no other options open than the pizza (in the middle of the day). 

[kew1031]

On 2/21/2024 at 7:28 PM, mz-s said:

I have not sailed on Carnival since the new menus debuted. My most recent cruise was one of the last cruises on Magic before the new menus. They were phoning it in by then. Food was mediocre - hospital quality. Anxious to sail again.

same. but that will change on May 4th when we board the Jubilee. I will be checking out all the new venues to see if they are all they're cracked up to be. Our last cruise (Dream-April 2023) food was less than stellar.

Edited March 28 by kew1031

[TrinaLC]

On 2/22/2024 at 7:56 PM, BlerkOne said:

I doubt many people have been on 6 cruise lines 

S.S. France, Cunard Princess, multiple NCL, multiple Carnival, multiple MSC, Oceania Riviera, Holland America Eurodam, RCCL Enchantment OTS, Caribbean Princess, booked on Explora. 

[jimbo5544]

On 3/28/2024 at 11:07 AM, Joebucks said:

 

I found the MDR and Buffet to be "about equal" for lunch and dinner. Some some trade-offs here and there, and splitting some hairs to draw a line in the sand. Carnival's Sea Day Brunch selection is vastly superior to Royal MDR breakfast. Complementary "Deli" on Royal is like 4 rotating, pre-made, light options, compared to the heft of the Carnival Deli. I found the Pizza to be higher quality on Carnival. Royal's pizza screamed of pre-made. Carnival has garlic, cheese, oregano, red pepper flake, and chili oil to put on it. Royal has tobasco, cheese, and oregano in the tiniest containers I've ever seen. 

 

My Royal ship was a Voyager class and didn't have any extra non-specialty venues than what was listed above. Some of the larger ships do. However, Carnival's ships all do. Having Guy's, Blue Iguana, Deli, etc. it wasn't even fair. The burgers in the windjammer were awful, dry, buffet burgers. Same with the breakfast burrito in the MDR vs a make your own, delicious burrito from BI. I couldn't even get a taco at all. Not that there would have been a good option. 

 

I'm not going to sit here and say "everything was inedible and terrible." However, like you stated for the price difference, it certainly wasn't a more premium experience, it wasn't even equal. There were many times where we found ourselves wishing we were on Carnival as there were no other options open than the pizza (in the middle of the day). 

I think your assessment is spot on.  The burgers in windjammer are the worst I ever had had on the seas.  Most was just meh…

[ledges1]

 

According to Fieri, you should consider that "every time you touch that burger and you hear 'chh' ... That's flavor leaving the plate." In other words, when you press your burger, you are expelling juices from the meat out onto the hot pan or grill.

Burgers, especially those cooked over high heat, should have a high surface temperature. This results in the myofibril fibers being tensely squeezed and releasing more juices and moisture from the protein. Pressing down on the burger causes a rapid release of these juices. It may sound good as they steam the outside of the patty for a (very) brief moment, but in reality, they are being cooked off and leaving your burger drier than it was before, which is why you also shouldn't flip your burger too often.

 

 

I find it interesting that Carnival does exactly what Guy says not to do in cooking a hamburger. I have watched them press the meat to cook the burgers faster all the time. I have found the burgers to be dry. Are they really “Guy Burgers” if they do not follow his advice?

[jimbo5544]

Gotta love CC, now we have burger experts that know more than the experts.....

 

Guys are simply the best free burger at sea.  regardless of how some think they are cooked.  Home run for Carnival's interaction with Guy Fieri.  Quality guy got to meet him on the Dream naming ceremony.

[ledges1]

59 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Gotta love CC, now we have burger experts that know more than the experts.....

 

Guys are simply the best free burger at sea.  regardless of how some think they are cooked.  Home run for Carnival's interaction with Guy Fieri.  Quality guy got to meet him on the Dream naming ceremony.

I agree that Guys is the best burger at sea, why do you disagree with Guy as an expert in cooking burgers? I was only quoting the expert.

[ledges1]

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/one-thing-shouldnt-cooking-burgers-133009569.html#:~:text=During an exclusive interview with,%2C flip%2C flip%2C flip%3F

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, ledges1 said:

I agree that Guys is the best burger at sea, why do you disagree with Guy as an expert in cooking burgers? I was only quoting the expert.

I think I understood what you were saying.

[jrtmouse]

On 2/23/2024 at 11:18 AM, tidecat said:

The barbecue salmon was good. It appeared to be quite popular the night it was offered on my sailing.

That BBQ salmon we had on Panorama just a month ago was an absolute hit at the table! 

 

I have to agree, sailing Panorama the first time in 2022, the food was lackluster. We chalked that up to coming right out of the C* Era. This last time, I loved IT ALL and was very pleased.

 

With that said, we sailed RCCL Navigator of the Seas in 2023, expecting that while we paid more $ for a shorter cruise on Nav, our experience would be better. It wasn't! That food was straight up awful. I gave up ordering the entrees because it wasn't worth my caloric intake. 

 

It's no surprise Carnival is noted as having some of the best all around food. I look forward to our sailing on the Firenze in July!

[TiredTrucker]

I'll throw in my two cents based on my many cruises 😁.

 

Was told before hand the complimentary food was overall "meh, with a few great standouts" and found it to be exactly that.   It wasn't bad by any means and some was quite good.  I would certainly eat it again and be happy with it.  But most of it wasn't great, even by my lower standards.

[Joebucks]

On 3/30/2024 at 7:29 AM, jimbo5544 said:

I think your assessment is spot on.  The burgers in windjammer are the worst I ever had had on the seas.  Most was just meh…

 

Maybe I'm a little biased because burgers and tacos are amongst my favorite foods. Getting great quality ones, complementary, and right there at the lido, just far and away does it for me. Happy as a clam. Not that I didn't find anything good in the windjammer, but I didn't particularly enjoy having the venture into the buffet for my only option.

[mzloolue]

We had not cruised since before the shut down and were able to do a 14 day journey's cruise to Hawaii. We really enjoyed it, but the food was not great. It was really hit and miss. The steaks were horrible. Siced very thin, some with fake smoke taste. The steak and eggs was actually horrible. The bread at dinner is served hot, but it tastes like that fake warm up bread with baking powder in it. People ate it. It's okay with me because I wasn't temped to eat it. There were some sit down dining room lunches and those were actually wonderful.