Virgin curious? Celebrity sailor tries a new cruise line

[MarkWiltonM]

On 4/6/2024 at 6:34 PM, notme2012 said:

We had numerous mediocre meals, while the "Galley" generally had very good food.

 

This is interesting and shows how subjective food is. We found the food in the restaurants to be much, much better than in the buffet (called the Galley). The only thing we liked in the Galley was the ramen, which we could have eaten every day, and practically did. The sushi, the sandwiches, the tacos, were meh. And though it was only a five-day cruise, the selections were unvarying in the Galley stations and got old very quick. The food in the restaurants we went to--The Wake, Extra Virgin, and Razzle Dazzle--was very good, and we loved the Mediterranean small plates served in the Dock House as well.  

Edited April 8 by MarkWiltonM

[notme2012]

On 4/7/2024 at 9:51 PM, crusinthrough said:

Isn't the menu and restaurants the same on all cruise lines?  Celebrity may add a new speciality restaurant on a  new build but overall the restaurants and menus are the same.  The S class ships have the same restaurants as well as the E class.  I've been on VV 3x and manage to find something different on the menu at all restaurants.  I no longer rush to make reservations in advance though.  I'm now fine with whatever restaurant is available when I am onboard.  

 

 

Most cruise lines have at least 4 weeks of menus that can be rotated through. That's for mass market and premium lines. Deluxe lines have more because they usually do many longer cruises. From what I have been told on many tours of ship kitchens, the menus are all planned months in advance, due to supply constraints. Everyone seems to think that Virgin Voyages does everything different from other lines. They really don't.

 

VV has 2 menus for longer cruises. There is an A and B dinner menu for each restaurant. We experienced them on our 12 night cruise. Now are VV A and B menus really different? Not really. Only Razzle Dazzle and Test Kitchen were distinctly different. Matter of fact, Extra Virgin, in which we dined 3 times, the menu never changed.

[notme2012]

19 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

This is interesting and shows how subjective food is. We found the food in the restaurants to be much, much better than in the buffet (called the Galley). The only thing we liked in the Galley was the ramen, which we could have eaten every day, and practically did. The sushi, the sandwiches, the tacos, were meh. And though it was only a five-day cruise, the selections were unvarying in the Galley stations and got old very quick. The food in the restaurants we went to--The Wake, Extra Virgin, and Razzle Dazzle--was very good, and we loved the Mediterranean small plates served in the Dock House as well.  

The quality in the reservation restaurants for us, was mainly food temps. A cold steak, rates a zero for me. Food temps are a safety issue. Some of the dishes were disgustingly cold and coagulated. I am guessing that with exception of Gunbae, Razzle Dazzle, and Test Kitchen, the other restaurants share a main kitchen. 

 

Yes, the ramen was very good. But so was the breakfast all day, pastries, fruit, made to order salads. I did not care for the bento boxes as they all seemed stale. Did not eat the tacos, as I had low expectations, with them. 

 

Now we had better meals at the beginning of our cruise. By the 8th night, restaurant meals went way down. But here's the thing, after we started complaining, they became even worse. With nothing ever being near the temp that it should be. Which means VV marks your name/cabin as being a complainer. After we figured that out, we dismissed any idea of doing a VV again. Being married to a chef, we know what is good and what is meh. This was my 56th cruise. I never thought any cruise line could have such poor food.