RCL food has gone downhill fast

[Bullet100]

Let me start by saying we've been on approximately 35 cruises. Most of them have been Azamara,NCL,Royal Caribbean, Celebrity with one MSC included. The food quality and selection on RCL borders on par with MSC which is pretty bad. The prime rib was fatty and as tough as shoe leather. The NY strip steak that the gentleman next to us looked like a door stop and he stated it was uneditable. There is no comparison to NCL whatsoever. We tried Chops hoping for a better steak experience but it was just a bit better. Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

[Td6462]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, or should I say Happy First Post!

Edited April 23 by Td6462
Information add

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, Bullet100 said:

Let me start by saying we've been on approximately 35 cruises. Most of them have been Azamara,NCL,Royal Caribbean, Celebrity with one MSC included. The food quality and selection on RCL borders on par with MSC which is pretty bad. The prime rib was fatty and as tough as shoe leather. The NY strip steak that the gentleman next to us looked like a door stop and he stated it was uneditable. There is no comparison to NCL whatsoever. We tried Chops hoping for a better steak experience but it was just a bit better. Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

There is ALOT of "Loyal to Royal" crowd here so be prepared to get blasted as you will learn to know Royal does no Wrong !

[Twenty2020]

20 minutes ago, Bullet100 said:

Let me start by saying we've been on approximately 35 cruises. Most of them have been Azamara,NCL,Royal Caribbean, Celebrity with one MSC included. The food quality and selection on RCL borders on par with MSC which is pretty bad. The prime rib was fatty and as tough as shoe leather. The NY strip steak that the gentleman next to us looked like a door stop and he stated it was uneditable. There is no comparison to NCL whatsoever. We tried Chops hoping for a better steak experience but it was just a bit better. Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

 

What ship? 

[smokeybandit]

OK, thanks for stopping by.

[HicksRA]

He came and went faster than a speeding bullet…

[Norwich Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Bullet100 said:

Let me start by saying we've been on approximately 35 cruises. Most of them have been Azamara,NCL,Royal Caribbean, Celebrity with one MSC included. The food quality and selection on RCL borders on par with MSC which is pretty bad. The prime rib was fatty and as tough as shoe leather. The NY strip steak that the gentleman next to us looked like a door stop and he stated it was uneditable. There is no comparison to NCL whatsoever. We tried Chops hoping for a better steak experience but it was just a bit better. Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

Thank you and good night.

[BND]

It's improved a lot since restart when supply issues were a major problem.  We just got off Vision and while, it has changed over the years, it's better than even 6 months ago.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Bullet100 said:

Bye Bye RCL !

You needn't wait six years to say that - you could have had that experience at just about any time since.

[Bullet100]

We are currently on the ship and the food has been nothing but  below average like a MSC dining experience 

[neverbeenhere]

Always best to find the cruise ship company that you prefer. Enjoy.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, Bullet100 said:

We are currently on the ship and the food has been nothing but  below average like a MSC dining experience 

I would never disagree with someone’s thoughts on food, because food is very subjective. However, in my opinion the food on RCI ranges from average to very good, which is what I expect from a cruise line like RCI. In the past several months I have cruised on Icon, Symphony, Allure, Explorer, Freedom, Liberty, Independence and Adventure. On every one of these cruises I thought the food was good in the MDR and very good in the various specialty restaurants we visited. I rarely eat in the Windjammer so I can’t comment on the recent food quality there. 

[clochette]

1 hour ago, Bullet100 said:

 Definitely not with the 190 up charge. In the future it will be NCL,Azamara and Oceania only.Bye Bye RCL !

the beauty of a cruise is that if you don't like your meal, you can always order another one, also you really got ripped off if you paid $190 to dine at chops,

[prmssk]

We don’t eat red meat so I can’t compare to your examples but I found the food on the Adventure to be quite good in the main dining room with the fish dishes really standing out. The dessert/pastry chef was also particularly good. 
 

In my experience, food can vary a lot based on the specific chef on board that ship even within the same cruise line. 
 

Which ship were you on?

[time4u2go]

1 minute ago, clochette said:

the beauty of a cruise is that if you don't like your meal, you can always order another one, also you really got ripped off if you paid $190 to dine at chops,

I'm guessing the $190 is for more than one person.  OP did say "we" in the original post.

[prmssk]

8 minutes ago, Bullet100 said:

We are currently on the ship and the food has been nothing but  below average like a MSC dining experience 

Which ship?  Royal Caribbean has quite a few all with different head chefs. 

[ticketsunlimited]

6 minutes ago, Bullet100 said:

We are currently on the ship and the food has been nothing but  below average like a MSC dining experience 

Can go to our favorite restaurant 10 times and may not be happy 2 or 3 times.  Sign of the times with so many variables in place.

Your next Azamara dinner may have a hair in your Fettuccine.  Ill be looking for you on the Azamara boards for your comment

[MommaBear55]

My DH and I agree that the MDR has really decreased in quality over the last 10 years. We generally do an ultimate dining package unless we have multiple port days. We just went to our first all inclusive resort and the food was far superior to Royal Caribbean's.

[cargopilot]

But it is MUCH better than airline food.

[Toddcan]

24 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

My DH and I agree that the MDR has really decreased in quality over the last 10 years. We generally do an ultimate dining package unless we have multiple port days. We just went to our first all inclusive resort and the food was far superior to Royal Caribbean's.

 

We also do all inclusive resorts and find the food much better than any cruise - not just Royal.  But the entertainment is x100 better on a cruise.  The pool experience is x100 better at the all inclusive.  Variety is nice.  We vacation at both. 

[crewsweeper]

We're not fans of the MDR and most of the Windjammer. We do specialty restaurants and some ala Carte like Playmakers. Granted we're not expecting anything close to Guy Savoy in Vegas, but for the price point beats most chains on land.

[Tin can]

1 hour ago, BND said:

It's improved a lot since restart when supply issues were a major problem.  We just got off Vision and while, it has changed over the years, it's better than even 6 months ago.

 

Yes, have to agree it is much improved since restart.

[alfaeric]

I always find it amusing how people claim some massive decline in food based on beef.  We've been sailing RC since 2001, and I've rarely had a well cooked piece of beef in the MRD.  It happens, but it's far from often.  (by well, not well done, but done correctly)

 

But somehow, that is an indication of a sudden decline in the food..  Ok.  

 

On the other hand, for every person not sailing RCI for *reasons*, the price goes down.  Which is a good thing.

[Engineroom Snipe]

Everyone has an opinion on food and I can agree that there were some meals on my 2023 cruises I could have done without.

 

There has been improvement. My recent Vision of the Seas in April had a very good beef tenderloin on the first sea day. My wife is a baker/cook and she said the Tiramisu on the third night was VERY good. This was unusual for her to make such a compliment as she is not a huge fan of Royal desserts.

 

On the last sea day at MDR Lunch, we both had a very good salmon, nice proportion, texture, cooked well and not dried out. One of the highlights of the week and it was at lunch!

 

I have been one of many to complain when the meals were lacking but I have been noticing a definite improvement.

 

Still seems a bit of hit or miss.

 

I did have a disappointing NY Strip steak twice in the same cruise. The cocktail shrimp, I just stopped ordering it. They were very small, a bit dry, and served with a water-downed "cocktail" sauce which seemed like ketchup and some hot sauce. It was very runny and had no horseradish kick in it at all.

 

Breakfast was more than adequate and we skipped many lunches just because we were not that hungry.

 

I did have the best sandwich yet from Park Cafe in the Solarium on the first day. Jelo shaved the roast beef into fine strips and slathered the roll with the perfect amount of horseradish. No tug with an excellent chew and flavor. I made sure to mention it in my cruise feedback. For such a young crew member, he made an impression on me the whole week whenever I checked the Cafe for a mid afternoon snack instead of lunch.

 

Escargot was fabulous every time we were able to order it.

 

Definitely not our worst cruise food compared to other times.

 

MDR service was great. We gave 10s for service but an 8 for food as some of the meat quality just was not there the week we went.

 

Food is SO subjective.

[Pratique]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

I'm guessing the $190 is for more than one person.  OP did say "we" in the original post.

Sounds about right for four people.

 

1 minute ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Food is SO subjective.

True but I think we need to view these comments as people's relative experiences from cruise to cruise. Some say it has gotten worse and some say it has improved over time. The benchmark is usually the earliest one we can reliably (fondly?) remember. My wife keeps complaining about the wider salad selection in the Windjammer, which is most definitely displacing something less healthy (and probably more tasty). 🙂 We don't cruise for the salads lol.