RCL food has gone downhill fast

[Engineroom Snipe]

22 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I say it because it's true and to point out that just b/c I liked something doesn't mean others will, not to dismiss anyone's opinion.

@OCSC Mike,

 

We have happily "DISSED" each other's opinions about food but I value you sharing your observations with me.

 

Sometimes the food is a GRAND SLAM, rare but a memorable experience.

 

I, like yourself, just want some solid single hits. Food that hits the spot and satisfies.

 

The strike-outs, I can argue with the Umpire, but I am not ready to stop playing the game yet.

 

Play ball!

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Food that hits the spot and satisfies.

 

This leads me back to my overall go to phrase for all things cruising... "personal preference."

 

That's obviously related to subjectivity but slightly different when it comes to food for me. I feel like most of the food critiques I read in the forums are about the MDR... followed by WJ and specialty... and more about dinner than other meals (at least the complaints).

 

I clearly skew strongly towards continuing to enjoy the food, A LOT. Part of the reason is that, unless we have a specialty meal planned (which we don't do a ton of), my enjoyment comes from eating small meals/snacks from the early AM until my last snack before bed. My typical day if no specialty booked is something small with my cappuccinos very early (pastry, bagel, etc.), actual breakfast with my wife in WJ/Solarium Bistro, lunch and afternoon snacks from any number of venues (WJ, Park Cafe, always ELF, I even had a Dog House brat for the first time in years last week, etc.). By the time it gets to dinner in MDR/WJ, I'm not too concerned with my meal. We had 4 MDR dinners last week... I enjoyed 2 entrees and thought 2 were pretty bad (one inedible).

 

Long story short, I still enjoy the food so much b/c I've noticed no difference in breakfast and I'm happily stuffing myself with casual basic/comfort food from all the included food venues after that (tacos, sandwiches, random WJ items, CL snacks, even Sorrento's over the past year b/c it's been incredibly crispy on my cruises). This is a personal preference thing to me b/c I don't think many posters would be happy eating what I do and then not caring if the MDR is poor that night.

 

For numerous reasons, I would never try to convince someone that the food is "good" if they feel otherwise. We all like what we like and, yes, it is also still subjective.

[mjldvlks]

On 6/8/2024 at 9:17 AM, loman said:

Just google average weight gain on a cruise , its ok, i did it for you .

It’s anywhere from 3 to 10 pounds . . .

 

OK, how was this statistic derived? Who collected the data?  When was it collected? How many passengers were weighed? What ships /lines were involved? When was the study done? Was the study repeated in order to determine a trend?  Even if the statistic is true, how does it show the overall food quality either has or has not “gone downhill”?

 

What was it Mark Twain said about statistics?

[loman]

1 hour ago, mjldvlks said:

OK, how was this statistic derived? Who collected the data?  When was it collected? How many passengers were weighed? What ships /lines were involved? When was the study done? Was the study repeated in order to determine a trend?  Even if the statistic is true, how does it show the overall food quality either has or has not “gone downhill”?

 

What was it Mark Twain said about statistics?

I dont think they used sound engineering principles , but if its on the internet its got to be true 😃

 

Food has probably gone down in quality , but i always found something edible and did come back a few pounds heavier myself. 🙂

 

[OCSC Mike]

29 minutes ago, loman said:

a few pounds heavier

 

A few... 10-12... who's counting? 🙈

 

The first 3-5 lbs. always come right off for me in a few days anyway due to water weight gain.

[luvmyjewels]

On 6/7/2024 at 8:43 PM, cruisingalong2018 said:

I have been on 2 RC cruises, but those were over 5 years ago.  I just got back from a Disney Cruise with all my daughters and their families. We had an awesome time. The food was awesome and the service was perfect.  I am thinking of planning a RC cruise in 2025 or 2026. We had a great time before and we loved the entertainment and the different bars and shops. It was a great time.  I usually don't pay attention to a few bad reviews, but I have seen many saying that Windjammer and the food in the main dining areas were just "okay." When we went, we thought the food was pretty good. Those who have sailed recently, how has it been?

I'm going to chime in now on my family's experience on the Voyager of the Seas two weeks ago. I had read some negative food reviews before going on this cruise, but didn't pay that much attention to them because we thought the food was really good the last time we had sailed (prior to Covid). To be brutally honest, all seven people in our group thought the food sucked overall. We ate every night in the MDR and had breakfast in the Windjammer. We didn't have high expectations in the Windjammer since it is buffet food and it was okay. The best thing they had was fresh fruit, fried potato triangles, and soft serve. The MDR food was consistently bad and unseasoned. Our steaks were raw in the middle on most of the nights that someone ordered them. Not just rare...raw. The deserts were pretty but almost inedible at times. The strawberry shortcake tasted salty? The chocolate lava cake was overcooked with a little bit of syrup on the top. The menu itself was very repetitious and main dishes weirdly lacked vegetables. We enjoyed the service and the ship itself, but the food was a major detractor and we will be looking closely at other cruise lines for future sailings. (If anyone has recommendations for a non-RC Alaskan cruise please let me know).     

[The Fun Researcher]

Just returned from our five night cruise to Bermuda on Liberty.

 

I did not notice any negative trend in how the food was prepared for the old standby dishes that we know in love.  All of the dishes and appetizers tasted just as good as they have for the last 10+ years.
 

However, what’s missing are the higher quality proteins that we used to get.

 

THAT’S the big difference that we noticed. Gone are the scallops in the main dining room. Gone are the lamb chops. etc…
 

Gone are the higher quality proteins for sandwiches in the café promenade.  Most nights the best sandwich was tuna salad. Seriously? Roast beef was only offered one or two days. No turkey, no ham, no smoked salmon.
 

Lunch in the Windjammer had noticeably declined in the variety of more costly dishes.  
 

What used to make cruise food special has now been seriously stripped away.

 

So in summary, Royal still knows how to make and prepare dishes as well, they are just not offering the quality (i.e. more costly) items that they used to, and it is noticeable.  I made sure to let them know on the survey.

 

Everything else was fantastic though. Service, the ship, drinks, etc..

[loman]

4 hours ago, luvmyjewels said:

I'm going to chime in now on my family's experience on the Voyager of the Seas two weeks ago. I had read some negative food reviews before going on this cruise, but didn't pay that much attention to them because we thought the food was really good the last time we had sailed (prior to Covid). To be brutally honest, all seven people in our group thought the food sucked overall. We ate every night in the MDR and had breakfast in the Windjammer. We didn't have high expectations in the Windjammer since it is buffet food and it was okay. The best thing they had was fresh fruit, fried potato triangles, and soft serve. The MDR food was consistently bad and unseasoned. Our steaks were raw in the middle on most of the nights that someone ordered them. Not just rare...raw. The deserts were pretty but almost inedible at times. The strawberry shortcake tasted salty? The chocolate lava cake was overcooked with a little bit of syrup on the top. The menu itself was very repetitious and main dishes weirdly lacked vegetables. We enjoyed the service and the ship itself, but the food was a major detractor and we will be looking closely at other cruise lines for future sailings. (If anyone has recommendations for a non-RC Alaskan cruise please let me know).     

That sounds pretty bad .

I only go on Oasis class and did not experience what you did.

I hear Princess does Alaskan cruises , but you would need to do some research .

Ive only done one Princess cruise many years ago.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

On 6/11/2024 at 4:57 AM, Tenderpaw said:

"Don't forget, food is very subjective".  People always say this to dismiss others food opinions.  It is, but there are more complaints now in my opinion. 

 

I believe on land most people have a different outlook on reviews.  Even if you prefer junk food, you're not going to get these two restaurants mixed up, viewing the choice as "too subjective".

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g35805-d479653-Reviews-O_Leary_s_Public_House-Chicago_Illinois.html

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g35805-d457447-Reviews-The_Capital_Grille-Chicago_Illinois.html

Edited June 14 by Stateroom_Sailor

[grest]

we really enjoyed the food on Independene of the Seas recently.

[frito58]

On 4/23/2024 at 9:25 AM, 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 !

Seriously if u think NCL food is BETTER than anyone than this review should be deleted LMAO. Their food is the absolute worse I have ever had on 50 cruises. I don’t consider myself loyal to anyone. Our last cruise was on Carnival it was ok the cruise before that was B2B2B on the Independence of the Seas and it was amazing food wise . So good we are going back in July for really no other reason except that we had a wonderful time .