Thoughts on food?

[Blowfish64]

My wife and I just finished sailing on the Crystal Serenity.  It was an amazing experience.  The food is the most important thing for us on a cruise and it was stellar.  We will be taking a Regent cruise due to the itinerary later on, and this will be our first time on Regent.  From someone who has cruised both lines, how does the food compare?

[Nachosdelux]

I would say comparable.  

 

The "available anytime" menu in Compass Rose (Regent's main dining room) puts it slightly ahead of Crystal.

 

The pool grill on Crystal is slightly better than Regent.

 

The specialty restaurants are comparable.  Since food is so subjective, I will leave it at that.

 

My wife and I are serious foodies, and we were very happy with the food on both lines.

 

You didn't ask, but the service is similar as well (excellent, IMHO.)

 

 

[loriva]

48 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

The pool grill on Crystal is slightly better than Regent.

 

But you can get the awesome ahi tuna sandwich at the Pool Grill on Regent as well as the lobster nachos ("extra lobster, please").  Those plus the Regent "cocktail of the ship" are our traditional lunch upon boarding.  We'll be trying the "Mariner" cocktail for the first time next February.

 

We'll be doing the opposite, @Blowfish64--taking our first cruise on Crystal Serenity in October after four cruises with Regent since 2021.  We are looking forward to making the comparison after reading all the rapturous reviews on the Crystal boards.

[FloatSomeMore]

Currently on the Grandeur.  Food has been very good but I give the nod to Crystal on food.  Had the Asian lunch at the pool grill buffet today and it was just okay, not sure what it was missing, maybe a little "bam" and it was cold.  Compass Rose is always good and the variety of selection is very good.  I just have not had the meal that I thought was great yet.  We are scheduled for the specialty restaurants beginning in a couple of nights.  With this said, we have two additional bookings with Regent.  We have not seen an itinerary with Crystal that appeals to us lately but we do have an open deposit with them.  Both are great cruise lines.  Will report later on the specialty restaurants.

[Portolan]

4 hours ago, loriva said:

"lobster nachos ("extra lobster, please"). "

now why didn't I think of that?  Also a favorite of ours at the Pool Grill.  And, the Ahi tuna burger.  And the grilled shrimp brochettes with jalapenos. And, ...

[Scout16]

The one problem that I have with the non-Explorer class ships is that the Pool Grill does not have either the boiled shrimp or the lobster nachos.  I would order both when I really did not want a full lunch.  The Explorer also has the sink where you can wash up after the shrimp without having to open any doors.

[PaulMCO]

FOOD IS SUBJECTIVE.   We were on Explorer in April, Crystal Serenity in June, and Mariner in August.  Think Crystal has a better overall food product.  Included wine is by far superior on Crystal.  Our last Regent cruise on Mariner the included wine was rather piss poor both in taste and variety. Sommeliers were more experienced and knowledgeable on Crystal.

 

Compass Rose versus Waterside -- Waterside was consistently much better.  Regent was good to very good but never great (Splendor was best and Mariner least consistent) -- but Crystal was significantly better and more importantly consistent day to day.

 

Pacific Rim versus Crystal Umi.  Really different both good in their own way

 

Prime 7 versus Crystal (nothing but will soon offer a steak venue).  We like Prime 7.

 

Seti Mari versus Crystal Osteria -- We loved both but they are different as Crystal is more classical and Regent is more American Italian.

 

Pool Grills -- about the same.  The grill guys on Crystal more personable.

 

Chartreuse -- we loved this on Mariner.  Crystal does not have anything close.

 

Service on both lines are superb, best in the industry.

[EAGLESLOVER]

On 8/28/2024 at 5:12 PM, FloatSomeMore said:

Currently on the Grandeur.  Food has been very good but I give the nod to Crystal on food.  Had the Asian lunch at the pool grill buffet today and it was just okay, not sure what it was missing, maybe a little "bam" and it was cold.  Compass Rose is always good and the variety of selection is very good.  I just have not had the meal that I thought was great yet.  We are scheduled for the specialty restaurants beginning in a couple of nights.  With this said, we have two additional bookings with Regent.  We have not seen an itinerary with Crystal that appeals to us lately but we do have an open deposit with them.  Both are great cruise lines.  Will report later on the specialty restaurants.

Currently on Grandeur. Highly recommend the veal chop in Prime 7.  Last night it was excellent.

[chamima]

On 8/28/2024 at 8:27 AM, loriva said:

 

But you can get the awesome ahi tuna sandwich at the Pool Grill on Regent as well as the lobster nachos ("extra lobster, please").  Those plus the Regent "cocktail of the ship" are our traditional lunch upon boarding.  We'll be trying the "Mariner" cocktail for the first time next February.

 

We'll be doing the opposite, @Blowfish64--taking our first cruise on Crystal Serenity in October after four cruises with Regent since 2021.  We are looking forward to making the comparison after reading all the rapturous reviews on the Crystal boards.

 

We are first time Regent cruisers boarding the Mariner next week.

As if I wasn't excited enough - ahi tuna might be my favorite food in the world!!!!

Our food experiences will be different than most, my husband is a vegan and I'm a pescatarian ( vegetarian who eats fish but not shellfish) .

[RELS]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

I'm a pescatarian

 

Don't miss the Dover Sole in Compass Rose. Comes with a floor show as your waiter deftly de-bones the fish for you at your table.  Also it's tasty :-).

[chamima]

22 hours ago, RELS said:

 

Don't miss the Dover Sole in Compass Rose. Comes with a floor show as your waiter deftly de-bones the fish for you at your table.  Also it's tasty :-).

 

OMG!!!! 😁

I LOVE Dover Sole.

(Should have dieted WAY more before this  cruise!)

[PaulMCO]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

OMG!!!! 😁

I LOVE Dover Sole.

(Should have dieted WAY more before this  cruise!)

They also have Dover Sole in Chartreuse and Prime 7..

[irishwitchy]

Your husband may need to be a bit forceful with being a vegan.   You should really work with the food and beverage manager to make sure he isn’t having potatoes and peppers every night.   I just got off voyager and two different people that were vegetarians weren’t happy with their choices.  Case in point,  it would be great if Prime 7 did a vegan cauliflower steak with a great orange sauce and some nuts,  but they don’t.  

[Pam]

Many years ago, we had a 11 day cruise booked on Navigator, and my husband decided to have weight loss surgery almost as soon as we got off the ship; I thought he was insane.  Why/  In order to have the surgery laporoscopicly (I didn't spell that right), he had to eat nothing but foods that would shrink his liver.  We sailed Navigator a lot, and knew several of the staff in Compass Rose.  He handed them a list of foods he was supposed to eat, and said "please make these appealing"; they brought him beautiful plates of colorful food, and his surgery was a raging success.