Food on RCCL

[abschnick]

We have taken five cruises on RCCL. They have been on Monarch, Sovereign, Navigator (2 times), and Liberty. On the last three cruises on Navigator and Liberty we were disappointed that the menus have been the same for the last three years, even on the brand new Liberty. So, I thought I would do a little poll to see how many people would like to see a change in RCCL's menus.

[cruisePRN]

I find the quality of the food has steadily declined. I wish they would improve the food, and yes I'm willing to pay a few bucks more in my cruise fare.

[crusinmama06]

Yes I say to change the menus as well. Did I starve? Of course not. But I think they need to make some adjustments. We went on cheaper carnival cruises and had better food (IMO).

[Calvin]

Yes I say to change the menus as well. Did I starve? Of course not. But I think they need to make some adjustments. We went on cheaper carnival cruises and had better food (IMO).

 

Yes, I have to agree. We have sailed RCI 10 times over the last 10 years and, in our opinion, the food has become less appealing.

 

For the 'mass market/premiium lines' that we have sailed, I would now rank them:

 

1. Celebrity

2. Princess

3. Carnival

4. RCI

 

Granted, I still think the food is good on RCI and we'll continue to sail on her ships, but it's just nothing special.

[kjacruiser]

I must agree with Calvin....Celebrity was the BEST and I haven't sailed with them in over 10 Years.....

[LAKaye]

My complaint is with the quality of the food, sometimes the skimpy quantity. This is a cruise! Where has the good food gone?

 

I cruise with RCI frequently, and over the years I have figured out on each menu which is the one item I am most likely to enjoy. I then order that item each time I cruise. Unlike land restaurants that I frequent, there's no trying something different each time I go. Out of every evening in the dining room, there is usually only one thing I will actually enjoy. (I am not a picky or fussy eater, generally. I'm lunching on a Lean Cuisine right now.)

 

I started cruising with Royal Caribbean in 1995. The food was better then. Where has the variety of vegetables (sides on the dinner plate) gone? Where have the chocolate deserts gone? There used to be a really good chocolate desert every evening! Bye, bye.

 

:(

 

Leslie

[Abberboo]

I have sailed on Celebrity too and I have to agree, the food was incredible, I would rank their food number one compared to the lines I have been on so far. My first time on RCI was this past April and I thought the food was very good.

 

I am going again this Nov 17th on Serenade. I loved some of the items on the menu like the steak, tortelini pasta among other things but overall I thought the food on RCI was FAR superior to Carnival.

[petesweet]

RCL's food is 1000 percent better than anything I get at home (and I'm the cook:D ). No complaints here.

[sharpie13]

Being a west coast cruiser, we're going on the Monarch for the forth time on Monday. It would be nice new menus :)

[RetireeWannabee]

I'm not a 'serial cruiser' so wouldn't know if the menu changed or not! So I didn't vote.

 

As a pp said, it's going to be way better than what I get at home (I'm the cook) and the service will also be superior.

[Cruise Cat]

I don't care if they change the menus or not. However, whatever they make they should actually put flavor into it. You see, they have this new invention called "spices". The concept is that you take these "spices" and put them on the food to make them flavorful. Different foods are supposed to have different combinations of these "spices". If you don't use them, everything tastes like food from the hospital cafeteria, like the Rhapsody did.

 

Also, if they continue to have dried out leatherly fish in the buffet line, they should have some sauce for it everyday. I got a little tired on the Rhapsody the other year having to find all the relish and mayo packets I could each day at lunch in order to make my own tartar sauce.

 

I think the comparison to Applebee's or Chillis was a bit too generous.

[rncruiser]

I feel that the quality has improved in the past year. At least that was my experience having sailed Explorer twice within 13 months. However, after three cruises in 4 years on 2 different ships, I'm getting tired of the same menu.

[gaileeh]

I voted for change the menu's, meaning better selection and better quality. On our last cruise on the Jewel this past September the food was very dissapointing. Bland or over salted food, not enough variety and not hot enough, both in the dining room and the windjammer. There was plenty of food, but if it ins not appetizing, who wants to eat it? If the food is not any better on our upcomming Mariner cruise, we'll be looking for another cruise line.

[Matisse05]

RCL's food is 1000 percent better than anything I get at home (and I'm the cook:D ). No complaints here.

 

I'm with you Petesweet. As long as I don't have to cook and clean dishes for a week, I'm just fine with the menus and the food. :)

[Calvin]

I'm with you Petesweet. As long as I don't have to cook and clean dishes for a week, I'm just fine with the menus and the food. :)

 

 

Pete and Matisse,

 

I can't argue with you too much on those points, LOL.

 

I don't cook, but I do ALL the dishes in my house and I absolutely loooove the fact that I don't have to deal with any dirty dishes for at least 7 days!!

 

My only point is that, although the food is certainly more than good enough on just about any cruiseline, the fact that food can be an important aspect of cruising for some of us, and the fact that we all have options for different cruiselines.....well, it just makes sense to evaluate these things when we are deciding what cruiseline to sail.

[EggDropErin]

As long as they keep the pumpkin apple soup, I think I can deal with menu changes. LOL

[Murphy]

I think menus are a really hard thing because people like such different types of food! For my taste preferences, yes, I'd like to see some menu changes, not because of the quality of food, I like that just fine, but would really like some different variety. At home, I don't eat a lot of beef items (or at least I "try" to cut back!) and I find that the best RCCL items each night are the beef! Also, I find that one night I could order every appetizer, and entree and be happy, but other nights I look at the menu and can't find a single thing that jumps out and says ORDER ME!!! Once I do pick something, I usually like it, but wish there were more variety on some of the nights.

[KillaFee]

I voted for changing the menus, or at least adding one more option. I used to rave about their food but it seems like they really cut down on the variety or choices. The past 4 cruises I've been on have had the same menu. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the vidalia onion tart :D and hope that they NEVER EVER get rid of it....but they really need to change things up a bit.

Laura

[cassieroll]

I don't think the menu is the problem.. I think it's the quality of the food that's the problem.

[pcur]

The food in the Windjammer has actually IMPROVED over the years. It used to be very skimpy selections, because it was just a quick stop if you didn't want to eat in the dining room, where all the great food was. Now, the WJ is a restaurant itself, and the variety and quality is much, much better than the past.

 

We have sailed mostly on RCCL, Celebrity, Cunard, NCL, and Costa. We would rank Celebrity first, and RCCL and Costa next, but Costa was many, many years ago. Cunard and NCL were very poor quality.

 

I'm fine with the menus they have now. We order favorites in advance so we have the items we really enjoy. I will eat just about anything, and I'm adventuresome in my eating, plus I'm easy to please. So, just like DH says about my opinions on movies, "don't listen to her......she likes EVERYTHING"!! :D

[RevSmith]

change...but bring back filet and lobster...please

[98Charlie]

I voted to change, mainly because I found the quality of food served in the dining room between our two cruises, about 2 years apart, to be less than DH & I found on other cruise lines over the time.

 

Sailed GOS 2 years ago. Food quality in the dining room wasn't up to what we had seen on LOS a year or so before. I know different chefs in the galley can make a big difference but the selection of main entrees and the the other bells and whistles you like to see in the dining room just weren't there on GOS and to be honest, weren't there on LOS on our previous cruise either.

 

Have sailed Celebrity, NCL, Princess and Carnival as well over the years and find those cruise lines have offered us better dining room quality than our two cruises on Royal.

 

If Royal changes their menus and food quality, then we might try them again.

 

Dianne

[leavnofingerprints]

change...but bring back filet and lobster...please

 

We are starting to plan a very special cruise vacation for 2009. I've always been very pleased with the food on RCI however some of the negative comments I'm reading recently have me concerned - to the point where I'm considering other cruiselines such as Princess or Celebrity. Unless I start hearing better reviews, RCI won't be on the list. They really need to consider their decision to eliminate lobster night. :(

 

LNF

[pcur]

We are starting to plan a very special cruise vacation for 2009. I've always been very pleased with the food on RCI however some of the negative comments I'm reading recently have me concerned - to the point where I'm considering other cruiselines such as Princess or Celebrity. Unless I start hearing better reviews, RCI won't be on the list. They really need to consider their decision to eliminate lobster night. :(

 

LNF

 

 

There is nothing really wrong with the food on RCCL. My DH is VERY picky and he's perfectly happy with the dining room and Windjammer food. Yes, Celebrity is better, but the cruises are more expensive, too.

 

We thought the food on NCL was very boring and lower quality.

 

Keep in mind you are reading comments from a very, very small population of RCCL cruisers on this board.

 

When I said I was easy to please, I meant in choices. But, I'm definitely picky about quality. We've cruised for 34 years now, and RCCL is still our favorite.

 

If you want very special food, then book your cruise on one of the ship's that have a specialty restaurant, and eat there some nights. I predict that Chops will have lobster on the menu when it's discontinued in the dining room.

[rednancy1]

I agree the food has gone downhill in the short time we've been cruising. :( Even in 2005 and 2006 it seemer to taste better than it did this past year. The cuts of meat seem don't deem to be as good. I would pay higher cruise fare for better quality food.