Food on River Ships

[Elyilona]

From what I read most of the river cruise ships seem to cater to our dear Australian and Canadian friends. It seems that Americans especialy from the East Coast, West Coast and South Coasts seem to have different ideas as to what constitutes good food. One of the wonderful Australian passengers on a recent Avalon Artistry cruise told me Austalians dont expect much and are easily contented with any kind of food! It certainly seemed so in the geriatric group Avalon Artistry makes deals with in Australia.Some of the lines apparently do a slightly better job but as a whole they seem to have the same dining plan. Breakfast buffet, lunch buffet with good soup and served dinner with three entrees.What differs is what quality of meat, fish and disguising sauces used. In general most of the lines serve mediocre to good menues.How to they get away with this. ? Granted the scenery is beautiful and the ships for the most part are comfortable, but readers of this board should know something more about the dining. I wonder if anyone on the board has ever been to a river cruise that did not cater to our English speaking brothers an was made up of 90% europeans. Do the French, German, Dutch and Swiss accept such poor quality. They are accustomed to really good meals?I saw many other river cruisers with such passengers. Elyilona

[paul929207]

We have been on a couple of Grand Circle cruises. They only sell to US residents. We found the food very good. They did not have the selecct that the bigger cruise ships have, but with about 100 passengers this is understandable.

[coasters]

From what I read most of the river cruise ships seem to cater to our dear Australian and Canadian friends. It seems that Americans especialy from the East Coast, West Coast and South Coasts seem to have different ideas as to what constitutes good food. One of the wonderful Australian passengers on a recent Avalon Artistry cruise told me Austalians dont expect much and are easily contented with any kind of food! It certainly seemed so in the geriatric group Avalon Artistry makes deals with in Australia.Some of the lines apparently do a slightly better job but as a whole they seem to have the same dining plan. Breakfast buffet, lunch buffet with good soup and served dinner with three entrees.What differs is what quality of meat, fish and disguising sauces used. In general most of the lines serve mediocre to good menues.How to they get away with this. ? Granted the scenery is beautiful and the ships for the most part are comfortable, but readers of this board should know something more about the dining. I wonder if anyone on the board has ever been to a river cruise that did not cater to our English speaking brothers an was made up of 90% europeans. Do the French, German, Dutch and Swiss accept such poor quality. They are accustomed to really good meals?I saw many other river cruisers with such passengers. Elyilona

 

Elyilona,

We've been on 2 riverboat cruises thus far. First to China, next Egypt. We were a mixed group of travelers. (American, European, Canadian etc.) Fair to say that everyone was able to find something on the menu that they were satisfied with. We were always offered an "alternate" menu - typically steak or chicken.

While not gourmet dining, the selection, presentation, quality and preparation was very good.

Diane & Jerry

[LHT28]

From what I read most of the river cruise ships seem to cater to our dear Australian and Canadian friends. It seems that Americans especialy from the East Coast, West Coast and South Coasts seem to have different ideas as to what constitutes good food.

 

Just curious

What is good food to Americans?

 

My brother lives in Texas and some of the food they call really good is awful to us.

[Aussieflyer]

Elyiona

As an Australian I can say I have high expectations when it comes to food. My review of Avalon Tapestry noted that the food was OK but not outstanding - there was lots of it but not European in quality at all. We thought they may have been pitching to the American market as most of the passengers were from there - there was lots of food on each plate and from experience US caterers seem to provide huge amounts of food.

It was very much catering style,not cordon bleu - but reasonable quality

[tiggypooo]

The main post and question here is very confusing, the way that it's written.

I'm getting the idea that Eliyona thinks that we're all eating very poor quality food on our cruises.

On my 2 Uniworld cruises, I was very happy with the quality of the produce, meat, breads, soups and anything else that was on the menu.

 

Any of the Australian friends that I've met onboard, might be a bit insulted that people think that they would eat anything.

I think that we all expect the quality of food that goes along with a premium travel product and if it wasn't being served, there would be an uproar.

[Carhut]

I don't know about the other lines, because I've always gone on GCT which caters to Americans. Here are some pictures of the food on GCT. We had no complaints. Everything was beautifully presented and we had great choices. If you didn't like what was on the menu, you could always get salmon or steak.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Carhut/FoodsOnGCT#

[AZPam]

I've also only been on GCT and while I can't really complain about the quality, I did have some issues with the selection at dinner. On the trip I went on there were usually only 2 selections and if there was a 3rd, it was a vegetarian selection. One choice was always seafood of some sort and since I don't eat any seafood, that was an issue for me. I could have been okay if the other choice was beef or chicken but it seemed like there were more lamb, duck, pheasant choices than anything. I did have to choose off the alternative menu most nights and that got old real fast. I will say the dining room staff did go out of their way for me though. It was really my own problem of being a picky eater than anything else, but it is something I think newbies should be aware of. We also ended up eating off the boat a few nights on our own and that worked out well too.

[Carhut]

I've also only been on GCT and while I can't really complain about the quality, I did have some issues with the selection at dinner. On the trip I went on there were usually only 2 selections and if there was a 3rd, it was a vegetarian selection. One choice was always seafood of some sort and since I don't eat any seafood, that was an issue for me. I could have been okay if the other choice was beef or chicken but it seemed like there were more lamb, duck, pheasant choices than anything. I did have to choose off the alternative menu most nights and that got old real fast. I will say the dining room staff did go out of their way for me though. It was really my own problem of being a picky eater than anything else, but it is something I think newbies should be aware of. We also ended up eating off the boat a few nights on our own and that worked out well too.

 

Pam, I have problems with food allergies and there are several things that I can't eat. You are right about the staff as they bent over backwards making sure I didn't get something that I shouldn't eat and fixed special dishes for me many times. There were several things that I don't usually eat, but tried them and they were quite good. Certainly the choices aren't a many as on a big ocean cruise ship, but if anybody visited the small kitchens on those river boats, you would marvel at how they do put together the food dishes that they do.

[Elyilona]

I loved the photos of meals on GCT. I was also happy to hear about Uniworld.I wish I took photos of the dinners on Avlon Artistry for the first five days of the cruise.! It must be that ship particularly where there is food to avoid.I guess i just picked the wrong line and ship. I will correct my choice for my next river cruise. Elyilona

[Palmetto Lady]

I've also only been on GCT and while I can't really complain about the quality, I did have some issues with the selection at dinner. On the trip I went on there were usually only 2 selections and if there was a 3rd, it was a vegetarian selection. One choice was always seafood of some sort and since I don't eat any seafood, that was an issue for me. I could have been okay if the other choice was beef or chicken but it seemed like there were more lamb, duck, pheasant choices than anything. I did have to choose off the alternative menu most nights and that got old real fast. I will say the dining room staff did go out of their way for me though. It was really my own problem of being a picky eater than anything else, but it is something I think newbies should be aware of. We also ended up eating off the boat a few nights on our own and that worked out well too.[/quote

 

]Lamb, duck and pheasant are premium meat choices - certainly not bargain basement selections. Chicken and beef can get boring after awhile.

[AZPam]

Lamb, duck and pheasant are premium meat choices - certainly not bargain basement selections. Chicken and beef can get boring after awhile.

 

I agree totally. It's just that those were choices I personally didn't care for and as I said, I'm more of a picky eater, more of a meat and potatos type of person. I just think these are choices that most American's won't be as used to seeing, at least not in my neck of the woods.

[GlobeMan]

Wow - If I were Canadian or Australian I'd be highly insulted by the original post. It sounds like you're saying "those Assies will eat anything but sophisticated American palates demand better quality." Maybe that's not what you meant it but that's how it came across.

 

I've been on 3 Uniworld European river cruises and found the food quality excellent. You have to understand that you may not get NY bread anywhere else, You probably won't get US quality beef anywhere else. That's just a reality of traveling but every region has their own food specialties. I like to go with regional dishes wherever I travel - learn from the locals.*

 

If you're looking for everything to be the same as it is at home - there's not much point in traveling.

 

*Exception = China. On board food was passable (not a Uniworld ship) but the food served on tours was usually unidentifiable and sometimes barely edible. I actually tried to eat a chicken foot - it can't be done! But they served it to us. :eek:

[StephandJeff]

I am insulted.

 

But I am not wasting any further time or energy worrying about it. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the original author.

 

I am Canadian and a vegetarian but I am not concerned about the food on the vessel. It can not be so horrid that I can not find something to munch on for a week. We are travelling across the world for the history, scenry, culture and maybe something yummy to eat but I expect that we will find that in the local towns and markets not on board.

 

I think food preference is definately not something that you can stereotype for a country - everyone likes something different!

[Elyilona]

When you spend well over $300 per person per day on a !0 day Danube cruise with Avalon Artistry and three of the days are in Prague I think you should expect very good food . This was not the case.Finding something barely to eat is for the stoic.Many of the passengers were that. Grin and bear it. Stop to think that this line charges a bit more than some but gives poorer quality than others. EI

[LHT28]

This was not the case.Finding something barely to eat is for the stoic.Many of the passengers were that.

 

Just curious

Was the food that terrible or was just not what you are used to?

 

From what I read most of the river cruise ships seem to cater to our dear Australian and Canadian friends

 

Can you explain your comment?

[maryann2]

Also explain the geriatric Australian group.

How insulting.

[webfoot]

A couple that we met on our cruise just left after visitng us for a few days. I told them about this particular thread about food on the Avalon Artistry and they were surprised to hear of the review by Elyilona. The four of us agreed that there were some main courses that weren't as good as others, but we thought that Avalon did a good job with the food.

 

Our cruise had over 50% Australian/New Zealand cruisers along with folks from the UK, Canada and the rest of us US citizens.

 

Of course, the food and taste are not always the same between fellow cruisers, but we were generally very pleased with the food (and they crew was able to adjust some of the food to lower sodium to meet my husband's need for a low-sodium diet).

 

I'm sorry that Elyilona wasn't happy ...

[MSEm]

I agree with Elyilona. Food on the Avalon Artisitry was not up to the quality that I expect to find, espically on a European River Cruise. Several others on my trip also thought the food on the Avalon Artistry did not measure up to food we have had on other river cruise liness.

MSEm

[PJames]

I checked out a U.S. cruise on the Mississippi Queen ... and a review of the food:

 

I found:

There was hot dog and potato chips available ...

You should plan on almost two hours as the service was very slow

Many times our waiter apologized for the delay and brought us some other type food that we had not ordered

The food at all meals was adequate, but don’t expect gourmet food ...

The waiters “pushed” the specialty of the night ...

Desserts were right out of a frozen food section

We found the food to be good and the service to be acceptable although both had flaws

 

Is this what Americans want ... or is it an anomaly?

Perhaps it's what Canadians and Aussies want?

[LHT28]

Perhaps it's what Canadians and Aussies want?

 

Might be for Americans but certainly not any Canadians I know!!!

:D

[PJames]

Might be for Americans but certainly not any Canadians I know!!!

:D

To criticize the food on a cruise ship is fair ... and USEFUL.

To criticize the culinary tastes of Canadians or Aussies is just plain rude ... and NOT USEFUL.

 

P.S. I'm a Canuck from Ontari-ari-ari-O

[LHT28]

To criticize the food on a cruise ship is fair ... and USEFUL.

To criticize the culinary tastes of Canadians or Aussies is just plain rude ... and NOT USEFUL.

 

P.S. I'm a Canuck from Ontari-ari-ari-O

 

I am still waiting to see what Elyilona has to say.

I am not sure If it means Canadians & Aussies settle for less than good quality food or what her comment was about:confused:

[eadien7]

I checked out a U.S. cruise on the Mississippi Queen ... and a review of the food:

 

I found:

There was hot dog and potato chips available ...

You should plan on almost two hours as the service was very slow

Many times our waiter apologized for the delay and brought us some other type food that we had not ordered

The food at all meals was adequate, but don’t expect gourmet food ...

The waiters “pushed” the specialty of the night ...

Desserts were right out of a frozen food section

We found the food to be good and the service to be acceptable although both had flaws

 

Is this what Americans want ... or is it an anomaly?

Perhaps it's what Canadians and Aussies want?

 

No surprises there. I find us Americans are happy with average to substandard food in our daily life (fast food chains, restaurant chains with similar menus)........ but do our expectations go up when we leave the country or go on vacation?

[sanny]

I'm sure Elyilona now rues their poor choice of words. I'm an Aussie (not quite geriatric) who loves good food ... but I certainly wouldn't judge my European holiday on the food. I think that it's unproductive and unrealistic to even try to compare the food on an ocean liner to a river cruise ship. And we who read these posts need to remember that what we're reading are individuals' opinions. Some we agree with, some we don't. I have to say that I don't agree with the comment that Australians don't expect much when it comes to food. I think that the sentiment was probably meant that Australians are (generally) quite easy-going, and they're not going to let only 3 menu choices at dinner ruin their holiday!! Having said all of that, I've had a great laugh reading all of these posts and I didn't take offense at the Aussie comment ... to each his own!