Dining Dilemma

[redwhyne]

Hopefully several of you might be willing to offer a little insight for me. I am trying to plan a wedding/honeymoon for this spring. My fiance is an extremely healthy/picky eater and I am becoming a little worried about which cruise line/ship might be best for us.

We are wanting to sail from San Juan, and we are considering RCCL.

I was recently on the NCL Pearl and I was blown away by the quality of the food and restaurant selection. He and I just got back from a Carnival cruise and we were both let down by the lack of fruit and over abundance of burgers and pizza. We are considering RCCL Adventurer of the Seas. Any thougths on the dining options offered by Royal?

The other side to this, is that it is very important to have a lot of night life on board the ship. How do you find the happy medium of fine dining and lots of excitement?

:confused:

[JanineM]

I think you need to give us more info about what your fiance considers "acceptable". I'm a super picky eater, plus I have food allergies and I am always happy with the selections offered on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Yes, there are hamburgers and hot dogs, but there are also salad bars, several choices of hot items, veggies, sushi, soups, etc., etc. Granted, I am not "foodie/food snob", so there are some things that I am really happy with, while my DH thinks it's a bit too boring. Still - even Mr. Foodie always manages to stay full and gain weight on every cruise!

 

On RCCI and Celebrity there are always healthier alternatives available, and they are marked on the menu. You can ask for no butter on veggies, and the like. There are also sugar free desserts ... but honestly, why bother?! :p

 

Of the two, if he's into food then you'll do better on Celebrity. In addition to a slighly upscale menu, several of their ships offer the Aqua Spa, which serves only beautifully healthy alternatives for breakfast and lunch.

 

As to nightlife, RCCI beats Celebrity pretty much hands down.

[fann1sh]

If you're set on a San Juan departure (7 day cruise? You didn't specify....) for spring 2009 your choices are: Serenade of the Seas; Celebrity Summit; Caribbean Princess; Carnival Victory; Adventure of the Seas.

 

So - if NCL is what you're leaning toward, you'll have to change your embarkation port.

[trish1c]

I found the quality & selection of foods aboard NCL & RCL to be comparable. Both offer health conscious menu. It's been a while but I'm pretty sure you can still get steak, chicken, plain fish or pasta at every meal no matter what is on the menu. I didn't like any of the entree choices at dinner one night on an RCL cruise & the waiter said I could have something from the night before b/c they had a few left. They really are accomodating.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

[cb at sea]

There always seems to be a big plate of whole fruits in the buffet---almost anytime of day....Bananas, apples, oranges....

You can get almost any entree "made to order"--like no sauces, or hold the onions...

My hubby is "picky", too, and he never went hungry.

[Casmichele12]

We eat claen and are cruising on RCCL next weekend. I've already decided that I will not be able to eat completely clean and am okay with that since I'm on vacation. I will though, make good choices (most of the time :o). I will post after our cruise and let you know what kinds of foods there were.

[trish1c]

What does it mean to "eat clean"? I suspect no sauces but I have a horrible picture of people "eating dirty" in my head . . . let's just say that picture is too gross to share.

[NCTribeFan]

I've never had any problem finding plenty of fresh fruit and salads on Carnival, and expect that when I sail Victory out of San Juan, that will still be the case.

 

Since that itinerary is all ports, I don't expect to be eating lunch on board anyway, and you can't take fruit off the ships in ports.

 

You can order fresh fruit from the room service menu as well, just in case the hordes have cleared out everything from the buffet.

[Tmeister]

Have you considered Princess? We've always found the food to be very good and the entertainment (both shows and music/dance) outstanding. Their prices seem to be running a little higher than RCL now, but you get what you pay for. I found Carnival's food to be better than expected but the entertainment to be really inadequate, much less than what I expected of a "fun ship."

[redwhyne]

Thank you for the input. Since this cruise will be for our wedding/honeymoon I want it to be as perfect as possible.

[momofmeg]

If you're set on a San Juan departure (7 day cruise? You didn't specify....) for spring 2009 your choices are: Serenade of the Seas; Celebrity Summit; Caribbean Princess; Carnival Victory; Adventure of the Seas.

 

So - if NCL is what you're leaning toward, you'll have to change your embarkation port.

 

I think they knew that-that is why they asked about lines. They liked the Pearl, but not Carnival. I think they wanted to know if RCI was more like Carnival or NCL.

 

To the OP-I found the Pearl very simliar to Carribbean Princess-perhaps you should think about them-but for healthy food-the Aqua Spa on Celebrity can not be beat. However, Princess always had plenty of salad choices in their lido restaurant and plenty of fruit.

 

As far as the suggestion of sugar free desserts-stay away from those. Most are done with sugar alcohols which can really do a "number" on your poor stomach-you could possibly even think you have a touch of norovirus after eatting that stuff. I doubt though a "health nut" would touch those or the regular desserts anyway. Fresh fruit would be his choice!