Disappointing Dinners

Just returned from Caribbean cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Have not cruised HAL since 2015 because of scheduling constraints. We were looking forward to dinner in the main dinning room as we have always felt that dinning on HAL was a cut above the other mainstream lines. Well we were severely disappointed! Dinner were average/mediocre to poor. Most of the dishes were flavorless. The plating was abysmal, many dishes were monotonal grey, and appeared to be thrown on the plate. That being said lunches in the Lido market were outstanding. Not sure why the same culinary team can't produce a consistent result? Has anyone had the same experience?

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Just returned from Caribbean cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Have not cruised HAL since 2015 because of scheduling constraints. We were looking forward to dinner in the main dinning room as we have always felt that dinning on HAL was a cut above the other mainstream lines. Well we were severely disappointed! Dinner were average/mediocre to poor. Most of the dishes were flavorless. The plating was abysmal, many dishes were monotonal grey, and appeared to be thrown on the plate. That being said lunches in the Lido market were outstanding. Not sure why the same culinary team can't produce a consistent result? Has anyone had the same experience?

 

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Not quite, but on the B2B Koningsdam and Westerdam I ate three lunches in the MDR, 1st poor and 2nd mediocre (on the K), 3rd and last (on the W) disgusting (a watery, flavorless broth supposedly chicken and andouille gumbo and sodden lumps of white dough in a tasteless white sauce on a white plate masquerading as mushroom ravioli.

Subsequently, I ate all lunches over 67 days ashore, in the Lido (very good), or in the Pinnacle (good to outstanding).

I agree that HAL's food is not the greatest. I actually lost weight on one HAL cruise. Just got back from a 13 day cruise on the Westerdam. The food at dinner in the main dining room was bad, but the Pinnacle lunches and dinners were good. Also lunches in the main dining room were better than the dinners.

I was on the same cruise and I thought all of the dinners were great! I guess food is totally subjective.

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I experienced the same same disappointment on the NA last year. My first dinner was prime rib which was a uniform gray color that I'd never before seen in food. I've since sailed Celebrity which was pretty good. I had been hoping things had gotten better since I'm sailing on the Zaandam in January. Want to give HAL a second chance plus the itinerary (Antarctica) is the best for what I want.

We were on the NA cruise before last and agree with OP that meals were bland and sub-par in many cases. We found options we liked (and breakfast was consistently good), but even our meal in the Tamarind had disappointing elements.

Some things were also downright wrong - chicken yakitori is supposed to be chicken on a skewer, not a soupy bland 'stir fry' with zucchini. This hasn't been our experience on HAL and even on this ship.

Overall, we found a huge amount of inconsistency in the food onboard, the most we've ever had on a cruise, on any line.

We gave up eating dinner in the main dining room quite a few years ago. Food was terrible. DH is not a fussy eater (he'll eat anything) and he hated the food. HAL's food has gone downhill over the years. So we have been having dinners in the Pinnacle and for the ships having the Tamarind -- we alternate between those 2 restaurants.

When we were on the Westerdam in 2016, lunch was terrible in the Lido -- the dining room was rarely open. We rarely have sandwiches at home and hated that they only had pre-made sandwiches (also had them on Eurodam) and they were consistently soggy. Thankfully after a lot of complaints people now have the choice of pre-made sandwiches or hand-made sandwiches. DH used to love the different Asian foods -- they were very bland. And he doesn't like someone making his salad.

As of late, I have been quite happy with my food on HAL.

I have found some of the MDR dinners to have improved.

Sadly, it all depends upon who is in the kitchen and who is the master. I have become a firm believer in morale comes from the top down.

It's not hard to tell a very happy ship and it shows. Our timing was good on the Westerdam, Rotterdam and Prinsendam.

It was so long ago that we sailed the N. Amsterdam that our experiences are not relevant. But, back then I was very disappointed in the food.

I totally understand your disppointment. And sorry to hear of it.

I was very disappointed in the NA in December, so I did have some concern for my cruise on the K'dam in October. Fortunately, it was much better than the NA meals. Not great; but better.

We just got off the NA on the 18th and the food in MDR was good. We ate there for lunch on embarkation day and had a few dinners there. I thought the food was good and hot. Can't be to overly picky when making mass quantities of food.

Just returned from Caribbean cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Have not cruised HAL since 2015 because of scheduling constraints. We were looking forward to dinner in the main dinning room as we have always felt that dinning on HAL was a cut above the other mainstream lines. Well we were severely disappointed! Dinner were average/mediocre to poor. Most of the dishes were flavorless. The plating was abysmal, many dishes were monotonal grey, and appeared to be thrown on the plate. That being said lunches in the Lido market were outstanding. Not sure why the same culinary team can't produce a consistent result? Has anyone had the same experience?

 

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We were on the Oosterdam TA in November, 2016, and it was the best food that we have experienced on HAL, and we are 4*. We thought - or hoped - that a new chef had wrought miracles. These posts are discouraging but also show that one can't judge the food fleet wide by one experience.

We were on the NA in October, and our group (4 & 5 stars) all thought the food was the just about the best we had ever had on any HAL cruise. Of course there were a few things that weren't quite up to par, but overall, excellent. We were all very happy. Only one person in our group prefers the Lido, and that has more to do with time than quality of food.

And,Tamarind was outstanding.

Final gala night on our recent Westerdam transatlantic cruise, no HAL regulars on the menu ie chicken, steak, or salmon. When I asked was told not tonight because of the culinary council. This consists of six or seven chefs retained by HAL to provide recipes for the food service.

In my opinion too many chefs can spoil the broth!

I guess food is totally subjective.

Gee... d'ya think?! ;)

Final gala night on our recent Westerdam transatlantic cruise, no HAL regulars on the menu ie chicken, steak, or salmon. When I asked was told not tonight because of the culinary council. This consists of six or seven chefs retained by HAL to provide recipes for the food service.

 

In my opinion too many chefs can spoil the broth!

The culinary council menu is the worst night on the ship IMHO.

We were on the Volendam in april 17 , planned on going to the PG a few times , but the MDR was outstanding . Same experience on the Prinsendam in july/aug 17 .

We once shared a table with someone who thought everything on the menu was strange and unknown to her . She ordered the HAL salmon ( without the pesto ) for 20 nights ....

Of course , taste is subjective , but HAL dinners suits ours !

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The culinary council menu is the worst night on the ship IMHO.

One of the best IMHO ...[emoji39]

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We have just returned from 17 days onboard the Eurodam and although we found the food was well cooked, we weren't keen on the menu choices. We only ate in the MDR on 3 nights as we found very little that appealed and as we both are unable to tolerate shellfish, it limited our options somewhat. We thought the choice of food in the Lido was better during the day but as we eat our main meals in the evening, we often struggled to put a meal together as trying to find something as simple as meat, vegetables and potatoes other than those in their skins, was sometimes difficult. We also found some of the food was way too salty for our taste. Food isn't the most important part of our cruise though and we always found something to ensure we didn't starve!

We just returned from a cruise on the Westerdam and it was the worst food we have ever had on a ship. We have been on over 150 cruises. The MDR food was not only tasteless, but generally arrived cold to our table.

The Lido for lunch was somewhat better as was Canaletto and the Pinnacle.

We will be on the Zaandam in a few weeks,too late to cancel, and I hope that the food is better.

If the food is so bad, why do folks keep sailing on HAL? Certainly couldn't be the entertainment. Of course, taking all one's meals in specialty restaurants is one alternative but doesn't that reduce the ambiance of what a cruise is all about? Maybe some of the "foodies" should try Oceania where even the most subjective reviews would agree food quality is much higher than HAL.

The culinary council menu is the worst night on the ship IMHO.

I agree. I suppose it's better than the old last night "event" with the juggling veggies, etc. But we struggle to find something we want on the last night. And we're easy to please and generally happy with HAL's food.

Wow I wonder how come I can continue to cruise with Hal when the food is so terrible, cold, tasteless, what else, it so bad I cannot find the words. After our next cruise which now I am sure we will not enjoy, we will just stay at home and eat a fast food place.

But - the problem is we are very pleased with the food served on Hal in MDR, sometimes it is not what we wanted to eat that night, but usually we will find a very enjoyable selection to meet our needs for that evening. Thank you Hal.

Wow I wonder how come I can continue to cruise with Hal when the food is so terrible, cold, tasteless, what else, it so bad I cannot find the words. After our next cruise which now I am sure we will not enjoy, we will just stay at home and eat a fast food place.

But - the problem is we are very pleased with the food served on Hal in MDR, sometimes it is not what we wanted to eat that night, but usually we will find a very enjoyable selection to meet our needs for that evening. Thank you Hal.

Exactly the point I was making. I am neither pleased nor unpleased with HAL's food. The opportunity to meet other guests and the social interaction over dinner is for me what makes cruising enjoyable.

Overall we have enjoyed the food on all our cruises. There are always some hits and some misses, but overall we feel the food on HAL is good. Our last 2 cruises have been on the Koningsdam, and we felt that the food was the best of any cruise we have been on. The MDR service however, was the slowest of any cruise we have done.

We ...

I thought the food was good and hot. Can't be to overly picky when making mass quantities of food.

Agree, generally. I've been disappointed on occasion in the MDR and Pinnacle, have complained there and on the post-cruise survey but wasn't bothered enough to post about (except with the Pinnacle disappointment).