Is the food really that bad?

[cam_ck]

I have just returned from the August 23rd sailing of the FOS. As you can see by my signature, I have been on many cruises - all of them with RCI. To be perfectly honest, the food does not make or break my cruise and to date I have not had anything negative to say about the food on any of my cruises.....until now.

 

This past week on the Freedom, there is no doubt in my mind that the food quality was well below par. I am quite sure not everyone will agree, and I am referring to the menu choices I made - others may not share the same opinion. There are several favorites of mine on the main dining room menu ( I look forward to them as the menu has been the same for the past 4 years). I have to say that the first night when I was presented with my hot and sour soup with shrimp dumpling which I had been craving for 6 months......and I tasted it......I was disgusted. The soup was BEYOND salty, and it was not edible. The filet of beef the second night was dried out (it was perfect on the Mariner last November). These are just a few examples.....

 

I am a big Windjammer fan, but not this time :(

Yes, the same selections were there - but the quality of the food just wasn't there. The food lacked taste - it lacked the taste of the RCI food I look forward to each and every cruise! I am one of those who like the food, and this is my first time ever having had a not so good experience.

 

I am going to suggest that the Freedom of the Seas chef's had a bad week.

 

Here's hoping your week onboard food wise, is much better!!!:)

 

Just off the same boat, and I have to agree, with Robyn on all counts, that the food was not up to par. We had 16 in our group, and we all felt the same. We got to speak with the executive chef for our deck, and he said that the food budget has been going down over the last few years.

[Marty11]

We've been on 4 RC cruises since 2006. The food has been wonderful .. formal dining room excellent, specialty restaurants "to die for" and Windjammer great! Even Johnny Rockets was yummy!!! We sure as heck don't ever eat at home like this for a week!!!

No bad experiences all around, nothing but "thumbs up"

[newbiecruiser09]

Maybe it's because we don't have a memory of the "good old days" of cruising when there was lobster, filet mignon, extravagant midnight buffets etc but neither hubby nor I felt the food on our April Monarch trip was sub par. In fact, we quite enjoyed it. We expected good flavors (got it, especially the curry and asian flavors), meals cooked as requested (got it) and a variety to choose from (got it). have we had more lavish meals? Sure at high end, expensive restaurants, not in a mass market arena. IMHO, for a company as large as RCI to feed so many people each week, they do a good job. If you go in expecting champagne & caviar, you will probably be disappointed. If you expect to LOVE everything you try, again you may be disappointed. If you look at it as decent "regular" food or a chance to try something new or different you should be fine. As I sometimes have been known to say to my kids when they gripe about something I serve "It's not your last meal and it isn't even the only meal you're going to eat today so deal with it".

[ORB]

The very first meal I had on an RCCL ship remains the worst I've had--and it really wasn't the fault of the WJ staff. We were leaving on the Adventure from San Juan on the Feast of the Epiphany--a local holiday. First cruisers to board (which included us...) boarded at 2:10. By that time, all the food in the WJ had been under the lamps just a little too long. Those who boarded later had better food.

 

Given the number of people they serve, they do a good job. Food can vary a bit from ship to ship--a difference of chefs, and no doubt sometimes a difference of suppliers.

 

It won't be like a shore fine dining experience--especially by the end of the week. On shore you won't be eating leafy vegetables that entered the restaurant's larders five days previously.

 

It has always surprised me that the desserts seem to be gauged to a more European taste--they simply don't have the degree of sweetness most Americans prefer. Given the aesthetic in which they are created, however, they are quite good.

 

I have yet to lose weight on a cruise, but if I have one serious suggestion for RCCL it would be to request a broader repertoire of dishes. We love the overall RCCL experience, but the menu (apart from a few perennial favorites) is getting a little less interesting each time.

[MAZANDSTEVE]

I think the problem is that most of us have been to some very fine restaurants with quality chefs these days and our expectations are higher and we require high standard food. I think the problem is obviously the budgeting on cruislines and food is a easy way to cut back. I would like to pay a bit more and have higher standard food than the quality that we were served in the MDR than have these cut backs.

[Happy ks]

We've always cruised with the idea that the food is more comparable to banquet food, or at best chain restaurant food. We're not disappointed because we don't expect the same quality you would get in a fine restaurant or even what we prepare at home (even though I'm not the best cook :o).

 

But, I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it or clean up afterwards, so it's all good to me :)

 

I have no idea why people think the food has gone down in quality and taste the last few years, it was pretty much the same when I first cruised in 1998. My husband cruised a couple times in the late 70's and he says the food wasn't much better then. I'm glad he told me not to get excited about the food before my first cruise, I would have been so surprised since people say you get "gourmet" food on a cruise. You don't, you get quantity.

[marci22]

The MDR food on FOS recently was fair to good, but overall it was bland. The Indian was not as good as I have had on other ships.

 

The food in the MDR during lunch was mostly poor to fair. The salad station was very good.

 

The WJ I thought was fair for lunch. Not good.

 

The desserts in general, poor to good, mostly fair.

 

Portofino was very good all around.

 

Johnny Rockets was very good for what it was.

 

The two places on the Promenade were ok, but most of the food was just fair to average.

[MAZANDSTEVE]

We've always cruised with the idea that the food is more comparable to banquet food, or at best chain restaurant food. We're not disappointed because we don't expect the same quality you would get in a fine restaurant or even what we prepare at home (even though I'm not the best cook :o).

 

But, I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it or clean up afterwards, so it's all good to me :)

 

I have no idea why people think the food has gone down in quality and taste the last few years, it was pretty much the same when I first cruised in 1998. My husband cruised a couple times in the late 70's and he says the food wasn't much better then. I'm glad he told me not to get excited about the food before my first cruise, I would have been so surprised since people say you get "gourmet" food on a cruise. You don't, you get quantity.

 

 

I actually thought it would be about chops or Portofino standard which would have been good but was a bit dissapointed.(not totally gormet but a good standard) I didnt want quantity I would have liked quality, we are not all huge eaters.

[Bakincakes]

I disagree.

 

We used to have the same quality as are served in most specialties in the MDR. Service was much better and the variety of food was also much better.

 

I think that lines now come out with a fleet wide menu, buy in bulk and everyone gets the same things.

 

I also agree that different ships manage to create different "tastes" from the same menus. Different chefs are stirring the pots on different ships.

 

I also think that since the inception of specialties cruiselines don't much care what they are serving. They hope that pax will venture to the fine dining areas and pay extra for what used to be standard meals.

 

More and more we tend to eat in ports and skip alot of the MDR fare or eat in specialties.

[hazeleyez3]

We have never had a problem with the quality of food. Yes, there have been some things that weren't our favorite, but you will find that in all restaurants. On the other hand, there has been a lot that we enjoyed...sometimes twice (especially my husband's lobster). We have also never seen a need to go to a specialty restaurant.

 

Its not a 5* restaurant, as someone already said, however, you don't have to go to a 5* to get good food.

 

 

The only irritating thing to me is that they have a honey chicken that I love served on embarkation day only - you have to take another cruise to get it again.

[critterchick]

We've always cruised with the idea that the food is more comparable to banquet food, or at best chain restaurant food. We're not disappointed because we don't expect the same quality you would get in a fine restaurant or even what we prepare at home (even though I'm not the best cook :o).

 

But, I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it or clean up afterwards, so it's all good to me :)

 

I have no idea why people think the food has gone down in quality and taste the last few years, it was pretty much the same when I first cruised in 1998. My husband cruised a couple times in the late 70's and he says the food wasn't much better then. I'm glad he told me not to get excited about the food before my first cruise, I would have been so surprised since people say you get "gourmet" food on a cruise. You don't, you get quantity.

 

I must be a better cook than you are.:p I'm one who thinks it has declined since our first cruise in 1995 and even since we started cruising with a vengeance in 2002. The cuts of meat are tougher (or they're not using anything to tenderize them anymore), and the desserts are uninspiring enough that I just drink more wine instead of ordering most of them. And the staff on many ships is brand new - they train on the job, and during a galley tour on the Jewel the executive chef said that many of them don't even know how to hold a chef's knife when they first arrive.

 

So it's not surprising that the mahi mahi tempura is soggy instead of crunchy or that the escargot have been sitting long enough for the butter to congeal.:eek:

[Happy ks]

I disagree.

 

We used to have the same quality as are served in most specialties in the MDR. Service was much better and the variety of food was also much better.

 

I think that lines now come out with a fleet wide menu, buy in bulk and everyone gets the same things.

 

I also agree that different ships manage to create different "tastes" from the same menus. Different chefs are stirring the pots on different ships.

 

I also think that since the inception of specialties cruiselines don't much care what they are serving. They hope that pax will venture to the fine dining areas and pay extra for what used to be standard meals.

 

More and more we tend to eat in ports and skip alot of the MDR fare or eat in specialties.

 

 

I have to disagree with part of this statement. There is no way a kitchen can individually prepare food to order in the main dining rooms, not even when ship held only 700-800 pax. But I do think service was much finer 10 years ago. I not only think the service has suffered because of less staffing, I think the overall casual attitude of the customer has affected their view point.

 

When my husband first cruised RCI in the late 70's, he said the food was on par with a Marie Callendars restaurant.

 

We've had a couple meals in specialty dining rooms that have actually exceeded a land based fine restaurant. Not always, just a couple times.

 

Once in a while we'll have a meal in the main dining room that really surprises us. There are other times when I'm enjoying my meal and my husband (different dish) says his is awful, or vice versa.

 

And Jean....most people are better cooks than I am ;) I used to be better - I swear.

[smoosh21]

O.K. I know this is subjective, but I have been doing much research for our first ever Freedom cruise and have been reading frequent reviews commenting about the food being bad. What's the deal? I would say 25 - 35% of the reviewers rate the food quality as poor. What is your experience? I am not crusing just to eat, but i would like to enjoy some tasty dishes each night.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

The food is not bad. It is not going to be 5 star quality food in the main dining room. But it is going to be better than TGIF/Applebees, etc.

 

I think many long time cruisers complain because as the cruise lines have mainstreamed, they have saved costs by cutting back on food.

[ladysoleil]

As many people have noted, it's subjective. As an admitted food snob, kitchenphile and daughter of a pastry cook, I don't anticipate the food with great excitement, but I never go to bed hungry, either.

 

If you go into it with the expectation of being willing to try a variety of things, you will find plenty to eat every day that you should like well enough. You may not find yourself writing home raving about the delectable treats set before you at every turn. But you will get plenty to eat that doesn't offend you, even if you have to sometimes get up from the MDR and go to the Windjammer or Promenade Cafe, or vice versa. I've found there's always one night where we get dinner, take a bite and go, ick, pizza time. So we make a joke of it, and roll with it.

 

If you go in thinking you're going to be served five star gourmet food at every single meal, you will be disappointed. If you expect solid, decent food at most hours of the day, and are willing to be flexible, you'll be comfortably fed.

 

The truth is, it's very difficult to cook on a large scale for a crowd, and they're shooting for average, to please most of the people most of the time.

 

I will say that the one thing that disappoints me time after time, despite the fact that I know better, is dessert. I find their desserts are mostly very pretty to look at, but not so much to taste, and resolve every time to be content with the cookies at the Windjammer or Promenade (which are quite good, actually), but I get sucked in over and over again.

[James MTL]

OK. Time for my 2 cents. First, we are sailing FOS in November and some very good friends just returned from LOS about 1 month ago. It took me years of convincing to get them to go on a cruise - very concerned about sea sickness. They were fine and not an issue. My next concern was how they would find the food. I would not call them picky but they do enjoy their food and if there has ever been an issue at a restaurant, they would very politely advise the waiter. This being said - they loved it. They did prefer the MDR over Windjammer but had no complaints to say about Windjammer.

 

As many here have said - very opinionated question. One thing I have learned is many people set themselves up to be disappointed.

 

Just go and have fun.

 

James

[Bakincakes]

After cruising all of these years I've become resigned that the entire industry is changing.

 

That said...before the inception of specialties the MDR food on most lines was much better.

 

I never had a bad steak...prime rib was a thicker cut..sauces were served on the side..your entree was not swimming in the stuff. Vegetables actually had flavor to them. Soups that were supposed to be hot were served hot and there was some body to them. Cold soups weren't bowls of melting,flavored ice chips. And the service was impeccable, on most lines.

 

Granted there were far fewer pax on board in those years.

 

I don't recall stating that food was prepared per order, even in the 70's. What I meant to say was that it was prepared with far more care than it is now.

 

Flavor is flavor no matter how much food you are cooking. Meat that starts out tough will likely remain tough when cooked. It depends on the cut. Of course if your chef has no idea how to properly cook meat to begin with, the end result will be disappointing.

[bdink921]

CajunCookie--you asked the question that has been on my mind since we booked our FOS cruise for next July and started reading this board :). It seemed as if the reviews of the food were either great or terrible, with the majority of the recent reviews being more toward the terrible side. I'm happy to see all of the feedback this post has gotten--pretty much puts my mind at ease. We'll just go with the flow--I doubt we'll starve :D.

[jbond]

We've cruised with RCI since 1980. Yes, the food has changed since then, far fewer choices, but the cruise ticket price is now also more affordable. Over the past 15 years, I don't belive the food has changed that much, again fewer choices, but still enough to find something I enjoy.

For myself, I've never expected five star/gourmet meals on a cruise, so I've never been disappointed with the high grade "wedding reception" type food that is served.

Food is very subjective and as the French say....One man's fish is another man's poisson.

[A2Mich]

We've cruised with RCI since 1980. Yes, the food has changed since then, far fewer choices, but the cruise ticket price is now also more affordable. Over the past 15 years, I don't belive the food has changed that much, again fewer choices, but still enough to find something I enjoy.

For myself, I've never expected five star/gourmet meals on a cruise, so I've never been disappointed with the high grade "wedding reception" type food that is served.

Food is very subjective and as the French say....One man's fish is another man's poisson.

 

Same here, except for sailing with RCI since 1980. Cruises are more affordable now than they were many years ago (adjusting for inflation), and many of the costs incurred by the cruiselines have gone up, if not shyrocketed, including food, fuel, salaries, dockage fees, maintenance costs, shipbuilding costs, etc. On the other hand, with larger ships now, the lines are able to recover some expenses due to the higher passenger counts. I'm sure JBond can concur with this.....when I was 12 years old, my family and I went on our first cruise, the old Carnival TSS Carnivale (approx 25,000 GRT). The RCCL Song of America was about the newest ship afloat, and at 37,000 GRT, she seemed HUGE (at this time, the only REALLY large ship sailing Caribbean cruises was the SS NORWAY.) The SOA (when RCCL had the whole Song of...... thing going on) had a pax capacity of about 1400 pax at full capacity. Now compare this to the Freedom-class ships, trying to feed 4,000 people at two sittings. There is a huge difference between feeding 700 pax and 2000 pax at a time....trying to please all tastes while keeping hot food hot, cold food cold, etc. These were also the days before specialty dining or nearly any alternative dining.

[MEGADAN]

The food is not the only reason we cruise but we are foodies and we enjoy a good meal.

Our last cruise was August 09 on LOS and my husband and I swore that on our next RCCL cruise we would skip the MDR for good.

Chops was great for the 3d time as was Portofinos. Johnny Rockets was good, Promenade Cafe was good and so was the Windjammer and Sorrentos. There is enough to chose from to not go hungry but the MDR food is very bland and unoriginal. As some have mentioned you can send it back but on this cruise our waitstaff was so unorganized that they would never have been able to handle a returned order.

Although we prefer RCCL over Carnival, the food was better on Carnival and The best food and service was on Disney.

[carver girl]

I just came back for the 8/23/09 AOS and suffered for 4 days with the worse case of acid reflux ever, i never had this before and can only put it down to the amount of MSG they put in the food to bloat out the passengers. the food was tastless and nasty

[ckrobyn]

I just came back for the 8/23/09 AOS and suffered for 4 days with the worse case of acid reflux ever, i never had this before and can only put it down to the amount of MSG they put in the food to bloat out the passengers. the food was tastless and nasty

 

 

Wow. This is either a serious coincidence or something weird is going on with the food on RCI's ships :eek:

 

I suffered from the exact same complaint - acid reflux for the entire week!!! Now and again I take a tums at home (like every few weeks) but I was swallowing at least 4-6 tums a day just to take the burning feeling away! I don't drink alcohol, so that was not the problem. Interesting.............:cool:

[cruzincurt]

When someone claims that the food in Johnny Rockets was better than the MDR I have to wonder on their point of reference to describing food that is good, terrible, nasty, and/or bad.:rolleyes:

 

To be nasty, bad or terrible, I would have to spit it out. Hasn't happened yet. They must also be wonderful cooks at home and only buy the finest ingredients and cuts of meat and get disappointed often when visiting McD's, etc.

[Trainman-2]

I enjoy trying new things in the MDR and often try dishes I have never heard of. Sometimes I like them and sometimes I don't. But my likes or dislikes have nothing to do with good or bad food.

 

After 23 cruises with RCI, I can recall only one dinner in the MDR that was poorly prepared. That was Turkey Medallions that were totally dried out. I returned them and ordered something else that night.

 

Food is subjective and personal.

 

I really enjoy eating in the Windjammer because there are so many choices and things to try.

 

The MDR food is almost always good and often excellent!

 

I have no complaints...

[Toddcan]

Maybe I am too easy to please, but the food is fine. There were a few things I thought could have been better, but really... overall, the scale back home tells me the food was just fine :D