How good is the food on the QM2?

[wisebear]

What I really want to know is - is the food in the dining rooms on the QM2 individually prepared to order, like in a fine restaurant? I know the menus are fancy and the presentation is elegant, but if the protein was pre-cooked, forget about it - that is not fine dining.

 

Although we love cruising, I have been disappointed with the main dining room food on every ship I've been on so far. I hear the food is wonderful on premium lines like Seabourn and Symphony, but at this point in our lives my partner and I are, yes, crazy dog people who don't like to leave our babies for more than four nights, and those fancier lines don't offer anything shorter than seven nights. Our current cruise fave is the Norwegian Sky, which is not very upscale, but it offers us the chance to eat in a different specialty restaurant every night of a short cruise, where our food is cooked to order and the service is good. I'm considering a four-nighter on the QM2, but I'd be turned off to learn that all that fancy food was cooked en masse, catering style. I see that the menu is basically the same whether you sail Brittania, Princess Grill, or Queens Grill, which makes me suspect I would not be happy.

[caliber35]

The food in the Brittania Dining Room is mass preparation, just like any other mainstream line. That is the only way they can deliver 1000 dinners per seating. That said, I found the food there to be quite good; on par with a well catered wedding. I cannot speak for the Grill dining rooms, but believe that they use the same kitchen. Even on the luxury lines, such as Crystal, there is some mass preparation, but then every dish is finished and plated to order. Only with specialty dining is every meal cooked to order. I have observed this firsthand during kitchen tours on most of the ships I have sailed on.

[wisebear]

Thanks, Caliber. That's a pretty impressive cruise resume you've established in only 7 years. I take it retirement agrees with you!

[Boytjie]

The food can be good in the dining room and bad specialty restaurants, its a crap shoot. :)

 

We just did a 4-day cruise on the QM2. Our lunch in Todd English was very disappointing and the food in the dining room was OK except for the last night when it was really, really good.

[wripro]

Although the main menus in Britannia and the Grills are similar (there are always one or two extra choices on the Grill menus) the preparation and service are totally different in the Grills, much more a la minute. Also you can request anything you want 24 hours in advance in the Grills even if it is not on the menu plus there is an additional a la carte menu with more choices not available in Britannia.

[wisebear]

Wripro, thanks, that is exactly what I had hoped to learn about the Grills.

[wripro]

You're welcome, Wisebear.

[RMS Olympic]

I still remembr when your waiter brought your entre (meat, poultry or fish) to the table. In tow was the bus boy with a platter of the vegetables and with a fork and big spoon loaded your plate with what you chose. To this day I hate the plate completely made up and delivered to the serving station with a plastic cover on it.

I remember the dining rooms on Sitmar......the Italian steward / busboy would kindly ask what I wanted.....so classy.

My history with Cunard is way dated......QE2, Cunard Countess and Cunard Crown Dynasty. On all three vessels I found the food mediocre at best. when I sailed the QE2 I was in the Queens Grill.........a big dissapointment.

Although I have booked Cunard in March of 2011 (the Victoria), I still wonder if Cunard is worth it.

As a single, their 75% surcharge makes their cruises very very exspensive. When I consider the 11 night Queen Victoria cruise (partial canal transit) is costing me $1,000 more than a 14 night HAL cruise on Volendam (Nov 2010) out of Sydney Australia......the pricing doesn't make sense. Considering it is for the same cabin cat, is Cunard worth the difference?

I just priced out a TA on the QM2... the single rate on an inside cat D5 is the same price as my 14 day outside on Volendam. I guess the high price is to cover the exspense of running such a large ship.

But is Cunard worth it?

[wripro]

When I was in the Grills they still had French service, that is waiters served all vegetables and side dishes from a large silver platter. This was a couple of years ago so not sure if they're still doing that.

[Nobbi]

Forget the QM2. Food was blah, service was just ok. I was in the Queen's Grill. Same food as Britannia. Todd English was bad!

 

I'm looking forward to try Crystal in November. So far my favorite food has been on Disney Cruise Line.

 

I have not been on the "luxury lines".