how's the food these days?

[bonsat]

used to cruise on ncl all the time. loved the freestyle and the liveliness of the ships. about 5 years ago they changed the menu and the food became, imo, inedible. last year we tried again on the sky, and the best meal we had, including specialty restaurants, was in the sports bar. when you come home and tell people that chicken wings and tomato soup were the epicurean highlights of your cruise, it is pretty sad.

 

i just got an incredible offer for a 2 week cruise to northern europe, but am afraid i will either starve or gain 50 lbs. (i tend to eat bread and pastries when i don't feel satisfied with a meal). i recently heard that the menu has changed once again, hopefully for the better. has anyone cruised since the menu change. has the food improved? i sure hope so.

[ben55124]

As of January 2010, the food on NCL (Star) was edible and no one was reported starving even after 2 weeks.

 

The Mater D said the MDR menu was recently upgraded (despite cost cuts elsewhere). We felt no need to upgrade to the premium restaurants.

 

Of course everyone's taste is different. You don't say what you disliked about the food. If you didn't like NCL food before, the upgrades probably won't change your opinion.

[yoyocruiser]

It is highly unlikely that if you were extremely dissatisfied before that you will find things have vastly improved. As the description of what you found so terrible is not given it is hard to comment on specifically what may or may not have changed which may or may not suit you more (or less).

 

On the other hand, we were on the Jewel in January and found the food in the MDRs to be excellent--of seven of us we were all very pleased. There was food that we sent back, and there was food we asked for more because the portions were small--but I would not think of these as problems. There is good food to be had on the buffets, but you must look for it, and simply pass over that which is not appealing. The food in Blue Lagoon was excellent, expecially the chicken wings, which I did find to be an epicurean delight--but that's just me. I find one may have to put some effort but my goodness, there are fresh salad stations with freshly grated cheese, nice carving stations, always wonderful smoked salmon with sides at breakfast. . .many lovely delights. All of these were not necessarily had in the MDR. We enjoy moving around and tasting different things at different places.

 

All that said, I would not recommend that you take another cruise. I jsut cannot believe that it has radically improved and it sounds as if you truly detested the experience.

[OKCThunder]

I would have to agree with yoyo.

 

Food is subjective.

[flashdog_1]

What do you LIKE to eat on a cruise, if you have a choice? What is now missing that you used to eat? Give us some hints.

 

I thought the food was mediocre or poor on NCL Majesty (lost weight) but it was great on Dawn and Pride of America, so if you book, perhaps your luck will change as mine did.

[hls74]

It is highly unlikely that if you were extremely dissatisfied before that you will find things have vastly improved.....

 

All that said, I would not recommend that you take another cruise. I jsut cannot believe that it has radically improved and it sounds as if you truly detested the experience.

 

Where did the person say they detested the experience? They only commented on the food being inedible, and said nothing about detesting anything.

 

My experience has also been that the food on NCL has suffered, and I will still be sailing on the Gem in just a few days. I expect to spend a lot of money in the specialty restaurants since that was the only way I had a good meal. Not a decent meal, but a GOOD meal. I don't go on vacation to eat worse than I do at home. Some of the food in the MDR was inedible, and nothing was spectacular.

 

If you're happy just to eat, sure, you'll be satisfied. Even the specialty restaurants are hit or miss, with the Chinese food being especially terrible, every time. It's as if no one involved has ever actually been in a decent Chinese restaurant, or even an average take-out place for that matter.

 

However, I still cruise and have a great time. Please don't tell me that because I don't love what has become sub-par banquet food I should stop cruising.

[martinchem]

I have to say, to my suprise that Norwegian Dawn offered the best breakfast and lunch I've had at sea in years and the dinner food was really good too, all though I thought the buffet was easier to eat at than the dining rooms, they had 1/2 hour waits for most nights in the MDR. The food was awesome in the buffet throughout the cruise.

[CanadianTwosome]

Where did the person say they detested the experience? They only commented on the food being inedible, and said nothing about detesting anything.

 

My experience has also been that the food on NCL has suffered, and I will still be sailing on the Gem in just a few days. I expect to spend a lot of money in the specialty restaurants since that was the only way I had a good meal. Not a decent meal, but a GOOD meal. I don't go on vacation to eat worse than I do at home. Some of the food in the MDR was inedible, and nothing was spectacular.

 

If you're happy just to eat, sure, you'll be satisfied. Even the specialty restaurants are hit or miss, with the Chinese food being especially terrible, every time. It's as if no one involved has ever actually been in a decent Chinese restaurant, or even an average take-out place for that matter.

 

However, I still cruise and have a great time. Please don't tell me that because I don't love what has become sub-par banquet food I should stop cruising.

 

I don't think it's really a stretch to paraphrase 'I thought the food was inedible' as 'I detested the dining experience'. They're both extremes of the same negative connotation, and once you start using extremes, in my opinion, they're pretty much interchangable.

 

As for the quality of the food, I disagree with you wholeheartedly, which is probably the best point I can make in this thread - that different individuals have different tastes and preferences. The food on NCL is NOT bad, nor is it spectacular - it is only as good as any individual finds it. In my case, I've enjoyed every meal I've had on NCL, and LOVE the Asian fare - which is MUCH better than any take-out I've ever had... except maybe once when I couldn't get a table at PF Chang's and had to take my order to go... but I digress...

 

The point is that the OP doesn't like the food on NCL, and it's been important enough to him to stay away for five years - with one short visit on the Sky that reinforced his opinion that the food is still 'inedible'. I don't believe anyone is advising him not to cruise at all, but if it were me, I would look elsewhere for a provider. A two week cruise to Northern Europe, even at an 'incredible price' is going to be costly - just the airfare for my family would be thousands of dollars. I simply wouldn't consider paying it for a product that I knew was going to disappoint me in a way that I considered important. (which dining clearly is to the OP, since he asked the question)

[KandJCruising]

I'v sailed w/ NCL 3 times over the past couple of years and have enjoyed the food. I definitely wouldn't say it's inedible, but it's not generally gourmet fare either (at least in the MDR). I haven't noticed a significant shift in the quality of the menu, so if you didn't enjoy the food as of a year ago you'll likely be disappointed again, especially on a 12-day itinerary.

That said, if you can deal with the food, the Baltic itinerary (if that's the offer you were given) is a great cruise, and even better if you got a great deal on it.

[bonsat]

it's the 14 day northern europe cruise, and it is $500 off ncl's price plus $150 obc.

 

we first started sailing on the dawn out of nyc early in 2004 when freestyle began. we loved the macadamia crusted shrimp, the blueberry slump, the crispy duck, the presidents dinners (floating islands). went back a second time 5 months later and we were not disappointed ... the food was still delicious. went of the spirit 7 months later. same menu, different quality. went on the jewel a year later, what a difference. instead of duck, there was chicken, chicken and more chicken. and dry turkey once. instead of chateau briand, there was beef stroganoff. disgusting. i once ordered a pot pie and got pastry with soup inside. my husband tried a vegetarian dinner. we still don't know what it was. we tried the mexican food. now i love spice, but this was truly inedible. tried the chinese...give me a break. stopped cruising on ncl. switched to HAL, celebrity, princess and costa. food was great on all of them. but no freestyle dining and the people on HAL were mostly in wheelchairs and on oxygen. there was nothing to do all day on sea days but read and eventually fall asleep. tried ncl again. loved the cruise, couldn't stand the food.

 

i read on these boards that the dawn had a new and improved menu. was wondering if it applied to the sun as well. and if so, was it better. and if so, could i read it for myself.

 

i knew i'd get flamed for my post, but i am a new yorker who is used to fine dining and an avid cruiser and food is important to me. i don't eat much so i like to enjoy every morsel. stuffing myself with the delicious pastries that remain excellent despite the decline in quality of the rest of the meals is not a solution. please don't tell me that if i don't like the food on ncl, i should stop cruising. i have not stopped and continue to take at least 2 cruises a year albeit on other lines.

[yoyocruiser]

My mistake, I did not mean I would recommend that you not cruise at all, I meant that I would not recommend that you cruise on NCL. Also, I truly did not intend to flame. I sincerely do not feel that there is enough reason to believe that food is substantially better on NCL at this point. The OP has decided not to use NCL for several years because of concerns about the food. Now a very inexpensive (perhaps even cheap) cruise has come on the horizon. I truly do not think that this would give me a sense that the food is going to be significantly better--especially if one believes somewhat that you "get what you pay for." If I left a line because the food was inedible, had great experiences on those other lines and enjoyed them, unless I had overwhelming evidence that something had changed on that previous line I would not look to going back.

 

I felt the question was an honest and sincere question, and I gave my honest and sincere recommendation. I did not say the OP "should" do anything. I stated my recommendation. (I did not however mean to imply that I would not recommend any cruise.)

[johnql]

I thought the food on my Jewel sailing in Sept 2009 was very good to excellent. I never had a bad meal. However, unlike the OP, I have never felt that the food on NCL has ever been consistently bad (9 cruises and counting). Based on the OP's posts, I too would recommend not returning to NCL because, while the menus may have changed, I don't think the quality has changed significantly over the past 5 years (up or down).

[yoyocruiser]

I think that is my point John. So it doesn't really matter what I thought of the food, or anyone else really. Your opinion of food is very subjective. Any cruise certainly costs a good bit of money--so I think it makes more sense to perhaps spend a bit more and get what you really want. There are a lot of cruise lines and you can match up with what is most important to you--considering the itinerary, the ship design, the rooms, the entertainment, the food etc.

[CanadianTwosome]

it's the 14 day northern europe cruise, and it is $500 off ncl's price plus $150 obc.

 

we first started sailing on the dawn out of nyc early in 2004 when freestyle began. we loved the macadamia crusted shrimp, the blueberry slump, the crispy duck, the presidents dinners (floating islands). went back a second time 5 months later and we were not disappointed ... the food was still delicious. went of the spirit 7 months later. same menu, different quality. went on the jewel a year later, what a difference. instead of duck, there was chicken, chicken and more chicken. and dry turkey once. instead of chateau briand, there was beef stroganoff. disgusting. i once ordered a pot pie and got pastry with soup inside. my husband tried a vegetarian dinner. we still don't know what it was. we tried the mexican food. now i love spice, but this was truly inedible. tried the chinese...give me a break. stopped cruising on ncl. switched to HAL, celebrity, princess and costa. food was great on all of them. but no freestyle dining and the people on HAL were mostly in wheelchairs and on oxygen. there was nothing to do all day on sea days but read and eventually fall asleep. tried ncl again. loved the cruise, couldn't stand the food.

 

i read on these boards that the dawn had a new and improved menu. was wondering if it applied to the sun as well. and if so, was it better. and if so, could i read it for myself.

 

i knew i'd get flamed for my post, but i am a new yorker who is used to fine dining and an avid cruiser and food is important to me. i don't eat much so i like to enjoy every morsel. stuffing myself with the delicious pastries that remain excellent despite the decline in quality of the rest of the meals is not a solution. please don't tell me that if i don't like the food on ncl, i should stop cruising. i have not stopped and continue to take at least 2 cruises a year albeit on other lines.

 

I don't think it was anyone's intention to flame you; I know it wasn't mine. :) I think Yoyocruiser has really hit the nail on the head, though - if you disliked the food on NCL enough to keep you away for this long (and were disappointed again on the Sky), I find it highly unlikely that you will be any more pleased on the Sun. I've been on four NCL cruises since 2006, and loved all the food, so me telling you that the food is great now is not going to have any value to you - it's my opinion based on my personal taste which is clearly different from yours (I loved it on the Sky last month).

 

So the question is whether the savings and OBC are enough to make it worth sailing and eating at specialties every night... though you said that those were 'hit and miss' for you as well. Basically, I think you should make your choice on the assumption that nothing has changed. If you decide it's still too good a deal to pass up, you may end up pleasantly surprised if the food is better than you expect. :)

[STARFISH*4]

we thought the JEWEL last month had some of the BEST FOOD we have had on NCL...but we are ALWAYS pretty HAPPY with the FOOD and can ALWAYS find something...we NEVER do the Specialities...we DONT NEED to!!!....last month on the JEWEL it was WONDERFUL to have CHICKEN CORDON BLEU...MY FAVORITE...i sure HOPE the SUN has it in december!!!

they put on a GOOD BUFFET too!!!!--WE NEVER GO HUNGRY!!!

[bluesea777]

OP - go ahead and book the cruise on the SUN Northern Europe!!!

 

We were on the SUN for 14 days Dec 20 - Jan 3 and ate mostly in the Four Seasons (the smaller of the 2 MDRs) and we enjoyed it very much. Very good service as well.

 

We usually had 2 starters, an entree and hardly ever had dessert. The starters were small portioned and there were about 6-9 on menu (different every night) and it was difficult for us to pick just ONE. So we had an appetizer and a chilled (or hot) soup, as well as an entree.

 

The menu includes several "always available" items and imo the selection is pretty good.

[swedish weave]

it's the 14 day northern europe cruise, and it is $500 off ncl's price plus $150 obc.

 

we first started sailing on the dawn out of nyc early in 2004 when freestyle began. we loved the macadamia crusted shrimp, the blueberry slump, the crispy duck, the presidents dinners (floating islands). went back a second time 5 months later and we were not disappointed ... the food was still delicious. went of the spirit 7 months later. same menu, different quality. went on the jewel a year later, what a difference. instead of duck, there was chicken, chicken and more chicken. and dry turkey once. instead of chateau briand, there was beef stroganoff. disgusting. i once ordered a pot pie and got pastry with soup inside. my husband tried a vegetarian dinner. we still don't know what it was. we tried the mexican food. now i love spice, but this was truly inedible. tried the chinese...give me a break. stopped cruising on ncl. switched to HAL, celebrity, princess and costa. food was great on all of them. but no freestyle dining and the people on HAL were mostly in wheelchairs and on oxygen. there was nothing to do all day on sea days but read and eventually fall asleep. tried ncl again. loved the cruise, couldn't stand the food.

 

i read on these boards that the dawn had a new and improved menu. was wondering if it applied to the sun as well. and if so, was it better. and if so, could i read it for myself.

 

i knew i'd get flamed for my post, but i am a new yorker who is used to fine dining and an avid cruiser and food is important to me. i don't eat much so i like to enjoy every morsel. stuffing myself with the delicious pastries that remain excellent despite the decline in quality of the rest of the meals is not a solution. please don't tell me that if i don't like the food on ncl, i should stop cruising. i have not stopped and continue to take at least 2 cruises a year albeit on other lines.

 

I have taken several cruises a year since I retired in 1993, and have not seen much change in the food on any line since that time. Most of my cruises have been on NCL and I found the food to my liking then, and the same applies now.

 

Now to your question --- If you found the food not to your liking, and to the point of being inedible, why would you consider the same cruise line at any price? I am sure NCL likes the business, but it seems that you are not going to be happy with the trip, and that should help you find another line that you will be happy with.

[Kancruze]

i just got an incredible offer for a 2 week cruise to northern europe, but am afraid i will either starve or gain 50 lbs. (i tend to eat bread and pastries when i don't feel satisfied with a meal). i recently heard that the menu has changed once again, hopefully for the better. has anyone cruised since the menu change. has the food improved? i sure hope so.

 

Bonsat, you must mean the Sun and it is a 12 day Baltic cruise, the only one that NCL does to my knowledge.

We took her to Alaska and are following her to St. Petersburg in June. The food was very good especially the creme brulee with chocolate ganache. Never do the dessert thing but I could have easily lived on it alone!! lol

[hls74]

it's the 14 day northern europe cruise, and it is $500 off ncl's price plus $150 obc.

...

 

i knew i'd get flamed for my post, but i am a new yorker who is used to fine dining and an avid cruiser and food is important to me. i don't eat much so i like to enjoy every morsel. stuffing myself with the delicious pastries that remain excellent despite the decline in quality of the rest of the meals is not a solution. please don't tell me that if i don't like the food on ncl, i should stop cruising. i have not stopped and continue to take at least 2 cruises a year albeit on other lines.

 

As a fellow New Yorker, I know what you mean. There are few places (if any!) in the USA that have the quality and diversity when it comes to food that we have.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

Here's what I found on the Jewel recently, for what it's worth:

 

--Breakfast buffet was not of the best quality and lacked variety-same things most every day. They cooked bacon well and the omelette bar was fine, but other than that it was boring and tasteless for the most part. The sit down breakfast places weren't much better.

--Lunch and dinner buffets were slightly better quality and significantly better variety. Lots of Asian dishes, a few Indian dishes, even a Turkish selection. Nice to see, though the quality was still just OK. The pasta bar was not too bad-overall, much more tolerable than breakfast.

--Sit down main dining room dinners were hit and miss. The entrees were mostly bland and boring (beef stroghanoff was like a second rate Lean Cuisine), though some were decent. Nothing spectacular though, and apart from the surprisingly good mahi mahi I am having trouble remembering any of it specifically only a week later.

--Premium restaurants had better everything (apps, salads, service) but the steak was pretty horrible, even with a $25 surcharge. Very disappointing.

--Deserts were pretty bad for the most part at all of the above-a few were quite decent, but nothing approached outstanding.

 

One other comment-the baked goods were mostly terrible-all the rolls are soft like wonderbread, even the rolls that look like they should be hard rolls.

 

In short the food was tolerable, occasionally good but more often ho-hum. Probably once a day on average I just didn't eat what I picked and set it aside or went back for something else because it was just tooo lousy to finish. Don't expect much and you should be OK-if that doesn't fit your idea of cruising then best look elsewhere or risk disappointment.

[WinnieinWA]

I found the food in January on the Jewel to be very good. Since food is so subjective what I like you may dislike.

[bonsat]

Bonsat, you must mean the Sun and it is a 12 day Baltic cruise, the only one that NCL does to my knowledge.

We took her to Alaska and are following her to St. Petersburg in June. The food was very good especially the creme brulee with chocolate ganache. Never do the dessert thing but I could have easily lived on it alone!! lol

 

what i mean is what i said. it is the 14 night northern europe cruise on the sun leaving on sept. 20. it is round trip from dover to bergen norway, alesun norway, lerwick shetland islands, thorshavn faroe island, reykevic iceland, glasgow scotland, belfast ireland and back to london. sounds great, huh?

[CanadianTwosome]

what i mean is what i said. it is the 14 night northern europe cruise on the sun leaving on sept. 20. it is round trip from dover to bergen norway, alesun norway, lerwick shetland islands, thorshavn faroe island, reykevic iceland, glasgow scotland, belfast ireland and back to london. sounds great, huh?

 

Wow, it really does!! If I could swing it and my only concern was the food, I'd pack a jar of peanut butter and book it! :)

[Richie2pies]

If you like chicken, NCL is for you. On the Jewel in Dec, they had chicken everyday in the buffet at the carving station. Chicken must be cheap. The sandwich bar was good with subs also available. Pizza was BAD.

[PnkyandtheBrain]

We just finished a cruise on the Spirit this past week (1-31 sailing).

 

Overall, we found the food to be just average. It seemed that there was a significant lack of seasoning, and many of the selections were very "middle of the road". We really wished for some more adventurous options in the dining rooms. We understand that their client base may be very middle of the road, but there should be at least one option per day for the more adventurous.

 

Overall, the buffet for breakfast was usually good, but we would agree that it was always the same stuff. We only did breakfast once in the MDR and discovered that it seemed as if they were going upstairs to the buffet and just filling your plate for you - we definitely expected more in the MDR.

 

We used either the MDR, or Blue Lagoon for lunch the entire trip, so can't comment on the buffet for lunch.

 

We did try the buffet for dinner one night as we weren't feeling like going to the MDR. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. We decided not to make any further attempts at the buffet for dinner.

 

We made one trip to a specialty for dinner. Cagneys was a good meal overall, and we had little to complain about until I found a hair grilled to my steak (the manager made up for this by comp'ing our bottle of wine which we found to be an acceptable appology). My other half took advantage of the Sushi restaurant for lunch one day and found it to be a very good meal (she complained of a "Sushi Coma" afterward) but even there she had to make a special request of the chef serving to get truly adventurous and spicy fare.

 

One thing that we did notice throughout the trip was that virtually all of the fish courses were overcooked to a moderate or severe degree, removing most of the appeal they could have had.

 

Baked goods and breads were hit and miss. One day they seemed almost "day old" and others they were tasty and fresh.

 

Deserts were acceptable, but never incredible. Again, there just seemed to be an unwillingness or inability to take it to the next level.

 

At the the end of the day, we would take another NCL trip, but we'll certainly be looking at other lines as well, with an eye towards the food quality and options that we can discover.