Is all food quality equal on various NCL ships?

[wrxrob]

So I think we may have settled on NCL for our first cruise, however there are a lot of different ships to choose from. I'm reading various reports on how the food is good or bad on a variety of ships. Some say the Pearl has the best buffet, while others say the MDR shrimp is uncooked/still kicking. What about their smaller boats (i.e. Sun, Dawn, etc.). What about the Epic?

 

Do I need to pay extra for good quality food?

 

For the record, I'm mostly a burgers, fries, pizza kind of person. I'm very easy to please when it comes to food. I just want to make sure the food is cooked correctly. Also, I'm cheap, and would prefer not to have to pay extra for every meal.

[macruise]

Actually, I think it is safe to say that the food isn't consistent across any cruiseline.

I don't eat shrimp -moving or not- so can't address that. Have been on several NCL cruises and always found the food adequate. If you like burgers and the like, you will find that served as well.

 

We don't do the specialty restaurants. The MDR food is fine with us.

Remember that food is relative and all based on your preferences and past experiences.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[johnql]

I've been on numerous NCL cruises, ranging from some of the older/smaller ships in the fleet to some of the newer/larger ships - my overall experience has been positive. With very few exceptions, I have found the food very good to excellent. I seriously doubt if you would go hungry.

[newmexicoNita]

So I think we may have settled on NCL for our first cruise, however there are a lot of different ships to choose from. I'm reading various reports on how the food is good or bad on a variety of ships. Some say the Pearl has the best buffet, while others say the MDR shrimp is uncooked/still kicking. What about their smaller boats (i.e. Sun, Dawn, etc.). What about the Epic?

 

Do I need to pay extra for good quality food?

 

For the record, I'm mostly a burgers, fries, pizza kind of person. I'm very easy to please when it comes to food. I just want to make sure the food is cooked correctly. Also, I'm cheap, and would prefer not to have to pay extra for every meal.

 

For the most part the menues are the same and yes, the food similar, but anytime you are dealing with cooks and chefs you will get some differences. If you are a basic meat and potatoes guy you will be just fine.

 

Nita

[FLAHAM]

For the most part the menues are the same and yes, the food similar, but anytime you are dealing with cooks and chefs you will get some differences. If you are a basic meat and potatoes guy you will be just fine.

 

Nita

 

 

I find the food varies greatly within a ship from meal to meal. One dinner may be excellent and the next one unacceptable. Same with the service. That said, taken as a whole the food is reasonably good, as is the service.

[OceanDreaming2]

Meals can be great one meal and terrible the next. When you're preparing meals for 3,000, someone's not going to like something.

 

All the ship's have a set menu - so if you're a meat and potatoes kind of person, just order the steak from the main dining room or go to the Blue Lagoon for a cheeseburger. Pizza is even on the room service menu (no extra charge).

 

Personally, I thought the food/service was better on the Star and Spirit than it was on the Gem. JMO.

[guyver]

I find the food varies greatly within a ship from meal to meal. One dinner may be excellent and the next one unacceptable. Same with the service. That said, taken as a whole the food is reasonably good, as is the service.

 

Great point. I really like the lamb shank that is on the always available menu in the MDR. I generally have it 2 or 3 times per cruise and although always good, there are times when it truly stands out.

I like cooking at home and it happens to me as well. Don't know why but sometimes things just turn out better.

[chiapet]

On 20+ NCL sailings ... there have been some differences on each the ships ... but all have been more than adequate.

 

However ... just coming off Epic this month ... I would have to say that Epic's MDRs (Manhattan Room & Taste) have been the best I've encountered. The lamb was absolutely fabulous!

[BikerAl]

I think that the Executive chef is probably the key to the dining experience. While it has been adequate on all our cruises, we have had the pleasure of sailing with Chef Colin Hudson three times, and each time there has been noticeably better prepared and tasting food. I think this is due to his love of job, his pride in what is served, and his constant supervision of staff.

 

Al

[Medtech2]

Meals can be great one meal and terrible the next. When you're preparing meals for 3,000, someone's not going to like something.

 

All the ship's have a set menu - so if you're a meat and potatoes kind of person, just order the steak from the main dining room or go to the Blue Lagoon for a cheeseburger. Pizza is even on the room service menu (no extra charge).

 

Personally, I thought the food/service was better on the Star and Spirit than it was on the Gem. JMO.

Pizza is $5 delivered anywhere on Epic. Didn't try it since pizza was on the Buffet. The MDR's were excellent as was the Garden Cafe buffet!

[Zeno]

I have found that there is some variation - in that some items seem better on some ships than others (to me anyway).

 

I found the various breads on the Sky were excellent but the salads could have been better.

On the Sun the salads were good but the bread wasn't as good as on the Sky.

On the Dawn - the breads and the muffins and cinnamon buns and cookies were wonderful and the salads quite good.

 

Main course - I really liked the lamb on all 3 ships. The fish was best (for me) on the Dawn. Of all the main courses I only ever had one that really was not to my taste and that was on the Sky.

 

The Sky had excellent Indian veggie food at the buffet at lunch and freshly made Caesar salad. Overall I think that the Dawn had the most varied breakfast buffet. For me, the Sun had the best MDR breakfast selections.

 

However that is my taste and everyone may not agree.

[STARFISH*4]

6 prior NCL cruises never needed to PAY EXTRA and from what your food tastes are you shouldnt have to either...ENJOY!!

[Zeno]

I have found that there is some variation - in that some items seem better on some ships than others (to me anyway).

 

I found the various breads on the Sky were excellent but the salads could have been better.

On the Sun the salads were good but the bread wasn't as good as on the Sky.

On the Dawn - the breads and the muffins and cinnamon buns and cookies were wonderful and the salads quite good.

 

Main course - I really liked the lamb on all 3 ships. The fish was best (for me) on the Dawn. Of all the main courses I only ever had one that really was not to my taste and that was on the Sky.

 

The Sky had excellent Indian veggie food at the buffet at lunch and freshly made Caesar salad. Overall I think that the Dawn had the most varied breakfast buffet. For me, the Sun had the best MDR breakfast selections.

 

However that is my taste and everyone may not agree.

[steviek49]

I have found that there is some variation - in that some items seem better on some ships than others (to me anyway).

 

I found the various breads on the Sky were excellent but the salads could have been better.

On the Sun the salads were good but the bread wasn't as good as on the Sky.

On the Dawn - the breads and the muffins and cinnamon buns and cookies were wonderful and the salads quite good.

 

Main course - I really liked the lamb on all 3 ships. The fish was best (for me) on the Dawn. Of all the main courses I only ever had one that really was not to my taste and that was on the Sky.

 

The Sky had excellent Indian veggie food at the buffet at lunch and freshly made Caesar salad. Overall I think that the Dawn had the most varied breakfast buffet. For me, the Sun had the best MDR breakfast selections.

 

However that is my taste and everyone may not agree.

 

 

I have cruised on 4 NCL ships (Crown, Dawn, Spirit and Gem) and have found the food in the MDR to be just fine on all 4 ships.

We did try Tapanyaki on Dawn (good but overpriced),Tex Mex on Dawn also good, and Le Bistro on Dawn and Gem-Excellent and well worth the $15pp charge.

We have also cruised on Princess, HAL and Carnival and have enjoyed the MDR food on their ships as well.

You should be fine w/o paying extra- in my opinion.

[camz]

Blue Lagoon can't be missed; especially if you are a burgers, fries, chicken sandwich, wings, type person. The Blue Lagoon is also open 24 hours so you can always count on going there if you run out of other dining options. However, the food in general was better on the Dawn, then on the Gem. We have been on both these ships within the last year. However, again, that is just our opinion! :)

[pengu1n]

I don't think anyone else said this, but if you get something you don't care for, there's still options: you can ask for another entree, go to the buffet, go to the Blue Lagoon, call room service. It's not like a restaurant where you've paid for this one thing you ordered & you're stuck with it.

 

We've been on several different cruise lines & several different NCL ships, and what we see is that most of the time, you will find things that you like. We haven't found that one ship stood out (as 'good' or 'bad'), just certain meals or desserts were memorable. You will NOT go hungry! (In fact, by the end of the week, you may think you will never be hungry again, because you never have enough room to try everything you want!) Portions tend to be small, but that's good, because then you get to try more foods. We will usually peruse the lunch & dinner menus, and we usually end up in the buffet for lunch and maybe one of the evening's dinners don't sound good. Sometimes, people complain that the food in the buffet doesn't change all week - some things do change, and for the items that don't --- you'd never be able to try everything anyway, there's too much.

[newmexicoNita]

I find the food varies greatly within a ship from meal to meal. One dinner may be excellent and the next one unacceptable. Same with the service. That said, taken as a whole the food is reasonably good, as is the service.

 

I think you are about right. On our last cruise we had one dinner in the MDR where both the service and my pork were sub par. The rest of the cruise was above expectation, but generally the food is going to be pretty similar fleet wide.

 

Nita

[KandJCruising]

We've been on 5 different NCL ships and have found the food to be good on all of them. Certainly, some dishes have been better than others, but we've yet to have anything that was bad.

There's plenty of variety in the buffet, though that area can sometimes be crowded.

Blue Lagoon/O'Sheehan's is a good option for comfort food, and it's generally quick.

I like the selections in the MDRs, though my DW does find the new menus less to her liking. We've yet to go hungry, though. :)