NCL in the New York Times -- Bad Review!

[Sauer-kraut]

Well Nita, trooper did join in Oct 2010 so maybe they have been lurking all that time checking out the PoA. Too bad they didn't have a roll call going that trooper could have joined and gotten more information.

[agabbymama]

I didn't see this post the first time around, but I do have a comment to make.

 

ANYTIME I don't have to shop, prepare, then eat it, IS A GOOD THING!

 

I don't care what main stream cruise line you are on, you can find SOMETHING to eat. I even enjoyed the hamburgers and hot dogs pool side when we returned too late from an excursion for anything else.

 

I'm not too crazy about the Freestyle of NCL, but my traveling companion loves it, so we are getting ready for our second cruise on NCL.

 

I actually prefer HAL, but only for the ambiance of an ocean liner of yesteryear. I don't think the food on Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, HAL, RCCL, or NCL is all that different from each other. HAL does have a better room service menu than the others. And I don't care for all the specialty ($$$) restaurants. I just don't go to them. JMHO

[negn]

While making cruising more affordable (and with all the competition) the quality has gone down on all lines But I've doen some all-inclusive vacations and food was worse. as previous poster said, as long as I'm not cooking or cleaning up its good to me .. and i"ve never been hungry

[VideoTech]

We feel the food on all cruise lines is slowly declining in quality, no doubt due to economic pressures and the movement away from "formal" dining. This opinion is ours alone, and is based not only on our cruises together, but on DW's many cruises in her "past life."

 

That being said, I would still rate the food on NCL as good to excellent, and no worse than any I had on Carnival or RCCL. All cruise lines are doing mass preparation, mass serving food, and so you will never get the quality and variety you would get in a restricted seating, gourmet restaurant. That's not to knock it - I still think they do an amazing job, particularly on NCL with the Freestyle concept, where it's much harder to predict the load on the kitchen at any given period during their meal service.

[quercus alba]

I've yet to cruise, but reading the reviews, and looking at the food pix that are occasionally posted, I've developed the hypothesis that folks who are privileged enough to be able to cruise are probably also becoming more used to a higher level of cuisine when they dine out. What with the Food Network and similar outlets, I think that expectations have been raised. Couple this with hearing stories of how *amazing* the food was a decade (or so) ago when grandma & grandpa came back from cruises, and you have a case of unrealistically elevated expectations encountering modern reality.

 

Mrs. quercus and I enjoy eating out at nice places, unique places, various ethnic places, and sometimes trendy places. We're not expecting the cruise food to match that. We're also not going to see the same total on the check when it comes!

[MMMD]

Truthfully on the Jewel in January I could count on one hand the number of items that were just OK.

 

Everything else was very good to excellent.

 

I was in Disney for a week and had reservations for a lot of their on-site restaurants.

I have to say that I was very disappointed in the quality of the food there and it's pretty expensive. The breakfast buffets don't compare in any way to the buffet I saw on the Jewel and on the Jewel it didn't cost me $30 like it did in Disney.

[bigfoot88]

As you can see I have been on the Jewll three time in the last 18 months. Besides an issue with the Bar staff and up-charging, zero issues.