New Menu on Imagination

[Sargent_Schultz]

Pasta is the cheapest option. You can't eat a nickel's worth of wholesale pasta and maybe only a penny (if that!) at the price Carnival pays. Meatloaf or fried chicken is a luxury compared to pasta prices.

 

As for eating healthy, it appears that German sprouts may be the source of the recent deadly e. coli outbreak. Eat healthy, die younger, it would seem.

[Marian Paroo]

As for eating healthy, it appears that German sprouts may be the source of the recent deadly e. coli outbreak. Eat healthy, die younger, it would seem.

 

I dont care if the package of my green vegetables says pre-washed.

 

I always give mine a good spin before use.

[viajerita]

Just hope they don't take away my warm chocolate melting cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[Vanessa L]

and THAT to me is the question...

they "added" these "comfort" foods....but did they remove other/more expensive choices or not??

 

If they didn't remove anything then I would not be bothered by meatloaf or fried chicken, not my choice but if others like it so be it..

but..

if they replaced other dishes....hmmm..that might be a different story?

 

I wish we could "see" these new menus...hope someone will photograph them and post them ASAP

 

If you read through all 6 pages, I think you'll find that seems to be the general consensus....if it is "in addition to", it's all good. If it is "instead of", things might be a little different. As I have said before, I love Carnival's product overall, but am not going to pay to cruise at Bob Evans. I don't expect Mortons, but do appreciate the food Carnival currently offers at its price point (which is, in my opinion, a step above Bob Evans). Would I be willing to pay a bit more and stay with a certain level of quality? Yes. I have stayed with Carnival through all of the food quality cuts so far, but my line in the sand is fried chicken and meatloaf with no other alternatives.

 

It would be really nice if someone who has seen the new menus would confirm or deny if this is "in addition to" fare.

[lillian marie]

I'm glad to see menu changes because I am tired of the old menu. I won't order meatloaf or fried chicken but hope other healthier options will be available soon too.

[BeccaBecca1713]

It would be really nice if someone who has seen the new menus would confirm or deny if this is "in addition to" fare.

 

 

A few pages back Sarge posted a link to some menus. I didn't see meatloaf listed anywhere, but it appears the Fried Chicken has been placed under "Carnival Classics" offered everyday. So it doesn't look like it's replacing any of the more foo-foo foods.

[Chigirlcruzin]

Hahahaha this is too funny....wait just wait one day and this happens to all of us, we will be told by a doctor that we need to cut out sodium, fat, cholesterol, etc in our diets because we develop health problems....so those who are eating that stuff now just may and its a high probability that you will be in that situation where you need to adjust your diet for your own health then I tell you its TOO LATE! You can help yourself but the damage is already done. Im not saying eating healthier won't give you health problems but it sure will make your chances alot smaller.

 

So many food choices on Carnival take that lunch buffet, on the Fascination they did not have a meat carving at all not one day! They only offer one vegetable dish. They did have one seafood hot dish daily but we not eat seafood...then it was all about sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets, fries, hot dogs, hamburgers (ok a small salad bar with soggy tomatoes and lukewarm salads) a mongolian grill that the meat was tough and the sauce was full of sodium....now thats healthy good eating, fine for you all who think so. As for me until Carnival can adjust this issue and offer better quality/selection foods they not going to get a penny from my pocket, my business goes to those cruise lines that offer something for everybody!

 

I'm 34. I'm a size 0/2...biggest I've ever been is a 6. I work out 10-12 hours a week and eat extremely healthy. I've been on hypertension meds since I was 30. Sometimes you can do all the right things, but luck/genes have something else to say.

 

It's been a year since I sailed Carnival, but they certainly had more than one vegetable choice at the buffet. At a minimum, there's the salad bar in addition to what's on the buffet line. I haven't sailed Princess or Celebrity, but I have sailed NCL and RCI. I didn't notice any huge differences regarding the healthiness of the food. NCL had a fantastic fruit and salad bar, but their hot selections were on par wih Carnival. As for RCI, you keep singing their praises, but my experience is different. The selection really isn't better or healthier. I do feel the taste was far worse than Carnival. In any case, you believe that Carnival's food is inferior and far less healthy than other lines - that's fine - but whining here isn't going to do anything about it.

 

You complained earlier that you couldn' get anything healthy at the breakfast buffet. That's a bunch of bull. First, there's fruit. I always order an egg white omelet. I have them use spray instead of oil, and I have them load it up with veggies.

[Bigbob75]

i do wish they add

franks and beans... now we are livin!

[dillonsmimi]

Skipped over most of the posts, so sorry if I am being redundant.

True fried chicken/chicken fried steak connoisseurs will know that white/cream gravy are standard with these dishes.

Save the brown gravy for your meatloaf!

 

mimi

[dotshub]

What kind of chips if I may ask?

 

The typical triangular shaped chips like most restaurants serve. Dont know if they are cooked on the ship or out of a bag. tasted good tho.

[dotshub]

Is this a stupid question......Do they use alligator in those fritters.....or is it just a term. I've never heard of eating alligators.

 

Yes its real alligator meat. Not that unusual here in Florida.

[Cruisegirl6]

Perhaps I not made myself clear if Carnival keeps the regular stuff on the menu (and this week a person was generous and mailed me the menu from his cruise he recently took and I noticed that they only give 3 choices now for appetizer, but do remain to have 2-3 soups and a salad or two, but they cut two appetizers on its menu) and adds these "comfort foods" that is fine with me but lets face it, I been crusing since a little girl and never stopped and I see the trend...which is....they will take away from the regular menu, for an example, years ago you would get new york strip steak, then they went to sirloin steak, now its flat iron...you not see a strip or sirloin as a choice they DELETED those on the menu, so its just a matter of time they do the same for the items offered and replace with the less expensive and less healthy foods.

 

IF ANYBODY HAS THE COPY OF THE NEW MENU PLEASE SEND US!

 

I mostly speaking about the lunch buffets, dinner is just ok nothing special. Dinner comes with one or two little broccoli florets, or two or three small pieces of carrots what the heck is that its called garnish to me.

 

Vanessa I am with you!

 

Chigirlcrusin- Lunch buffet ON the Fascination consist of only one hot item mostly seafood (seafood we not eat that) and one vegetable that was all, then the salad bar was very small/limited and the tomatoes were soggy and the lettace was not cool....no meat carving and no soups. Plus what I call the unhealthy items those that you find on a childrens menu consisting of hot dogs, burgers, fries, etc. That was lunch on the Fascination...ok they had the deli fine but I rather not have a sandwich on vacation for lunch when I eat subs at home weekdays. Your wrong about RC they offer 2-3 meat carvings, many vegetables, many types of hot dishes consisting of assortment beef, chicken, pork, indian food if you like it...they offer a much larger salad buffet with cheese board, and 3-4 soups each lunch buffet, certainly a huge differnce than what I had on carnival lunch. My last cruise on RC was in december just six months ago.

 

BigBob, I am sure you can bring along a can of beans its not liquor

 

Dillonsmimi- I don't eat meatloaf and I do not eat chicken fried steak or fried chicken but I am a very good cook as its my hobby and I certainly agree with you brown gravy goes with meatloaf and white definately with the chicken!

[Sargent_Schultz]

The Imagination only does short cruises, If you want more variety, try longer cruises. On Carnival Magic we did have sirloin, NY strip, Ribeye, etc.

[SunshineOnTheBrain]

A few pages back Sarge posted a link to some menus. I didn't see meatloaf listed anywhere, but it appears the Fried Chicken has been placed under "Carnival Classics" offered everyday. So it doesn't look like it's replacing any of the more foo-foo foods.

 

With the exception of the Shrimp Cocktail as that was only offered on Elegant night.

 

The Carnival Classic side was pretty much the same as I remember with the addition of the fried chicken. I am really kicking myself for not taking pictures of the menu but..quite honestly...we do not cruise for the dining as much as others.

[jackparts]

Ok people, the original question alluded to the new menu on the Imagination. I understand the broo haa over the downing of the menu, but would anyone have the rest of the menu ? Also, since it's a three nighter, what was the clothing standard for the mdr, regular nite and dress up nite?

[Sargent_Schultz]

No caesar salad at the pizzeria on the Fascination, that is where I have gotten it in the past.

 

Then order it from room service.

[Chigirlcruzin]

Then order it from room service.

 

What makes me laugh is that besides the Romaine lettuce, there's nothing healthy about a Caesar salad. And the lettuce is a stretch - minimal nutritional value in lettuce. I make salads at home and on ship with spinach.

[Marian Paroo]

The original Caeser Salad had a raw egg in it. I learned that from reading one of Julia Child's cookbooks.

 

I dont think you are going to find that anywhere!

[tamirpr]

I wish I had taken a picture of the menu on the Imagination last week. I thought the menus had been instituted across the board and it was old news.

 

This is minor, but the menu looks different also. It's in a Comic Sans or some other comical font, just very plain looking and harder to read. There's a lot of italics, bolds, etc. It really looks like somebody was having fun with Word Perfect or something.

 

The left-hand side had everyday food, which has been already talked about here.

 

The right-hand side is the more "elegant" food. Not sure how to categorize it, but the fancier stuff. What struck me was the fact that the choices are now on one page as opposed to two. There were definitely fewer selections. I seem to remember one soup, one salad and three apps from which to choose. We didn't see the shrimp cocktail listed every day as we used to. My hubby was very disappointed in that. He chose the everyday item of the spinach/artichoke dip. He said it was like Applebee's and was pretty good, although they don't give you very many chips. It looks like it comes in the same ramekin as WCMC.

 

The steak option was the flat iron and it was listed on the right side. From what I remember the choices were a vegetarian dish, pasta (also can have as app), chicken dish, meat dish, fish or pork dish.

 

It was okay. To be honest, for the first time in all of our cruises, we went to the lido for dinner one night. The dining room was just not impressive. Of course, half of the dining room was empty. Literally. The waiter said the short cruises are typically a younger crowd and they don't come to the dining room. It really was the most mediocre service we have ever received. They just didn't care. We're used to waiters/bus boys/water guys who were always friendly and pleasant. This staff just did their job. There were brief announcements by the maitre 'd, nothing like we've seen before.

 

So I would imagine in the end the menu was reflective of the audience that it was intended to serve...a laid back, younger crowd looking for food that they knew what it was.

[CanWeGoYet?]

The original Caeser Salad had a raw egg in it. I learned that from reading one of Julia Child's cookbooks.

 

I dont think you are going to find that anywhere!

 

Yup, a raw egg and sardines go into the dressing, in the original old time recipe. Most would not want it to be that authentic now!

[hoop4321]

returned from a cruise last month......for the record, the comfort foods were in addition to, and did not seem to exclude any normal menu item. The kids at the table ordered the ribs and the chicken....which seemed normal to me as they seem to be least likely to branch out. There was lobster on our cruise, and it was Maine. Yes i do know the difference between those and spiny....please check out the photo of our puppy below as *proof* of my knowledge. If you have ever had just the tail in a restaurant, most likely what ever type of lobster you have had were frozen. I'm sure however, there are exceptions to the rule.

 

lynda...for the millionth time.....people have corrected you over and over. There are still carving boards, loads of fresh veggies and salads. Please stop lying. You were corrected on one thread by someone who was on the cruise that you claimed to be. Obviously you are bored.....it seems like you come on these boards to pick fights. If you managed to put the word do in your drivel, i could swear you were my sister in law.

 

I love how the same people that demand a source in one thread go off on a rumor as it is the truth. Again......it is amazing how knee jerk reactions lead to jumping to conclusions.

[alreadypacked]

I find it rather amusing that, on one hand, you bemoan folks who eat "bad" foods. Then, in the same breath, you find it perfectly ok for someone to down 14 lobster tails at one sitting. Am I missing something?:rolleyes:

 

Maybe I misunderstood, but I was under the impression that he ate 14 lobster tails over the course of the 7 day cruise, not in one sitting.:confused:

[cruisenanny]

Maybe I misunderstood, but I was under the impression that he ate 14 lobster tails over the course of the 7 day cruise, not in one sitting.:confused:

There really aren't that many opportunities to eat lobster on a 7 night cruise, unless maybe they ate in the specialty restaurant alot! I doubt she bought her son 14 lobster tails:eek: lol

[Cruisegirl6]

PEOPLE NOT NEED TO CORRECT ME HOOP, I HAVE BEEN ON 46 CRUISES AND I KNOW WHAT WAS OFFERED AND NOT WAS OFFERED WERE YOU ON MY CRUISE TO KNOW!!!! WERE YOU ON THE FASCINATION ON MAY 25TH LAST YEAR I THINK NOT SO YOU BE QUIET AND NOT GIVE ME YOUR NONSENSE!!!!:p

[dclark]

I have seen something different carved every day on every CCL I have been on. It is usually ham, roast beef or lamb. I don't eat ham or lamb and the roast beef is usually tough.

As for RCL, I remember years ago on the Explorer, they were carving up rubber tough roast beef cooked well done. They even had a sign that said "For safety reasons, the roast beef is served well done" Made me wonder where they found this lump of meat (side of the road in Jamaica?) that they felt it necessary to cook it well done.

I haven't been on a RCL ship in three years, but what stood out was how they push cheap starches. For example, the shrimp meal was five little shrimp, butterfly cut to make them look bigger, with a large dollop of white rice in the middle.The buffet was just a bunch of steam trays with colorful slop in them. The honey stung chicken that everyone on the rcl board raves about, was there the first day, but was inedible as it was cold and dry. Fact is that RCL food went down hill ten years ago and CCL is merely trying catch up.

Some areas of CCL food superiority are pretty obvious. For example, if you get a burger on CCL, it comes fresh off the grill. On RCL, they cook them ahead of time and throw them into a warmer-yuck! If you get chinese food on RCL, it will be out of steam tray, similar to a low buck buffet. On CCL, you get made to order mongolian BBQ.

I am saying CCL food is great, I think it has been going down hill for a while. However, it is nowhere near the slop served up on RCL floating shopping malls. The last time I had good food on RCL was on the Soveriegn of the Seas back in '89, when the ship was a couple of months old. Each RCL since then, has been worse and now we just won't sail them.Our last RCL cruise was done two days after getting off the CCL Liberty and the difference to my family was day and night.