has CCL fallen that far?

[DEL67]

My upcoming Glory cruise will be my first on Carnival for over a year so I really can not comment on the current state of the food.

 

However, I can say that I was extremely disappoint in the dinners on the NCL Jade in Dec. I thought the food in the main diningroom was extremely uneven and some dishes were close to inedible due to too much salt (and I like salt.) In addition some, of thir entree portions would be skimpy as appetizers. For example, a bowl of pasta with some sort of ragout had one, small strip of meat and the scallop entree had 4 bay scallops (the tiny ones.) I know I could order something else, but generally do not like to do so.

 

I did not go hungry, of course, but a couple of nights ended up at the buffet which I normally never do for dinner.

[vermonter16]

I generally prefer Carnival's food to the food on RCCL although I will say I was impressed with the food on the RCCL Serenade. That being said - I would be open to cruising any line. I generally look at itinerary and price...and of course the port it is leaving from. A co-worker came by a few minutes ago and asked what I was doing with my downtime and I said - trying to figure out what I want to do on my next cruise. He asked who I was cruising with and I said Carnival.... He said - oh, you're going on the party boat to party huh? I told him what I look for when I book a cruise and that that Carnival is not at all the kind of line he thinks that it is. I haven't cruised a lot....maybe 6 or 7times between Carnival and RCCL....but that's more than his 2 on HAL which I would cruise on if they had the right things I was looking for as well....

[elcuchio24]

I generally prefer Carnival's food to the food on RCCL although I will say I was impressed with the food on the RCCL Serenade. That being said - I would be open to cruising any line. I generally look at itinerary and price...and of course the port it is leaving from. A co-worker came by a few minutes ago and asked what I was doing with my downtime and I said - trying to figure out what I want to do on my next cruise. He asked who I was cruising with and I said Carnival.... He said - oh, you're going on the party boat to party huh? I told him what I look for when I book a cruise and that that Carnival is not at all the kind of line he thinks that it is. I haven't cruised a lot....maybe 6 or 7times between Carnival and RCCL....but that's more than his 2 on HAL which I would cruise on if they had the right things I was looking for as well....

 

HAL is the one line I DON'T actively look to book. Just dull and boring, in my experience at least.

[Warm Breezes]

I generally prefer Carnival's food to the food on RCCL although I will say I was impressed with the food on the RCCL Serenade. That being said - I would be open to cruising any line. I generally look at itinerary and price...and of course the port it is leaving from. A co-worker came by a few minutes ago and asked what I was doing with my downtime and I said - trying to figure out what I want to do on my next cruise. He asked who I was cruising with and I said Carnival.... He said - oh, you're going on the party boat to party huh? I told him what I look for when I book a cruise and that that Carnival is not at all the kind of line he thinks that it is. I haven't cruised a lot....maybe 6 or 7times between Carnival and RCCL....but that's more than his 2 on HAL which I would cruise on if they had the right things I was looking for as well....

That's the way I feel. We don't cruise for the food, and if I were to have a meal a I didn't like I would chalk it up personal taste and not blame a ship or cruise line for it. I have always been able to find something I enjoy. When we cruise, I am looking at itinerary, price, embarkation port, and sometimes it is a specific ship we want to sail on. I don't particularly care which line it is and I don't pay attention to other peoples opinions on food, service, or entertainment because that is subjective. I would rather experience it myself and make my own decision on whether I like it or not....even then sometimes my opinion varies from those I travel with and most often will vary from ship to ship even in the same line.

 

Before we left on our last Glory trip, DH told a guy he was working with that he was sailing on Carnival during this vacation. This guy is a loyal RCCL fan and told DH he was absolutely nuts for sailing on CCL and then proceeded to tell him how horrible Carnival was. DH asked him how many times he has sailed on Carnival...he said zero and that he has only sailed RCCL. DH told him he has sailed on Carnival 4 times and had never experienced any of the things he was down grading Carnival for. He suggested the gentleman expand his horizon and try other lines before blindly following just one line and listening to all their negative propeganda about other lines.

 

Sailing on Glory confirmed the opinion that I had before our vacation... that I don't feel that Carnival has declined. I had a great meal each night in the MDR. The lobster was the best I have had on any cruise ship. We still did not like the foods offered at the buffet...however we always found something we liked at the Burrito Bar, Deli, Grill, or Fish & Chips so it really didn't matter to us what they served at the buffet. Other people evidently enjoyed it because the buffet was always busy. Everyone has their own subjective opinion about food and we will never all agree on it. But to say a Cruise Line is declining because you don't like what they are serving is just a matter of opinion...your opinion.

[bobmal99]

Hello Warm Breezes, I agree with you 100%!!!

 

 

 

That's the way I feel. We don't cruise for the food, and if I were to have a meal a I didn't like I would chalk it up personal taste and not blame a ship or cruise line for it. I have always been able to find something I enjoy. When we cruise, I am looking at itinerary, price, embarkation port, and sometimes it is a specific ship we want to sail on. I don't particularly care which line it is and I don't pay attention to other peoples opinions on food, service, or entertainment because that is subjective. I would rather experience it myself and make my own decision on whether I like it or not....even then sometimes my opinion varies from those I travel with and most often will vary from ship to ship even in the same line.

 

Before we left on our last Glory trip, DH told a guy he was working with that he was sailing on Carnival during this vacation. This guy is a loyal RCCL fan and told DH he was absolutely nuts for sailing on CCL and then proceeded to tell him how horrible Carnival was. DH asked him how many times he has sailed on Carnival...he said zero and that he has only sailed RCCL. DH told him he has sailed on Carnival 4 times and had never experienced any of the things he was down grading Carnival for. He suggested the gentleman expand his horizon and try other lines before blindly following just one line and listening to all their negative propeganda about other lines.

 

Sailing on Glory confirmed the opinion that I had before our vacation... that I don't feel that Carnival has declined. I had a great meal each night in the MDR. The lobster was the best I have had on any cruise ship. We still did not like the foods offered at the buffet...however we always found something we liked at the Burrito Bar, Deli, Grill, or Fish & Chips so it really didn't matter to us what they served at the buffet. Other people evidently enjoyed it because the buffet was always busy. Everyone has their own subjective opinion about food and we will never all agree on it. But to say a Cruise Line is declining because you don't like what they are serving is just a matter of opinion...your opinion.

[Ken-SanDiego]

Can't help but consider jessemon has an ulterior motive here. The overhwelmingly positive reviews of CCL lead me to believe that he might be one of those demanding people we have all seen from time to time that are simply impossible to please. Always angling for freebies or upgrades and complaining so hard people just give in.

 

As you can see, I am partial to CCL and although I enjoyed my NCL cruise I won't be back anytime soon. I enjoy a lively, full featured cruise line and NCL shuts down tight around 10pm, right about the time I leave my cabin to START partying.

 

Every cruise line has issues that they work hard to deal with, however any venom spitting review like that of jessemon has to be suspect on its face. Look at the overall picture and not just the tiny smudge.

[WillieD13]

I don't think anyone can "fairly/properly" judge a cruise line's food. First off, individual tastes differ, so what may be good for one, may be not so good for another. Secondly, Carnival currently has 23 ships. I've eaten on only 1 of them, twice, and both times I thought the food was pretty darn good. While the menus on the other 22 are probably similar, the cook staff is totally different, and the food suppliers are different. Without eating on those ships, how can I rate them?

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

Once upon a time we were Carnival "snobs", in other words we thought of Carnival as the typical stereotype, cheap, cheap, cheap. We returned from our 5th Carnival cruise two weeks ago. Carnival's food is on par with other major lines. In the main dining room it is just as good as Princess, Celebrity and HAL. However, NCL, IMO, is the worst food we have had, and again, this is subjective. If we want something extra on a cruiseline, no matter which one, we pay to go to one of the specialty restaurants. However, that being said, we usually book the steakhouse at least twice on a sailing on CCL, this past cruise we only booked once since the food in the main dining room was excellent. P.S. This past sailing was our third time on the Miracle.

[bingo3]

The mega ships are cooking for 2000-4000+ people several meals per day, I don't know how anyone could expect gourmet food for those kinds of numbers. I think we are darned lucky to get anything besides soup! I cannot even imagine trying to cook for that many.

[halos]

Can't help but consider jessemon has an ulterior motive here. The overhwelmingly positive reviews of CCL lead me to believe that he might be one of those demanding people we have all seen from time to time that are simply impossible to please. Always angling for freebies or upgrades and complaining so hard people just give in.

 

.

 

jessemon???

LOL

Well, I can say your consideration needs to be reconsidered because you are pretty wrong.

[DGP1111]

jessemon???

Lol

well, i can say your consideration needs to be reconsidered because you are pretty wrong.

 

+1 . . .

[firefly333]

Can't help but consider jessemon has an ulterior motive here. The overhwelmingly positive reviews of CCL lead me to believe that he might be one of those demanding people we have all seen from time to time that are simply impossible to please. Always angling for freebies or upgrades and complaining so hard people just give in.

 

Just because you dont like what someone posted is no reason to accuse them of all sorts of things when you havent got a clue if they are true.

 

I like Carnival .. but not all the time. If I do it too many times in a row, its too much sameness for me.. though I like CCL. My Triumph roll call is absolutely fun.

[brandy4598]

I have been on 3 cruises so far...all Carnival...and I can't say that I've been impressed by the food in either the MDR or on the Lido. It hasn't been "horrible," but it hasn't been fantastic or anything to write home about either.

 

However, I did enjoy the steakhouses on both the Dream and the Freedom. The food quality was much better and, of course, the service was 10x better (as it should be considering that your servers are waiting on fewer people; not to mention that you are paying extra for it).

 

Ultimately, I would not expect wonderful food on any of the cruise lines; except for in the specialty restaurants...That being said, I don't think I would pick one line over the other for the food. But, I would enjoy CCL more if they had more specialty restaurants to choose from. :D

[wendymac]

Don't take this wrong...If you eat at the same place all the time it is hard to determine good or bad...

You live in the same area where you now can cruise on 4 different cruise lines 30 minutes from home.....Try them you"ll like them....;):cool:

 

We have had no problems with Carnival - have enjoyed our cruises - I have nothing against trying different lines - I would love to try a different line, unfortunately we always cruise in May - this is when vacation is convenient for us and the only two lines seem to be Carnival and RCCL and the RCCL itineraries are very limited so we go with Carnival - we have enjoyed the food and experience on Carnival so far -that being said we are contemplating NCL next year out of Boston to Bermuda, variety is the spice of life they say.

[maggieworkman]

There is fried chicken for sure. There is NOT meatloaf. For sure.

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

 

What cruise line is that menu from?

 

Doesn't look like anything I have ever seen on Carnival.

 

Tom

[maggieworkman]

Its the new Carnival menus.

 

Maggie

[halos]

-that being said we are contemplating NCL next year out of Boston to Bermuda, variety is the spice of life they say.

Join us!! We're going Sept 14th 2012 :)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is not changed, it is just some new cruisers thoughts

[KentuckyKat]

When did the menu change? That pictured above was not anything like the menu in the fantasy 2 wks ago. We had the same menus I have seen since they combined the starters, soups and salads.

[maggieworkman]

When did the menu change? That pictured above was not anything like the menu in the fantasy 2 wks ago. We had the same menus I have seen since they combined the starters, soups and salads.

 

It is from this review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1460980

 

on the Glory in August 4 - 8, 2011.

 

There are other day menus posted too. I just picked the picture showing the meatloaf on the menu.

 

Maggie

[JPH814]

When did the menu change? That pictured above was not anything like the menu in the fantasy 2 wks ago. We had the same menus I have seen since they combined the starters, soups and salads.

 

Yes - that is the menu from our cruise on the Glory 2 weeks ago.

 

It still has much of what was on the traditional menu. There are still a couple of soups (hot and cold), a couple of starters, some salads and the entrees. They were generally familiar, but a little downscale. No real steaks (I don't consider flatiron a steak....more like a london broil - same for the incredibly mislabeled Chateaubriand which was from the beef shoulder, not a tenderloin at all.). There was prime rib and Lobster tail one night.

 

But the "comfort food" was added: Meatloaf one night, fried chicken another, Mac and cheese with chicken one night. I do not consider this a problem. I have eaten in some pretty trendy restaurants in Manhatten and Philadelphia that feature all of these. (Joe Allen's on Restaurant Row just off Broadway has some great meatloaf) I had the chicken and the mac and cheese and they were very good. My son had the meatloaf and it was pretty good too (a little onion-y for my taste).

 

I believe Carnival is attempting to keep up with the tastes of a changing customer base. When you are expanding your marketing to the mass market - especially families and younger adults, you have to adapt your menu to that broader customer base.

[oakleys]

Never had a problem with the carnival food. The indian on the dream was great, had some every day for lunch. Makes a solid change from serving just burgers etc, hope they expand that to other ships. The sandwiches are always great too.

[mgatc]

Wow. I have seen better looking food in the cafeteria at the school I work at.

 

Never seen "southern" fried chicken served with brown gravy.

[Ken-SanDiego]

jessemon???

LOL

Well, I can say your consideration needs to be reconsidered because you are pretty wrong.

 

I've heard from people who cruise with him that he is probably upset over the new CCL smoking policies so it may be his addiction talking. Either way I knew there was an ulterior motive for his venomous CCL bash. Maybe he should try an ecig and get over it.