Best Main Dinning Room Food-Royal Caribbean or Norwegian?

[kitcad]

Recently returned from our first Norwegian cruise and thought the main dinning room food was far inferior to Royal Caribbean. However we have not been on Royal in almost 3years. Has the food in Royal's main dinning rooms declined also!

[nyyhoneybee]

I did Royal in 2011, NCL in 2012 and doing Royal again 2013. NCL food made hubby & I both sick to a point that we had to miss Rome

[KKB]

(we haven't done NCL yet, so I can't comment!:rolleyes:)

Their fav line/food is Celebrity, followed by RCCL, then Princess & NCL is a distant fourth (though it won't stop them from sailing NCL...)

[klingoncruiser]

Food is subjective so ALL comments will be pretty worthless. Now.... that being said......

 

I have been on RCL and NCL many times. I will have to say that Main Dining goes hands down to RCL. However NCL's buffet is much larger and more varied. Also, NCL has some outdoor grilling that is kinda neat and yummy. NCL really short changes the MDR for their specialty eateries. Most of the pay for meal thingys are pretty good as are RCL.

 

So, I will continue to sail both and not grumble about either ones food. I never go hungry on either one. :)

[Aquahound]

Just returned from a 7 night cruise on the Norwegian Dawn. I didn't think the MDR food was all that bad, but my nod definitely goes to RCI.

[andrea lynn]

The food in the MDR on NCL was awful! However tHe food in the buffet on NCL was very good with a very nice variety! The daily BBQs on NCL on sea days was excellent! Go figure... Overall RCCL beats NCL by far! The desserts on NCL were awful all around.

[Driftwoodgal]

The dining rooms for food and service are night and day between the two in my opinion. I won't cruise NCL again, really tired of getting pushed into the specialty restaurant to find something edible at night. The dining room service was so sad on the NCL Jade. We were in a cheaper cabin on the Jade than we sail on RCI. Loved the larger bathroom on the Jade, but the dining expierence was just to much for me.

 

I don't consider my self a food snob, but do want hot food when ordered and to have some type of service to refill ice tea/coffee when you are in a dining room.

 

My vote goes to RCI hands down at this point.

[Canagirl]

I've cruised both and enjoyed the food on both. No complaints on either. Our most recent cruise was on NCL and we thought the main dining room food was very good. No need for us to eat in the speciality restaurants on that cruise. I did see a post of the new Royal Caribbean menus and I prefer the NCL menu if given the choice.

[mcdermott]

We have done 2 RCI and 2 NCL cruises this year and we thought to our surprise that the food on NCL was better

[aquaman92]

Been on RCI and NCL I did not like the MDR food on NCL .

[mrobstad]

I've traveled both lines at least once the past few years. The MDR food is AWFUL on both! However, the speciality restaurant food is excellent! This leads me to the conclusion that this is a plan to get passengers to eat in the speciality restaurants. When last on the NCL epic as a solo, I was able to eat in the speciality restaurants almost every night! Not so lucky as a solo on Serenade. Personally, I'd rather pay an extra $140 (7 days x $20 average) for A+ food!

[hamrag]

We have cruised 4 or 5 times on both lines, but have not yet sampled the RCI "new menus".....plan to do that in January!

 

Our experience overall is that the MDR on RCI is better than NCL, but the buffet food provided on NCL is of greater variety and better with NCL. We cannot agree, as some have posted, that NCL food is terrible but do agree that both lines (as all mass lines) are touting for your spend in the specialty restaurants....as well as many other revenue centres!!

 

Cruising remains by far, in our opinion, the best value for money vacation with the benefit of numerous ports along the way. We do not complain, and take the good with the not so good in the full knowledge that "a bad day sailing is better than the best day at work"!

[yogimax]

RCL's new menu is absolutely wonderful!

[kitcad]

RCL's new menu is absolutely wonderful!

Any links to the new menus?

[sandy toes]

Just return from Royal, new menus offered something for everyone at the table, seafood both shell&fish,steak, chicken, pasta and vegetarian. We were all very pleased. No one even ate in specialty venues. That said, last NCL cruise only 2 nights in MDR and the rest at speciality sites...the food was not up to our standards and as someone else pointed out...our glasses were never refilled. Royal has my vote!

[salboz]

I and all other cruisers whom I personally know, feel that NCL is superior in entertainment, but that is not enough to make up for the poor food. Limited selections, variety, not very good at all. RCL has never disappointed in the food department. (Total of 42 cruises - NCL worst food)

[stevea36]

Like others who have posted here I felt that I had to go to a specialty restaurant on NCL to get the food quality and something close to the service that I find in the RCI MDR. I didnt feel like I was cruising when I had to continuously flag down a member of the waitstaff even to get my water glass refilled on NCL.

 

Steve

[rubrrick]

I and all other cruisers whom I personally know, feel that NCL is superior in entertainment, but that is not enough to make up for the poor food. Limited selections, variety, not very good at all. RCL has never disappointed in the food department. (Total of 42 cruises - NCL worst food)

 

I'm a RCL cheerleader, but I must say that the food in the past in the MDR was quite disappointing. That lead to Royal Caribbean changing out their menus (still are in the change mode, and learning curve) and have actually added some more money to the daily allowance for passenger food.

 

It's been years since we personally have cruised NCL, but from what friends tell us, it's best to stay out of their MDR.

 

Rick

[wallyworld583]

Haven't been on either line in two years but from past experience NCL food is very ordinary. I refuse to go on a cruise where the food, for the most part, is what I can cook at home. Sorry, pot roast and turkey do not qualify as cruise worthy food. We won't do NCL again. Took granddaughters on both cruises and they both said they don't want to go on NCL, that RCI is much better both in food and overall experience. That from an 8 and 10 yo!

[Cruising89143]

Cruised on the Dawn in 07 and the Star in 09. MDR food was below that of RCI in quality. Service in the MDR was poor. We ate most of our meals in specialty dining which was good to very good as was the service. On both ships the lido dining still ranks as the all time worst casual dining that I have ever experienced. Things might have changed in the last three plus years.

[Kik35]

Another vote for RCI. Food and service both very good. Although we sailed awhile back on NCL the food was not good and the MDR service was TERRIBLE!!! It was soo slow that we never had time for dessert(maybe that was a good thing!) if we wanted to get to the show. Will not consider sailing on NCL again.:eek:

[the kids]

True! the food in the MDR on the Allure was very good with the following exception. Do not order the steak,grizzly and tough.Lunch in the MDR is the same each day at sea except for soup. Skip the Windjammer or get there as soon as it opens to avoid the crush. Over all can't complain and you really do not have to spend extra $$ for specialty restaurants unless you want to try something different.

.

[RCLcruiser2012]

NCL food was TERRIBLE in the MDR!!! We were beyond disappointed. Our conclusion was they want to force you to dine at the speciality restaurants. It didn't feel free personalized (like 2 people serving you...forgot titles) We wont cruise back on NCL because of this!!!

[njhorseman]

We frequently sail from NY on NCL and from Bayonne on the Explorer of the Seas.

 

I find the MDR food on both lines to be acceptable but uninspired. We'll see how the new Royal Caribbean menus are when we sail on the Explorer again next week.

 

Considering the totality of dining offerings, the NCL ships are far superior to the Explorer. NCL's buffets are head and shoulders above Royal's, and there is a large variety of specialty restaurants, versus only Portofino on the Explorer. NCL's 24 hour casual venue, Blue Lagoon has far greater variety than the Promenade Cafe. NCL's MDR is open for lunch on embarkation day, while on Royal you have to fight the thundering herd at the feeding trough known as the Windjammer.

 

I realize on the newer Royal ships there is a far greater choice of dining options than what is available on the Explorer, but for someone cruising from close to home in the NY area, the NCL ships have the upper hand in dining.

[matj2000]

It's all the same.

Put on the blindfolds and you will never tell the difference between Carnival, RC, or Norwegian.

This RC forums is probably the most bias place on this entire website...