Tell me about the food quality on RCI

[davy jones]

My husband and I are seasoned cruisers having completed 32. Years ago we did 3 cruises with RCI, the last 1998, 15 years ago. Although we loved their ships and staff, we felt that the food was lacking. To us it tasted bland and like it had been sitting on a warming tray for hours.

Has the food improved?

 

Since it is generally stated that food quality has decreased with the advent of larger ships and upcharge restaurants, I guess that you probably would still feel the same way.

 

That said, I find the food to be generally fine. I never go hungry. However, on every ship I look at the entire buffet and decide what I am going to have before I get in line. In the MDR, you can always send something back or get something else.

[WetToes]

Judith - Hope you have a great time, ... and that you find the food better than your previous RC cruise. :)

[dorisis]

Perhaps I am jaded with many many cruises, but I think the food and service have both gone down hill on all the ships you mentioned. The Oceania line and Regent Seven Seas do a better job.

 

~Doris~

[koolforkatz]

Following this thread with interest as we will be cruising for the first time with RCI later this year and have heard the food is not as good as other lines. For what it's worth, having sailed mainly Celebrity and Princess over the past few years, there has been a bit of decrease in their food quality, too. Well, apart from the specialty restaurants ;) Seems to be a trend.

 

We are more than happy to try the specialty restaurants on the Allure.

[danilynn17]

My husband and I are not foodies, but I am a pretty picky eater. I have sailed RCL, HAL, NCL and Carnival. Both my husband and I preferred RCL.

 

Our most recent cruise was HAL. After sailing RCL in our prior cruise, we were very much disappointed with the food. While it was serviceable, it lacked flavor. Very bland. Perhaps that was geared towards the clientele, as HAL attracts an older crowd.

[ryano]

The Oceania line and Regent Seven Seas do a better job.

 

~Doris~

 

I would certainly hope so! Their fares are about 4X what it cost to sail on mass market lines! :eek:

 

Even booking specialty dining on mass market lines every night, you still come out way ahead of sailing a luxury line.

[WhansaMi]

My husband and I are seasoned cruisers having completed 32. Years ago we did 3 cruises with RCI, the last 1998, 15 years ago. Although we loved their ships and staff, we felt that the food was lacking. To us it tasted bland and like it had been sitting on a warming tray for hours.

 

Since that time we have cruised exclusively on Celebrity, Princess and HAL.

 

We love to cruise to Hawaii and have found a cruise that appeals to us on the Radiance of the Seas. We are considering giving RCI another try as it has been 15 years.

 

Has the food improved?

 

I've traveled on HAL, Carnival, and a river boat. I just took my first RCL cruise last month, and have a Celebrity TA booked for December. While we aren't real foodies, I would say we are foodie wannabes :-) We like to go to foodie restaurants, but we also like good chicken wings. :-)

 

All of the following is just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

First of all, the desserts were very good, better than most on other cruise ships.

 

Lunch in the MDR was a disappointment. The Enchantment had two MDR lunch menus that were alternated every other day. I've never had that happen on a ship before. It was quite unusual for me. The good news is that they had a salad bar that was fresh.

 

The entrees were hit and miss. They season more delicately, so if it is a dish where that is called for, it can be nice, especially at the beginning of the cruise, when the ingredients were fresh. But, if it was a dish where bold flavors were called for, they didn't do so well, at least according to my husband. Also, I found the items that called for "tomato sauce" to be completely unseasoned - just tomatoes.

 

For me the real problem was the fish. I don't each any red meat, and rarely eat chicken, so I mostly divided my attention between the vegetarian options and the fish. Imagine my surprise when I got the "sea trout" and it was salmon! The waiter said he gets frequent complaints about it.

 

Another night, my "sea bass" was ... halibut? Not sure, but NOT sea bass. Different waiter. When he brought it out my face must have said it all, because he immediately offered to take it back. He said that was why he never suggests it. I ate it, because it was fish. Not good, but.... the alternative that night was pasta with tomato sauce. ;-)

 

Overall, I would say that, compared to Carnival, the desserts were better, the entrees were worse. Fewer appetizer selections... so actually, I guess I would give Carnival the edge. I liked the food on HAL better than both.

 

I hear good things about Celebrity, so I'm looking forward to trying that.

[gelo7]

It was just OK for us, especially the buffet.

[Eriksgarden]

The food in the specialty restaurants is awesome, but overall? I would say the food is more about quantity than quality. Friends who have sailed both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean say the food on Celebrity is superior. I'm perfectly OK with so-so food. I love the ships Royal Caribbean has.

[grand isle joe]

......having just returned from a cruise out of Port Canaveral and spending a couple days at Universal Park in Orlando after I can tell you that Emerils resturaunt is a step below RCL IMO. And they plucked $212.00 out of my wallet.:eek: All I could think of is how Fancy-pancy named haunts can not even beat ship dining.

 

P.S.......yes I DO feel ripped off!........:o