Carnival food and Norwegian food

[SASA13]

IMO, Carnival has better food in the MDR, especially for lunch

and NCL has a better buffet. Also, let me say that I enjoy both cruise lines and I have never gone hungry on either CCL or NCL. :D

[Warm Breezes]

IMHO:

 

The MDR's are similar, however DH prefers CCL.

NCL has a better buffet and pizza.

CCL has better deserts.

Love NCL Blue Lagoon/O'Sheehans...but also love CCL Deli and Fish & Chips.

We don't do enough fee restaurants to comment on quality. NCL does have more options though.

[lucille&mike]

Hvae experienced both. IMHO there is no comparison, Carnival would come out on top as far as quality. Also, while no cruise line is anywhere near where they used to be as far as service, Carnival comes out on top there as well. The only major line we have not sailed is Princess. NCL finishes on the bottom of the list for both quality and service, not even close. NCL and their 'anytime' dining is simply another way to have less staff. We would go to the dining room and it would be half full. You woul dstill have ot wait for a table as well as service once you were seated.

I do realize that NCL has their fans. We are simply not one of them.

[kcdancerkc]

I'm not suggesting you try another NCL ship hoping for a better experience but if I based my decision to cruise on the food I had on 1 Carnival cruise I wouldn't be trying the Fantasy in 10 days. Our experience with food on the Facsination last year was not better than NCL. The lobster was so salty most everyone at our table left it on the plate. The chocolate melting cake I'd heard so much about was more like chocolate soup. The side dishes were served in small dishes and one night something came with mac and cheese. It was so overbaked I could only get 1 spoonful out of the middle of the dish. There was nothing that stood out. Other than the chocolate melting cake, I thought the desserts on Carnival were a bit better.

 

I've found a difference between ships and even between cruises on the same ship with NCL. Maybe this Fantasy cruise will be better than the Fascination. If not, we'll still have a good time. I don't cruise for food.

 

IF you get to read this in time -- ask for WMC a little more done - and they will!

[DEL67]

As others have said, it is a matter of taste, but I prefer Carnival's food.

 

In addition, on my last NCL cruise (NCL Jade in Dec,) I felt that NCL's cost cutting really showed in the food, especially the seafood. For example my shrimp entree had 4 small shrimp almost lost on a huge bed of risotto. And I know all cruise lines oversalt their food, but on NCL I found several dishes too salty for me to eat.

[Spaniel Lover]

The one executive chef who writes the menus for all the Carnival ships apparently doesn't like hot vegetables on the buffet. They will have 12 different cold salads but you can always count on baked potato and steamed broccoli as the extent of their hot vegetables EVERY single night on the buffet.

 

This is something I find really strange about Carnival. Don't get me wrong... I'm a huge Carnival fan... but I get so frustrated eating dinners in the buffet where they serve baked potatoes EVERY night! Come on, Carnival, mix it up a little. Same thing every night? How can you think we're going to like that?

 

Even at breakfast they switch to a different style of potato every morning. I wish they would, at a minimum, do mashed potatoes every other night in the buffet.

 

Regarding Norwegian...

We've only done one cruise with them. Never went back after one try. The main reason: Carnival's food was far superior. Maybe things have improved on Norwegian since then... but we have never wanted to risk it after our bad experience on Norwegian Star and only good experiences with Carnival.

[Cruiseaholichal]

Have never been to Norway -- have no idea how thier food tastes. I do know they are big on sardines.

[emcelh]

IF you get to read this in time -- ask for WMC a little more done - and they will!

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll do that.

[Dina7]

Will be sailing on the Splendor for the 1st time this july, so can't give my opinion on Carnival's food. I can tell you that I was very pleased overall with the quality & variety of NCL's food last August. Loved that we could have lunch in the MDR on embarkation day. They don't really tell people this....as you boarded the ship the staff kept pointing people in the direction of the buffet. I only knew because my parents who had sailed on NCL told us. The MDR was practically empty, which made it such a pleasant start to our cruise. The Blue Lagoon was a real plus as an alternative for breakfast, lunch or a late night snack. We always were able to get a table even though it's not very big. One thing I will say about NCL is the lobster tail was actually half of a half of a lobster tail, which was very cheap of them. Also, I only liked one dessert in the MDR...the coconut souffle & at the Blue Lagoon...the cheesecake, which was delicious. The rest of the desserts on the entire cruise were not good at all. Was never able to try the crepses at the buffet because the line was always too long since they only had 1 person making them. Almost forgot, 1 other dessert that was good was the chocolate fountain at the buffet. You told the attendent what you wanted dipped into the chocolate & he did it for you, put it on a plate & off you went to enjoy....bananans, marshmallows, pound cake, strawberries. So that's 3 good desserts for the whole trip. Also, we only ate breakfast at the buffet once because I found everything I ate was cold & I hate cold food. It was weird because the lunch & dinner items at the buffet were hot. The other plus were the bbq's on the pool deck...what a fun atmosphere & delicious food...chefs set up giant grills & people lined up in an orderly fashion to choose what they wanted...grilled chicken, beef & shrimp shish-ke-bobs, etc...so tasty & line wasn't too long. Never felt like we had to eat in a specialty restaurant to get good food.

[Waterloomarc]

We've done 6 carnival and 1 NCL with it bring the most recent. I found the food to be pretty comparable with the edge probably going to Carnival, even if only slightly.

 

I'm in the minority here though in that I preferred NCL's MDR over their buffet. I also preferred NCL's desserts to Carnival. I find Carnival too sweet most times.

 

We ate in NCL's Italian restaurant because it was included in our booking. It was a waste even for free. I would put it on par with Olive Garden, which I loathe. Definitely wouldn't recommend it. We never tried any other specialty restaurants as the MDR was quite adequate for us.

 

The crepe station at night on NCL was fantastic. The breakfast in the dining room on CCL was better than NCL.

 

We're booked on NCL for our next cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DGP1111]

. . . The crepe station at night on NCL was fantastic.

 

 

Agreed!!! :)

 

.

 

.

[keith75]

Let me state I've spent half my life in restaurant management and ownership. It's really not even close...Norwegian has much better food, especially on the buffets.

 

The one executive chef who writes the menus for all the Carnival ships apparently doesn't like hot vegetables on the buffet. They will have 12 different cold salads but you can always count on baked potato and steamed broccoli as the extent of their hot vegetables EVERY single night on the buffet.

 

For the record, both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have better food than Norwegian.

 

Not even close? Wow!.....that must be some good food.

[HarpHarp]

Am I the only one that saw the title and thought:

 

Corn Dogs & Cotton Candy vs. Lutefisk & Lingonberries

 

:D

 

:p Now I need to go clean my monitor. I'll take the carnival food thank you. Don't care for Lutefisk.

 

Seriously, I've sailed both lines recently. The main dining room food is pretty equal for the most part. Carnival has better desserts and I find more main dish choices to my liking on Norwegian. The breakfast in the MDR is better on Norwegian.There is also more variety fleet wide on NCL.

Buffet- I really liked the deli, Guy's Burgers, and the barbeque on the Breeze. The buffet was better than the older NCL ships. I'll get to compare that to the Breakaway in Nov. The pretzel rolls & bratwurst on NCL are the best. the Blue Lagoon has wonderful sandwiches, snacks etc and the breakfasts are very good. Carnival can't touch the specialty dining of NCL.