How does the food on Royal Caribbean compare to other cruise lines?

[natalie2727]

I have heard that in the past, the food on RCCL was not as good as other cruise lines. I will be cruising on Radiance of the Seas to Hawaii, and my travel agent said they are working on the quality of the food...but has anyone been on a recent cruise, and if so, how does the food compare to other lines? Any recommendations on what is good and/or which venues to eat at?

 

Thanks!

[FlyingPhotog]

Many say Carnival is better for food than RCI. I've cruise with both Carnival and RCI in the past 5 years and I didn't notice one particularly exceeding the other.

[mtchg]

..with another on the way. First, Splendour OTS, food was in general below

Carnival's, especially the beef..one nite everyone ordered it; and everyone sent it back at my table. BUT..Rhapsody one year later was a big improvement, including the beef..easily equal to most and a little better than

a couple of my many Carnival adventures.

 

I might add service both times was equal to, or a little better than Carnival's.

If you are considering RCI, food should not be the issue. It's good to excellent.

 

Mitch

[Spf12]

I have heard that in the past, the food on RCCL was not as good as other cruise lines. I will be cruising on Radiance of the Seas to Hawaii, and my travel agent said they are working on the quality of the food...but has anyone been on a recent cruise, and if so, how does the food compare to other lines? Any recommendations on what is good and/or which venues to eat at?

 

Thanks!

I've cruised Celebrity 17 times since 2003 and booked B2B Explorer this January. I'll let everyone know my observations.

[hdawson]

18 cruises with five on Celebrity. I've never been disappointed on Celebrity. Always excellent.

I agree with others, while Royal Caribbean's DR food is "good", Carnival's in the last few years has been somewhat better.

Of course food is always subjective.

[Cruising89143]

I find the food on RCI and Carnival to be about the same with the exception of the evening lido dining room. RCI is head and shoulders above Carnival here. The Windjammer has many more selections for those that choose to skip the dining room and eat in the casual Windjammer. My worst food was on NCL.

[momesu]

I think concerning the issue of food quality totally depends on the type of resturants one is used to eating in and how picky o0ne is. I always read complaints about RCI food and on all of my cruises I have found it excellent. (as evidenced by the fact that I would like to try almost everything on the menu :) ) I concider my tastes in fod to be pretty discriminating but then I don't frequent resturants where the main course would run me $30 either.

[negc]

Unless you know that someone else's tastes in food match yours, their opinions have very little value. Since cruise ships are serving thousands of meals per day, it is unrealistic to expect that the attention to each meal will match that given in a land-based gourmet restaurant, but will probably be as good as, if not better, than what you would receive at a banquet facility.

I have never gone hungry on a cruise ship and some meals have been excellent, some good, and some mediocre. There are so many variables including the individual chefs preparing the meals, the proximity of your table to the kitchen, and personal preferences in how certain menu items should be prepared, that any general comparison to other ships, lines etc. are generally worthless. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated or influenced by the opinions expressed here. Other people's dining experiences may differ radically from yours and so what they find either excellent (or poor), might differ completely from your determination. Go on your cruise and judge for yourself. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. :)

[anankae]

I have to agree that it's entirely a subjective thing. It's like one complaint I heard about my first RC cruise was we didn't get lobster. I got lobster on Carnival and it was overcooked and tough but whatever. Some people prefer that to no lobster at all.

 

That said, I've been on 2 Royal Caribbean cruises, one Carnival. By far, IMO Royal Caribbean's is better. Carnival did breakfast better, American breakfast that is. We had trouble getting beef really rare on Royal Caribbean was about our only complaint. RC had more variety, more selections and their cuisine was more ... eclectic? Continental? That's what my partner and I like tho.

 

Carnival had more continuous serving but I found myself grabbing a piece of sugar free cake rather than submit myself to the buffet as it just wasn't very good. I would have grabbed a sandwich but doing lo-carb has made me lose my desire for bread (funny how that works). The sushi was good but they only made it available for 3 hours, seemed like the intention was to snack on it, not for noshing, not sure I entirely agreed with that approach.

I'm rambling, I'll stop. :p

 

My cruises:

Splendour 12/03 (Panama Canal)

Splendour 03/04 (Cozumel)

Ecstacy 06/05 (Cozumel)

Serenade 12/05 (Southern Caribbean)

[OCruisers]

Agree with all that "food" is certainly a subjective thing!

 

In our opinion ... RCI has the food we like least of all of the major mass market cruise lines!

 

We don't sail RCI for the food! :p

 

Sometimes, we HAPPILY trade food for FUN! :D

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)