How does Celebrity food compare to ...?

[cibumcupio]

How does Celebrity food compare to RCI? We're sailing RCI for the first time soon, and we're big foodies so naturally this is the first question that came to our minds. We all know Celebrity always score high on food, but how much "worse" will it be on RCI really? And if you had to pick land-based eateries to compare the two lines to, what would they be? (Like, "the MDR is like a nice wedding banquet hall, Qsine is like that new Tapas place in town, but *insert another cruise line* is like Applebees")

 

And also, how does the food compare among different Celebrity ships? Here on CC they rank Reflection quite a bit higher on dining than Infinity. Do you think there is really any noticeable difference? We sailed Infinity our first time and we thought the food was very good. Not perfect, but about 40% were done very well, another 40% was not to my liking but was perfectly fine, and about 20% were really misses.

[kelmac]

Okay, after 49 cruises and counting:

 

#1 Oceania -- best main dining room food.

 

#2 Azamara -- close to Oceania, but buffet nothing special

 

#3 Celebrity -- best of the large ships and outstanding alternative restaurants

 

#4 Cunard -- Queen Mary 2 has very good MDR cuisine; Buffet weak, Todd English ok.

 

#5 Holland America -- good traditional food, buffet good, alternatives ok.

 

#6 Royal Caribbean (Radiance class and Oasis class only) pick and choose some great options

 

#7 Princess -- overall the MDR is good, buffet crowded, alternatives so so.

 

#8 Royal Caribbean -- all other ships. ok, but buffet a feeding frenzy

 

#9 NCL -- maybe if you stick to alternative restaurants only

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[miched]

The calories are about the same and the deserts don't taste as good as they look.

 

Both supply a variety of choices including fast foods but X doesn't charge for their hot dogs.

 

If you didn't know what ship line the food came from in a blind test you couldn't tell the difference.

 

 

.:D

[Hlitner]

Okay, after 49 cruises and counting:

 

#1 Oceania -- best main dining room food.

 

#2 Azamara -- close to Oceania, but buffet nothing special

 

#3 Celebrity -- best of the large ships and outstanding alternative restaurants

 

#4 Cunard -- Queen Mary 2 has very good MDR cuisine; Buffet weak, Todd English ok.

 

#5 Holland America -- good traditional food, buffet good, alternatives ok.

 

#6 Royal Caribbean (Radiance class and Oasis class only) pick and choose some great options

 

#7 Princess -- overall the MDR is good, buffet crowded, alternatives so so.

 

#8 Royal Caribbean -- all other ships. ok, but buffet a feeding frenzy

 

#9 NCL -- maybe if you stick to alternative restaurants only

 

Enjoy!

Kel

 

WOW! We think you have it just about perfectly correct. I would perhaps digress on the HA buffets which we think are not so good these days (especially at lunch) and are laid out (on a majority of their ships) in a way that fosters long lines and congestion. DW and I think that the Solstice Class ships have the best buffet layout of all the large ships.

 

Hank

[Gonzo70]

RCI does not put quite as big an emphasis on the culinary aspect of your vacation as does Celebrity, but the drop off is not huge. If you sail on a larger RCI ship you will have a multitude of specialty venues that provide an experience more akin to a land based restaurant than the large banquet hall MDR or the buffet. If you are really a big foodie than you know that food on a mass market cruise line (no matter what line) pales in comparison to a quality land based venue. None of the food is locally sourced, none is fresh, the budget is tiny, servers not as polished or knowledgeable, and (at least in the main dining rooms and buffets) it is mass produced versus cooked to order. That said I think the mass market cruise lines do an incredible job within these constraints and I have found the food on RCI and Celebrity to be more than adequate (and often very enjoyable - especially in the specialty venues), but it is nowhere near the quality or experience of any land based restaurant that I regularly patronize.

[Cruising89143]

I saw a difference between the two but not a huge difference. In all aspects we found Celebrity was better across the board but you will not go hungry on RCI. If you're on an Oasis class ship avoid the Windjammer at all costs. It's a zoo and the food quality is poor. We just cruised on the Splendour in June and had some of the best food yet on RCI.

[CPT Trips]

The calories are about the same and the deserts don't taste as good as they look.

 

Both supply a variety of choices including fast foods but X doesn't charge for their hot dogs.

 

If you didn't know what ship line the food came from in a blind test you couldn't tell the difference.

 

 

.:D

 

Yep, that about nails it. Stick with ice cream or sorbet for dessert, they usually have taste.

[We're The Groupnors]

We found the best nights on RCI to be about equal to the worst nights on Celebrity, at least in the MDR. We also found the style of the food on RCI more plain than on Celebrity. That being said the food was passable on RCI, and we certainly never went hungry.

[cibumcupio]

We're going to be going on Explorer of the Seas. Why does the Radiance and Oasis class ships have better food than the others? How much variation is there among ships?

[Cassicruiser]

We're going to be going on Explorer of the Seas. Why does the Radiance and Oasis class ships have better food than the others? How much variation is there among ships?

I have been on Radiance class (Radiance) and Vision class (Rhapsody) over the past few years, and found the food in the dining room better on Rhapsody, and the buffet comparable. So I think it depends on the ship and the chef's team rather than the class. Either way the food was lovely on both - not gourmet as over 2000 dishes are made for every meal, but we really enjoyed all of it, and if something wasn't to our liking there was plenty more to choose from. The only shortfall on RCI in my opinion, were the desserts in the main dining room, but everything else was wonderful.

[kelmac]

WOW! We think you have it just about perfectly correct. I would perhaps digress on the HA buffets which we think are not so good these days (especially at lunch) and are laid out (on a majority of their ships) in a way that fosters long lines and congestion. DW and I think that the Solstice Class ships have the best buffet layout of all the large ships.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank,

 

I agree, HAL's lido use to be one of the best, but as of late, it's become mediocre, and with the lack of line servers, very much slower. The Solstice class ships have the best buffet!

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[dorisis]

okay, after 49 cruises and counting:

 

#1 oceania -- best main dining room food.

 

#2 azamara -- close to oceania, but buffet nothing special

 

#3 celebrity -- best of the large ships and outstanding alternative restaurants

 

#4 cunard -- queen mary 2 has very good mdr cuisine; buffet weak, todd english ok.

 

#5 holland america -- good traditional food, buffet good, alternatives ok.

 

#6 royal caribbean (radiance class and oasis class only) pick and choose some great options

 

#7 princess -- overall the mdr is good, buffet crowded, alternatives so so.

 

#8 royal caribbean -- all other ships. Ok, but buffet a feeding frenzy

 

#9 ncl -- maybe if you stick to alternative restaurants only

 

enjoy!

Kel

 

right on!!!

[Dave85]

We're going to be going on Explorer of the Seas. Why does the Radiance and Oasis class ships have better food than the others? How much variation is there among ships?

 

I respectfully disagree with the previous poster who said that the Oasis Class (and Radiance Class) food quality was superior to the rest of the RCI fleet. I've been on Explorer twice and Oasis twice in the last few years and I thought that the food on Explorer was, at worst, comparable. One of my distinct memories of comparison between the two was that the prime rib I was served on the first night on Explorer was significantly thicker than the one I was served on Oasis!

 

However, to the extent there's any difference at all it's minimal. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Cruising89143]

I respectfully disagree with the previous poster who said that the Oasis Class (and Radiance Class) food quality was superior to the rest of the RCI fleet. I've been on Explorer twice and Oasis twice in the last few years and I thought that the food on Explorer was, at worst, comparable. One of my distinct memories of comparison between the two was that the prime rib I was served on the first night on Explorer was significantly thicker than the one I was served on Oasis!

 

However, to the extent there's any difference at all it's minimal. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I agree. IMHO it can vary by ship. Especially when you have a fleet of over 20 ships. It all depends on the Executive Chef and their team. Some are just better than others. We had some of the best food on our recent Splendour cruise. As I stated in an earlier post, one will not go hungry on RCI. If you do then you have no one to blame but yourself.

[OCruisers]

Per my signature we "sleep around" from time to time. Can only comment on those in the signature.

Food in the MDR on Princess, Celebrity, and HAL suits us best and we don't need to go to a specialty restaurant EVERY night. :)

 

Do keep in mind that things change so not having cruised on any cruise line in less than a year ... who knows. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

[riclop]

How does Celebrity food compare to RCI? We're sailing RCI for the first time soon, and we're big foodies so naturally this is the first question that came to our minds. We all know Celebrity always score high on food, but how much "worse" will it be on RCI really? And if you had to pick land-based eateries to compare the two lines to, what would they be? (Like, "the MDR is like a nice wedding banquet hall, Qsine is like that new Tapas place in town, but *insert another cruise line* is like Applebees")

 

And also, how does the food compare among different Celebrity ships? Here on CC they rank Reflection quite a bit higher on dining than Infinity. Do you think there is really any noticeable difference? We sailed Infinity our first time and we thought the food was very good. Not perfect, but about 40% were done very well, another 40% was not to my liking but was perfectly fine, and about 20% were really misses.

Food is very subjective!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[riclop]

Okay, after 49 cruises and counting:

 

#1 Oceania -- best main dining room food.

 

#2 Azamara -- close to Oceania, but buffet nothing special

 

#3 Celebrity -- best of the large ships and outstanding alternative restaurants

 

#4 Cunard -- Queen Mary 2 has very good MDR cuisine; Buffet weak, Todd English ok.

 

#5 Holland America -- good traditional food, buffet good, alternatives ok.

 

#6 Royal Caribbean (Radiance class and Oasis class only) pick and choose some great options

 

#7 Princess -- overall the MDR is good, buffet crowded, alternatives so so.

 

#8 Royal Caribbean -- all other ships. ok, but buffet a feeding frenzy

 

#9 NCL -- maybe if you stick to alternative restaurants only

 

Enjoy!

Kel

Wheres carnival.

[kelmac]

Wheres carnival.

 

Never cruised Carnival, so I only rated lines I cruised with.:)

[lopat08865]

Never cruised Carnival, so I only rated lines I cruised with.:)

 

I too can only speak from [our very limited] experience, but on our last cruise we found Carnival's MDR food to be in the "won't go hungry" and often pleasantly surprising category. Admittedly our expectations were tempered by others often negative opinions, so from that perspective we were more than pleased.

 

We thought some of their soups and desserts stood out, I enjoyed my first encounter with escargot, and we always added the cheese tray selection during dessert, which was a nice complement to whatever sweet we selected.

 

My hands down favorite was from the sea-day-only MDR Brunch menu, a filet with bernaise sauce. I'm sure others might find fault with it, but if you're someone [me :D] who enjoys a late morning steak/eggs/homefries from a good diner, with a bloody mary to wash it down, Carnival nailed it.

[Trekker954]

Actually, we prefer Royal food to Celebrity food. Celebrity has the most disgusting canapés at the Elite event and afternoon delivery. They also put pork in much of their food we found. They had potato crocettes and my daughter specifically asked how they are served and if they can be served plain without a sauce and specifically mentioned no ham and they said yes. As soon as she bit into it, the ham pieces were evident. They try and fancy up simple foods, which many would like to see just left simple.

 

We're debating our South Pacific cruise next year and although prefer the Celebrity itinerary, may just chose Royal due to the food.

[Dave85]

Wheres carnival.

 

IMHO, I've always preferred Carnival food (including MDR and casual dining options) to RCI food. Overall I've found Carnival maybe one notch up from RCI, but the biggest difference I've noticed where there's truly no comparison is the steaks, burgers, and other "grilled" meat. I'm not including the specialty venues in that, had great meals at both RCI's Chops and Carnival's steakhouse... just the included options.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how X compares later in the month. We'll be in Blu so perhaps that will skew the comparison a bit.

[wallie5446]

The MDR on our last 2 RCCL, Mariner 2007, Freedom 2011 was very good. ( Chops is the best speciality on the water ) My wife has Celiac and they were over the top in taking care of her needs. These were as good as our previous Celebrity sailings. This Nov will be our 1st sailing with X since she found out about the Celiac. For 'us' their food quality has been the main draw to sailing with them.

[CaribbeanBound]

You missed #4.1 Carnival: better than you'd expect. 2.0 free eateries outstanding (Blue Iguana, Guys Burgers), Fish & Chips place really good, MDR good, Steakhouse good.

[rjrpar]

Just returned from a 12-niter on Carnival, and I think their food is slightly better than RCI, especially the buffet. That said, the food on all the mass market lines is very similar.

[bighairtexan]

I used to actively dislike RCI food. I would have put their food far below Celebrity, Princess, Carnival, Norwegian and MSC. In the buffets, room service and especially the MDR. About a year ago I gave them another try. They were starting to introduce new menus across the fleet. Unfortunately the ship I was on didn't have the new menus and the food was very disappointing though the service was top notch.

 

I decided to try RCI out of Galveston 5 months ago (close to home and they would have the new menus). WHAT a pleasant surprise. Shock is more like it. My table mates were all Diamond and Diamond plus and they all thought that these were the best meals they'd had on RCI. I still put Celebrity above RCI, but I enjoyed every meal on Royal. The buffet was also surprisingly good. Lots of stations, amazing variety and rarely overcrowded except on embarkation (GO TO THE PROMENADE CAFE of something on embarkation). Some of the specialty restaurant rock also. Because of this I have put RCI back into my usual rotation when I look to book a cruise.

 

Old menus: 1-2 stars

New menus: 3.5 and up.

Desserts on both lines disappoint me.