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Glory Food Thoughts

JillK

By JillK,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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JillK

JillK

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We are just off the Carnival Glory and experienced the new menus last week so I thought I would post separately giving more detail on our meals than I will in my standard review.

 

We ate five out of seven nights in the Golden dining room, anytime dining and I will describe only these meals. We ate at the Emerald Steakhouse the first night (a real treat) and the buffet midweek as we were trying to make it to several activities and didn't want to devote 1 hour + to dinner that night.

 

MONDAY - American Feast menu - 1st Formal Night: table set with tablecloth and the silverware for all courses. We were seated at a table for 8 and enjoyed the company of three other couples of varying ages, which was nice.

 

Fettuccine Alfredo was served to all (individual servings) after the appetizer and before the entree. They also served complimentary champagne mixed with some kind of fruit juice which I thought might be peach.

 

The app was a sampler plate which I didn't have. It was four small bites apps, one of which hubby and I can't recall... the others were pork tenderloin, vegetable tart and a ceviche. Hubby enjoyed all of them. Both of us had the prime rib with whipped potato which was very good. We were all served a chocolate mousse cake for desert without ordering it but we were never offered coffee.

 

TUESDAY - American Table -table for 2: No tablecloths and only one set of utensils. I know some folks really disliked not having table clothes, but it made no difference to hubby or I. The tables were beautiful laquered wood in excellent condition so I was ok with it.

 

Hubby had the calamari for his starter and stuffed mushroom for his main. He enjoyed the calamari and really liked the stuffed mushroom. I had the casear which was good but not the best I've ever had, and the porkchop with onions and apple which was outstanding and was my favourite from the MDR of the week. *Disclaimer: I have a shellfish allergy so didn't try anything from the sea - that was hubby's job!

 

We both had Carnival's famous chocolate melting cake, which I thought was going to be like the chocolate lava cake with a gooey interior but wasn't. Not sure if it's because they are possibly making it in a new dish, this is how it's supposed to be or they were simply overbaked, but it was disappointing vs. my expectation. It was served very hot and a bit dry, there was no gooey interior and neither of us finished it.

 

Tonight they offered and promptly served coffee.

 

WEDNESDAY - American Table - table for 2: Hubby had the shrimp cocktail which he liked, the oyster rockefeller which he loved and the ratatouille lasagne which he thought was outstanding. He finished with the s'mores parfait which he is still talking about. I skipped the app, had the ribs with a side of green beans with bacon which was very good and I really enjoyed. For desert I had the carrot cake and I loved it. Probably my favourite dessert of the week. We were also offered and promptly served coffee.

 

FRIDAY - American Feast - 2nd formal - table for 4: we were once again given a complimentary glass of champagne mixed with a different fruit juice and were automatically served a pasta dish first. I didn't have it because it had red peppers in it, which I have a food sensitivity to and they are never worth a night of debilitating cramps. Hubby had his and half of mine and said it was good. Hubby also had the stuffed mushrooms for his app and ordered both the crab cakes and the filet minion as his mains. I had the salad and then the filet minion. We both thought that the filet was very good and tender in the MDR. No where near as flavourful as the steakhouse (or as large for that matter of course) but very good. We ordered the toffee sticky cake for the table and shared it. It wasn't overly large and was a nice way to end the meal, with a little taste of something sweet. It came with four different toppings, which made it a bit of a challenge to eat but very memorable. Tonight we were not offered coffee.

 

SATURDAY - American Table - table for 2: We found this night was the slowest service of the week. Our waitress was fantastic though so we suspect it was a kitchen issue. Hubby had the Caribbean chicken salad which he didn't care for (sweetness of fruit and savory of spices and chicken just didn't work for him) and frog legs (first time trying - thought it was like garlicky chicken wings) as apps and had the red fish as the main, which he though was good but a little bit bland. I skipped the app and ordered the pork chop again since it was so good the previous time I had it. I also had the green beans and baked potato as sides. I didn't enjoy the pork as much as I had the first night, tonight the chop itself wasn't as nice as the previous night, but still tender and flavourful. We ordered the pumpkin pie for the table and it was just a nice enough size for us to have a few bites, as the toffee bread had been earlier in the week. We had to ask for coffee and it was never served.

 

This was our first cruise with Carnival since 2002. We remember the food from that last cruise fondly, and thoroughly enjoyed the offerings on this cruise. Hubby said it was the best food he's had on any line (inclusive of buffet and the alternatives on deck - we are true believers in Guy's burgers and the cantina) and I agree that it was very good food overall with some very good to excellent and only a few things overall that we would rate as ok or just good.

 

I have read a few other reviews that mentioned attire in the dining room. I would tend to agree that the MDR staff were lax in their own application of attire in that we noticed several people wearing shorts or jeans in the dining room on elegant night. My philosophy is "to each their own" but I think that if Carnival wants to publish guidelines, they should adhere to them.

 

We felt that the new dishware was very nice and every single dish we had in the MDR was beautifully presented. We both felt that had we been cruising with our four children (this was a rare chance to get away without them and we thoroughly enjoyed it) the family style way of serving dinner would have been better appreciated. As we dined alone 3 out of 5 of the nights, we didn't get to experience large bowls but I did see one large table with a full sized pie at dessert one night.

 

On the second formal night we dined with a couple who were on their second leg of a B2B on the Glory so they had a very direct comparison with their dining experience from the week before. For what it's worth, they told us they by far preferred the new menu choices and food over the previous week.

 

We are by no means fancy people, but we do like good food and appreciate when it is presented nicely. We have cruised on several lines and overall were very pleased with the quality of the food on the new menus and really enjoyed our dining experience. We would rank this MDR experience very highly - above NCL and Disney for sure (alternative dining aside, which is so pervasive on NCL and stunning in Palo's on Disney Magic). Hubby ranks MDR on Carnival as #1 and I would put it tied with Princess as #1.

 

We were asked by the wait staff on several occasions what we thought of the changes, and I appreciated that they genuinely seemed to be interested in our opinions. We also asked them how the change was for them and a few staff admitted they were experiencing some growing pains, which would be expected.

 

I don't know how a regular Carnival cruiser would feel about the changes, I'm sure you'll see more and more voices in the coming weeks from the trial ships, but for us it was a wonderful experience and a really great welcome back to Carnival. Great job!

 

Jill

Edited by JillK
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Sparky2

Sparky2

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We are just off the Carnival Glory and experienced the new menus last week so I thought I would post separately giving more detail on our meals than I will in my standard review.

 

We ate five out of seven nights in the Golden dining room, anytime dining and I will describe only these meals. We ate at the Emerald Steakhouse the first night (a real treat) and the buffet midweek as we were trying to make it to several activities and didn't want to devote 1 hour + to dinner that night.

 

MONDAY - American Feast menu - 1st Formal Night: table set with tablecloth and the silverware for all courses. We were seated at a table for 8 and enjoyed the company of three other couples of varying ages, which was nice.

 

Fettuccine Alfredo was served to all (individual servings) after the appetizer and before the entree. They also served complimentary champagne mixed with some kind of fruit juice which I thought might be peach.

 

The app was a sampler plate which I didn't have. It was four small bites apps, one of which hubby and I can't recall... the others were pork tenderloin, vegetable tart and a ceviche. Hubby enjoyed all of them. Both of us had the prime rib with whipped potato which was very good. We were all served a chocolate mousse cake for desert without ordering it but we were never offered coffee.

 

TUESDAY - American Table -table for 2: No tablecloths and only one set of utensils. I know some folks really disliked not having table clothes, but it made no difference to hubby or I. The tables were beautiful laquered wood in excellent condition so I was ok with it.

 

Hubby had the calamari for his starter and stuffed mushroom for his main. He enjoyed the calamari and really liked the stuffed mushroom. I had the casear which was good but not the best I've ever had, and the porkchop with onions and apple which was outstanding and was my favourite from the MDR of the week. *Disclaimer: I have a shellfish allergy so didn't try anything from the sea - that was hubby's job!

 

We both had Carnival's famous chocolate melting cake, which I thought was going to be like the chocolate lava cake with a gooey interior but wasn't. Not sure if it's because they are possibly making it in a new dish, this is how it's supposed to be or they were simply overbaked, but it was disappointing vs. my expectation. It was served very hot and a bit dry, there was no gooey interior and neither of us finished it.

 

Tonight they offered and promptly served coffee.

 

WEDNESDAY - American Table - table for 2: Hubby had the shrimp cocktail which he liked, the oyster rockefeller which he loved and the ratatouille lasagne which he thought was outstanding. He finished with the s'mores parfait which he is still talking about. I skipped the app, had the ribs with a side of green beans with bacon which was very good and I really enjoyed. For desert I had the carrot cake and I loved it. Probably my favourite dessert of the week. We were also offered and promptly served coffee.

 

FRIDAY - American Feast - 2nd formal - table for 4: we were once again given a complimentary glass of champagne mixed with a different fruit juice and were automatically served a pasta dish first. I didn't have it because it had red peppers in it, which I have a food sensitivity to and they are never worth a night of debilitating cramps. Hubby had his and half of mine and said it was good. Hubby also had the stuffed mushrooms for his app and ordered both the crab cakes and the filet minion as his mains. I had the salad and then the filet minion. We both thought that the filet was very good and tender in the MDR. No where near as flavourful as the steakhouse (or as large for that matter of course) but very good. We ordered the toffee sticky cake for the table and shared it. It wasn't overly large and was a nice way to end the meal, with a little taste of something sweet. It came with four different toppings, which made it a bit of a challenge to eat but very memorable. Tonight we were not offered coffee.

 

SATURDAY - American Table - table for 2: We found this night was the slowest service of the week. Our waitress was fantastic though so we suspect it was a kitchen issue. Hubby had the Caribbean chicken salad which he didn't care for (sweetness of fruit and savory of spices and chicken just didn't work for him) and frog legs (first time trying - thought it was like garlicky chicken wings) as apps and had the red fish as the main, which he though was good but a little bit bland. I skipped the app and ordered the pork chop again since it was so good the previous time I had it. I also had the green beans and baked potato as sides. I didn't enjoy the pork as much as I had the first night, tonight the chop itself wasn't as nice as the previous night, but still tender and flavourful. We ordered the pumpkin pie for the table and it was just a nice enough size for us to have a few bites, as the toffee bread had been earlier in the week. We had to ask for coffee and it was never served.

 

This was our first cruise with Carnival since 2002. We remember the food from that last cruise fondly, and thoroughly enjoyed the offerings on this cruise. Hubby said it was the best food he's had on any line (inclusive of buffet and the alternatives on deck - we are true believers in Guy's burgers and the cantina) and I agree that it was very good food overall with some very good to excellent and only a few things overall that we would rate as ok or just good.

 

I have read a few other reviews that mentioned attire in the dining room. I would tend to agree that the MDR staff were lax in their own application of attire in that we noticed several people wearing shorts or jeans in the dining room on elegant night. My philosophy is "to each their own" but I think that if Carnival wants to publish guidelines, they should adhere to them.

 

We felt that the new dishware was very nice and every single dish we had in the MDR was beautifully presented. We both felt that had we been cruising with our four children (this was a rare chance to get away without them and we thoroughly enjoyed it) the family style way of serving dinner would have been better appreciated. As we dined alone 3 out of 5 of the nights, we didn't get to experience large bowls but I did see one large table with a full sized pie at dessert one night.

 

On the second formal night we dined with a couple who were on their second leg of a B2B on the Glory so they had a very direct comparison with their dining experience from the week before. For what it's worth, they told us they by far preferred the new menu choices and food over the previous week.

 

We are by no means fancy people, but we do like good food and appreciate when it is presented nicely. We have cruised on several lines and overall were very pleased with the quality of the food on the new menus and really enjoyed our dining experience. We would rank this MDR experience very highly - above NCL and Disney for sure (alternative dining aside, which is so pervasive on NCL and stunning in Palo's on Disney Magic). Hubby ranks MDR on Carnival as #1 and I would put it tied with Princess as #1.

 

We were asked by the wait staff on several occasions what we thought of the changes, and I appreciated that they genuinely seemed to be interested in our opinions. We also asked them how the change was for them and a few staff admitted they were experiencing some growing pains, which would be expected.

 

I don't know how a regular Carnival cruiser would feel about the changes, I'm sure you'll see more and more voices in the coming weeks from the trial ships, but for us it was a wonderful experience and a really great welcome back to Carnival. Great job!

 

Jill

 

Thanks so much for giving your honest opinions. We'll be on Liberty the week after they start the new menus. We are going with an open mind and hope we enjoy the change.

 

I know I will miss Creme Brulee and the cold soups, but other things sound yummy.

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JillK

JillK

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Sounds good but I'm curious about one thing. Did the menu actually say red fish? Or red snapper? There is a big difference and I'm surprised that they would serve snapper as it is a bit pricey for the real thing.

 

Hummm... great question. I don't eat any seafood so I don't remember the offering exactly. Hubby debated between this dish and I believe a pasta dish and the server recommended the fish course. I believe it was listed under the "Port of Call" offering (general Western Carib menu as it was a sea day). Sorry my memory isn't better - all my notes say is red fish.

 

As to the poster that mentioned desserts, there was a limited selection of dessert items, but always three and then a nightly pie option. The first formal night was the only time that we were served dessert without being offered choice or actually ordering for that matter.

 

Jill

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navybaby1113

navybaby1113

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Thank you for your opinions. I think we'll really enjoy the new menu, minus the limited dessert options. I do find it very weird that they just bring you food without you ordering it. That seems like a huge waste to me.

 

Do they still have rolls at the table? That's one of my favorite parts.

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JillK

JillK

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Thank you for your opinions. I think we'll really enjoy the new menu, minus the limited dessert options. I do find it very weird that they just bring you food without you ordering it. That seems like a huge waste to me.

 

Do they still have rolls at the table? That's one of my favorite parts.

 

Yes, they brought a bread basket to the table each night. On the 1st formal night, the servers went around and you selected what you wanted and they served it to you.

 

The other times we were alone or at a table for 4 and they served us a basket for the two of us (so one to each couple at the table for 4). Each night they had two choices - slices of baguette and a delicious roll with raisins in it.

 

Hubby and I polished off every piece, every night and twice had the basket refilled.

 

Jill

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lele100

lele100

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If I remember correctly, again this was years ago. But Carnival back in the days (late 80's, early 90's) did only serve one dessert. I remember them serving I believe it was Cherry Jubilee, and that was it no choice.

 

So it looks like they maybe going back to the good ole days

 

Please someone who cruised back then correct me if I am wrong

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lrockwitt

lrockwitt

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We were on the Glory also on a b2b 2nd week with the new menus. Did not like the sharing/family style dishes. Loved the Cranberry rolls and thought many of the menu items were quite good.

We were a table of 8 and everyone enjoyed the new menu.

We were glad that we were able to compare the new menu to to the old one in the two weeks we were on the ship.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Pom Lover

Pom Lover

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We were on the B2B with the first week being the old menus and the second being the new. Overall our experience with the new dining was positive. We were a group of 5 (4 adults and 1 child). My mother-in-law is a diabetic and they took the sugar free option off of the new menu so every night she had to ask if they had something sugar free. A few nights all they had was ice cream.

 

My concern about the shared dishes is they don't seem to be prepared if only one person at the table wants the item. My husband is the only one of us who eats calamari but the serving was meant for several people. Also the pie a-la-mode was for the table and could not be ordered in a serving size for one. We were all family so it wasn't the thought of sharing from the same dish but more portion sizes for how many wanted the item.

 

I have to agree that the S'mores parfait was AMAZING and we are still talking about it. The best dessert we have ever had on a Carnival cruise. We also loved the Port of Call selections.

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