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Soft-Serve...What is it really?

rpmljm

By rpmljm,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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DocF

DocF

Posted
Posted
The soft serve on the ship is pretty bad. It's basically like Dairy Queen than anything you'd get at a real ice cream place like Carvel.

 

I won't touch the stuff on the ships.

 

And that shows you how tastes vary. I do not like soft serve one little bit, but I will eat the "ice cream" on board Carnival as it remotely resembles ice cream. The last time I saw some of it being put in the machines, it was labelled as an "ice milk product". Anyway, it is not a blend of hydrocarbons like so many "food" product these days.

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JustCruiseMe

JustCruiseMe

Posted
Posted

This is one of my pet peeves and yes the "soft serve" on the ship is terrible. I don't eat it. Soft serve is two different kinds, one is just flavoring and ice. It's usually yellowish and sort of clear. Then there is soft serve that has actual milk and milk fat in it or yogurt. The ship ones are the first type even the one labeled yogurt doesn't have any in it. How do I know? Since it is my pet peeve I happened to be standing there when they put in the mix and saw the container. It was "flavored soft serve". I love creamy DQ type soft serve best of all ice cream, over scooped but I won't waste my time on the frozen slushy water with flavoring.

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Rosefloater

Rosefloater

Posted
Posted

Whatever it is, it appears to be the most popular food item on any ship I've been on.

 

We use it make root beer floats, add it to coffee(which is barely drinkable), and make milkshakes. We've also brought ice cream toppings and made sundaes.

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sjcruiser

sjcruiser

Posted
Posted

I grew up with Mr. Softee, and then Dairy Queen when going down South, and I'm now not a fan of either, but I don't eat that much ice cream now. The ice cream onboard is bland compared to the hard scooped ice cream, thats freshly made from local places, but it'll do when I want a scoop or two onboard which is only once or twice during a cruise.

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stevenr597 Great Review Rare

stevenr597

Posted
Posted

To be Ice Cream, a frozen desert must contain a certain amount of fat and sugar. The fat will increase the flavor, making it more intense. Unfortunately this will also increase the calories. Hagen Daz and Gourmet Ice Creams often have over 300calories/scoop.

 

Many years ago, Tom Carvel found that you could mkae a low fat desert with milk instead of high fat cream, and when served fresh it tased very much like traditional ice-cream. Specifically the freshness was a good substitute for removing the high fat cream in gourmet ice-cream. This led to Carvel, and to other imitators such as Koors, and Dairy Queen. These "frozen deserts" usually have 100-150calories/scoop.

 

The frozen desert (not ice-cream) served by machine on Carnival is a low fat substitute which may even contain subsitutes such as soy milk in place of regular milk. While it is not ice-cream it usually has less calories and in fact may be healthier than traditional gourmet ice-cream.

 

All I know, is that on a hot summer day, during a cruise it tastes great, especially in that it is free.

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Videophile

Videophile

Posted
Posted

Not sure what they serve on the ships, but I do know a little about ice cream and soft serve.

 

They are both basically the same thing... but not quite. To be called "ice cream" (in the US at least) a product has to have at least 10% milk fat. When they make 'hard' ice cream the first step is to create soft serve. Then they whip in extra air and freeze it solid. So soft serve has less air, and is therefore more dense (when at the same temperature).

 

Why does soft serve taste so different from traditional ice cream if it's the same thing? The temperature. Ice cream is served at a lower temp and it numbs your taste buds.

 

Slow Churn ice cream (not that anyone.) has fewer calories since it has less fat (though still more than 10% milk fat to be labeled "ice cream"), but it tastes the same since the slow churning process makes the fat globules smaller. When they hit your tongue you still taste the fat (which is yummy) but they hit the same number of taste buds so it feels like there is more fat that there actually is. It's pretty cool. No pun intended.

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irishnyc

irishnyc

Posted
Posted

The only strawberry I've ever seen has always been yogurt. It was too sweet for me.

 

For those of you that think soft serve is terrible - all ice cream starts out as soft serve. The amount of air in it depends on how they have the machine set. As for the additives, that just depends on the brand, it has nothing to do with it being soft serve or not. ;)

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RWolver672

RWolver672

Posted
Posted

There are different grades of soft serve available. I'm sure Carnival uses a lower grade than some of the ice cream shops. We have two ice cream shops within a few miles of our house. One uses a higher grade than the other and you can really tell the difference.

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092306

092306

Posted
Posted

I think the vanilla ice cream tastes better than the yogurt, though I like the strawberry yogurt best. It's not Carvel, but a little bit with some fruit after dinner on the lido is my dessert and DS likes it as most of the kids do. He wouldn't eat the banana split in the MDR, but soft serve he would eat every meal if we let him.

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cruizinisthebest

cruizinisthebest

Posted
Posted (edited)

It's not that calorie rich. Not nearly as much as rhe stuff I get from the ice cream parlor a few blocks away. But it is good. And I love that it's available 24/7.

 

I don't care for the vanilla ice cream they serve in the mdr.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Edited by cruizinisthebest
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MissKIA

MissKIA

Posted
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I don't really care for the ice cream either. I agree that it is more "icy" than "creamy". When I do have some, I always take from the frozen yogurt machine. It's definitely more creamy than the regular ice ream.

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NCteacherlovescruising

NCteacherlovescruising

Posted
Posted
I also do not eat it. If I am going to eat the calories contained in ice cream, it will be Ben and Jerry's or Haagen Daas, not soft serve.

 

Soft serve doesn't have the amount of calories of Ben and Jerry's and Haagen Daas. I have never had their soft serve ice cream though, I always go for the frozen yogurt. I think it's quite tasty.

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rpmljm

rpmljm

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I think it's delicious....

someone posted that it was nasty like Dairy Queen ice cream.. well I happen to think DQ ice cream it good too !!!!!

 

I like DQ too, but I think Carnival soft serve is nasty.

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crewsweeper "Live from...." Rare

crewsweeper

Posted
Posted

Maybe the soft serve ice cream is a forerunner for the new Canadian concoction: "Frisson" which can be stored without refrigeration and then when exposed to air and a couple of hours in a chiller becomes ice milky like:D

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frito58

frito58

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am laughing at the people at the people on here the "don't " like it or eat it . Guess you are not the ones in the lines LOL . I always see a line except at 10 or 11 pm when my wife and may take a late night walk and grab a cone as we walk by. May not be best I ever had . To me taste just Mcdonalds cones. Not the best I ever had but tasty .

Edited by frito58
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