Just off the Allure. Was the food always this bad?

[martini_guy]

I'm not going to write a review for now but I feel very surprised that my experience with the food onboard did not match up with many of the reviews that I had read previously.

 

After the first few days I started to second-guess myself thinking maybe it's just me so I started asking other passengers what they thought of the food. Almost universally people I talked to were very disappointed in the food. Many had chose to go to the pay restaurants after finding the MDR food unpalatable and then were even more disappointed that they were paying for food they weren't happy with. When the served the lobster on the 2nd sea day evening it infuriated many people as nearly everyone in my area of the dining room were served overcooked lobster and not allowed a replacement.

 

So back to my question.. has the food quality dropped off in quality recently? Were the reviewers biased, or schills for RCCL?

 

Overall I thought the cruise was decent but I'm just very surprised at the many reviews that labelled the food as "better than Carnival" when that was certainly not the case on this past week's sailing. I find it hard to believe that on a nice ship like the Allure that the food was always this bad and not many would mention that in the reviews.

[BillOh]

This is too subjective for me to answer straight up. I was on Allure in 2011 and 2013. The 7 day menu standard on most RCCL ships changed between those 2 days and for the post part I thought it was ok. We are not foodies.

[CRUISEBOY305]

although food is a very subjective topic, I personally find the food on smaller ships to be much better. Just my opinion

[rjrpar]

I'm not going to write a review for now but I feel very surprised that my experience with the food onboard did not match up with many of the reviews that I had read previously.

 

After the first few days I started to second-guess myself thinking maybe it's just me so I started asking other passengers what they thought of the food. Almost universally people I talked to were very disappointed in the food. Many had chose to go to the pay restaurants after finding the MDR food unpalatable and then were even more disappointed that they were paying for food they weren't happy with. When the served the lobster on the 2nd sea day evening it infuriated many people as nearly everyone in my area of the dining room were served overcooked lobster and not allowed a replacement.

 

So back to my question.. has the food quality dropped off in quality recently? Were the reviewers biased, or schills for RCCL?

 

Overall I thought the cruise was decent but I'm just very surprised at the many reviews that labelled the food as "better than Carnival" when that was certainly not the case on this past week's sailing. I find it hard to believe that on a nice ship like the Allure that the food was always this bad and not many would mention that in the reviews.

 

The food quality continues to decline, even in the specialty restaurants. The need to keep fares low to fill the ever-increasing number of cabins results in ongoing cost cutting.

Regarding reviews and comments on this board, some people, not all, are real homers and will never admit RCCL has downgraded the cruise experience

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

although food is a very subjective topic, I personally find the food on smaller ships to be much better. Just my opinion

 

^^^ This. I agree. :)

[KKMurphy2]

I agree with the previous poster in regards to the food being better on smaller ships. Perhaps it is just a matter of mathematics, that it is harder to serve that many meals. In the main dining rooms on Allure and Oasis, we have not felt as relaxed with the dining experience. Shows are booked and sometimes they do not match your dining times, and we felt rushed to finish and move on. Our last cruise on this class was Allure and most evenings we finished in under an hour. I felt like the faster they could serve us, the quicker they could move to the next.

 

I am not a fan of Dynamic Dining due to multiple reasons, but maybe this is a way to improve the experience on this class of ship. I am so anxious to hear honest reviews from the Quantum cruisers. For now, we will stick with Freedom class and smaller, along with Celebrity.

Edited October 13, 2014 by KKMurphy2

[Big_G]

I've never had 'unpalatable' food on any cruise ship or line. I know some start these threads just to open a debate on whose food is better but seeing for the most part you've only sailed Carnival I'm sure that wasn't your intention. :rolleyes:

[bouhunter]

When you go on a ship with 6,000 people eating dinner in two shifts what do you expect? It's not cooked to order fine food, it's mass produced "banquet food" in the MDR.

 

Never been on Oasis/Allure, but have never had "unpalatable" food on an RCCL ship........

 

Also I really doubt the MDR food is that much different on the "smaller" ships.

Edited October 13, 2014 by bouhunter

[tgnorton]

I've read many reviews lately that say the food quality is not what it was. My parents just got off the Brilliance with 3 other couples. They take 2 Royal Caribbean cruises per year as a group and others individually. They said the food this time was significantly lower quality than previous cruises and this was on a smaller ship.

 

Disappointing.

Edited October 13, 2014 by tgnorton

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

When you go on a ship with 6,000 people eating dinner in two shifts what do you expect? It's not cooked to order fine food, it's mass produced "banquet food" in the MDR.

 

Never been on Oasis/Allure, but have never had "unpalatable" food on an RCCL ship........

 

Also I really doubt the MDR food is that much different on the "smaller" ships.

 

Well if the food on the Allure is as bad as the OP suggested, then I can tell you, food on the Radiance, which is a smaller ship, is much better.

[m*u*g*]

I though all the food was generally very good on Allure (and Oasis), not counting the Windjammer, which I felt to be marginal at best on both ships.

 

Best food I ever had on RCCL was on Liberty.

Edited October 13, 2014 by m*u*g*

[martini_guy]

The food quality continues to decline, even in the specialty restaurants. The need to keep fares low to fill the ever-increasing number of cabins results in ongoing cost cutting.

Regarding reviews and comments on this board, some people, not all, are real homers and will never admit RCCL has downgraded the cruise experience

 

This seems like the most reasonable explanation. I just found it hard to believe that the food wasn't good or excellent at some point in the past on this ship and this would point to the reason.

Edited October 13, 2014 by martini_guy

[BobbyD]

Maybe it is just me, but on my summer Allure cruise my family and I found the MDR food very good. My only complaint might be that the temperature might have been warmer. But, it was never "unpalatable", by any means.

[martini_guy]

I've never had 'unpalatable' food on any cruise ship or line. I know some start these threads just to open a debate on whose food is better but seeing for the most part you've only sailed Carnival I'm sure that wasn't your intention. :rolleyes:

 

I just wanted an answer. I'm not here to debate if cruise line A is better than cruise line B. There's plenty of other threads about that.

 

I've been on other cruises where the MDR food was at the level where I ended up going to the specialty restaurants for more than half of my dinners. The difference for me this time was that the specialty restaurants were below expectations as well.

 

I'm thinking that I may try one of the smaller ships on RCCL next time. Other than the food, most of my experiences on the ship were fairly good.

[ehfl]

Banquette food is never going to be as good as made to order food. Ordering lobster at any banquette setting on a ship or ashore is going to be a risky affair. Ships are just not the place (unfortunately) for fresh seafood. If you want good lobster, you'll have to find a good seafood restaurant at home, or in port. Lobster is just not a food that holds up well under heat lamps.

[CruisingMachine]

I'm not going to write a review for now but I feel very surprised that my experience with the food onboard did not match up with many of the reviews that I had read previously.

 

After the first few days I started to second-guess myself thinking maybe it's just me so I started asking other passengers what they thought of the food. Almost universally people I talked to were very disappointed in the food. Many had chose to go to the pay restaurants after finding the MDR food unpalatable and then were even more disappointed that they were paying for food they weren't happy with. When the served the lobster on the 2nd sea day evening it infuriated many people as nearly everyone in my area of the dining room were served overcooked lobster and not allowed a replacement.

 

So back to my question.. has the food quality dropped off in quality recently? Were the reviewers biased, or schills for RCCL?

 

Overall I thought the cruise was decent but I'm just very surprised at the many reviews that labelled the food as "better than Carnival" when that was certainly not the case on this past week's sailing. I find it hard to believe that on a nice ship like the Allure that the food was always this bad and not many would mention that in the reviews.

 

I was on the Allure 2 weeks ago, and our party of 10 ate in the MDR every night, except for 1 night in Chops. Sure, we each had our personal likes and dislikes among all the different dishes offered, but overall everyone LOVED the food in the MDR. Awesome Prime Rib for example. I didn't do the lobster but those who did enjoyed it. I will say I was very disappointed in the steak I got at Chops. I had a NY Strip Steak and it just wasn't that great. A couple of nights later I got the regular NY Strip Steak offered nightly on the MDR menu. I had to say that the MDR steak was better than the Chops steak I paid an extra $35 for. I wasn't the only one in my party to say the same thing.

[Thetrail]

I'm not going to write a review for now but I feel very surprised that my experience with the food onboard did not match up with many of the reviews that I had read previously.

 

After the first few days I started to second-guess myself thinking maybe it's just me so I started asking other passengers what they thought of the food. Almost universally people I talked to were very disappointed in the food. Many had chose to go to the pay restaurants after finding the MDR food unpalatable and then were even more disappointed that they were paying for food they weren't happy with. When the served the lobster on the 2nd sea day evening it infuriated many people as nearly everyone in my area of the dining room were served overcooked lobster and not allowed a replacement.

 

So back to my question.. has the food quality dropped off in quality recently? Were the reviewers biased, or schills for RCCL?

 

Overall I thought the cruise was decent but I'm just very surprised at the many reviews that labelled the food as "better than Carnival" when that was certainly not the case on this past week's sailing. I find it hard to believe that on a nice ship like the Allure that the food was always this bad and not many would mention that in the reviews.

Enjoyed each and every meal in the MDR and two specialty restaurants. So you never got around to asking me about the food!....:)...Again as most CC people know a very subjective topic. Still found the food as good as the past 7 cruises I've had on Allure. Edited October 13, 2014 by Thetrail

[Sherman793]

Just off Vision a month ago and I really disliked the new menus that came out in August. I found them very bland. Vision is a very small ship so obviously the size did not impact the quality of the food. I have cruised RCI many times (including Oasis class) and the deterioration of the selections is very noticeable and the choices are far fewer over just a year ago. I agree they are cutting back to increase profits. Unfortunately food is a big part of the trip. I am on Allure in three weeks and will get to see myself if it is as bad as Vision was. I am hoping for an improvement. Just in case we went ahead and booked three specialty restaurants but I admit it makes me resentful that I have to do that to avoid what used to be very enjoyable for us. We filled out the questionnaire we got after the cruise and I beat up the menu. I hope that RCI listens and reconsiders this apparent new cost cutting direction. We are not going to starve but I am still not happy by a long shot.

[DaniDanielle]

We were on Allure in January and found the food to be good. There was always something you could find to eat. We had seconds on the lobster so I don't understand them not changing one that was not cooked to satisfaction. The Allure has so many places to eat with no charge we were always satisfied. We found the lobster on the Explorer in July to be pretty good also.

[Sherman793]

We were on Allure in January and found the food to be good. There was always something you could find to eat. We had seconds on the lobster so I don't understand them not changing one that was not cooked to satisfaction. The Allure has so many places to eat with no charge we were always satisfied. We found the lobster on the Explorer in July to be pretty good also.

 

I 100% believe the problem is the new menu selections they changed to in August.

[denamo]

Maybe it is just me, but on my summer Allure cruise my family and I found the MDR food very good. My only complaint might be that the temperature might have been warmer. But, it was never "unpalatable", by any means.

 

Our experience as well for our August cruise with the exception of the food temperature. Found the temps fine. Actually, we had some of the best food we've had on the Allure. Maybe because we were at a table for two.

Edited October 13, 2014 by denamo

[martini_guy]

I was on the Allure 2 weeks ago, and our party of 10 ate in the MDR every night, except for 1 night in Chops. Sure, we each had our personal likes and dislikes among all the different dishes offered, but overall everyone LOVED the food in the MDR. Awesome Prime Rib for example. I didn't do the lobster but those who did enjoyed it. I will say I was very disappointed in the steak I got at Chops. I had a NY Strip Steak and it just wasn't that great. A couple of nights later I got the regular NY Strip Steak offered nightly on the MDR menu. I had to say that the MDR steak was better than the Chops steak I paid an extra $35 for. I wasn't the only one in my party to say the same thing.

 

I had the prime rib on the first night and it was excellent. That was my favourite MDR meal for the whole cruise by far. I had both the Chops steak and the MDR steak. I found them in the same ballpark of quality. I just wish I knew that at the beginning of the cruise and not near the end. The sides at Chops were interesting and good so I tried to to be too upset about the extra $35 for comparable steaks.

[cruisinfanatic]

I just wanted an answer. I'm not here to debate if cruise line A is better than cruise line B. There's plenty of other threads about that.

 

I've been on other cruises where the MDR food was at the level where I ended up going to the specialty restaurants for more than half of my dinners. The difference for me this time was that the specialty restaurants were below expectations as well.

 

I'm thinking that I may try one of the smaller ships on RCCL next time. Other than the food, most of my experiences on the ship were fairly good.

so how do you know all those nights that you weren't in the MDR that the food wasn't good?

[martini_guy]

so how do you know all those nights that you weren't in the MDR that the food wasn't good?

 

Valid question! Because I had talked to other people throughout the cruise and the majority shared the same opinion. I came in a group of around 300 people and we all socialized quite often.

 

Most in my group myself included had not been on RCCL before so didn't have a point of reference to what the Royal experience is normally.

[surfsideamy]

Hi, I'm new so I can't comment on the consistency of the quality over the years, but thought I could weigh in. Sorry in advance for the novel.

 

I just got off the same cruise (Allure, October 5, Western route). Overall I was extremely pleased with the food, with a few hiccups.

 

Main dining room food was very tasty to me. Each night I found (at least) one appetizer, entree, and dessert that appealed to me and I was satisfied with each. If anyone would be interested, I took pictures of many of courses from my meals in the main dining room. The main courses I enjoyed were the prime rib, NY strip, tortellini (I opted for a marinara sauce but I believe it came with a white sauce), chicken cordon bleu, and lasagna. The appetizers I tried were the watermelon soup (chilled--this was the one course I didn't care for at all, and that's partly because I don't like watermelon. This was more of a soup consistency, whereas the others were more like a bisque, and it tasted exactly like liquid watermelon. Eugh.), caesar salad, strawberry bisque soup (chilled), pear and arugula salad, cream of mushroom soup, insalata mista, roasted peach soup (chilled), and garden salad. The desserts I tried were the creme brule, baked Alaska, cherries jubilee, warm chocolate cake, ivory chocolate mousse, sticky bread & butter pudding, strawberry and kiwi pavlova, and the blueberry crumble. (Some of the desserts were sampled from my boyfriend's plate ;)).

 

Giovanni's Table was delicious and worth the extra money, hands down. It was difficult to narrow down to only 2 appetizers and 1 side. We had the caesar salad and the baked prosciutto and mozzarella. For a side we ordered the gnocchi with light bleu cheese sauce which was absolutely the best thing I ordered the entire cruise. I am still lemming that gnocchi, it was perfect. The filet was delicious with gorgonzola butter. The dessert was good, and I'm not a huge fan of Italian desserts (tiramisu is supposedly great here, but I don't like it).

 

Chops was a huge disappointment, except for the huckleberry cheesecake which was delicious but obviously not worth $35+. I agree with the above poster that the strip I ordered in the MDR was miles and away better than the NY strip I got from Chops. My boyfriend has dined at Chops several times previously and was extremely disappointed with the degradation in quality. As a first-time diner, having never had it at its finest, I would simply not pay to go back. We tried 3 sides: the mashed potatoes, gruyere tater tots, and the truffle corn. The corn was so overseasoned it was impossible to eat. The tater tots were so bland it was like chewing cud. The mashed potatoes were spot on. The strip was overcooked (we asked for medium and what we got was dry, well-done). This also may be an odd comment, and maybe someone else can chime in, but the steak was a very strange color to me. It just looked more like pork to me than beef. It was lighter than steak, if that makes sense. I should probably include a picture since I'm getting into such detail. Anyway, I'm not the kind of send back food and it is worth noting that we had great service during our meal.

 

Windjammer was a favorite of mine both for breakfast and lunch. I may be a simpleton, but some eggs, bacon and hashbrowns are all I need for breakfast. Since I was on vacation, I splurged for a lot more some mornings and was always satisfied. Waffles, french toast, sausage gravy & biscuits, and fresh fruit were all the extra selections I needed. They also served fresh bread, toast, bagels, cereal and probably more I didn't see. The lunch selections were overall very tasty and varied each day. There were a few different cold salad concoctions I enjoyed (a 'Greek' salad with no lettuce, cucumber salads, potato salads, other vegetable variations, a cold corn salad, and many more including noodles) were also provided. Then there were hot items such as nachos with toppings, french fries, hot dogs and hamburgers, pastas, and many small pastry-like desserts. I'm sure most of you don't need this run-down of available items but figured that maybe some would like it.

 

Sorrento's, what can I say.. it's a good snack but I wouldn't fill up on it. It's bland as far as pizza goes but definitely not terrible. I tried the cheese and pepperoni slices and didn't do a custom personal pizza because I'd rather not make a meal of it.

 

Promenade Cafe had excellent desserts and I even tried a half sub sandwich, the veggie Greek with cucumber, calamata olives, maybe some arugula? No picture, but it was tasty. The cheesecake pops were to die for and necessitated some serious self control, and the "pink lemonade" tarts were equally as delicious. They also had yummy cookies including a white chocolate/craisin that I really liked.

 

Hotdog stand was just what you'd expect! I don't prefer toppings on my hotdogs other than ketchup, but they were good franks. Hard to mess this up, and great for a lunch on the go.

 

Park Cafe was great--I just wish they had more seating so it wasn't always a battle to find a place to eat the food! The custom salads are great and the roast beef sandwiches are amazing as everyone has said. I never tried any dessert items from here because it was always too hectic and made me anxious. :rolleyes:

 

Room service food was great, and free which was a novel concept I had to take advantage of! The first morning, I ordered eggs with bacon and orange juice and was REALLY impressed to receive a plate of eggs with garnish, a hashbrown, a roasted tomato, and toast in addition to what I ordered. During the evenings I ordered and loved the raspberry cheesecake, the spinach & artichoke dip with nachos, and we were pleasantly surprised with some chocolate covered strawberries on the house! (Possibly the bonus dish because we ordered an orange juice after dinner, so it cost extra?) I also had a cup of hot tea almost every night. Room service took at most 40 minutes (which was expected) and at least 10 minutes, which blew our socks off.

 

If anyone would like pictures, let me know.