Which Cruise Line Has Best Food?

[Lovincruisin1321]

My husband and I just came off Celebrity Constellation. HUGE disappointment with each evening meal in the MDR. Lacking flavor, presentation and variety.

 

We just came from my cousin's birthday dinner......

 

Rack of Lamb, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, Caesar salad paired with a very nice Pinot Noir.

 

Best meal we have had in a week!

 

 

Our next cruise may be based on how good the food is.

 

What is your feedback because I am extremely disappointed.

[dinkydee718]

I've only been on 2 lines so far, but the food on DCL was amazing! I can't imagine it being better on another line.

[fleckle]

My husband and I just came off Celebrity Constellation. HUGE disappointment with each evening meal in the MDR. Lacking flavor, presentation and variety.

 

We just came from my cousin's birthday dinner......

 

Rack of Lamb, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, Caesar salad paired with a very nice Pinot Noir.

 

Best meal we have had in a week!

 

 

Our next cruise may be based on how good the food is.

 

What is your feedback because I am extremely disappointed.

Sorry that you were disappointed.

 

I have always enjoyed the rack of lamb and Caesar salad and wine on Celebrity cruises, but your palate may be more sophisticated than mine.

 

Granted that some foods on the ship are better or worse than others, but if you get something you dislike, you can just ask your waiter for something else.

 

As for the presentation, they are short staffed and the presentation lately has not been what it used to be. So if presentation is important to you, the MDR is probably not a good fit for you and you may prefer the specialty restaurants.

 

If you ever cruise on Celebrity again, you may want to book a suite so that you can try the new Luminae restaurant, which may be more to your liking.

 

[Wj420]

The best food we enjoyed was in 2004 on a regent cruise to bermuda. That was a Family occasion otherwise not a price point for travel that we normally do. Looking forward to tasting the cusine in luminare in April.

[OCruisers]

Have you considered having dinner in the $pecialty Restaurants?

[goodycruising]

We were on Celebrity Solstice last Nov, and then on Rhapsody of the Seas in Feb this year. The smaller Rhapsody had much less choice in the buffet, but we found the dining room food to be delicious. The buffet on Solstice had some great food for our taste, but then we all like different things. We enjoyed the dining room on Solstice also, but then if we don't like something we don't hesitate to order something else. Hasn't happened much on any RCI or Celebrity cruise that we haven't liked most of the food we had. :)

[RJ2002]

We just returned from a Princess cruise, and thought the MDR food was good. Within the past few years, we've also sailed HAL and NCL. We think HAL has slipped a bit. Was not impressed with MDR food on NCL, but their specialty restaurants were good.

 

If you are only considering the mass-market lines, I don't know that any of them are going to have great MDR food.

 

I've read here on CC that Oceania food is very good, but I haven't experienced it myself. Of course, Oceania is a step up from mass-market, but not quite luxury (at least from what I've read here).

 

We are returning to Celebrity (the Constellation, in fact) after a long absence. I hope our experience is better than yours. We will be able to dine in Blu, so hopefully that will make a difference.

[NLH Arizona]

My husband and I just came off Celebrity Constellation. HUGE disappointment with each evening meal in the MDR. Lacking flavor, presentation and variety.

 

We just came from my cousin's birthday dinner......

 

Rack of Lamb, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, Caesar salad paired with a very nice Pinot Noir.

 

Best meal we have had in a week!

 

 

Our next cruise may be based on how good the food is.

 

What is your feedback because I am extremely disappointed.

 

Cruise Critic names Oceania for best dining in their 2014 US Editor Picks:

 

Variety abounds when it comes to dining on Oceania's ships, which feature world-class gourmet options with an open-seating scenario in its main dining rooms. Where the ships really shine, though, is with their included alternative restaurants: Asian Red Ginger and French Jacques, named for the line's famous executive culinary director, Jacques Pepin.

[neverbeenhere]

Does McDonald's have a cruise line yet?

[Cruise Junky]

You need to move up to the higher end lines.

[CHUCKIE50]

I second Oceania as having the best food. I especially like Oceania's larger ships Marina and Riviera which are 1200 passenger ships. O does not charge extra to go to their specialty restaurants but there is a priority reservation system pre cruise in which suites get first dibs.

Edited March 9, 2015 by CHUCKIE50

[S&G1968]

Speciality Restaurants... The MDR are fine but they are seatng everyone at once... The food is production style so if you like Celebrity then hit the speciality restaurants and avoid the MDR.

 

The alternative would be choosing a Luxury Line.... Like Crystal!

 

~Steve

[alcpa1]

FYI, Crystal was just sold within the last couple of weeks to Genting, or a name close to that spelling. The company is in the casino-hotel-casino ships business so it will be interesting to see what changes they make.

 

If the OP would still prefer to sail on Celebrity, and it's a good choice, perhaps they should opt for an Aqua class cabin with the dedicated BLU restaurant. From time to time the prices for an AQ cabin are less or on par with a CC cabin and the smaller dining venue could be a better choice. For us we are willing to pay a premium for an AQ cabin, particularly if it is a deck 11 aft on a M class ship. Surely, Luminae will be another step up for suite passengers so we will watch for reviews in the coming months before we decide to upgrade on our next cruise.

 

Haven't been on Princess in a very long time and we were totally underwhelmed on a HAL sailing. We were on an RCI ship in November and the only decent food we had was in the specialty restaurant, Chops. Those meals reminded us of RCI in the 80's and early 90's.

 

You don't have to abandon mass market ships but you might have to adjust your expectations and choose different cabin classes and/or specialty restaurants.

[Kevnzworld]

Seabourn has the best food that I've experienced on a cruise ship...we sailed on Oceania recently and were very disappointed in the food.

So, Seabourn it is.

Hopefully, Luminae will be a game changer for Celebrity, Blu certainly isn't.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We bring Lunchables and canned Raviolis on board to avoid the MDR and the rest of the nonsense all together. :D

[goodycruising]

Speciality Restaurants... The MDR are fine but they are seatng everyone at once... The food is production style so if you like Celebrity then hit the speciality restaurants and avoid the MDR.

 

The alternative would be choosing a Luxury Line.... Like Crystal!

 

~Steve

 

Maybe the reason we have found the MDR to be good food is that we choose my time dining/select dining. The service is quick and the food comes out fine in our opinion.

 

We have found the speciality restaurants nice mostly, but we had cold potatoes and our order was mixed up one time in a Chops on RCI. On Celebrity we found Murano food good, but the people beside us had a big whinge about whatever they were served, and they left the lady's dish sitting there while the husband had something else cooked at the table, as they do. It was not handled as well as you would expect, so I think any venue can have its good and bad times.

 

They are all ships with thousands being fed, and I think overall they do a great job with the food.

[GUT2407]

Food is very subjective of course but

 

On the whole food in the MDR on any of the "Major" lines [Carnival P&O Celebrity RCI Princess HAL and the like] is in my opinion a bit like Conference food or wedding food, pretty much mass produced for a LOT of people, Would you eat at a restaurant that only offered 3 or 4 choices for each course.

 

Some of the small ships are better because they have less people to feed, some are not so good because they have less staff.

 

Azamara was good I believe Ociana and Silverseas are good.

 

If food is a deal breaker for you you might be better off with one of these.

 

I have had some lovely courses at sea, but on the whole as say conference food.

[yorkyred]

We have pretty much given up expecting good food in the MDR on any of the main players, we can't afford the upmarket lines. The food and service we had with Cunard was so laughably bad we just ended up we gave up on the main dining room completely. We already have the 5 speciality restaurant deal booked for our cruise in November but hope were presently suprised.

[LauraAnneC]

I was on HAL last year (Westerdam) and thought the food in the MDR to be very disappointing. I'm not a foodie by any means so was it was never going to be the highlight of my cruise, but it was the one disappointing aspect of an otherwise brilliant holiday.

 

Laura

[Stateroom_Sailor]

My husband and I just came off Celebrity Constellation. HUGE disappointment with each evening meal in the MDR. Lacking flavor, presentation and variety.

 

We just came from my cousin's birthday dinner......

 

Rack of Lamb, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, Caesar salad paired with a very nice Pinot Noir.

 

Best meal we have had in a week!

 

 

Our next cruise may be based on how good the food is.

 

What is your feedback because I am extremely disappointed.

 

Out of Celebrity, Norwegian, RCL, and Carnival, who has hit closest to your target? It's unlikely that Disney, Princess, or Holland will fair much better.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Stateroom_Sailor

[dkjretired]

I've only been on 2 lines so far, but the food on DCL was amazing! I can't imagine it being better on another line.

 

Just shows you how food is subjective, Disney has never been known for their food, as a matter of fact I have followed their boards since their inception and they have been consistently panned for their food. I have never been on Disney and that's one of the reasons why.

 

I've never had anything on any cruise line like Celebrity in the beginning under Michel Roux, every night you ate like you were in a Specialty restaurant now in terms of service, food and presentation.

Edited March 9, 2015 by dkjretired

[gopro63]

If that is all you are basing it on, I base it on service, the food can be the best, and the service can be the worst, and it all will taste like bad, due to how you were "served"

 

Think about it

[FlorenceItaly]

My husband and I just came off Celebrity Constellation. HUGE disappointment with each evening meal in the MDR. Lacking flavor, presentation and variety.

 

We just came from my cousin's birthday dinner......

 

Rack of Lamb, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, Caesar salad paired with a very nice Pinot Noir.

 

Best meal we have had in a week!

 

 

Our next cruise may be based on how good the food is.

 

What is your feedback because I am extremely disappointed.

 

We just got off a Carnival cruise a few days ago. I was very satisfied with the food. We leave on the Celebrity Constellation on the 21st of this month. I am very curious how it will compare with our Carnival cruise. It's been many years since I cruised on Celebrity.

[cruise47]

Just shows you how food is subjective, Disney has never been known for their food, as a matter of fact I have followed their boards since their inception and they have been consistently panned for their food. I have never been on Disney and that's one of the reasons why.

 

I've never had anything on any cruise line like Celebrity in the beginning under Michel Roux, every night you ate like you were in a Specialty restaurant now in terms of service, food and presentation.

 

The food, the service and the presentation under Michel Roux was just outstanding.

[wally_bushy]

Food is so variable and subjective with people on the same cruise loving and disliking the food.

We have found there is enough variety to satisfy us on most cruises.

However as you have asked which we think is the best we would say Oceania.

I know you will get replies negating this this but that is our opinion.