Which Cruise Line Has Best Food?

[BEAV]

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

 

Lunchables pairs well with a crisp Chardonnay, whilst canned raviolis a nice Chianti !! :D:eek::D

[ChucktownSteve]

Lunchables pairs well with a crisp Chardonnay, whilst canned raviolis a nice Chianti !! :D:eek::D

 

before 5 o'clock, why not juice boxes? Oh wait, it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Edited March 10, 2015 by ChucktownSteve

[boatlover19]

I am wondering if you have ever cruised on Carnival? I have been on 2 in the last few months(and many more before that), and the service is consistently wonderful in every area; dining room, bar service, room steward, etc. They are friendly, and very eager to please. The food is GOOD. From what I have been reading about Celebrity lately, I am wondering about my upcoming Constellation cruise. My upcoming cruise is only 5 nights long, but, I have been reading bad reviews(member section) on the longer cruises also. No doubt we will have a wonderful time as there is no bad cruise, imo.

 

Food is definitely subjective. I have been on Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, and Celebrity. Celebrity by far had the best food. I sailed on Millennium in April 2012 and the MDR was great. Carnival Miracle and Valor both had bad cafeteria food. Princess was a bit better and Norwegian was awful, even the specialty restaurants. I am sailing Celebrity Silhouette April 5th. I will see if the food has declined in the last few years.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Don't forget to pack the Spam!

 

Spam and *CONCENTRATE OJ*, Now that sounds like breakfast! :)

[BEACHBARB]

Just off Equinox 2 weeks ago and we found MDR food very disappointing. Only thing served hot was soup - everything else was barely warm - some just plain cold. Select dining was too hectic/rushed. Had breakfast once in Bistro on 5 - we were the only ones in there and I never saw anyone in there. I liked it but my sisters didn't like their eggs wrapped in a crepe. Crème brulee is great but the chocolate deserts were tasteless. Burgers either at Mast Grill or room service were very good as were the fries. I agree with other posters - I don't want to have to pay extra for a good meal. Feel like I already paid plenty. Eggs Benedict in buffet were very good as were the hash browns. As said before - very subjective.

[4774Papa]

We have only done Celebrity and NCL.

Celebrity wins hands down.

 

NCL does have several specialty restaurants that are excellent and the surcharge ranges from $10-30pp

 

Didn't Celebrity win the best food contest recently?

[GeorgesGal]

Having sailed in the recent past 3 years on HAL, =X=, Azamara and Oceania (new and old ships), I would rate Oceania highest, followed by AZ, =X=, then HAL.

 

The order changes when booking Aqua staterooms on =X=, when they come out on top of AZ. JMHO, of course.

[GeorgesGal]

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

 

Agree 100%!

[maggie.1008]

I am always surprised when people run down Carnival and wonder how many cruises they have been on. I have been on Carnival 6 times ( mainly because they sail out of the West Coast ) We do not cruise on them anymore because it is just too loud and many young teens. However I think the food is very good in the MDR and Steak House. We have cruised on most of the luxury lines so it is not fair to compare them with Carnival. For the last 20 years X has been the line that suits our needs. Look forward to new suit dining on our next few cruises.

[dabear]

1. Oceania- they spend the most for food pp & it shows

2. Regent

3. Azamara

4. Celebrity- especially the specialty restaurants and Blu

5 HAL

6. Princess, RCCL & NCL

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I am always surprised when people run down Carnival and wonder how many cruises they have been on. I have been on Carnival 6 times ( mainly because they sail out of the West Coast ) We do not cruise on them anymore because it is just too loud and many young teens. However I think the food is very good in the MDR and Steak House. We have cruised on most of the luxury lines so it is not fair to compare them with Carnival. For the last 20 years X has been the line that suits our needs. Look forward to new suit dining on our next few cruises.

 

Ha, and if you go onto the Carnival thread and mention any other line (especially NCL or RCL), the loyalists can be fanatical! :eek:

 

If you go Mid September - Early December, Carnival is not bad with kids / teens / Spring Breakers. The average age seemed to range 35 - 45 year old on our last cruise, 7 days.

[Hlitner]

We have been on 14 different cruise lines (so what?) and enjoyed every cruise we have taken in the past forty some years (another so what). One "certainty" we have learned about cruise lines (and ships) is that nothing, including food, stays the same for long. When most folks here on CC tell you which line/ship has the best food it really helps to know how recently they have cruised all the lines. But if we were to rate with no regard to time the best food we have experienced on any ship was on the Azamara Journey and the 2nd best on the old Crystal Harmony (long gone). As to recent food, things change so fast that we have found huge variations on a single line within months! Several friends who also do a lot of cruising tell us that they think that Oceania now (and we are talking current) has the best food. As to X, we have found the line hit or miss in both the MDR and Blu. HAL used to be very good, but seems to have cut-back so much that they have lost their "mojo." Our shocker in the past year was a 28 day Ruby Princess cruise where we found the MDR food to be surprisingly good (better then on the Eclipse a few months earlier).

 

Hank

[Oxo]

We have been on 14 different cruise lines (so what?) and enjoyed every cruise we have taken in the past forty some years (another so what). One "certainty" we have learned about cruise lines (and ships) is that nothing, including food, stays the same for long. When most folks here on CC tell you which line/ship has the best food it really helps to know how recently they have cruised all the lines. But if we were to rate with no regard to time the best food we have experienced on any ship was on the Azamara Journey and the 2nd best on the old Crystal Harmony (long gone). As to recent food, things change so fast that we have found huge variations on a single line within months! Several friends who also do a lot of cruising tell us that they think that Oceania now (and we are talking current) has the best food. As to X, we have found the line hit or miss in both the MDR and Blu. HAL used to be very good, but seems to have cut-back so much that they have lost their "mojo." Our shocker in the past year was a 28 day Ruby Princess cruise where we found the MDR food to be surprisingly good (better then on the Eclipse a few months earlier).

 

Hank

 

Hank, you hit the nail on the head. You are totally correct. Food is subjective and changes from ship to ship even when you have the same chef on 1 ship and then 3 months later have the same chef on another ship. We experienced that on Eclipse and Equinox since Nov 2014 to Feb 2015. Even the Specialty Restaurants from ship to ship.

[Leviathan2772]

Probably what's most important is that you the like the style of food your favorite cruise line serves. I've cruise many lines over the past 20 years, from Carnival to Oceania and Celebrity to Crystal. For me, there are something's which all lines do right, while some things can be hit or miss. The food has always seemed to be good to me on all lines, one of my best was on Carnival. For me I have much higher expectations from Crystal than Celebrity. I paid twice as much for it, so the food should be much better. You truly get what you pay for IMO.

 

Yes, Oceania and Crystal have been the best for my wife and I. But I prefer cruising with Celebrity due to more luxury at a much lower cost. We generally dine at Specialty Dining nightly, sometimes dining the MDR or Blu.

[julia]

I am wondering if you have ever cruised on Carnival? I have been on 2 in the last few months(and many more before that), and the service is consistently wonderful in every area; dining room, bar service, room steward, etc. They are friendly, and very eager to please. The food is GOOD. From what I have been reading about Celebrity lately, I am wondering about my upcoming Constellation cruise. My upcoming cruise is only 5 nights long, but, I have been reading bad reviews(member section) on the longer cruises also. No doubt we will have a wonderful time as there is no bad cruise, imo.

 

 

100% agree!

Sailed Carnival enough times to know that they really do aim to please and their food in the MDR is QUITE good. My DH is a steak lover, (always on menu) and he raved about them.

I quite enjoyed a delicious gazpacho one evening (enough to request the recipe), and sure enough, the next evening the M'D came over to our table and gave me a printout of the recipe...... joking that it serves 300! :eek::p

[mcrcruiser]

It is a shame that Celebrity & their competitors can't have consistency in both quality & presentation of the MDR food . Having changes in both quality & presentation turns off future cruisers from repeat sailing with that line .

 

We have done many cruises with Celebrity & their competitors .what is are currently finding is that X is pricing their similar cruises far higher than HAL or Princess .Also ,the food quality between these 3 lines is close enough that there is really no differences ;except itineraries & prices .;)

 

We just saved over $2000 by booking a HAL cruise over a Celebrity cruise with 3 less days;)

[Stateroom_Sailor]

100% agree!

Sailed Carnival enough times to know that they really do aim to please and their food in the MDR is QUITE good. My DH is a steak lover, (always on menu) and he raved about them.

I quite enjoyed a delicious gazpacho one evening (enough to request the recipe), and sure enough, the next evening the M'D came over to our table and gave me a printout of the recipe...... joking that it serves 300! :eek::p

 

Carnival got us hooked on gazpacho! There's a Tapas restaurant in Vegas called Firefly that fills our apatite in the mean time. Celebrity soups were really good too, but RCL really missed the mark!

[minz56]

You need to move up to the higher end lines.

 

Is this in response to the previous post?

 

Does McDonald's have a cruise line yet?

 

If so, I will be moving up :D

[4774Papa]

It is a shame that Celebrity & their competitors can't have consistency in both quality & presentation of the MDR food . Having changes in both quality & presentation turns off future cruisers from repeat sailing with that line .

 

We have done many cruises with Celebrity & their competitors .what is are currently finding is that X is pricing their similar cruises far higher than HAL or Princess .Also ,the food quality between these 3 lines is close enough that there is really no differences ;except itineraries & prices .;)

 

We just saved over $2000 by booking a HAL cruise over a Celebrity cruise with 3 less days;)

Interesting, I always check HAL, Princess, NCL and Celebrity prices before I book.

 

I always book very early and find the the Celebrity usually beats HAL and Princess. NCL is usually the cheapest.

 

I will say the I get emails from HAL with special discounted and those fares are really low, but this is generally within a few weeks of the cruise. Too late, I booked my cruise a year and a half ago.

 

I am sure that individual comparisons will show different results at different times, but my experience is not yours.

[cruiseerf]

Crystal Cruises has by far the most delicious and innovative food afloat. I Love the environment of Celebrity cruises and the prices ;) but the finest food I have ever had afloat bar NONE was Crystal Cruises. Fantastic slices of beef and racks of Lamb, They even served Wild Alaskan Salmon one night...it was less like eating on a ship and more like eating at a fine restaurant.....If you wanted a special order....Lobster, Filet Mignon etc, just tell them and the next day it was there for dinner. Casual dress or tux optional night etc.

 

Lastly, they have a Nobu Sushi bar which is the finest Sushi restaurant afloat. We had fantastic fresh and healthy sushi meals, as well as having Waygu beefsteaks one of the nights.

 

My one complaint about Crystal.....Small standard cabins. The Food onboard for 28 days was Divine.

 

Safe Sails!

[baldercash]

It is true that preference in food is subjective and it is siumilar as asking one person who are they voting for in the next election but once the vote is over and the results are you may still think your candidate is the best but the electorate determines the winner.

So someone saying the food is great on Carnival is just that one mans opinion as you will find no award or survey that says Carnival is a top tier in cruise cuisine.

The same holds true if you think Golden Corral is a top tier steak house.

 

If you look at the Cruise Critic Chose awards you will note in the small ship category Azamara and Crystal each have 2 ships in the top 10.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Dining&sort=small

Checking mid size ships you will find 2 Oceania, 2 Disney and 2 HAL ships in the top 10.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Dining&sort=medium

In the large ship category you will find 5 Celebrity ships, 2 Disney and 2 Royal Caribbean listed in the top 10.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Dining&sort=large

 

There will be the usual response that the awards mean nothing and they are just the reflection of the majority that bother to write reviews or respond to polls but the results are what they are. They are the sum of the majorities opinion.

Having sailed on most of the cruise lines my personal opinion is that the awards are accurate and having not sailed Disney I am willing to bet I would be impressed by their food if I did sail with them.

If you google the internet for other agency awards you will find similar results.

Edited March 11, 2015 by baldercash

[Stateroom_Sailor]

It is true that preference in food is subjective and it is siumilar as asking one person who are they voting for in the next election but once the vote is over and the results are you may still think your candidate is the best but the electorate determines the winner.

So someone saying the food is great on Carnival is just that one mans opinion as you will find no award or survey that says Carnival is a top tier in cruise cuisine.

The same holds true if you think Golden Corral is a top tier steak house.

 

Is Golden Corral really a steak house? I suppose the same holds true if you think McDonalds is a top tier Lobster House (they've got the Filet-O-Fish). I don't get the point of these types of comparisons, which are basically an ad hominem attack. Like with your example of an election, the inside scoop is always more interesting than, "Well, this guy won. Whatever liked the other guy must be wrong."

 

Unlike an election, cuisine on a cruise ship you can like one, some or all. Has anyone actually claim that Carnival was #1? That's a world of difference from claiming you like it. I might like a burger chain, or a Brazilian steakhouse, but I don't put the same expectations on each, or worry if they made the world's top 10. If I watch a movie, and it turns out to not get the Oscar, was I wrong for enjoying it?

Edited March 11, 2015 by Stateroom_Sailor

[C 2 C]

1. Oceania- they spend the most for food pp & it shows

2. Regent

3. Azamara

4. Celebrity- especially the specialty restaurants and Blu

5 HAL

6. Princess, RCCL & NCL

 

Now all we need is the price per day to get an idea which cruise line has the best food for the price paid. Saying that the most expensive cruise lines have the best food is like saying that the best restaurants in your city have better food than fast food restaurants.

 

We just spent three weeks on Reflection dining in the Specialty restaurants every evening. The bonus for us is that we did not have to pay extra due to the construction of Luminae. The result however was that we cut back on the number of courses because we could just not handle all the wonderful offerings.

If one pays extra for eating in the specialty restaurants on every mainstream cruise line, how does the cost vs quality compare to the luxury lines?

[Hlitner]

It is a shame that Celebrity & their competitors can't have consistency in both quality & presentation of the MDR food . Having changes in both quality & presentation turns off future cruisers from repeat sailing with that line .

 

We have done many cruises with Celebrity & their competitors .what is are currently finding is that X is pricing their similar cruises far higher than HAL or Princess .Also ,the food quality between these 3 lines is close enough that there is really no differences ;except itineraries & prices .;)

 

We just saved over $2000 by booking a HAL cruise over a Celebrity cruise with 3 less days;)

 

Sometimes you get a good bargain, but other times you will get what you pay for :). I say this being Elite Plus with X and a 4 Star Mariner with HAL (well over 300 days with this line). 2 years ago we booked a 14 day HAL Caribbean cruise (the first time we had ever done HAL in the Caribbean) because the 14 day Eclipse Cruise was nearly 3 times the price! DW and I agreed that we made a mistake and the Eclipse was worth the higher price :). While we use HAL for long cruises (often more then a month) to exotic places around the world, we have found them to offer an awful product in the Caribbean.

 

A lot of cruise pricing is simply based on supply vs demand. Any line will try to get the most dollars per passenger day. Celebrity has lately been able to demand higher prices and still fill their ships. Meanwhile, we see some amazing discounting on HAL Caribbean cruises.

 

As to Europe, we do look at all the lines and compare cruise prices per passenger day (adjusting for any amenities such as drink packages). One needs to carefully look the times in port and the day of the week in various ports. For example, you do not want to be in Rome on a Sunday or in Istanbul on a Tuesday (Topkapi is closed).

 

Hank

[Kevnzworld]

We just spent three weeks on Reflection dining in the Specialty restaurants every evening. The bonus for us is that we did not have to pay extra due to the construction of Luminae. The result however was that we cut back on the number of courses because we could just not handle all the wonderful offerings.

If one pays extra for eating in the specialty restaurants on every mainstream cruise line, how does the cost vs quality compare to the luxury lines?

 

The problem with Celebrity specialty restaurants ( besides offering average food ) is that the menus don't change. The only one that I'd eat at twice would be the Lawn grill on the top deck. And that's just for atmosphere.

The luxury lines, Seabourn specifically in my case, offer substantially higher quality food every night, with a changing menu. The lunch buffet on Seabourn is great...not the Oceanview cafe crazed overcrowded school lunch cafeteria.

The quality of the meats and fish are incomparable. We recently had one of the steaks in Tuscan grill ( the Silhouette ), thin and poor quality. On the Seabourn Quest, they served live Maine lobster. Caviar is an everyday offering.

The preparations are far more complex, and comparable to real land based restaurants, there isn't a Celebrity specialty restaurant except possibly Murano that could say that.

The best part, is a Sky suite on Celebrity is often the same price as a 300 sq ft cabin on Seabourn, given that drinks and gratuities are inclusive.

If food preparation and quality is an important part of your dining experience and cruise choice...the luxury lines are much better.

Lastly if ports are important , especially in Europe, the smaller less crowded ports that the smaller ships can visit are much more interesting than the relatively few and crowded ports the big ships dock at..

In the case of St Petersburg, smaller ships like Quest dock in the city....the Celebrity ships are in the main industrial port :30-:45 minutes away

Edited March 11, 2015 by Kevnzworld