Getting Into Detail About Carnival Food Quality

[Cruiseathoning]

Just off the Freedom, and as my review indicates, the food was very inconsistent. While some items, particularly at lunch, were very tasty, others fell flat completely, and the buffet was a non-starter.

 

First off the Seaday Brunch is a very limited menu-and a deal breaker for my Wife. She likes a true lunch menu and I do too. While the flaming tomato soup is decent, it is an excellent attempt to dress up canned tomato soup. It is also a huge portion for a starter, not a problem for some, but a dietary concern for others. The filet mignon and eggs were both overcooked, and small, especially in comparison to the soup. The eggs benedict never did arrive with a sauce that had not split-a basic skill of any chef.

 

But I ate it. It was ok. Not inedible. The buffet on the other hand was disgusting. If you were not getting salads you were treated to undercooked fish, an overcooked red meat protein invariably swimming in grease, and way way too many soft vegetables and a dearth of good ol' fashioned sides. Baked potatoes were found in abundance, but not mashed, no mac n' cheese, no creativity at all. And it was all lukewarm and slimy.

 

As far as the new menu, yes it is by and large tasty but not MDR level food. First off-it is not WHAT you are serving as much as WHAT is the quality of ingredients. So you want to put fried shrimp out for an entree. Fine. Wide variance here-is it frozen dressed up Sea-Pak or hand breaded butterfly?

 

In this particular case it was something in between. But all too often, the sauces and spices had a boxed character to them and left us underwhelmed. However, this was not the case across the board.

 

For example the mac n' cheese that to my knowledge never showed up on the buffet, was at dinner among the best I have ever eaten. The spaghetti carbonara was incredible-just the right amount of sauce and garlic with a perfect, but not too salty bite. The whipped potatoes were buttery and smooth, with a clean finish-no grit.

 

Most soups were good to great, and even the bread-sliced asiago and cranberry, were a delight as we prepared for..

 

A letdown with most entrees. This is the head scratch factor. While clearly, most apps and soups were hand made from scratch good, the entrees being turned over were below bad banquet level. Why? The salmon was poor-overcooked and stale sitting upon a beet puree-as bad of an idea as it sounds.

 

The chicken could have been used to patch a flat tire. The shrimp used in the lobster elegant night were good-but the only decent sized shrimp we had access to, except for the final elegant night. In between, somewhere between Sea-Pak and Captain D's. Why? Why did it all to often seem as if we were eating at a different restaurant from course to course?

 

Desserts were typical Carnival, which is to say delicious. The white chocolate banana bread pudding was a huge success. Hand crafted and moist, with the perfect background of rum and vanilla, the dish melted in your mouth. The warm chocolate melting cake-well nothing needs to be said here-ethereal as always.

 

Lunches were not only good-if you avoided the buffet, but fun. It was nice to traverse the different offerings between the efficient and spectacular Guy's Burgers and the Blue Iguana or Fish n' Chips. All terrific and all well received so far as I could tell. Again, wildly different ingredient quality.

 

All in all, eating on this ship was like enjoying Disneyworld in between thunderstorms. The sunny moments were wonderful, and made for great memories, but all too often you found yourself caught in a downpour of rancid food that indicates to me multiple distributors and inconsistent overhead management.

 

If you were taken to a neutral location, and served the various items I have discussed without information, there is little chance you would assess them as being of the same origin. Again, as with so much involving Carnival, especially compared to Royal-high ceilings, and very low floors.

 

What I mean by that is I had several tastes on this cruise better than most anything you would find on Royal, but on several occasions bit into food that was worse than ANYTHING I have ever had on Royal, who is consistently good to great but never in my opinion, spectacular.

 

Carnival has taken an odd approach to its food service and has cut corners in obvious, and inexplicable places. Cutting corners rarely leaves you a product that is leakproof..

 

A particularly bad trait for a cruise line.

[Yvonne]

I understand what you're talking about. After our Carnival Conquest cruise we had pretty much decided to go with a different cruise line for our next cruise. The food being one of the main reasons for that decision. We felt their food choices and quality had gone downhill. A lot. We only ate in the main dining room for dinner a couple of nights (because our traveling companions didn't want to go), so it was the buffet most nights and I agree with you about the abundance of plain baked potatoes. So disappointing. And basically the same things over and over during lunch.

 

But. We went on a January cruise with our granddaughter and other family members to celebrate her graduation from college. She chose the Carnival Paradise. And we were pleasantly surprised, and more than pleased, with the food on this ship. Varied choices for lunch at the buffet. We did the main dining room each night and I enjoyed almost everything I ordered. A couple things I did not care for, but most I did like, or even love. We really enjoyed the sea day brunch and the choices there as well.

 

So it must vary from ship to ship about the food quality.

[Pyrate13]

Don't think I would call it a "lecture", it's just one persons opinion. I have to agree with him/her somewhat though as we too have found the food to be a bit inconsistent at times. However, we felt the same about some foods on Disney and HAL. Both much more pricey in cruise cost. I can't speak to Royal as we haven't sailed on that line. With that in mind we'll stick with Carnival. :)

[Tapi]

The meat swimming in grease and the soft vegetables are two things that I find disgusting about buffets. But on the other end of the spectrum, I consider Carnival's Steakhouses to offer the best dining experience of all cruise lines that I've sailed on. Inconsistent? Yes.

 

Although taste is subjective, quality and freshness are not, and that's a big difference which I've noticed between what Carnival offers and what I've experienced on other cruise lines which I've recently sailed on. When we sailed on our last cruise aboard Princess a few months ago, both my wife and I commented on how fresh everything tasted. Crisp vegetables, quality meats, innovative offerings, more health conscious selections, and better casual options, all made made for a consistently memorable dining experience.

 

But let's place things into perspective. We have booked a high season, summer Eastern Caribbean cruise on Carnival for $259pp. I'll tolerate meat swimming in grease and soft vegetables for that price!

Edited April 20, 2015 by Tapi

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Food is the most subjective topic alive. What one individual considers great food, someone else will thumb their nose at even considering eating it. Some people LOVE fast food and wouldn't eat chicken it it didn't come from KFC, or think that pizza is super tasty from Pizza Hut...others think that price means good food and wouldn't go out to eat unless they could afford The Four Seasons.

 

If you cruise to eat then you are going to be disappointed, irregardless of where you choose to eat. A cruise line has to prepare food for over 9000 meals a day....try that in your own kitchen sometime. And try stocking enough food to prepare "FRESH" for over 63,000 meals every week that will satisfy numerous different palettes.

 

I, for one, have never ever lost weight on a cruise and I have never gone hungry. Sure, many items don't measure up to my personal "standards" but then nobody barbecues a rib eye quite as good as I do at home. And having moved from Phoenix where fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery store are a hundred times better than what I can buy where I now live I know that food resources aren't always equal.

 

The bottom line is that I have personally witnessed the fact that even in our travel group no two individuals will agree on the taste and quality of the same item...some are deeply satisfied, others can't even stand the sight of some of the dishes offered. Who is to say that one is right and the other wrong.

 

The OP has nicely given their take on Carnival's offerings...but the "their" is the operative word.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Where did you get most of your food. MDR or Buffet?

[jimbo5544]

Just off the Freedom, and as my review indicates, the food was very inconsistent. While some items, particularly at lunch, were very tasty, others fell flat completely, and the buffet was a non-starter.

 

First off the Seaday Brunch is a very limited menu-and a deal breaker for my Wife. She likes a true lunch menu and I do too. While the flaming tomato soup is decent, it is an excellent attempt to dress up canned tomato soup. It is also a huge portion for a starter, not a problem for some, but a dietary concern for others. The filet mignon and eggs were both overcooked, and small, especially in comparison to the soup. The eggs benedict never did arrive with a sauce that had not split-a basic skill of any chef.

 

But I ate it. It was ok. Not inedible. The buffet on the other hand was disgusting. If you were not getting salads you were treated to undercooked fish, an overcooked red meat protein invariably swimming in grease, and way way too many soft vegetables and a dearth of good ol' fashioned sides. Baked potatoes were found in abundance, but not mashed, no mac n' cheese, no creativity at all. And it was all lukewarm and slimy.

 

As far as the new menu, yes it is by and large tasty but not MDR level food. First off-it is not WHAT you are serving as much as WHAT is the quality of ingredients. So you want to put fried shrimp out for an entree. Fine. Wide variance here-is it frozen dressed up Sea-Pak or hand breaded butterfly?

 

In this particular case it was something in between. But all too often, the sauces and spices had a boxed character to them and left us underwhelmed. However, this was not the case across the board.

 

For example the mac n' cheese that to my knowledge never showed up on the buffet, was at dinner among the best I have ever eaten. The spaghetti carbonara was incredible-just the right amount of sauce and garlic with a perfect, but not too salty bite. The whipped potatoes were buttery and smooth, with a clean finish-no grit.

 

Most soups were good to great, and even the bread-sliced asiago and cranberry, were a delight as we prepared for..

 

A letdown with most entrees. This is the head scratch factor. While clearly, most apps and soups were hand made from scratch good, the entrees being turned over were below bad banquet level. Why? The salmon was poor-overcooked and stale sitting upon a beet puree-as bad of an idea as it sounds.

 

The chicken could have been used to patch a flat tire. The shrimp used in the lobster elegant night were good-but the only decent sized shrimp we had access to, except for the final elegant night. In between, somewhere between Sea-Pak and Captain D's. Why? Why did it all to often seem as if we were eating at a different restaurant from course to course?

 

Desserts were typical Carnival, which is to say delicious. The white chocolate banana bread pudding was a huge success. Hand crafted and moist, with the perfect background of rum and vanilla, the dish melted in your mouth. The warm chocolate melting cake-well nothing needs to be said here-ethereal as always.

 

Lunches were not only good-if you avoided the buffet, but fun. It was nice to traverse the different offerings between the efficient and spectacular Guy's Burgers and the Blue Iguana or Fish n' Chips. All terrific and all well received so far as I could tell. Again, wildly different ingredient quality.

 

All in all, eating on this ship was like enjoying Disneyworld in between thunderstorms. The sunny moments were wonderful, and made for great memories, but all too often you found yourself caught in a downpour of rancid food that indicates to me multiple distributors and inconsistent overhead management.

 

If you were taken to a neutral location, and served the various items I have discussed without information, there is little chance you would assess them as being of the same origin. Again, as with so much involving Carnival, especially compared to Royal-high ceilings, and very low floors.

 

What I mean by that is I had several tastes on this cruise better than most anything you would find on Royal, but on several occasions bit into food that was worse than ANYTHING I have ever had on Royal, who is consistently good to great but never in my opinion, spectacular.

 

Carnival has taken an odd approach to its food service and has cut corners in obvious, and inexplicable places. Cutting corners rarely leaves you a product that is leakproof..

 

A particularly bad trait for a cruise line.

 

Kind of looks like your review reposted, but still worth commenting on. I thought the chjicken entree (can't remember what it was called) was one of the highlights (as was the Greek dish with bell peppers). Frankly, I do not see the new menu as a cutback in any form.

[Sixtytwo]

Food is the most subjective topic alive. What one individual considers great food, someone else will thumb their nose at even considering eating it. Some people LOVE fast food and wouldn't eat chicken it it didn't come from KFC, or think that pizza is super tasty from Pizza Hut...others think that price means good food and wouldn't go out to eat unless they could afford The Four Seasons.

 

If you cruise to eat then you are going to be disappointed, irregardless of where you choose to eat. A cruise line has to prepare food for over 9000 meals a day....try that in your own kitchen sometime. And try stocking enough food to prepare "FRESH" for over 63,000 meals every week that will satisfy numerous different palettes.

 

I, for one, have never ever lost weight on a cruise and I have never gone hungry. Sure, many items don't measure up to my personal "standards" but then nobody barbecues a rib eye quite as good as I do at home. And having moved from Phoenix where fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery store are a hundred times better than what I can buy where I now live I know that food resources aren't always equal.

 

The bottom line is that I have personally witnessed the fact that even in our travel group no two individuals will agree on the taste and quality of the same item...some are deeply satisfied, others can't even stand the sight of some of the dishes offered. Who is to say that one is right and the other wrong.

 

The OP has nicely given their take on Carnival's offerings...but the "their" is the operative word.

 

Thank you!! Excellent post!

[Bob NC]

"Rancid?" Really?

 

I try to choose my items wisely when on a cruise. Certain items by definition ARE, and have to be, banquet quality. They are feeding thousands of people in the MDR. Just like I typically don't go to a fish restaurant and order steak, I also try to stick with the things I know they do well.

 

I don't like buffets on land, so I don't see any reason I'd like them while floating. On my 6 Carnival cruises I have never experienced a buffet lunch or dinner. I'm not going to try something I know in advance I won't be fond of and then tell everyone how bad it is.

 

Every pasta dish I have tried in the MDR has been excellent. The turkey and dressing dinner is awesome. The chicken breast which is cooked on a sheet with 49 other breasts and then kept warm until they serve it to me? Not so awesome.

 

I tend to order stuff that sits well for a while. I know exactly which dishes to order if I want to write a bad review of MDR food.

[cruizinisthebest]

Food is very subjective and that's just the way it is. I don't know why this needed another separate, long winded thread. I was on the Freedom last year and found the food to be quite good. I could always find something to eat that was more than decent - as did the rest of my family. The only thing I thought was gross across the board was the dessert. Whether in the buffet or those for purchase in the coffee shop, I didn't like any of it. The pineapple ice cream and WCMC was good in the MDR. Other than that, my sweet tooth went largely neglected.

 

I've never seen food swimming in grease. And I think it's misleading and misguided to suggest a cheap cruise equals food being served that way. I'm currently booked for next year on a Royal cruise that's cheaper than any Carnival cruise I've been booked on in years. I guess I should expect meat and veggies to be swimming in grease by that logic.

 

Makes sense to me that not every meal served to every person would be 100% to their liking. That's impossible given the number of meals served and preferences for thousands of people.

 

I do think you can go on a cruise to eat and be perfectly satisfied. On the other hand, if you're looking to nit pick and find something at every turn to come back and complain about, well you can do that too. It's up to you.

[Cruiseathoning]

I think way too many people think Carnival is real cruising. It isn't. It is vacationing. The same could be said for any mass market line. It is a misunderstanding of the genre. Still, with the kind of vacation Carnival used to invest in, you could enjoy most every meal-cruise for the food, so to speak. But it appears that their customer base is so beaten down that they take just about anything in stride. That is not how I tend to roll.

 

You deserve better, whether you realize it or not. And Miami can deliver better.

[riffatsea]

I find it quite interesting that people think their taste buds are the deciding factor for everyone on the ship.

You will find that no two people will agree on what tastes good and what doesn't.

We have found the food in the MDR on Carnival to be quite good. We enjoy the Sea Day brunch as well as dinner. The buffet offers great variety but not everything tastes as good as it looks.

We have cruised on Royal Caribbean and NCL and would say that in comparison Royal may have better food at the buffet but NCL (IMO) has terrible food everywhere except their extra pay restaurants! We won't cruise them again unless I can get guaranteed that their free food has improved.

Now I know others will disagree with those assessments since food is a very personal thing !!

[Cruiseathoning]

It is not a taste bud thing, it is a freshness and quality ingredient thing. Not chemical filled, solution laden garbage thing.

 

Do you know why you gain weight on cruises? It isn't the calories. It is the water retention.

[eponym]

Food is the most subjective topic alive.

 

If you cruise to eat then you are going to be disappointed, irregardless of where you choose to eat. A cruise line has to prepare food for over 9000 meals a day....try that in your own kitchen sometime. And try stocking enough food to prepare "FRESH" for over 63,000 meals every week that will satisfy numerous different palettes.

 

Hey Dutch- I generally like your narratives whether they are specific to a AN OP thread or not.

 

But you have said a couple things (above) that I just don't agree with.

 

Eating is a very important aspect of life for most people. Certainly a key ingredient on MOST vacations too. It is completely reasonable for paying vacationers to expect satisfaction in the food they are being served, and how they are being served. When people eat 3 meals per day, food is a significant part of their vacation experiences. It's only as subjective as service interpretations are throughout a voyage/vacation.

 

When did booking a cruise turn to a comparative analysis of eating at fast food restaurants? I missed that evolution or regression. Just lower the bar of food expectations for the sake of cruise line increased profitability or poorly managed F&B operations?

 

In the past, among several cruise lines (including Carnival), we have enjoyed probably 90% of what we were served in MDR, 98+% in the steakhouses and specialty houses we chose to participate in and pay extra for, and probably only 60% from buffets (only eaten breakfast and lunches in buffet style on a cruise). It has been 5 years since we sailed, and we are coming up on a float next month. Things with dining quality may have in fact changed among lines. If they changed for worse, that will be a disappointment.

 

You make it sound like cruising is a newly defined concept that is alien and so difficult to the companies that own and operate the boats. I don't see any relevance comparing a home kitchen and not-necessarily-trained home cook meal versus a professionally equipped kitchen led by a master chef and full compliment of staff. The only aspect that is truly comparable is that both have complete control over the food type, quality and recipe offerings they chose to serve. In the case of a vacationer, we are left to the professionalism of the company to order quality food and select appealing options, and the expertise and dedication of the F&B teams hired by the company to prepare and serve.

 

I don't make excuses for commercial industry on any level.

Edited April 20, 2015 by eponym

[AngAndBoys]

Funny. I have been on quite a few Carnival cruises and never even considered how much of the food I don't like on the ship until I was planning a cruise with my best good friend and her family, who have never cruised. I started telling them about it and realized I had a fairly decent sized list of foods I avoid. When I go through the buffet, its usually soup and cheese, the fried stuff is usually fairly safe. There is generally very little on that big ol plate when I'm done with the line. Breakfast is just bad, you gotta stand in line for the omelet if you want decent eggs and I HATE the bacon. I've never had anything in the MDR that either wowed me OR that I found inevitable.

 

That being said, it took me 14 cruises to figure out I'm not a fan of a lot of the food. The thing is, I just don't think about it much. I guess I'm not cruising to eat. I don't have the expectation of good food on a cruise so the quality does not disappoint me at all. I just avoid the stuff I don't like and I don't starve or anything.

[Tapi]

I think way too many people think Carnival is real cruising. It isn't. It is vacationing. The same could be said for any mass market line. It is a misunderstanding of the genre.

 

 

I started cruising when it was really cruising some 34+ years ago. Things were very different back then, yet I still consider today's experience provided by the mass market lines as cruising.

 

Yes, cruising has evolved considerably, but the basic elements that made cruising so enjoyable when I set foot on my first 17,000 ton cruise ship back in 1981 are still present on 225,000 ton cruise ships today. The main difference is that, in addition to all those basic elements, there's more. And by more, I mean A LOT more.

 

Some people may not cruise today unless the ship has the latest entertainment, huge water parks, multiple dining venues, extreme attractions, or the latest technology. But for those still cruising for the basic elements of cruising, those can still be found, no matter how big or small the ship is, or which cruise line you're sailing on.

[cruizinisthebest]

I think way too many people think Carnival is real cruising. It isn't. It is vacationing. The same could be said for any mass market line. It is a misunderstanding of the genre. Still, with the kind of vacation Carnival used to invest in, you could enjoy most every meal-cruise for the food, so to speak. But it appears that their customer base is so beaten down that they take just about anything in stride. That is not how I tend to roll.

 

You deserve better, whether you realize it or not. And Miami can deliver better.

 

Why did you book the cruise or the vacation or whatever you want to call it if the way Carnival does things is not the way you "tend to roll?"

 

You nor I nor any individual speaks for everyone. And your opinion and take on things certainly doesn't define anything for me.

[SMSACE6]

I still like Carnival, and I have seen quite a few changes over the years since I first started cruising on them in 2000, and sometimes I have been a bit put off by those changes and other times not so much. I am still cruising with Carnival for my own reasons.

 

I am not put off by Cruiseathoning's review in another post, or this post. It is simply his opinion. I agree with some of it, and others not so much, but I am not offended by his opinion in the least. It is NOT a 100pc negative viewpoint. Now that does offend me, as surely a cruise or cruise food cannot be 100pc negative or bad. He has lots of positives here and in his review. It is just his opinion, and we all have our own opinion after all. I just dont see why some people are offended by his post.

[Sparky2]

We avoid the buffet. We eat breakfast in the MDR. At lunchtime, we either go to Guy's Burgers or Deli. I do check out the soup of the day to go with my deli sandwich.

 

I wish they had a regular lunch menu on Sea Days as we've already had an early breakfast in the MDR with that same menu.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

You make it sound like cruising is a newly defined concept that is alien and so difficult to the companies that own and operate the boats. I don't see any relevance comparing a home kitchen and not-necessarily-trained home cook meal versus a professionally equipped kitchen led by a master chef and full compliment of staff. The only aspect that is truly comparable is that both have complete control over the food type, quality and recipe offerings they chose to serve. In the case of a vacationer, we are left to the professionalism of the company to order quality food and select appealing options, and the expertise and dedication of the F&B teams hired by the company to prepare and serve.

 

I don't make excuses for commercial industry on any level.

 

Again, food is subjective. You may not find what a cruise line chooses to submit to you as quality and appealing but thousands of others do. And cruising on a ship of upwards of 2000 passengers is not the same as it was when we cruised on ships where 500 cruisers was the norm and only a few dozen ships sailed every week. Supply and demand will water down any purchasers ability to get top ingredients...how many big huge Maine lobsters are available from resources every week, or how much "just picked" produce can be supplied. The travel industry has changed and it is no longer a Mom and Pop organization for a few lucky souls. It is mass market, bigger, with many more demands on the food industry, both in supply, storage and preparation.

 

The airline industry found out that food prepared for the masses became cost prohibitive and they virtually shut down that option. I think we are lucky that cruise lines still try and satisfy us with something.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Sweet Dutch Girl

[crusinpsychRN]

In the past we've had many threads about food quality, taste etc. I was reading all these wonderful reviews and just couldn't believe anyone liked such and such a dish--many of them.

 

Then I was on the same ship 6 months later and the things I didn't like at all that had been raved about on CC I decided I had to try again--and they were delicious!! The lasagna didn't taste funny anymore! Went to the front and asked if the chef had changed and, yes, new chef had been on board a few weeks!!

 

3/1/15 I had a nice start to dinner in the Steakhouse on Pride. Then I got the steak and it was not a piece of any recognizable meat and it was tough. The servers were no where to be found, couldn't get water even. By that time I just wanted to get out of there. I ate only a little bit of the steak as I really couldn't cut it. The flat iron in the MDR or the filet at Brunch were much better.

[riffatsea]

Not all people gain weight on cruises!

It is an "eat all you want" thing!

Folks just graze all day because the food is there.

They don't gain weight because the food is bad.

They gain weight because they eat too much!!

[bakersdozen12]

I don't know if it's because I'm new to cruising, but I honestly can't understand what the point is of being so picky about the food on cruise ships. First of all, from what I have read, Carnival seems to go out of their way to offer many different types of food so that everyone can find something that they will like. Secondly, I don't think I would ever going into a cruise expecting gourmet, 5-star quality food. Especially not when they are feeding thousands of people several times a day. If I want a gourmet quality meal I'll spend hundreds of dollars at a 5-star restaurant back home. I see cruising as a way to see multiple new places in one trip, all while not having to stress about how I'm going to get to each place, and not having to unpack. I certainly am not going on a cruise to eat and I don't think the focus should be on food. Eating is just a necessity, and as long as they feed me, I'm good!

[Tutontow]

To the OP thank you for your well thought out observations. I agree that it is hit or miss and you have to find what works for you. Of course if the food sucks you can always send it back and try something else.

 

We both love salmon and the salmon in the MDR was inedible. The red fish worked great as a replacement.

 

I just returned from the Valor on a five night cruise. It was some of the best cruise food we have ever had. Was it gourmet, absolutely not, other than the steakhouse which was truly a gourmet meal.

 

The spiced rub steak and the lamb chops were some of the best we have ever had. The escargot was a real disappointment. Why mess with perfection. Serve them in the shell or on mushroom caps. The way they were served you couldn't really taste the escargot. The crab cake was so so. I actually preferred the ones in the MDR.

 

We had the salmon and bagels from room service every day except sea day brunch. It was good, not great, but good and it got our day started.

 

We never stepped had to step foot in the buffet which was a real blessing. The food and dealing with the crowd in there is just not for me.

 

In the MDR we had the best servers ever Tomi and Chisanga. Not only were they great as servers but their personalities made it a dining experience,

 

The food in the MDR was definitely hit or miss. Rather than list the misses I'll stick to the hits. The lobster and shrimp was actually pretty good. The short ribs were good. The Caesar salad was really good. The lasagna was really good. The duck appetizer and lamb shank were great. The beef stroganoff was a real hit. The mahi mahi and huervos rancheros were excellent as was the mac and cheese.

 

Once again I don't know how Carnival offers what they do for the price they charge.

 

I knew I wasn't going to be getting Fleming's, Brennen's or the French Laundry when I sail with Carnival. Of course for what one meal cost at The French Laundry I could take a five night cruise with Carnival.

 

BTW I had so much fun we booked another cruise the day after we got home.

[eponym]

 

That being said, it took me 14 cruises to figure out I'm not a fan of a lot of the food. I just avoid the stuff I don't like and I don't starve or anything.

 

I have come to the understanding that much of the food (not all choices) has been downgraded over the years to about cafeteria level in MDR and buffet on carnival.

 

Best advice is just that. Don't dabble into too many food choices you already know you don't prefer at any quality level.

Edited April 20, 2015 by eponym