food quality on Oasis in MDR

[travelingla]

I had a friend return from the Oasis a couple of weeks ago and said they were disappointed in the MDR food quality.... had 3 other Royal C cruises and remembered the food being much better.

 

Curious if you R C cruisers have noticed this? We are trying to decide how many surcharge restaurants to book -- if MDR food really is lower quality we do not want to waste too many nights there.

 

Yes, I know it is subjective -- but I have not cruised RC in about 11 years......

 

Thanks

[OCruisers]

When we took a 7 day on Oasis, we only had dinner in the MDR once.

Once was enough. :rolleyes:

 

Happily, the $pecialty Restaurants were GREAT! :)

 

LuLu

[John&LaLa]

I had a friend return from the Oasis a couple of weeks ago and said they were disappointed in the MDR food quality.... had 3 other Royal C cruises and remembered the food being much better.

 

Curious if you R C cruisers have noticed this? We are trying to decide how many surcharge restaurants to book -- if MDR food really is lower quality we do not want to waste too many nights there.

 

Yes, I know it is subjective -- but I have not cruised RC in about 11 years......

 

Thanks

 

Book a suite and eat in Coastal Kitchen :D

[cb at sea]

The food will be the same as in the past...it's just that the "ambiance" has been lowered....the presentation isn't as good...so it doesn't look as appealing as it used to....same food, tho. Less selection than in the past....but you won't go hungry! Give it a try...if you don't like it, head to the specialty restaurants.

[CP3o]

Oasis is one of the top ships but I believe all cruise lines, including premium priced DCL have made cut backs in last 11 years that affect food quality in free venues and service. It's good to be positive but also lower expectations some.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gatorphin]

Just off July 25th sailing. Very few things at MDR were good. If you ate them at a regular restaurant you'd send it back or not go to that restaurant again. Book specialty dining.

[leisuretraveler223]

Quality, selection, presentation and service in the MDR have been on a steady decline across the whole fleet (really, the whole industry of mid-level mass market cruising) for a number of years.

 

If food is an important part of your vacation, as it is mine, I encourage you to budget and plan on enjoying the specialty offerings on as many evenings as you can manage. I now dine in specialty restaurants every night. I have continued to walk through the MDR at least once per cruise during dinner. Seeing what was being served was enough affirmation that I needn't spend an evening there.

[Earthworm Jim]

Oasis is one of the top ships but I believe all cruise lines, including premium priced DCL have made cut backs in last 11 years that affect food quality in free venues and service.

 

It occurs to me that once cruise lines started commonly having extra cost specialty restaurants (which I would guess started happening around the time period you mention), they then had a built in incentive to not make the free main dining room meals too good.

[2wheelin]

It occurs to me that once cruise lines started commonly having extra cost specialty restaurants (which I would guess started happening around the time period you mention), they then had a built in incentive to not make the free main dining room meals too good.

 

EXACTLY! My thoughts as well. That's why I refuse to pay for specialty restaurants, and if others would as well, MDR quality would again improve. Soon a cruise price may only be for transportation and everything else will be added on. I don't mind if people want to pay even more for food, but not at my expense. We used to go on cruises as it was the only way we could afford the quality dining room experience which made it fun. Now it's more like a floating Country Buffet.

[DJZS]

The food will be the same as in the past...it's just that the "ambiance" has been lowered....the presentation isn't as good...so it doesn't look as appealing as it used to....same food, tho. Less selection than in the past....but you won't go hungry! Give it a try...if you don't like it, head to the specialty restaurants.

 

No, the food isn't the same. The menu items may be the same, but are made with lower quality ingredients now than in the past.

[traveline]

All your meals in main dining rooms and buffets on RCI, Carnival, and NCL downgraded the food, but increased the wow,activities, suites,entertainment.You have to pick other cruise lines, like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity. They have excellent food but miss the WOW.You have to pick your cruise line carefully.Enjoy your cruise. A bad day cruise is better than a good day at work

[cruiseclues]

I've had some fairly good food recently (we're foodies) on both Carnival & Royal Caribbean...not like a few years ago (2012)...for us, the largest Royal Caribbean ship though has been the Explorer of the Seas...the same few years ago...the MDR Menus did change, after, though. I did not take any photos of the food in the MDR on the Explorer...which seems to make a difference... but it may just be my imagination. :):):):)

Edited August 4, 2015 by cruiseclues