Food - Royal VS Carnival

[webecruzin2]

Took our first Carnival cruise almost a year ago and we were very pleasantly surprised at how much better the food was than on our last RCCL or even Celebrity for that matter.

On our last RCCL the WJ food was low grade cafeteria food.

Like I said it's been almost a year ago and I can't remember what we ate (heck, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning).

But I do remember we really liked the food. DH still talks about it and wants to go on another Carnival cruise just for the food!

True, the Carnival MDR wait staff will try to get you up to dance. It was fun! Can't remember the last time I danced in the MDR to Flo Rida on RCCL:p.

[coloradogirl63]

You won't find any 2 people's opinions the same regarding food...tooo subjective, but my take is, I did not like Carnivals fare at all.

 

I missed my rack of lamb and crispy duck just to mention a few. And most importantly, I did not appreciate the antics of the serving staff, felt like I was eating at a carnival:D

 

BTW, Royal's chocolate melting cake beats Carni's Lava cake or whatever they call it hands down. IMHO of course.

 

Royal's soups/bisque are to die for..don't miss the garlic soup nor the lobster bisque. And their breads are better, made fresh every day, more variety...and the Caesar Salad we enjoy at every meal but breakfast!

 

Pizza may be better, I tasted but didn't think it any better...but I can order my own pizza on Royal made fresh to order. And that is good!

 

Oh and if you want fresh burgers, order one from room service, fresh no heat lamps and delish. In Windjammer you can order a fresh patty cooked while you wait if you don't want the heat lamp ones. Ya just gotta ask. Since most ships have Johnny Rockets, they probably did not want to compete with them as the reason there is not a hamburger grill on the pool deck.

 

Just a few of my observations, but as I said before, you probably won't find one other person's same observations.

 

 

 

I totally agree with this.

[mcatmcat]

royal food is getting a little bit boring ad less quality, but unless you are on board the latest ship of carnival food is bad in all the ships. I rather stay with royal knowing that it can improve :rolleyes:

[CanadaRob]

I'vs sailed mostly Royal except for last year on a Carnival cruise.

 

We chose the Breeze b/c we wanted to try Carnival on their "A" game to give it a fair chance. No point in sailing an older ship and comparing it to a new Royal ship.

 

We found the MDR and Windjammer to be better on Royal, but really preferred the fast food options on Carnival like Guy's Burgers, the Blue Iguana and the pizza was by far superior than Sorrentos pizza on Royal.

 

Food is very subjective though, people's tastes differ.[/QUOTE]

 

Although I can't think of anyone ever saying Royals pizza was better I mean ever....

[cruisecraze96]

Have done both now and we prefer Carnival over Royal for food. The steakhouses we have gone to in Carnival were far superior Imo than Chops and you got more value for your money on Carnival. I really missed the extra free choices such as guys and the Catina on the Carnival ships. Heck I even prefer the pizza on Carnival over what we had on the Allure. For our previous experience we liked the MDR better on Carnival and of course the kids prefer the 24 hour ice cream on the Carnival ships.

 

Saying that, we loved the freestyle machines on Allure and we got our money's worth with the replenish package I felt. The layout of the buffet on Royal did make it easier to find what you want and go and I liked that they had fried eggs ready for pickup instead of waiting in a line for them. I also liked the sand which shop that would walked up and asked for a sandwich without much of a wait either.

 

We were in a Suite and did not get to try coastal kitchen but the Suite Perks are far superior on Royal.

[dasi11]

I am D+ so I have cruised a lot. I have also been on Carnival 7 times. In the last few months I was on:

RCL Enchantment in Nov/15

RCL Freedom Dec./15

RCL Oasis Jan./16 in a suite and ate coastal Kitchen

Carnival Fascination Mar./16 Just got off the ship YESTERDAY!

 

I took my daughter on a spring break Carnival cruise for her college break leaving from my home town- Jacksonville. I had not cruised with Carnival in 10 years.

 

On Carnival, I was pleasantly surprised the first day. The food was excellent the first day.... The corn beef at the deli was the best I have had in many years. Not stringy or fatty. My daughter said the cheese cake was REAL cheese cake. We also had the Mongolian bar-b-que, that was also very good. Dinner the first night was good. Then the quality and taste of the food went down hill fast. I was surprised how the food declined each day. By the last day the corn beef was not edible. I guess they count on your drinking too much to notice. They were always making announcements pushing the alcohol. We have never heard announcements on a ship encouraging drinking. My daughter said she thought that was irresponsible to encourage kids to keep drinking. Over half the ship was under 25 if not more! But the spring breakers were surprisingly polite and mellow.

 

I am not a big fan of the food on RCL either. There are good and bad dishes on RCL but I always find food that I like. I have never been hungry on an RCL ship. It is not high end but it is always good, not fantastic. I thought the first day on Carnival the food was better than RCL. The second day the food had already changed so much that I thought RCL was better and consistent. Both my daughter and I had stomach aches sometimes after some meals on Carnival. We clearly ate something that did not agree with us. This is not normal for us on cruises or at home. Other people at our table also had stomach issues on our Carnival ship. One lady had to leave the dinner table complaining she had not felt good since lunch. She was fine later that night.

 

If you want fantastic food on RCL, it is available. I had 4 dinners at coastal kitchen on Oasis in January. The service seemed a little off the first night, but the food was high end and wonderful! I plan to eat every meal there next time I am on Oasis or Allure again. Totally worth the extra perk of having a suite.

 

Overall, I will continue to cruise RCL as my first choice. Carnival will be my last resort. Just for the record, I like Princess, and NCL too.

Edited March 13, 2016 by dasi11

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

Don't forget RCI's Tutti Salads on sea days. You pick what you want and no complaints.

 

Also, if they have any kind of curries in the buffets, I'm more than happy on any cruise line.

[schusterj]

My last two cruises on carnival the food was much better than RCI. I love the RCI ships and you can always find something to eat but during my 8 day cruise the MDR food was not very good. The one exception was the MDR lunch and tutti salad which was very good. I read conflicting reviews on cruise line food so this was only my opinion.

[spookwife]

Hi,

 

I have cruised 9 times with Carnival but April 1st will be my first cruise with Royal. Has anyone else sailed on both? Can you tell me how Royal compares to Carnival in the food department? What are the differences?

 

I found the food to be more alike than not, with quality, variety and freshness to be about equal. each line had stuff I LOVED, stuff I LOATHED and stuff I was content to eat.