Quality of Included Dining Options ?

[horseymike]

I have read many complaints on the NCL Board with reference to the quality of the food in the Included Dining Rooms , how do you cruisers feel about it ?

[LrgPizza]

I've read very few complaints about the quality of the food in the included dining rooms, and I agree with the many who think it's improving greatly. We won't even select the dining package as a promo again, because we are burned out on the specialties, and the options in the MDR are good.

[Kingmaker_inc]

I do visit the Specialty Restaurants as well when we cruise... but I have enjoyed all meals I've been served. I have found the buffet to have a reasonable variety and good quality, especially the Asian selections. Every meal I've had in the MDRs have been quite nice. The menus could use a little more variety, but the free/included food was fine.

[Sunshine2U]

We found the free food to be fine. Some really good! But we did not like the seafood buffet or the desserts. You can look for my review for more details. The lower cost walk-in options like Margaritaville and Food Republic were delicious!

[atomax]

We recently spent 16 days on the Pearl and only ate at the MDR or buffets, and I would say that 95% of the food was very good. There was the occasional dud meal, but overall, the food quality is top notch. The soups, desserts, and sauces were consistently outstanding. There is a reason we all gain weight on the ship... ;-)

Edited May 20, 2016 by atomax

[Nola26]

Complimentary venues were wonderful on the Getaway next summer. We loved the Manhattan Room with entertainment and the quality and variety at the buffets.

 

We declined the Specialty option for our Escape cruise later this summer.

[Sand and Seas]

We have enjoyed the complimentary venues. Lots of good choices each night. We haven't ever paid extra for the specialty restaurants, only going if we have the UDP along with our Platinum Dinners. We have paid for, and will again pay for, Food Republic on Escape for delicious lunches!

[Mistizoom]

We were very happy with the included options. Only ate at one specialty. We only had one not great meal at the MDR on a sea day and that was due to us selecting different items than we had eaten from the same menu earlier in the cruise, we loved our first meal off the same menu.

[pspercy]

We sailed on Jade last December and both thought the MDR food and service was great, we were in the aft dining room.

 

 

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[graphicguy]

Having been on the Epic and Breakaway, as well as Carnival's and Royal's more recent ships (large), I'd say the food on the NCL ships are a step above Carnival and a ½ step ahead of Royal.

 

No complaints on NCL food.

[PekingeseLady]

We just did 7 nights on the Jewel. Ate every night in the MDR, enjoyed every meal. Almost every night I had trouble deciding which entree or appetizer to order, because quite a few things sounded so good. My waiter would say, oh just try both. LOL So I would!

[Toliverair]

I have been on the Getaway, Pearl, Jewel, and the Escape. I have also been on carnival and Royal Caribbean. NCL is definitely better! I had the best salmon I've ever had on the Pearl last summer to Alaska and the best Pad Thai I've ever had on the escape in April. We are going on the Pearl again in about a week and this is the first time we will have a dining package. I'm not terribly excited about it because I will miss dining in the MDR. Oh, and can we talk about the chocolate lava cake with strawberries and gelato? That is my husband's favorite dessert. You will not be disappointed in the food on NCL.

[KeithJenner]

Complimentary venues were wonderful on the Getaway next summer.

 

While you're on a roll, you don't happen to know any sports or lottery results for next summer as well do you. :)

 

Seriously, though, we do actually use the speciality restaurants quite a bit more these days, but that is down to getting a couple of meals free and the fact that there are a couple of specialities that we particularly like. It is absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the included food, which we have always found to be fine.

 

It's one of the reasons why I like longer cruises. In 7 days there just isn't enough time to go to everywhere we want to for food, and the places that we want to go to include the complementary places (MDR, pub and buffet).

[andy8733]

Just off the Getaway and for the most part the food and choices were good, only downside had to send 3 meals back as they were served cold !

[horseymike]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, all in all it sounds pretty good. :D

[Burgmeister]

This is really good news. We have been on 3 prior cruises where we have eaten exclusively in "compliemntary" dining locations - all RCCI ships. We have been very satisfied with the meals they have served up but, as this wil be our first NCL cruise, we were a little concerned it may not be as good. It appears that it will be even better!

 

9 days to go and I am really looking forward to experiencing our first taste of NCL aboard the Epic.

[Froggitt]

Its OK. It's not like a restaurant on land (or speciality restaurant) where food is cooked to order......I can imagine 50 medium steaks and 50 well done steaks and 50 rare steaks on the go at any one time, and they may be sitting under a lamp (or not) waiting for orders.

 

PS I found RCCI food to be slightly better than NCL, and the service to be miles better.....probably as even though it was "eat when you like", it was the same waiter pair every night, rather than an anonymous waiter that maybe couldnt care less as you will never see him again.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Froggitt

[GeezerCouple]

Its OK. It's not like a restaurant on land (or speciality restaurant) where food is cooked to order......I can imagine 50 medium steaks and 50 well done steaks and 50 rare steaks on the go at any one time, and they may be sitting under a lamp (or not) waiting for orders.

 

PS I found RCCI food to be slightly better than NCL, and the service to be miles better.....probably as even though it was "eat when you like", it was the same waiter pair every night, rather than an anonymous waiter that maybe couldnt care less as you will never see him again.

 

We were fortunate to have a great waitress on the Dawn 2 years ago.

She was terrific with us, and quickly brought the toddler a small bowl of food requested by his mother.

 

Each evening after that, we requested a table in her area, and there was at most a wait of less than 5 minutes.

We haven't had any better service at even 5 star restaurants (but yes, the food at the 5 star restaurants is, well, 5 star restaurant food!).

 

We've been surprised that most of the food in the MDR was pretty good, and some choices were excellent, and we don't say that lightly.

 

Of the specialties, we definitely enjoy Le Bistro the best, and on another cruise (Pearl), with a full dining package, we ate there almost every night.

 

Note that on the Pearl, Le Bistro has tables with great views, large windows.

On the Dawn, we peeked in once, and it felt like an enclosed, dark cave, and we never ate there.

 

But just in case you don't like something in the MDR, just ask for something else!

[suesings]

I have read many complaints on the NCL Board with reference to the quality of the food in the Included Dining Rooms , how do you cruisers feel about it ?

 

 

I have been reading the same comments. We just booked our first NCL cruise yesterday for Thanksgiving. We have cruised many times (RCCL, Disney, Costa, Carnival) but never on NCL. I wonder why there are so many complaints about NCL food?? Makes me a bit nervous as I love good food.

 

We are going on the Jewel. Any recommendations for which Specialty restaurants we should try?

 

Thanks, Sue

[tree.star]

I was willing to pay for the specialties if I was disappointed with the free options on my recent Pearl cruise, but we ended up never needing to. In fact, we hardly even ate in the MDRs, we were so satisfied with the variety and quality of the buffet! The couple of meals we did have in the MDR were really excellent.

 

My only disappointment was desserts. I felt that they all tasted too bland. I have a big sweet tooth, and I tried so many desserts, but didn't really care for any of them except a pistachio blondie I had one day at the buffet. But thankfully there was hand-scooped ice cream, and you can never go wrong with ice cream!

[Lovemygreekgeek]

As others have said, we've eaten mostly at the free dining options and have had generally excellent food. Not everything was amazing, but you can always ask for something different. The one thing I didn't love were the desserts (except the bread pudding, it was amazing!!). I never felt like I didn't have a good meal though!!

[abbyar]

This is true. More than once I made an a la mode dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth.

[Sand and Seas]

With the UBP, I now save those calories for a BBC or Mudslide 'dessert';)

[SuiteCruisin14]

Our last 5 cruises were on NCL and 90% of the time the food everywhere was excellent no matter where we ate.

 

Our last cruise was on the Escape and we only ate dinner once in MDR and once in Cagneys because the buffet was amazing. Different night menus had themed ethnic food that was delicious.

 

Using this venue allowed us to eat when we wanted, be it before or after shows and was the best "Freestyle" was to go.

 

Lynda

[atomax]

Oh my gawd, that chocolate lava cake! My husband and I loved that so much, we begged for the recipe and it was delivered to our cabin. Now I figure I have to make it the stracciatella gelato!

 

I have been on the Getaway, Pearl, Jewel, and the Escape. I have also been on carnival and Royal Caribbean. NCL is definitely better! I had the best salmon I've ever had on the Pearl last summer to Alaska and the best Pad Thai I've ever had on the escape in April. We are going on the Pearl again in about a week and this is the first time we will have a dining package. I'm not terribly excited about it because I will miss dining in the MDR. Oh, and can we talk about the chocolate lava cake with strawberries and gelato? That is my husband's favorite dessert. You will not be disappointed in the food on NCL.