Quality of food on Royal Caribbean

[vacationlover_mn]

I always tell them I don't eat much :(. And, I try to feed what I can to DH :)

 

 

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[dmc6469]

I'm so disappointed to read this thread. :(

 

I've only been on 2 cruises and when we went on RC it was soooo good. Just what you thought cruise food was to be. The dinner selections were amazing (mostly we ordered 2 if not 3 entrees since we couldn't choose) and tasted amazing. Granted, this was 10 years ago. My first cruise with Carnival was horrible! Talk about McDonalds being even better! It was our first cruise and I was do disappointed so when I did RC I was a happier girl.

 

Next week my friend will have her 1st cruise and I feel so bad that she might not experience good cruise food from these reviews. :( Hope it won't deter her away from doing anymore sailings.

Edited January 5, 2017 by dmc6469

[KungFuGrip]

I'm just back from my first cruise ever, the 12/26 sailing on Liberty. My take on the MDR and Windjammer food is that it isn't bad, it's just nothing special. That's sad, because the hardest-working staff most of us see are our MDR waiters, and they deserve something better to work with.

 

The best thing I ate on the cruise was the Red Snapper at Sabor, which was fantastic. The worst was the room service scrambled eggs. Awful, but when you must have protein in the morning AND get off the ship at 7:15 for an excursion, you take what you can get.

[baileybrad]

Food is incredibly subjective, as you know. Ask one hundred people and you will get one hundred opinions. :) Having said that, we always find something delicious and healthy (or not!!) on board. I actually find the quality and the temperature (either supposed to be hot or supposed to be cold) of the offerings is a bit better on the "smaller" ships, if you will. We have sailed most classes and find Radiance-class ships to have the best food. Why is that? Fewer guests? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

I never complain about the food. I can always get something else if I am disappointed in what I have chosen.

.

 

I could not agree more with an opinion. The one thing that I will add is that my memory of the food on our 1st 3 cruises (all Celebrity - The Horizon and the Zenith twice, man that was awhile ago 25, 23 and 20 years ago) is that those meals seemed to have been better. Been on 8 RCCL cruises since then and I find the food to be more than adequate 99.5% of the time. I do remember when Celebrity came onto the scene that their food was one of their calling cards. Another thing in play is that sometimes I seem to remember things from the past being better.

 

And as the excellent post at the top advises....if you get something you do not care for....ask or try something else. That is a luxury that a cruise provides.

 

To be perfectly honest, as I have gotten older, food, in general, does not have the same wow factor with me. I can afford much better dining options now than when I was a young man. But food does not seem to taste as good as it used too. God really does have a sense of humor.

Edited January 5, 2017 by baileybrad

[rbschultz]

I'm just back from my first cruise ever, the 12/26 sailing on Liberty. My take on the MDR and Windjammer food is that it isn't bad, it's just nothing special. That's sad, because the hardest-working staff most of us see are our MDR waiters, and they deserve something better to work with.

 

The best thing I ate on the cruise was the Red Snapper at Sabor, which was fantastic. The worst was the room service scrambled eggs. Awful, but when you must have protein in the morning AND get off the ship at 7:15 for an excursion, you take what you can get.

 

The scrambled "eggs" from room service and the windjammer "eggs" are the same instant variety. I just load those up with salt and ketchup on days when I need an early start for an excursion.

[cherylvv]

On the Liberty at the moment. I seriously think McDonalds would have been better than 3 out of 4 meals I had in the dining room. The menu shrimp pasta entrees had barely enough morsels to make a whole shrimp! They were smaller then the size of a dime! Really? It's like they are trying really hard to give you as little as possible and make you think you still got something. The pasta seafood dish tasted like pasta roni. My last cruise on RCCL was in 2004. They don't compare. I always felt RCCL was a step above Carnival. I don't think that anymore. It is early in my cruise... I am still looking but I don't hold out much hope. Please offer your favorite dishes (not in specialty restaurants). I need suggestions for my next 5 days.

[Scyl]

Another thing in play is that sometimes I seem to remember things from the past being better.

 

 

 

Looking forward to my first RCI cruise, but just want to add to the quote above by saying we do only tend to remember the really really good stuff or the bad stuff, cause we forget about all the mediocre stuff.

 

 

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[BekkaW]

On the Liberty at the moment. I seriously think McDonalds would have been better than 3 out of 4 meals I had in the dining room. The menu shrimp pasta entrees had barely enough morsels to make a whole shrimp! They were smaller then the size of a dime! Really? It's like they are trying really hard to give you as little as possible and make you think you still got something. The pasta seafood dish tasted like pasta roni. My last cruise on RCCL was in 2004. They don't compare. I always felt RCCL was a step above Carnival. I don't think that anymore. It is early in my cruise... I am still looking but I don't hold out much hope. Please offer your favorite dishes (not in specialty restaurants). I need suggestions for my next 5 days.

 

Not sure which menus you have already had so these might not all be still available, but my favourites are the scallop and chorizo appetiser, and the garlic tiger shrimp, chicken Marsala and pork saltimbocca entrees. Hubby loves the lamb shanks.

[Suzieanna]

Agree with the general consensus of this thread. Food has definitely gone from WOW to MEH..... I remember back in the day when I used to take photographs of food. I don't bother now. Who wants a photograph of something so dull. I ate everything I was given, and nothing needed to be sent back... that's cos I don't have delicate taste buds or food allergies and will generally eat what I am given. If I was a foodie, I would be depressed at the decline of quality and choice.

 

You should also not have to "know" to order extra food. Should a palm sized piece of protein with 1 broccoli floret and a slice of carrot count as an entrée? Not in my house it doesn't.

 

I also resent that you pay a cover charge for specialty, and then if you actually wanted anything "special" you have to pay on top of that.

[Armac]

Cruising with Royal for 20 years and agree that the food quality has gone down. However we can always find something acceptable in the MDR, but the WOW factor is gone. We stopped ordering dessert about 3 cruises ago, we found they look way better than they taste do not need the empty calories for something that is not that good.

[Isaboo]

I was on Liberty last week and thought the main dining room food was good (not great, but good) and I was stuffed every night. There were definitely places for improvement, like the baked goods at breakfast were all very dry and bland. Blueberry muffins usually only had one or two blueberries in them and very dry. Those things they pass off as donuts were a joke. I know it's hard to feed that many people, but really. Sorrentos pizza was absolutely awful, IMHO. If you want cruise food the way it once was, then I suggest paying a bit extra and eating at the specialty restaurants. They have several dining package that bring the cost down to reasonable. We did not pay for the optional dining options, because we have three kids and main dining room is just easier for us at this time. Someday when it's just my husband and I we will dine at the specialty restaurants.

[Jimmym1981]

I agree with most of the comments on here. Ever since the Specialty Restaurants have been introduced, the MDR has slowly declined. The menu used to have all different sections: Apps, Salads, Soups, Entree, Desserts...etc where you pick one from each. Now it's just Starters, Entrees and Desserts. I wonder if they changed this to save money because new cruisers might not know you can pick more than one from each section? Another thing I remember back when you ordered a salad, the waiter would come by with the different dressings and serve them to you on your salad along with fresh pepper. Now its whatever you tell them and sometimes only pepper if you ask.

 

I have not dined in a Specialty Restaurant simply because I enjoyed the MDR and getting to know your waiters and table mates. I have a cruise coming up this August on the Allure and I am contemplating the three night package, however, I just find it hard to bite the bullet to pay an extensive amount of extra $$$ for "better" food. My TA says if I want a taste of the "old RCCL" to go on a Celebrity ship. They cater more to service and food. I think after the Allure, I'm going to give it a go.

[Biker19]

Now its whatever you tell them and sometimes only pepper if you ask.

Oh God no, not the lack of pepper grinders again.

[Jimmym1981]

Oh God no, not the lack of pepper grinders again.

 

:'):'):') It was only the first day last cruise on the Liberty. After I asked the first night, my waiter was on it the rest of the night. I also like to get the fruit and cheese plate to snack on before the meal starts and that was on the table when we sat down.

 

I will say, I do feel the service in the MDR has always been 8+/10, just the food, not so much lately.

[grapau27]

:'):'):') It was only the first day last cruise on the Liberty. After I asked the first night, my waiter was on it the rest of the night. I also like to get the fruit and cheese plate to snack on before the meal starts and that was on the table when we sat down.

 

I will say, I do feel the service in the MDR has always been 8+/10, just the food, not so much lately.

There is usually escargot and a steak available every night which is a good choice if there is nothing else on the menu you fancy.

 

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[Biker19]

There is usually escargot and a steak available every night which is a good choice if there is nothing else on the menu you fancy.

I've come to the conclusion that the WJ is the better alternative when the MDR menu is lacking.

[dani negreanu]

I've come to the conclusion that the WJ is the better alternative when the MDR menu is lacking.

Agree.:D

[Jimmym1981]

I've come to the conclusion that the WJ is the better alternative when the MDR menu is lacking.

 

Or for the low low price of only $49 a person, you can enjoy a delectable meal at any of our fine Specialty Restaurants. LOL :p:p:p

[LSUfan4444]

My last RCI cruise was on the first Liberty sailing out of dry dock and I was severely disappointed. We had no flexibility for another week or really another embarkation port so we took our chances. We still had fun but the MDR was a mess all around. Service, food quality and consistency was the worst I have received on any cruise line. I'm chalking it up to the new staff and ironing out of the wrinkles right out of dry dock.

[John&LaLa]

I've come to the conclusion that the WJ is the better alternative when the MDR menu is lacking.

WJ is hit or miss in my experience. Usually miss

 

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[CCC3]

On the Liberty at the moment. I seriously think McDonalds would have been better than 3 out of 4 meals I had in the dining room. The menu shrimp pasta entrees had barely enough morsels to make a whole shrimp! They were smaller then the size of a dime! Really? It's like they are trying really hard to give you as little as possible and make you think you still got something. The pasta seafood dish tasted like pasta roni. My last cruise on RCCL was in 2004. They don't compare. I always felt RCCL was a step above Carnival. I don't think that anymore. It is early in my cruise... I am still looking but I don't hold out much hope. Please offer your favorite dishes (not in specialty restaurants). I need suggestions for my next 5 days.

 

 

I agree about the seafood pasta! I had it in June. (On Liberty) and thought it was blah. It's like the whole kitchen needs to discover the subtle art of SEASONING! Entrees I have liked: the Japanese dumplings (they have an actual name...but I cannot recall it), duo of beef, chicken Marsala (somewhat). My son loves the duck entree, and hubby had a pork steak towards the end of the cruise that he enjoyed.

 

Honestly...I tend to order two starters, as I find them better than the entrees! With a soul & a salad...I never feel too bad if the entree is a "nothing burger."

 

 

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[CCC3]

We cruise again on Liberty in October and we're seriously considering the WJ as an evening option more often.

 

 

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[cherylvv]

We tried the WJ for breakfast and lunch today. My smoked salmon was fresher than the one I had yesterday in the MDR. I actually enjoyed lunch in the WJ too. The one thing I really so like are the sunflower seed dinner rolls. The pumpkin seed rolls are great too.

 

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[cherylvv]

Thanks for the suggestions, CCC3. Will try those.

 

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[cherylvv]

Not sure which menus you have already had so these might not all be still available, but my favourites are the scallop and chorizo appetiser, and the garlic tiger shrimp, chicken Marsala and pork saltimbocca entrees. Hubby loves the lamb shanks.

BekkaW, thanks for the suggestions. We have had the mojo menu and the first formal night menu(don't recall name it had the duck on it). I like lamb. Will definitely keep an eye out for it.

 

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