Carnival MDR food quality going down?

[sfaaa]

One of the reasons Carnival is so large is because it's a cheap vacation - not because they deliver a high quality product..

 

People get cheap cruise vacation and Carnival is hitting or exceeding its revenue projection for shareholders. The current business model is a win-win.

[Alex of the Seas]

If the food served is barely edible and some not suitable for your dog, why do you continue to sail on a line you can't eat on?

My thoughts exactly. Must be miserable sailing on a ship you can't stand to eat on. Maybe they should try the QE II.

 

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[riclop]

It's gone downhill quickly.

[Cruisegirl6]

We eat every night at the Steakhouse so we are ok with the rest of the food not being good. Maybe if they raised the quality of food they won't have as much waste as they do....people wonder why food is wasted, its because a lot of it is inedible.

[IntrepidFromDC]

It all comes down to standards, and personal taste. If you think the MDR menu is sustainable for a seven-day cruise, then you are lucky. If you think Guy's burgers are good, you are lucky. And most of the other "food" on Lido, well never mind.

 

My opinion - the fresh, varied vegetables at Mongolian Wok are very good as long as they don't spray that nasty spray in the wok, although the meats/seafood are substandard. The chicken is like the pieces the chefs cut away, and don't try to tell me it's the sweetbreads. I also like the prosciutto e arugula pizza late at night. Tandoor is "eh" and the bbq is below average, even compared to fast food like Dickey's. But the Steakhouse and/or Steakhouse selections in the MDR come to my rescue, and $20 for a premium steak instead of whatever that substandard slab on the regular menu is (or a real lobster tail instead of a juvenile lobster tail [poor thing probably never saw it's third birthday])... is SO worth it! :-)

[Stateroom_Sailor]

It all comes down to standards, and personal taste. If you think the MDR menu is sustainable for a seven-day cruise, then you are lucky. If you think Guy's burgers are good, you are lucky. And most of the other "food" on Lido, well never mind.

 

My opinion - the fresh, varied vegetables at Mongolian Wok are very good as long as they don't spray that nasty spray in the wok, although the meats/seafood are substandard. The chicken is like the pieces the chefs cut away, and don't try to tell me it's the sweetbreads. I also like the prosciutto e arugula pizza late at night. Tandoor is "eh" and the bbq is below average, even compared to fast food like Dickey's. But the Steakhouse and/or Steakhouse selections in the MDR come to my rescue, and $20 for a premium steak instead of whatever that substandard slab on the regular menu is (or a real lobster tail instead of a juvenile lobster tail [poor thing probably never saw it's third birthday])... is SO worth it! :-)

 

We're novice foodies, love trying the foreign cuisine in port, find Celebrity fits our palate the best. Perhaps we weren't as picky back then, but in 2011 Carnival's MDR blew us away! My wife had many dishes on our 2017 Journey cruise that she couldn't finish. I had Lasagna, Beef Wellington, and Tortellini's... all pretty gross or bland. The fish, lamb and duck were better, but my wife doesn't eat seafood.

 

Sorry, but this Guy's Burger is unhealthy low-grade burger meat, smothered in mayonnaise. Without a Wok on our last cruise, I was stuck eating lunch at Blue Iguana, brunch in the MDR, or eating in port. Not once in 2 weeks did I eat lunch in the buffet! It looked like what you get from a low rent Vegas dive.

 

If you can get the steakhouse down to $20 a day, that's probably the only reasonable way for a foodie to do this. I'm going to do the same thing on NCL.

[Cyber Kat]

I have been in the galley of the triumph on the behind the scenes tour. I didn't know if the specialty restaurants had there own separate kitchen or it came out of the central galley that's why I asked. I just said I bet it all comes from the same place because the chefs are all great chefs, like the last poster said its all about the ingredients and perhaps the time it might take for some of the more complicated dishes.

 

 

We did the Behind the Fun tour on both the Splendor and the Pride and the steakhouse kitchen on both of these ships are completely separate from the regular kitchen. The head chef was different and the chef on the Splendor assured us that he had complete say over the quality of the provisions. He said he often rejected meat or fish that didn't meet his standards.

 

 

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[Cyber Kat]

People get cheap cruise vacation and Carnival is hitting or exceeding its revenue projection for shareholders. The current business model is a win-win.

 

 

For those caring only about the price, yes. However, I think there are people who have cruised Carnival in the past for whom price was not the only consideration.

 

I think those people are the ones who feel their needs can be better met elsewhere. I have to say that I fit in that group.

 

 

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[IntrepidFromDC]

We did the Behind the Fun tour on both the Splendor and the Pride and the steakhouse kitchen on both of these ships are completely separate from the regular kitchen. The head chef was different and the chef on the Splendor assured us that he had complete say over the quality of the provisions. He said he often rejected meat or fish that didn't meet his standards.

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OFTEN? *** Carnival???

[jimbo5544]

OFTEN? *** Carnival???

 

 

Yeah, that is hard to believe....if it were Royal it would be about right.....

 

 

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[sparks1093]

I have a theory I want to pose to everyone and see what yall think. From what I have heard on reviews on here and from what I have seen in the past several years, the food quality in the MDR is on the decline. It seems variety selection and quality are declining. Is that a fair statement? If it is true, why do you think?

 

My theory is that cruise lines, Carnival specifically (maybe others) are trying to get passengers to switch to the pay for restaurants by lessoning the quality and variety in the main dining room. I think they are doing this gradually to eventually make the change to a pay for all of your food cruise system. I think if they just starting charging for all food on the cruise, they would see big declines in ridership so they have decided to get customers to slowly pay for better food, comparable to what you used to get in the mdr.

 

What do yall think?

 

I have seen this idea of wanting to force people into the surcharge restaurants, which I don't believe for a minute (they don't have the seating to support it for one thing). Variety has declined a bit with the AT menus but I haven't noticed a decline in quality.

[LMaxwell]

I have seen this idea of wanting to force people into the surcharge restaurants, which I don't believe for a minute (they don't have the seating to support it for one thing). Variety has declined a bit with the AT menus but I haven't noticed a decline in quality.

 

You don't think they want to push some people towards specialty restaurants? I think it is plainly obvious with some of the menu reductions and decline in quality in some areas that they want to have other options to push people towards. If they can't get you to spend the full amount they will halfway house it with Steakhouse selections in the MDR for $20. I'm surprised they haven't started bringing in other a la carte options from other restaurants but that may be a smidge too far.

[sparks1093]

You don't think they want to push some people towards specialty restaurants? I think it is plainly obvious with some of the menu reductions and decline in quality in some areas that they want to have other options to push people towards. If they can't get you to spend the full amount they will halfway house it with Steakhouse selections in the MDR for $20. I'm surprised they haven't started bringing in other a la carte options from other restaurants but that may be a smidge too far.

 

I think they would love to increase traffic in the specialty restaurants. I don't believe they are doing it by reducing quality in the MDR. I also would be surprised to see more a la carte options added to the MDR menu at some point.

[frayedend]

. Not once in 2 weeks did I eat lunch in the buffet! It looked like what you get from a low rent Vegas dive.

 

"I'll have some, ahh, some of the yella. And don't get cheap on me."

 

[Keys2Heaven]

I wonder if any of these folks who complain about the MDR food would also go to some dive restaurant when in port for lunch or dinner.

[sonicbuffalo]

If, on the other hand, the cruise lines continue to build newer ships, with 15-20 dining venues and charging for all meals, my cruising days will be over. I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

Norwegian is the worst at Nickle & Damning you....RCCL is a close second....

[JohnSpo]

I was on Elation out of JAX last week. This was one of my favorite cruise I have taken in the last 13 years. I thought the MDR food was very good along with the great waitstaff. It was not fine dining but very good for Carnival standards. The other food on Lido was very good at the buffet, grill, deli and the pizzaria. The only food I thought was terrible was at the Rotisserie. The chicken was always dried out. The sauce on the mac and cheese had a flour/pasty taste with no cheese in it. The mashed potatoes were tasteless. And the corn in the milky liquid I would not even try. I don't know how they could get the Rotisserie so wrong when the rest of the food was so good???

 

I find the MDR menu to have many good choices including the featured port items. The Everyday menu is very good if you cannot find something on the rest of the menu.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by how good the desserts were in the MDR, especially the daily fruit pies with ice cream. The desserts at the Lido buffet were also very good. The apple crumb, the chocolate cakes, the chocolate cheese cake and the key lime pie were my favorites.

 

I don't know how people can say they cannot find something on the MDR menu. They are probably picky eaters and tend to complain more than others.

[MandyMooToo]

Personally, I thought the food on RCCL in the MDR was very good so if cruisers here are saying that Carnival is better than that, we will be happy. I am a foodie to a degree, I cook a lot and love trying new and different things but I do not expect Gordon Ramsey level cooking on a ship that must feed thousands of people. So maybe I enjoy the food because my expectations are different? We will be sailing Carnival for the first time this fall and I guess we can then compare the two.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

A gazillion food shows on every network, specialty grocery stores that overprice basic ingredients, a populace that eats out almost as much as they eat at home, millions of dollars spent on cookbooks which nobody ever uses (but the pictures are pretty). The current "fad" is that everybody has started thinking of themselves as foodies...they think they know everything about "great" cuisine, that the best food is created with the most obscure ingredients that you can't find anywhere, that the more obscure food is the better it tastes.

 

So, the "complaint" of the week is how "bad" food is on a cruise...'cause everyone is now a food expert and their palates are world's ahead of what is prepared on a ship. Ship's food hasn't changed to any great extent, but expectations by a whole slew of foodies has perpetuated the myth that it is increasingly bad, or awful, or uneatable, or wrongly cooked, or made of sub-standard ingredients.

 

Food is sustenance, it serves a purpose. Thinking that food is a source of elegance, a path to status is pretty much wishful thinking and just another "I'm better than the next guy because it isn't up to my personal standard" and a way of expressing that "I'm smarter, more discerning than the average joe".

 

Why do people think that an "inexpensive" cruise line should be up to the standards of a Michelin 5 star restaurant that charges $100 for a minuscule plate of food is just absurd.

[beerman2]

Norwegian is the worst at Nickle & Damning you....RCCL is a close second....

 

Really, there are no hidden costs. You do pay extra for some things YES, but you certainly know before you board.

 

It's called Choosing. You either want to purchase or not.

 

NCL has plenty of options that are included.

[sparks1093]

Really, there are no hidden costs. You do pay extra for some things YES, but you certainly know before you board.

 

It's called Choosing. You either want to purchase or not.

 

NCL has plenty of options that are included.

 

Call it whatever you want to but NCL gives passengers more opportunities to be separated from their cash than any other line.

[beerman2]

A gazillion food shows on every network, specialty grocery stores that overprice basic ingredients, a populace that eats out almost as much as they eat at home, millions of dollars spent on cookbooks which nobody ever uses (but the pictures are pretty). The current "fad" is that everybody has started thinking of themselves as foodies...they think they know everything about "great" cuisine, that the best food is created with the most obscure ingredients that you can't find anywhere, that the more obscure food is the better it tastes.

 

So, the "complaint" of the week is how "bad" food is on a cruise...'cause everyone is now a food expert and their palates are world's ahead of what is prepared on a ship. Ship's food hasn't changed to any great extent, but expectations by a whole slew of foodies has perpetuated the myth that it is increasingly bad, or awful, or uneatable, or wrongly cooked, or made of sub-standard ingredients.

 

Food is sustenance, it serves a purpose. Thinking that food is a source of elegance, a path to status is pretty much wishful thinking and just another "I'm better than the next guy because it isn't up to my personal standard" and a way of expressing that "I'm smarter, more discerning than the average joe".

 

Why do people think that an "inexpensive" cruise line should be up to the standards of a Michelin 5 star restaurant that charges $100 for a minuscule plate of food is just absurd.

 

 

Come on now , that's a little common sense! 😂

BTW very, very accurate.

 

The "expectations" are not realistic, as NO restaurant serves a thousand people or more in 1 1/2 hrs.( approx)

[Cruisegirl6]

Sweet Dutch Girl, hello, I have to honestly say food has declined drastically, it definitely has changed, let me give you one example....back in the 1980's you would get NY Strip for a steak on the main dining room....then in the late to early 1990's they got a less grade piece of beef which still is decent called the sirloin, then a few years ago they added flat iron steak...sorry that is a decline for sure. Cruise lines are trying to save cost to the passenger because Carnival knows its mean passenger doesn't want to pay more for a cruise, so they have to offer lower grade type meats, more carbohydrate foods to fill the people up, the burgers are certainly nothing what you got years ago, they are full of fillers now and you now get hot dogs, something that you never saw back when you cruised in the 1970'a-1980's.

 

Lets also go to foods offered to us late in the evening, you only can get pizza and room service, years ago even in the early 1990's you were able to get grilled chicken, salad, fruit, cookies, cakes and cheeses, now you only have pizza past 11pm, nothing more. Definatly a huge difference for the worse.

[jimbo5544]

Norwegian is the worst at Nickle & Damning you....RCCL is a close second....

 

 

Best post on the thread

 

 

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[jimbo5544]

Call it whatever you want to but NCL gives passengers more opportunities to be separated from their cash than any other line.

 

 

Nicely worded..... lol

 

 

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