Carnival MDR food quality going down?

[sparks1093]

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.

 

I think it's safe to say that this has happened on all of the mainstream lines. Last I looked NY strip was selling for $18 a pound. Wonder what it was 30 years ago?:)

[ryano]

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.

 

Ive only been cruising for 9 years now but the quality of the included steak in the MDR has always been of lower quality on both lines Ive cruised on. The good thing with flat iron is the rarer it is the more tender it is and I like my steak on the rare side so Im not against a flat iron cut. Royal Caribbean now calls their included MDR steak an "aged hand-cut manhattan strip steak" but its anything but. Reminded me of shoe leather.

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes all the lines are doing the same only Carnival cut back the most in its beef, less quality piece of meat....RC still offers a NYStrip most likely choice of course but Carnival has that flat iron chewy tough steak.

 

I believe prices for NY Strip back 30 years ago were half the price it is today.

 

What I do like is that your able to upgrade your steak for a fee, although it is NOT the same piece of meat you would get at the steakhouse on Carnival but you get a better piece of beef and even surf and turf and also a lobster tail.

[sparks1093]

Yes all the lines are doing the same only Carnival cut back the most in its beef, less quality piece of meat....RC still offers a NYStrip most likely choice of course but Carnival has that flat iron chewy tough steak.

 

I believe prices for NY Strip back 30 years ago were half the price it is today.

 

What I do like is that your able to upgrade your steak for a fee, although it is NOT the same piece of meat you would get at the steakhouse on Carnival but you get a better piece of beef and even surf and turf and also a lobster tail.

 

One of our tablemates ordered the NY strip off the surcharge menu on Fascination (which has no steakhouse) and he said it was the same as he had received in a CCL steakhouse and tasted just as good.

[Cruisegirl6]

Interesting, my experience back on the Magic last May and my son just got off the Magic in January also said it was better in the Steakhouse, guess it was an off piece of meat for both of us, after all its the cows fault not Carnivals, but good to know, I do know, they don't cook the uncharge items in the steakhouse but in the galley they use in the MDR.

[ryano]

Yes all the lines are doing the same only Carnival cut back the most in its beef, less quality piece of meat....RC still offers a NYStrip most likely choice of course but Carnival has that flat iron chewy tough steak.

 

I actually think they are all using Select cuts now, not Choice, for the included meats that you dont have to pay extra for. One of the biggest complaints about RCs included food is their strip steak and how poor of a cut it is.

[sparks1093]

Interesting, my experience back on the Magic last May and my son just got off the Magic in January also said it was better in the Steakhouse, guess it was an off piece of meat for both of us, after all its the cows fault not Carnivals, but good to know, I do know, they don't cook the uncharge items in the steakhouse but in the galley they use in the MDR.

 

That is also contrary to what I've seen reported. Many people have said that their wait staff had to go up to the Steakhouse to get their order (at least on ships that have a steakhouse).

[Cruisegirl6]

I can't see the waiters going all the way up to the Steakhouse to get each persons upgraded meal, it doesn't make any sense, but guess I never get the truth.

[summersigh]

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.

Yep (y)(y)

[Keys2Heaven]

One of our tablemates ordered the NY strip off the surcharge menu on Fascination (which has no steakhouse) and he said it was the same as he had received in a CCL steakhouse and tasted just as good.

 

I ordered an upcharged NYS from the steakhouse on our Vista cruise last week and found it to be very fatty with little flavor. Definitely not what I was expecting.

[Cruisegirl6]

Keys2Heaven, I was told by my waiter and my son on a different cruise by his waiter that they make it in the MDR which only tells me its not the same piece of meat, it was not what I got at the Steakhouse and on Carnival ships which is why from now on, we dine every night at the Steakhouse.

[sparks1093]

Keys2Heaven, I was told by my waiter and my son on a different cruise by his waiter that they make it in the MDR which only tells me its not the same piece of meat, it was not what I got at the Steakhouse and on Carnival ships which is why from now on, we dine every night at the Steakhouse.

 

Even if it were made in the MDR and not the Steakhouse what prevents it from being the same piece of meat? Certainly they could store some of the Steakhouse steaks in the MDR reefer.

[Cruisegirl6]

It wasn't the same piece of meat and had a different shape to it also. It didn't look the same or taste the same as the ones I get in the Steakhouse. I know I dine in the steakhouse each and every night on the past few cruises.

[sparks1093]

It wasn't the same piece of meat and had a different shape to it also. It didn't look the same or taste the same as the ones I get in the Steakhouse. I know I dine in the steakhouse each and every night on the past few cruises.

 

It might have been a different cut, maybe a mistake on the kitchen staff's part, but nothing about it being served in the MDR automatically precludes it from being the same cut. As I said, our tablemate had one and said it was the same.

[Cruisegirl6]

It could be a different cut sure would explain everything. The last three years I been on 6 Carnival ships maybe 7 so I know its different. Now I am getting hungry for a steak!!

[wlc108]

I ordered an upcharged NYS from the steakhouse on our Vista cruise last week and found it to be very fatty with little flavor. Definitely not what I was expecting.

 

Just out of curiosity, how did you order it? Contrary to popular belief, some cuts of meat aren't that great if you order them rare/medium rare. The more expensive cuts usually do have more fat, and the cooking process melts that fat giving more flavor to the steak. If you order one of those cuts rare/medium rare, you'll end up with fat that hasn't melted and therefore a fatty, less flavorful steak. Other less fatty cuts of meat are more suited to medium rare/rare.

[funkidd]

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.

 

 

I have seen in several posts that people say that the ship doesn't have enough seating or a large enough venue for a pay as you go food system. The ship currently feeds everyone on board. Now and if they took the mdr from free to pay then they would have the room. I'm not saying everyone eats in the steakhouse I'm saying that everyone pays to eat in the mdr or guys burger or blue iguana or pizza or lido buffet. You eat when you want and where but you just have to pay with your ss card like buying a drink.

 

 

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[beerman2]

I have seen in several posts that people say that the ship doesn't have enough seating or a large enough venue for a pay as you go food system. The ship currently feeds everyone on board. Now and if they took the mdr from free to pay then they would have the room. I'm not saying everyone eats in the steakhouse I'm saying that everyone pays to eat in the mdr or guys burger or blue iguana or pizza or lido buffet. You eat when you want and where but you just have to pay with your ss card like buying a drink.

 

 

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You can't be serious! I could see Guy's or Blue Iguana maybe , but not MDR.

[sfaaa]

I am perfectly fine with this so long as Carnival drops the cruise fare to rock bottom and buffet remains free. I will just camp out at Lido and get my fill on a budget.

[TheProfessor74]

Compared to what we eat at home Carnival's MDR is like a 5 star restaurant to us lol... We dont eat fast food but me and the wife both cook very plain vegetables and crock pot meals usually so for us the MDR is great lol... We dont care much for the buffet, but we have never had a bad meal in the MDR on Carnival or Royal... The food in the dining room is much better than any of the restaurants that we frequent in the $20-25. Guess we are super easy to please when it comes to food...

[TheProfessor74]

We did opt for Chops once on Royal when it was $20 a person, Was excellent but just not worth more than $20 upcharge imo so we have passed on each of our recent cruises. You can get off at Ports in Honduras and Cozumel and if you know where to look you can find equal meals at less cost...

[Cruisegirl6]

Wlc108- Fine steakhouses do not overcook their beef, in fact, no beef should be overcooked. I always order mine medium rare and always in the Carnival steakhouse it was tender and very tasty not fatty.... excellent in fact...a good steak is trimmed of the outside fat and yes, the marbling of the inside fat is the flavor. The "upgrade steak" on Carnival MDR menu is not the same as the Steakhouse, I know because I dine each evening now in the Steakhouse on many Carnival ships.

 

TheProfessor74- Your actually eating healthy, you mention vegetables and using crockpot which keeps all the vitamins and minerals in the foods, its a good way to eat.

[The4Cruisers]

We've always been happy with the food onboard, both in the MDR and elsewhere. Only this last time out, we had some issues in the MDR, but it was with the service we received from part of our wait team. But the food, no complaints from me whatsoever. And I think food and service have actually gone down at some land-based restaurants that I've been frequenting for many years.

 

Food is subjective. And more people post complaints/negative thoughts than compliments/positive thoughts, so for every complaint posted, I feel there are far more compliments, just NOT posted.

 

But what do I know?

 

I agree wholeheartedly. In the past, one of the few joys of business travel was stopping on the way home from the airport for an Outback Special at our local Outback restaurant. I did that every trip.

 

Now, I think Outback got expensive, the food declined, and they pretty much lost my business.

 

Same thing happens all over. CCL probably has to make the best choices they can with the HQ assigned budget. That means Flatiron steak versus NY Strip, no Lobster on shorter cruises, etc.

 

I don't think CCL has a sinister plot to have us all eat at pay restaurants.

[Cruisegirl6]

No Carnival doesn't have "a plan" to get us to the Steakhouse because if they did, the Steakhouse would be a lot larger than what it is, they just give people another option and I must say its my favorite specialty restaurant of all.

[Thorncroft]

Dining room is headed toward cafeteria style dining. "I'll have a bowl of that blue stuff, please".