Vista MDR and lido buffet

[crusinpsychRN]

Food on Magic and most ships is not hot at buffet and sometimes served tepid in MDR. The guy in charge of Lido looked AMAZED when I told him food was not hot. Could I possibly be the first to say something? I think so. The mushrooms in the MDR used to be much better. What is that orange sauce?

 

Usually get a good seaday bunch. Order cold foods from room service as it will surely be told when you get it. If they know a seaday has a lot of room service orders why don't they add more staff to deliver.? My BLT took 1 hour and of course was cold, nothing like cold toast.

 

On the other hand, salads are room temp. Nothing good about room temp Caesar salad.

 

Have had terrible food and service in Steakhouse on Magic and Pride. Had good food and service years ago on Pride.

 

I was on HAL's Oosterdam and all the food tasted like water except for prime rib on Lido. Ate it 3 times as I couldn't get waited on in the MDR. Worst food of any ship I've been on in over 35 trips.

[Yvonne]

I understand what you're saying OP. We were on the Dream in January and I actually lost 4 pounds. Some of the MDR food was pretty good, and a few things were even impressive, but much of it was just okay. We went to the buffet at least one, if not two evenings, as we checked out the MDR menu and didn't find anything that really appealed to us, but the buffet wasn't very good (at lunch either). I had a difficult time finding anything I really wanted. Once all I chose was a baked potato and a little rice. So disappointing. We did enjoy the sea day brunch, and room service breakfast was nice although I only managed to get smoked salmon once (the crew member brought it as I wrote it in on the menu I hung on the door the night before, but said they "don't offer it for room service anymore) so I didn't write it in the rest of the mornings, another disappointment. We are branching out and trying a different line for our next cruise (probably Celebrity).

[tallnthensome]

I understand what you're saying OP. We were on the Dream in January and I actually lost 4 pounds. Some of the MDR food was pretty good, and a few things were even impressive, but much of it was just okay. We went to the buffet at least one, if not two evenings, as we checked out the MDR menu and didn't find anything that really appealed to us, but the buffet wasn't very good (at lunch either). I had a difficult time finding anything I really wanted. Once all I chose was a baked potato and a little rice. So disappointing. We did enjoy the sea day brunch, and room service breakfast was nice although I only managed to get smoked salmon once (the crew member brought it as I wrote it in on the menu I hung on the door the night before, but said they "don't offer it for room service anymore) so I didn't write it in the rest of the mornings, another disappointment. We are branching out and trying a different line for our next cruise (probably Celebrity).

Thanks for your input and not beating me up over my comments. I agree with you.

[Keys2Heaven]

Thanks for your input and not beating me up over my comments. I agree with you.

 

I certainly wasn't "beating you up", but wasn't going to agree with the assertion YOU made that MDR food quality is on par with dog food.

[sparks1093]

I think it all boils down on how you eat at home...what type of cuts of meat you buy, what type of restaurants you mostly go to......we all are different and we all have options and able to choose what we want and like.

 

The OP just stated his/her experience and I happen to agree with the OP regarding the food in the buffets and MDR, nobody is "right" or "wrong", we have different preferences that is all.

 

Why do I cruise on Carnival, first, its generally not my only cruise of the year, for instance, I am booked on RC Harmony of the Seas next week, I have a mini trip booked in the first week of July, another mini trip during mid July and two weeks land based vacation in Aruba in August....I enjoy and love cruises so Carnival allows me to have another cruise the end of the year and this is why we cruise Carnival (its very economical) and we are booked on a Carnival cruise for October 21st. When I cruise Carnival its not for the food although we do dine at the steakhouse each evening, we enjoy the friendly staff and we love the way the casino treats us with all types of goodies and gives us the drinks on us card (although we still get the drink package) they treat us wonderful...I also enjoy listening to the live bands that play during the evenings, although I am reading they are doing away with them and going to duo and trio bands but its still music. Each cruise line offers pros and cons but for sure Carnival certainly isn't for the food but I don't starve either.

 

Sparks1093- If I cruised on Silver Sea I would have to get dressed up formal each night and its not for us right now, later when we get older maybe?

 

I have no idea what Silver Sea's dress code is, too expensive for my blood.

[Cruisegirl6]

I am also not sure how I like to be on a "tiny ship", too many negatives for me right now.

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[sparks1093]

I am also not sure how I like to be on a "tiny ship", too many negatives for me right now.

 

That's fine too, but in reality anyone that goes on Carnival expecting 4/5 star fine dining in the MDR is setting themselves up for disappointment. Carnival serves good banquet quality food in the MDR, as do most of the mainstream cruise lines.

[ryano]

I have no idea what Silver Sea's dress code is, too expensive for my blood.

 

Even several luxury lines have seriously "relaxed" their dress code. Silver Sea might actually be on of those if memory serves me correctly which is why I find it kinda funny that a lot of people are up in arms about the mass market lines relaxing theirs.

 

Too rich for my blood too. Even if I could afford it I would rather stay in a suite and eat specialty dining all week and have a drink package on a bigger mass market ship. Id still come out way ahead.

[sparks1093]

Even several luxury lines have seriously "relaxed" their dress code. Silver Sea might actually be on of those if memory serves me correctly which is why I find it kinda funny that a lot of people are up in arms about the mass market lines relaxing theirs.

 

Too rich for my blood too. Even if I could afford it I would rather stay in a suite and eat specialty dining all week and have a drink package on a bigger mass market ship. Id still come out way ahead.

 

I would very likely do the same. Well, the suite part anyway, I'm more than happy with the food in the MDR.

[Cruisegirl6]

Sparks1093- I don't expect 4/5 star food on cruises, I simply mentioned that I dine at 4/5 star restaurants so I think I do know what good food and top quality food is enough to make a clear accurate conclusion about Carnivals food.

 

I find eating at banquet halls a better quality than what you get on Carnival, as for the lunch buffet how I feel about the food I finding too many people writing recent reviews agreeing with how terrible the food is.

[sparks1093]

Sparks1093- I don't expect 4/5 star food on cruises, I simply mentioned that I dine at 4/5 star restaurants so I think I do know what good food and top quality food is enough to make a clear accurate conclusion about Carnivals food.

 

I find eating at banquet halls a better quality than what you get on Carnival, as for the lunch buffet how I feel about the food I finding too many people writing recent reviews agreeing with how terrible the food is.

 

I apologize, I wasn't saying that you in particular were expecting 4/5 star food, but there are some that do expect it. The OP compared the MDR offerings to dog food and later clarified that most of the food in the MDR could find it's equal at the Red Lobster, Olive Garden or local steakhouse, and yes, that's about the quality you can expect from a main stream line's MDR. I've had some good meals in Olive Garden at a fair price. We don't eat at Red Lobster because of DW's shellfish allergy, but I would expect we'd find the same thing. I ate in Il Adagio (Italian specialty for those who don't know) on our last NCL sailing on Gem and we both had the chicken parmesan. The chicken was nicely done and tasted very good, the spaghetti side was over done and the sauce was reminiscent of tomato soup (neither of us ate that). We both felt that overall it was worth the $15 each that we paid. When we went on Fascination they had chicken parmesan on the MDR menu so we both ordered it. The portion was larger than what we received on Gem and we both agreed that it tasted better than what NCL served. On a whole I would say that both NCL's and CCL's food in the MDR are about the same (at least on the ship's that we've sailed on).

[Cruisegirl6]

Speaks1093 Hi,

You got me hungry talking about the chicken parmesan lol.....I agree, the MDR on Carnival and NCL and NCL only had a meat carving on the very first day, never saw another meat carving throughout the entire cruise, so at least, we have that on Carnival.

[BNBR]

I found Carnival's buffet almost inedible. Terrible. But they had Blue Iguana, Guys, and Pizza Pirate to make up for it - which are all very good. However, the MDR was outstanding. I think it can be hit or miss, maybe?

[Cruisegirl6]

I agree with the Blue Iguana Cantina, I found myself going there every day, it was tasty, edible and actually very very good and fresh!