Food experience on Seabourn gone downhill since Carnival taken over.

[notjaded]

we once ordered beef, chicken, and pork dinners on silversea room service. Blindfolded, we could not identify the entree being eaten.

 

lol! :')

[sananda]

I do not know why anyone who sails on a Western owned and operated cruise line should expect great Asian cuisine. I wouldn't sail on an Asian ship and expect a great Wiener Schnitzel.

 

I don't think the cruise line's nation of origin is the determining factor. I think the chef's training and experience with a cuisine will be more important to having an excellent meal. Equally important will be the current location of the ship and the season. I think the best meals will be had when the cruise chef is given the freedom to make dishes using fresh local ingredients and their own recipes. Unfortunately, this rarely happens now. Instead, they will try to make American barbecue while off the coast of India. Should you be surprised when it doesn't turn out well? If you were staying in the Four Seasons in Mumbai, would the spaghetti bolognese at Cafe Prato or the mutton curry from San Qi be the better choice? Best to avoid the beef dishes in India, even when staying in a Western property.

 

In any case, we are off subject. Instead of nit picking the OP over the influence of Carnival or Holland America on Seabourn's food experience, I am willing to accept the OP's opinion that the quality of food has declined over the past three years.

[markham]

Each to his own. And as I said earlier, I have been happy with the variety of foods, availability of special orders and especially happy with the

new TK options and decor in "his" restaurants. And then there are always the same "classic fare" menus in the MDR should you want to go to an "old reliable" versus the day's main menu selections.

 

Now I cannot compare what we ate and enjoyed on Odyssey in August with what food was like 3 years ago. We take a couple of Seabourn cruises every year across all of the ships so the memory banks are a bit overwhelmed when they work. But suffice it to say that I am very happy with the MDR, TK and Colonnade offerings, as well as the occasional Patio dinner, and I know that special orders in the MDR are easy enough to arrange and always very satisfying.

 

We have our first Silversea cruise in less than 3 weeks. It's on the Whisper and I have recently seen some veteran Seabourn passengers' reviews of their dining offerings. Rather negative ones, at that. But I will reserve judgment and write up some fresh assessments in the course of time. I hope my views will be of help to cruisers of both lines.

 

Happy and healthy cruising!

[sfvoyage]

I don't think the cruise line's nation of origin is the determining factor. I think the chef's training and experience with a cuisine will be more important to having an excellent meal. Equally important will be the current location of the ship and the season...

 

+1 There are, for example, plenty of terrible Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, just as there are plenty of excellent Chinese restaurants in the US, and some of the good ones may not even have Chinese proprietors.

 

 

As you said, it's all about the chefs, the ingredients, skills & training, budget and management direction. In SB's case, its focus is not on non-Western cuisine, and one can argue that, rather than putting out substandard "ethnic" cuisine that pales in comparison to their Western cuisine, Seabourn may be better off not even bothering with "ethnic" cuisine. (Anyone recalls those horrible "Oriental" themed dinners at the Colonnade, complete with sad looking fried rice and noodles, and "Asian" paper fans and Peking Opera masks as decor? Hardly a "Seabourn Moment" worth mentioning...)

[Colgal]

We cruised Seabourn four times and three cruises out of four were stellar- unfortunately our last cruise was on the Encore and we are highly reluctant to cruise again... not certain if it's Seabourn in general or just Encore.

 

The food was less than average in preparation and presentation and with the exception of TK and two "special " dinner menu requests it could be considered unpalatable. I don't understand the phrase "food is subjective" - yes , some prep and presentation is "over the top" but when it is inedible???? And the wine offerings so mediocre that you are forced to spend more $$$ just to enjoy a decent wine? I am not an overly critical diner but the Encore offerings tested my patience, I am seriously questioning which market they are appealing to- not everyone is looking for the AI experience at the cost of decent dining.

[Joc123]

The worst food i have had on a cruise ship was on the Silver Whisper, everything was overcooked, and everything tasted the same. SB's food does vary, but it had greatly improved on our last cruise, and at its worst moments is never anything like as bad a SS.

The worst food we have had was on Silver Shadow - it was the cruise before they failed the health inspection and when food was stored in crew cabins. We have never sailed on SS again!

[wripro]

Markham,

 

I hope you enjoy your Silversea cruise and I look forward to your impressions.

[jdaa]

I must agree with the original post. We were on the same sailing and were disappointed with the food in both the MDR and the Colonnade. The room service breakfast was inedible, and after two days we didn't bother to order it again.

 

We've thought the food excellent on all of our previous Seabourn cruises, so this was a big letdown for us. We were told a new executive chef had joined us midway through the cruise, and were hoping the food would improve. Sadly, it did not.

 

We've always been enthusiastic Seabourn sailors prior to this cruise, but are thinking we'll try a different line next time. Other than the food, our experience was very good.

Edited October 4, 2017 by jdaa

[galeforce9]

I must agree with the original post. We were on the same sailing and were disappointed with the food in both the MDR and the Colonnade. The room service breakfast was inedible, and after two days we didn't bother to order it again.

 

We've thought the food excellent on all of our previous Seabourn cruises, so this was a big letdown for us. We were told a new executive chef had joined us midway through the cruise, and were hoping the food would improve. Sadly, it did not.

 

We've always been enthusiastic Seabourn sailors prior to this cruise, but are thinking we'll try a different line next time. Other than the food, our experience was very good.

 

 

 

We had this experience on our recent sojourn cruise and I have already mentioned this in the original Alaska live on board thread. I’ve always been wowed by food on seabourn, right up to my previous sojourn cruises (three) last year, so it was a real disappointment. I think (hope) it is an exec chef issue too which will be resolved on future cruises, rather than indicative of a general shift. I hope seabourn management appreciate the quality of exec chefs is vital.

 

 

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[BasandSyb]

We also generally agree with the original poster. Our last cruise was 32 nights, there were 12 of us, each with not less than 200 SB days and two couples nearing 500 days. The consensus was that the food was in a slump and significantly suffered from the regimented HAL provisioned and dictated meal plans that kept rolling through every 3-4 days. I have said enough in other posts about our views on TK and the knock on effect there across all dining venues...

 

We did speak with one of the chefs who agreed the menus were getting quite repetitive and that initiative was being confined with the planning. As a consequence we ordered quite a few special meals. We were reticent to do this too often as we know how hard working the kitchen folk are and don't want to be too demanding. We were told they were happy to break out and prepare something different. Each of those meals we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Yes the classic menu is there, but even it has had a few items removed. Let's face it, the classic menu is very plain. Something for comfort when you want a more home cooking / healthier option.

 

Our biggest disappointment was the pool grill - both lunch and dinner - the steak was dreadful, meals repeated more often and less variety overall. There is such opportunity for this area.

 

The Colannade used to have a fish special every day - even showcasing fresh local product. On our last trip the specials were predominantly pasta. There are so many amazing fresh salad options these days that take no effort with few ingredients that put to shame the pile of lettuce, croutons and pasta salad put out each day.

 

Mcadamia we are also doing 37 days in February - hope you enjoy it. We are certainly looking forward to it and are going in with a positive attitude and a list of our favourites for any special meal requests:D

[TRIPACIAN]

We just left the Odyssey and are now sailing to New York on the Regent Navigator. I can tell you that the food and service on the Odyssey is far superior to the Navigator.

 

We like the main dining room on the Navigator and it is comparable to the Odyssey but all of the other venues are not near as good.

[Tony & Trevor]

We have recently sailed with Silverseas and found the food more comprehensive and varied than SB. At lunch there was always a hot dessert available which we never saw on SB. Also the cabin menu was better than SB.

 

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Tony

[cruisr]

We have recently sailed with Silverseas and found the food more comprehensive and varied than SB. At lunch there was always a hot dessert available which we never saw on SB. Also the cabin menu was better than SB.

 

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Tony

 

On SB you can order anything you want and have it delivered to your suite. I dont even look at the in suite menu as I always order whatever I want. I do love having dinner from the MDR restaurant served in my suite. Seabourn does that the best of any luxury line IMHO.

[Tony & Trevor]

cruisr

 

 

Yes I know you can order cabin service and they used to have a comprehensive menu which was limited when we were on the Encore and poorly delivered.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[galeforce9]

We have recently sailed with Silverseas and found the food more comprehensive and varied than SB. At lunch there was always a hot dessert available which we never saw on SB. Also the cabin menu was better than SB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

 

 

 

 

Tony

 

 

 

Yes I really miss a daily hot dessert too

 

 

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[Chairsin]

On our Antarctica cruise a hot dessert was served out at Patio Grill almost every day.

 

 

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[galeforce9]

On our Antarctica cruise a hot dessert was served out at Patio Grill almost every day.

 

 

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Good news!

 

 

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[Kevnzworld]

I like the food on Seabourn. It's a lot better than Regent, Oceania or Celebrity IMO. It is a cruise ship, so it's not as good as some land based higher end big city eateries.

There is certainly variety. I often prefer the Collonade at night, especially the Chef market dinners. Yes, lunch can be a little restricted, especially for us non red meat eaters ( like German sausage day )... But I make due.

[markham]

Yes, the German themed Colonnade lunches can be a bit daunting with all those sausages of various colors, textures and nutritional content. But they do also have wiener shnitzel which I like with lingonberry or similar sauce.

 

But then there is the Filipino themed buffet. It’s unfamiliar stuff and much is very bland. So I would much prefer an authentic Thai or Indonesian buffet which Seabourn doesn’t seem to offer at lunch there. I have always assumed that it’s enjoyable for the Filipino chefs and that no one has raised the other flags higher. I will remember to do so on Quest in December should those limpia rolls feature.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[galeforce9]

Mmmm those Filipino puds were awful

 

 

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[PaulaJK]

Is the main dining. Room still closed frequently, especially on port days? We are not fond of the .colonnade for several of the reasons mentioned in this post.

[Gercru]

On our Encore cruise (Sept.24 - Oct.4) the MDR was only open for lunch on a single day :-(((

[PaulaJK]

I am sorry to learn this. We had been sailing SB about twice per year but stopped once this policy started. There was much for us to praise on SB but limited, uninspired chafing dish buffet dining was not included. We miss SB but will not return.

[Mr Luxury]

The problem with the MDR during lunch is that the majority of guests go off The ship on tours and those few left on the ship eat mostly in the patio or colonnade so it becomes nonsensical for Seabourn to keep it open.

I am one of the very few that use the MDR for breakfast and lunch if I eat lunch at all.

I know that it would be lovely to have the MDR open for every lunch but the only way to do that would be if an awful lot of guests were to frequent it but if you don’t use it,you lose it.

 

 

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[PaulaJK]

Well, we did use it and lost. Luxury lines such as Crystal and SS have lunch dining ..and Regent Explorer always has one of its soecialty restaurants available. We do not enjoy chafing dish buffets in a noisy and not clean area. ..just us... but it took SB off of our go to list. They've survived and so did we...but I miss SB.