I am worried.....

[misha1]

Sounds like I may have a few dining reservations to make prior to sailing. Again, thank you everyone for your perspectives.

 

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[fshagan]

Let's just say we have friends who usually cruise NCL. They did a Celebrity cruise about 6 months ago and thought NCL food was much better. I am not saying everyone feels this way, just pointing out food is subjective first and secondly there will always be a certain group of people who are cronic complainers or have an agenda to push. Food on NCL offers a much better variety of dining options than any other line and the food, overall has improved in my opinion. Is it as good as Celebrity? I don't think so. We haven't cruised Celebrity in several years, but did do 3 with them. We enjoyed the food. My biggest complaint about NCL food is desserts but luckily I am not a dessert eater much anyway.

 

It's interesting because on our one trip on Celebrity we found the food below par when compared to NCL. This was on the Infinity, and our expectation was that it would be better than the Jewel class on NCL. Not at all. The breakfast in the MDR was not to our liking at all, with a problem with all four choices we had, both days (we gave up on the MDR for breakfast after the second mediocre day). We found the dinners chaotic with servers swinging trays over your head to serve the table next to you while you're eating, and the food on a par with what we've had in the MDR on NCL.

 

 

Food is so subjective. For us, there's not a dollar's worth of difference between X and NCL on the size of ship we like. So we would consider X again if price and itinerary are equivalent, but wouldn't pay a penny more for X.

 

 

I will say that the specialty restaurant we ate at on X was very, very good. We ended up eating there twice, and I kept thinking about people who only eat in specialties on NCL because they don't like the MDR food. That could be us on X!

[KeithJenner]

I don’t think it’s bizarrre at all. When I stay at a hotel, I compare my experience to other hotels. I don’t compare the bed to the bed I have at my home. Or the shower, etc. that would make no sense.

 

When I eat at a restaurant, I compare the food to other restaurants. Not the food I cook at home.

 

So when I take a cruise, I compare the food to what I’ve had on other cruise ships.

 

Or in other words, I “rate” businesses in comparison to their competitors. That’s a pretty well established method of evaluation. You know, Yelp, Google, etc. It’s kind of the standard.

 

I had a feeling anything other than praise for NCL would result in a backlash from the pom pom waving cheerleaders, and I was correct.

 

Good to see the cheerleader argument rolled out. Fantastic, I love that one.

 

For the record, I have absolutely no problem with your assessment of the food on NCL. I wasn't there to try it, and for whatever reason you didn't like it. I absolutely respect your opinion, and when it comes to NCL it can go along the those criticisms of them that I post on here fairly regularly. If you look back, I didn't pass any comment on your opinion, other than to say that it was the complete opposite of the person who posted at pretty well the same time as you with a completely different view. If you read that as disagreeing with you then surely I was disagreeing with the other post equally. Clearly cheerleading. :)

 

Just to be clear. I don't have any comment one way or the other on your opinion of NCL. There is plenty to criticise. I did however comment on your reply, which I still think is bizarre.

[sweetpea222]

I honestly think the people who complain so loudly about things like food and service are those who sail often and seem to expect perfection. For our family, a cruise is a rare treat and we approach it accordingly. We are thrilled to have so many food choices and can eat whatever we want without worry about the cost. We never pay extra for the specialty restaurants. Has every single meal been mind-blowing? Of course not, that is unrealistic. But we've been able to find tasty and satisfying meals consistently, and have always been pleased with the service and honestly, we're just happy to be there. I remember one Celebrity cruise I took years ago when they had assigned table seating. We were sitting with an older couple from Florida who seemed determined to send every single thing back, who complained loudly about the simplest oversight to everyone they could, who regaled us nonstop about how the food and service was better on other lines and other ships, and who seemed unable to simply enjoy the moment and be thankful to be there. When talking to them they revealed that they live very close to the port and as this was the day and age when you could still get those last minute cheap deals on cruises, they cruised almost every month. So there they were, complaining about everything, and determined to ruin our experience as well.

 

Justifiable complaints are one thing, but finding fault everywhere says more about the person than the situation IMO.

[macandlucy]

That was our experience, too fshagan, exactly. Having heard so much about the fantastic food on X, I just ended up being really puzzled. Was I just an a bad sailing? I don't know. But I do know that on X, my MDR food was consistently lukewarm, meat often grizzly and the service was painfully slow. There were also more passengers trying to get to know their wait staff personally during meal service by asking many questions and engaging an obviously over worked server in all sorts of non-dinner related things (that seems to happen more on non-NCL lines in my experience). Cool to want to get to know the staff, not cool to do it while they are tring to work and wile the rest of us are now having to wait that much longer for our next course because table 17 is dominating the waiter's time. (My opinion, I;m sure many disagree.) Celebrity does have an extra course at dinner though, so there's that I guess. Yay, more waiting ;)

 

I guess one could look up the menus of the MDRs of Celebrity and NCL ships and take a look at what's different there. The reality though is when you are serving that many meals at once, it's pretty much banquet food, no matter what line you are sailing on. To get a more restaurant-like experience, you need to book the specialties.

[misha1]

I do not care for that picky and entitled behavior and I have seen plenty of it. I too approach sailing as a treat and do not want to give the impression that I expect perfection.

I honestly think the people who complain so loudly about things like food and service are those who sail often and seem to expect perfection. For our family, a cruise is a rare treat and we approach it accordingly. We are thrilled to have so many food choices and can eat whatever we want without worry about the cost. We never pay extra for the specialty restaurants. Has every single meal been mind-blowing? Of course not, that is unrealistic. But we've been able to find tasty and satisfying meals consistently, and have always been pleased with the service and honestly, we're just happy to be there. I remember one Celebrity cruise I took years ago when they had assigned table seating. We were sitting with an older couple from Florida who seemed determined to send every single thing back, who complained loudly about the simplest oversight to everyone they could, who regaled us nonstop about how the food and service was better on other lines and other ships, and who seemed unable to simply enjoy the moment and be thankful to be there. When talking to them they revealed that they live very close to the port and as this was the day and age when you could still get those last minute cheap deals on cruises, they cruised almost every month. So there they were, complaining about everything, and determined to ruin our experience as well.

 

Justifiable complaints are one thing, but finding fault everywhere says more about the person than the situation IMO.

 

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[Cruise a holic]

I honestly think the people who complain so loudly about things like food and service are those who sail often and seem to expect perfection. For our family, a cruise is a rare treat and we approach it accordingly. We are thrilled to have so many food choices and can eat whatever we want without worry about the cost. We never pay extra for the specialty restaurants. Has every single meal been mind-blowing? Of course not, that is unrealistic. But we've been able to find tasty and satisfying meals consistently, and have always been pleased with the service and honestly, we're just happy to be there. I remember one Celebrity cruise I took years ago when they had assigned table seating. We were sitting with an older couple from Florida who seemed determined to send every single thing back, who complained loudly about the simplest oversight to everyone they could, who regaled us nonstop about how the food and service was better on other lines and other ships, and who seemed unable to simply enjoy the moment and be thankful to be there. When talking to them they revealed that they live very close to the port and as this was the day and age when you could still get those last minute cheap deals on cruises, they cruised almost every month. So there they were, complaining about everything, and determined to ruin our experience as well.

 

Justifiable complaints are one thing, but finding fault everywhere says more about the person than the situation IMO.

I must agree with somethings you are saying. This is why unless we know our tablemates we will never sit with strangers. Had a similar experience with “table mates” who were mean and obnoxious to the waiter and his assistant. We felt he would give us all the secret sauce as the mates were horrible! However we do cruise often and try many lines and some cruise lines IMO are much better then others

[josephmz]

Ever have a kid in college? To hear them tell it the food is horrible.

 

Anyone ever hear of the "Freshman 15."

[Laszlo]

Good morning fellow cruisers! DH and I are new to NCL, doing the majority of our sailings on Celebrity. I have been scouring the CC NCL threads for tips and reviews and I have noticed an unpleasant theme. Many people comment on the service and food, especially in the MDR as being mediocre to poor. While I am aware of differences in opinions, I cannot help but be worried as food and service is high on my list of cruise priorities. Surely NCL would not continue to be able to build multi million dollar products without some redeeming qualities. And please don't tell me to go back to Celebrity. I am not bashing the NCL product...my next 2 cruises our in Jewel and Bliss...I am just a bit perplexed as to how so many have poor experiences with dining. Perhaps they are the only vocal ones?

 

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An average of 50 Thousand people sail NCL every week. How many of them are on cruise critic? How many post reviews? The worst reviews are usually few and far between

[MainerRN92]

Just having come off NCL Escape, I found the food sub-par with my experiences on Carnival. That being said, I did still enjoy the food a lot, it just didn't have the same "wow" factor I get on Carnival. The biggest disappointment was the desserts. They were just not great. I think the hardest part for me was after having so many specialty options that were included on Carnival, it was annoying to have to pay for variety on NCL. OP, I think based on your posts after your initial one you'll enjoy the food because you don't seem like you're that picky and it's a treat to be on a cruise. I enjoyed it in the long run, with only the desserts making me regret ordering them, and not because of what they do to my waistline ;)

[YVRBassElectric]

I sailed the Jewel in Dec and the Bliss in April - I LOVED our trip on the Jewel and the only time I was disappointed with MDR food was when the sauce was different on the dish than on the plate (taziki & tomato sauce are REALLY different) I wondered if they were trying to appeal to passengers in Australia?!? Let the Maitre D know if you are trying to get to a show, we had a couple of meals last over 2 hours. Specialty dining, if you like meat (not rare) Moderno has an amazing array of choices in salad bar & meat (save room for the pineapple)

 

That said, my experience on the Bliss (in a Haven cabin) was MILES above anything I have experienced on vacation. Waterfront dining is everything patios at home try to be. Crew really enjoy their jobs. TONS of variety in food, entertainment & space. A couple of nights we had oysters at Ocean Blue, dinner at Food Republic and dessert in the Haven.

 

Advantage of no set dining time - if you don't like MDR menu today, eat somewhere else, dinner didn't satisfy - grab a snack later at the 24 hour restaurant (Local or O'sheehan) or the buffet.

 

One thing I miss is Canadian cheddar cheese, NCL serves cheese slices & cheese product (that I am used to eating when I travel in US), you will find nicer gouda, swiss, brie but I have not found what I think of as cheddar cheese.

[drcarp4]

I've cruised mostly on NCL with one cruise on Carnival. The Main Dining Room food on both was pretty equal except Carnival still has Lobster Night. I have had a tough steak or two. NCL buffets were superior to Carnival by far. The Specialty restaurants on NCL have been great.

[SeaShark]

Good morning fellow cruisers! DH and I are new to NCL, doing the majority of our sailings on Celebrity. I have been scouring the CC NCL threads for tips and reviews and I have noticed an unpleasant theme. Many people comment on the service and food, especially in the MDR as being mediocre to poor. While I am aware of differences in opinions, I cannot help but be worried as food and service is high on my list of cruise priorities. Surely NCL would not continue to be able to build multi million dollar products without some redeeming qualities. And please don't tell me to go back to Celebrity. I am not bashing the NCL product...my next 2 cruises our in Jewel and Bliss...I am just a bit perplexed as to how so many have poor experiences with dining. Perhaps they are the only vocal ones?

 

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Experience the product for yourself and then make up your own mind. Don't be influenced by those floating around in the pit of misery.

 

 

 

Dilly, dilly.

[Letsgo 2]

Good morning fellow cruisers! DH and I are new to NCL, doing the majority of our sailings on Celebrity. I have been scouring the CC NCL threads for tips and reviews and I have noticed an unpleasant theme. Many people comment on the service and food, especially in the MDR as being mediocre to poor. While I am aware of differences in opinions, I cannot help but be worried as food and service is high on my list of cruise priorities. Surely NCL would not continue to be able to build multi million dollar products without some redeeming qualities. And please don't tell me to go back to Celebrity. I am not bashing the NCL product...my next 2 cruises our in Jewel and Bliss...I am just a bit perplexed as to how so many have poor experiences with dining. Perhaps they are the only vocal ones?

 

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I have never had a bad meal on any of the NCL ships I have sailed on, never bad service,don't worry so much about bad reviews ,you will have some cruisers that will never be happy and if one thing goes wrong their whole cruise is ruined.

You will have a great cruise , dont worry o much about the bad reviews. I also think that people are fast to post bad reviews but good reviews are not being posted as much. Enjoy every bit of your cruises. The jewel class ships are great in my opinion, perfect size not too small and not too big.

the Bliss is brand new, we are booked on her in 2020

Free your mind of the negative reviews and form your own

Marion

[LeesaB]

I've not sailed on Celebrity, so can't compare. I liked NCL's food very much when we sailed - for the most part. We personally don't care for the atmosphere of the buffet (running everywhere to get your food, trying to not cut in line while also not standing somewhere when you shouldn't, then trying to figure out if the rest of your party has started sitting down and WHERE...) but of course those are really only problems when it's really busy. The food was fine to good - there are a number of stations where people will cook you something to order (stir fries, omelettes, etc.). O'Sheehan's was also fine to good - though for some reason, this place seemed to take the longest of anywhere to get your food order. We ate at three specialty restaurants, which were good to excellent. We also ate in the MDR a number of times for dinner and every thing we had there was also good to excellent. I think a lot of the MDR stuff might be what you order - don't expect a fantastic steak from the MDR, though it should be pretty good. And observe other people's food and order accordingly. I noticed their prime rib was rather thinly sliced, for example, so ordered it rare instead of the medium rare I usually get, because you just KNOW it's going to be slightly overcooked when it's thin. And it was perfect. I did have to ask for the horseradish, but what I got was the real deal (so might want to pack a few kleenexes LOL).

[kitkat343]

We've sailed Princess, HAL, Cunard and Carnival, and found the food in the main dining rooms to be much weaker on NCL. However, the food in the NCL specialty restaurants was generally excellent, and since specialty dining is included in the 3 for free promotions, and I'd strongly recommend people chose that if they care a lot about food. You can also check to see if they are running unlimited dining packages for more meals. If you try enough food in the buffet, you can find a few good things there (generally the ethnic food and carving stations). We were generally quite happy on NCL aside from the food, and would just factor in the cost of an unlimited dining plan when comparing the price of cruises since we can eat the free food happily on other lines. At the time of our last cruise, children were half price in specialty restaurants and now they are full price unless ordering off the children's menu, so this could be an issue for our family long term.

 

Our one dinner at Versailles was a disaster - it took 30 minutes before our order was taken and the servers cleared my husband's silverware prior to his being served an entree, so he didn't have a fork. It turned out not to be too much of a problem, since when he borrowed my fork we discovered his short ribs were completely inedible so he didn't need any silverware. The food and service at Aqua was better, but below the quality we were used to on other lines.

[BaWBarmy]

I had a feeling anything other than praise for NCL would result in a backlash from the pom pom waving cheerleaders, and I was correct.

 

That would probably be because most of your posts on the NCL board are critical and negative considering you've only just come back from your first, and judging by your posts, only, NCL cruise.

 

So if YOU say the food is bad, it's because you know, because, you know, comparisons, and you know, you've been there seen it and done it on other cruise lines. If you are right then I can't say that the Fish and Chips are poor* because I've never had Fish and Chips on another cruise line?

 

* I think (subjective) they are poor and it's one of the only things I refuse to eat on an NCL cruise.

[littlelulu01]

I wouldn’t worry about the food. From the pictures posted so far on the Bliss, the food looks like a REAL step up.

 

We’ve sailed Ncl several times and only had one cruise, our most recent, with what we felt was pretty subpar food in included options. We switched to speciality only and were just fine. I attribute the poor food quality as a one off and due to a large charter group onboard that swamped the venues and provisions. As long as you don’t have a large group behaving very different from the norm, staff and provisions should be fine and meals served overall to be good by most standards.

 

 

I would encourage you to try the inclusive venues. You’ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

 

 

Some items aren’t available in speciality venues onboard many Ncl ships. Example- surf and turf is steak and shrimp. No lobster available even in speciality... however ymmv as I’ve seen lobsters and crab legs on offer in the buffet on the Bliss! Not sure if this is a temporary offering or if Bliss is going to be provisioned with higher quality items.

[DMH15]

All great comments! Thank you. DH and I have a 3 meal speciality package and we will Iikley eat in more speciality restaurants for the additional fee.

 

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That sounds like a plan. I really like Le Bistro.

 

Besides "elevated" food I find the service a little more personal and the ambience much better.

 

 

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[misha1]

Hopefully we won't have issues getting reservations.

[NLH Arizona]

Hopefully we won't have issues getting reservations.

You can make reservations on line 120 days prior to your cruise, if in a non-suite cabin and 130 days prior if in a suite.

[LrgPizza]

All great comments! Thank you. DH and I have a 3 meal speciality package and we will Iikley eat in more speciality restaurants for the additional fee.

 

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We used to eat mostly in specialty restaurants, but we always felt we were missing out on the amazing menus we were seeing posted for the MDRs. So now on our past 3 cruise, we've skipped the specialties and simply dine in the MDR, and are generally pleased. And unlike the specialty restaurants, we don't have to make reservations for the MDR, so we can wing it and don't have to plan our day around when we need to be ready for dinner.

[SeaShark]

 

I had a feeling anything other than praise for NCL would result in a backlash from the pom pom waving cheerleaders, and I was correct.

 

I had a similar feeling in that...and this is probably why there aren't more good reviews posted...if you say anything nice about NCL it will result in a backlash from the haters that will rush in to label you a "pom pom waving cheerleader" simply because they can't tolerate anything other than scorn for the cruise line.

[newmexicoNita]

service is excellent.

 

food is decent, but i would not consider it "gourmet". ive heard celebrity has the best food out of all the cruise lines. if that is what you are used to, NCL may be off for you.

We actually think the best food was on HAL>

[newmexicoNita]

I took my first NCL cruise last week. The food was mediocre compared to RC and Carnival. I ate every single meal in the MDR (when it was open) and several dishes were sent back. So it wasn’t just a one bad meal type of thing. Consistent mediocrity. Steak was gristly and inedible, salmon was “fishy” and tasted old. We are not picky eaters, but there’s no other way to put it - the food was not great. Was it all inedible? Of course not. Most items I ate and was satisfied. However NCL did not serve a single item that had the “wow” effect you get on other cruise lines. Very basic, no frills options. I didn’t even touch the buffets. They did have some good looking desserts, however.

 

Maybe it’s because I was on an older NCL ship? I don’t know. My TA told me beforehand that you get what you pay for and to not expect the quality of food you’d get on, for example, Royal’s Oasis of the Seas.

 

I’m working on a review right now and will have some more detail for you. But I will say the only way I’d ever cruise NCL again is if it was less than $300 per person with open bar (which is what I had on the Sun). Any more money than that, there’s other options out there that provide a better value.

the age of the ship or size should have nothing to do with the quality. I do think forums like this show how subjective food is. We found Carnival to be the worst with the worst service and Princess not much better. I can not judge RCI as we haven't sailed them for ages.