Johnny Rockets - disappointed

[CRUISEFAN0001]

So when all is said and done in this thread (read it all, yes)...Johnny Rockets is a diner-like eating place with food consistent with any fast food place. Some people love it, don't like it, and everything in between...just like any other eating place.

 

Having been to most of the other places referenced in posts, as well as Johnny Rockets both on land and on Royal ships... we've found that it's consistent regardless of location, as good a food quality as any other burger/diner place, dependent on the staff at any specific location (as far as the service and food), and predictable as far as what we expect the next time we go there.

 

This is another example of an original opinion post spawning hundreds of other opinion posts. No worries. If people like this place...go there. If they don't like it...don't go there (again). We would never eliminate at least trying an eating place first before judging it ourselves for future visits.

 

 

[mugtech]

7 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

This is another example of an original opinion post spawning hundreds of other opinion posts. No worries. If people like this place...go there. If they don't like it...don't go there (again). We would never eliminate at least trying an eating place first before judging it ourselves for future visits.

 

 

I do not intend to try every eating establishment in the world at least once, need feedback to decide which ones.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Just now, mugtech said:

I do not intend to try every eating establishment in the world at least once, need feedback to decide which ones.

Then again...if someone relies on online reviews alone...they'll likely be surprised and disappointed often as well.

[cruisegirl1]

On 5/28/2019 at 5:31 PM, Wordell1 said:

Crazy that one cannot get a decent free burger on RC

 Try the burger on the main dining room lunch menu.   

 

M

[mugtech]

5 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Then again...if someone relies on online reviews alone...they'll likely be surprised and disappointed often as well.

There is plenty of other feedback available besides online.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 minutes ago, mugtech said:

There is plenty of other feedback available besides online.

Agree...but many people use online reviews as their main resource (not us) - especially millennials.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

13 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 Try the burger on the main dining room lunch menu.   

Bravo...yes...that is certainly a good burger there - had it several times.

[ChinaShrek]

On 6/4/2019 at 7:25 AM, Iamcruzin said:

I agree with your logic. However there is just so much people are willing to pay for fast food. A few years ago Celebrity attempted to swap our the free burgers by the pool with a pay for burger that was claimed to have been made from Kobe beef. They tried it on one ship and it didn't go over. As a matter of fact there was an uproar on Cruise Critic. I think they were charging $15.  These pay for restaurants are a big attraction for those who come from a rural area and don't have a lot of choices at home and think that mall chain restaurants are the bomb. The worst critics are those of us from big cities. I'm surprised that Cheese Cake Factory hasn't made an appearance as an up-charge restaurant on a cruise ship. 

 

You talking about me.  I live about an hour northwest of Portland, Maine and often consider it a real treat to visit Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Macaroni Grill.  These restaurants have decent food but what really bring my friends and I out is the atmosphere.  These chains represent America and I feel like I am participating in true Americana when I go there.  Everyone is happy to be work there!  They are hip and cool.  As for Johnny Rockets, I think their burgers are equal to Five Guys, Friendly's, and IHOP.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

15 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

You talking about me.  I live about an hour northwest of Portland, Maine and often consider it a real treat to visit Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Macaroni Grill.  These restaurants have decent food but what really bring my friends and I out is the atmosphere.  These chains represent America and I feel like I am participating in true Americana when I go there.  Everyone is happy to be work there!  They are hip and cool.  As for Johnny Rockets, I think their burgers are equal to Five Guys, Friendly's, and IHOP.

Great post and good points.

 

There's a local Golden Corral place about a mile away, and the parking lot is almost always full.  Yet we tried it once and would never consider ever setting foot in that place again...yuck. 

 

That said..."good food" is one of the most subjective things discussed...followed by things like "good movie", "good TV show", "good food store", "good clothing store" and others. Over time...we've learned that "good cruise", "good cruise ship", "good port", and "good excursion" share in being highly subjective in the eyes of the beholder.

[RFerrington]

On 6/5/2019 at 6:01 PM, depplep said:

Oh man! I loved Sabor on Oasis. Not so much on Freedom.

We’re just the opposite. We have always enjoyed the full service (and expanded menu) Sabor restaurants but never really loved the open air cantina version.

[RFerrington]

On 6/6/2019 at 6:26 AM, rusty nut said:

Used to love JR. We've been to several, on several ships. The $4.95 cover was fair and the burgers, I thought, were great. Things changed, however. The cover kept getting steeper and steeper, while the food quality went the opposite direction. Our last trip there was on Navigator. We paid, I think, $9.75/pp. What a disappointment. I think the burger in the WJ was just as good, maybe better, I could customize it any way I wanted, and it was free. I would not be sad to see JR go away.

I’m sure I’m probably alone on this one but I actually enjoy the WJ burger as long as it isn’t cold <shudder>. 

[RFerrington]

On 6/15/2019 at 12:43 PM, Iamcruzin said:

I just got off Anthem. On a 9 day cruise I only saw two people at Johnny's all week.  With that said I can understand why someone would pay for a burger. I had 2 burgers, one in Windjammer and one on Labadee both of them were disgusting. They were wet. I think they boil them.

The JR on Anthem is in a terrible location. 

[rusty nut]

3 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I’m sure I’m probably alone on this one but I actually enjoy the WJ burger as long as it isn’t cold <shudder>. 

I'm with you on that one. 🙂

[95south]

What's really disappointing is that they charge for JR's. When they first started charging for that it was like $3.99 a person.

Now they charge MORE than you would pay for JR's on land!! Carnival has Guy's Burgers as a walk up and RCI needs to turn JR's into the same thing. I've said for years JR's needs to be turned into an INCLUDED walk up and stop wasting valuable space as a sit down on the ship.

[Zach1213]

On 6/21/2019 at 8:47 AM, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Agree...but many people use online reviews as their main resource (not us) - especially millennials.

 

As a millennial, yep, it works pretty well. If you see someplace has a 4.5 rating out of 400 or 800 or 1200 reviews, odds are you're going to get a good experience. I'll take that over one person giving a recommendation who may have drastically different tastes or expectations than me.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

9 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

As a millennial, yep, it works pretty well. If you see someplace has a 4.5 rating out of 400 or 800 or 1200 reviews, odds are you're going to get a good experience. I'll take that over one person giving a recommendation who may have drastically different tastes or expectations than me.

Good point.  When there are strongly conflicting testimonials...a larger sampling of reviews renders a broader average of opinion.

[meatloafsfan]

5 hours ago, 95south said:

What's really disappointing is that they charge for JR's. When they first started charging for that it was like $3.99 a person.

Now they charge MORE than you would pay for JR's on land!! Carnival has Guy's Burgers as a walk up and RCI needs to turn JR's into the same thing. I've said for years JR's needs to be turned into an INCLUDED walk up and stop wasting valuable space as a sit down on the ship.

 

I agree.

 

I'm from Canada and we don't have Johnny Rocket's here in Canada. When we've visited the US, we tried a burger chain "Red Robin" and found them to be pretty good (and unlimited fries too). It seems crazy that it would cost more to go to a JR's on the ship than a RR on land.

[rusty nut]

Although I used to be a JR fan on the ship, I don't think I'll be going again, anytime soon. Although it seems expensive, what most here keep forgetting is, is that it's unlimited. That means as many burgers as you want. As many grilled cheese sandwiches as you want. As many hot dogs as you want, and of course, as many fries and onion rigs as you want. That makes the price a little better. I won't go back simply because I just can't eat my money's worth and also because the food quality has gone downhill.  Plus, I can get a great Royal cheeseburger in the MDR or a build-you-own burger in the WJ for free. ...Eh, sorry,...included.

[pnsnkr]

39 minutes ago, rusty nut said:

Although I used to be a JR fan on the ship, I don't think I'll be going again, anytime soon. Although it seems expensive, what most here keep forgetting is, is that it's unlimited. That means as many burgers as you want. As many grilled cheese sandwiches as you want. As many hot dogs as you want, and of course, as many fries and onion rigs as you want. That makes the price a little better. I won't go back simply because I just can't eat my money's worth and also because the food quality has gone downhill.  Plus, I can get a great Royal cheeseburger in the MDR or a build-you-own burger in the WJ for free. ...Eh, sorry,...included.

Good venue to practice for hot dog eating contest then...?  Do you have to order one at a time or can you place an order for 100 hot dogs?

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, rusty nut said:

 build-you-own burger in the WJ for free. ...Eh, sorry,...included.

 

Man, don't know what that is, that ain't no hamburger in there though.  

[mugtech]

8 hours ago, 95south said:

What's really disappointing is that they charge for JR's. When they first started charging for that it was like $3.99 a person.

Now they charge MORE than you would pay for JR's on land!! Carnival has Guy's Burgers as a walk up and RCI needs to turn JR's into the same thing. I've said for years JR's needs to be turned into an INCLUDED walk up and stop wasting valuable space as a sit down on the ship.

It's like having a Wal-Mart on the ship which charges more than the land based ones.  Waste of space.

[Iamcruzin]

On 6/21/2019 at 11:29 AM, RFerrington said:

The JR on Anthem is in a terrible location. 

Be that as it may, I past it several times and I wasn't even looking for it.

[SailingSal]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:20 PM, ymncruise said:

 

No, if it wasn't free, I wouldn't have even considered eating there.  I don't go there on land either. 😄

Thank you for your honesty.  I would not have started this thread if it had been free except for the shake.  That is why I started the thread - the price of the meal.  We paid $29.50 for 2 burgers; 1 fries; 1 onion ring; 1 shake.  We did not see any posted prices - but it was a crowded sea day and we thought it would be "oK" even with an up=charge.  It wasn't.  

We didn't get the cute "hello" when we entered; or an ok burger.  We had bad frozen fries and  onion rings.  We were just felt it was over-priced and poor quality of food.

[Iamcruzin]

On 6/21/2019 at 9:52 AM, ChinaShrek said:

 

You talking about me.  I live about an hour northwest of Portland, Maine and often consider it a real treat to visit Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Macaroni Grill.  These restaurants have decent food but what really bring my friends and I out is the atmosphere.  These chains represent America and I feel like I am participating in true Americana when I go there.  Everyone is happy to be work there!  They are hip and cool.  As for Johnny Rockets, I think their burgers are equal to Five Guys, Friendly's, and IHOP.

Living on Long Island where their is an Italian restaurant on every corner and several Pizzerias in between, Olive Garden doesn't fly. They have only been here since the 90's and the one in my neighborhood closed.  However they just Opened a Longhorn Steakhouse in my neighborhood and we have only enjoyed eating there on out of state trips. We want to go but the place has been so packed non stop. On any day of the week there is a 2 hour wait. We don't have many affordable steakhouse restaurants around and the few that are here are always crowded. I have only been to the Macaroni grill in Florida. I would say that it's better than Jamies.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

 

Man, don't know what that is, that ain't no hamburger in there though.  

I knew it wasn't going to be the best burger that I have ever eaten but I figured it's a burger how bad can it be? Was I ever taken back. It was mush. I'm not even sure it was beef. I even gave it a second shot on Labadee. It wasn't any worse but I can't imagine that it could get any worse. Honestly, I can live without a hamburger on a cruise there are so many other much better choices so I'm not about to pay for one either.