Has NCL gone through a culinary change?

[Maeshel]

First time on NCL in July. We were on the Jewel.

The food was awful and left me not wanting to go back to NCL. My sister is sold on NCL and couldn't believe our dissatisfaction with the food.

We were planning on a Hawaiian cruise for 2020 aboard Pride of America. I don't know now.

I had talk to several passage about the Pride of America. They all said that the Jewel food was less than NCL usual standard and The Pride's food was great. I just read some reviews from July and Aug of this year on the Pride of America and the majority of them mentioned the food be less than great.

Have they had a change in their culinary department this year?

[alreadypacked]

I first sailed NCL on the Sky in 2011, and the food was pretty bad.

 

Gave NCL another shot in 2016 on Getaway and the food was fantastic! Great menu selections, well prepared, nicely presented etc.

 

Same on the Escape in 2017.

 

The Getaway in 2018 had a new (cheapened in my opinion) menu. Menu selections were more pedestrian. Gone was the chicken parmigiana, pad thai, penne with scallops, spaghetti carbonara, linguine with white clam sauce, asparagus risotto, fried brie, beef wellington etc. And a lot of the food had an off taste (as if highly processed ingredients, artificial flavoring etc.) and gave me severe indigestion (which never happened previously).

 

Worse was our Dawn cruise this past May. Sad, because NCL had been my new favorite line, after leaving Carnival in 2015 (after almost 20 cruises) due to bad food. 

 

    

[tallnthensome]

The menus are fleetwide. We had the same food on the simple Sun last week as we had on the new Bliss in April. Most of the food in the MDR and buffet is good but no longer of great caliber. Common amongst most cruise lines today. Days of Lobster Tail, fillet, prime rib, or chateaubriand in the MDR for free are in the rearview mirror ...... prime rib once in a while. I always order two entrees and find one or both to my simple liking. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

47 minutes ago, Maeshel said:

First time on NCL in July. We were on the Jewel.

The food was awful and left me not wanting to go back to NCL. My sister is sold on NCL and couldn't believe our dissatisfaction with the food.

We were planning on a Hawaiian cruise for 2020 aboard Pride of America. I don't know now.

I had talk to several passage about the Pride of America. They all said that the Jewel food was less than NCL usual standard and The Pride's food was great. I just read some reviews from July and Aug of this year on the Pride of America and the majority of them mentioned the food be less than great.

Have they had a change in their culinary department this year?

 

The Pride of America's claim to fame is that it is a way to tour Hawaii and unpack only once, and most of the passengers' time is spent off the ship. It is not known as a culinary destination or experience.

[Son of a son of a ...]

We were on the Escape to Bermuda in early July.  The food was good to great.  La Cucina’s calamari was awesome.  A few nits about service, but overall we were pleased with food.   

[kochleffel]

I was aboard the Epic twice in the space of about 8 months. The first time, in 2018, the MDR food was good enough but no more than that. There was one main course that disappointed me, so I wouldn't order it again. I didn't eat in any specialty restaurants that time.

 

The second time, in 2019, the MDR food was very good on the nights I ate there. And despite what others say, there was prime rib in the MDR one night and it was equivalent in quality to what you get in Cagney's. Specialty restaurants were excellent.

 

Between those two cruises I was on the Gem. I'd say that the MDR food was intermediate compared to the two Epic cruises - better than the first but not as good as the second. Two of the specialty restaurants then were disappointing: Le Bistro because a classic French dish wasn't made correctly, and La Cucina because of mediocre ingredients. I ordered differently in the equivalent restaurants during the second Epic cruise.

[Sauer-kraut]

I believe it all hinges on the Head Chef and his sous chefs that determines the caliber of the cooking

[Goldconnection]

My DH and I first cruised with NCL in 2000. Over the last 19 years we have sailed on 13 NCL, 5 Princess, 5 Royal Caribbean, 4 Carnival, and 2 Celebrity cruise. For what ever reason I have rated the food on any of those cruise as 5 star quality. The food on all the cruises was just OK. There were some items that were better on one ship/cruise line than another but nothing I would rave over. 

 

My thought is they are preparing meals meals for thousands of people there they cannot get it right for everyone. When I try something that does not tickle my tast buds I move on to something else. I know I am not in a 5 star restaurant and don't expect 5 star quality food. I eat what I like and keep moving.  I haven't starved on a cruise yet. Happy cruising to all.

[alreadypacked]

58 minutes ago, Goldconnection said:

My DH and I first cruised with NCL in 2000. Over the last 19 years we have sailed on 13 NCL, 5 Princess, 5 Royal Caribbean, 4 Carnival, and 2 Celebrity cruise. For what ever reason I have rated the food on any of those cruise as 5 star quality. The food on all the cruises was just OK. There were some items that were better on one ship/cruise line than another but nothing I would rave over. 

 

My thought is they are preparing meals meals for thousands of people there they cannot get it right for everyone. When I try something that does not tickle my tast buds I move on to something else. I know I am not in a 5 star restaurant and don't expect 5 star quality food. I eat what I like and keep moving.  I haven't starved on a cruise yet. Happy cruising to all.

 

It is true that they are preparing meals for thousands of people but...

 

I have to say cruise line food used to be much much better.

 

I started cruising before cruise ships had "specialty restaurants" and the MDR food (even the buffet) was well prepared, well presented, and very tasty across most of the mainstream lines (except Royal--never cared for their food, even back in the day). I actually looked forward to certain signature dishes every time we cruised.

 

I don't expect 5 star quality food either, but cruise line food used to be very good.  

 

 

 

 

[cottagers2000]

2 hours ago, kochleffel said:

I was aboard the Epic twice in the space of about 8 months. The first time, in 2018, the MDR food was good enough but no more than that. There was one main course that disappointed me, so I wouldn't order it again. I didn't eat in any specialty restaurants that time.

 

The second time, in 2019, the MDR food was very good on the nights I ate there. And despite what others say, there was prime rib in the MDR one night and it was equivalent in quality to what you get in Cagney's. Specialty restaurants were excellent.

 

Between those two cruises I was on the Gem. I'd say that the MDR food was intermediate compared to the two Epic cruises - better than the first but not as good as the second. Two of the specialty restaurants then were disappointing: Le Bistro because a classic French dish wasn't made correctly, and La Cucina because of mediocre ingredients. I ordered differently in the equivalent restaurants during the second Epic cruise.

I was on the Epic the last week in July and found the food in the MDR's to be very good, although I did receive the wrong meal on one occasion. However the food in La Cucina, Le Bistro and Cagneys was quite poor and certainly not worth the exhorbitant prices that they charge. If that is the best Filet Mignon that they can serve in Cagneys, NCL need to change their butcher. Very overrated speciality restaurants

[Pat.D]

It really seems to depend on the ship and sailing...

 

Within 12 months I sailed the Escape, the Getaway and the Bliss.  Food on the Escape and Bliss was decent (well prepared, decent selection and served warm), and absolutely awful on the Getaway (poor selection, poor quality and MDR food served cold and stale).

 

Your mileage will probably vary.

[zqvol]

Not sure what people expect on mass market cruise ships regarding food. Every meal in the dining rooms is like serving a banquet at a hotel. It is banquet quality and nothing more.

[tomservo]

7 hours ago, kochleffel said:

Le Bistro because a classic French dish wasn't made correctly

 

Just out of curiosity what was the dish and what did they do incorrectly?

[lamchops]

Just got off the Spirit yesterday and there was prime rib roast on 3 of the 15 days 😀

dinner at trattoria and bistro were excellent. The overall food was better than our February Spirit cruise and miles better than our September Jade cruise.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Food on my bliss cruise last month was not memorable, except for the specialty restaurants.

[newmexicoNita]

15 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

The menus are fleetwide. We had the same food on the simple Sun last week as we had on the new Bliss in April. Most of the food in the MDR and buffet is good but no longer of great caliber. Common amongst most cruise lines today. Days of Lobster Tail, fillet, prime rib, or chateaubriand in the MDR for free are in the rearview mirror ...... prime rib once in a while. I always order two entrees and find one or both to my simple liking. 

This has been our experience: the food period is not what we were accustom to 10, 20 or 30 years ago, but is some cases I think nCL has improved food in certain categories. On our last NCL cruise we were disappointed in the La Cucina, very happy with  Modernos, satisfied with MDR, Cagney's is always, for us hit or miss, since day one. But that is just us. We still love Le Bistro and always enjoy O'Sheehans for a quick bite. The buffets are just not us, so am not judging either way. Most people are in love with Los Lobos; being from SoCA, living in Texas and NM for 20 plus years we don't think of it as real Mexican food. The one thing we have noticed about ship meals, servings are much smaller than in years past. That might be a good thing, not bad.   I think it is important for everyone to remember a couple of things: 1-what one person loves, is not what everyone likes and visa versa: 2-like some have said, when the ships keep growing in size food becomes more like banquet food and not the elegant food we were used to when a 2000 passenger ship was considered large. On the positive side, think of all the choices we have and remember the days when we could choose from the buffet or snack bar or the MDR. 

[weltek]

I've sailed approximately 11 times with NCL. Somewhere around my 6th cruise I was on the Dawn and finally understood why people complained about food. Everything was cheaply done, underseasoned, and a lot of dishes intended to be hot were served cold. Since that cruise, our food has been at least "very good" on every sailing with just some minor issues here and there. 

 

So, I think sometimes the chef and kitchen staff can impact a ship's individual quality.  Had I judged the whole cruise line on that one experience, I'd have missed out on some great cruise food! 

Edited September 3, 2019 by weltek

[dexddd]

Food is definitely subjective.  We've been on plenty of NCL ships from large to small and twice on POA.  There can sometimes be nuances across the fleet at times when they are changing the menu.  However, I'd say POA was very close to the food we've had on other NCL ships.  The one great standout was pizza in the brick oven pizza in the buffet.

[Dorset Cruiser]

On 9/1/2019 at 7:55 PM, Maeshel said:

First time on NCL in July. We were on the Jewel.

The food was awful and left me not wanting to go back to NCL. My sister is sold on NCL and couldn't believe our dissatisfaction with the food.

We were planning on a Hawaiian cruise for 2020 aboard Pride of America. I don't know now.

I had talk to several passage about the Pride of America. They all said that the Jewel food was less than NCL usual standard and The Pride's food was great. I just read some reviews from July and Aug of this year on the Pride of America and the majority of them mentioned the food be less than great.

Have they had a change in their culinary department this year?

We sailed On Spirit in January and thought food was great.  We are on Jewel next month, so now a little worried ☹️

[AmyJA]

I on the other hand, had such a bad experience "back in the day" (early 90's) that I said I'd never sail again.  We made Denny's jokes.  About a dozen years later I tried again and was pleasantly surprised.  While not 5 star.  Not bad for feeding the massive amount of people on the ship/s.

 

I think each ship and even each sailing YMMV.

[Aldeya]

1 hour ago, weltek said:

I've sailed approximately 11 times with NCL. Somewhere around my 6th cruise I was on the Dawn and finally understood why people complained about food. Everything was cheaply done, underseasoned, and a lot of dishes intended to be hot were served cold. Since that cruise, our food has been at least "very good" on every sailing with just some minor issues here and there. 

 

So, I think sometimes the chef and kitchen staff can impact a ship's individual quality.  Had I judged the whole cruise line on that one experience, I'd have missed out on some great cruise food! 

We were on Dawn 2 months ago. Out of all NCL cruises (Platinum here) this was the worst food we ever experienced. We are not picky eaters by any means but the food was overall pretty bad. Limited choices, bland, the soups were not edible a few times we tried them. Even in LaCucina and The Bistro the dishes were not up to par with our previous visits. It was definitely a surprise.

[qoap24]

I haven't cruised on NCL since June 2018 and that was on the Gem. And the food was HORRIBLE. We normally cruise with NCL and previously we would be ok (and just ok) with eating in the specialty dining restaurants, on this trip even the food in those restaurants were bad. The steaks were nothing but fat and poor quality the same sauce was used for "gravy", "au jus" and anything else they could think of.

 

Some people say, what do you expect when they are cooking for the masses? Well, I expect edible food. And let's face it, NCL isn't the cheapest anymore. My family and I just cruised with HAL this past June and the food was 100% better than NCL. But of course they are lacking in entertainment.

 

I am not asking for 5 star restaurant food. When I first started cruising with NCL they had simple comfort type foods that I enjoyed, and I wish they would bring those recipes back. Instead it almost feels like they are serving you airplane food.

[newmexicoNita]

17 hours ago, Aldeya said:

We were on Dawn 2 months ago. Out of all NCL cruises (Platinum here) this was the worst food we ever experienced. We are not picky eaters by any means but the food was overall pretty bad. Limited choices, bland, the soups were not edible a few times we tried them. Even in LaCucina and The Bistro the dishes were not up to par with our previous visits. It was definitely a surprise.

and we were on the Dawn just before you it sounds. Overall we found plenty of variety. Of course we did have several nights in specialty dining rooms. The only time I would say the choices were never changing was the buffet, the mini meal on the deck mid day and breakfast, but how many choices can one expect for breakfast? Just one more bit of information: I love my spices, I am considered by many as a blue ribbon cook, myself and have my degree in foods and nutrition, so though I don't have much knowledge about many things, I do about food. I will agree with you on a few of the dining rooms as I have mentioned a few posts back. 

[Echo18]

Food was good to excellent on Breakaway a couple of weeks ago. I never order the New York Strip as usually not great but my son had it twice and it was cooked just perfectly and very tender.  The Prime Rib was excellent too. I don't expect gourmet dining from the MDR - it's mass catering after all.  I'm not cooking it and I'm not doing the washing up so I'm pretty laid back. 

 

My one disappointing meal was Le Bistro. I don't think I have ever seen smaller scallops and my husband's prawn entree was incredibly salty. Cagney's was good but quite rich. The stand out was Ocean Blue. The food, ambience and service in there was great.