Cruise food - better if trip costs more?

[BarbinMich]

On 10/21/2019 at 9:32 PM, pris993 said:

. . .HAL is the only exception because I don't believe they do a buffet in the evening. 

 

Their buffet is open in the evening--at least it was when we did a TA on the Zuiderdam in April-May 2017.  I would say the evening buffet offerings were not as good as on Princess, but then their ships are a lot smaller and I think probably more HAL pax choose to eat in the DR than on Princess.   But the personnel in the Zuiderdam's buffet were outstanding at all meal times.

[pris993]

6 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Their buffet is open in the evening--at least it was when we did a TA on the Zuiderdam in April-May 2017.  I would say the evening buffet offerings were not as good as on Princess, but then their ships are a lot smaller and I think probably more HAL pax choose to eat in the DR than on Princess.   But the personnel in the Zuiderdam's buffet were outstanding at all meal times.

Thanks for the info, few years since we were on HAL, Eurodam  I think was last time - few years back. 

 

[LHT28]

4 hours ago, pris993 said:

Thanks for the info, few years since we were on HAL, Eurodam  I think was last time - few years back. 

 

We were on the Eurodam a few years ago  buffet was open for dinner  then they had late night snacks about 10:30 pm

Maybe one side was closed  but the other side was open

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, LHT28 said:

We were on the Eurodam a few years ago  buffet was open for dinner  then they had late night snacks about 10:30 pm

Maybe one side was closed  but the other side was open

 

This is correct.  I sailed on Westerdam in July.  On every HAL ship on which I have sailed, the Lido Restaurant always is open for dinner.  Then, late night snacks for an hour which are often frequented by that night's entertainers and the show's cast members.  The variety of the food available, however, is not as wide as it once was.

[evandbob]

When I read the OP's post, I thought s/he wanted to know if the food experience on the same ship would vary based on the length, cost and itinerary of the cruises.

 

I was figuring folk might respond accordingly, but I guess I was wrong.

 

We sailed the Crown Princess twice, once a 10 night Med and the other a 7 night S/B Alaska, and we thought the MDR food was okay, nothing great, both times.  We enjoyed the specialty restaurants better each cruise.

[Canuker]

On 10/20/2019 at 10:28 PM, clo said:

I read this and it annoys me.  You PAID for that meal whether included or extra.  If it's not right, you're not being a bother.  SEND IT BACK.  PS:  I'm 72 y.o. and so perhaps a bit more bold 🙂

I agree. If you had exchanged it - they would WANT you to exchange it  - if you're not happy, otherwise it leads to bad reports, like your OP.

If you had got something you like, you would not be asking your questions.
No offence, I assure you, but you were part of the problem.

Go back to Princess and have a wonderful cruise.

 

[clo]

2 minutes ago, Canuker said:

I agree. If you had exchanged it - they would WANT you to exchange it  - if you're not happy, otherwise it leads to bad reports, like your OP.

If you had got something you like, you would not be asking your questions.
No offence, I assure you, but you were part of the problem.

Go back to Princess and have a wonderful cruise.

 

You're not replying to me, are you?

[Canuker]

No, clo. To the OP.

[cruisemom42]

On 10/25/2019 at 4:53 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

This is correct.  I sailed on Westerdam in July.  On every HAL ship on which I have sailed, the Lido Restaurant always is open for dinner.  Then, late night snacks for an hour which are often frequented by that night's entertainers and the show's cast members.  The variety of the food available, however, is not as wide as it once was.

 

Last time I was on HAL (about 3 years ago, in the Med), the Lido was open for dinner but it closed its dinner service quite early. I noticed this because a) I like to eat later and b) I like to stay in port until as close as possible to sailing times.  

 

It seemed a real mis-fire to me to close it so early, especially in the Med where dining times tend to be late-ish. Would you happen to know if HAL has changed this?

 

[geoherb]

We disembarked the Crown right before you got on. I wonder if there was a problem with the food suppliers. For the most part, all of our meals were very good to excellent. I had one fish main course over the 16 days that wasn't that good. I know there was going to be a change of many crew members after our cruise. That may have contributed to bad food.

[pacruise804]

On 10/20/2019 at 4:53 PM, Koliver63 said:

 If anyone has any insight as to what could make such a difference in dining experience on the exact same ship in only 18 months time,  I would love to hear.  Thanks!  

 

On 10/21/2019 at 12:13 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

In addition to mainstream lines cutting the per pax cost for food, I also believe the Executive Chef is similar to the Captain. Quality & standards start at the top, so an effective Captain sets the standards and runs a tight ship. This is the same for most of the departments and an effective Executive Chef runs a good galley. On our last Princess Cruise, the Executive Chef was spotted being one of the first crew going ashore in many ports with one of the waitresses. Chef was more interested in play, so galley standards were exceptionally low.

 

 

I have two thoughts on the difference.  One (and most likely) is the Executive Chef may have changed.  Another is that I would expect  Med cruise passengers to have more refined palates than  Caribbean cruisers (generally speaking), so more care may have been taken or better quality food used.

 

On 10/23/2019 at 6:43 PM, clo said:

If you read the link I shared about the "manifesto" you'll see what I mean.  But back on topic (ha!) I was hoping that someone would give an example of "frou frou" food they had on a cruise ship.  I looked at QM and here's a dinner menu. 

 

https://www.beyondships.com/files/252_mdr_2.pdf

 

Nothing FF, is it?  So please someone give me an example?

 

While the food itself might not be "frou frou," the descriptions can make it seem that way - I think it is a matter of perspective.  I have volunteered at our school's library (serves 1st-8th grade) and they have a "five-finger" rule about books.  The student is to open to a random page and if they find 5 or more words that they don't know, they should put the book back.  I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about food (I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I have watched Food Network 😉 ), yet I would need to pick a different restaurant based on the five-finger rule.  There were words I recognized but was unsure of the meaning and others that I didn't even recognize.

 

The younger student that doesn't have a strong vocabulary will struggle to understand the advanced reading book.  The inexperienced diner won't read the menu the same way as a self-proclaimed "Chowhound" either.  I was thrilled to realize on my anniversary cruise next year we will have included wi-fi so I can look up the meanings of unfamiliar dishes on the menu. 

 

Another possible FF example: Pasta a la Carbonara is a dish that is often listed on elegant night menus for Carnival, but it is basically cheese, bacon (guanciale) and eggs with spaghetti.  The Wiki definition: Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with egg, hard cheese, guanciale, and black pepper. If I tell someone I'm making it the general response is "ooh, fancy" but it's really just simple comfort food.

 

 

On 10/26/2019 at 1:44 PM, evandbob said:

When I read the OP's post, I thought s/he wanted to know if the food experience on the same ship would vary based on the length, cost and itinerary of the cruises.

 

I was figuring folk might respond accordingly, but I guess I was wrong.

 

We sailed the Crown Princess twice, once a 10 night Med and the other a 7 night S/B Alaska, and we thought the MDR food was okay, nothing great, both times.  We enjoyed the specialty restaurants better each cruise.

I never expect a thread to answer the OP question without quite a few misreads or side topics.  Reading comprehension seems to have gone downhill (myself included).

[clo]

23 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

Another possible FF example: Pasta a la Carbonara is a dish that is often listed on elegant night menus for Carnival, but it is basically cheese, bacon (guanciale) and eggs with spaghetti.  The Wiki definition: Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with egg, hard cheese, guanciale, and black pepper. If I tell someone I'm making it the general response is "ooh, fancy" but it's really just simple comfort food.

 

That's so funny.  That's one of my fave dishes to make (Marcella Hazan's recipe) and people do rave about it.  I like it cause I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.  Since I'm REALLY into food I can read the French or Italian on the Oceania menus.  And I say you'll never go hungry or thirsty with me in any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country 🙂  

[lenquixote66]

On 10/28/2019 at 3:07 PM, clo said:

That's so funny.  That's one of my fave dishes to make (Marcella Hazan's recipe) and people do rave about it.  I like it cause I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand.  Since I'm REALLY into food I can read the French or Italian on the Oceania menus.  And I say you'll never go hungry or thirsty with me in any Spanish or Portuguese speaking country 🙂  

On my cruise that just ended the food was awful.

(I cannot find my posts related to my age but something occurred that reminded me of you.On a lunch day that we sat with strangers,aside from the normal questions about place of residence,family,etc.,a woman asked what year I was born in.)

[clo]

7 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

On my cruise that just ended the food was awful.

 

Oh my.  Why?  Did everyone think that?  Did you send anything back?

 

Re age if someone is noticeably younger than I then I'll ask their age.  Maybe. Not otherwise.

[lenquixote66]

On 11/3/2019 at 9:51 PM, clo said:

Oh my.  Why?  Did everyone think that?  Did you send anything back?

 

Re age if someone is noticeably younger than I then I'll ask their age.  Maybe. Not otherwise.

It was the opinion of everyone I spoke to that the food was really bad.

When I told the woman that I was born in 19.. she thought I was kidding.She said that she thought I was about 55.

[Joebucks]

I'd say the most annoying topic in cruising is "fees". Then comes "cutbacks". Then, shortly after that comes inedible food.

 

How many of us have been ANYWHERE that the food was "inedible?" I've gotten a few bad plates in my life, and they were corrected.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

How many of us have been ANYWHERE that the food was "inedible?" I've gotten a few bad plates in my life, and they were corrected.

 

I've had inedible on cruises.  On my one and only Princess cruise and on my one and only Royal Caribbean cruise.  On both of them, I probably lost weight, and mealtime was definitely one of the low points of the day.  The Princess cruise was only because of rare itinerary - and it was worth it because of that.  Not for the remainder of the experience.

 

And when I complained one night about the food on Princess, the waiter argued with me that I didn't know what I was talking about.  And then proceeded to bring me another plate of the same slop.

 

You get what you pay for.

[clo]

Just now, FlyerTalker said:

And when I complained one night about the food on Princess, the waiter argued with me that I didn't know what I was talking about.  And then proceeded to bring me another plate of the same slop.

 

Oh my. It always amazes me that people choose to work with the public may have no people skills.

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

And when I complained one night about the food on Princess, the waiter argued with me that I didn't know what I was talking about.  And then proceeded to bring me another plate of the same slop.

 

You were complaining to the wrong person, in my opinion.  Speaking to your Table Captain (the gentleman in the Green jacket) and/or the Maitre d', if you can find him (he seems to "disappear" after guests are seated, you might have had a better experience.

[clo]

39 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You were complaining to the wrong person, in my opinion.  Speaking to your Table Captain (the gentleman in the Green jacket) and/or the Maitre d', if you can find him (he seems to "disappear" after guests are seated, you might have had a better experience.

I hear what you're saying but IMO that would be after the fact.  If I'm in a restaurant and there's a problem with the food our server is the one who should take care of it.  In that case the server became the bigger problem and a separate problem.  And I'd be dealing with that at a higher level for sure.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I hear what you're saying but IMO that would be after the fact.  If I'm in a restaurant and there's a problem with the food our server is the one who should take care of it.  In that case the server became the bigger problem and a separate problem.  And I'd be dealing with that at a higher level for sure.

 

Quite agree when one is patronizing a land based restaurant.  

[clo]

21 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Quite agree when one is patronizing a land based restaurant.  

I think they should be held to the same, minimum standard and at sea or on land that was unacceptable.

[iancal]

Not in our experience...with one exception. Food on Crystal was outstanding.

 

We see little difference between the mass market lines regardless of our per diem cost.  The one thing they all seem to have in common is inconsistency in both quality of food and MDR service.  

 

Don't forget...there are many price points on a cruise.  Anywhere from owner's suites down to last minute inside cabin deals. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by iancal

[ilikeanswers]

I have had two dishes on a cruise that I could not finish. One was a dessert that was way too sweet and the texture was all mush😖 and a salted fish dish where the it was too much salt for my liking. 

[FlyerTalker]

12 hours ago, iancal said:

Not in our experience...with one exception. Food on Crystal was outstanding.

 

Most consistently wonderful food at sea, IMO.  Even with all the posturing of Oceania as the "food cruiseline".