Cruise food - better if trip costs more?

[pacruise804]

16 hours 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.

 

16 hours 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.

 

14 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Quite agree when one is patronizing a land based restaurant.  

 

I think it varies by situation, both on land and on sea.  If I order something that doesn't taste right but arrived quickly and at the proper temperature I will more likely speak to a manager (Maitre d') as the server did their job and doesn't control the quality of the food.  If I receive the wrong order or it takes long/wrong temperature then I will speak to the server.

 

If a manager/Maitre d' is hard to find then I would start with the server either way, but my tone/attitude might be different depending on the issue.

[iancal]

We have never had inedible food on a cruise.

 

We have had poorly prepared food, poor quality food, and hot food served cold.  We simply send it back and order something else.  Or we just leave and try the buffet if the food and service are both substandard.  

 

We we are not married or loyal to any one cruise line.  We chuckle when we read a comment that the food and service is always wonderful on a loyal cruisers preferred line and terrible on another.  This is simply not our experience.  It is hit and miss depending on the ship, the crew, and the trip.

Edited November 6, 2019 by iancal

[iancal]

IF you were at home and deciding on a restaurant to have a nice meal would you select one of the mass market MDR's assuming that it was a choice or a land based restaurant?  To us...that is the bottom line. 

 

 Our answer would always be never.  We understand that MDR food is essentially banquet food tarted up a little that is moved quite a distance from kitchen to service area and then to our plate.  It is assembly line.  Not so with our preferred restaurants a home whether they be five star or no star. 

 

This is not a criticism, more of a reality check.

Edited November 6, 2019 by iancal

[clo]

2 hours ago, iancal said:

We understand that MDR food is essentially banquet food

As I understand it on Oceania, the GDR food is cooked to order.  Do other lines do that?

[ducklite]

Worst food (ranged from OK to inedible) we've ever had on a cruise was on Royal Caribbean.  Even their specialty restaurants weren't all that.

 

Best food that didn't carry an additional cost was on Windstar.  Windstar has no additional cost for any of their restaurants, I think caviar service is the only thing you'll pay extra for.  Fair enough.

 

Best food we've had on any ship was Remy, a specialty restaurant on Disney.  Equivalent to a Michelin two-star.  It came with a high additional cost (I think it's now $100+ pp).  It was well worth it.

 

We also cruised on the Paul Gauguin, the food was good but not as good as Windstar.

 

Given my experience, I'd say with certainty that the more expensive the cruise, the better the food.  I'd also mention that on the small ships it's more like a better restaurant than a banquet facility.  Food is cooked to order rather than pre-plated and lined up under heat lamps.  

[ducklite]

34 minutes ago, clo said:

As I understand it on Oceania, the GDR food is cooked to order.  Do other lines do that?

Windstar cooks to order.  Of course items like mashed potatoes are made in advance, but then again the best restaurant in the world would pre-make the mashed or roasted potatoes.

[ducklite]

On 10/20/2019 at 10:46 PM, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

Oceania? Hardly "foo foo." Rather, just world class cosmopolitan cuisine (many being traditional standards). For example, enjoy French?

 

 

That looks like an amazing menu, and I agree, there's nothing unusual or overly "gourmet."  Much of it is traditional regional foods.

[clo]

22 minutes ago, ducklite said:

Windstar cooks to order.  Of course items like mashed potatoes are made in advance, but then again the best restaurant in the world would pre-make the mashed or roasted potatoes.

And I make them ahead of time also.  For a big Thanksgiving dinner, I reheated in the Crock Pot.

[clo]

7 minutes ago, ducklite said:

That looks like an amazing menu, and I agree, there's nothing unusual or overly "gourmet."  Much of it is traditional regional foods.

I will make a meal one night of the four hot hors d'oeuvres and die a happy woman 🙂

[ducklite]

On 10/23/2019 at 3:20 AM, 2BACRUISER said:

 

We hate foo foo food too all style and no substance, what good is a lettuce leaf, 3 peas, a carrot and a sliver of fish curled. Sure it looks pretty but it's not gonna cure the rumble in my tummy. 😜

 

Typically when a plate is that small it's because it's an amuse-bouche or one course of the 12-18 being served that evening.  

[pacruise804]

1 hour ago, clo said:

As I understand it on Oceania, the GDR food is cooked to order.  Do other lines do that?

Princess MDR doesn't, but on their Royal Class ships they have a Winemaker's Table meal that everything (except the gnocci) was prepared a la minute.  Amazing difference 😄 

 

The Oceania menu does look good, and for those who read French or are familiar with culinary terms it doesn't seem "fancy."  For a large portion of the cruising population though (especially mainstream lines) "haricot verts" might sound like something high-end merely because they don't know it's just "green beans."

[clo]

4 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

"haricot verts"

And which is sold at Trader Joe's 🙂

[ducklite]

On 10/23/2019 at 11:07 PM, clo said:

What about "just a pear"?  🙂

I bake, and use pears fairly often.  Different pears have different flavor profiles, levels of sweet and tartness, and different textures both raw and after being baked/roasted/seared.  Just like wines, different pears will pair better with some foods/ingredients than others.  I would prefer to know which varietal will be used to make better informed choices.  The same with anything from Glen South Farm beef to Cowgirl Creamery cheese, Rainier Organic cherries to Alaskan Sockeye salmon.  Provenance and varietal makes all the difference in the world in many cases.

[pacruise804]

Fair enough - green beans is an extreme example 🙂 I would need to decipher confit, escallop, fois gras terrine, vichyssoise, etc for many people I know - who would likely enjoy some of the dishes once they know what's in it (and would definitely want to avoid others). 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

ducklite,

 

Thank you for one of their complete menus.  I have never seen one and have wondered what one might find on a menu of theirs.  I don't believe I have ever seen a menu that had nearly all of the items that I enjoy most on one menu!  I'd  have a very difficult time of making a decision as to what to order!

[rkacruiser]

Another food issue that thankfully has happened only once to my traveling companion and me, but it was not a great start to our trans-Atlantic crossing on QE2:  what was served was not what we ordered from the menu.

 

Lunch served after leaving Southampton in the Tables of the World Restaurant (Tourist Class in a stateroom that cost more per person per day than our stateroom on Royal Viking Sky, New York to Copenhagen plus a North Cape Cruise).  Entrecote was an entree on the menu.  Perfect, I thought as a lunch entree.  What was served was beef liver.  I questioned our Steward and his response was that's what Entrecote is.

 

This was a sailing of QE2 during which there were labor issues we found out later.  That was our only MDR mis-hap that trip, but had continued non-Cunard quality experiences in stateroom and afternoon tea service.  And these issues continued despite our complaints, even with a meeting with a Hotel Officer, until we got to New York.  My friend's most memorable comment was "When does this this garbage barge get to New York?"  We had friends sailing in First Class and they were not well pleased as well.

 

To be fair, the Deck Steward, an older gentleman, provided the best Deck Service I have ever experienced, however.  

 

 

[clo]

28 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

ducklite,

 

Thank you for one of their complete menus.  I have never seen one and have wondered what one might find on a menu of theirs.  I don't believe I have ever seen a menu that had nearly all of the items that I enjoy most on one menu!  I'd  have a very difficult time of making a decision as to what to order!

This might give you a few drools 🙂

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/ships/marina/cuisine/

[Cruzaholic41]

I have to both agree and disagree with some recent posts. 
 

I’ve sailed Windstar a couple times and on both occasions I was very impressed with the food.  
 

On the other hand, I’ve sailed Oceania several times and I’d say the only thing more impressive about their menu was the menu itself. I thought the food was no better than Celebrity’s MDR. 
 

In my opinion, the best consistent food is on Viking Ocean. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

I’ve sailed Windstar a couple times and on both occasions I was very impressed with the food.  

I have a friend who has some unusual food allergies and they have worked beautifully with her so that's who she sticks with.

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, clo said:

As I understand it on Oceania, the GDR food is cooked to order.  Do other lines do that?

Viking also cook meals to order.

[pacruise804]

13 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Lunch served after leaving Southampton in the Tables of the World Restaurant (Tourist Class in a stateroom that cost more per person per day than our stateroom on Royal Viking Sky, New York to Copenhagen plus a North Cape Cruise).  Entrecote was an entree on the menu.  Perfect, I thought as a lunch entree.  What was served was beef liver.  I questioned our Steward and his response was that's what Entrecote is.

 

 

 

I had to look this one up (it's been almost 30 years since my 2 years of French 😉 ), and it said "a boned steak, cut off the sirloin" from entre - between and cote - rib.  I also would have been pleased with that for lunch and confused with beef liver 😮