How good/bad is Norwegian food, vs. Disney and Celebrity?

[LGW59]

3 hours ago, suometar said:

If you are "hard-core foodies" who dine in Michelin restaurants 4-6 times a year and your 12 year son loves caviar, foie gras and steak tartare, NCL is definitely not the cruiseline for you.

Interesting he/she had to toss that in there, knowing full well NCL has zero comparison.  

[rxlowry]

As others have mentioned, food is subjective.  I think some of the worst food I’ve had on a cruise was Disney.  We’ve traveled many times with NCL but I’ve also been on Regent, Seabourn and Crystal with my daughter.   NCL cannot be compared to those cruises but we never starved on NCL.  My expectations are different.  Our last NCL cruise was in Europe so we didn’t mind dining off the ship to try local specialties. 
I think if you are looking for a true foodie experience, a luxury line is worth a look.  Our daughter loved all the cruises.  On Seabourn, we had a port every day so she was busy with us and not bored.   She loved the food, especially the canapés pre dinner (she was in fourth grade).  Crystal and Regent do have a program for kids during certain sailings.   Her last cruise though which was on NCL was her favorite because she met a great group of teens.  Did we eat caviar poolside together like on Seabourn, no but did we have fun?  Yes.  Figure out what you want for this vacation and decide from there but then keep expectations realistic.  
I can’t judge Celebrity but have heard lots of good things.  Seems like a step between then two in terms of food.  You know your son so I’m sure you’ll make a decision that’s right for your family.   

[CruiseMH]

12 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

I personally don’t cruise looking for 5 star food. When I want to eat 5 star trust me I will not go on a cruise to do so. 😜

I just wanted to say that there are cruise lines that offer such food. 😉

Of course most people don`t choose a specific cruise line for the food only but for many other reasons as well.

[Against Irrational People]

Thanks for all of the comments. Granted, this is a very subjective assessment but the range of comments here are very helpful to gauge the effect size (in statistical parlance) of NCL food.  

 

I think my biggest concern is spending extra money on specialty dining and being disappointed. To me, that’s far worse than an MDR included with the cruise price. From the comments here, that generally seems to more a concern with NCL/Cucina vs. the Celebrity, though I’m sure it happens everywhere.

 

Based on this, we’re going to go with Celebrity in a retreat suite and Luminae, over the Haven.  We were fans of Daniel Boulud’s restaurant when he had one in Vegas. I’ll just need to convince my son he would’ve gotten bored by the go karts after a few rides, and appreciate the better food.

 

Thanks again, cruisers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richg35]

Food on any mass market cruise line is going to be just OK. Sometimes it may surprise you with being better than you expected as well.

 

At the end of the day it's a cafeteria cooking for thousands of people. You're not going to get a Michelin star restaurant experience. And this is really true for any cruise line cooking for 3-4000 people. Quality can vary from day to day, line to line and ship to ship. 

 

[CPT Trips]

I haven’t been to an Olive Garden in years so I can’t compare. La Cucinha was good; my wife enjoyed her meal there more than at the other specialties where we ate. My filet wasperfect.

Based on our October BA cruise, the food overall on board has improved post pandemic shutdown. MDR menu are more varied, particularly at lunch - items switch out from day to day. 
Nothing five star, very good in all the specialties and no problem in MDR. And, it tasted like they reduced salt usage To us, that’s a good thing.