Carnival Food Quality Very Subpar

[Don Kehote]

18 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

I'll make a note of these in case I ever make it back to Chicago...

 I'm a gigantic fat man who has lived in both Chicago and Italy; I wouldn't lie to you.  About pizza.

[Anyislandwilldo]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:38 AM, mz-s said:

I think Carnival's food is delicious, by and large. Each to their own.

As long as I don't have to cook, the food is great!!  I'm not a picky eater.

[Don Kehote]

15 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

DH, my 2 DDs and I chowed down at Lou Malnati's while in Chicago.  A pizza big enough for 6 and we got a salad as well.  Yum!!

Every PIzza Place Salad

 

Lou's is my thang.  I must have made 40 attempts to replicate it before landing on a slightly modified version of The Holy Grail from realdeepdish as my go-to when I want to blow everyone away.  One major difference: where Lou's uses pieces of sausage scattered about the pizza...I make a full-sized sausage patty that I pre-cook a little bit before flopping it atop the mozzarella.  Full pound of sausage, and the only thing big enough I have to do it with is a wok.  Whick looks ridiculous, but works 🙂

[sparks1093]

16 hours ago, Wennfred said:

I guess it’s hit & miss anywhere you go.

Pretty much nails it. 

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

I think the food on Princess was more alike than different to Carnival food. Portions were absolutely tiny on Princess. The difference was the atmosphere in the dining room was better.

I have never tasted atmosphere and it has little impact on my dining experience.

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, CruiseHealing said:

We have cruised 3 times this year (started on Horizon July 4th).  We were disappointed that it’s the same menu as pre-pandemic.  Really?  Carnival you have had your ships anchored at sea for over a year and your chefs could not come up with new menus dishes?????  
 

Here is another thing Carnival should consider; a Signature dishes just for that particular ship.  Not for the fleet.  So let’s say the Carnival Sunshine has a delicious shrimp / risotto on elegant night.  That ship would be the only ship offering that signature dish.  So this would make passengers more loyal to Carnival and particular ships.
 

 

It's probably likely that the chefs were in the unemployment line with a lot of other people so the last thing on their mind was developing new dishes for a former employer. 

[Clarasgrandma]

We just got back from 14 days on the Freedom, on Dec 18th. First cruise where I didn’t gain any weight. Out of 14 days, there were only 4 evenings where I got excited about the menu in the MDR.  Most evenings, I would skip appetizers and desserts, or I would just order appetizers and skip the main entree. We almost always eat breakfast in the MDR as well. I’m not a huge breakfast eater but my husband has to have it. Nothing was overly exciting for me. We skipped lunch several times.

 

Items I enjoyed from MDR:

Teriyaki Salmon - first time I tried it and it was really good!

Lobster - I order 2 because they are small!

Ricotta Lemon cookies - MDR brunch menu - delish!

Salmon Super Food Salad - very good

Marinated Chicken Tenders - I would order 2 and eat as a main.

 

We liked the Mongolian Wok for lunch. I had a Guys burger one day…it was ok but to me, just another burger. I’m not a huge beef eater so just my opinion. I had the BBQ one day. The meat was good (chicken and pork) but my Mac and cheese was barely warm. Blue Iguana was good. I had a taco salad minus the shell. They didn’t have any guacamole available on our sailing but I made up for that with extra sour cream. We aren’t big fans of the deli.  Maybe I haven’t tried the right thing yet? Someone raved about the falafel wrap so I tried it. The actual amount of falafel in my wrap was almost nonexistent. I literally unwrapped it to search for the alleged falafel! My husbands Reuben had very little sauerkraut on it. We did get pizza twice. We like the crust. I think extra topping would be nice but ok as is.

 

Overall, I’m happy to be on a cruise! The lack of exciting food helps keep my weight in check! I enjoy being waited on, not having to clean, do dishes, prepare meals, etc.
 

 

 

 

 

[Chief93]

Did the Vista for 7 days 12/4.  Found the food in the MDR had gone down hill.  Switched to the Indian option after the first few nights as that is ALWAYS good, but it is not everyone's thing.

 

On the other hand, I found the buffet food much improved, both in variety and quality.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

11 hours ago, brilliantseas said:

 

I have to disagree. Of the 18 cruises I've been on, I found Royal Caribbean to have the worst MDR food. Granted, I have not been on an Oasis class ship, so my experience may be different than others. 

 

In terms of MDR, Carnival used to be in line with and maybe a hare above Disney. I understand that Disney has made great strides in recent years (cruise line used to be behind the theme parks in terms of food quality), while Carnival has floundered. Royal had beautiful dining rooms, but the food was very underwhelming. 

 

In terms of extra charge specialty dining, Disney gets the nod for Palo, with NCL's specialty dining in 2nd, Royal Caribbean in 3rd, and Carnival last, with the weak point being Cucina del Capitano. 

 

Buffet quality goes to Disney, while variety (including the various concepts on the pool decks) goes to Carnival. Norwegian and Royal Caribbean had similar buffet experiences, but both were sub-par in quality. 

 

Just my opinion. 

 

Can't say anything about Disney. I am no longer a child at 76 and do not care to go on a ship that caters to them. Especially at twice the price of most any other cruise line. Guess you never went on Royals big ships. Best bang for the buck. ie the Harmony etc. Not crowded at all even with 6500 guests. The food the shows blow all others away.

[DrSea]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:55 AM, Calnev1 said:

And I couldn't disagree more.  In my view, Guy's burgers are still some of the best I have ever had. Anywhere.  Way superior to any other fast food burgers, such as In and Out. And better than burgers on other cruise lines, including Johnny Rockets on RCCL (which we had to pay extra for!!).  And no degredation in the quality of Guys from pre to post  COVID, at least on the Carnival Panorama.

 

Do wish Carnival had kept the Indian lunch counter.  But that is another topic.

Guys is better than In n Out? Let's not say or do crazy things that we might regret someday here.

[DrSea]

On 12/28/2021 at 4:50 AM, PhotoMike said:

Honestly, I think that being overly critical of a mass-market cruise line's food quality is an extremely first-world problem. For the price I pay for a Carnival cruise, I'm more than satisfied with the quality. I mean, we're not talking about Seabourn or Crystal here, we're talking about a cruise line where people have no problem wearing swimwear & such to a "formal" dining setting. Just keep it in perspective, I guess. Remember the old days when you could take a galley tour? These kitchens look like what you'd see in a hospital, school cafeteria, or prison. (I'm speculating on the prison, as I've never been there..lol) They are mass-cooking for thousands. You have to keep that in mind when you receive a dish that's "bland" or "lacking salt", etc. I love Carnival, RCI, Norwegian cruises, and have always left feeling that I got a bang for my buck, even if I didn't care for a particular dish or 2.

You pretty much sum up how I feel.

 

I get what I pay for. I did a 3 day cruise for $53 before port taxes and fees. That's more then what I spent on one dinner the week before I cruised.

[pjhootch]

Food is usually subjective unless it is so horrible everyone agrees.  🙂  

 

Was on Miracle in September and the food was fine.  On Mardi Gras over Halloween and the food was terrific in the MDR even though it is the same working menu as the other ships.  Portions were smaller but really nicely done.  Given the amount of food I am just fine with smaller portions.  On Freedom December 12th and it was okay.  The beef tenderloin, filet and prime rib was very tender and tasty.  Most of the other MDR meals were not offensive but not anything to rave about.  It was a little bland- but not bad and certainly nothing to complain about for me.   Am trying Freedom again next week and will compare and contrast!  🤣

[let's go again]

I have to say that when my husband and I sailed on the Horizon in August, 2021, the food was excellent.  We ate at the steakhouse and the MDR was just as good.  Maybe it varies by ship?  I would recommend the food on the Horizon as excellent.

[RockHoundTX]

Just got off Vista today. MDR was definitely sub-par. Pretty much every fried dish was WAY too greasy and the taste of many standard dishes was "off". The staff worked hard but seemed to be spread too thin so most dishes ended up being served at room temperature. We did RC Adventure of the Seas last week and there was absolute zero comparison. AOS MDR food was significantly better. If I rated AOD MDR food an 8, the Vista was probably closer to a 4-5 (wife and kids would probably say even a bigger difference).   

  

I am not a particularly picky eater (and my wife has a stomach of steel) and it was the first cruise (out of 15) we left half (or more) of the food on the plate. Pretty much every evening we went directly from the MDR up to the Lido and had sandwiches. The sandwiches, Guy's burgers, Mongolian, and deserts were the saving graces for this cruise. I don't expect "great" food on a cruise (without going to a specialty restaurant) but I do expect "good". In the Vista MDR there were far more "fair" and "poor" and just a few that were marginally "good" (and the fried shrimp which was normally a favorite was completely un-edible).        

[Kjjd4]

I loved this discussion on food aboard Carnival/RC.  We have noticed it as well over the years - declining quality.  But it is still better than we often eat at home, and we don't have to cook it.  We especially noticed it on MSC in Europe, but still...you have so many options.

 

Don Kehote - loved your comments on Pizza.  We lived for 40 years in Chicago, so Lou's, Geno's East, Muggavero's, et al - (except Giordonno's - they are living off their reputation 20 years ago) are the gold standard for deep dish pizza.  Tavern pizza (thin crust) is also dear to our hearts.

 

But in 2018 we moved to Idaho to be near the kids after I developed stage 4 cancer - AND THERE IS NO GOOD PIZZA out here.  New York style - California style, fast food style...it is a crap shoot.  So I have also had to experiment with deep dish recipes, and am pretty close to Lou Malnati's deep dish.  

 

Still working on a thin crust recipe and have yet to conquer the crust or the combination of cheeses.

Would love some wisdom!

 

On 12/31/2021 at 6:11 AM, Don Kehote said:

Every PIzza Place Salad

 

Lou's is my thang.  I must have made 40 attempts to replicate it before landing on a slightly modified version of The Holy Grail from realdeepdish as my go-to when I want to blow everyone away.  One major difference: where Lou's uses pieces of sausage scattered about the pizza...I make a full-sized sausage patty that I pre-cook a little bit before flopping it atop the mozzarella.  Full pound of sausage, and the only thing big enough I have to do it with is a wok.  Whick looks ridiculous, but works 🙂

 

[jetsfan58]

Very disappointed that I could not find my smoked salmon, tomato, mushroom bagel! Bummer! 

[Pellaz]

On 1/1/2022 at 11:35 AM, Kjjd4 said:

Don Kehote - loved your comments on Pizza.  We lived for 40 years in Chicago, so Lou's, Geno's East, Muggavero's, et al - (except Giordonno's - they are living off their reputation 20 years ago) are the gold standard for deep dish pizza.  Tavern pizza (thin crust) is also dear to our hearts.

 

 

Open question to anyone familiar with Chicago's much-discussed deep-dish pizza places....   Was there ever a northside Chicago pizza restaurant called, amazingly enough, simply  "Chicago's Pizza"?    I went to Chicago to see a concert many years ago and we had a pizza delivered from there -- or a place named something like that -- that was incredibly high-priced, only a medium-sized pie...and absolutely amazing.  😄   It ended up being too much for us three to eat for dinner and we saved the other half for breakfast, and we had to leave some behind.  😮  

 

Obligatory cruise-related content:  I strongly believe that Carnival's pizza is better than Sorrento's on Royal.  I might not choose to die on that hill, but I'd happily engage in light fisticuffs over it.  😄  

 

[Calnev1]

On 12/31/2021 at 9:05 AM, Chief93 said:

 Switched to the Indian option after the first few nights as that is ALWAYS good, but it is not everyone's thing.

 

Yes.  Not a vegetarian, but tried the Indian vegetarian entree on the Panorama.  Very tasty!   Ordered it again later in the cruise.

[Youyoyotoo]

On 12/27/2021 at 9:58 AM, icft said:

 

 

On 12/27/2021 at 9:58 AM, icft said:

I read a lot of posts about food on these carriers, and pay attention to comments about the included (MDR, Lido stuff) versus all the upgrade charged -- Specialty dining, vertical offerings in food --experiences added food (classes or Chef's pairing and tastings) options that have emerged from most (if not all) the carriers. The single BIGGEST disappointment that seems to chime in from us AND what we read pretty consistently is that the included foods (mainly anything from MDR except upcharge seafood or turf) has suffered greatly over the past decade on Carnival.

MDR in food serving style(s), and much of the food itself brought down numerous notches in quality and form during the last 10 year stretch. Way more cafeteria looking and presenting and often tasting. I don’t know if they doing that to drive more specialty or upgrades dining across the board, but it certainly has us venturing out and into other premium dining ranging from $15 PP to Chef’s table at $95 PP out of Los Angeles ports We have done most of these options and many in between like steak house. I have not had a bad dining experience in any of the other premium offerings. In fact great values IMO. I have NOT had Guys Pig and Anchor yet at a premium.  But I would say in advance if they are demanding additional money for simply BBQ’d items that are average at best, that is a big MISTAKE. Most Americans who are not Vegan, eat BBQ and most make their own versions of BBQ in some form or another at home. And. BBQ can be especially sensitive thing as the protein may be well prepared but the minute any a sauce or flavor treatment isn’t desirable by the eater, the whole dish goes SOUTH very fast!

 

On 12/27/2021 at 9:58 AM, icft said:

On our two Glory cruises this year we found the MDR food to be very good. The rest varied a lot. For example on our first cruise Guy's was good. On our second Guy's wasn't good. The Lido buffet was sub-par both times. I think that has a lot to do with there being less people on board (about 50% first cruise and 65% second) and thus batches of food sitting out longer. Until supply chain issues are fixed I think we are going to find the food will vary ship to ship, venue to venue, sailing to sailing. I think they have to take what they can get in the way of supplies right now.

 

I noticed someone mentioned the cakes being good and that is a wonderful example of different folks have different tastes. We found the cakes pre-covid to be not to our taste. They, in our mind, don't really have cakes. They are all layers of cake and icing with too much icing. These last two cruises it was even worse. Whereas in the past I could separate the icing from the cake and actually eat some cake, now the cake layer is incredibly thin - about a quarter inch - followed by about a half inch of icing - followed by a quarter inch layer of cake, etc. and it is impossible to separate the cake from the icing. When I was a kid I would have loved all that sweet but not so much now.

 

[Calnev1]

On 12/31/2021 at 1:43 PM, DrSea said:

Guys is better than In n Out? Let's not say or do crazy things that we might regret someday here.

Hmmmm.    Do you think the fact that I enjoy an occasional vegetarian entree disqualifies me from being a decent judge of hamburgers??   Could  be.  And sometimes I do the Atkins diet.  Who knows what the long term effects of that have been on my taste buds.   I do not, however, put tabasco sauce on everything I eat, as some of my friends do.🙂

[Youyoyotoo]

On 12/27/2021 at 11:18 AM, Bases5 said:

Couldn’t agree more

Only once (out of 5 times) did I find Guys burgers aboard with his fixings to be of any real interest in taste, texture, temp and usefulness. Sad, since I am a big gourmet burger kind of person,

[Calnev1]

On 1/1/2022 at 12:46 PM, jetsfan58 said:

Very disappointed that I could not find my smoked salmon, tomato, mushroom bagel! Bummer! 

I was with you . .. until "mushroom."

[sparks1093]

3 hours ago, Youyoyotoo said:

Only once (out of 5 times) did I find Guys burgers aboard with his fixings to be of any real interest in taste, texture, temp and usefulness. Sad, since I am a big gourmet burger kind of person,

I like Guys burgers but I would not put them in the "gourmet" category. 

[Don Kehote]

10 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I like Guys burgers but I would not put them in the "gourmet" category. 

I can't eat one of those without thinking of the parody menu that was circulating a few years ago. Which I've attached here.

 

[linbobky]

On 1/1/2022 at 2:46 PM, jetsfan58 said:

Very disappointed that I could not find my smoked salmon, tomato, mushroom bagel! Bummer! 

I had smoked salmon and bagel every day on my b2b 10 day cruise. very good! This was in the bdr.