Tell Me About The Food

[Colorado Buffalo]

Haven't been on NCL in 20 years.

 

Looking to book the Getaway. Might partake in one or two specialty restaurants but will mainly stick with what comes with the cruise fare.

I've heard that NCL's food used to be meh but has improved the last couple of years with collaboration with Regent and Oceana. Is this true?

 

What are can't miss items ?

What are stay away items? 

[FlGoodShips]

Main dining room is excellent.

For the speciality restaurants...

Teppanyaki is so much fun. And food is great and soooo much of it.

LeBistro is excellent. Try the mushroom soup. Also escargo is wonderful.

Cagneys Steak is excellent.

Actually we have tried them all and no complaints. 

Just enjoy. Eat some place, on the ship, you normally would not eat when you are home.

[23words]

Hi there! I haven’t been on a cruise with NCL since autumn 2019, but had several great cruises before then. I am a picky eater, so I am always worried that I’ll find something I like … but I never had a problem on any NCL ship.

We sometimes had a dining package and enjoyed Cagney’s (steakhouse) and Teppanyaki.

 

In the main dining rooms we absolutely love the salmon tartare appetizer, but every fish, shrimp, chicken or vegetarian dish I had was nice as well. We didn’t really visit the buffet too much, but O’Sheehans (the pub) does nice fish & chips. It has become our first stop on every ship, starting the cruise with that as our first meal.

 

The Getaway was our first NCL ship and we loved it. You will have a great time!

[The Shrike]

We've never had a bad meal on NCL, either buffet, MDR, Haven, or specialty restaurants (although we've never been on the Getaway so can't speak to Ocean Blue.  We'll be on it next January, though, and look forward to eating there).

But this is a subjective topic where you're going to get the gamut from "The food is garbage" to "The food is awesome."

[Treasure Hunter]

Also the Reuben sandwich at O’Sheehans is great

[wil e coyote]

If it's been 20 years since you were on NCL, I think you will find the biggest difference is the number of options available. When we were on NCL in the late 90's, the options were the main dining room or the buffet. Now you've got all the specialty restaurants, O'Sheehans, American Diner, Starbucks, and some others as well as the MDR and the buffet.

I agree with the others that all the food we have had in the last few years on NCL has been very good. There are LOTS of varying opinions on this board, especially regarding Cagney's. We have always found it to be excellent, but others, not so much.

Our personal favorite specialty restaurants are the Brazilian steakhouse (we like meat!) and Teppanyaki (the show is a lot of fun, especially if you have fun people at your table.)

I would avoid American Diner. It costs extra, and it isn't all that special.

Most of all, if you get something and it isn't to your liking, ask for something else. That is one of the great things about cruising.

Enjoy the many opinions! Your mileage may vary...  🙂

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

Haven't been on NCL in 20 years.

 

Looking to book the Getaway. Might partake in one or two specialty restaurants but will mainly stick with what comes with the cruise fare.

I've heard that NCL's food used to be meh but has improved the last couple of years with collaboration with Regent and Oceana. Is this true?

 

What are can't miss items ?

What are stay away items? 

NCL continually updates it menus to cater to the tastes of the "contemporary cruiser". They are catering to the millennials who are the next generation cruisers to sustain the industry for years to come. In the past, big menu changes came out with the introduction of new ships (NCL has been building one new ship a year). 

 

That comes with a lot of hate and discontent. When you replace old fashion chicken noodle soup with pho, old timers go crazy. When fish sticks got replaced with poached salmon on the lunch menu, people went nuts. NCL basically looks at what food "sells" and what ends up as fish food every time it is offered, and makes decisions on how to evolve their menus. 

 

We have sailed for decades and love the changes to the menu. Yes, it is not steak and potatoes (which you can get if you want). We hate 1980's cruise ship food. And love the international flair that NCL is putting into their menus. 

 

 

[hallux]

Anything that's put in front of me on an NCL ship is better than anything I'm making for myself at home.  Is that a low bar?  Maybe, but I have no complaints about any of the food I've had.

[cruiserbear55]

4 hours ago, Colorado Buffalo said:

Haven't been on NCL in 20 years.

 

Looking to book the Getaway. Might partake in one or two specialty restaurants but will mainly stick with what comes with the cruise fare.

I've heard that NCL's food used to be meh but has improved the last couple of years with collaboration with Regent and Oceana. Is this true?

 

What are can't miss items ?

What are stay away items? 

    Can't miss items, IMHO, subjective , of course:

        Cagneys-              16 oz. Ribeye or 20 0z.Porterhouse

        LaCucina              Seafood Fettucine or Chicken Parm

        Moderno              Salad Bar ( meats, not so much)

        O'Sheehan's         Chicken Wings

        LeBistro                Nothing memorable, used to be our favorite, not anymore.

        MDRs                   Chocolate Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream

        Buffet                   Soft serve ice cream. Wish i could take one of those

                                      machines home with me!!