Anyone enjoying the new menu selections?

[dunrobbin]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:23 PM, keishashadow said:

Recently off a 9 night on adventure of seas.  Lovely, complimentary upgrade at pier to “a suite”, turned out to be an accessible near the royal suite…nice to be escorted up to the suite waiting area & cookies 🙂

 

no complaints re the food in WJ or MDR.  Saw many pp ordering two entrees, did have to finish the first one before second delivered.

 

Ordered two appetizers each night, without any issue.  One brought out at a time.

 

the mr ordered the chops fillet a couple of nights and the lobster tail (small but, tasty) once

 

See below for some Some favorites:  prime rib (med rare), med well steak (small but, well seasoned), tenderloin (med rare), lobster tail add on to the steak, beef carpaccio (yum), fillet (med), shrimp cocktail & chicken parm (I’m picky re Italian, it was good, not great).

 

last night did WJ for dinner, wasn’t feeling dressing up.  Was surprised to see Greek items.  The Gyro (combo beef/lamb, was a treat), along with the stuffed grape leaves…the chef knew his stuff there!

 

onion soup, just not the same.  Tried two different nights, far too salty

 

mentioned we’d skip Mexican night to head waiter as can’t tolerate cilantro, he arranged for a dinner salad and tasty grilled chicken breast.  Much appreciated.

 

 

An upgrade still happens with Royal?

I thought only Royal ups were used now.

Can I ask if you are Pinnacle?

[keishashadow]

2 hours ago, dunrobbin said:

An upgrade still happens with Royal?

I thought only Royal ups were used now.

Can I ask if you are Pinnacle?

No. TBH the people ckg us in were confused about it.  The girls upstairs in the lounge said they rarely see it happen. 

[Jasukkie]

I'm recently off Liberty and was very happy with the new main dining room experience. Service was timely but not rushed. I thought I would miss the old menus but there was always something that I wanted to order. I had no problem subbing a baked potato instead of rice one night. The tables around us were served multiple apps and entrees and it was impressive how quickly they brought out each plate. I really enjoyed everything I ate, to me it was a definite improvement in quality and preparation. I'm not a polyanna, I have no trouble calling out things I don't like on a sailing, MDR was 10/10. (Liberty's Windjammer is like a 4/10)

[marci22]

I am also recently off Liberty. We only went to MDR 2 nights. It was fine, food was correct temperature, but of course less choices. I got the wedge salad one night and it was pretty lame, as was the Caesar salad. Bread, soup,meat and vegetables were otherwise fine but nothing special.Our table neighbors were complaining about the lack of the 'every day' choices.

 

We did the rest of our dinners, lunches, and breakfasts in WJ. I though it was just ok. Meat quality was poor, but vegetables were good. Pastries all seemed to be day-old. Desserts were gelatinized and meh. Daily Indian and Asian choices seemed popular with guests. The biggest problem was the overcrowding. Unless we went at off times, we could never find a seat, even for just 2 people. It was very aggravating.

 

Bartenders made good drinks. Be sure to specify your alcohol brand. We used our D+ vouchers. Wine selection was often out of stock. On our first night they had 1 or 2 white wine choices. I kept choosing and finally said, 'tell me what you do have...'. They gave me moscato as my amenity although there were two other choices on file. I traded it later. They were re-provisioned by the next night but were still running out of some things during the cruise. I thought the liquor store prices onboard were high. Nothing worth carrying back in a suitcase. Not too crowded in there either. Seemed like most people were buying cigarettes.

 

I did fill out the survey, and I was honest and specific in my complaints.

Edited May 30, 2023 by marci22

[edrussell]

Just off Grandeur and we ate in the MDR all 7 nights.  Typically we had 3 courses per night, with some nights having doubles for starters, so between my wife and I a min of 42 course dishes served to us.  Less than 5 were not good.  Most were good, many were excellent.  This was our second sailing with the new menus and we love them.  My only nitpick is that the 'theming' of dishes is inconsistent and unusual. 

[marci22]

If you like Sysco and gelatin you'll like the MDR.

[latebuyer]

May i ask what night the cookies are on that are so good? I couldn’t find them.

[cruiseboy89130]

3 hours ago, latebuyer said:

May i ask what night the cookies are on that are so good? I couldn’t find them.

They are not that great - but since most desserts are very weak they stand out as not so Bad!

[hammer52]

I will say this, The food was OK but the new menu does not have the old side menu where you could pick the good old standard foods. Also , the so called Maine Lobster was no bigger than the old Carribean lobster. And no lie, when my wife and sister had turkey one night, they got a table spoon of stuffing!. We all said, you got to be kidding is there a shortage of stuffing?

[poocher]

I found the lobster tails served last month on Harmony to be bigger than the bugs one used to get.  Still not up to a New Englander’s standard but better nonetheless.  And did you just ask for more stuffing?  I’m sure that would have been easily accommodated.

[toxicfairy]

My issue is I make awesome fried chicken. We have GOOD steak a few times a week. I don't want spaghetti on a cruise. I can't eat fish. I want something good that isn't something I myself make at home. The old menu from like 18 years ago was amazing. I ate and enjoyed. Last cruise wasn't horrible but there were nights I really wasn't happy with choices. Haven't cruised in 3 years but I do have one booked for August 2024. Looking at the new menus some nights I don't see anything that excites me. That use to be part of the fun.

[poocher]

I get your point but, for me, it’s not can I make this at home.  Any time I go out to eat I have something that I could probably learn to make at home.  But I don’t have to make it, shop for ingredients, serve it or clean up afterwards.  Shrimp cocktail isn’t rocket science but I certainly enjoy it being served to me.

BTW my daughter loved the daily Indian choices.

Edited June 3, 2023 by poocher

[toxicfairy]

On 5/18/2023 at 9:23 PM, keishashadow said:

Recently off a 9 night on adventure of seas.  Lovely, complimentary upgrade at pier to “a suite”, turned out to be an accessible near the royal suite…nice to be escorted up to the suite waiting area & cookies 🙂

 

no complaints re the food in WJ or MDR.  Saw many pp ordering two entrees, did have to finish the first one before second delivered.

 

Ordered two appetizers each night, without any issue.  One brought out at a time.

 

the mr ordered the chops fillet a couple of nights and the lobster tail (small but, tasty) once

 

See below for some Some favorites:  prime rib (med rare), med well steak (small but, well seasoned), tenderloin (med rare), lobster tail add on to the steak, beef carpaccio (yum), fillet (med), shrimp cocktail & chicken parm (I’m picky re Italian, it was good, not great).

 

last night did WJ for dinner, wasn’t feeling dressing up.  Was surprised to see Greek items.  The Gyro (combo beef/lamb, was a treat), along with the stuffed grape leaves…the chef knew his stuff there!

 

onion soup, just not the same.  Tried two different nights, far too salty

 

mentioned we’d skip Mexican night to head waiter as can’t tolerate cilantro, he arranged for a dinner salad and tasty grilled chicken breast.  Much appreciated.

 

 

Thank you it helps to see what it looks like.

[dahirsh]

On 5/30/2023 at 7:50 PM, marci22 said:

If you like Sysco and gelatin you'll like the MDR.

 

you say this like Sysco products are all prepared and/or frozen.  As someone who has authorized payment on Sysco invoices for years, I can assure you they sell fresh beef and poultry and seafood and eggs and pasta and rice and spices and...

[FionaMG]

On 6/3/2023 at 6:25 AM, latebuyer said:

May i ask what night the cookies are on that are so good? I couldn’t find them.

 

If you mean the warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream, that's on Mexican night.

[latebuyer]

Thank you. Too bad. We don’t have mexican night on our 7 night cruise.

[poocher]

49 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thank you. Too bad. We don’t have mexican night on our 7 night cruise.

Believe me, the warm cookies were the only good thing about Mexican night.  The only night I could not find something edible.

[bucfan2]

1 hour ago, latebuyer said:

Thank you. Too bad. We don’t have mexican night on our 7 night cruise.

Indeed. Mexican night has some nice offerings. 

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

Believe me, the warm cookies were the only good thing about Mexican night.  The only night I could not find something edible.

No tacos?

[poocher]

9 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

No tacos?

No, tacos are not on the menu.

[FionaMG]

12 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thank you. Too bad. We don’t have mexican night on our 7 night cruise.

 

We didn't have it on our recent 8-night cruise out of NJ either. To be honest, my only regret about missing that menu was precisely not having the cookie as it's one of my favourite dessers.

 

11 hours ago, poocher said:

Believe me, the warm cookies were the only good thing about Mexican night.  The only night I could not find something edible.

 

I couldn't agree more! I would have had to just have bread and butter followed by dessert if we'd had that menu on our cruise.

[marci22]

14 hours ago, dahirsh said:

 

you say this like Sysco products are all prepared and/or frozen.  As someone who has authorized payment on Sysco invoices for years, I can assure you they sell fresh beef and poultry and seafood and eggs and pasta and rice and spices and...

I understand that but some of the selections do seem like frozen food reheated.

[newxmascruiser]

Currently on Liberty. We have eaten in the MDR twice so far. Both times were good. The portion sizes were good and the food hot. Prime rib and strip steak both well cooked and came with a larger portion of vegetables than I remember before.

Most disappointing for me is that the earliest time for my time is now 7.15 which is just way too late. Had I known I would have requested early seating and will do so in future as I suspect will many others as the my time queue starts forming around 6.45 from what I have seen.
We were in just after 7.15 both times and it’s pretty frantic with waiters running around changing tables over around us with table cloths glasses and cutlery being rushed out.

Other than that no complaints so far

 

[little britain]

The planning of the menus is not consistent… there is Mediterranean night where 2 of the courses have capers in .. and if you don’t like capers 🤢 that limits the menu even further.

 

The curries are generally good but they must learn to serve mango chutney with curries…

[Lady Hudson]

Looking at the app for a cruise this week.  There are some changes on the menus — positives in my opinion.  Hopefully Royal has gotten the message that more than a few are not happy with the new menus.