Anyone enjoying the new menu selections?

[BBQ Bacon]

23 hours ago, marci22 said:

Hey Mum, I've had a lot of good wedge salads and this was super-lame. Had maybe a teaspoon of bland ranch, 5 microbits of tomato and a little bacon dust. Husband got the caesar and I agree, seemed limp and old. Not worth eating. 

 

Funny that I am tipping these behind-the-scenes people making these awful salads. That is just going to encourage them. 

Fun hack.  Take a zip lock bag to the WJ for breakfast and get a dozen strips of bacon and bring to dinner and add to your salad!

[Georgeny]

No bacon in this WJ that I have seen. Pork sausage and chicken sausage links. 

[BBQ Bacon]

27 minutes ago, Georgeny said:

No bacon in this WJ that I have seen. Pork sausage and chicken sausage links. 

That’s it. Cancelling my cruise. 

[poocher]

55 minutes ago, Georgeny said:

No bacon in this WJ that I have seen. Pork sausage and chicken sausage links. 

We had trays & trays of bacon on our Harmony cruise.  In fact I have never NOT had bacon on any of my cruises.  Can I ask which ship and from where you are sailing?

[4bunns]

Hi All, Just got off the Oasis and after not cruising since 2019, I was excited to be back on any ship..LOL  I was kind of worried about the quality of the food on the ship because of cut backs I was hearing about.  Well this is my take on the menus:

Day 1 Welcome Aboard meal:

Shrimp cocktail & escargot's were the same which was good.  The crab cake still does not enough crab in it thumbs down.  Herb crusted stuffed portobello was awful.  The pan roasted fish fillet just ok/bland.  The spaghetti bolognese was good.  The key lime pie and dark chocolate custard were excellent.

Day 2 French Night Meal:

The iceberg wedge salad was good, but the baked french onion soup was bland not sweet like it should be.  The roasted beef tenderloin was very good but a small portion (get two when you order this). The chicken cordon blue was average and the spring pea and asparagus risotto was ok.  The cappuccino chocolate cake, coated almond cream puffs were excellent, but the warm apple cobbler was ok and we never saw the apple tart we used to like during this cruise.

Day 3 Mexican Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail was the same which was good again.  The grilled sweet corn cakes were good.  The chile crusted salmon & carne asada was just ok.  The tres leches cake, toffee cheese cake & coconut cake were excellent.      

Day 4 Caribbean Night Meal:

Crispy coconut shrimp were very good (not jumbo as advertised).  The garlic herb buttered tiger shrimp were excellent.  The pineapple sunshine cake was excellent.  The blueberry cobbler was very good and carrot cake was ok.

Day 5 Italian Night Meal:

The Italian minestrone was  & crispy parmesan arancini was just ok.  The lasagna al forno was good, but the big problem tonight was I could not find a good main course so I decided to pay for a chops grille filet mignon for $19.99.  This was a big mistake.  I ordered my 9oz steak medium well with no blood and pink in the middle, and the first steak and it was only 6oz and came out well done gray right through.  I explained again I wanted the steak cooked medium well and 9oz.  The second steak came out butterflied and cooked right through again.  I said forget it and bring me the mushroom risotto.  Later the chef came out and explained about how some of the chefs in the back are new and apologized about the steak.  I then asked him why the steak was only 6oz because it does not give the size of the steak on the menu.  I seen him write down some notes on a piece of paper.  They should probably change the menu to show the size of the filet...FYI

The classic tiramisu, coffee pot de creme & lemon curd tartlet were excellent.

Day 6 The Royal Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail, vial onion tart & escargot's were the same which was good.  The lobster was only average size but good. (I usually get extra but that is no longer available) The chicken marsala could have been sweeter.  The cheese tortellini was good.  The baked alaska & strawberry shortcake were excellent. 

Day 7 Mediterranean Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail was the same which was good again.  The seafood cake was no good.  The autumn turkey dinner & grilled mediterranean steak were excellent.  the crema catalana, layered peach trifle & vegan chocolate cherry tart were excellent.  

Other comments

1) I did not see the cherries jubilee during this cruise which is one of my favorites.

2) the selections in the cafe promenade did not change very much same thing over and over.

3) We are diamond plus and the drink change worked very good for us.

[Georgeny]

35 minutes ago, poocher said:

We had trays & trays of bacon on our Harmony cruise.  In fact I have never NOT had bacon on any of my cruises.  Can I ask which ship and from where you are sailing?

Liberty of the seas out of Bayonne 9 night Bermuda and Dominican Republic. At sea two nights heading home. 
 

george in ny

[poocher]

So was there ever bacon in WJ?  Did they just run out (this would be a distinct possibility if I were aboard!)

[marci22]

16 hours ago, Georgeny said:

No bacon in this WJ that I have seen. Pork sausage and chicken sausage links. 

I saw one tray at breakfast on a prior cruise that was usually empty. Some things you knew should be there but you would have to look for them in one spot.

Edited June 8, 2023 by marci22

[nelblu]

15 hours ago, 4bunns said:

Hi All, Just got off the Oasis and after not cruising since 2019, I was excited to be back on any ship..LOL  I was kind of worried about the quality of the food on the ship because of cut backs I was hearing about.  Well this is my take on the menus:

Day 1 Welcome Aboard meal:

Shrimp cocktail & escargot's were the same which was good.  The crab cake still does not enough crab in it thumbs down.  Herb crusted stuffed portobello was awful.  The pan roasted fish fillet just ok/bland.  The spaghetti bolognese was good.  The key lime pie and dark chocolate custard were excellent.

Day 2 French Night Meal:

The iceberg wedge salad was good, but the baked french onion soup was bland not sweet like it should be.  The roasted beef tenderloin was very good but a small portion (get two when you order this). The chicken cordon blue was average and the spring pea and asparagus risotto was ok.  The cappuccino chocolate cake, coated almond cream puffs were excellent, but the warm apple cobbler was ok and we never saw the apple tart we used to like during this cruise.

Day 3 Mexican Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail was the same which was good again.  The grilled sweet corn cakes were good.  The chile crusted salmon & carne asada was just ok.  The tres leches cake, toffee cheese cake & coconut cake were excellent.      

Day 4 Caribbean Night Meal:

Crispy coconut shrimp were very good (not jumbo as advertised).  The garlic herb buttered tiger shrimp were excellent.  The pineapple sunshine cake was excellent.  The blueberry cobbler was very good and carrot cake was ok.

Day 5 Italian Night Meal:

The Italian minestrone was  & crispy parmesan arancini was just ok.  The lasagna al forno was good, but the big problem tonight was I could not find a good main course so I decided to pay for a chops grille filet mignon for $19.99.  This was a big mistake.  I ordered my 9oz steak medium well with no blood and pink in the middle, and the first steak and it was only 6oz and came out well done gray right through.  I explained again I wanted the steak cooked medium well and 9oz.  The second steak came out butterflied and cooked right through again.  I said forget it and bring me the mushroom risotto.  Later the chef came out and explained about how some of the chefs in the back are new and apologized about the steak.  I then asked him why the steak was only 6oz because it does not give the size of the steak on the menu.  I seen him write down some notes on a piece of paper.  They should probably change the menu to show the size of the filet...FYI

The classic tiramisu, coffee pot de creme & lemon curd tartlet were excellent.

Day 6 The Royal Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail, vial onion tart & escargot's were the same which was good.  The lobster was only average size but good. (I usually get extra but that is no longer available) The chicken marsala could have been sweeter.  The cheese tortellini was good.  The baked alaska & strawberry shortcake were excellent. 

Day 7 Mediterranean Night Meal:

Shrimp cocktail was the same which was good again.  The seafood cake was no good.  The autumn turkey dinner & grilled mediterranean steak were excellent.  the crema catalana, layered peach trifle & vegan chocolate cherry tart were excellent.  

Other comments

1) I did not see the cherries jubilee during this cruise which is one of my favorites.

2) the selections in the cafe promenade did not change very much same thing over and over.

3) We are diamond plus and the drink change worked very good for us.

Good review.  I found Italian and Mex nights to be lame.  Was looking forward to the Carne Asada as a poster was raving about it.  However, the steak on Anthem's February sail was so dry that it might be a good substitute for soles in my shoes.  Italian night lacked the popular appetizers such as antipasti, etc.

Edited June 8, 2023 by nelblu

[edrussell]

1 minute ago, nelblu said:

Good review.  I found Italian and Mex nights to be lame.  Was looking forward to the Carne Asada as a poster was raving about it.  However, the steak on Anthem's February sail was so dry that it might be a good substitute for soles in my shoes.  Italian night lacked the popular appetizers such as antipasti, etc.

 

Carne Asada was fantastic on Grandeur.

 

 

[HappyTexan44]

That Carne Asada looks soooo much better than other photos I've seen.  

Royal really needs to get smaller plates.   The photos seem to have lots of empty plate showing.  

[edrussell]

It was excellent as most of the 7 nights were in the MDR on Grandeur.  Portion sizes were more than large enough for us.  We don't like to consume massive quantities of food so that we save space to continue to exploit the drink package (tongue in cheek of course).

 

[Katems75]

3 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

That Carne Asada looks soooo much better than other photos I've seen.  

Royal really needs to get smaller plates.   The photos seem to have lots of empty plate showing.  

I hope this is sarcasm!  They seriously need to increase the portion sizes.  I was on Harmony May 13 and portions were TINY.  Meat was THIN.

[HappyTexan44]

2 minutes ago, Katems75 said:

I hope this is sarcasm!  They seriously need to increase the portion sizes.  I was on Harmony May 13 and portions were TINY.  Meat was THIN.

 

I honestly don't know.  Some people say there is plenty of food.   On the other hand that seems to be based on the number of courses, and then you add that desserts to be reported as mostly *Meh*.   

 

In an extremely nice restaurant, they will watch how much you are eating and adjust the size of the courses accordingly.  Trying to look at this as nicely as possible, maybe since that would be impossible on a cruise they expect people to handle that themselves by ordering extras.  

 

 

[poocher]

54 minutes ago, Katems75 said:

I hope this is sarcasm!  They seriously need to increase the portion sizes.  I was on Harmony May 13 and portions were TINY.  Meat was THIN.

I never had tiny portions on May 6 Harmony.  Most nights I took dessert to go because I was too full.

[dahirsh]

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

 

 

In an extremely nice restaurant, they will watch how much you are eating and adjust the size of the courses accordingly.  Trying to look at this as nicely as possible, maybe since that would be impossible on a cruise they expect people to handle that themselves by ordering extras.  

 

 

not really.  In a land based restaurant portion sizes are very carefully related to menu price.  Cost control rules.  

[HappyTexan44]

3 minutes ago, dahirsh said:

not really.  In a land based restaurant portion sizes are very carefully related to menu price.  Cost control rules.  

 

I'd specified in extremely nice restaurants.   

[dahirsh]

8 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

I'd specified in extremely nice restaurants.   

 

 

food cost would be even more important.

[Morecruisesplz]

4 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

I honestly don't know.  Some people say there is plenty of food.   On the other hand In an extremely nice restaurant, they will watch how much you are eating and adjust the size of the courses accordingly.  Trying to look at this as nicely as possible, maybe since that would be impossible on a cruise they expect people to handle that themselves by ordering extras.  

 

 

Name one please.

[poocher]

40 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Name one please.

Yes, have to say I’ve never been to any restaurant, high end or not, that adjusts portion size based on their observations of your eating habits.  In fact in my experience, the higher end the venue, the smaller the portions.

[Morecruisesplz]

8 minutes ago, poocher said:

Yes, have to say I’ve never been to any restaurant, high end or not, that adjusts portion size based on their observations of your eating habits.  In fact in my experience, the higher end the venue, the smaller the portions.

And portions are pre-determined. Have no idea what they are describing. 

[kruzerci]

Food is virtually inedible in the free venues now. We were going to sail the remainder of our booking with non-refundable deposits but decided today to cut our losses and vacation elsewhere. It’s not worth our vacation time to stay on what has become like a floating Holiday Inn Express. We took most of our vacations for the past 24 years on Royal at a total of 49 sailings. To say I’m disappointed that it is ending is an understatement 😢. 

[MommaBear55]

I'm actually shocked that I've not found the new menus to be horrible. I'm traveling with a 7 year old and my usual default of the UDP wouldn't have been a good choice for the two of us. I can find several possible choices in the appetizers each night.  The main courses have been meh, but that's okay for this 4 night cruise. One dessert was terrible, but they replaced it immediately. 

[Morecruisesplz]

50 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Food is virtually inedible in the free venues now. We were going to sail the remainder of our booking with non-refundable deposits but decided today to cut our losses and vacation elsewhere. It’s not worth our vacation time to stay on what has become like a floating Holiday Inn Express. We took most of our vacations for the past 24 years on Royal at a total of 49 sailings. To say I’m disappointed that it is ending is an understatement 😢. 

Try MSC. We are in the same situation and found mdr food on MSC on par with Royals previous menus. They even have the classics. We were happy with Bella.

[Morecruisesplz]

8 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

I'm actually shocked that I've not found the new menus to be horrible. I'm traveling with a 7 year old and my usual default of the UDP wouldn't have been a good choice for the two of us. I can find several possible choices in the appetizers each night.  The main courses have been meh, but that's okay for this 4 night cruise. One dessert was terrible, but they replaced it immediately. 

Not paying for "meh."