Large cruise line with the best food since covid

[Jareds_mommytoo]

What cruise line has the best food lately, I am thinking the more family ones like NCL, Royal Caribbean, princess, HAL etc… we were on princess last fall and the food was pretty bad. Like 2 star all inclusive bad lol. We almost pulled the trigger and booked a Royal Caribbean cruise but reading the reviews scared us off, normally we take them with a grain of salt, but there were so many. I understand they were amazing pre covid… We feel, it really doesn’t matter how hard the employees work and how great the service is, if head office gives them subpar stuff to work with. 

[CruiserBruce]

"Best" food is totally subjective, what you may find great, I may dislike. If you go on the boards for every one of the cruise lines you mentioned,  you will find some people saying the food is worst than before Covid,  and others saying the food is great.

[wowzz]

Impossible question for anyone to answer. 

You need to find someone who has been on 10 different cruise lines, and shares your taste. 

We are on Princess now,  and the food is  just fine  !

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

"Best" food is totally subjective, what you may find great, I may dislike. If you go on the boards for every one of the cruise lines you mentioned,  you will find some people saying the food is worst than before Covid,  and others saying the food is great.

 

Not totally subjective by a long shot.  Fresh ingredients. Quality ingredients. Cooked properly.  Served at proper temperature.  Cooked to order (medium rare is medium rare), etc.  

 

As to the OP's comment, I would not have described the pre-COVID food as "amazing" on any mass market line we experienced.  I've experienced a lot of good, enjoyable food, but it has been some years  since I would say something was amazingly good.    

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Not totally subjective by a long shot.  Fresh ingredients. Quality ingredients. Cooked properly.  Served at proper temperature.  Cooked to order (medium rare is medium rare), etc.  

 

As to the OP's comment, I would not have described the pre-COVID food as "amazing" on any mass market line we experienced.  I've experienced a lot of good, enjoyable food, but it has been some years  since I would say something was amazingly good.    

Fair point. However, it would help if the OP expained why he found Princess food to be "bad".

[ldubs]

20 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Fair point. However, it would help if the OP expained why he found Princess food to be "bad".

 

I think details will always help.   If I had to, I would say my biggest issue on cruise lines is overcooked food.   Of course, that is my personal opinion and limited to the lines I've experienced.   Kind of funny that on our recent Princess cruise I found that the food offerings were not overcooked.  

[Jareds_mommytoo]

We found a lot of processed foods, like canned fruit or sauces and gravy from mixes. Meats over or under cooked. If i asked for med it was anywhere from blue rare to shoe leather well done. Watered down juices. The service was always great 

[Cruzaholic41]

I’ve sailed several times post covid and I recommend Celebrity. I was quite happy with my meals. 

[Charles4515]

11 hours ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

What cruise line has the best food lately, I am thinking the more family ones like NCL, Royal Caribbean, princess, HAL etc… we were on princess last fall and the food was pretty bad. Like 2 star all inclusive bad lol. We almost pulled the trigger and booked a Royal Caribbean cruise but reading the reviews scared us off, normally we take them with a grain of salt, but there were so many. I understand they were amazing pre covid… We feel, it really doesn’t matter how hard the employees work and how great the service is, if head office gives them subpar stuff to work with. 

All the mass market lines are pretty similar. If you want better food you are looking at the wrong lines. None of them were amazing pre covid unless you are going back 25 years ago. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

12 hours ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

What cruise line has the best food lately, 

We found the food on the Noordam very ordinary, but others have liked it. We are sailing on the Rotterdam next month, and have heard great things about their food. Both Holland America, of course.

We thought the food on Viking was exceptional.

We are booking Oceania next fall, as they claim (and some agree) to have the best cuisine at sea. But on their message boards I've read some complaints about their food!

So, as others have said, I've seen how truly subjective this is; but food is one reason I'm trying Oceania. Considering all that's included, it's not too much more expensive.

[SbbquilterUT]

We have had better food on Celebrity than Royal Caribbean in the past 2 years.  Very subjective but just my opinion.

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, SbbquilterUT said:

We have had better food on Celebrity than Royal Caribbean in the past 2 years.  Very subjective but just my opinion.

Almost all the other mass market lines have better food than Royal Caribbean. Even Carnival…..

[BklynBoy8]

28 minutes ago, SbbquilterUT said:

We have had better food on Celebrity than Royal Caribbean in the past 2 years.  Very subjective but just my opinion.

We have heard for decades that Celebrity was Outstanding Cuisine.

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

We have heard for decades that Celebrity was Outstanding Cuisine.

I have sailed Celebrity since 1996. In 1996 it was outstanding. Not outstanding for the last ten years and the last five meh in my opinion. Of the mass market cruise lines I would rate Holland America slightly better and Princess equal to Celebrity. In the last five years I would rate Oceania to be outstanding. When I did Cunard about 10 years ago it was better than all the mass market lines. Ditto for Azamara. 

[Cruzaholic41]

If we’re talking all lines, my favorite meals have consistently been on Viking Ocean and Silversea. 
 

But since the op asked about big lines, I’ll stick with Celebrity as my first recommendation. 

[Tapi]

Strictly talking mass market and premium lines, I’ve been most satisfied with Holland America (in terms of quality, freshness, variety, consistency and presentation). Second place goes to Celebrity.
 

Royal Caribbean and Carnival are pretty similar and close to the bottom. It’s not that they’re bad, (there’s plenty of selections). It’s just that nothing truly stands out. 

[Aquahound]

All of my cruises following the restart have been on Royal Caribbean.  Honestly, I was pretty happy with the food on all 4 of them, especially in the specialty restaurants.  

 

Thinking back to all my experiences though, I'd agree that Celebrity tops my list.  NCL has been the worst, IMO.  

[Charles4515]

One year we did Crown Princess twice. We loved the food and service the first time. The second time later in the year, different Captain, hotel director and difficult head chef. The crew was tense, the service was subpar and the food was not as good. The head chef does make a difference. What I noticed after a few more cruises on Princess was they were the least consistent. Also I never cared for any of the Princess specialty restaurants. On Royal Caribbean the MDR was consistently subpar but the specialty restaurants were all very good. So if you can do all specialty that’s the way to go on Royal. On Holland the MDR was always good. I didn’t care for their specialty restaurants. Celebrity the MDR is better than Royal, not as good as Holland. I like the Celebrity specialty restaurants. Carnival the food was good but they ruined it with singing waiters and other non dining crap while dining. NCL avoid the MDR like the plague. The non free restaurants vary. Some are fairly good. Really it’s all subjective but on the above mass market lines the food has to appeal to a wide demographic. It is not going to be amazing. For better food with some of it amazing pay more and book the smaller cruise lines. The food on Azamara, Cunard and Oceania was not always amazing but it was pretty good on the whole. 
 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by Charles4515

[DarrenM]

18 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

I’ve sailed several times post covid and I recommend Celebrity. I was quite happy with my meals. 

Ive only sailed celebrity in the last 20 years and I have found the food to be superb.

 

But I am not a foodie, and I eat to live, not the other way round, so posh/expensive cuisine is wasted on me.

[wowzz]

21 hours ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

sauces and gravy from mixes

Welcome to the world of mass catering !

[ldubs]

18 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Almost all the other mass market lines have better food than Royal Caribbean. Even Carnival…..

 

Some years back, I would have put Carnival's food experience as equal to or better than the other mass market lines.   Now, not so much.  Based our our experience last year with Carnival Miracle and RCI Oasis, RCI would be a clear winner.  

[BklynBoy8]

 

We still enjoy the quality Cunard offers.

 

As once said, up to the passengers personal taste to the cuisine.