Food Selection and Quality Hits an All Time Low

[A&L_Ont]

5 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Check this out: 

@A&L_Ont

 

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stir-fry-station-on-cruise-ship-2250923095

When the link opens up, click on the picture and then look below picture.(on a cruise ship)

 

That’s just so wrong if the guests are handling these utensils.  The risk for cross contamination is so high. 

[crewsweeper]

These food complaints and our experiences are a primary reason we typically avoid both the MDR and Windjammer. with exception of maybe a brunch on a sea day.

We stick with Solarium Bistro, Park Cafe and the specialty dining venues. For the Wonder, we do brunch at Mason Jar on embarkation day, avoiding the dinner there.  Likewise, Izumi Sushi, Players  and Giovanni's are primarily lunch spots.

[Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

That’s just so wrong if the guests are handling these utensils.  The risk for cross contamination is so high. 

I never said it was right, just said how it used to be. Surprised more don't remember though.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Jimbo

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

That’s just so wrong if the guests are handling these utensils.  The risk for cross contamination is so high. 

 

That is a picture he found on the internet.  Not a Royal ship.

[Jimbo]

4 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

That is a picture he found on the internet.  Not a Royal ship.

You don't think Royal did the same back then. Wow , Simply Wow

 

Copy Cat (Royal)

 

It was the same on Royal's ships.

[A&L_Ont]

4 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

That is a picture he found on the internet.  Not a Royal ship.

That’s good to know.  One could only hope that only cooks have access to this area behind that glass division. 

[SoFlaCruzer]

I agree. Just left my review having come off the Odyssey about a week ago. Pretty much the only thing that did not get a 10 was related to actual food. MDR employees, waiters, assistants all 10. But the food was in general subpar. Wife sent back a strip steak that seems was taken off the sole of a boot. One day the pasta Alfredo was so overcooked she was eating water with a little flour, also a send back. One breakfast in the MDR my eggs Benedict were not only very cold, but super well done. Another send back. Don't recall we've ever sent back about 5 meals sent back to being inedible. Note that we are not the pickiest folks, the send backs were really bad.

 

Not everything was bad of course. Escargots were great tasting even though the could have come out hotter. French onion soup was always good. I was surprised by a great fish and chips. The fish came out it seems straight from the fryer and the breading was on point. Had a great turkey breast. But in general, over the course of the time we have sailed, the food has been in decline. We saw great, good, and bad. Before we usually saw great and good.

[Jimbo]

10 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

That’s good to know.  One could only hope that only cooks have access to this area behind that glass division. 

It's the typical counter you see in the Windjammers, you can even see one of the cooks on his side of the counter. Passengers would be on the meat side of counter, make their selections on their plate then hand to the cooks.

 

 

Above picture is also off the internet @reallyitsmema  if that matters?

Edited November 4, 2023 by Jimbo

[firefly333]

I'm almost 100% sure I got e coli sept 2022 on liberty. I admit I used to eat a lot in the WJ and was making spinach salads. Come to think of it this sept no spinach put out? Over 50 other people posted to my roll call. Way more than I've ever seen even with covid. Friday dinner if that many all get sick, it's something onboard. Most likely food. We had many seeing doctors and getting tests who said e coli and food poisoning. Doctors results. One lady got admitted to the hospital for inconclusive tests. 

 

I was on the next week and still having issues. I tried to report it, and customer service YELLED at me. Said it was impossible that the ship food is tested. I got it in cozumel (I didnt get off the ship in cozumel). I mean the guy was yelling at me how it wasnt their food. I tried to show how many were posting we all got sick the same night. .. dont assume it cant happen. I only left the ship in roatan first port and did a excursion, and didnt eat any port food, just ate food from the ship. 

 

People called rcl and tried to report it and were more or less told if it's not covid they dont keep records. They didnt care. I get it if doctors were having trouble testing for what people had, it's hard to pinpoint. I eventually got sick enough I had to call my doctor and I told him some tested positive for e coli and he gave me some antibiotics for that. 

 

Just saying people do get sick from the food and rcl doesnt report it or keep records and denys it. I was on the ship 2 weeks. No food from ports. 50 others. Seems more than coincidence though I cant prove it. .. had forgotten about it, a year ago. Rcl got rid of spinach in WJ salad bar now.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

Be careful of some of the fat on the beef.  Ask them to trim it.

 

Actually, I'm looking for a good chunk of fat to go along with the rest of the meat. I'm in this for the decadent flavor, and... it's VACATION !!  🙂

 

 

 

 

Tom

[LobsterStalker]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I've never had a problem either... thinking he may have run into an unfortunate one-off situation.

I'm thinking it's likely he just isn't an assertive person. You just need to keep saying "more please " and I am certain they will keep piling on . You should see me with a pasta dish and the server coming around grating fresh parmesan on my plate . They tell me to say when , and then try to stop 3 times because they can't believe how much I want . 

 

Cheers

 

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

That’s just so wrong if the guests are handling these utensils.  The risk for cross contamination is so high. 

This is actually one of the few instances it would be quite low as far as contaminating the food, as it is cooked after handling the tongs. As @firefly333 would most likely attest to, it is the uncooked stations that have the most risk. Utensil to hand to mouth contamination is obviously a different concern.

 

51 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm almost 100% sure I got e coli sept 2022 on liberty. I admit I used to eat a lot in the WJ and was making spinach salads

 

[Mikew0805]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Check this out: 

@A&L_Ont

 

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stir-fry-station-on-cruise-ship-2250923095

When the link opens up, click on the picture and then look below picture.(on a cruise ship)

Royal used to be like this on their stir fry stations.(when their stir fry was good) had a lot more vegetable choices too back then like below. ( Jewel had zucchinni, pepper, onions and yellow squash, that was it and a bottle of red pepper to sprinkle on if you wanted it.)

 

You get a tong, I get a tong, everyone gets a tong.🤣

 

I swear, I do not remember this at all. Maybe because I always get veggies only.

[nelblu]

43 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Actually, I'm looking for a good chunk of fat to go along with the rest of the meat. I'm in this for the decadent flavor, and... it's VACATION !!  🙂

 

 

 

 

Tom

Yuck🤣

[reallyitsmema]

14 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

I swear, I do not remember this at all. Maybe because I always get veggies only.

We have been doing dinner in the WJ for many, many years and have never seen raw meat displayed like that, especially chicken. I don’t think they would pass an inspection if they allowed passengers to touch raw meat. 
 

That is a picture found on the internet to suit his narrative. 

[Mikew0805]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I'm almost 100% sure I got e coli sept 2022 on liberty. I admit I used to eat a lot in the WJ and was making spinach salads. Come to think of it this sept no spinach put out? Over 50 other people posted to my roll call. Way more than I've ever seen even with covid. Friday dinner if that many all get sick, it's something onboard. Most likely food. We had many seeing doctors and getting tests who said e coli and food poisoning. Doctors results. One lady got admitted to the hospital for inconclusive tests. 

 

I was on the next week and still having issues. I tried to report it, and customer service YELLED at me. Said it was impossible that the ship food is tested. I got it in cozumel (I didnt get off the ship in cozumel). I mean the guy was yelling at me how it wasnt their food. I tried to show how many were posting we all got sick the same night. .. dont assume it cant happen. I only left the ship in roatan first port and did a excursion, and didnt eat any port food, just ate food from the ship. 

 

People called rcl and tried to report it and were more or less told if it's not covid they dont keep records. They didnt care. I get it if doctors were having trouble testing for what people had, it's hard to pinpoint. I eventually got sick enough I had to call my doctor and I told him some tested positive for e coli and he gave me some antibiotics for that. 

 

Just saying people do get sick from the food and rcl doesnt report it or keep records and denys it. I was on the ship 2 weeks. No food from ports. 50 others. Seems more than coincidence though I cant prove it. .. had forgotten about it, a year ago. Rcl got rid of spinach in WJ salad bar now.

Of course people get sick from the food. All 4 times I have been on Odyssey we go to Teppanyaki. I have the same thing pretty much all the time including the salad. Well 4 of us went the last time we were on board, and two of us spend much of the next day hangin out near a restroom... and drinking lots of water to stay hydrated. LOL. Anyway, we thought that because two of us had the shrimp, it must have been the shrimp. Well then we ran into another couple that was at our station, and one of them had the same issue. That person did not have the shrimp... the common denominator in all of it was the salad.  It happens.... (you can add an "sh" to that as well, and it would be even more appropriate.) 🤣

 

I will still go back to Teppanyaki. Picking up stuff like this from food every so often is going to happen, I cannot really see a way around it. Luckily, we were just needing to be near a restroom for about 18-24 hours until it all worked its way out. 

[Mum2Mercury]

2 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

What ship is this you are talking about?  This is definitely not the Allure which is the ship the poster is asking about.  Park Cafe and WJ do not alternate times on Allure and definitely no pizza in Park Cafe on Allure, it is in Sorrentos.

Grandeur

1 hour ago, George C said:

We avoid WJ on all rccl ships . Luckily we are in a suite so CK for most meals plus UDP for dinners, but Kümmelwick sandwich on allure was way better than lunch in CK.

Good for you?  

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

It's the typical counter you see in the Windjammers, you can even see one of the cooks on his side of the counter. Passengers would be on the meat side of counter, make their selections on their plate then hand to the cooks.

Definitely didn't work that way last week.  You'd point to the items you want, and the chef would scoop them up -- you could ask for more or less of an item.  

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Just saying people do get sick from the food and rcl doesnt report it or keep records and denys it. 

I guess my family and I have been exceptionally lucky.  

[mek]

22 hours ago, Kellie in Texas said:

Or the one you had to cook the night you got home. 😄 

LOL - I never cook when I return home.  That night is always pizza night.

[BirdTravels]

23 hours ago, Vibe said:

I am currently on the Wonder of the Seas. As always Royal Caribbean entertainment is awesome. The ship itself is nice but is overcrowded. This was the most we ever paid for a cruise.
 

The one thing I can’t believe is how horrible the food has become.  The food budget appears to have been cut so much that the main dining room food is awful and the Windjammer is disgusting. The poor ingredients is making basic food incredibly inedible. Mystery fish, poor quality meat and chicken.  Less selection.
 

The ships are now sailing full. I overheard other guests comment about how dissatisfied they are. With high prices, poor quality food, rising gratuities, will people book a future cruise?

 

That has not been our recent experience. But we are not picky eaters nor do we spend any energy looking for faults and nit pick insignificant flaws. We accept that we are booking a cruise on a middle-of-the-road mainstream cruise line  

 

Yes, we have sailed on many cruises where we are presented with the dinner menu at breakfast and are allowed to order dinner off-menu if there is nothing to our liking. And where the Maitre D will cook for you tableside on request. 
 

That is not RCCL. 

[mek]

My grandson and his wife, first time on Royal,  just got off Adventure today and I will interested to hear their thoughts on the food.

Edited November 4, 2023 by mek

[Vibe]

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

That has not been our recent experience. But we are not picky eaters nor do we spend any energy looking for faults and nit pick insignificant flaws. We accept that we are booking a cruise on a middle-of-the-road mainstream cruise line  

 

Yes, we have sailed on many cruises where we are presented with the dinner menu at breakfast and are allowed to order dinner off-menu if there is nothing to our liking. And where the Maitre D will cook for you tableside on request. 
 

That is not RCCL. 

The food experience on the Wonder of the Seas for this week is not up to the normal acceptable level even for RCCL, it is far below their normal standards. It’s so obvious that I didn’t have to spend any energy looking for faults. 

[pcur]

I was on a ship last January when the new menus started.  Quite a shock, and I b2b with another ship:  even worse.

 

So, over this past 10 months I have learned the "good nights" vs "bad nights".  Good nights are when they have salmon, bad nights are when they have proteins I don't care for.

 

I now order the dessert fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer with every dinner.  I also will make an entire meal of salad and appetizers, telling the waiter to bring them in any order he chooses.  I also order an appetizer size portion of pasta to go with my entree, and that doesn't seem to cause any problems.  There is one night's menu where I end up with all shrimp: 2 appetizers and 1 entree.

 

Annnnd, there's one night I go to the Windjammer and eat unlimited appetizers, because there is NOTHING on the MDR menu I want.

 

Having said all of this, I have to add that when it comes to food, I will eat anything except lamb, wax or lima beans.  I'm actually easy to please when it comes to food and movies................

Edited November 4, 2023 by pcur

[pspercy]

22 hours ago, HicksRA said:

You pretty much described my experience on the 16 day Radiance Panama Canal cruise a few weeks ago. 

We were on the same trip (Oct 7).

I wasn’t expecting much, based on reviews so we were pleasantly surprised overall. Portions have shrunk, particularly desserts, but that isn’t such a bad thing 😲

 

 

[Mum2Mercury]

8 hours ago, travelberlin said:

One of my favorite foods at lunch time is protein with a salad. I have just seen a recommendation from the Points Guy to never eat a salad out of the salad buffets on cruise ships. Apparently they are standing too long and the way that cruisers use the spoons to serve themselves is not very hygienic. The recommendation is only to eat salads at the MDR or when a crew member is behind the salad bar serving everyone. 😔

Windjammer had (small) pre-made salads last week -- one day some featured goat cheese, another day Waldorf salad (which I love).  Always basic green salads.  OR you could make a large plate-sized salad on your own.  They always had a person in the back observing, cleaning.  I didn't feel unsafe making my own salad.

7 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Why not put the meat out front along side the veggies. Is that asking to much to fix the issue?

Two possibilities: 

1. Anyone who's ever done any catering will tell you to place the bread first, then the salads, save the meats for last in the buffet line.  People will fill their plates with "the cheap stuff" before they reach the meats.  Standard practice.  

2. It seems to me that most buffet eaters are meat-oriented.  Perhaps the chefs keep the meats to the back /easier for them to reach.  

Regardless of the reason, I had made-to-order omelet and stir-fry last week.  I know I could see all the ingredients, but I can't remember HOW they were laid out.  

7 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

I always, always ask for a side of horseradish to add to the cocktail sauce. Makes it perfect.

Great hack!  I'll remember it for future cruises.  

7 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Actually the Hamburgers were quite good, they actually had a good mixture in them to actually taste like something ... Hamburgers became our go to items(plus the darn Chicken tenders they had for both lunch and dinner times) when we couldn't find anything else. Sad but true 😞

They may be good, but I had a hamburger on the drive to the cruise /another on the drive home.  Burgers are ubiquitous.  I had no problem finding plenty of things I liked!  Not sad at all!  

7 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Most of the other Windjammer items were rather tasteless with not much seasoning.

Disagree.  

7 hours ago, Vibe said:

The fish is just some unidentified white fish. No salmon, shrimp or anything else. The chicken is poor quality, it has a rubbery consistency and an off taste.  Meat is rarely found and is also poor quality. 

I enjoyed the fish in the MDR last week.  When I asked the waiter what type of fish to expect, he was able to tell me.  Yes, they served salmon and shrimp several nights.  

I enjoyed the food in the MDR.  Was it the best I've ever had?  No, but it was good.  

4 hours ago, mek said:

LOL - I never cook when I return home.  That night is always pizza night.

Definitely!  We have a long drive, and I'm not cooking at the end of it.  Also, having had big, nice meals all week, we're fine with something small and simple.  

2 hours ago, pspercy said:

I wasn’t expecting much, based on reviews so we were pleasantly surprised overall. Portions have shrunk, particularly desserts, but that isn’t such a bad thing 😲

We went in with an open mind and were also "pleasantly surprised overall".  

Portions were fine ... not bloated like land-based restaurants, but that just makes sense.  

Deserts in the Windjammer were quite small ... I took that to mean it was okay to each 2-3!  I thought many of the desserts have improved from previous cruises.  

 

I had good intentions of taking pictures of food last week, but I usually forgot.  Two meals from the MDR:  

Pan seared fish:  2 pieces of fish displayed over sliced potatoes and about 1/2 cup of corn.  Topped with something tiny and fried.  Sauce under the whole thing.  This was excellent.  

Slow roasted beef tenderloin:  2 slices of tenderloin and gravy served over mashed potatoes.  They were skimpy with the asparagus -- only two pieces.  This was actually bigger than it appears; they piled it high instead of spreading it out like you would at home.  The potatoes were just so-so, but the beef was quite tasty. 

These are representative of the meals I had in the MDR, and neither was skimpy.  

[nalatrixie74]

We're on a 3 night Allure soon, since we're in Port both days does that mean mdr won't be open for lunch? Loved the salads they made. Also any opinions on Johnny rockets for breakfast?