Just off Navigator - food in MDR is so so disappointing

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 12/31/2023 at 8:42 PM, Morecruisesplz said:

Try it, like we have. Mdr is much better.

I have tried it. We had a group of nine, all family from different parts. Linked all of our bookings together about 3 months before the cruise. Got on the ship they had 6 of us at 1 table and 3 at a different table. Talked to Maitre'd twice but couldn't do anything he said. Not a good way to start a cruise. The food back then was fine on MSC or at least it was back in June.

[HappyTexan44]

32 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Where?  Even when DW & I go to "high end" restaurants, we're looking at maybe 90 minutes, 2 hours at the outside.  And that includes drinks, appetizers, meals, and deserts.  

 

3-4 hours for a dining window isn't the time for each dining table, but the time window in which most people are eating dinner.  It was in reference to the person that said the MDR gets a pass since they only have 3-4 hours in which to serve a meal to thousands of people.  I was pointing out that restaurants have about the same amount of time.  

 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

24 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

3-4 hours for a dining window isn't the time for each dining table, but the time window in which most people are eating dinner.  It was in reference to the person that said the MDR gets a pass since they only have 3-4 hours in which to serve a meal to thousands of people.  I was pointing out that restaurants have about the same amount of time.  

 

Ah, sorry, misunderstood your statement. 

[BearsAhoy]

On 12/29/2023 at 4:52 PM, sanchoucsb said:

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but until I saw it for myself I wasn't prepared for the decline in quality of the food in the MDR since I last sailed on Navigator on only 18 months ago.

 

At least 50% of the dishes in the MDR are now barely edible impersonations of what you might get at a nice restaurant. Sure, you can order prime rib, but it's sliced as thin as deli meat. You can order pea risotto, but you are going to get soggy rice with some frozen peas thrown in. It goes on and on. My wife works at a large hospital and when I said to her, "It's like we are eating at your cafeteria," she said, "Oh, our food is much better than this."

 

A few of the dishes are decent, but they tend to be the more casual options - the fried chicken, the enchilada, and the spinach and artichoke dip appetizer were all something I would order again. Also, the Indian option was consistently good.

 

Overall, the entire concept is a failure now. There is still formal dining room ambience - massive chandelier, white linen table cloths, and the assistant waiter who comes to your table before dessert to wipe your crumbs away. But budget cuts have resulted in food that has no place in such an upscale setting. There is a reason that upscale casual restaurants on land don't try to offer risotto or escargot - it's impossible to provide at high quality at the price point they need to hit. Yet RC seems to insist on offering these options even though they are incredibly disappointing when they are placed in front of you. If RC is going to insist on this new, lower cost per meal, they would be better off abandoning any pretense of formal dining (perhaps except for formal nights) and converting the MDR to a nice, upscale casual restaurant. It would be unfortunate, but at least we could have consistently good food, even if we lose the formality of a three-course meal. It would also distinguish RC from other cruise lines and allow people to "vote with their pocketbook." If a formal dinner every night is important, people can choose Celebrity (which recently recommitted to the MDR and added certain dishes back). If people want a more casual experience while on vacation, they can choose RC. Because at the moment it's just smoke and mirrors - the illusion of fine dining.

 

We disembarked Navigator yesterday, and agree. We’ve been cruising with Royal since 2013, and I guess I’ve become one of “those people” who compares to the way things used to be. The smaller portion sizes are fine, but the reduced menu is disappointing. (I will forever miss those chilled fruit soups!) 

 

The food in the MDR wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great, and sometimes it wasn’t even good. It was bland. I’ve attached a photo of one meal, which I didn’t even finish: the fish was blah, and the rice was a compressed puck of mush (the rice grains were indistinct). Tiramisu was on the menu one evening - and served in a plastic dish.

 

We normally choose my time dining, but it didn’t begin until 6:45, which was too late for one in our party. We ended up with traditional dining, and a 5:15 reservation, which was too early for all of us. What’s worse is that we felt very rushed, as our table needed to be turned over for the start of MTD. Dishes were being removed while members of our party were still eating. A few times, when we were asked if we wanted more bread and said no, the baskets which still had bread were taken away. (We didn’t want more, but we did want what was still there!)

 

The staff seemed rushed and inattentive. The assistant waiter continually asked for our drink orders the moment we sat down; each time, we had to ask him for the wine list and time to consider it before ordering. The bar waiter would stand behind me and my husband and call out the names of the wine; we had no idea she was even talking to us, and couldn’t hear her clearly because of the background noise. One evening, I stood up from our table, turned to leave, and immediately tripped over a stand for an ice bucket. It had been placed right behind my chair. On subsequent nights, I had to ask that it be moved so I wouldn’t trip on it again.

 

On prior cruises, the dining room staff was eager to exceed expectations and help with any requests. Early in a lengthy B2B, our waiter quickly realised that one of our kids ordered fruit as a starter each evening; he thoughtfully brought a fruit plate each evening before we even ordered. That same kid asked about chicken noodle soup on our first night in the MDR, and the waiter just said no, without even checking if it could be available.

 

The Windjammer was disappointing too. The offerings seemed limited in comparison to previous cruises. On New Year’s Eve, due to the combination of that early dining time and a tender port, we are at the Windjammer. That’s when we discovered that the MDR entrees were no longer offered in the WJ.

 

We did enjoy meals in Chops and Jamie’s Italian. We were surprised, though, when the warm brownie desserts on offer at Jamie’s also appeared the next night on the MDR menu. (Kids had those in both places, and confirmed they were the same.)

To me, it seemed odd to have the same item in a specialty (paid) restaurant and the main (included) dining room.

 

If this had been our first cruise, our perception might have been different. But given all the meals we have previously enjoyed in the MDR (and maybe because our preceeding cruise was on X, and we ate almost all of our meals in Luminae, which was excellent), we expected better.

[Tlbecker1]

On 12/29/2023 at 10:09 PM, amindu said:
 

Also ate at CK a couple times and the food quality was definitely better there. 

Coastal Kitchen is always better!  💯 agree!

[Engineroom Snipe]

16 minutes ago, BearsAhoy said:

We disembarked Navigator yesterday, and agree. We’ve been cruising with Royal since 2013, and I guess I’ve become one of “those people” who compares to the way things used to be. The smaller portion sizes are fine, but the reduced menu is disappointing. (I will forever miss those chilled fruit soups!) 

 

The food in the MDR wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t great, and sometimes it wasn’t even good. It was bland. I’ve attached a photo of one meal, which I didn’t even finish: the fish was blah, and the rice was a compressed puck of mush (the rice grains were indistinct). Tiramisu was on the menu one evening - and served in a plastic dish.

 

We normally choose my time dining, but it didn’t begin until 6:45, which was too late for one in our party. We ended up with traditional dining, and a 5:15 reservation, which was too early for all of us. What’s worse is that we felt very rushed, as our table needed to be turned over for the start of MTD. Dishes were being removed while members of our party were still eating. A few times, when we were asked if we wanted more bread and said no, the baskets which still had bread were taken away. (We didn’t want more, but we did want what was still there!)

 

The staff seemed rushed and inattentive. The assistant waiter continually asked for our drink orders the moment we sat down; each time, we had to ask him for the wine list and time to consider it before ordering. The bar waiter would stand behind me and my husband and call out the names of the wine; we had no idea she was even talking to us, and couldn’t hear her clearly because of the background noise. One evening, I stood up from our table, turned to leave, and immediately tripped over a stand for an ice bucket. It had been placed right behind my chair. On subsequent nights, I had to ask that it be moved so I wouldn’t trip on it again.

 

On prior cruises, the dining room staff was eager to exceed expectations and help with any requests. Early in a lengthy B2B, our waiter quickly realised that one of our kids ordered fruit as a starter each evening; he thoughtfully brought a fruit plate each evening before we even ordered. That same kid asked about chicken noodle soup on our first night in the MDR, and the waiter just said no, without even checking if it could be available.

 

The Windjammer was disappointing too. The offerings seemed limited in comparison to previous cruises. On New Year’s Eve, due to the combination of that early dining time and a tender port, we are at the Windjammer. That’s when we discovered that the MDR entrees were no longer offered in the WJ.

 

We did enjoy meals in Chops and Jamie’s Italian. We were surprised, though, when the warm brownie desserts on offer at Jamie’s also appeared the next night on the MDR menu. (Kids had those in both places, and confirmed they were the same.)

To me, it seemed odd to have the same item in a specialty (paid) restaurant and the main (included) dining room.

 

If this had been our first cruise, our perception might have been different. But given all the meals we have previously enjoyed in the MDR (and maybe because our preceeding cruise was on X, and we ate almost all of our meals in Luminae, which was excellent), we expected better.

This is why I am so hesitate to recommend RCI cruises to family and friends. I enjoy cruising but I am prepared for the miss of this meal or that meal but I do not want someone being disappointed because I said "the meals are so good."

 

Royal only gets one chance to impress a first time cruiser. It could be great or it could be a miss. I do not want my reputation staked on their inconsistencies.

[sanchoucsb]

29 minutes ago, BearsAhoy said:

We were surprised, though, when the warm brownie desserts on offer at Jamie’s also appeared the next night on the MDR menu. (Kids had those in both places, and confirmed they were the same.)

To me, it seemed odd to have the same item in a specialty (paid) restaurant and the main (included) dining room.

 

We noticed this with several appetizers and desserts. I suppose it's either a nice treat to have it in the MDR, if you think it is speciality restaurant quality food, or it could be seen as a disappointment to have MDR food in a speciality restaurant. Either way, I agree that it's odd and reduces the uniqueness of the speciality restaurants. 

[nimbex1970]

I am in agreement with the OP.  My WOS cruise in May was dismal in the MDR.  I ate pizza and room service after dinner for a few days, then had enough and paid for the specialty restaurants for the family.  

 

Now when looking to book RCL, I add in the cost of specialty restaurants for every night and it's usually cheaper on other lines with their specialty restaurants added in.  Bring in a new itinerary and it's hard to stay loyal. 

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the service on the rest of the ship which we found lacking as well.  It seems the amount of service staff has been cut as well.

 

I have another RCL booked, and am looking at one for the fall, but my expectations have been so lowered that I've warned the friends I have invited in the fall about the food. They can't wrap their heads around paying more for better food when the food is included in the fee.  Meh, I've warned them. It's their first cruise so we shall see how it plays out. (seminar cruise, paid for by work, or I never would have suggested RCL to them).

 

I hope this gets sorted out soon, but as folks like me are now willing to pay for upscale restaurants, why should RCL?

 

 

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

 

I hope this gets sorted out soon, but as folks like me are now willing to pay for upscale restaurants, why should RCL?

Bingo! 

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

 

I hope this gets sorted out soon, but as folks like me are now willing to pay for upscale restaurants, why should RCL?

 

Folks like me are not willing to pay for upscale restaurants. So I guess it comes down to whether there are more people in your group or my group.

[Engineroom Snipe]

54 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Folks like me are not willing to pay for upscale restaurants. So I guess it comes down to whether there are more people in your group or my group.

Which is why I am taking a time-out from cruising.

 

If more customers are willing to pay additional money for meal experiences, logic states that those who do not are going to be getting second class experiences at MDR.

 

I do not mind this knowing it ahead of time. I will adjust my price point for the cruise and not be disappointed with second class food should I get a very good price point.

 

Currently, I do not think RCI is being honest in their advertising when they state the regular cruise fare gets you a high quality dining experience. The statement seems contradictory as they sell "a truly high-end dining experience" with an additional fee.

 

I have two cruises this year with RCI that I booked over one year ago with none for 2025.

 

Like yourself, I am waiting a bit to see how things go this year. There are posters on here whose opinions I respect. They are not whiners, they say how their experiences are going better or worse but they still cruise. After more than thirty-five years of cruising, I have booked other vacations experiences for 2025 to compare against cruising. When one adds an unlimited drink package and unlimited dining package to excursion prices on RCI, the cruise price point goes up significantly allowing other vacations options to present themselves for the same amount of money.

Edited January 7 by Engineroom Snipe
grammer

[Ocean Boy]

14 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Which is why I am taking a time-out from cruising.

 

If more customers are willing to pay additional money for meal experiences, logic states that those who do not are going to be getting second class experiences at MDR.

 

I do not mind this knowing it ahead of time. I will adjust my price point for the cruise and not be disappointed with second class food should I get a very good price point.

 

Currently, I do not think RCI is being honest in their advertising when they state the regular cruise fare gets you a high quality dining experience. The statement seems contradictory as they sell "a truly high-end dining experience" with an additional fee.

 

I have two cruises this year with RCI that I booked over one year ago with none for 2025.

 

Like yourself, I am waiting a bit to see how things go this year. There are posters on here whose opinions I respect. They are not whiners, they say how their experiences are going better or worse but they still cruise. After more than thirty-five years of cruising, I have booked other vacations experiences for 2025 to compare against cruising. When one adds an unlimited drink package and unlimited dining package to excursion prices on RCI, the cruise price point goes up significantly allowing other vacations options to present themselves for the same amount of money.

I agree with everything you are saying. When you couple all of that with the sharp rise in cruise fares, it is time to take the blinders off and start looking around instead of automatically just booking an RCI cruise. It could still end up being the way to go but it is time to explore options. I'll see how things go on Odyssey next month.

[BearsAhoy]

10 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the service on the rest of the ship which we found lacking as well.  It seems the amount of service staff has been cut as well.

I definitely noticed the change of service, particularly with respect to our stateroom.

 

Our party of 5 was in two junior suites, with different stateroom attendants. My mom’s experience was pretty much normal, other than not meeting her attendant until a couple of days into the cruise. Ours was not as we’ve come to expect:

 

- our stateroom attendant was hard to find during the cruise, and as he didn’t provide a card with his contact details, we couldn’t reach him.

- I’d arranged for distilled water and an extension cord before our cruise. We had to ask for it again upon boarding. Once provided, the extension cord was run across the room, unsecured. (On X last year, our attendant taped it to the floor so it wasn’t a trip hazard.) The first night, I placed a nightlight (battery-operated tealight) along the cord, so anyone needing to get up during the night would have some indication that it was there. Once we were able to talk to our attendant, he seemed surprised that this was a problem for us. After some thought, he solved it rather elegantly, by using magnetic hooks to run it along the cabin ceiling and walls. 
- we had to ask repeatedly for some things, like (C&A) bathrobes and laundry forms.

- we asked for wine glasses, which were only sometimes replaced after use. (Other used glasses/mugs were also left for a day or more.)

- our bathroom didn’t have a soap dish. I put our bar of soap on the box it came in, and on day 3 finally got to ask the attendant about it. He said he had no soap dishes, and suggested using a washcloth. (Maybe I’m expecting too much, but he couldn’t he have replaced the soggy cardboard box with a washcloth when he saw soapy mess?) My mom’s JS had a soap dish - and more toiletries, too.

- we couldn’t find tissues. When we asked the attendant, he said they no longer place them in the bathroom (or indeed the tissue holder in the loo). Instead, the box was tucked into a drawer in the dressing table/desk. (In my mom’s room, the tissue was indeed in the box holder in the bathroom.)

- our cruise had four time changes. Each time, we saw that other cabins had notification cards slipped into the seapass readers; we didn’t receive any. 

- we had to ask for the sofa bed to be made up for our son - and it was left open through the whole cruise. On port days, it was less of an annoyance, but we’d have really preferred it closed on sea days. (With the bed open, access to the balcony was impeded, and the very comfy armchair and ottoman had to be squished into a corner.) But, being that we never saw our attendant after day 3, we couldn’t ask him to close the bed.

 

I’m not sure which department was ultimately responsible, but we didn’t receive any of the Diamond treats, the “chef’s choice”. My mom received two (or three?) deliveries, and we received none. Even the “welcome waters” were fewer than we should have received. If we hadn’t received these on previous cruises - or had another stateroom in our party, with which we would compare - we wouldn’t have noticed. But, again, we’ve been doing this long enough to have expectations, and those weren’t met.

 

A cruise is a cruise, and I’m still grateful that we could do this trip. But, meh.

[Engineroom Snipe]

26 minutes ago, BearsAhoy said:

 But, again, we’ve been doing this long enough to have expectations, and those weren’t met.

 

A cruise is a cruise, and I’m still grateful that we could do this trip. But, meh.

This is a real review without angst or vitriol. I can imagine seeing everything you noted over multiple cruises in the last three years.

 

What opened my eyes was the excellent cruise I had last November on the Jewel of the Seas for nine days.

 

The cabin attendant was superb. Any request was instantly handled.

 

Our MDR experience was the best that I have had since 2008.

 

It reminded me of all of the cruises I did from 1988 to 2008.

 

I am now on hiatus (with my wonderful wife) from cruising in 2025 and trying some all inclusive resorts.

 

They could be far worse and I may have horror stories to tell or they might be our transition away from cruising being our main mode of vacations.

 

You are not alone in your observations.

[BearsAhoy]

6 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

This is a real review without angst or vitriol. I can imagine seeing everything you noted over multiple cruises in the last three years.

 

What opened my eyes was the excellent cruise I had last November on the Jewel of the Seas for nine days.

 

The cabin attendant was superb. Any request was instantly handled.

 

Our MDR experience was the best that I have had since 2008.

 

It reminded me of all of the cruises I did from 1988 to 2008.

 

I am now on hiatus (with my wonderful wife) from cruising in 2025 and trying some all inclusive resorts.

 

They could be far worse and I may have horror stories to tell or they might be our transition away from cruising being our main mode of vacations.

 

You are not alone in your observations.

Thank you. I try to be fair and balanced, though it would be easy to whine. I think in all cases, if we’d been on our first cruise, or even our first cruise with Royal, none of this would have stood out to me. It is only because we’ve been on a number of cruises now, and because we had the direct comparison with the other stateroom in our party, that the missing pieces were evident. That’s the thing about setting expectations, right? 

 

To tell the truth, I did wonder a few times during this cruise, “did we choose the right line?” It was the right cruiseline for us when we first started cruising. Most of our cruises have been intergenerational; our children were very young when we started, and they were happy. My parents were happy (and loved it so much that they made D+ very very quickly). And we were happy because everyone else was happy and we could get a little break from the busywork of parenting young children. My time dining worked well for us. Kids were happy in Adventure Ocean. The balance of formal to casual worked for all of us. The dining room staff made our children feel like they belonged. (One of my favourite photos from any cruise happened to be taken on Jewel: our waiters made binoculars with napkins, and my mom and I took those to get some silly, casual photos taken by a ship photographer.)

 

Our kids enjoyed the teen club on this cruise, and made friends. We adults got some down time. Courtesy of a fall in port, I made use of the excellent medical centre 🤦‍♀️ But it felt like we were no longer the target audience, or maybe we had outgrown the experience.

 

When we were planning our first family cruise, we considered all obvious lines: I’d have loved  to have done a transatlantic on Cunard, but it would have been too formal for us (at the time). Our kids aren’t really into Disney, so we ruled out that cruise line. Some of us are far too introverted for “the fun ship”; it just isn’t us. We were advised that HAL might not be the right choice with young kids. That kind of left Princess and Royal. Royal fit the bill then.
 

We all prefer the smaller ships (Radiance class for the win!), and none of us, even the teens, are interested in the Oasis/Quantum/Icon ships. We’ve really enjoyed X, and I can see that being a choice in the future, but it seems like RCCL is blurring the lines between the two brands. I’m not interested in Coco Cay; we all prefer sea days to port days anyway.

 

And being in Vancouver, unless we keep going to Alaska over and over, all cruises require a flight, which makes the trip that much more expensive and rules out short cruises. Flights to LA were relatively reasonable (cost and travel time), but we’ve done the Mexican riviera twice now, and there isn’t a lot of appetite to repeat that, especially if the service and food were disappointing on the only ship homeported there.

We are *thisclose* to D+. Oldest kid will be 18 soon, and I’d like to get D+ before then so they get the benefits. But after that, I’m not sure we’ll still be Royal Loyals. Once we are no longer limited by school schedules and approach retirement, we’ll have more flexibility both with vacation dates/lengths and what we can do with our holiday time. In port, we saw Regent Seven Seas Grandeur and Viking Mars, and they sure looked interesting. (And when we don’t have to pay for kids to travel with us, why not go more upscale?)

 

We understand full well that cruise lines are businesses, and as such will offer what their target market wants and is willing to pay for. But, it sure does seem that Royal’s target audience no longer includes us.

[Eddie Wilson]

On 12/31/2023 at 4:43 PM, Morecruisesplz said:

Quantity is not important, imho. Lower quality of the ingredients (beef, chicken, vegetables, etc) + preparation so far ahead of serving seems to cause issues. To me, serving lukewarm/coldish food makes it so unappealing. 

What do think?

There are differing qualities of beef, graded as Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial and several lower not used for human consumption.  
Who knows if they lowered the quality of what they order from their vendors, but in my limited experience I have received lower quality cuts over the past years.

 

I think the chicken and fish entrees are more difficult to see a lowered quality than the obvious beef.

 

Our first cruise was Nordic Empress, which served 600 passengers per sitting.  Now they serve what, 2 to 3 thousand per sitting, I would doubt the kitchen staff expanded 4 times to match the population served.  So more lead time in prep, a shrinking of the menu, lower quality, fewer per capital staff,  …..I think the real question is when does someone realize they bottomed out and start to look at the issue with improvements.  The ships are projected above 100% capacity for 2024, so I am not sure they notice a poor MDR survey.

 

Just an opinion

 

Eddie

[Engineroom Snipe]

11 minutes ago, Eddie Wilson said:

…..I think the real question is when does someone realize they bottomed out and start to look at the issue with improvements.  The ships are projected above 100% capacity for 2024, so I am not sure they notice a poor MDR survey.

 

Just an opinion

 

Eddie

 I am not sure anyone will take notice of any poor MDR surveys until they are followed by empty cabins which I will admit are not happening yet. Maybe next year when cruisers like myself are trying other options.

 

Good analysis and opinion.

[Etta1213]

On 12/31/2023 at 10:35 PM, neverbeenhere said:

 

I’m a triskaidekaphobian. And I’m not even sure that’s a word, 

You eat Triscuits??🤔

[HappyTexan44]

12 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

You eat Triscuits??🤔

No, that would be Scared of eating Triscuits.   🙂  

[Moltar]

Never had a bad meal in the MDR since 1991 🙂

[gkbiiii]

25 minutes ago, Moltar said:

Never had a bad meal in the MDR since 1991 🙂

This is just craziness, you must have only eaten at buffet, another line, or stayed home!  

[Denversail]

On 1/7/2024 at 11:32 AM, BearsAhoy said:

 

 

We understand full well that cruise lines are businesses, and as such will offer what their target market wants and is willing to pay for. But, it sure does seem that Royal’s target audience no longer includes us.

I agree. I feel like we just kept going on Royal out of habit. The kids are now grown and we don't even use all the bells and whistles of the big ships. We just relax, play trivia, maybe some card games, eat, and enjoy our ports. We like the different restaurant choices but wouldn't really need those if the main offerings were above par. I spend time in the Casino but honestly wouldn't mind not having one on a ship, just a little more money saved. 🙂 

 

I'm considering Windstar for 2025. It will be nice to travel on a cruise without 5K of my closest friends.

[pcur]

On 1/2/2024 at 12:10 PM, pcur said:

I was on the Vision when they changed the menus in mid-January 2023.  It was a nightmare, for sure.  I was on the Navi from 12/11 to 12/18/23, and found the food much improved, but I agree it's not up to pre-COVID levels.  I don't have a complaint about the portion sizes, because I like to have multiple appetizers.  I noticed while cruising in November/December that RCCL has brought back some of the former classic choices:  escargot is now available, more salmon entrees during the week's menu rotation, and the reduced-portion fruit and cheese plate is back.  These are items I consider my "staples" for dinner with RCCL, so I was happy to have them again.

 

If I find I'm hungry for more than one entree, I ask for the second one "appetizer-sized" and on the same plate as my first entree.  This seems to be acceptable.  Example:  I really like the mushroom risotto entree, so I ask for it as an on-plate side with my other entree.  

I am back on the Vision and very happy to report that most of what I've had to eat so far (day 4 now) has been very good. A few exceptions: one entree I politely sent back (very dry chicken replaced with fantastic eggplant entree), and I set aside the beef in my bourguignon, but the veggies and gravy were great!

[qkd0314]

I TOTALLY agree! I just got off yesterday (1/8/24) and not only was the MDR disappointing, but the servers asking several times about completing the survey and rating them a 10 was extremely annoying and disruptive.  Not only did the head waiter ask, but also the person walking around in a suit as the supervisor (I assume).  Reminding about the survey on the last night would have been fine, but I didn't want to hear it every evening and several times.  I don't remember this being a thing pre COVID

[sanchoucsb]

11 hours ago, pcur said:

I am back on the Vision and very happy to report that most of what I've had to eat so far (day 4 now) has been very good. A few exceptions: one entree I politely sent back (very dry chicken replaced with fantastic eggplant entree), and I set aside the beef in my bourguignon, but the veggies and gravy were great!

Two of four days you have had inedible entrees? We all have our own expectations but I would be very disappointed with that ratio.