The points guy says carnival among 6 top cruise lines for food

[firefly333]

He mostly writes about how to upgrade flying on points, but this is about cruising food. I was very happy with the food on dream as I've said. 

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-cruise-food/

 

Warning: I'm about to make a lofty and controversial claim. Carnival Cruise Line has the best all-around food of any mainstream cruise line. The food quality is even more surprising because its fares are some of the industry's lowest.

In addition to a pleasant variety of cuisine in its ships' onboard buffets, passengers will find delicious options on the main dining room menus daily. (One of the best-kept secrets is the line's Indian cuisine. If you don't see it on the menu, ask.)

Sure, Carnival has added-fee dining in the way of steak and seafood, but in terms of free fare, Carnival has the most impressive array of alternative dining options for which you won't have to shell out anything extra. In particular, I give special nods to Guy's Burger Joint by Guy Fieri; the BlueIguana Cantina, which offers Mexican food; Big Chicken, Shaquille O'Neal's chicken eatery; and Pizza Pirate or Pizzeria del Capitano (depending on the ship), which are renowned for their simply drool-worthy pies.

[mz-s]

Sites like the points guy are full of ads disguised as articles. Who paid for this particular article?

[BlerkOne]

The Points Guy is very discerning and is not wrong.

 

No lack of ads on Cruise Critic.

[firefly333]

His usual thing is which credit cards have the best benefits and how to get upgraded on airlines. I've read him for years. Cruiselines arent his usual, just happened to see this one. That's why his name. He flies on points from credit cards a lot.

 

I thought the food was much improved from early after covid. Others have gone down, carnivals was improved. I liked the new menu items, emeril inspired or whatever. Tasty. He mentioned big chik so maybe he did mardi gras. Had to have been on a newer carnival ship. 

[mz-s]

I have not sailed on Carnival since the new menus debuted. My most recent cruise was one of the last cruises on Magic before the new menus. They were phoning it in by then. Food was mediocre - hospital quality. Anxious to sail again.

[staceyglow]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

His usual thing is which credit cards have the best benefits and how to get upgraded on airlines. I've read him for years. Cruiselines arent his usual, just happened to see this one. That's why his name. He flies on points from credit cards a lot.

 

I thought the food was much improved from early after covid. Others have gone down, carnivals was improved. I liked the new menu items, emeril inspired or whatever. Tasty. He mentioned big chik so maybe he did mardi gras. Had to have been on a newer carnival ship. 

There is a Big Chicken on Radiance as well as the Excel class ships 

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, staceyglow said:

There is a Big Chicken on Radiance as well as the Excel class ships 

I did vista and b2b breeze after covid and quit carnival for a while the food was so bad. Dont know if it was having to have a passport or the artic blast that delayed flights but I heard 1300 to 1500 didnt board. Lines were awesome everywhere. Mongolian bbq 6 people in line on average.

 

Could be because dream was a journey cruise and lots didnt make the ship that food was extra good last month. I saw arugula lettuce on the buffet, I saw sugar snaps at the Mongolian bbq (previously replaced by green beans), and other special touches I've missed. My only complaint was the watermelon just wasnt good, but the other fruit was all good, especially the pineapple. I did the deli 3 times for blt, 3 times for pizza and guys 3 times.  Brunch twice in the Mdr. Dinners were Mdr or buffet. 

 

Way better, big improvement.

 

 

[bg2310]

I was very impressed with the food on my first Carnival cruise. And my family were as well on the one we did in December sailing Valor. It was quite good! There were some misses of course but overall good. 

[Fredette]

So the food has improved over the last twelve months?

[txcruiser1234]

1 hour ago, Fredette said:

So the food has improved over the last twelve months?

Our only real complaint about the food in our cruises in the year or so after the restart was with the steaks. Not the cook, but the quality of the meat - extremely tough and gristly, even fillets. Stopped ordering steak for a while, but got back into it a few cruises ago and all has been well.

 

We're not foodies - we just look for satisfying meals (mostly from the MDR). All in all over the past year, I'd say 9 times out of ten our dishes fell between "better than decent" and "pretty darn good" with the remaining 1 out of 10 either being a miss or something so good we try to recreate it at home.

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, txcruiser1234 said:

Our only real complaint about the food in our cruises in the year or so after the restart was with the steaks. Not the cook, but the quality of the meat - extremely tough and gristly, even fillets. Stopped ordering steak for a while, but got back into it a few cruises ago and all has been well.

 

We're not foodies - we just look for satisfying meals (mostly from the MDR). All in all over the past year, I'd say 9 times out of ten our dishes fell between "better than decent" and "pretty darn good" with the remaining 1 out of 10 either being a miss or something so good we try to recreate it at home.

 

So "better than decent" is all it takes to be the best food at sea huh? Wow.

[BlerkOne]

I doubt many people have been on 6 cruise lines 

[ledges1]

1 hour ago, txcruiser1234 said:

Our only real complaint about the food in our cruises in the year or so after the restart was with the steaks. Not the cook, but the quality of the meat - extremely tough and gristly, even fillets. Stopped ordering steak for a while, but got back into it a few cruises ago and all has been well.

 

We're not foodies - we just look for satisfying meals (mostly from the MDR). All in all over the past year, I'd say 9 times out of ten our dishes fell between "better than decent" and "pretty darn good" with the remaining 1 out of 10 either being a miss or something so good we try to recreate it at home.

Agree with the poor quality of beef in the MDR. I will not order a steak off the regular menu. Our local grocery stores have better beef.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I doubt many people have been on 6 cruise lines 

109 cruises over 7 lines. 

RCL-32 Carnival-27 Celebrity-26 NCL-17 Princess-3 MSC-2 Virgin-2

 

[BlerkOne]

Just now, kwokpot said:

109 cruises over 7 lines. 

RCL-32 Carnival-27 Celebrity-26 NCL-17 Princess-3 MSC-2 Virgin-2

 

That's one. I make two 

RCL, Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Princess, Windstar, Holland America, ...

[kwokpot]

23 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Could be because dream was a journey cruise and lots didnt make the ship that food was extra good last month. I saw arugula lettuce on the buffet, I saw sugar snaps at the Mongolian bbq (previously replaced by green beans), and other special touches I've missed. My only complaint was the watermelon just wasnt good, but the other fruit was all good, especially the pineapple. I did the deli 3 times for blt, 3 times for pizza and guys 3 times.  Brunch twice in the Mdr. Dinners were Mdr or buffet. 

We were on the Luminosa 30 Day TP last September/October and I have to say the food all over the ship was excellent! What was most amazing and something I haven't seen on other cruiselines is how they mixed up the dinner menus so that it almost never repeated the EXACT same menu. Of course there were repeated entrees on many nights but it wasn't the same mix of entrees and starters which is why the dinner menus never seemed to be exactly the same. Like your cruise there were dinner entrees that I haven't seen on regular Caribbean itineraries. We had an lobster entree once every week for four weeks. We were on a Celebrity cruise last year from LA and there was no lobster on any of the seven nights. The food was definitely one of the highlights of our Luminosa cruise. Oh and the Japan ports were great, lol. 

Edited February 23 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

10 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

That's one. I make two 

RCL, Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Princess, Windstar, Holland America, ...

We're planning on trying Holland America next year. As you may or may not remember we travel almost exclusively on casino comps and we recently got a comped cruise certificate for Holland America. We are very interested in seeing how they are but only plan on sailing their newest ship. 

Edited February 23 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

The Points Guy may have originally written by just the founder but now it has become a general travel advice website/blog with multiple people contributing articles about their travel experiences. They have recently stepped up their cruiseline industry coverage. 

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I doubt many people have been on 6 cruise lines 

Been on 62 cruises and 5 lines.  I would think your analogy is spot on.

 

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

So "better than decent" is all it takes to be the best food at sea huh? Wow.

We all have different gauges when it comes to food. I have always liked what Carnival has offered and I have seen improvement overall since we started cruising with them in 2012. I am looking forward to the new menus as well. I think you are the only one that used the term "best food at sea", but I would definitely say that it's the best food at sea for the fares we've paid.

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

We all have different gauges when it comes to food. I have always liked what Carnival has offered and I have seen improvement overall since we started cruising with them in 2012. I am looking forward to the new menus as well. I think you are the only one that used the term "best food at sea", but I would definitely say that it's the best food at sea for the fares we've paid.

 

True, they just said best of the 6 on the list (half of which are Carnival Corp brands...hmmm). Still tough to believe for me but then again, I'm not a guy with a blog about credit card points.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

We all have different gauges when it comes to food. I have always liked what Carnival has offered and I have seen improvement overall since we started cruising with them in 2012. I am looking forward to the new menus as well. I think you are the only one that used the term "best food at sea", but I would definitely say that it's the best food at sea for the fares we've paid.

I would be interested in your thoughts on the new menus when you try them.  I loved them.  

[sparks1093]

15 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I would be interested in your thoughts on the new menus when you try them.  I loved them.  

I will be covering that in my review, for sure. 🙂 

[jimbo5544]

28 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I will be covering that in my review, for sure. 🙂 

Sounds like a plan.  While I am not a fan of duck, Emeril's version was a home run. 

[sparks1093]

3 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sounds like a plan.  While I am not a fan of duck, Emeril's version was a home run. 

DW raised ducks this year for a friend and we've had one in the freezer for a few months. I've never cooked duck so I've been hesitant but taking a shot next Thursday. I'm sure it will be edible but I'm also sure that Emeril's will be better.