RCL food has gone downhill fast

[Mikew0805]

30 minutes ago, nferr said:

 

Have you seen the cost of beef in your local supermarket? 

Have you seen the cost of a cruise on Royal?

[nferr]

1 minute ago, Mikew0805 said:

Have you seen the cost of a cruise on Royal?

 

I have which is why I've been booking MSC. I don't blindly book with only one cruise line.

[Engineroom Snipe]

On my two most recent cruises:

 

Staff service was excellent.

 

First cruise, almost all MDR meals were good cuts of beef, the salmon was very good, with a few VERY good dishes.

 

Second cruise, my excellent waiter gently steered us away from dishes which he thought "were not the best" on the menu (after I asked him what was not being consumed after service on the first dining MDR). He so politely understood my question without denigrating the kitchen or the chef.

 

The food in MDR still seems to be hit or miss. I enjoy the hits and I try to "miss" the "misses".  Smile, work with your waiter, and make the best of what is offered.

 

😁

[ocdb8r]

43 minutes ago, nferr said:

 

Have you seen the cost of beef in your local supermarket? 

Agreed...but RCCL needs to be careful about getting wrapped up in a race to the bottom.  I'd prefer they keep the standard up and raise pricing if need be.  For us, the strategy has been to buy the UDP....but diversity is starting to lack there AND were seeing quality start to drop there as well.  I'd gate to reach a point where we feel we can't even "buy" the quality of food we'd like on RCCL.

[nferr]

3 minutes ago, ocdb8r said:

Agreed...but RCCL needs to be careful about getting wrapped up in a race to the bottom.  I'd prefer they keep the standard up and raise pricing if need be.  For us, the strategy has been to buy the UDP....but diversity is starting to lack there AND were seeing quality start to drop there as well.  I'd gate to reach a point where we feel we can't even "buy" the quality of food we'd like on RCCL.

 

Try other lines and see if the quality more meets your expectations. 

[livingonthebeach]

From the sound of it you'd think some people only dine in 4-star Michelin restaurants. They take food snobbery to the next level! There are some upscale foodie cruises out there where you can put on your bougie, but cruising on RCI is not one of them.  Personally, I cruise for other aspects altogether but I guess food is paramount for some. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 minutes ago, nferr said:

 

Try other lines and see if the quality more meets your expectations. 

I would rather stay with Royal because I like their service. There are some meals which are done very well.

 

My mantra, "I just wish they would be reasonable." I do not need a Grand Slam or Home Run every meal. Just give me a solid base hit on every meal and maybe a home run every other day.

 

Walks can get you through one inning but too many strike-outs will get you removed to the minors and looking for another team to try-out.

 

Let's "Play Ball!"

 

🤣

[Tatka]

What we noticed is that same dishes are different on different ships. Not really surprised, but just keep in mind that next time the same dish can be better (or worse) 🙂 

 

Overall I think new menus are working. 

 

 

[RCCL Fan]

On 4/23/2024 at 10:30 AM, BND said:

It's improved a lot since restart when supply issues were a major problem.  We just got off Vision and while, it has changed over the years, it's better than even 6 months ago.

 

I"m SOOO happy to hear this.  Vision is one of our absolute fav ships.  However when we sailed her last year the MDR and windjammer  food was so rough we ate in specialty dining almost every night. 

 

Sailed other ships since then and food was great.  

 

So I concluded it was a ship issue ....   but so hoped Vision would improve. 

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, ocdb8r said:

Agreed...but RCCL needs to be careful about getting wrapped up in a race to the bottom.  I'd prefer they keep the standard up and raise pricing if need be.  For us, the strategy has been to buy the UDP....but diversity is starting to lack there AND were seeing quality start to drop there as well.  I'd gate to reach a point where we feel we can't even "buy" the quality of food we'd like on RCCL.

Agree they are pushing people to specialised dining. But our next cruise (Serenade) is 16 nights with only three specialised restaurants so UDP isn't really an option.  Individual prices are very high seeing as you've already paid for dinner in your (high) cruise fare. On Symphony last year Chops was £60pp and half empty.   Other cruise lines are half the price for specialised dinning. 

[snaefell]

Just back from Anthems Transatlantic,our previous RCI MDR experience on Quantum in 2019 to be kind was not good,abysmal food & service which saw us in the Windjammer for most of the cruise,we were not optimistic!

Having a decent table may have helped,I had followed a link supplied on these forums to request a window table & on our first night Sat down to dinner at window table 503 in American Icon just as we sailed out past Lady Liberty!

Our servers,Cherdan & his assistant Nivesh were amazing,the choice & quality of food was superb,we thoroughly enjoyed everything that was delivered to our table.

We had breakfast & lunch mainly from the Windjammer,no complaints there either,except maybe that something other than plain bread pudding would have been nice as a hot desert,it was the same every time I looked,we had breakfast & lunch one day in the Solarium Bistro,very nice but not the variety of WJ,we also had Hot Dogs from the Doghouse a couple of times which we thoroughly enjoyed.

So for us a very pleasing experience dining on our latest Royal adventure!

[gavvy]

On Oasis last week I thought the food was very good.  The MDR food was consistently good and service was fast and friendly.  The Turkey dinner was a large portion of meat one night that I struggled to finish.

The WindJammer was the usual stuff, nothing exciting or bad, apart from the desserts- how do they manage to make something look so nice and taste MEH!

 

Overall I had no complaints with the food or the service.

[ocdb8r]

10 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

From the sound of it you'd think some people only dine in 4-star Michelin restaurants. They take food snobbery to the next level! There are some upscale foodie cruises out there where you can put on your bougie, but cruising on RCI is not one of them.  Personally, I cruise for other aspects altogether but I guess food is paramount for some. 

To be clear, I don't find the food inedible.  However, I also don't go on vacation to be crossing my fingers that every meal is at least "average".  Yes, we do want to have some exception and special meals when we travel.  A decade ago we could get that on many nights in the MDR (not always) and splurge on an occasional specialty dining meal.  In the past two years, this doesn't feel the case for us.  We have more and more relied on specialty dining (and the UDP) which we are personally happy and fortunate enough to be able to pay for....but are now even seeing cuts to these dining options.

 

10 hours ago, nferr said:

 

Try other lines and see if the quality more meets your expectations. 

We have definitely done so and do have other options, but there are many other things that RCCL does really good (and better than other lines) that we'd like to continue to enjoy.

[swoopy2110]

1 hour ago, gavvy said:

On Oasis last week I thought the food was very good.  The MDR food was consistently good and service was fast and friendly.  The Turkey dinner was a large portion of meat one night that I struggled to finish.

The WindJammer was the usual stuff, nothing exciting or bad, apart from the desserts- how do they manage to make something look so nice and taste MEH!

 

Overall I had no complaints with the food or the service.

 

I know someone who was on Oasis last week that has said similar. Really enjoyed it.

 

For contrast, I know someone who is on Oasis this week who has said the food is the worst they've every experienced on any cruise! Strange. They did say they've been mentioning all their issues to the staff rather than just keeping it quiet but said it's bland etc.

[gavvy]

I think the key is consistently delivering, and that's where they probably let themselves down.

 

That and maybe unrealistic expectations of what is pre-plated food served banqueting style in the MDR.

[Mikew0805]

13 hours ago, nferr said:

 

I have which is why I've been booking MSC. I don't blindly book with only one cruise line.

The point was why should the cost of beef matter with current cruise pricing. 

 

I will cruise any line. (except Disney)

 

[snaefell]

I have read on these forums of some who claim to go down the specialty dining route every night,may be alright on a short cruise but on a long cruise that adds one heck of a lot to your cruise price.

On our recent Anthem TA there was a big sell on speciality dining,even the MDR manager one evening trying hard to convince us that we could go to Chops for a bargain $54pp + 18%,why on earth would we spend an extra $120+ when we were thoroughly enjoying what we were having?

Last year we were on P&O's Arcadia & enjoyed the best meals we have ever had at sea in their speciality restaurants all for £15pp,surprisingly the prices charged on RCI are not attractive!

[dougp26364]

I have not and will not read through every post.

I will state our opinion as we exit Ovation of the Seas post 8 night Alaskan Cruise. 
die to illness, we had stayed away from cruising for 14 years. Our last cruise was the inaugural year on Oasis and we had to cancel our inaugural year cruising on Allure. That’s the time gap between experiences.

food quality overall was poor for lunch and dinner. We always managed to have a good breakfast on the MDR but not so good the one time we tried Windjammer. My chicken parm at Jammies was overcooked and tough. That was a big disappoint. In the MDR we never could get refills on our sodas. They put brown gravy on the prime rib, which was so thin of a cut you could see light through it if you held it up. The grilled NY strip steak was as bad. Fortunately we were in a JS and could utilize Coastal Kitchen for a couple of dinners. That experience was more in line with what we recall the MDR to be.

To be honest, it looked as if they were training a lot of first contract employees. That would explain the service. They were trying hard but just didn’t have the flow down yet. 
The food, however, was generally poor. There’s no excuse I can give them on this one. It’s pathetic they were contemplating charging for Sorrento’s. While edible I’d place it a step or two below Little Ceaser’s. 
we are Diamond level so we’ve been loyal to royal and will continue to be. We booked our next 7 night Canada cruise while onboard.
 

Hopefully this was a one off experience. of. It we’ll begin planning our meals a little differently than we had in the past and lower our expectations 

 

[BND]

10 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

I"m SOOO happy to hear this.  Vision is one of our absolute fav ships.  However when we sailed her last year the MDR and windjammer  food was so rough we ate in specialty dining almost every night. 

 

Sailed other ships since then and food was great.  

 

So I concluded it was a ship issue ....   but so hoped Vision would improve. 

We're back on in Aug for a 5 night Bermuda cruise.  Vision is getting out of drydock in just over a week so curious to see her.  While the food is improved, we do not love some of the menus.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

The point was why should the cost of beef matter with current cruise pricing. 

 

I will cruise any line. (except Disney)

 

I’m curious why you wouldn’t cruise Disney, because although we’ve only taken a few - without kids - the food was way above in quality and taste to what Royal ever had, and I’m including years ago when Royals food was better compared to what they have now.
We haven't done a Disney cruise in many years mostly because they’re so expensive.  

[The Fun Researcher]

49 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I’m curious why you wouldn’t cruise Disney, because although we’ve only taken a few - without kids - the food was way above in quality and taste to what Royal ever had, and I’m including years ago when Royals food was better compared to what they have now.
We haven't done a Disney cruise in many years mostly because they’re so expensive.  

Can't speak for @Mikew0805 but we feel the same way.  Why would I pay double or more (excluding Icon prices) for an experience that isn't what we want.  We are HUGE WDW fans, but that's not at all what we're looking for on cruise.  The food could be Michelin star for every meal and it still wouldn't matter.  I don't want Disney at sea.  I want that in the parks.  Plus, I don't want to intentionally put myself into a cruise line that intentionally not only markets to families, but specifically families with a bunch of young kids.  I'm a family man but I don't want even more kids that what we're used to on Royal (which we're good with)

[firefly333]

7 hours ago, gavvy said:

On Oasis last week I thought the food was very good.  The MDR food was consistently good and service was fast and friendly.  The Turkey dinner was a large portion of meat one night that I struggled to finish.

The WindJammer was the usual stuff, nothing exciting or bad, apart from the desserts- how do they manage to make something look so nice and taste MEH!

 

Overall I had no complaints with the food or the service.

I once ordered the turkey and asked for only dark. What I was served was 90% white, with a 1 inch teensy piece of dark meat. Went to WJ to eat enough to fill up. 

 

Its just not what I desire that much any more. I need to get  ove, but after that I will look around. Each of us is different.

[lovesthebeach2]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Can't speak for @Mikew0805 but we feel the same way.  Why would I pay double or more (excluding Icon prices) for an experience that isn't what we want.  We are HUGE WDW fans, but that's not at all what we're looking for on cruise.  The food could be Michelin star for every meal and it still wouldn't matter.  I don't want Disney at sea.  I want that in the parks.  Plus, I don't want to intentionally put myself into a cruise line that intentionally not only markets to families, but specifically families with a bunch of young kids.  I'm a family man but I don't want even more kids that what we're used to on Royal (which we're good with)

I agree with your post regarding Disney cruises. This is a food thread, so I was curious if his response was about their food.  

 

 But what I’m seeing is that Royals market focus IS currently on families with very young children, for “weekend” cruises of 3 or 4 days. I think only 1 ship in Port Canaveral is doing 7 day cruises, the others are all doing the shorties geared towards families with young kids.
Every commercial being shown on TV here in Florida are all for weekend family cruises of 3 or 4 nights showing very young kids sliding down the waterslide. Thats their market focus at this time.  Thats why we’re moving on from cruising with Royal here.
I’ll still cruise in Europe, but after the ones that are booked are done, I don’t want a ship full of kids running around like we saw on the NYE cruise we took. It was awful, even young kids were running around unsupervised, clogging the staircases, running up and down the halls being rude. I have a high tolerance for kids, but that cruise for what we paid on an old ship for NYE….never again.

 

[The Fun Researcher]

41 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I agree with your post regarding Disney cruises. This is a food thread, so I was curious if his response was about their food.  

 

 But what I’m seeing is that Royals market focus IS currently on families with very young children, for “weekend” cruises of 3 or 4 days. I think only 1 ship in Port Canaveral is doing 7 day cruises, the others are all doing the shorties geared towards families with young kids.
Every commercial being shown on TV here in Florida are all for weekend family cruises of 3 or 4 nights showing very young kids sliding down the waterslide. Thats their market focus at this time.  Thats why we’re moving on from cruising with Royal here.
I’ll still cruise in Europe, but after the ones that are booked are done, I don’t want a ship full of kids running around like we saw on the NYE cruise we took. It was awful, even young kids were running around unsupervised, clogging the staircases, running up and down the halls being rude. I have a high tolerance for kids, but that cruise for what we paid on an old ship for NYE….never again.

 

Yeah, Royal has definitely been leaning into the family and short cruises, but I think that is pretty specific to the Icon and port Canaveral like you say.  With Royals huge fleet they have a far larger proportion of cruises that aren’t marketed specifically to that demographic. However, Disney is 100% dedicated to that.  You know, it’s funny (or maybe not), but back five years ago or more I’m not sure people would call out Disney as a better gastronomical experience than on Royal. Fast forward to today and that does certainly seem to be the case. Happy sailing.
 

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I think only 1 ship in Port Canaveral is doing 7 day cruises

 

One is doing 7N, one is doing 3/4N, one is doing 6/8N, and at times there is a 4th.