RCL food has gone downhill fast

[Oceansaway17]

On Icon last week the food in Windjammer was pretty good. Also had good meals in Giovanni’s and Hooked on Seafood.

I was underwhelmed about the food court though.

And most of the desserts were above average on Icon.

Park cafe was also good

[Tatka]

17 hours 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.

 

This is why we love cruising from Bayonne… Only some cruises are 5 dayers ..

 Majority is 7-12 days 

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, Tatka said:

This is why we love cruising from Bayonne… Only some cruises are 5 dayers ..

 Majority is 7-12 days 

Same with Vision, sailing from Baltimore. A few 5-nighters to Bermuda, but most cruises are 9 or 12-13 nights.  And not many children, although increased numbers in the summer.

[The Fun Researcher]

3 hours ago, Tatka said:

This is why we love cruising from Bayonne… Only some cruises are 5 dayers ..

 Majority is 7-12 days 

I like some of the longer itineraries on the Liberty that get you all the way down to places like Labadee or St. Thomas, etc..  having said that, we are doing a five nighter on the liberty next month to Bermuda. It worked well with our schedule and we have not been to Bermuda yet.

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Same with Vision, sailing from Baltimore. A few 5-nighters to Bermuda, but most cruises are 9 or 12-13 nights.  And not many children, although increased numbers in the summer.

Quite a few, "Kids Sail Free" on the Vision this summer. There is only one pool that is available for anyone under 21, one rock climbing wall, shuffleboards, and a small arcade (that on my last cruise in April had multiple machines 'Not in Service') for youth activities.

 

This should be one of the last ships that I would want a "Kids Sail Free" during the height of the summer.

 

On our April cruise, we had running, door knocking, door slamming and more between 10:30pm and 3:00am. I am not blaming the energy of young children looking for a way to entertain themselves when there are no organized activities for them to do. This was while school was in session and by my observations, a small amount of cruisers under the age of 18.

 

Yes, I could blame their parents for not trying to discipline them but that is a wasted battle in today's world.

 

As an older cruiser, going on the Vision during summer with "Kids Sail Free" is a buyer beware caveat. Do not complain about children when you absolutely know that they will be high energy during these cruises. We do not sail with Royal on any cruises between June and August on the US continent.

 

If you are not prepared for family action during these periods, pick another cruise line.

 

I an not complaining, just realistic. Know before you go.

[Scotty G]

Our most recent cruises have been on Mariner. We have switched from My Time to Early Seating since My Time scheduling was getting too late. Our dinners in the Main Dining room have been excellent so we continue to have our evening meals there and in Specialty restaurants rather than the WJ. The lunches and breakfast in WJ have been less than excellent and sometimes choices were mediocre. Jamie's and Chops Meals were excellent with exceptional service! 

Edited May 18 by Scotty G

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 hours ago, Scotty G said:

We have switched from My Time to Early Seating since My Time scheduling was getting too late. Our dinners in the Main Dining room have been excellent so we continue to have our evening meals there and in Specialty restaurants rather than the WJ.

 

I have not done specialty dining and maybe it is a bit of stubbornness that I do not want to encourage Royal to charge more for a good meal (I know, another hot topic which has been extensively discussed in many threads so no reason to add more here).

 

I agree with your post. My Time dining is hard to get earlier than 6:45pm. We have chosen late MDR on the past two cruises which fits our schedule and saves time not being in any lines.

 

The Windjammer has acceptable and adequate food for dinner.

 

I tend to like the MDR just because when I was young MANY decades ago, my parents taking the family out to a "formal" dinner was special.

 

I think I still secretly long for those memories.

 

 

[coralskygirl]

We cruised Norwegian and Royal this year and enjoyed the food on both. We did like that Norwegian had more non-pay food options besides the buffet and main dining on the ships we were on. 

[The Fun Researcher]

24 minutes ago, coralskygirl said:

We cruised Norwegian and Royal this year and enjoyed the food on both. We did like that Norwegian had more non-pay food options besides the buffet and main dining on the ships we were on. 

Agree 100% on the non-pay food items on Royal. Fortunately, they are resolving this on their newer ships. However, the cruise fair for something like the Icon is ridiculous.

 

We enjoyed our cruise on the NCL Getaway except for the layout of the ship itself. Absolutely loved O’sheehans being open 24 hours.  NCL was a fairly good price versus Royal especially with the included drinks and Wi-Fi, but that seems to have changed in the last couple of years

Edited May 18 by The Fun Researcher

[Tatka]

7 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

I like some of the longer itineraries on the Liberty that get you all the way down to places like Labadee or St. Thomas, etc..  having said that, we are doing a five nighter on the liberty next month to Bermuda. It worked well with our schedule and we have not been to Bermuda yet.

We did 11 dayer on Anthem from in January to St Thomas, St Maarten, Antigua, St Kitts, Puerto Plata. (There are 12 dayers with 6 ports) . Similar on Vision from Baltimore in March, 5 ports with St Lucia & Barbados among them. In Agust-September we usually do 9 dayers New England/Canada on Liberty or similar.

 

Also we do 1-2 7-8 dayer to Bahamas on Oasis/Quantum class

 

We did 5 dayer to Bermuda on Liberty. It was lovely! 

 

 

Edited May 18 by Tatka

[snaefell]

5 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

 

If you are not prepared for family action during these periods, pick another cruise line.

 

I an not complaining, just realistic. Know before you go.

I used to have fixed Summer Holiday dates,we had a cruise on P&O's Britannia one year which at sailaway was announced as the kids school holiday cruise,horrendous,forget trying another cruise line they will likely be the same unless you can get on an adults only ship!😎

[Tatka]

9 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Same with Vision, sailing from Baltimore. A few 5-nighters to Bermuda, but most cruises are 9 or 12-13 nights.  And not many children, although increased numbers in the summer.

Yes. We sail once per year (lately in March) from Baltimore. 12 dayers… to Southern Caribbean (next year we will do 8 dayer for Thanksgiving as they have new itin with Charlestown, Bimini, Miami). Wonderful cruises except for 2023 which was amazing except for bad Noro.

 

This year was eventful with bridge accident ….

 

 

[LINDAE3213]

On Symphony now and food better then expected.  We don't eat MDR.  Windjammer, solarium, loco fresh, park cafe all fresh and tasty.  Last year we sailed 2x ex bayonne ..radiance and anthem and thought food was blah.  

 

[Mikew0805]

On 5/17/2024 at 10:24 AM, 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.  

A couple reasons. While RCI has plenty of kids, my assumption is that there are far more on Disney. Disney entertainment is not what I am interested in. (I see Mama Mia every time I'm on Allure, sometimes twice, and I am going to miss it terribly when she leaves Port Canaveral) Also, I like the casino, and from what I understand Disney does not offer a casino.

 

The food.. well meh. It is what it is. It certainly had gone downhill in quality, but I am usually able to find something. On the few occasions I have not, because I was not in the mood, then I just go to bed without dinner. (Believe me, that will not hurt me. LOL)

[Mikew0805]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:22 PM, 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.  

 

 

 

The post you are referring to was not me complaining about the food, but a comment regarding that poster cutting RCI some slack because the price of beef went up. I was being a bit snarky.

[TwoMisfits]

On 5/19/2024 at 10:18 AM, LINDAE3213 said:

On Symphony now and food better then expected.  We don't eat MDR.  Windjammer, solarium, loco fresh, park cafe all fresh and tasty.  Last year we sailed 2x ex bayonne ..radiance and anthem and thought food was blah.  

 

 

Does the solarium serve entrees at dinner or is it all buffet?

[Mikew0805]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:39 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

On Icon last week the food in Windjammer was pretty good. Also had good meals in Giovanni’s and Hooked on Seafood.

I was underwhelmed about the food court though.

And most of the desserts were above average on Icon.

Park cafe was also good

I had high hopes for that food court. The Asian and the salads/sandwiches I was hoping would be good. I guess I will get to try them soon enough. 

[lovesthebeach2]

11 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

A couple reasons. While RCI has plenty of kids, my assumption is that there are far more on Disney. Disney entertainment is not what I am interested in. (I see Mama Mia every time I'm on Allure, sometimes twice, and I am going to miss it terribly when she leaves Port Canaveral) Also, I like the casino, and from what I understand Disney does not offer a casino.

 

The food.. well meh. It is what it is. It certainly had gone downhill in quality, but I am usually able to find something. On the few occasions I have not, because I was not in the mood, then I just go to bed without dinner. (Believe me, that will not hurt me. LOL)

I also LOVE Mamma Mia and will miss it too. It’s my favorite show of all the ships. 

 

I agree with your post, I was just curious to hear the reasons, mine are the same.

For me I see each cruise line differently, just as in everything else. Cars, houses, clothes, countries, food, etc. all good but each one can be vastly different. Some cruiselines or cruise ships I don’t want to ever try, and others I love…..Royal being one.😁

enjoy mamma Mia while you can.

[LINDAE3213]

12 hours ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Does the solarium serve entrees at dinner or is it all buffet?

Entrees ...

[TwoMisfits]

23 minutes ago, LINDAE3213 said:

Entrees ...

 

Thank you for the info - that's an awesome return.  Gonna keep my res for my cruise next week.

[Oceansaway17]

15 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

I had high hopes for that food court. The Asian and the salads/sandwiches I was hoping would be good. I guess I will get to try them soon enough. 

I did not enjoy the Asian chicken for spices were not good

the crepes places was busy a lot. I

was impressed with Pearl cafe

[cruisemiser1]

On 5/17/2024 at 7:29 AM, dougp26364 said:

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 

 

 

We were on the same 8 day cruise on Ovation and I 100% agree that the food was a total disappointment. It's obvious that they've cut back on food quality to the point where it's almost inedible so I made that clear in my survey responses. I'm sure it won't matter as long as people keep booking at these prices and quality. I have 1 more cruise with RCL in Sep but that'll be it for a while. My next 2 vacations will be land based until I want to literally test the waters again.

Edited May 23 by cruisemiser1

[cruiseboy89130]

I heard the pork tacos are very special!🤢😆

[SUgwoz]

17 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

I had high hopes for that food court. The Asian and the salads/sandwiches I was hoping would be good. I guess I will get to try them soon enough. 

Feta Mediterranean was excellent in Aquadome market. As mentioned previously by another individual, Pearl Cafe was a nice addition.  I really enjoyed the prepackaged grab and go food, and stopped there most days for healthier snacks.

 

Pier 7 was also our favorite meal topping Hooked and Chops, because of its location its being overlooked.  However, the food was excellent.  Best steak I had on the ship.

[Tatka]

We are on Symphony. Quality of food and choices are very good. 
First buffet in Windjammer included so much seafood

 

1. Lobster tails

2. Crabs 

3. Various types of clams

4.  Limes stuffed with salmon 

5. Lemons stuffed with tuna

6. Shrimp

7. Paella with seafood.

8. Octopus 

 

Food in MDR is also of very good quality.

 

 

Edited May 25 by Tatka