What's going on?

[MMfan14]

I like to check out reviews not just here but on other sites. What is going on with people complaining about the food? Not just on Carnival but all across the cruise lines. Are people expecting Michelin star breakfast/lunch/dinners for what your paying for your cruise? Never had a bad meal aboard a ship. Maybe its because of eating 13 years of Army chow 😁.

[Jamman54]

Well food is very subjective, but in reality when you're cooking for thousands of people the best you can expect is banquet quality food. The better quality can be found in the specialty restaurants, but of course you pay extra for that. 😎

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, MMfan14 said:

I like to check out reviews not just here but on other sites. What is going on with people complaining about the food? Not just on Carnival but all across the cruise lines. Are people expecting Michelin star breakfast/lunch/dinners for what your paying for your cruise? Never had a bad meal aboard a ship. Maybe its because of eating 13 years of Army chow 😁.

 

Carnival's food has gone way downhill since the restart. Most people aren't okay eating "army chow" on an expensive vacation, but if you are then you'll feel right at home on Carnival!

 

Carnival has gone from serving lots of fresh-made food to serving lots of frozen Seapak, Freezer Queen, Banquet, etc., style foods. Even the deli sandwiches are frozen and briefly microwaved/toasted "to order" (but still cold when served).

[Joanne G.]

While it's true that no one should expect cruise dining room food to be comparable to a high-end land restaurant, many long-time cruisers feel there has been a decline in the quality and variety of food in the main dining rooms over the years, especially post-covid.   We can speculate endlessly on the reasons and talk about how current cruise fares compare to those past times, but the difference is noticeable to many people.  Including those impressions in reviews is helpful to others who have high expectations for the food, including in their decision about budgeting for specialty restaurants.  

 

Personally, I appreciate specific information about the food - meat too tough, too much or too little seasoning, too few choices, over- or under-cooked, portions too small, etc. rather than blanket statements such as " the food was awful." 

[Veinless]

COVID has affected a lot of people’s tastebuds, they just don’t know it. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, MMfan14 said:

Never had a bad meal aboard a ship. Maybe its because of eating 13 years of Army chow 😁.

probably because you were getting paid to eat Army chow, as opposed to paying to eat cruise food. When you pay money to eat food, you expect the food to be average at a minimum.

[DeniseTr]

It may be because they are trying to drive diners to the premium restaurants. 

 

[Cinnamon2]

Any day eating cruise food is better than shopping for/cooking/serving/cleaning up after a meal at home.  I have always found cruise food to be good.

[DeniseTr]

Mmfan14, 

Please fix your signature, it's screwing up page format. 

I believe it's missing an " > " at the end.

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We cruised several times since the restart, and found 80% of the food to be good to very good. 

[Roscoe13]

54 minutes ago, DeniseTr said:

Mmfan14, 

Please fix your signature, it's screwing up page format. 

I believe it's missing an " > " at the end.

You probably already know this but for others who may not know, signatures can be turned off.  Best thing I ever did for reading the forum in a streamlined manner, especially on cell phones.

[WhiteOptima]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Well food is very subjective, but in reality when you're cooking for thousands of people the best you can expect is banquet quality food. The better quality can be found in the specialty restaurants, but of course you pay extra for that. 😎

This.  How many of us have gone to a wedding and been served dry chicken?  We don't go an a cruise for food.  I will always find something-salad, carved meat on the buffet, pizza, burger if Carnival chopsticks.

[Hoosierpop]

Because some people aren’t happy unless they are complaining. There are plenty of food options. Even during the same dinner service. If someone can’t find something they like, that’s on them for choosing the cheapest cruise line out there. 

[moviegal]

I'm not a food snob at all (I love Golden Corral, LOL), but the last couple of years, all of my cruises on Carnival have had pretty abysmal buffet offerings. I've been on the Radiance (3x), Panorama (4x) and most recently the Firenze and the Radiance had the best (and smallest) buffet of the bunch. The other two had terrible buffets (the Blue Iguana was great, though). The deli on Firenze was absolutely disgusting, and I don't use that word lightly. The main dining room food was all pretty much similar in quality: not great, but not bad, either. But I would 100% agree that Carnival's buffets are really bad now, at least on the ships sailing from the West Coast.

[moviegal]

That being said, I never went hungry, LOL!!!

[mz-s]

20 minutes ago, moviegal said:

I'm not a food snob at all (I love Golden Corral, LOL), but the last couple of years, all of my cruises on Carnival have had pretty abysmal buffet offerings. I've been on the Radiance (3x), Panorama (4x) and most recently the Firenze and the Radiance had the best (and smallest) buffet of the bunch. The other two had terrible buffets (the Blue Iguana was great, though). The deli on Firenze was absolutely disgusting, and I don't use that word lightly. The main dining room food was all pretty much similar in quality: not great, but not bad, either. But I would 100% agree that Carnival's buffets are really bad now, at least on the ships sailing from the West Coast.

 

Has been my experience as well, post-restart. I actually used the words absolutely disgusting on here to describe the buffet on the Magic in particular.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, WhiteOptima said:

We don't go on a cruise for food.

we do. 🙂

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

If someone can’t find something they like, that’s on them for choosing the cheapest cruise line out there. 

nowhere near the cheapest. I paid more for our regular balcony cabin on Carnival than for our Enchanted Princess balcony cabin. 

[Hoosierpop]

8 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

nowhere near the cheapest. I paid more for our regular balcony cabin on Carnival than for our Enchanted Princess balcony cabin. 

Then you overpaid. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

12 minutes ago, Hoosierpop said:

Then you overpaid. 

how could I overpay if it's the cheapest line ever? It would still be cheap, right? It's not. Oh, and it's even more crazy high priced now, and only one balcony left for 3 ppl.

As we speak, Carnival Vista, inside cabin for Spring break 2026 is $2,607 for 3 of us, whereas an inside cabin Regal princess during the same week - $2,500.

Edited 2 hours ago by Itchy&Scratchy

[Hoosierpop]

12 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

how could I overpay if it's the cheapest line ever? It would still be cheap, right? It's not. Oh, and it's even more crazy high priced now, and only one balcony left for 3 ppl.

As we speak, Carnival Vista, inside cabin for Spring break 2026 is $2,607 for 3 of us, whereas an inside cabin Regal princess during the same week - $2,500.

Well, you could overpay if you pay more for Carnival than princess. But as a Carnival shareholder, in appreciate people like you. So thanks. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

how could I overpay if it's the cheapest line ever? It would still be cheap, right? It's not. Oh, and it's even more crazy high priced now, and only one balcony left for 3 ppl.

As we speak, Carnival Vista, inside cabin for Spring break 2026 is $2,607 for 3 of us, whereas an inside cabin Regal princess during the same week - $2,500.

MSC is the cheapest right now

[BlerkOne]

Some people aren't happy if they aren't complaining. The food on Carnival is fine. I know food is subjective, but some of the absurd comparisons made destroy any credibility some posters might have had.

 

The food and service I received on our recent Carnival Spirit cruise was perhaps the best since cruising restarted.