Dining Problems - Anyone Experienced This?

[TexasMom2]

Has anyone experienced these problems...a Princess cruiser experienced these things...must have been the cruise from h*ll. I've only sailed twice on RCI but these comments are totally foreign to me.

 

You're right in that it's very subjective and it's based on personal experience. My experiences on RCI were very different. I disliked the design of the buffet where the lines were over 1/2 hour long to get in the door and if, gasp, you went back to get something you missed as you moved on, you were practically assulted as someone cutting into the line. I didn't like the sandwiches on RCI -- all of the pre-made sandwiches had tomatoes so that I always had to request and wait for a sandwich. I don't do room service -- I want to be able to look, see, and take. "Seattle's Best" means nothing to me but if it's like Starbucks, I'll take a big pass. As for the dining room, we had an entire tray of hot soup that was dumped on us, breaking the bowls on our heads. Yes, it was an accident but the cause was two waiters miscommunicating with one of them practically yelling at the other that he was there and being ignored. It was completely avoidable. I didn't like being in the open dining room with people above me looking down, seeing everything I'm eating and watching me. I didn't like coming back from an excursion during the afternoon, without lunch, and having room service as the only option. I don't spend time in my cabin and would prefer not to have to wait around. I didn't like having a set menu on New Year's Eve with absolutely no option for anything else. If you didn't like or want the appetizer, tough. Ditto for the soup. If you didn't feel like steak, you were out of luck. There were no options for dessert either.

 

[TexasMom2]

It would probably help to give more context....

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pam in MA

Overall, with four RCCL cruises, I've found the food on Princess better. Plus, Princess has 24/7 buffet and Anytime dining. Princess also has excellent "Always available" items if you don't see anything you like on the menu for the evening. Even though food is subjective, I think it's a "no contest" that Princess is better.

 

 

It's a no-contest decision for you, but food is so subjective it's not the definitive answer for everyone else. There were things I liked about both - buffet food selection and quality is better on RCI (and design of the buffet itself), dining room food was slightly better on Princess, by a whisker. Didn't have the pizza on RCI because the paninis and sandwiches were so good so I can't compare to pizza on Princess, which was pretty darn good. Princess has something on the buffet 24/7, but RCI has full menu 24/7 room service. RCI has Seattle's Best and Princess has coffee syrup. The scales tip back and forth, so for me, I would call it a draw because neither is perfect in any category but also have things they do really well.

[wrp96]

I've never seen anything like that on an RCCL cruise. I've never seen a meal in the dining room where there was no choice in what you ate. You can order room service to other parts of the ship, not just your room. The only thing I will say is that yes, many of the sandwiches in the Windjammer are premade, but I've never had any problems getting them to make something for me from scratch. The only time I've seen long lines for the WJ is on embarkation day.

 

RCCL always has always available items on the menu as well. Steak, grilled chicken, grilled salmon, caesar salad, pasta, baked potato are always available at dinner if you don't like something on the main menu.

[Merion_Mom]

Have you ever heard of a "Princess Cheerleader"? This one is the Captain of the Squad.

 

:)

[Cruising89143]

Have you ever heard of a "Princess Cheerleader"? This one is the Captain of the Squad.

 

:)

 

You got that right!!!!!!

[TexasMom2]

I was wondering if my Rhapsody and Adventure cruises were only a dream. :rolleyes:

 

The hot soup bowls breaking on their heads story gets trotted out every time there is a comparison thread, but the rest of it sounded a little over the top. Nothing to eat after an excursion?

[irishnyc]

As for the dining room, we had an entire tray of hot soup that was dumped on us, breaking the bowls on our heads. Yes, it was an accident but the cause was two waiters miscommunicating with one of them practically yelling at the other that he was there and being ignored. It was completely avoidable. I didn't like being in the open dining room with people above me looking down, seeing everything I'm eating and watching me.

 

Maybe those bowls of soup broke on their heads because they were dropped by the people up above who didn't want to eat, but wanted to watch her eat instead, because they'd have to be dropped from pretty high up to actually break on your skull.:eek:

[TexasMom2]

Maybe those bowls of soup broke on their heads because they were dropped by the people up above who didn't want to eat, but wanted to watch her eat instead, because they'd have to be dropped from pretty high up to actually break on your skull.:eek:

 

Ya know, that actually makes a lot of sense. ;)

[LG123]

Maybe those bowls of soup broke on their heads because they were dropped by the people up above who didn't want to eat, but wanted to watch her eat instead, because they'd have to be dropped from pretty high up to actually break on your skull.:eek:

 

I think you are right. It was probably because they didn't have anything to eat after their excursion and then didn't like the choices for dinner so they were throwing their soup over the edge as protest!

[dougp26364]

While food is always subjective, I think this person has also reached into the relm of exageration. A 1/2 hour wait to get into the DOOR of the Windjammer buffet? In 6 cruises on RCI I've never spent that much time getting in the door, getting my food and finding a table. If it takes us more than 15 minutes to fill our plates and be sitting down eating then it's a busy day at the buffet.

 

Everyone has preferences and that's fine. Some people prefer Carnival, some NCL, some Princess and so on. But to exagerate things to the ridiculous is really uncalled for. Having soup spilled on you I can believe. Having the bowls hit you so hard on the head that they broke is unbelievable. Not liking the layout of the buffet is believable. A line so long it took 30 minutes just to get in the door is unbelievable.

[cb at sea]

From the poster's comments about not wanting anyone to "look at him and watch what he's eating", I think this is more of a personal problem, than a dining room problem! I think the poster must be delusional, and should spend any future cruise dollars on therapy!

[kbt2]

I like Princess, but definitely will say this a waaaay exaggerated post from that poster. We love RCI and have never heard or had any of the problems this person had. Breaking bowls on skull, wow..that's a good one

[SLH]

I was wondering if my Rhapsody and Adventure cruises were only a dream. :rolleyes:

 

The hot soup bowls breaking on their heads story gets trotted out every time there is a comparison thread, but the rest of it sounded a little over the top. Nothing to eat after an excursion?

I've heard that there have been "fake" CC writing in the threads. I too am amused about the soup bowls but I have never experienced any of the "issues" the original OP had.

[Cruising89143]

If you read the Princess board enough you will find that the above should not be a surprise.

[RCCLCARIB]

First off, there aren't any 1/2 hour waits to get into the Windjammer. It takes me that to get my hot and fresh food, find the perfect table, and slowly eat my food. As well, I find the multi-level dining rooms to be quite amazing and beautiful.

 

As someone said before, this looks that the job of a Princess Cheerleader or someone just wanting to create some disruption.

 

As for me, I will be sticking with my favorite cruise line, Royal Caribbean.

[wolfcathorse]

Definately a Diva Princess who needs therapy for her ego. She's probably a compulsive liar too. Someone should tell her to buy into The World of Residensea instead, she'll fit in fine there.

[DonnaK]

Another RCCLer who finds those comments surprising. We never experienced those problems at all, not even traveling in high season on Voyager ships with a very high ratio of kids. Never waited more than a minute or two to get into the Windjammer. I prefer the way the Windjammer is set up, as opposed to having individual stations for various types of food, b/c the whole family can move along the line together. We never had to go to the beginning of the line to get seconds. And only paranoid people would be worried that other people are watching them from above b/c the dining room is too open....others are usually so absorbed in their own dinner to care about spying on them while they are eating.

[Ocean Boy]

I think you are right. It was probably because they didn't have anything to eat after their excursion and then didn't like the choices for dinner so they were throwing their soup over the edge as protest!

I was under the impression that tossing stuff over the railing was a perfectly acceptable means of clearing your table in preparation for the next course. I hope she wasn't sitting at the table below me on our last cruise.:)

[Rala]

Actually, one of my favorite things to do on a cruise is to get a table on the second level in the dining room right next to the railing and then stare down at the folks below me and watch them eat!!

 

I don't know how to get those roll-eyes icons into my post, but if I did there would be about 6 of them right here!!!

 

Did the "cheerleader" really expect anyone to believe that hogwash??

[MrsPete]

Has anyone experienced these problems...a Princess cruiser experienced these things...must have been the cruise from h*ll. I've only sailed twice on RCI but these comments are totally foreign to me.

 

You're right in that it's very subjective and it's based on personal experience. My experiences on RCI were very different. I disliked the design of the buffet where the lines were over 1/2 hour long to get in the door and if, gasp, you went back to get something you missed as you moved on, you were practically assulted as someone cutting into the line. I didn't like the sandwiches on RCI -- all of the pre-made sandwiches had tomatoes so that I always had to request and wait for a sandwich. I don't do room service -- I want to be able to look, see, and take. "Seattle's Best" means nothing to me but if it's like Starbucks, I'll take a big pass. As for the dining room, we had an entire tray of hot soup that was dumped on us, breaking the bowls on our heads. Yes, it was an accident but the cause was two waiters miscommunicating with one of them practically yelling at the other that he was there and being ignored. It was completely avoidable. I didn't like being in the open dining room with people above me looking down, seeing everything I'm eating and watching me. I didn't like coming back from an excursion during the afternoon, without lunch, and having room service as the only option. I don't spend time in my cabin and would prefer not to have to wait around. I didn't like having a set menu on New Year's Eve with absolutely no option for anything else. If you didn't like or want the appetizer, tough. Ditto for the soup. If you didn't feel like steak, you were out of luck. There were no options for dessert either.

 

When someone writes a post like this that's 100% negative, I tend to discredit it. In reality, in the course of a week most of us will dislike something about the food or service, but few of us will have that many complaints.

 

Plus, many of the complaints just don't ring true to anyone who's ever been on a cruise. 30 minutes to enter the buffet line?Only if you arrive 30 minutes before it opens. As for people thinking she was "breaking in line" -- well, if you go back for something as she described, you are breaking in line! She "doesn't do" room service because she doesn't like to hang around in her room? Well, let's see: if you come back from your excursion and order your food right away, then hop into the shower, the waiter'll be knocking at your door before you can get dressed and dry your hair. Where's the waiting part? I find it highly unlikely that a whole tray of soup was dropped on anyone's head. Finally, what cruise ship's ever refused choices in food to its passengers?

[nlcentralchmps03]

Maybe those bowls of soup broke on their heads because they were dropped by the people up above who didn't want to eat, but wanted to watch her eat instead, because they'd have to be dropped from pretty high up to actually break on your skull.:eek:

 

lol!

 

I agree with that 100%!

 

:p

[ridinghorses]

We have had both good and bad experiences, do like RCCL better that Princess. On Monarch in Jan 2006, in the maining dining room, my 10 yos did not like what was on the menu, the waitress asked what he would like and it was made for him. Now that is service!

[pcur]

I'm glad TexasMom2 gave some context in her post right after the first post, because then I only disagreed with 99% of what the Princess cruiser had to say about RCCL.

 

It's not that I'm trying to be a cheerleader, but most of what that person posted I have NEVER experienced in 33 years of cruising on ANY cruise line, especially RCCL.

 

I can see a preference for more flexible dining, and that is what makes some people prefer Princess to RCCL. The rest of it is pretty bogus, and all I could think of was, "why didn't you just take the tomatoes OUT of your sandwiches, instead of waiting around for them to make you a new one????".

 

That post reminded me very much of "Princess Butter Pat". Anyone remember her? She complained about RCCL not being nice enough because their logo wasn't stamped on the butter pats. Someone gave her that name.:D :D

[hstrybuf]

That person definitely has issues! :rolleyes:

[labeachcomber]

I can't imagine a ceramic soup bowl actually breaking in half. What is her head made of, rock? And if hot soup really did fall on her head, wouldn't she be talking about the burns that she suffered? Geesh.

 

As for "nothing to eat for lunch", I imagine she came back from an excursion and the main dining room (the same one that she doesn't like to eat in) was not open, as it often is not on port days. But the Windjammer is open practically all day!

 

She definitely doesn't like RCCL. So I wonder why she's sailed with RCCL four times?