Royal Caribbean food quality terrible

[Darkwolfe]

Either I'm just lucky or I'm not near as picky as some folks. Granted I've only got two cruises done with the third on the horizon, but I haven't encountered any food issues so far. Other than eating too much of it!

 

The meals on Voyager and Enchantment were done in a basic 5-course pattern every night. I'd rate the overall quality there comparative to say "Red Lobster" here on the mainland. Very good without being ridiculously overpriced.

 

Now Chops on Enchantment is a separate tale. Holy cow.. That meal would have rated about $50 or more per plate at home. My wife and I went to a very nice place in Omaha and dropped $75 for the two of us. That was a very good meal and Chops blew it out of the water.

 

In the end there will be picky and not so picky. There will be fantastic waiters and staff and there will occasionally be a maitre'd (Mader D?? Hello Tater Salad! Learn before posting please! ;)) that is burned out on his/her job.

 

Meh... Welcome to life people. Quit stressing and go live, cause it ain't permanent.

[Wefewee]

February 11th four-night Bahamas:

Monday: Prime Rib was good

Tuesday: Roast Duck was excellent

Wednesday: Lamb Shank was tough but tatsy

Thursday: Not having great experiences with steak on any cruise, I opted for the Roast Turkey and found it very dry. Any one that I spoke to that had steak realy liked it. Go figure.

DW had Mahi-Mahi Tempura on last night; she didn't like it. Our waiter had a new plate with a nice piece of salmon in front of her within five minutes.

Also, steer clear of the clam chowder.

Breakfast and lunch buffets are excellent.

We had a great time!

[COMBOY]

The onboard dining experience for the most part is major reason why people like to cruise and I do believe cruiseline take this seriously as they want passenger to come back again and again. However, everyone's taste pallet is very different. I just got all the Radiance of the Seas and couldn't have more pleased, but I didn't find anything that was out of the world. I would rate it 3+ stars out of 5. There were few things that exceeded my expections. Service was excellent and food quality excellent. I never found anything "terrible." Certainly if I did I would have contact the waiter immediately to correct. RCCL is not know for gourmet dining nor would I expect it. For that maybe you might want to cruise on Celebrity, Crystal, Oceania, but you will pay more for those cruises. I don't think food quality has decline, but more that cruiseline had deliniated themselves from moderated priced mass with class up to the upscale and luxurious with cuisine and prices to match.

[French_Fry]

DW & I did the 1st Bayonne 12 day EOS cruise this past November. Did not have one bad meal so as far as we are concerned your report is an fluke. Our 2 other RCCL cruises had similarly fine food!

 

Did not hear anyone that we talked to complaining about the food either on our 12 day, except those that we found like to complain about anything.

[clearwaters]

First off let me say I´m overall fine with the food onboard RCCL ships. I´m cruising for app. 12.5 years now and I can´t say that I see a decline in the food department. To me it´s more an up and down depending on the ship / cruise. I think it depends on the executive chef and his crew.

Of course over the years the menus have changed and items I liked have been removed and maybe substituted by other stuff I don´t like so much, but that´s the matter of my personal taste and not necessarily a decline.

 

On the one hand side we constantly hear they need to change the menus and get rid of the same old same old stuff. But then when the menus change I´m sure we will start hearing the complaints how the food gone downhill and they cut costs again.

 

Now I´d like to give some more thoughts to this whole topic.

 

I think it has a lot to do with wrong expectations.

 

Cruising get´s cheaper and cheaper and it´s a mass market product in these days while it was a premium vacation many years ago. The cruise market has and is growing and cruiselines need to attract more people. They are doing this by offering larger ships, more amenities, etc.

Now all these people who can afford to cruise now are not necessarily into the "cruise experience of the old days" with a formal atmosphere, dressing up etc. etc. We all know this as there are tons of threads let alone here on cruise critic about this. Surprisingly the idea of finest food in during the cruise and white gloved waiters serving lobster, caviar and other finest stuff from "the old days of cruising" seems not to have dissappeared from the mind of the cruisers.

 

I know I might get flamed for the following, but why do many (and this is meant in general not personally to anyone on this thread) think they can show up in jeans and shorts in the dining room in these days but it should still be the same as in the aera of the Titanic foodwise:confused: .

 

I know this is getting long already but I have to add one more aspect.

 

 

Please do the math about how much you pay per day for your cruise - and please don´t use suite prices and peak season prices, but some average cruise cost season and cabin category wise.

 

Now compare this per day price ( and take into account with these average that there´s third and fourth passengers prices that will lower such an average thus they will eat the same) with the price for a 5-star dinner in a fine restaurant ashore. Please note that with the comparison between these two you have a dinner on the one side and on the other side you have Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks in between, Dinner, all of these meals are all you can eat, you have certain beverages 24/7 included, room service, transportation, accomodation, entertainment, ......

For this money the cruise line has to build new ships pay a large amount of crew members, maintain those ships, sail those ships etc.etc.

I think you get the picture I´m trying to give.

 

I really wonder when thinking about all this how anyone can really expect 5-star dining on a cruise:confused:

 

stepping off my soapbox

 

You make a lot of sense. I think I'll quit pissin' and moanin' about paying for the speciality restaurants...:o

[Dr_DNA]

Terrible is a bit harsh, IMHO. I never had a bad or "terrible" meal onboard RC. The food was good, but it wasn't great. Considering the cost, I think that you get what you pay for. Good meals for a good price. If you want above and beyond, try fine (5 star) dinning at home. You'll probably pay more than what it costs for 1 whole day of the cruise experience (unless you book those 16k cabins, which is a mistake, of coarse ;) .)

[CruiseGem]

How long ago was you first RCI cruise? The cost of cruising has been going down during the last few years. Cost cutting is rampant. As long as the food is edible - we are OK. If available we will go to Portofino and Chops.

 

The food is no longer 'upscale' less fancy restaurant and much more Holiday Inn banquet food. But the cost for a cruise is so much less for all you get. Meals, entertainment, room service, different ports etc.

 

I am a foodie but I also appreciate what the cruise lines are doing to keep costs down. I would be happy if they would bring 'corkage' back to the dining room. So we did not have to pay $50 per night for our dinner wine.

I just wanted to point out that RCCL SEEMS ! to have some of the higest prices lately

[mojitodiva]

I agree with the above post RCCL has the highest prices these days.

 

Food wise I'm not a foodie I don't cruise for food as long as I'm not cooking it serving it or cleaning up I enjoy it!

[CruiseGem]

I was on the Adventure in January. When the Mader D , in Portifinos, asked how the food was, I told him it was absolutely wonderful in Portifinos, but the rest of the food on the ship was poor. He was very accomodating, and said he would pass the information on to the proper people. I also told him we had just gotten off the Carnival Destny and Carnival had better food for a less expensive cruise. (I am not a Carnival lover.)

 

The food had gone down hill, quite a bit, since my last cruise, one and a half years earlier, on the Adventure.

 

I really like everything else about RCI. In the Summer, out of Miami, you only have the choice of RCI or Carnival. Having the good food in the past was an enticement to cruise, over booking a resort. This could have an effect on how I plan to vacation in the future.

 

Probably RCI can't give you the really nice ship, and good food, and still be competative with the price of the other lines.

:D WOW now you have done it! you have said carnival has better food I agree but on these boards they love RCCL so much they are not open to hearing any thing negitive even if its true ! but truth be told ;) ;) Princess has better food too!

[Brad1185]

We are just off the 3 day Monarch. They had the same tired menus as last year, but we felt the quality was ok, about the the same as the prior year. The only cutbacks we saw is the nuts are gone for oatmeal.

[Coralc]

:D WOW now you have done it! you have said carnival has better food I agree but on these boards they love RCCL so much they are not open to hearing any thing negitive even if its true ! but truth be told ;) ;) Princess has better food too!

 

You're on a Royal Caribbean board. I don't quite get your point. You may very well be of the opinion that you enjoyed the food better on Carnival or Princess. And that is certainly a true statement of your opinion on the subjective subject of food.......but you are still on the Royal Caribbean board. :rolleyes:

[Tinkrbell]

The food on The Voyager was ok. Not great, just ok. The coffee however was AWFUL!! Not having good coffee was a big disappointment to DH and I.

[CruiseGem]

You're on a Royal Caribbean board. I don't quite get your point. You may very well be of the opinion that you enjoyed the food better on Carnival or Princess. And that is certainly a true statement of your opinion on the subjective subject of food.......but you are still on the Royal Caribbean board. :rolleyes:

:) ALL Im saying is that most opinions on rccl board will generaly support the cruise line now I love rccl too or I wouldnt even be interested but if their wrong I cant support them, they need to improve the food ! I have cruised with them 13 times and the food is getting old but they have the best garlic soup on the seas:D food is only subjective on your first cruise It doesnt bother me that much anyway im not there for the food but the quality is better on other lines , and the entertainment is far better on rccl if they improved the food they could justifiy the high prices

[Coralc]

But other people hate the entertainment on RCCL...so that doesn't make any sense either. :rolleyes:

[lysolqn]

Am still waiting to read the review that states "The food was horrible, it wasn't to my taste, I lost five pounds."

 

:)

 

Reminds me of the time we were having lunch at the buffet (on Celebrity) and the folks at the table next to us were complaining bitterly about the food on this particular cruise. Needless to say, their plates were overflowing and after wiping the plates clean, two of the four went back for heaping second helpings. We couldn't help but laugh when their conversation eventually turned from how awful the food was to how tight their clothes were!

[robtulipe]

The quality of food is very subjective and dependent on what someone is use to having.

IMHO the food quality on all of the major cruiselines (RCI, Princess, Costa, HAL) we have been on has been very good and comparable with the slight edge going to Costa especially for it's buffet restaurant. It's pasta/pizza selection and ice cream/sandae bar with it's selection of scoop type hard ice cream and the multiple toppings (including liqueurs at no extra charge) did it for me. Being an ice cream addict, the latter was very impressive to me.

I always gain weight when cruising which IMHO is the case for almost all cruisers.

[Granny J]

I thought the food was excellent so the number of people who feel the food is subpar surprises me. Of course I don't know what the food was like a year or so ago. But I do know that food tastes are so subjective that it often seems that what people like and don't like often have more to do with our life experiences than with the actual food itself.

[cruzingagain]

You're on a Royal Caribbean board. I don't quite get your point. You may very well be of the opinion that you enjoyed the food better on Carnival or Princess. And that is certainly a true statement of your opinion on the subjective subject of food.......but you are still on the Royal Caribbean board. :rolleyes:

 

What does it matter if we are on a Royal Caribbean board? Can we not still tell the truth, or just our opionion? I prefer Royal Caribbean over any other cruise line. But it is not for the food. If I were sailing just for food, I would prefer Carnival. But I do not like Carnival overall.

 

I think many of us feel that way. If RCCL just upped the quality of the food a TINY bit, wow!! But I will cruise them any way. Just a first class operation IMO

[RetireeWannabee]

Yes, I should have qualified the word presentation. Example, my husband had an omlet in the main dining room for breakfast, the bottom was burnt. i ordered eggs benedict, they came hard boiled and the canadian bacon was a wanna be ( so thin you could see and overcooked). Ex again...Fish for lunch, the bottom of the fish was covered with that black stuff that you need to scrape off before it is served, like tilipia and salmon. The brisket on the carving station was so tough you could not even cut it with a steak knife. I ordered a sirloin steak I think it was a piece of gristle covered with a little red meat. How is that for explaining presentation.

Just semantics, but I would lump that in with quality. I consider quality to be from the purchased raw goods to cooked and on the plate. Presentation I consider whatever they add to the plate and whatever happens to put it in front of me.

 

I appreciate the details you have provided. Yikes on the sirloin!

 

I'm not sure I ever understood why someone would order "charred thing" as char seems to be something I'd like to avoid, but there must be a technique that does it right and is, well, palatable?

 

Not suggesting you ordered charred anything, just going on a tangent that the fish-scraping brought to mind.

 

I could live with the subpar canadian bacon (tho it is an important component of that particular dish!) but hard-boiled eggs?!?!?! Someone in the kitchen is not familiar with egg prep!

 

The fish/meat examples are, well, Sad!

[negc]

What does it matter if we are on a Royal Caribbean board? Can we not still tell the truth, or just our opionion? I prefer Royal Caribbean over any other cruise line. But it is not for the food. If I were sailing just for food, I would prefer Carnival. But I do not like Carnival overall.

 

I think many of us feel that way. If RCCL just upped the quality of the food a TINY bit, wow!! But I will cruise them any way. Just a first class operation IMO

 

We just completed a seven day cruise on Legend of the Seas and felt that the food was better than any that we have had on most of our cruises over the past several years. The menus were familiar but the preparation and presentation made a big difference. I know that opinions about food are very subjective, but I also believe that the individual chefs and the cooks who work under them have a significant influence on the quality of the meals that they serve. Kudos to the kitchen staff on Legend.:)

[Dr_DNA]

:) ALL Im saying is that most opinions on rccl board will generaly support the cruise line

 

Do you not read the same RC Board that I do? There are plenty of people willing to rake RC over the coals. Its not the cruise lines fault that there are people that enjoy cruising with them AND are willing to state their opinions.

[CruisesOnMyMind]

I have decided this will be my motto when it comes to food on ships.......

Just get us on the ship so we can enjoy ourselves. I have never starved on a ship. I have always found something at breakfast, lunch and dinner that have satisfied my hunger without gagging at every mouthful.

I absolutely love cruising and cannot imagine any ship I would feel I would want to say "Get me off this ship"

[cruzingagain]

Observation:

 

If this were the Carnival boards, the moderator would have removed this thread.....at least on the RCCL boards we can tell the good AND the bad!

[gr82cruz]

Just off the Sovereign yesterday (review posted 2/22/08 just back) I also sailed the Jewel last March and the service was FAR superior on the Sovereign. Food exactly the same. Mold etc.?? We must have been on a different Sovereign!

[masterbaker]

When are people going to understand that the Chef is responsible for the food served onboard? Different chefs, different results. It doesn't matter what ship or cruiseline. ;)