How much importance do you place on food

[farler05]

I wonder if men or those that don't cook on a daily basis, have a much more critical eye to the food..

 

Nah, I'm a complete food snob! I know good food, because I cook it daily. For me, food should be a pleasure, not boring or bland. If I'm not cooking, we usually go to a restaurant that serves food of the same quality. Some of us have a more critical eye because it's what we're accustomed to in our daily lives. :D

 

When I'm on vacation, I want the food to be an experience, a treat. I want to be wowed or have something different. I eat the majority of meals in the main dining room because the buffet & grill tend to be sub par for my tastes. I don't eat at the Golden Corral or McD's at home, I'm not going to eat the equivalent on vacation. In importance, the food ranks right up there with the quality of my room, the ports of call & the weather. They all come together to make cruising a fun experience for me.

[smoothecruz]

Factoring in that I'm not planning, preparing nor cleaning anything up...the food has to be PRETTY poor for it to even occur to me to complain.

LOL, I can relate to that. I haven't cruised yet, but will be in 12 days and the idea of no cooking and serving etc is a vacation in itself for me. They could serve me burnt toast and I'd still be happy.;)

[SouthernCaribbean]

Nah, I'm a complete food snob! I know good food, because I cook it daily. For me, food should be a pleasure, not boring or bland. If I'm not cooking, we usually go to a restaurant that serves food of the same quality. Some of us have a more critical eye because it's what we're accustomed to in our daily lives. :D

 

When I'm on vacation, I want the food to be an experience, a treat. I want to be wowed or have something different. I eat the majority of meals in the main dining room because the buffet & grill tend to be sub par for my tastes. I don't eat at the Golden Corral or McD's at home, I'm not going to eat the equivalent on vacation. In importance, the food ranks right up there with the quality of my room, the ports of call & the weather. They all come together to make cruising a fun experience for me.

 

You have quite the relationship with food. I think its great when people find something they love.

 

Maybe Top Chef or a food channel show will put together a theme cruise and have cooking classes for the guests, that sounds like something you would really enjoy.

 

 

I have personally never been wowed by any meal on a ship, but it sounds like Carnival has given you a culinary delight each and everytime..wonderful.

[Wennfred]

Very important but not #1, I say Ports of Call is my #1 and food #2.

 

 

 

 

Fred

[Hollyspop]

When returning from a cruise I've always been asked, "where did you go" first followed by "what ship were you on?' followed by how were the ports"?. Food is hardly ever questioned so how important can it be to most people.

 

Is'nt the food quite good on all the cruise ships?? After 13 cruises I can say that I have yet to have a BAD meal on a cruise ship.

 

Itinerary certainly is my first consideration followed by price, port of embarkation and then cruise line. Food quality is in there somwhere but certainly not a concern that would force a decision one way or another as far as ship or cruise line is concerned.:) :)

[SouthernCaribbean]

When returning from a cruise I've always been asked, "where did you go" first followed by "what ship were you on?' followed by how were the ports"?. Food is hardly ever questioned so how important can it be to most people.

 

Is'nt the food quite good on all the cruise ships?? After 13 cruises I can say that I have yet to have a BAD meal on a cruise ship.

 

Itinerary certainly is my first consideration followed by price, port of embarkation and then cruise line. Food quality is in there somwhere but certainly not a concern that would force a decision one way or another as far as ship or cruise line is concerned.:) :)

 

Check out some random cruise reviews and the so many of them will focus on food and say that the lack of decent food ruined their cruise.

 

So food seems to be important to lots of people on this board, as can be seen my the poll results.

[cruisinbuddy]

I've only had one thing on a ship I did't like, the fish & chips on the Liberty. Eveything else was great.

[dan40]

I've only had one thing on a ship I did't like, the fish & chips on the Liberty. Eveything else was great.

 

 

I've had F&C on the Glory and the Valor. Twice on the Glory and once on the Valor. Fish tough, overcooked, very greasy, and extremely fishy smelling.

Thought I caught them on a bad day on the Glory so I gave them another shot. Just as bad. Same on the Valor. I could not have cut the squid with a plasma torch. No more. But there is the whole buffet. plus the Asian window, the Deli, and the Mong. BBQ. And the DR. So the F&C is not hard to skip.

 

Dan

[forensic]

Im just curious because often the first thing mentioned is food when doing a review or when pax talk about choosing a Cruiseline. So how important is food choice and quality?

 

How about doing a poll asking which cruise line everyone thinks has the best food?

[srlucado]

How about doing a poll asking which cruise line everyone thinks has the best food?

 

Might be an interesting poll, but a lot of people may have only cruised on one or two lines. (I've done three, but only one each on Holland America and Carnival--and that Carnival cruise was in 1991, on the old Mardi Gras.)

 

Still, I think there's some potential here for some research. I'd like to know what kind of dining experiences people favor--formal sit-downs vs. buffets, quantity vs. quality, familiar dishes vs. exotic, etc. etc.

 

Then it might be interesting to see which lines tend toward each of those choices.

 

Just a thought.

[SouthernCaribbean]

How about doing a poll asking which cruise line everyone thinks has the best food?

 

Im not that interested in those results, but Im sure others might. You should start a the pool

 

Good Luck

[Growler]

I think I'm with the majority on this question. Food isn't the reason I choose a holiday, but it's a BIG factor in determining where I go, and who I sail with. Like many others, I expect, the love of food also has to be tempered with budget, and whilst I know there are cruise lines out there serving meals that would compare with any I've ever eaten on land, just at the moment they're a little out of my price range I think.

 

Although I've only been on a small number of cruises, I've eaten in (insert a very large number here) of restaurants of all standards and cuisines, and can say without certainty that I remember the good ones long after the taste of the bad ones has left my mouth.

 

Not having to cook for a fortnight is also a huge blessing (the kitchen is my domain in our house, my DW has a hard enough time at work without having to worry about feeding me every day :))

 

It's probably also worth noting that in my limited experience, whichever cruise line you sail with, in the main you're operating at the top end of the bell-curve of resaturant quality food, so making choices about which line serves 'better' food is entirely subjective. On a HAL ship, (and again this is personal reflection) the quality ranges from acceptable (Pizza bar on the lido) through occasionally inspired, but generally OK (Lido buffets) to 'usually something exciting and tasty' (Dining Room) and 'great dining experience' (Pinnacle Grill). YMMV, and many factors weigh upon any definition of what constitues a memorable meal, only one of which is the quality and presentation of the food.

 

One thing that should never be forgotton though is the ability of good company to enhance any meal, whether at sea or at home. I always relish the thought of meeting new people, finding interesting things to talk about, and 'broadening my horizons', after all, isn't that was cruising is supposed to be all about?

[dan40]

When it comes to food, I think you can find just as much difference ship to ship as you do line to line. Some ship WILL have the worst food of that line. Not that it is bad, just not as good as its sisters. And another ship WILL have the best food of its line. Someone that happens to cruise those two ships and lines might think one is very much better than the other. But it might have been just the luck of the draw.

 

Rating cruiseline food against star rated land restaurants would be unfair. Even a small ship, 750 pax [and an equal number of crew] serves 4 meals a day. 4 X1500= 6000 X 7days = 42000 X 50weeks = 2,100,000. My guess is that there is NO 3, 4, or 5 star restaurant in the world, that serves even one half that many meals. Nor do any of them serve the wide variety of choices at each meal. And we won't even mention prices. Apples and oranges.

 

Dan

[NowVoyager908]

I enjoy good food, but food has never been a consideration in picking a cruise. I cruise because leaning against the railing of a ship and staring out at an endless blue ocean is my idea of heaven. :D Itinerary, port of embarkation, overall price, etc. are all deciding factors. Food is a non-issue, though I know it is of great importance to many.

 

I've never sailed on any cruise expecting a five-star meal. I just don't think it's possible for a kitchen churning out 1,000+ meals at the same time to pull that one off. I think of the typical ship dining room to be equivalent to a floating catering hall and adjust my expectations accordingly. And as a result, I've rarely been disappointed in a meal. I may not like the way something is prepared, but that has also happened in the best land-based restaurants is based purely on personal preference. YMMV. ;)

[SouthernCaribbean]

I've had F&C on the Glory and the Valor. Twice on the Glory and once on the Valor. Fish tough, overcooked, very greasy, and extremely fishy smelling.

 

Dan

 

I never tried it, yet many on the board rave about it.

[ctr5000]

Let me put it to you this way: I plan my vacation around the restaurants we plan to eat at!:D Of course, this is not necessary aboard a cruise ship, however, I did plan on hitting Sur La Mer first thing when my daughter and I cruised aboard the Conquest. Now that I'm taking a Cruise on the Ecstacy with DH, I plan on being sure to get him a Reuben ASAP after we board. He doesn't know a thing about cruising so this will be a surprise!

[srlucado]

...Now that I'm taking a Cruise on the Ecstacy with DH, I plan on being sure to get him a Reuben ASAP after we board. He doesn't know a thing about cruising so this will be a surprise!

 

He's in for a real treat! (And greetings, fellow Fort Worth person!)

[spleenstomper]

I really think #3 and #4 work for me, but I voted for #4.

 

Maybe as I cruise more, I'll know what the big deal about food is. But for right now, food is the least of my concerns. Obviously, I'd prefer good food over bad food.... but in the end I go for the destinations. (So I guess I could have voted for 3 categories).

[aVASTGrl]

I'm a foodie...I love good and different cuisine, I don't eat fast food at all, and the words Olive Garden are profanity in my house lol. That being said however, I'm going on my first cruise next May for the places I'll be seeing and the overall experience, and the food for me is secondary. I guess it all depends on what you want to get out of your cruise. My Aunt, who is in the food industry, cruises Carnival a lot and she says the food is pretty good overall, but the desserts not so much, which is fine by me, at least it'll help me keep my beach figure ;)

 

So even if the food disappoints me, I'm sure I'll be able to find plenty to eat and I plan on having a GREAT time regardless :)

[lovebug33]

Take it this way: I may not remember what I did, but I always remember what I ate. We have actually planned vacations around good food. Sad, but true.

[SouthernCaribbean]

Take it this way: I may not remember what I did, but I always remember what I ate. We have actually planned vacations around good food. Sad, but true.

 

As long as you had a good time and it doesnt have a negative effect on your life, no reason to think its a sad thing.

[marinewifeandproud]

Good food is a treat. My husband will eat anything and I teach school so I'm use to bad food. While I love good food, I have to say that not having to do any of the booking is more important to me.:p If a cruise offers me a relaxing time spent with my DH, then I am more than happy.

[blackrose602]

I chose "I like food but it's not that serious." I have a wide range of tastes, from genuine 5 star to the occasional greasy Checkers/Rallys burger. I love celebrity chefs and I love truck stops. To me, there is good food to be found at every level of the spectrum.

 

Of course, like anyone else, I don't like bad food. But in hundreds of meals of every level around the world, I've found that bad food, like good food, can be found at every price point.

 

That being said, I wouldn't choose a cruise line that is "known" for bad food. But I've been lucky enough to experience good food on every cruise. We usually try out the buffets and alternative spots for breakfast and lunch, and eat dinner in the dining room (though we have to eat one breakfast in the dining room, for the Eggs Benedict). To me, the camaraderie and experience in the dining room are what take the meal to a whole different level.

[AdrenalineRush]

Looking are several threads over the past few days, thought I would revive this thread.

 

For me food is far from the reason I cruise, its 5th or 6th on my list.

[mjl1960]

Are you kidding? Food is what I live for...and drink...so it would be 1)Food 2)Drink or would that be 1)Drink 2)Food...I am so confused!