Quality of main dining room food

[OPSoccermom]

I've heard various reasons why there's no lobster on the Med cruises. But no there was no lobster. If we were re-supplied in the various ports, I don't know. I'm not sure what you mean by CI. Yes there was sushi from Jade and escargot was only offered the first night. But it was good.

 

2P.P1

There was lobster on our 14 day Med cruise on Independence this June, although it was barely much larger than a jumbo shrimp. Overall, all at our table were a little dissapointed in the food and our comment cards reflected this.

 

We also saw more "seafood" and definitely less beef, veal. lamb, etc. We weren't that excited about those additional seafood entrees - most were obviously frozen fish fillets served with some kind of sauce. The "North Atlantic Cod" fillet had a consistancy of paste.

 

Like others, we weren't expecting 5 star cuisine, but certainly missed the rack of lamb, etc. that we had in the past.

 

As far as differences because we were in the Med... Other than some menu items (curry dishes, shepherd's pie, mashed peas) that reflected the mostly British passengers onboard, we saw no effect of our Med ports of call on the menu.

[taysidetwo]

Just back yesterday from Independence. I can honestly say, the food in the main dining room was terrific.

 

The Starters/Appetisers had a good seelction - usually 2 soups, 2 or 3 salads, and at least 3 or four others, and a cheese plate.

 

The Mains/Entrees had a good selection each night. Usually 2 pasta type dishes, always a fairly basic chicken dish - good for the fussy types!! (my husband had it a couple of times - he IS fussy!!!) Usually always some type of fish, either North Atlantic Salmon, or similar, at least 2 or 3 meat type dishes, always a veg option, and also a curry - most often a veg curry.

 

Desserts were always delicious, and they often had sugar free, or low fat choices. At least 5 different desserts, and always ice creams and sorbets if thats all you wanted.

 

We always left our table feeling very full, so no question about quantity, and in our opinion, definitely no problem with quality.

 

We didnt go to Chops or Portofinos as we felt we had no need for a change as the dinner menus were varied enough. We might do it on a future cruise.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Judi :)

[DMickey28]

I don't remember even looking at a menu at Chops except for dessert.. They had a waiter bring out the different cuts of meat that were available and we selected the filet mignon.

I didn't even see anything other than steak, so I don't know if anything else is available. I went into Chops with my mind set on getting the filet mignon (my favorite cut of steak) and my wife had the same.

It was very good, probably as good as the filet mignon that my wife and I get at our local 5 star restuarant where the filet mignon is around $50 per steak.

 

2.5 years ago they had a pork dish at Chops that was delicious!!! I am pretty sure it was the Royal Pork Shank. Our last cruise we ate at either Chops or Portofinos every night except the first night. At Portofino's they even brought us the Mud Pie dessert from Chops!!

[luvscruising2007]

What is it about the food that people dislike? I have found the food on all three of our cruises to be very good, whether in the MDR, windjammer, JR's anywhere on board. I started really questioning this when I saw that someone was used to burgers, fries pizza for lunch in Windjammer. You can get those at home, so why not try something different. Is it really the choices or the taste of the food? Just curious:confused:

[GulfCoastCruiser]

I have now completed over 20 cruises spread over a number of years. The way I look at it is that I generally have a cruise vacation for less than $150 per day, accommodation, food and entertainment included. Hence I do not expect "4 or 5 Star Dining" for which a couple could easily spend $150 for Dinner. It is true that over the last few years the food in the main dining room and the buffet has deteriorated both in substance and appeal. Its hard to cook for 2,000 people and more and still meet everyone's taste and expectations. Hence food tends to lack zip and imagination but still, all in all its "OK" and still fairly good value for money. I enjoy eating good food and hence I tend to eat at the Specialty Restaurants several times during the cruise. So it costs me a few dollars more but I get superb food and service in a nice environment. I dont complain because cruising is generally great value for money but I do miss that exceptional eating experience when I am on a ship without the alternate dining experience. Smaller ships should look at adding at least one alternate Dining Room.

Just my two penny thoughts!

 

Couldn't have said it better. We're in a small Texas town and are lucky to have a 2 star dining experience! So, we're always happy campers. As I said on a different thread - we also paid for the $14.95 steak one night and it was wonderful. When we grow tired of cruising, we'll do something else - until then, we're good to go anytime!

[njdevil08]

What is it about the food that people dislike?

Thank you for posting this question as I've been wondering the same thing. Maybe for those that have been cruising longer, they were used to experiencing nearly 5 star dining on ships, which definitely isn't the case. Although, we must say the food on freedom was phenomenal, is it possible the quality of food varies from ship to ship?? Yes, there are restaurants that have better food than the MDR, but c'mon, I've never eaten food that good for a FULL WEEK!

[MDSue]

I was on the Serenade in April and the food and service in the dining room was excellent. We were told that out of all of RCCL's ships that it was voted the best. No complaints here:)

[gadaboutgal]

Just on the Mariner in September. My DH and I usually like to dine at least once (sometimes for the whole cruise) in Chops and in Portafino. We didn't this cruise because we thought the dining room food was very good and decided to forgo optional dining. Actually agreed that the dinners were better than others we have had on RCL in the last year.

[shaggyofwv]

Thank you for posting this question as I've been wondering the same thing. Maybe for those that have been cruising longer, they were used to experiencing nearly 5 star dining on ships, which definitely isn't the case. Although, we must say the food on freedom was phenomenal, is it possible the quality of food varies from ship to ship?? Yes, there are restaurants that have better food than the MDR, but c'mon, I've never eaten food that good for a FULL WEEK!

 

 

Everything is subjective, especially taste. My wife and I agreed that our food in the mdr was nowhere near as good on the Mariner this year as it was on the Mariner last year..