Royal Caribbean = bad food? Is this true?

[tm5to1]

Having taken 2 Carnival cruises in the past, I am now looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In most respects, I have heard wonderful things about RCCL and their ships. Except, now I'm hearing very bad things about the food. Anyone want to chime in on this?

[Happy ks]

The only thing I will say is that cruise food on every cruise line we've been on has been pretty much the same. It's all mass produced and it all tastes like banquet food to me.

 

I'd not say the food was bad, just not gourmet or up to par with a great land based restaurant. It's edible, sometimes you find something you really think is good. People pretty much give their opinions on what they have personally eaten and perhaps if they chose something else they would have liked that better.

 

Meats are always overcooked, chicken always tastes reheated to me, desserts look pretty but lack much flavor, not much in the way of really fresh vegetables and salads. The soups seem to be popular choices but I don't care for sweet soup.

[RoofingPrincess]

I've been on one Carnival cruise, one Princess, three RCCL.

Not a whole lot of difference, foodwise.

Each one has had a dish or two that I adored, and I've never hated anything I ordered.

[vegasnine]

I have been on both RCI and Princess. I have found that RCI's food was better than Princess. I agree that the buffet food is very "cafeteria" but it's not bad. MDR food I've always found tasty - I haven't had issues with meat being overcooked - if they get it wrong you send it back - they fix it. Even on days when a certain item (like prime rib) is offered either Medium Well or Medium Rare and my DH and I order it Medium - it's come out perfect.

 

Specialty restaurants are usually more of the gourmet food - high end steak houses - if you're going on a ship with a Chops Grille - you should pay the $25 and try it out - very VERY good.

[Willbcruisin]

I have cruised RCL, CCL and Princess.

 

Did not care for food on Princess.

 

Loved the food on CCL.

 

RCL food we have found very good.

 

I think it's all "personal" opinion. The only thing is I always find beef different at sea.

 

I come from New England and love seafood............have always found it to be very good at sea.

 

Enjoy Freedom.........your going to love this ship!

 

We now discovered after just completing our first CCL cruise we're going to have to alternate between the two lines!! (CCl & RCL)

 

Happy Cruising!:D

[ancldaca]

Good generalized comments so far. My 2c is that I find that RCL's generally available food is consistently under-seasoned. The signature menu in the MDR is on par to Princess' normal MDR menu. My meals at Portofino were always good though.

[firefly333]

I liked Princess the best. Its all relative. My last cruise on Voyager 2 weeks ago, the food seemed improved. They had a great salad thingee in the dining room at lunch where you walked around and pointed at the bowls you wanted and the guys mixed up a salad to order .... or you could order off the menu if you didnt want to get up and point.

[Aquahound]

Having taken 2 Carnival cruises in the past, I am now looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In most respects, I have heard wonderful things about RCCL and their ships. Except, now I'm hearing very bad things about the food. Anyone want to chime in on this?

 

I have always found the food on RCI to be very good.

 

If you get the opportunity, I highly suggest booking Portofino or Chops. The meals there are excellent.

[misty57]

We have always enjoyed the food on RCI, the food on CCL was also good. I found the pasta dishes on RCI to be bland. I always compare it to my cooking and the pasta isn't as good. The beef and chicken were usually good, the sea food good but not plentiful.. order 2:D. We don't find that the food is always

any particular way. I think it depends on the chefs, the waitors and personal preference. When we were on Voyager we ordered the sirloin steak several times. Some of our fellow diners sent theirs back because theirs happened to be 1. overcooked or 2 undercooked, while ours was always just right:D. As others have suggested, try the specialty restaurants because their food is very good and if it isn't they will fix it.

[Cuizer2]

Having taken 2 Carnival cruises in the past, I am now looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In most respects, I have heard wonderful things about RCCL and their ships. Except, now I'm hearing very bad things about the food. Anyone want to chime in on this?

 

You are asking about something that is very subjective. That said, I was on the Voyager of the Seas about two weeks ago and the food was very good. I have been on five Royal Caribbean cruises and five Carnival cruises (and three others). In general the food on both lines is good, with a slight edge going to Carnival.

[emjsea]

This is very subjective and some people feel VERY strongly about it. I, on the other hand, haven't found any difference in quality on any of the lines I've been on. It's all the same and that is pretty darn good.

[momofmeg]

It has been 5 years sinc eI was on carnival, but 3 cruises had great food, one had mediocre at best. It has been almost 4 years since I have been on RCI, I found the food on 2 cruises(SOS) perhaps slightly not as good as Carnival's 3 cruises that I enjoyed the food, but very slight. I did find though the food on a voyager class ship only mediocre but I have only taken 1 crusie on that class of ship, perhaps it was an "off" week.

 

Other lines I have been on-I rate Princess and NCL decent food- a little better than the food on my one voyager class cruise, but certainly not 4 star food. The same goes for Disney, the food was so-so at best except in Palos, that was the best meal I have had on any cruise ship, including the specialty restaurants.

 

HAL and Celebrity I did find the food was better-4 star? no-but still better-the premium lines do give you somewhat better food. But 4 star? 4 Star food was in Palos on Disney, Oceanliners on Celebrity Constellation, Chops of Marienr of the Seas, and Cagneys on NCL Pearl-and as I said the absolute best was Palos of all of those.

 

Now, I have been to other specialty restaurants on ships also and found the food good and worth the extra cost, it was just those I mentioned previously were the 4 star ones.

[cruiserbryce]

just got back from our first Carnival cruises and while the food was fine I do believe that RC offers a better selection. Like others have mentioned...you can only do so much with the quantity of food they put out and the time frame in which it must be available. Over the past couple cruises with RC we have actually found their food product to be improving...just goes to show that its all a matter of personal opinion

[goldcar49]

Having taken 2 Carnival cruises in the past, I am now looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In most respects, I have heard wonderful things about RCCL and their ships. Except, now I'm hearing very bad things about the food. Anyone want to chime in on this?

We have gone on many Royal cruises and the food is ok, not as good as Celebrity but the coffee is good.

[moniquet]

Three years since we were on RCCL the food was ok. then. As someone stated, there is not much difference in the average lines. I think Holland America has the edge, thought it better than all even QM2.

[cb at sea]

You won't go hungry on any cruise. But, if you sail RCI and expect 4-5 star cuisine, you'll be dissappointed. The food isn't "bad", it's just normal food, nothing fancy or outstanding (for the most part).

When folks complain about the "decline" in the food, it's because they've sailed when the food was exquisitely prepared and presented, and the choices were more.

Like I said, you will NOT go hungry, but expect "restaurant" style food--not a major "dining experience"!

[juniorsmom]

I find the food on RCL to be significantly better than at an AI. I have only cruised RCL lately and have no complaints about the food. You really have to try the sandwiches in the Cafe Promenade.

[jpg1747]

I've recently been on Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean. If I were ranking them, I'd put Princess first, Carnival second and Royal Caribbean third, but they are very close together. All of them have things I love and things I'll never order again. Could just be that things were off on a particular night. I'm happy to cruise all three lines again.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

Having taken 2 Carnival cruises in the past, I am now looking forward to my first Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas. In most respects, I have heard wonderful things about RCCL and their ships. Except, now I'm hearing very bad things about the food. Anyone want to chime in on this?

 

Well I am a college student and just went on my first cruise over spring break (RC, Maj. of seas) and I thought the food was great! I am not picky and have been living off subway and soup so to me the food was great. In my group the guys ordered 2 entrees half the time and I order 2 appetizers on a couple nights.

 

I LOVE a good chocolate cake, not gourmet desserts so to me I wished the desserts were more comfort-ish like cakes and brownies

 

It just depends if you are a food snob or are satisfied with (like an above person said), banquet food :)

[trixietx]

We have always found the food on RCCL ships to be very good. In March we were on Radiance OTS and the food was excellent in the dining room and the Windjammer. We were very impressed with the Windjammer. Out of 16 days we only ate one meal off the ship.

 

Every cruise we book a dinner at Chops and Portofino, they are excellent.

[janabm81]

I've found that on Royal Caribbean you have 3 different classes of food.

 

1. Buffet (typical boring fare)

2. Main Dining Room (Very good but sometimes under seasoned)

3. Specialty Restaurants (Great Food - Like going to a top end restaurant back home)

 

On the other hand I've found that the desserts at the buffet were better than in the main dining room but that might be because by the time I get to the desserts in the MDR I'm typically Stuffed Full!:rolleyes:

[grand isle joe]

We took the Freedom over New Years and found the food in the MDR to be good. Our waiter would make up any combo we wished .But we really liked the variety found in the windjammer. The curry dishes and regional foods were really good and it seems that the chefs were allowed to use some of their own recipies. The fish was also fresh tasting which is hard to do on a steam table. The salads were always fresh and crisp. The thing that I loved best is that I DIDN'T HAVE TO COOK IT!

Wishing you and yours a great cruise.:)

[mom2girls]

Personally, I think Carnival is much better than RCI when it comes to food. But, Chops was pretty good. I wouldn't let the food change my decision as to which ship I'd sail though.

[silentbob007]

It can depend on the ship/executive chef. The one area where I find RCL truly lacking is in the dessert arena. They offer a few good ones, but too many (especially in the buffets) are use bland gel as filler. Otherwise, fairly typical mass-produced food (though I'll say I tend to like Carnival more ... and it may truly just be for desserts).

[BroncosFan2010]

The food on RCCL is average. It used to be better, but I believe that all food on all ships, on all lines is starting to go downhill. Eating at one of the speciality restaurants is well worth the extra money. Portofino's is amazing! I am not sure what is offered on the Freedom, but there are several dining options other than the MDR and buffet.