Royal Caribbean = bad food? Is this true?

[Keith1010]

Yes, do people know this thread was started in 2009.

 

Keith

[isujim]

Maybe somebody actually used the search feature to find answers:rolleyes: and then add a comment...

[happy cruzer]

What could POSSIBLY be bad about food that I didn't have to:

 

go to the grocery store and purchase

 

tote home

 

bread, butterfly, chop, julienne, marinade, pound, puree, slice, tenderize, wash

 

bake, boil, broil, braise, fry, fricasse, roast, saute, steam

 

serve

 

listen to complaints about

 

painstakingly package leftovers

 

scrape the rest into the garbage disposal

 

unstick the garbage disposal

 

wash off the dishes ?????

 

Next day, start over again

 

Believe me, I'd have NO complaints.....

 

To all who agree, you should eat at a burger joint or a taco joint each day at home or microwaved TV dinners and be happy. Luckily, the cruise ships do better but your logic is flawed.

 

To the OP, if you like Carnival, RCI's food will be comparable so that should work.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Karysa]

The food is the weak link in the RCL package in my families opinion. To be more specific we found the food on our 3 RCL cruises to be salty, with tough meat and tasteless jelly-like desserts. Of 4 cruiselines RCL is last in food but first in sheer beauty and activities.

[seavoyager6]

Best on RCL to bring along canned tuna as an alternative to the gruel, airline food and mystery meat served aboard

[iheartbda]

Best on RCL to bring along canned tuna as an alternative to the gruel, airline food and mystery meat served aboard

You just love any opportunity to get a jab in on Royal Caribbean, don't you? It's very boorish.

[sjcruiser]

As a cruiser on both Royal and Carnival, I must state from experience, both are equally good and comparable. For room service and snack options, I believe that Royal has a more extensive selection when using Cafe Promenade or Sorrentos, but as far as the buffets and MDR, the rate the same IMHO.

[ShawninFL]

Food is very subjective and if you get a group of individuals together, they will all rank the cruise line's food differently. I have cruise Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, and Celebrity. For my personal tastes and experience, I have found Celebrity to be my favorite (thought over the years its falling closer to the others). Royal Caribbean and Princess were both very good and Carnival comes up the rear at mediocre. But these are huge generalities. One of our lowest rated dining experiences was 5 or 6 years ago on Vision of the Seas, but that's the only time on Royal that we've been disappointed with the food. I wouldn't hesitate in trying Royal Caribbean based on what others tell you about the food. Try it once and see if it's for you.

[the_journeyman]

I've had good food on the 5 RCI cruises. We usually ate in the MDR and avoided the Windjammer. The food is NOT as good IMO in the Windjammer as compared to the MDR.

 

JM

[momofmeg]

Maybe somebody actually used the search feature to find answers:rolleyes: and then add a comment...

 

It is okay. He said he felt the food is improving on RCI. So yes he did add to the thread. I guess he figured why not add to an old thread instead of starting a new thread?

 

Since this came up in my user CP and I did not remember posting, I knew it was an old thread-lol!

 

I am not sure the food is getting better myself, but I did not find it any worse in 2011 than I did in 2005. After a 5 year gap on cruising Celebrity I did feel their food was not as good-but I found it still better than other lines.

[momofmeg]

I've had good food on the 5 RCI cruises. We usually ate in the MDR and avoided the Windjammer. The food is NOT as good IMO in the Windjammer as compared to the MDR.

 

JM

 

Just shows we all see things differently. I find the windjammer buffet food better than other lines' buffet food.

[isujim]

It is okay. He said he felt the food is improving on RCI. So yes he did add to the thread. I guess he figured why not add to an old thread instead of starting a new thread?

 

Since this came up in my user CP and I did not remember posting, I knew it was an old thread-lol!

 

I am not sure the food is getting better myself, but I did not find it any worse in 2011 than I did in 2005. After a 5 year gap on cruising Celebrity I did feel their food was not as good-but I found it still better than other lines.

 

Meg I agree whole heartedly..........I think he did a search and just added to it..........perfectly acceptable. I was just saying let's don't rush to judgement on an old thread being brought up..........probably just didn't say it well enough LOL!

[momofmeg]

Meg I agree whole heartedly..........I think he did a search and just added to it..........perfectly acceptable. I was just saying let's don't rush to judgement on an old thread being brought up..........probably just didn't say it well enough LOL!

 

I was agreeing with you. If people do not read the dates of the post on the thread-well to me it is their bad. The date is shown on the posts.

[delily]

I found RCCL food to be very good as well as Carnivals. Both better than Norwegian's.

[zephyrgirl]

I like the food in the MDR for RCI, just have to remember that it is good banquet food and not gourmet cooked to order food you find in land restaurants. The other options on the ship got at little dull for me, Windjammer in particular felt very blah. But like others have said, you certainly won't starve. And for NCL I found it was the reverse for me, the MDR food was pretty low quality and I preferred the other options. I have sailed Carnival but the food must not have made much of an impression as I can't recall which I liked best.

[Sipsey]

I was very pleased with the DR food on my last RCI cruise. The buffet was just okay, but that is the way of buffets in general. It doesn't mean I won't eat it if the occasion calls for it.

[Canusa02]

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?

 

Having not read any posts other than your initial question, I do not know if someone has already shared an opinion similar to mine, so here goes. Our first two cruises were with Royal in Mar. 2005 and Mar. 2006. The food was absolutely amazing. We sailed with another line in 2009, and the food was really good, but not as good as the first two cruises. We were back on Royal last year, and I found the food was nowhere near as good as it had been the first two times around.

That being said, I don't find the food bad by any means. I do find that the lines could find better ways to save money than scrimping on food quality.

[OCruisers]

The food in the $pecialty restaurants on RCCL ships is especially good! YUM!

 

LuLu

~~~~

[05mak05]

We've been on lots of RCI cruises but only 2 Carnival. The food in the evening in the Main Dining room are just about the same with the edge going to Carnival in desserts. Their chocolate melting cake (or whatever it is) is the best dessert I've ever eaten. However, RCI wins big in both breakfast and lunch whether you eat in the buffet or in the dining room. When we were on Carnival, tables were littered with dirty dishes ... gross. We didn't care for the food offered at noon at all ... we thought it was greasy with limited choices. In RCI's Windjammer buffet, you have to hang on to your coffee cup as there is an attendant waiting to swoop it up the minute you put it down. Salad bar is always outstanding on RCI.

[cruise_girl2002]

I didn't like the food on either of my royal cruises. I liked how carnival gives you a hamburger/cheeseburger off the grill...royal Caribbean had theirs inside at the windjammer under a heatlamp. it was like rubber. I didn't like having to pay for a filet migion (I didn't, and was bummed to see that :mad:) free filet on carnival on one night! the food in the dining room was always cold

[MiamiSpartan]

not true....Food is probably a bit better than Carnival, but it is still food for the masses....don't expect a 5 start dinner...

The premium restaurants or very good, tho....

[Winnigirl]

We've been on lots of RCI cruises but only 2 Carnival. The food in the evening in the Main Dining room are just about the same with the edge going to Carnival in desserts. Their chocolate melting cake (or whatever it is) is the best dessert I've ever eaten. .

 

I read about this cake in preparation for our one and only Carnival Cruise - so I was looking forward to it. I ordered it twice. The first time I broke into it there was no melting...no nothing. It was a solid, dense, sort of brownie tasting thing - ok, but no "lava". So I tried again. Broke it open with my fork and instead of oozing lava I got sort of a liquid hot chocolate...so watery it was like someone poured chocolate milk all over my plate - so, I was not impressed with the chocolate melting cake....

[artypharty]

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.

 

...and be sure to order the Red Velvet Cake in RCI's Chops for dessert...it will not disappoint!!!:D

[Jimnbigd]

MDR food is OK for me. Some to me is not good. Some is really good, like the Fillet of Beef usually served night 2. I prefer the desserts in Cafe Promenade over the main dining room. And your ship will also have Sorrentos for Italian items. No extra charge for either.

 

Here are some youtube videos of the buffet. You won't go hungry. Watch in HD if you have the bandwidth.

-- lunch

-- dinner

 

And read these for more food reviews and pictures on the Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1813591

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714824

Yes, sometime the food looks better than it tastes, but at least it will give you and idea of what to expect.