Carnival Food (Valor in particular) vs. RCCL (MOS & AOS) HONEST opinion please

[bigdaddyvoges]

Now first off I want to say that I know this is a Carnival board and will expect the "Carnival has the best food" replies which are fine (I would probably like to see a few of those ;)) and I sailed on the Triumph in 2006 and I believed the food was good. We then sailed RCCL AOS in 2007 and thought the food was very good here as well.

 

Now as far as dining room food goes (I am not going to judge buffet food), will I notice any differences between my cruise coming up on the Valor and RCCL? I did notice that espresso and capuccino is free which will save our group of 14 BIG BUCKS as most of us will drink at least an espresso or two after dinner, this was a huge nightly expense on RCCL.....

 

I would like some honest opinions..... THANKS!!!

 

Bob

[chanceflight]

We've been on 12 cruises, many of them on Carnival, and just returned from the Valor. I've always felt that Carnival wins in the food department. Their menu has a variety to choose from and is not heavy on one type of food, like seafood (Princess line).

 

On the Valor, you had a choice of dishes available all the time in case you can't find anything you like on the evening's menu. These dishes include flat iron steak with peppercorn sauce, or grilled chicken with herbs. And of course there is the always available chocolate melting cake, which is a meal in itself!

 

The Valor had a nice selection of pasta dishes for entrees. If you don't want a large portion, you can get it as a starter.

 

I'm a big meat eater, but I actually picked the vegetarian entrée on the Valor a couple of times (especially after the 24oz Porterhouse at Scarletts the night before, had to take a break!). One day's selection was a spinach lasagna that was out of this world!

[KrysyGT]

I've been on both the AOS and the Valor... I found both to have very appealing selections and everything I got was always excellent. However, I tend to favor the menus on Carnival a bit more. Every night there was something I was excited about or dying to try. A couple nights on the AOS I couldn't decide because nothing really was appealing. Also, some of the better food items I've had on a cruise, were on my Carnival trips.

 

The only thing I can say that the AOS kills the Valor in food wise is dessert, with exception of Carnivals warm chocolate melting cake. I never was really crazy about any of the Carnival desserts. Maybe partially because by the time I got to that portion I was too full to enjoy anything! :)

[RaMar]

I have been on just one Carnival cruise but have cruised 18 times with other lines. I thought that the food on Carnival was EXCELLENT! The food on my last RCCI cruise right after the Carnival cruise was not even close. It was bland in comparison to Carnival's.

[michigyrl]

I've been on one Carnival cruise (Valor) and one RCC. I agree with the others in that I thought Carnival had much more selection--especially on the Lido deck! There were so many different places to eat that we didn't get a chance to try them all. I will say that I did enjoy the desserts and the pizza more on RCC. The desserts were just OK on Valor (except for the Chocolate Melting Cake--YUM!) and I didn't care for the pizza at all on Valor. Also, Valor has a lot more ice cream / yougert machines on board and offers more variety of each.

[cheerfulkim]

Last year I had the awesome opportunity to go on two 7 day cruises within two months of each other. One was an Alaskan on RCI Rhapsody of the Seas in June, and the other was a Western Caribbean on the Carnival Triumph in August. I absolutely loved both of them. The service on both was wonderful. But I do have to say that the food on Carnival was quite a bit better than RCI. As someone else said, there were several nights on the Rhapsody that I couldn't decide because nothing looked that great. That being said, everything I had was good, it's just that nothing stood out as superb. And the desserts were just okay. There were several nights that I just ordered a scoop of ice cream. I love decadent chocolate desserts, and there weren't that many of them. On Carnival, there were several nights where I had a hard time choosing because there were so many great choices! And I could always get the chocolate melting cake! Yummm!

Again, both cruises were so memorable, but the food really stood out more from my Carnival cruise.

[Bold Spirit]

I think you'll be pleased with Carnival's food. Like others have said, however, RCCL has the best dessert.

[bigdaddyvoges]

I would agree with the desert on RCCL, it was out of this world with always 2 or 3 I wanted to try.... I am sure Carnival will NOT disappoint.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Now first off I want to say that I know this is a Carnival board and will expect the "Carnival has the best food" replies which are fine (I would probably like to see a few of those ;)) and I sailed on the Triumph in 2006 and I believed the food was good. We then sailed RCCL AOS in 2007 and thought the food was very good here as well.

 

Now as far as dining room food goes (I am not going to judge buffet food), will I notice any differences between my cruise coming up on the Valor and RCCL? I did notice that espresso and capuccino is free which will save our group of 14 BIG BUCKS as most of us will drink at least an espresso or two after dinner, this was a huge nightly expense on RCCL.....

 

I would like some honest opinions..... THANKS!!!

 

 

As my freind (who had more than 35 cruises) said to my once-Its not a cruise line who make a food,its a chef,so on the same ship you can get different food if they change chef':D

[Leia]

I'd give Valor a slight edge on food, if not dining atmosphere. As you can see, I've been on both Valor and Mariner in the recent past, and while the dining room on Mariner is just beautiful, I agree with the other poster that the menus are a little better on Valor.

 

The waiters were really sweet on both, btw.

[bigdaddyvoges]

I thought my waiter and assistant waiter were absolutely PERFECT on my last cruise, RCCL AOS. It was sad to leave them after a week of their pampering....