Carnival Fan boy a little sad.....

[maxamuus]

Just got home from the Carnival Valor. Had a GREAT time and will do a review a little latter. Pretty much everything on the ship was just marvelous. With one major exception.... The Dining room food from last year seems to have gone from Gourmet to Romper room.

 

Last year on the Pride the menu seemed sophisticated and exotic and this year it was like ordering lunch at the food court. Don't get me wrong nothing was bad per say but the exciting dishes from last year were now boring. So many nights it was chicken tenders, chicken noodle soup, Mac and cheese etc. Is this the new menu ? I remember last year the George whoever he was recommendations but none this year.

 

Just curious is this just the Valor or the new menu in general? Yes i would sail Carnival again but i was a little let down with the food this time as it seemed so run of the mill average food. I plan on sending a review to them via a letter and did include it in my comment card. Just wondering if this was just me, just the Valor, or what.

[cathyz]

Just got home from the Carnival Valor. Had a GREAT time and will do a review a little latter. Pretty much everything on the ship was just marvelous. With one major exception.... The Dining room food from last year seems to have gone from Gourmet to Romper room.

 

Last year on the Pride the menu seemed sophisticated and exotic and this year it was like ordering lunch at the food court. Don't get me wrong nothing was bad per say but the exciting dishes from last year were now boring. So many nights it was chicken tenders, chicken noodle soup, Mac and cheese etc. Is this the new menu ? I remember last year the George whoever he was recommendations but none this year.

 

Just curious is this just the Valor or the new menu in general? Yes i would sail Carnival again but i was a little let down with the food this time as it seemed so run of the mill average food. I plan on sending a review to them via a letter and did include it in my comment card. Just wondering if this was just me, just the Valor, or what.

Sorry you had problems with the food, but the menus are fleet-wide so are the same on all ships. Of course, each galley can produce them a little differently, but the menus should be the same from ship to ship. We were on the Spirit in March/April and the food was even better than our 2 cruises last year, so I guess it does vary from ship to ship depending on the head chef.

[Azure Moon]

...

 

Last year on the Pride the menu seemed sophisticated and exotic and this year it was like ordering lunch at the food court. Don't get me wrong nothing was bad per say but the exciting dishes from last year were now boring. So many nights it was chicken tenders, chicken noodle soup, Mac and cheese etc. Is this the new menu ? I remember last year the George whoever he was recommendations but none this year. ...

 

Oh boy, I hope it hasn't gone down hill since our last October (it was good to us then).

 

One of the reasons we sail on Carnival is the main dining room food. They have items we actually crave between sailings :).

 

Glad to hear you commented on your guest card and will be writing the company a letter about your experience. :cool:

 

The connection with Georges Blanc was discontinued some time ago so that is the reason you didn't see his name and dish recommendations on the menu.

 

Sorry to hear your dining experience wasn't what you'd been looking forward to. Hope the menu is more to your liking on your next cruise.

[ShedQueen77]

I noticed the decline of the dining room on Inspiration in January. I thought it was just a 'ship thing', as the Destiny the previous year was fabulous.

[joeyancho]

I am a veteran of 23 cruises. I too noticed a decline in the food offerings on my last carnival cruise in March. Sadly it was my honeymoon cruise and i was so disappointed. There was nothing overtly bad but also nothing that was "over the top". I thought it was just the Triumph.

[cathyoo]

Now I will worry. My husband may jump ship back to RCI. I hope they still have the pasta as starters. It is one of his favorite things.

[nolaAlive]

I've noticed no decline in food or service and yes, you can still get pasta as a starter.

[jessemon]

The Mac and cheese cracks me up. They started that about last Oct. (Destiny B2B cruise) and it just killed me that would be a side for an entree in the main dining room......

It was also on the Fantasy and the Glory since then......Ack and yuck......

[ivycruise]

Wow, didn't see any mac & cheese or chicken tenders on our April Glory cruise. Still seemed to be the "old" menu which was much more sophisticated than those items and was excellent.

[Shipyard Cruiser]

So if they served mac and cheese but gave it a real sophisticated name would you be OK with that?

 

We did a Celebrity cruise awhile back and they had lots of sophisticated food, most which tasted pretty bad.

 

Meat or fish with a nasty sauce and a very sophisticated name.

 

I'll take good over sophisticated any day:D

[maxamuus]

The Mac and cheese cracks me up.

 

The thing that cracked me up about the mac and cheese was it came in a LITTLE bowl the size of a shot glass. And no im not kidding it was TINY.

 

In fact a table mate joked you would have to order three of them to actually get a taste from it because it was so small.

[bakechef]

We were offered chicken tenders as an appetizer on the legend last year, also the mac and cheese was offered as a side one night, and yes it was in a very small cup just a bit bigger than a shot glass. The mac and cheese on my trip was actually surprisingly good.

 

I really didn't give these items a second thought, they were quite tasty. I remember a few years back on the NCL boards, macaroni and cheese was offered as an entree, and there were so many people that were offended by that, it cracked me up!

[MrPete]

This is disturbing. These are things I would expect to find on a kids menu. :eek:

[Flynlo]

I think Carnival has let main dining room become akin to a Dennys diner. I am past cruising for the food. I noticed change on Liberty and then on Freedom. Lets see how Spirit does next month.

[Vanessa L]

The Mac and cheese cracks me up. They started that about last Oct. (Destiny B2B cruise) and it just killed me that would be a side for an entree in the main dining room......

It was also on the Fantasy and the Glory since then......Ack and yuck......

 

The thing that cracked me up about the mac and cheese was it came in a LITTLE bowl the size of a shot glass. And no im not kidding it was TINY.

 

In fact a table mate joked you would have to order three of them to actually get a taste from it because it was so small.

 

They definitely had this on the Fantasy last week. It cracked me up too when I saw how they were trying to "glamorize" mac and cheese! I about died when I saw that little shot glass o'noodles show up with my husband's dinner. There is definitely something lacking from the menus if the past, but to the Fantasy's credit, what we had was very good each night. Yes, you can still order the pastas as a starter. Everyone at our table had cruised Carnival before and everyone agreed that the food this time was much better than over the last year or so. It was definitely better than my last cruise in 2007 on the Imagination.

[Frank12]

Wow, didn't see any mac & cheese or chicken tenders on our April Glory cruise. Still seemed to be the "old" menu which was much more sophisticated than those items and was excellent.

 

I just got off the Glory in May and also found the dining room menu to be basically the same as it always was.....good selection and great food.

[jetskier]

Because of the change of both dining rooms to the same times, you will find a lot of dishes now share the same side items. This was done to cut down on the number of dishes being prepared and to speed up the delivery.

 

Dave

[MamaParrotHead]

I do not like mac & cheese in any shape or form, but I know from watching any of the foodie shows that, for some reason, chef's particular interpretations of mac & cheese are "the" thing. Some of the chefs come from bigger name restaurants and it's their "signature" dish.

 

I remember having chicken tenders offered as a starter way back on our first cruise in 2005.

[njmomof2]

Mac 'n cheese is a big dish for many chefs to use as a side or an accompaniment to many dishes, particularly beef.

 

We go to Disney quite often and one of their signature restaurants, Jiko, serves an oak fired filet mignon over mac 'n cheese with a red wine reduction that is outstanding.

 

I know it seems silly to have it served in a shot glass, but it has become a big side dish with many chefs.

[Ron_L]

I don't remember chicken tenders when we were on Valor in April, but they did have mac and cheese as a side, but it was served in a ramekin that was about 4" across and three inches deep, and it was pretty tasty. Mac and cheese is trendy now and if it is good I don't really mind. After all, fettuccine Alfredo is really just mac and cheese :rolleyes:

[ib4cruzn]

So if they served mac and cheese but gave it a real sophisticated name would you be OK with that?

 

We did a Celebrity cruise awhile back and they had lots of sophisticated food, most which tasted pretty bad.

 

Meat or fish with a nasty sauce and a very sophisticated name.

 

I'll take good over sophisticated any day:D

 

 

Wow! I've never had a bad meal on Celebrity! Every single one was delicious!

 

You must have had a bad Chef that cruise.

[ib4cruzn]

Mac and cheese? Chicken tenders?

 

McCarnival??

[newbieMom]

I saw some menus that had been posted here before our cruise and they were fabulous every single night. On our Freedom cruise 2 weeks ago, I noticed they were not the same...not even close:( I was sad about it, and sometimes struggled with what to order because nothing sounded all that great, but guess what? When I got it it WAS great! Everything tasted wonderful, even the prissy little mac and cheese :) I would have loved to have tried the old menus, but the current ones are still good, and not just because I don't have to cook....but that helps;)

[Georgiagolfer]

This is disturbing. These are things I would expect to find on a kids menu. :eek:

 

I agree. I have no problems with chicken tenders being an appetizer, but not an entree on the main menu. Sailed Fascination in February, and we also noticed a slight decline in food choices and quality. Chalked it up to the chef.

[Sparky2]

Just got home from the Carnival Valor. Had a GREAT time and will do a review a little latter. Pretty much everything on the ship was just marvelous. With one major exception.... The Dining room food from last year seems to have gone from Gourmet to Romper room.

 

Just curious is this just the Valor or the new menu in general? Yes i would sail Carnival again but i was a little let down with the food this time as it seemed so run of the mill average food. I plan on sending a review to them via a letter and did include it in my comment card. Just wondering if this was just me, just the Valor, or what.

 

We were on the Valor this past January and thought the food was the best we've ever had on any or our 6 previous cruises - 5 with Carnival. The menu was the same as our cruise in 2008 - I have copies of them.

 

Did the menus recently change?