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What line has the best food?


Maeshel
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I've only sailed Carnival once (many years ago) and Princess twice. I prefered the food on Princess. I rarely eat in the buffet, but the food in the MDR was excellent on both the Island and Coral Princess. I also enjoy Sabatini's (Suite passengers get to eat breakfast there), but it is a bit too much food for dinner.

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Food quality has shifted in the past few years in my opinion. But I still remain true to Celebrity's quality and consistent innovation. They have AMAZING alternative restaurants and great main dining room food.

 

I have been wanting to try Oceania because I hear they focus on food, any thoughts on this?

 

Royal Caribbean is basic and consistent, not much to write home about, although I haven't been on any new alt restaurants. Norwegian I am not a fan of. Cunard was actually disappointing in my opinion, maybe because my expectations were so high.

 

Of my 42 cruises, I would say Oceania had the best MDR food. We are huge Celebrity fans, and I still say they have the best alternative restaurants at sea. Azamara is very close to Oceania (they use the same class of ships).

My top five cruise lines for food:

 

#1 Oceania

#2 Azamara

#3 Celebrity

#4 Cunard

#5 Holland America

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

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I'm a very easy person to please. Have someone prepare a good menu choice and serve it well - then it is going to be OK in my book.

However, it is hard to measure the quality and service from yesteryear to today. Everything has gone a little down hill.

 

Celebrity was always my #1 choice on the mass market lines. There selection is still GREAT but quality has slipped a little.

 

RCI (on the Explorer) has been consistently very good.

 

I haven't been on Princess or the defunct Renissance Line for years but still harbor food memories of their meals.

 

I am not a big fan of NCL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Excellent post.

 

I have been on only a few RCI cruises over the years. Although I believe the food in the buffet has gone down over the years, the food in the main diningroom has been consitently good (although less of selection for the high-end dishes).

 

I am looking for a family cruise next year with a teen and pre-teen, and although I have been a "loyal" RCI customer, I am looking into other [mainstream] cruise lines to meet our needs (including food). I am surprised to hear so many rank RCI so low, and Disney getting some good reviews (although not sure if my to be 13 year old will like a Disney cruise). If anyone has any suggestions and comparisons on the food selections for kids & teens, it would be much appreciated.

 

FYI - The favorite food I ever had on a cruise ship was on the Royal Majesty back in 1996 when it was with an independent line (way before it was taken over by NCL).

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It doesn't surprise me to hear Oceania being tops in the foodie world. They are a premium plus cruise line (close to luxury). For those of you sailing mainstream, Oceania would be the logical next step -- yummy food and beautiful ships. Having said that, we sail on Regent and Silversea and find them equal in food quality:)

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Azamara-was surprised on how good the MDR room food is it was on par with their speciality restaurants in fact when we go on Azamara again we are going to skip the speciality restaurants.

 

Celebrity-MDR food was good and offered a good variety of choices.

 

NCL-Specialty restaurants are very good we did not try the MDR we heard to many horror stories :-)

 

RCL-Medicore food in the MDR just average but we do not go on RCL for the food it is the overall experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I understand that there are many different opinions on what constitutes the “absolute best food”, and I understand that there is a problem with sampling sizes. But these types of problems occur in land based restaurants as well. Yet there are plenty of guidebook, reviews, newspaper columns on quality of land based restaurants. The review and ratings may be done by experts (e.g., Michelin, newspapers), or by public (e.g., Zagat’s). Despite the extreme subjectivity of gauging quality of restaurants, the review process is well developed and understood -- even those of us who are non-foodies are able to name several high quality restaurants in the metropolitan area to us.

If the review process can be done for land-based restaurants, and could be done with hundreds of thousands land based establishments, why is it so difficult to do so with cruise ships? Or has this been done, and everyone here is somehow ignoring it.

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I understand that there are many different opinions on what constitutes the “absolute best food”, and I understand that there is a problem with sampling sizes. But these types of problems occur in land based restaurants as well. Yet there are plenty of guidebook, reviews, newspaper columns on quality of land based restaurants. The review and ratings may be done by experts (e.g., Michelin, newspapers), or by public (e.g., Zagat’s). Despite the extreme subjectivity of gauging quality of restaurants, the review process is well developed and understood -- even those of us who are non-foodies are able to name several high quality restaurants in the metropolitan area to us.

 

If the review process can be done for land-based restaurants, and could be done with hundreds of thousands land based establishments, why is it so difficult to do so with cruise ships? Or has this been done, and everyone here is somehow ignoring it.

 

Interesting point. I don't expect to see anyone taking on this task. It would be an expensive review when you take into consideration the cost of the cruise!

 

Marion

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I understand that there are many different opinions on what constitutes the “absolute best food”, and I understand that there is a problem with sampling sizes. But these types of problems occur in land based restaurants as well. Yet there are plenty of guidebook, reviews, newspaper columns on quality of land based restaurants. The review and ratings may be done by experts (e.g., Michelin, newspapers), or by public (e.g., Zagat’s). Despite the extreme subjectivity of gauging quality of restaurants, the review process is well developed and understood -- even those of us who are non-foodies are able to name several high quality restaurants in the metropolitan area to us.

If the review process can be done for land-based restaurants, and could be done with hundreds of thousands land based establishments, why is it so difficult to do so with cruise ships? Or has this been done, and everyone here is somehow ignoring it.

 

Yes it has been done and is kept up to date nearly every year. Conde Nast does it and here are the latest results. Similar to Zagat, these ratings come from the passengers, not professional food critics.

 

Individual ships did show differences but as a whole:

 

Mass market: Celebrity was number 1, Disney number 2.

 

In the river cruise ship market, the differences between individual ships was so large that I would hesitate to call a winner. River Concerto (Grand Circle) was number 1; and the next three were all from Uniworld

 

In the luxury market, Seabourne was number 1 and Crystal and Oceania were virtually tied for number 2.

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  • 1 month later...

Well we have sailed on many lines. So far, 28 cruises in all. 18 on Carnival alone.

Three left for this year and booked on 6 for next year. All Carnival.

Celeberty and RCCL were the best for food and now it is a toss up. Depends what you like to eat.

Reason we pick carnival. Price and size of cabin.

A few months ago. We took a short 4 day on the Carnival Imagination and could not belive the quality and temperature of the food.

It was fantastic. Just like 5 star dining.

Now, we gave up formal dining. Takes too long to get the food.

Have no idea what the heck it will look and taste like when you finally do get it.

We do not like dining for over an hour and a half. Sitting after dinner with a drink and talking is one thing. But over an hour to get all the food, that's another.

So we mostly go to the buffet. See and get what we like.

Now back to the Carnival Imagination out of Miami.

Hot food was unbelieveably hot. Soup was so hot you could not eat it immediatly. Cold food, salad etc. icy cold. Just the way it shoud be.

Everything inbetween was excellent. Cut all the meat with a fork.

Taste was excellent. Texture was excellent.

Atmosphere was also so different and wonderful.

The plates were nautical and beautifully colored.

So being so very unexpected and wonderful we had to ask.

Here was our answer.

We are experimenting on the Imagination.

The head chef is our best in the fleet. The food is much better quality.

As for the temperature of the food. Our heating and cooling tables are new and different just for this ship. All, some or none will be on the other ships after there 2.0 make over.

Needless to say. We were very disapointed to hear it might not make it to all the ships, if anySo we are going to see if it remains the same.

Valor in Sept and the the Imagination again in October. Liberty in December. It will be interesting to see what it will be like on the Liberty. It went through the 2.0 make over.

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I have cruised on most of the "mainstream" cruise lines (more than once with the exception of Carnival) and am surprised that Silversea hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

 

IMHO, the Le Champagne dining room on Silversea is *the* best dining experience I have had at sea. Besides being a Relais & Chateaux-affiliated dining establishment, the meals I have had in Le Champagne would compare favorably to a Michelin one or two star (land) restaurant.

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New here and hope I am posting in the correct forum.

Just returned from from my 2nd cruise on Royal Carribean. I felt the food has gone down hill from my first cruise with them in 2004.

 

What cruiseline has the best food in your opinion? Looking at an inside passage cruise for 2012.

I've been on Princess & Celebrity. While princess is wonderful, Celebrity is the best. Now with the solstice class ships, & 4 specialty restaurants, beyond great. That being said my husband always says that the Pizza & Cookies are better on Princess.

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that is like saying which girl is the prettiest in the miss america contest

 

we all see feel and taste differently

 

some of us drive fords others toyota other mercedes

 

they all get us from point a to point b

 

what i think is delicious may not agre with your taste buds

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  • 2 weeks later...

Of the five lines we have cruised with, Oceania comes up first with Disney a distant second.

 

Even though the Specialty Restaurants are included in the Oceania cruise fare, we were equally as happy in the Grand Dining Room most nights. We were on a 15 day cruise in July of this year and the GDR did not repeat the menu---only some entrees and side offerings. The menus in the Specialty Restaurants remain largely the same (deliciously) each evening. :p

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  • 3 weeks later...

Have sailed many times on Celebrity and RCCL and once on Carnival.

We like Celebrity

Food on RCCL has been good but just last year we sailed on the Oasis and thought the food in the dining room ok but the food in Windjammer was VERY unappealing. And if you are in the "adult" area and the food in the Windjammer wasnt appealing you had to go to the other end of the ship for even a hamburger. I thought the ship is so big, another grill would have been nice. They do have the spa food. Honestly it was almost "a little too healthy" at times. Where as we loved the spa food on Celebrity.

We just booked a cruise for this winter, and considered the Allure, but since it is the sister of Oasis we choose a different ship. We loved the entertainment and the adult area on the Oasis. It was bliss but getting to food when the Windjammer was that bad was a negative.

Also went on Carnival once. I always am shocked to say this but the food on that ship was excellent. The buffet had stations: Mexican, made to order stir fries, made to order sandwiches etc. I must say we were shocked. sadly, the Carnival experience was not for us. The ship we were on didnt have allot of big windows and the pool area was really loud. Its a shame cuz the food was good

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  • 11 months later...
New here and hope I am posting in the correct forum.

Just returned from from my 2nd cruise on Royal Carribean. I felt the food has gone down hill from my first cruise with them in 2004.

 

What cruiseline has the best food in your opinion? Looking at an inside passage cruise for 2012.

 

Well have not been on any cruise ship, except for NCL. They DEFINETLY do not have the best food. Was really disappointed.

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Have sailed many times on Celebrity and RCCL and once on Carnival.

We like Celebrity

Food on RCCL has been good but just last year we sailed on the Oasis and thought the food in the dining room ok but the food in Windjammer was VERY unappealing. And if you are in the "adult" area and the food in the Windjammer wasnt appealing you had to go to the other end of the ship for even a hamburger. I thought the ship is so big, another grill would have been nice. They do have the spa food. Honestly it was almost "a little too healthy" at times. Where as we loved the spa food on Celebrity.

We just booked a cruise for this winter, and considered the Allure, but since it is the sister of Oasis we choose a different ship. We loved the entertainment and the adult area on the Oasis. It was bliss but getting to food when the Windjammer was that bad was a negative.

Also went on Carnival once. I always am shocked to say this but the food on that ship was excellent. The buffet had stations: Mexican, made to order stir fries, made to order sandwiches etc. I must say we were shocked. sadly, the Carnival experience was not for us. The ship we were on didnt have allot of big windows and the pool area was really loud. Its a shame cuz the food was good

A few months ago we cruised on the Carnival Breeze. I had not cruised on Carnival in 15 years. The ship was wonderful and the food was exceptional....I was shocked because I was expecting mediocre food. We have cruised on most of the cruise lines and I have now put Carnival back on my list if the itinerary is right.

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Of the three lines I've sailed on, in the MDR RCCL was worse than cafeteria food, Windstar was very good. Remy on the Disney Dream was by far the best meal we've had at sea--easily worthy of two Michelin stars.

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  • 1 month later...

After 49 cruises, let me update my picks:

 

#1 -- Oceania, best dining room food of all cruise lines.

 

#2 -- Azamara, very close to Oceania, but their buffet is not as good.

 

#3 -- Celebrity -- Best large ship category! Buffet and Alternative restaurants are great.

 

#4 -- Cunard dining room only! Buffet sucks and Todd English is so so.

 

#5 -- Oasis and Radiance class ships of RCL if you visit their alternative restaurants. All other ship Classes are not that great.

 

#6 -- Holland America. Safe MDR food and pretty good buffet and alternative restaurants.

 

We are going to give Princess another try next month. Stay tuned.

 

Kel:)

Edited by kelmac
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  • 1 year later...

I been on 5 cruises but only on 4 cruise line

 

Princess is #1

MSC is. # 2

RCCL IS # 3

Celebrity is # 4

 

I been on princess Caribbean , MSC orchestra , serenade of the seas , celebrity summit and celebrity reflection and going on my six cruise in march on MSC Divina .

Edited by Noband
Just adding stuff
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