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What Line Has the Best Food?


RealDeal
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Hard question to answer, as everybody's taste buds are different.

 

Out of Princess, RCCL, and Carnival, I definitely appreciate Carnival's cuisine more. I'm a retired chef, F&B director, and caterer, and I'm a bit picky about food. Carnival has consistently been there with quality, taste, and presentation. The food was just fine on the other lines, but nowhere near Carnival's.

 

But then again - that's MY opinion.:D

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Interesting...I was on Carnival many years ago, and I liked it then, but it seems somehow Carnival is viewed as a "lower tier" than RCL and Celebrity...Am I wrong?

 

Cotton: You seem to be very experienced with Carnival. Is it true that it primarily targets a younger audience, or is it pretty varied? When I cruised w/them years ago, I was on the younger side & remember being surprised that many of the passengers were much older.

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Interesting...I was on Carnival many years ago, and I liked it then, but it seems somehow Carnival is viewed as a "lower tier" than RCL and Celebrity...Am I wrong?

 

I don't think that you are wrong about a generally held perception that Carnival is "lower tier". I do think that the perception is wrong.

 

In my limited experience Carnival's food while not the most imaginative is usually tasty, well prepared and of good quality. I found the menus well structured, offering good variety with choices to suit most palettes, reasonable portion sizes, and good nutritional balance. Those seeking gastronomical perfection will not be happy. Nor will those used to eating in 4 & 5 star establishments.

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RealDeal - Carnival's image has changed MUCH since the earlier days of cruising. I saw very few families and children on my earlier cruises (late 80s). Now, there are many more families with children on board. However, I don't personally see that many, as I cruise in early September to avoid kiddies of all ages.:D

 

BRoberts - I was chef in a 4-star and a 5-star restaurant in New Orleans, and I have to say that although Carnival's food is not in those categories, they are probably 2 to 3-star, which is not a bad rating at all...considering that most restaurants in the U.S. have no rating. LOL Most everything I've tried has been very good to excellent. Only a few things met with disfavor from me, namely the gumbo.:)

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Celebrity:

#Lunch buffets.... what else can be said... they are buffets

#breakfast buffet--good waffles and good omlette bar. Pastries are very good

#Evening dining room.... very good, good food, excellent service

#Cova cafe---there coffee is not free, but very good. All pastries are excellent. Try the chocolate coissants

#aqua spa cafe--very good. healthy and excellent. Check out the daily made to order specials

#pool grill- hotdogs, burgers etc..

#afternoon tea- different, good

#sushi- very good

#evening gourmet bites- also very good. But we choose late dining and are usually too full to enjoy the late bites

#room service- very good, always on time, good service

we found the dining room experience to be far above other cruise lines

Oh! Specialty restaurant should not be missed

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I've sailed Princess, NCL, HAL, RCCL, Celebrity, Crystal & Disney. My personal favorite for food would be 1) Crystal and 2) Celebrity's specialty restaurants (on the Millennium-class ships).

 

Here are some of our food photos from previous cruises:

 

Crystal: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/158609473BwigHe

 

Celebrity Specialty Restaurant: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/551434781hmIhtm

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I've been on Disney -- interesting dining experiences -- different restaurants every night, Celebrity -- not impressive, and RCCL twice. 'Nough said? Service was great and food top-notch on Mariner of the Seas. One tip -- go to breakfast and lunch in the dining room at least once -- meet the nicest people at those meals! Also, order room service at least once -- just 'cause you can -- esp. if you have a balcony!

Jakie:D

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  • 3 weeks later...

We've cruised on Carnival, Princess, and NCL.

 

Carnival food was OK - though it was a short cruise on an older ship so that may have had something to do with it.

 

NCL food was just OK - nothing really jumped out at me as great, except for the specialty restaurant, which was fantastic.

 

Princess food was the best, in my humble opinion. I gained 15 pounds on a 7 night cruise :eek:

 

We are going to try HAL next. I've heard it is quite good but we'll see. I'll do my best to sample everything :)

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2 Disney cruises....Wonder & Magic....food was excellent

 

1 RC.....food was alright

 

2 Carnival Glory.....lst cruise, food was good...2nd time, food was alright...not great.

 

Next cruise is a Christmas cruise on HAL Noordam....looking forward to this one, heard the food was excellent....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Under my signature, you can see the lines I have been on. Celebrity’s overall food selection, quality, preparation and presentation, for the most part, are slightly better than most of the other lines we have cruised on.

 

In Celebrity's main dining room, red meat dishes were quite good as were the vegetables. I was especially pleased with the variety of vegetables offered. The Celebrity salads were very nice, and we particularly fell in love with the Goombay Dressing. We need to find the recipe since it is quite habit forming. We also found the appetizers to be quite good. Our major disappoints were in the soup and dessert courses. For the most part, the soups tasted okay, but they were very thin almost watery.

 

Celebrity's SS United States Restaurant (on the Infinity) was a wonderful dining experience, and should not be missed. The food and service were very good and well worth the $30 up charge. The restaurant itself just feels classy, and it was a pleasure to spend time dining with the harpist playing quietly in the background.

 

We both ordered the Goat Cheese Soufflé upon the recommendation of friends. Now we consider it a “must order” item, outstanding. We also both ordered the Tenderloin Steak Diane. I don’t think I have ever had a more tender steak. It was also outstanding. I%20US%206.JPGI%20US%208.JPG

The cheese course was a unique experience. Fortunately the waiter was able to help us pick out a good selection.

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For dessert, Mike had the delicious Waldorf Pudding; and Carol chose the Michel Roux's Favorite Bite-Size Surprise Desserts.

I%20US%2012.JPGI%20US%2011.JPG

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I have traveled with Carnaval 4x, HAL, RCL 2x, and Princess. In the dinning room, Carnaval was the best but not by far, then Princess then RCL and HAL far below.

 

The service and adaptabilty of HAL was horribable. For Salad's you had to have the dressing offerered that night. They would not substitute of give options. The last night of the trip was the worse meal I have ever had on a cruise ship.

 

RCL has some good sauces but meat was not as good of quality. All their meat seemed to be a bit tough. Their lobster was not as good as on other lines but I still had my share.

 

Princess was good food. Shaky on the bread side and very basic for a crusie line. Service was great. Great hordeves.

 

Carnaval, best mid night buffets, best meals, best desserts, best service.

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I've sailed Princess, NCL, HAL, RCCL, Celebrity, Crystal & Disney. My personal favorite for food would be 1) Crystal and 2) Celebrity's specialty restaurants (on the Millennium-class ships).

 

Here are some of our food photos from previous cruises:

 

Crystal: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/158609473BwigHe

 

Celebrity Specialty Restaurant: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/551434781hmIhtm

 

What a great Idea!!! I loved the photos of the food and hope I can find some on carnival cruise foods. It helps to get a peek before voyage so you can have a better idea what might appeal to you. Thanks so much, Sasha

Middle of Ms :o

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After 24 cruises -- Here is my rankings (by the way, food quality is our number one concern while cruising):p :)

 

#1 Celebrity (dining room and Alternative restaurant are wonderful)

 

#2 Holland America (Lido is the best buffet at sea)

 

#3 Princess (distant third to the two above)

 

#4 NCL (:rolleyes: )

 

#5 Royal Caribbean (buffet is a feeding frenzy) :eek:

 

No such thing as a bad cruise!

Kel

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  • 2 weeks later...

Of those that I've been on so far, I'd rank Celebrity #1 and RCCL #2, but it's been a while (1992 and 1999) since I've been on an RCCL ship, and cruise food seems to have taken a nose dive in quality thoughout the industry in the last 10 years. Princess is a close third in the dining room, but I'd rate it first in the buffet. Food quality in Carnival dining rooms was good, as was a lot of the buffet, but the "Carnival" atmosphere in the dining room ruined it for me. I couldn't stand having the maitre d' screaming over a microphone and the waitstaff singing, dancing and marching around while I was trying to enjoy my meal. Food on NCL was good in quality but fairly bland, buffets were smaller than on other lines, but NCL takes the crown for serving hot food hot. They're amazing!

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Hi--I agree with majority that Celebrity serves the best food I've eaten in the mass market cruise category. I'd like to offer my latest sampling, however--OCEANIA has some really great food. We traveled on the Nautica this spring (Istanbul to Athens, 14 days) and we ate well on board ship. Open seating in the Main Dining room with good food, the steak restaurant--the Polo Lounge was good as well but depended on what you ordered--best lamb chops ever! But the icing on the cake (couldn't resist the pun) was eating in the Italian restaurant, Toscana--OMG--the meal is 7 courses and each one better than the last one! Osso Buco, rissoto, unbelieveable desserts--molto bene! All I can say was that it was a good thing we did a lot of walking in all of our ports (Oceania is very port intensive itinerary wise) because I would never have fit in an economy seat coming home if I hadn't!

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I'm not a food critic, but I've eaten a lot of it in my 64 years. So as far as cruise food goes I'd give it to celebrity with RCL a close second. Now I'm sure food staff differ even within lines so I can only speak for the ships that I've been on.

 

Also......... "One tip -- go to breakfast and lunch in the dining room at least once -- meet the nicest people at those meals!" Is great advice.

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