General Immersion Thread (merged)

hello:

we have been booked on this cruise for a very long time. all of a sudden, we got a phone call from rccl informing us that our cruise, which leaves out of southhampton on aug 8 on indy will be a british immersion cruise, i.e., all food, entertainment and staff will be british.

we have a daughter who eats pizza, plain pastas, rice, steamed veggies. when i called rccl and asked about the pizza, i got an "i'm not sure" and the pasta was a "don't count on it." our daughter does not eat meat, turkey or chicken.

we are a international family who enjoy eating around the world. however, we have always been able to find something along the lines of carb/veggie heavy meal for our daughter to eat.

can anyone lend any insight into what exactly is british food and how this may affect our daughter. and please. i do not need anyone counseling me on my daughter's nutrition and how i am feeding her. (sorry i had to say that!)

i am looking for responses that specifically address how other families that have young american kids have reacted to british food specifically.

thanks, thanks and more thanks!

Is this British thing just for your particular sail do you know? or is it for all cruises leaving Southampton? God I hope not....I have to live with fish n chips and bangers and mash all the time I was hoping for variety and lots of different styles of food :( :confused:

All I can say is when we have endured 'British' night in the dining room it is nothing like British food :eek: .Fried cheddar , yuk !!!

Johnny rockets is still going to be onboard, and cafe promenade plus the pizza place , Sorrentos ? .We Brits love our veggies and always have to ask for extra ,me thinks you are worrying too much:) .

Surpringly most British people don't live off fish and chips and bangers and mash.. actually its more like anything italian (so lots of pasta!), indian and chinese (how much rice do you want?) with a roast dinner thrown in for good measure). In fact if the only thing on the menu was fish and chips, they'd probably naff off most of the British cruisers too. (The national dish varied between curry and spagetti!) We also love pizza too - though an American slice is the size of a whole pizza here. :eek: The only thing we do have is nice bacon.. none of this weird crunchy streaky stuff. :p

To turn this on its head - most British people think American's live off nothing but burgers, fries and pizza, which is hardly healthy and I'm sure is completely wrong. ;)

I'm sure your daughter will be fine, sounds like she'd fit in right here.. vegetarian food is commonplace and has a great variety, however, I can't say what the ship will think "British" food is..

Just pray that they don't go all French - French food is virtually all meat - very rare done!

All I can say is when we have endured 'British' night in the dining room it is nothing like British food :eek: .Fried cheddar , yuk !!!

 

Fried Cheddar - who on earth thought of that one! Yuk! :eek:

Now if they had a good Holland's pie... ;)

Whereabouts in Manchester are you?

Eating out in Britain is very eclectic. In the relatively small town where I live we have indian, chinese, thai, moroccan, mediterranean, french and italian restaurants - but no English ones! The main providers of UK food are, I suppose, what we call pub meals - eg the traditional roast, fish & chips, pies, bangers and mash - but I don't see how they could make a full cruise menu out of 'British' food. Speaking as the parent of 2 boys who both love pasta and pizza I really can't see that these won't be available - there'll be lots of unhappy British kids if so ;) . I would imagine they just mean that the dining room will have 'British' style main courses as an option.:)

Is this British thing just for your particular sail do you know? or is it for all cruises leaving Southampton? God I hope not....I have to live with fish n chips and bangers and mash all the time I was hoping for variety and lots of different styles of food :( :confused:

Ah you made my mouth water with those tastes from yesteryear. Egg and bacon, egg chips and beans, pie and mash, jellied eels. sunday roast with yorkshire pudding, toad in the hole, spotty dick, bread and butter pudding, Mum's bread pudding.:rolleyes:

When is this sailing?:D

Ron

just got off the phone with them. rccl has no menu. the response i got was it is for the aug 8 sailing only as of today. all food will be geared to the british customs and tastes exclusively.

the person at the c&a desk could not tell me if the italian restaurant will be open. whatever traditional british food means is what they are serving for the entire cruise. i've spoken to two people. no one can define what this means???

i have 10 days to cancel this cruise.

the person on the phone felt sorry for me but told me that "royal caribbean can change any itinerary at any time." i told her send me to anywhere. my daughter has been begging to go on this ship. we booked this at least a year ago. she told me she was very, very sorry.

any more help is certainly appreciated. i'm so upset.

in addition, pls remember this is a 14-day cruise.

thanks for everyone's help.

thanks to everyone so far for your quick responses.

unbelieveably so, i am also trying to figure out their definition of "all british food." i am sure there are a lot of british people, who want to try different types of foods and for this reason decided to book a cruise. to me the whole thing sounds completely ridiculous.

imagine taking a cruise out of america and having them say we were eating all american food for two weeks? pizza? hot dogs? hamburgers? french fries? mashed potatoes? yuck, yuck, and more yuck. to me the joy of cruising is being able to experience different types of food.

what in the world is rccl thinking? i think someone bumped his or her head.

Try emailing rcldining@rccl.com to see if you can find out what will be on the menu. If they've decided to do a British theme they must already have some idea of what that means.

I, for one, would be very unhappy if I booked a 14 night cruise to find out it was serving what RCCL regards as 'British' food, unless I knew what the menu was. As someone who eats out a lot and for whom the dining experience is an important part of any holiday, I would never choose to be fed for 14 days on 'British' food.

However, as I stated earlier, British tastes are wide-ranging - the most common restaurants in any British town are chinese, indian and italian, so you may be pleasantly surprised :)

Fried Cheddar - who on earth thought of that one! Yuk! :eek:

 

Now if they had a good Holland's pie... ;)

 

Whereabouts in Manchester are you?

Hi ,

Pukka pies come a close second;) :p .

We are at Swinton ,just off the East Lancs.

Traditional British Foods...

Pies

Pizza

Roast Dinners with Yorkshire puddings

English Breakfast

Boiled eggs and soldiers

Spaghetti Bolognese, Tagliatelli Carbonara, Ravoli, Tortellini

Sweet & Sour Chicken, Crispy Duck and Pancakes, or any chinese dish

Anything Indian - from mild curries to daal.

Chilli con carne

Fajita's

Lasagna

Fish and Chips - from a "proper" chippy only

Thai curry

Lamb shanks with beans or mash

Pudding and custard

All of these you will find in a standard English pub, along with salads, baked potatoes, panini's and sandwiches. There is VERY little BRITISH food whatsoever - and this is what would be thought of as standard fare, with vegetarian options always available. It depends on whether an American is setting out what he THINKS a British menu should be, or whether someone British is doing it. :)

Hi ,

Pukka pies come a close second;) :p .

We are at Swinton ,just off the East Lancs.

Ah I'm just around the corner from you.. hmm Pukka's .. nah still a second to a good Hollands pie..

How could they change the staff to British? But if it is British think of the bright side, everyone will speak perfect English :D Prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, yum :D

.

 

imagine taking a cruise out of america and having them say we were eating all american food for two weeks? pizza? hot dogs? hamburgers? french fries? mashed potatoes? yuck, yuck, and more yuck. to me the joy of cruising is being able to experience different types of food.

 

Which is what newbies expect when they cruise on an American cruise ship and are then pleasantly surprised NOT to be fed just hamburgers and fries.. If you see what I mean..

Britain does have some wonderful restraunts, with a very wide variety of foods available, but having said that, if the cruiseline is trying to offer what they think as traditional British offerings, I just cant get it out of my head that its going to end up like the menu at the Rose & Crown at Epcot.

When I think of traditional British foods I think of these items -

Fish n chips

Fried breakfast (sausage, egg, bacon, black pudding etc)

Cream teas (cucumber sandwiches, scones, crumpets, English muffins, strawberry jam & cream)

Hotpot

Roast beef & Yorkie puds or Roast chicken & sage/onion stuffing

Grilled trout with Jersy royals (tiny new potaoes)

Bangers, mash & onion gravy

Chicken tikka Massala

Shepards pie

Scotch eggs, Cornish pasties & sausage rolls

Sea Bass with garden salad

Rack of Lamb with rosemary & mint

Pork medallions in cider & cream sauce

Game pie

Steak & Kidney

Venison

Phesant

Apple crunmble & custard

Jam roly poly

I seriously doubt that the vast majority of the great British public eat what would be called traditional foods anymore, I would have a look at the menu for the English pub at Epcot to give you a better idea of what they might serve, but Im sure you will still be able to get pasta and rice :)

How could they change the staff to British? But if it is British think of the bright side, everyone will speak perfect English :D

Hmm given regional accents I'd be amazed if anyone understood a word they were saying.. :D "yer wa la.. arra sound" Translated - "Pardon, what would you like, sure, no problem".

Hmm given regional accents I'd be amazed if anyone understood a word they were saying.. :D "yer wa la.. arra sound" Translated - "Pardon, what would you like, sure, no problem".

Now you've done it and gone and scared the OP LOL!

thanks so very much to everyone who has responded from so very far away. i am always touched by the responses on these boards from people that i usually will never meet, how these people are so forthcoming and willing to help. it is nice to know that in these days when sometimes things are so rotten that there are still very, very nice people out there in the world.

i emailed rccl and am still hoping for the best. i've got ten days. will keep everyone posted.

thanks again from los angeles, california. it's breezy and nice today unlike the last few days where the temperatures were in the high 90s.

Now you've done it and gone and scared the OP LOL!

Oops - I'm sure most of the British staff will be lovely (not broad scousers - like me before anyone jumps up and down) and will be gratefully shocked at any tips you give them! :D

Ah I'm just around the corner from you.. hmm Pukka's .. nah still a second to a good Hollands pie..

Yes, that's what I said , they are a close second:D .

A Scouser, just around the corner ? Did you move ?:D .

I think it would be premature and insular to cancel this cruise on this basis alone....

British menus are 90% the same as American... the only differences will probably be proper bacon at breakfast, and more of a "meat and two veg option". Pizza will not be a problem. Most importantly, proper beer/ale will hopefully be available!

Finally the wife and I have been out for a quintessentially British pub meal tonight. Our choices? Me: Butternut Squash & Bacon soup and roast lamb, oregano and spring onion mask. The wife: Fried asparagus with parma ham for starter and mushroom tagiatelle with chicken for main. I can't believe the menu will be much unlike that

From the IOS boards on this website:

Hi-can anyone who was on Indie last week help out with the missing gaps on this menu please. It was served on Sat 25th and on Thurs May 1st from memory (and I didn't drink all the champagne either!)

 

Greek salad

Goats cheese and Polenta

Beef wrapped around cream cheese

Potato soup

Beef stir fry with rice

Tuna with celery (starter)

Ceasar Salad

Cheese plate (starter)

Chowder

Surf n Turf

Sirloin Steak

Don't forget the kippers ;)