Is Dining Really That Bad?

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise in February on the Serenade. I've been reading some of the threads in this section, and started reading some thread about dining. And I must say - I am really bummed out. I'm beginning to think I should have saved some money by TIVO'ing some Caribbean shows on the Travel Channel, turned our thermostat up to 85, and just go down to the Golden Corral buffet to eat.

I'm not sure if it's just a bunch of jaded cruisers with 20+ cruises under their belt lamenting on how the food is getting worse over the years or what, but really, is on-ship dining really that bad? Of course, you must realize that being from a small rural community in Illinois, fancy dining to us is defined as going somewhere that you don't order your food at a counter and carry it to your seat :o

Understood. But - what you must understand also is that food is completely subjective. What one person loves is absolutely abhorrent to another. You know what I do? When I read reviews or comments here or on tripadvisor, I throw out the best and I throw out the worst. Hopefully what I am left with is something perfectly acceptable or even good. :)

The only thing to do in this situation is to try some of the venues for yourself. Eat in the dining room. Eat in the Windjammer buffet. Eat at a specialty restaurant. Eat at the Park Café. You will decide pretty quickly what is best for you. :)

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Thinking about this current time and not measuring its against food standards from the past, the current food offering is substantial of a very good quality and very enjoyable in my opinion.

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise in February on the Serenade. I've been reading some of the threads in this section, and started reading some thread about dining. And I must say - I am really bummed out. I'm beginning to think I should have saved some money by TIVO'ing some Caribbean shows on the Travel Channel, turned our thermostat up to 85, and just go down to the Golden Corral buffet to eat.

 

I'm not sure if it's just a bunch of jaded cruisers with 20+ cruises under their belt lamenting on how the food is getting worse over the years or what, but really, is on-ship dining really that bad? Of course, you must realize that being from a small rural community in Illinois, fancy dining to us is defined as going somewhere that you don't order your food at a counter and carry it to your seat :o

If your idea of good food is Golden Corral, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy your first cruise! :D

I really enjoyed my meals in the MDR on my Explorer cruise in April.

If you don't like something, order something else!

Some people are just not happy. Period. Food is just another area to complain.

If your idea of good food is Golden Corral, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy your first cruise! :D

I'm just hoping that the food on the Serenade is *better* than Golden Corral. :o

I'm sure DW and I will enjoy our meals, and we plan on being somewhat adventurous. Just need to take some of these negative food reviews with a grain of salt....

 

I'm sure DW and I will enjoy our meals, and we plan on being somewhat adventurous. Just need to take some of these negative food reviews with a grain of salt....

If you choose to give it THAT much weight!!

Being adventurous is the right mentality. I would order one dish, my travel partner another, and then split a third (sans the sides). Worked well to try new things!

Sometimes comparing the way that things used to be is not a good thing. To me, you can go any restaurant and be served something that you don't absolutely love, perhaps because it's just not what you expected, perhaps there is something about it that you just don't like, if there is something "wrong" with it you send it back, it's the same on a cruise, your waitstaff will encourage you to try anything you think you may like and will be more than happy to bring you something else if you don't like it, don't be afraid to ask.

This will be your first crusie, you will have nothing to compare it to, so sit back and enjoy yourself. The Serenade is a beautiful ship, don't stress about what you can't control, you will form your own opinions at the end of your vacation. With all the complaining that people do they are still booking cruises, can't be all bad.

Not having to shop for, cook or cleaning up after cooking a meal is the best! Happy cruising. :o

In the MDR especially - if you don't like what you originally ordered, tell your waiter. They are more than happy to bring you something else. They really do want to try and make you happy (at least that has been my experience). And don't be shy about ordering more than one appetizer or entree if that's what you want to do. :)

OP must consider the following

• Food is 100% subjective
  
• Total CC members is considerably less than the entire cruising population. Realistically CC membership only represents about 3%-5% of the cruising population so reviews must be weighted accordingly.
  
• People tend to post the negative more often than the positive.
  
• Best to go with an open mind and judge for yourself. Don't let people you don't even know slant your view before you've even boarded the ship.
  

With that said I've never had a bad meal on any cruise line that I've been on in over 30 years.

As another poster said, food is very subjective. We have only cruise in 2012 and 2013, but we are also going on our 3rd cruise this Sunday. Wife and I have found that the food is, to us, very good, but then we are not snobby foodies. I have had only one main course I thought was bad and that was on our first cruise in Sept. 2012. I had the roasted duck and I thought it was very dry. The other meals were very good.

Another poster said to throw out the best and the worst reviews and then you should get a pretty good idea.

Also bear in mind that the board is cruise CRITIC, and not cruise supporter.

Many who like most everything are accused of being cheerleaders, as opposed to being honest.

And some people must have the impression that being negative is somehow in style these days.

Have we had MDR food that wasn't good? Sure, but I've also had a horrible dish at one of our local really famous restaurants. But more often than not, we have good dining experiences. Way more often.

We are some of the oddballs that think the food has gotten better than our first trip in 2001. Some of the food is quite well prepared, too- we are always amazed how well cooked the asparagus is.

Also, relative to many other things, the food is really good. We've been to plenty of banquet events- big clubs events, weddings, retirement parties, etc- from 100-600 people. Ever single one of those events have been inferior to the MDR, to us. When you consider that the smallest ship serves ~1200 people twice a night, ever single day, it's pretty amazing.

If you are looking for things to dislike, I'm sure you will find them. But I would suggest not to... it's a lot of money to spend trying to find reasons not to have a good time.

I think you will enjoy and be pleasantly surprised. Just go with a positive attitude - and definitely go to the main dining room - the Windjammer buffet is fine and lots to choose from - but enjoy dinner and having service, not the buffet.

Also, the staff in the main dining room (and all over the ship) will bend over backwards to make your meal enjoyable.

Remember you can order whatever you want from the dinner menu when you are seated in the main dining room. For example, some people think they can order only one appetizer, this is not true - if you want hors d'ouerve type starters, and salad, and soup, and then your entree - go ahead and order! Or, if you just prefer a salad and entree - that's your choice. Also, if you would like extra of anything the waiter will bring - or even two entrees if you are really hungry. Same thing for dessert - if you order apple pie, but would like a scoop of ice cream - just ask!

Your waiter is your friend and really wants you to enjoy your dinner - ask for advice if you need it, or recommendations - the staff is great!

i always find something to eat that i do enjoy......and i will admit that i am a VERY picky eater.....once i find a meal i enjoy i have NO problem ordering seconds.

from my experiences i will say this ~ that many dishes may be served rather on the bland side....i often think many of those complaining about meals fail to "season to their own tastes".....not a problem for me ~ adding salt & pepper often perks up my meal to satisfy my tastebuds....:)

BTW......i have never lost ANY weight on a cruise ~ only gained so to me food is just fine....LOL

My husband & I don't worry about the What ifs or Maybe's, we board the ship to see new places and meet new friends, and take each day as it comes. Nothing is perfect in this world, yet when it comes eating in the MDR, we have found the food very good and never have gone away from the table hungry.

If your idea of good food is Golden Corral, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy your first cruise! :D

Golden Corral may not be gourmet, but IS better than Ryan's/Country Buffet/Old Country Buffet/HomeTown Buffet or whatever other names they pass off their slop under......Wish they would bring back Duff's Smorgasbord - they actually were pretty decent.

We're on day 5 of a 10 day Vancouver to Hawaii on Radiance of the Seas. This is our 14th cruise but our first on Royal (we usually sail Celebrity).

The food in Windjammer is a bit disappointing in the lack of variety. The main dining room has been better but still can be hit or miss. As others have said if you order smothering you don't like order something else! Lots of people do it.

Food is only one part of the experience and you can make it a positive or negative experience... It's all up to you!

Happy sailing.

As much as some people complain, most do not go on a cruise and lose weight. There are so many options for food on board. Sure, there are some things I do not like, but then I order something else instead. I like the food on the ships.

The food in the specialty restaurants on RCCL is quite good. :)

LuLu

Congratulations on your first cruise. You will ENJOY it!

Kindly be advised that cruising is addictive. Now you have been warned :D

Bon voyage!

Sent using Tapatalk. Sorry for typho.

The food on a cruise is still great, IMHO. There a few things that have slipped like the lobster in MDR used to be good, on my last cruise not so much. But everything else I had was really good, and I've never been much a lobster guy.

Windjammer is basically Golden Corral quality and has been since my first cruise in 2006. Main dining has taken some of the higher end options off the menu, but the quality is just as good. Not sure where you get cookies on Serenade, but usually the Cafe Promenade has good cookies and decent Pizza. Park Cafe on Oasis (and some others) has great 'fast' food.

I'm just hoping that the food on the Serenade is *better* than Golden Corral. :o

 

I'm sure DW and I will enjoy our meals, and we plan on being somewhat adventurous. Just need to take some of these negative food reviews with a grain of salt....

I am normally a picky eater, no sauce, no butter, nothing fancy, give me meat and potatoes. But I become very adventurous on ships and really enjoy it, I order 2 entrees every night and never have to order off the everyday menu. The nice thing about being adventurous on a cruise is if you don't like it you can just get something else.

I do have an issue with deserts on RCL, they seem to think you can't have chocolate without coffee, so I usually just order ice cream each night. But this is just a personal preference, I know some people love coffee in their chocolate. But with desert in windjammer for lunch, deck ice cream, promenade cookies and ice cream in MDR, I really don't need any other deserts :eek:.

I began to feel I made a mistake booking our cruise (we went on the last week of August) after reading some of the reviews here.

We found the food fabulous. There were few items that weren't great, but most of the food was awesome - as was the service. :D

If it was so bad, no one would be on these boards because no one would be cruising. :cool:

As was mentioned earlier with reviews I too throw out the best and the worst and look at what's in between. I understand things might not be the same as they were years ago. We have only been cruising for 6 years now so I don't have the background as some cruisers do. We have had all our dinners in the mdr. I suppose there have been a couple of things that we didn't like but most things have been good to very good. Meals are certainly as good or better than what we get in our local restaurants and the presentation is much nicer.

Food is completely subjective. We just sailed Royal again in June on the Radiance for the first time since '07. After reading many posts and reviews about declining food quality, I got a little nervous, but went into the MDR with an open mind. We knew food would not ruin our cruise. And guess what? We loved the food and thought it was great every night. Of course, some things were better then others, but we were never disappointed. :)

The food on a cruise is still great, IMHO. There a few things that have slipped like the lobster in MDR used to be good, on my last cruise not so much. But everything else I had was really good, and I've never been much a lobster guy.

 

Windjammer is basically Golden Corral quality and has been since my first cruise in 2006. Main dining has taken some of the higher end options off the menu, but the quality is just as good. Not sure where you get cookies on Serenade, but usually the Cafe Promenade has good cookies and decent Pizza. Park Cafe on Oasis (and some others) has great 'fast'

 

My opinion 7 day Western Caribbean on Allure 9/7/2014.

 

Mdr. Excellent. Lamb shank, Pork Tenderloin, halibut Poor. Skirt steak. Its a horrible cut and my medium steak was grossly overdone. My fiancé had a seafood platter, with nasty scallops, and some cod with a horrible batter.

 

Giovanni's. Had a caprese salad, Mushroom risotto, Lamb chops, 2 deserts Tiramisu and Malaga ice cream... All was perfect and comparable to top Italian restaurants in Florida.

 

Chops. I had NY strip steak, with fries, asparagus, mushrooms, spinach. All well cooked and tasty. Had a chocolate soufflé for desert which was good.

 

Thought pizza was lousy. I like coal fried pizza much better though.

 

Hot dogs ok.

 

The premium coffee with the drinks package is fine.