Food Quality on Royal Caribbean??

It has been about 5 years since we were last on a RCCL ship and I always thought the food was fine as compared with other cruise lines. Recently I have had friends return from RCCL cruises and they felt the food was not good. We were recently on Celebrity and Carnival over the past year and the food was fine on both. Better on Carnival though not served with the same flair and attention to detail as Celebrity.

Any comments on the quality of the food on Royal Caribbean. We are booked on a RCCL cruise, Brilliance of the Sea, for next spring and would like to hear other opinions. Of course food taste is often subjective and everyone has their own opinion but it would be good to hear what they are. Thanks.

The food on RCCL did go WAY down hill for a while. The worst cruise food I ever had was on Radiance in April of '03. I have been on RCCL three times since and the food has gotten better each time and is getting back to where it used to be.

I will say that RCCL food is MUCH better than Princess. INMO

Just got off the EOS & all 10 of us gained weight! :eek: So, I guess itwas good. :)

I've been on the Brilliance twice, but not in the last year. In April of 2003 the food and, in fact, the whole cruise was nothing short of fantastic. Last year, March 2004, the ship was still great but the food and service was the pitts. I have also heard from many people that things are getting back to what they used to be on RCI. I'm hopeing that it will continue. My DW and I are considering booking the Brilliance again for next spring also. Are you doing the 11 day Panama Canal itinerary??? Both of us really prefer the Radiance class ships over the Voyager class, hands down.

Stretch

The Radiance class ships are particularly better for a Panama Canal cruise. :D :p snort....

glad to hear you are finally getting over your snit period, stretchO! ;)

jc

We too just got off Explorer this past Sunday, June 5th. Food was fantastic!!! We have been on seven RCL cruises and this was by far the best food we have eaten on any RCL ship. Even the food in the Windjammer was very good, not 5 star dining by any stretch, but the best of any cruise we have taken.

Tim & Crystal

Not exactly current information...but my two cents, bearing in mind that they're cooking for thousands of people at a time. :) The food was good and I certainly never went away hungry! I found it to be a little on the bland side and not very imaginative, though. A few dishes were really great (had some excellent fish!), but most were just so-so and not all that memorable. It may have been a coincidence based on my menu selections, but I had several dishes with some type of rice on the side (wild rice, rice pilaf, saffron rice, etc). I like rice sometimes, but it struck me as a cost-conscious "filler" side...and I tend to prefer a steamed vegetable every now and then.

My preference in vessel had nothing to do with my reference to the Panama Canal, ole bud. I was just stating that I preferred the Radiance class.

And, I didn't have a "snit", I had a real gripe going on there for awhile :mad: , but I'm over that now. Some of us learn how to grow within ourselves. :D

StretchO

Will they bring back the ROYAL RANCH STEAK?

It was so popular you know. :eek: ;)

We were on EOS this May 2005-we thought the windjammer food had little if any taste to it-but there was always cereal or something else to eat-the hot food was really not good- the dining room food for dinner was excellent- we cruise to play- not to eat all the time-so go and have a great time- food is only a small part of the trip-;) ;) ;)

I also thougt the Windjammer food tasted like a school cafeteria. Not very exciting. But it was fine.

The dinner was good, some things great. I was more interested in the good company at the table. Food isn't that important to me, but there were definitely some highlights. Portofino's was wonderful. Also, I didn't even feel like eating by the middle of the week because we had eaten so much....so I guess it couldn't have been that bad.

Not exactly current information...but my two cents, bearing in mind that they're cooking for thousands of people at a time. :) The food was good and I certainly never went away hungry! I found it to be a little on the bland side and not very imaginative, though. A few dishes were really great (had some excellent fish!), but most were just so-so and not all that memorable. It may have been a coincidence based on my menu selections, but I had several dishes with some type of rice on the side (wild rice, rice pilaf, saffron rice, etc). I like rice sometimes, but it struck me as a cost-conscious "filler" side...and I tend to prefer a steamed vegetable every now and then.

You only need to ask - the first night of our cruise last week DIL asked for steamed broccoli for DGS as the children's menu was pretty devoid of green stuff. A large plate appeared soon after as well as every other night.

I thought this was interesting...back in 2002 we were aboard the RCCL, Splendour, on an 11 day to Panama Canal. Anyway, on one of the formal nights the ship's doctor came and sat at our table. She was finishing her tour of duty (so to speak) and was going to be setting up her practice in Norway. After talking a bit, the conversation turned to the quality of the food. She said that they cooked the food in too much saturated fat; including the veg's. My DH and I figured she was being honest because this was her last cruise.

We had three deaths aboard the ship...unrelated to the food...and the ship's doctor had some interesting insight on that, but that's another thread!

I have only been on three cruises, Sovereign of the Seas '90 & '93, Voyager of the Seas in March '05 (I know, a long time between cruises). The food on the SOS cruises was great while the food on VOS was good. The price of the '93 and '05 cruises was remarkably about the same...perhaps this is part of the explanation of why I found the food so much better years ago.

We recently cruised on Legend of the Seas. We found the food in the dining room too salty, so I started asking other guests about the food. One fellow told me he loves lots of salt, but even he thought the food was much too salty. Personally, I am not cruising RCL in October for the food, but rather for the ports and entertainment. Freestyle dining is our first food preference since it gives you so many choices of different restaurant types to choose from each night. However, I do see RCL adding more eating venues. We even had dinner by the pool one night on Legend of the Seas. Another night the solarium was dressed up for dinner. After awhile I get tired of eating in the same formal dining room night after night on a 10 day cruise because it tends to be too noisey for my taste . We preferred the Windjammer for its quiet intimate atmosphere at night, but did not care for the food--except the meat cut by the Chef. I did try to get some Feta Cheese in the Buffet and was disappointed when I couldn't find something that simple to put in my salad. Now I can't wait to try Portofino's on my cruise in October simply to have another dining option. It's all about food choices for me.

Mary

Plymouth, MA

Every now and then I hear a speculation that declining food quality in the main dining room is a ploy to curb passengers toward the additional-charge venues (not just on RCI...I've seen fingers pointed at several lines that offer dining alternatives). Anybody believe it?

Incidentally, here's a hearsay report from friends of mine who were on Splendour OTS in April--they reported that the food in the main dining room was "too buttery." It must be bad for somebody from Indiana to say that there's too much butter on something! :rolleyes: Then again, they're health nuts...

We've been cruising on RCI since 1981 (as well as many other lines). In 2002 we were on an 11 day cruise on the Splendour and were disappointed in the food both in the main dinning room and the Windjammer, so much so that I wrote the cruise line. They responded that they were working on it. We've cruised RCI twice since (the Splendour in 2003 for 15 days and Rhapsody for 7 days six months ago) and both cruises had exceptionally good food in the main dinning room. The Windjammer is still no better than average for large cruise ships. I wouldn't classify the food in the main dinning room as creative either, but I don't expect to find creative in a large dinning room which is producing food for the masses. They do a great job of turning out what I would term "the greatest hits"...lobster tail, duck laOrange, rack of lamb, etc.

BTW, we like the food on most cruise lines. Carnaval does a great job for the price but certainly not with the same style as other lines. We recently were on a Princess cruise for 16 days and have no complaints about the food in their main dinning room either. If you want something truly exceptional go on Crystal, Seabourn, or one of the other upscale lines.

I have been on 8 RCI cruises and have never felt food quality was poor or even fair. With that said, I do think that RCI has made some wonderful improvements in their menus and seemingly, they are listening carefully to their guest feedback.

We are not taking the Panama Canal cruise. My wife and I will be taking the 12 day, May 11, 2006 Mediterranean cruise. I have heard that this is one of the line's nicest ships. I am looking forward to it. Anyone else on that cruise?

I just got of the Navigator last week and thought the food was very good. Even the Windjammer had hot tasty food.

I am one of those that orders a grilled salmon pretty much every night. I want to go home without any extra baggage! No desserts, no ice cream on deck, etc.

My one splurge is Portofino's. For me, it is worth it!

We've been on the Mariner twice in the last two years. The last time being May of this year. RCCL has updated their menus and you could really taste the difference. Although I still prefer Celebrities dining experence, RCCL is getting closer.

Any meal I don't have to prepare already has got A LOT going for it! A meal would have to be really bad to lose all the points it gained because of this factor. I am so looking forward to seven days of bliss based on this alone.

On my RCI cruises, I have always found the Windjammer food to be adequate -nothing great, but nothing wrong with it either. I have always thought there was a good variety of choices - especially at breakfast. Anything I wanted (except for Eggs Benedict) was there. I do think we'll eat breakfast a couple of times in the dining room next time out so we can sample those as well. The dining room may lack a little compared to my one Celebrity experience, but they do things there and serve things there that I certainly don't do at home. I've always come away a very happy camper.

I'm going to be on the freedom of the seas in oct 06:) :) :) I hear that they put their best crew on the newest ships if this is so then we should have the best chefs and waiters. Can you really tell the difference between the service? From being on the newest ship to the older ones?

I'm going to be on the freedom of the seas in oct 06:) :) :) I hear that they put their best crew on the newest ships if this is so then we should have the best chefs and waiters. Can you really tell the difference between the service? From being on the newest ship to the older ones?

IME, the newness has nothing to do with it. I cruised on Voyager soon after her launch and the food and service were not up to par.

I have had great food and service on older RCI ships and also on new ships. I don't think one can make a gereral statement.

Enjoy Freedom!