MDR Food

[Grand Prix Racer]

It amazes me about the people that seem to want to complain about the quality of food in the MDR. They want to compare their fine local restaurant in cities like NYC and San Francisco and others to the MDR food. Give me a puppy break. The cruise ships serve up to 6000 at a sitting conpare that to a small fine restaurant in a big city that may serve 100 or less customers in a night. After 10 cruises on RCCL and Carnival I am still amazed that a ships kitchen can turn out the volume of food and quality that is good to great everytime. Yes, you may find ships in the upper end of the cruise industry that can prepare specialty menus but overall they warrant a higher cost. People always want a Rolls Royce for the price of a Chevy. One in a while the food does not come out exactly right, too warm, too cold, too small a portion, but overall you have to give credit to the chefs, waiters and kitchen staff that work their butts off so we as cruisers can sit down to a meal in a spectacular looking restaurant some times 4-5 times a day.

[foxesden1]

I think its because we have all been told about 'great cruise food' from days gone buy.. they do have lots of food, but maybe its not as "good as it used to be" but then, maybe people of yesteryear did not demand as much choice, as large of ships, different meal times, options, special needs/rqsts, etc as they do today.. who knows.

 

On our last cruise (Disney) I was pleased with the meal. By no means was there one menu item that stood out - unlike my first cruise over 25 years ago.. where I still dream of the lamb and dessert which was served.

 

t

[COMBOY]

I've been cruising since 1980. My first cruise was on RCCL Song of Norway. I was 19yrs and went with my mom. My last cruise was on Mariner of the Seas and quite honest the food in the MDR was good to very excellent. No, its not quite like the Song of Norway back in 1980, but still very good. Of course we paid a lot more for those cruises compare to today. The problem is food is very subjective. No two people will have the same taste and no two chefs or ships will provide the same quality or taste. The food on RCCL is not gourmet by any means and they don't advertise to be as such. It's meant to provide good quality dining on a reasonably price cruise vacation. You won't go hungry. If you really want an upscale dining experience well they had the alternative dining rooms at an extra cost. There are still cruise lines like Crystal, Oceania, Seaborne if you want top quality and gourmet dining; however, you will paid top dollar for those cruises. Cruise lines still want to make you happy and know that dining is a major part of the cruise experience. In general I think most people are happy; it's that 5% that aren't and boy will you hear about it. Well, maybe RCCL isn't for them.

[cb at sea]

In "yesteryear", the food choices were more varied, better presented and much tastier. The entire dining experience was a cut above what they offer now...the tables were set with real silver and crystal glasses. There were at least 5 courses everynight and the desserts were gorgeous and supremely tasty. Every meal was plated as if it was a work of art....now, it's similar to what you'd get in any mid-range restaurant.

 

It's not that the food is "bad"...it's just that it's not what long-time cruisers have come to expect. If you just started cruising in the last 2 or 3 years, you have no idea what you missed!

[mtchg]

It amazes me about the people that seem to want to complain about the quality of food in the MDR. They want to compare their fine local restaurant in cities like NYC and San Francisco and others to the MDR food. Give me a puppy break. The cruise ships serve up to 6000 at a sitting compare that to a small fine restaurant in a big city that may serve 100 or less customers in a night. After 10 cruises on RCCL and Carnival I am still amazed that a ships kitchen can turn out the volume of food and quality that is good to great everytime. Yes, you may find ships in the upper end of the cruise industry that can prepare specialty menus but overall they warrant a higher cost. People always want a Rolls Royce for the price of a Chevy. One in a while the food does not come out exactly right, too warm, too cold, too small a portion, but overall you have to give credit to the chefs, waiters and kitchen staff that work their butts off so we as cruisers can sit down to a meal in a spectacular looking restaurant some times 4-5 times a day.

 

In general I agree with you. After hearing for months that Royal Caribbean's MDR food had gone downhill (I hadn't cruised RCCL for a few), I boarded the Independence of the Seas very recenly with low expectations.

 

The food far exceeded my expectations; and if we are to use automobile analogies; most of the time the presentation was Rolls Royce; the taste and quality; let's say frequently a new Cadillac DeVille; with an occasional Chevy Caprice; once or twice a junked AMC Gremlin. The service was consistently a ride in a Limo, if not a Rolls...

 

That they could do this with over 4000 passengers (we are talking a mammoth Freedom Class ship here..) is really remarkable. Certainly a 4 out of 5 here.

 

As for the "food was better in the old days??" Perhaps, but quite honestly I don't recall my 80's cruises (including the venerable Norway) having significantly better food.

 

Mitch

[Grand Prix Racer]

Our first cruise was 1999 and I admit the service was a tad better, the food about the same. Success in promoting cruises to the masses such RCCL, Princess and Carnival has its double edged sword. more and bigger ships, but less time to cater to the individual, we want it all, don't we.

[Paul65]

In "yesteryear", the food choices were more varied, better presented and much tastier. The entire dining experience was a cut above what they offer now...the tables were set with real silver and crystal glasses. There were at least 5 courses everynight and the desserts were gorgeous and supremely tasty. Every meal was plated as if it was a work of art....now, it's similar to what you'd get in any mid-range restaurant.

 

It's not that the food is "bad"...it's just that it's not what long-time cruisers have come to expect. If you just started cruising in the last 2 or 3 years, you have no idea what you missed!

 

What you describe has never happened on Royal Caribbean in the age of large ships (and by big, I'm talking about Sovereign class and up). My first cruise was on the Monarch, when it was relatively new and one of the biggest ships around. There were 5 courses, because appetizers, soups and salads were each a separate grouping, rather than being combined as starters. But, the presentation was not significantly different and the silverware was not real silver. I don't know how far "yesteryear" you have to go to find what you're remembering, but it's a lot more than 2 or 3 years.

[Ashland]

I too started cruising in the 70's (Song of Norway with my parents) and have never had bad service or a bad meal...maybe it's the fact that it's on a "Cruiseship" location..location......:D