Which tours and which ships have the best food?

[Accessor]

We just returned from the River Beatrice (Uniworld) and are very big foodies. I would say the food compared to a Princess cruise....Celebrity maybe a notch above what we received. We have cruised on most of the major lines, and the food does very month to month, ship to ship, chef to chef...So with that being said, your own mileage may vary!

 

Some general observations from our very recent cruise (May 13th to 20th 2012)

 

Soups were all bland. Most were completely watered down. This was agreed upon by all at the table.

 

Salads were nicely presented, but the dressing were tasteless (we requested more, hoping it would fix the issue). Adding more did nothing to the salad

 

Apps were hit or miss. We had "Shrimp" cocktail one night. That's a stretch of the imagination. It was one shrimp (about a 31-40 count size) and below a slew of microscopic baby shrimp. No kidding, you could not even stick them with a fork!

 

Fish dishes were all from frozen fish; taste varied from medium to strong. Most were well sauced to disguise the fishiness

 

Regional dishes were the strong point of the Chef (Renee' who was German). Duck, sausages, schnitzel, were all good solid meals.

 

Best meal of the trip was rack of lamb. Cooked perfectly and fell off the bone.

 

Served fillet one night with shrimp and the filet; you could buy a better steak at most any chain restaurant.

 

The wines were all good, some very good! Rolls were great. Breakfast was quick. Excellent waffles. The french toast used very thin sandwich bread...interesting.

 

Lunches were average. Served us hamburgers one day! They were not gourmet burgers; very pedestrian and did not belong on a cruiseline that touts all the awards it's won for dining....

 

We had a fun cruise, the food did not take away from our vacation. I felt like the marketing from Uniworld was vastly different from the actual experience.

 

My advice to anyone that's up from a little adventure...eat in the towns you are docked in for lunch, and even dinner! Most of the ports we dined in were very reasonably priced and offered far superior food! Why rush back on board for lunch just to save a couple of dollars and miss out on local cuisine?

 

One last observation...the chef does not go to the town and buy food as advertised. It's all brought onboard by a food service company. We watch them load the boat at several stops in the AM after we just docked!

[caviargal]

We just returned from the River Beatrice (Uniworld) and are very big foodies. I would say the food compared to a Princess cruise....Celebrity maybe a notch above what we received.

 

We had a fun cruise, the food did not take away from our vacation. I felt like the marketing from Uniworld was vastly different from the actual experience.

 

My advice to anyone that's up from a little adventure...eat in the towns you are docked in for lunch, and even dinner! Most of the ports we dined in were very reasonably priced and offered far superior food! Why rush back on board for lunch just to save a couple of dollars and miss out on local cuisine?

 

One last observation...the chef does not go to the town and buy food as advertised. It's all brought onboard by a food service company. We watch them load the boat at several stops in the AM after we just docked!

 

Thanks for posting and the information is appreciated.

 

I agree with your suggestion to dine in port when possible and we do that as often as we can.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to share with us. I like reading about food from a foodie's perspective.:)

[pacmom]

We have been on 15 river cruises on 3 continents. Until our last with AMA, we thought Uniworld had the best food---AMA wins hands down. Food is very subjective--if you are foodies like us, you can be more critical of dining experiences. We thoroughly enjoy our dinners on cruises and don't mind a 1 1/2 to 2 hour dinner. Also loved the set up of the AMA diningroom on the AMalegro. Viking has now gone to a system wide menu in Europe, so I have read elsewhere on this board. We also like food and wine of the region thru which we are travelling. Pat

[caviargal]

--AMA wins hands down. Food is very subjective--if you are foodies like us, you can be more critical of dining experiences. We thoroughly enjoy our dinners on cruises and don't mind a 1 1/2 to 2 hour dinner. Also loved the set up of the AMA diningroom on the AMalegro. t

 

Ditto to all of that. We found the food on AmaDante to be by far the best of our five cruises. And the dining room set up made for much better acoustics and no crowding. Also, the way they serve was above the rest.

[Baybear]

My last word on Avalon food is that any two people eating the same meal can and do feel differently about their food. One may love the dinner while the other is no too pleased with their dinner.

 

 

While what you say is true, when you get a review that is so detailed and descriptive as the OP here, I have to go with their comments as "truth." Obviously, people have different tastes, and when a reviewer says "the food was bad," or "the food was great" without any other statements, those comments are totally worthless to me, as I know absolutely nothing about the reviewer's tastes or sensibilities. I have some friends who think Lasgana is the highest culinary art-form of cooking. So I never take their restaurant recommendations seriously. But those friends wouldn't notice or care about the difference between the Viking vs. Uniworld cuisine, whereas I do.

 

So as one who appreciates fine food as well as cooking it and understanding its preparation, freshness and sources; the review of the OP is invaluable for helping me to select (or "not" select) a cruise line. Now, of course it could be that just their ONE cruise was sub-par, but that just doesn't "add up" since one week could not possibly have totally different desserts, and other dishes than the previous or following week; i.e: "average quality" dishes one week, and "great quality" totally different dishes the next. And if the dishes are the way the OP describe them, and there were no better alternatives, then I have to think Viking is quite substandard in this regard compared to other lines whose reviews have been more satisfactorily described.

 

 

So based on what appears to be incontrovertible evidence from the descriptive detail provided by the OP it really does seem to me that for those who DO expect and appreciate fine cuisine on cruises, that Viking is, in fact, sub-par on this particular ship and/or cruise.