Carnival food reviews vs. Princess???

[only1deejay]

Ive been on princess before....first time trying carnival...hows the food??? im going to nassau bahama's early december 2013.thanks.:)

[cruiseclues]

What Carnival cruise ship are you taking? :)

[ready2cruzagain]

I was on the Carnival Breeze in Dec. for 14 days and then went straight to the Caribbean Princess for 7 days. IMHO Princess beats Carnivals food hands down.

 

The overall quality and variety offered on Princess is so much better.

 

That being said I did love Cucina del Capitano on the Breeze and could eat there everyday!

 

[loveJake]

We think Princess food is much better. The MDR food is better, and the big plus is that the dinner buffet on Princess is much the same as the dining room. Some nights we just don't feel like spending too much time on dinner but we stay away from the buffet on Carnival in the evenings, nasty food. The 24 hr buffet on Princess is great and we really miss that option on Carnival. But the price of a cruise is much cheaper on Carnival so I guess the food is what suffers.

[bamelin]

I loved the food on princess. Wife and I both felt that there was a lot of seafood choices, and the food dishes were a lot less salty than what we experienced on royal Caribbean.

 

My first carnival cruise is coming up ... From videos I've seen it appears carnival has alot more fried stuff, but also does classics like steak very well.

[ramrax4]

There are great choices offered on both cruise lines. Princess has the best desserts and their pizza is very good. I also, enjoyed Carnivals food, the lido grill has great burgers, fries and hot dogs. Both cruise lines offer plenty of variety. I found that both lines had items I loved and disliked. Between the buffet, MDR and specialty venues you'll be sure to find something to your liking!

[klmorg]

I honestly didn't find much difference at all in the food on Carnival vs. Princess. There were things I liked better, and things I didn't care for, on each line.

[ciera123]

I also didn't notice that much difference between Princess and Carnival food. I do, however, LOVE the almost nightly souffles on Princess that are so wonderful!!! :)

[TabFox]

I thought that Carnival was a tad better. Princess was good; always found something to eat on all the ships. MDR's were comparable. Pizza was comparable. I do think that Carnival's buffet was a bit better though. Ask 100 people and you'll get 100 different answers.

[jolapo]

Just returned from Carnival Dream last week and the food was no where near as good as Princess. Been on Princess twice and when they say "fine dining" they mean it. Carnival's idea of "fine dining" is macaroni and cheese and southern fried chicken! The buffet on Carinval was boring and the same thing every day. Princess changed the buffet everyday. Dinner in the dining room is a joke. Nothing is served with any kind of style, no garnishes no special touches, just thrown on to you plate and served. Even on elegant night on Carnival the food was presented only slightly better than any other night. Food quality was not as good as Princess. Very disappointed with Carnival (but I did not have high expectations as we got the cruise for cheap)

[jacksmom09]

Never done Princess, but think Carnival food very good! Love the chocolate melting cake! Can't wait to have it again!:D

[bamelin]

My comparison of Princess versus RCCL food ...

 

In MDR I found RCCL to be very salty and rich (especially meat cuts). Buffet was plentiful but seemed to rely on food with lots of sauces. I have irritable bowel syndrome and RCCL food REALLY upset my stomach.

 

Princess I found to have alot more seafood. Buffet seemed smaller than RCCL however, the food selections were VERY good. More gourmet I guess? One thing Princess lacked was fried food. They had very little of that (while I try not to overdo fried stuff, I do enjoy it). The MDR experience in Princess was service oriented rather than entertainment oriented. We loved the MDR food, and were especially happy that on our particular cruise they were willing to serve MDR food back in our cabins. We had SO many meals on our balcony.

 

Overall the quality seemed better on Princess than RCCL. I'll say though the pictures of Carvnival food have me really curious. It really looks to be like a different experience from Princess and RCCL. When I say different what I mean by that (and this is just based on my observations from pictures and reading stuff here), is this:

 

Carnival appears to be a fusion of other cruiselines. The food appears to have more fried food and "comfort" food selections. With that said Carnival food appears to be adventurous? More spicy choices. MDR presentation looks top notch from the pics I've seen as well. I'm really looking forward to experiencing it all first hand! One of the best parts of going on a new cruiseline for the first time is getting to experience how it is different from those you have been on in the past.

[AmberTeka]

We went from Fascination...Dream ...to CAribbean princess for New Years

 

CAribbean Princess had the best food. The seafood was good. The desserts were better and more varied. I International Court...just fine.

 

Carnival has OK food...the Dream has a serving problem. it is a lovely ship with a lovely staff...activities out the ying yang....and they cannot get a Good Consistent MDR policy going. That said..we always found something to eat.

CArnival's Supper Club..Steak House..Best at sea. Most expensive at $35 pp. Worth it.Pizza good. burgers..hot dogs good. DELI..GRILLED HAM AND CHEESE SANDWICHES...YUM. I could eat one every day.

Carnival has a better salad bar. Better and more varied ingrediants and Salad Dressing that does not taste like battery acid. Self SErve ice cream is very good. Better on Carnival.

 

I order Room Service every morning...coffee for two. Sometimes toast...jam. On both lines..very good..very prompt.

CArnival is a lot better than you think..Princess is just as good.

[mek]

Princess is my overall favorite line, but I like Carnival's food in the MDR a tad better. I enjoy Princess' buffets more. IMHO, there is no such thing as "fine dining" on any mass line unless you go to some, (but not all), extra charge restaurants. Most on average have good food with some hits and some misses.

[chill6x6]

IMO....I think Carnival food is better than Princess. Princess over does it on fancy instead of just perfecting the basics. I also KNOW MDR service was better on Conquest than Ruby Princess....no doubt about that. What Carnival does and what they have is better, MDR, buffet, and grill. Now there are a couple of exceptions.. Carnival room service isn't in the same league as Princess... food choices or service. Princess pizza is MUCH better than Carnival. Now I will say that Princess has MORE food choices MORE often. You WILL have gaps in food coverage on CCL where only room service, pizza, or deli will be open. Lines will be long too...

[Moobaby214]

Honestly, they are about the same. The only major difference is that princess uses fancier ingredients (that i don't eat anyway) on some dishes.

 

 

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[HeidiHo]

I found them to be about the same.

[awhcruiser]

Thought Carnival's pizza was not as good as Princess. Dining room desserts better on Princess...But Lido lunch desserts were much better on Princess.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Ive been on princess before....first time trying carnival...hows the food??? im going to nassau bahama's early december 2013.thanks.:)

 

MDR - I think they are about the same. Nothing awesome but not bad either. Anywhere they are cooking for over two thousand people, its only going to get so good. Expect banquet hall quality, just like Princess.

 

Buffet - I will say the buffet on Princess is better as Carnivals reminded me of a bad Shoneys that should have closed years ago.

 

Pizza - Carnivals was ranged from outright terrible to barely passable IMHO. Princes pizza was much better.

 

Lido options. I haven't sailed a 2.0 ship yet but on Princess on the lido you could get Pizza, or go to the other station and pick from hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken breast sandwich, kielbasa, and bratwurst.

 

Al my opinion of course. The food on both lines is perfectly acceptable other than the pizza disparity and buffet (but some people love them so you might too).

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I forgot to add the Steakhouse -

 

Princess - Better food and its only $25. Service was ok - Oh and they actually have Porterhouse, like a real steakhouse would.

 

Carnival- $35 and no porterhouse lol. They refused to cook my RibEye Medium Rare. Service was friendlier though. Still try Carnivals steakhouse, many here rave about it so I probably went at a bad time.

[Cruiser from MS]

What Carnival cruise ship are you taking? :)

 

 

I have cruised Princess and we hated it the food was horrible. That being said is only my opinion... We were on a 14 day cruise to Hawaii and the food did not seem as good as we have had on Carnival. By the end of the cruise you could see through the ice tea, it was so weak and the rolls were sooooo hard you could break a window if you threw them. Just enjoy your cruise and do not compare...

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I have cruised Princess and we hated it the food was horrible. That being said is only my opinion... We were on a 14 day cruise to Hawaii and the food did not seem as good as we have had on Carnival. By the end of the cruise you could see through the ice tea, it was so weak and the rolls were sooooo hard you could break a window if you threw them. Just enjoy your cruise and do not compare...

 

I see you were on the Golden. My mother sailed the Golden last year and said the food wasn't that good and preferred the food on the Carnival Imagination. Maybe some ships just do food better than others.

[berryberry]

Have been on Carnival and Princess twice each - and the food on Princess is better than Carnival's hand's down. Better quality, more variety and fancier.

 

That said, you will not starve on either but Carnival's concept of comfort food in the MDR leaves something to be desired

[twostacys]

Having sailed a couple ships on each line I do not think there is much diff. I found it was ship specific rather than line specific. One ship may be great this year but not next year.

[SkyMaster]

I too, prefer the Carnival food in the dining room to the Princess offerings. Princess seems to try to "fancy" up their food, and as a result, ruin many of their dishes for me. Guess I'm just too much of a "meat & potatoes" guy. ;)

Service is about the same on both lines in the dining room, but is MUCH better at the buffet, aboard Princess. Your butt no sooner hits the seat and there's someone there with silverware (if it isn't already on the table) and your choice of drink. Carnnival could take a lesson from that! :eek:

 

"SKY"