Food quality on celebrity

[lovetotraveltx]

We are kind of foodies. Now considering celebrity and royal carribean to Alaska. I know it's cruise food but how did you like the food on celebrity. And, if you've taken both, which of the two did you prefer and why?

 

Thank you!

[Texed]

We are kind of foodies. Now considering celebrity and royal carribean to Alaska. I know it's cruise food but how did you like the food on celebrity. And, if you've taken both, which of the two did you prefer and why? Thank you!

 

IMO, the food on Celebrity is better, especially the waffles. ;)

[ChiGal1962]

Also consider myself a foodie. Outside of itinerary, it's one of the major drivers of how I choose a cruise. And I love Celebrity. Royal was also very good, and I wouldn't hesitate to sail them again, too.

 

Not surprising, I guess, considering that they're part of the same company.

[Gonzo70]

We are kind of foodies. Now considering celebrity and royal carribean to Alaska. I know it's cruise food but how did you like the food on celebrity. And, if you've taken both, which of the two did you prefer and why?

 

Thank you!

 

Celebrity does budget a bit more to food than sister line RCI - but as you said it is cruise food. Mass produced, largely inexpensive ingredients and none of it fresh or locally sourced. They do a great job under the constraints but it is nothing like what you would find at a good quality land based restaurant. Celebrity does have nice specialty venues - and offers packages of specialty dining - so I would recommend booking such a package to obtain better food and ambiance. Also Celebrity ships have Aqua Class which has its own dining room (Blu) that is a step up from the main dining room. I will be interested to hear about the suite only dining room rolling out some time next year that they promise will have some locally sourced ingredients.

[4cats4me]

We have cruised both lines and prefer the food on Celebrity, but to be honest, we upgraded to Aqua on our last cruise, so perhaps that isn't a fair comparison to the regular old food in RCCL'S dining room. By upgrading to Aqua you will have access to Blu restaurant which is smaller and more intimate and the food is very good. I also liked the buffet on Celebrity better and just overall atmosphere

[jelayne]

Diamond on Royal but switched to Celebrity, food is a touch above Royal and overall a better experience for us. We prefer the non smoking casino, lack of announcements and don't care to do the flow rider and rock wall.

[helen haywood]

Don't know if "foodies" consider the finer points of hamburgers, but Celebrity's Mast Grill has MUCH better hamburgers than Royal does on their buffet line.

[jsf]

CC beats RCCL on food but neither is anywhere as good as they used to be in the 90's.

J.

[kevinyork]

We had the comparison of a 2 week May cruise on RCI and a 2 week July cruise on Celebrity last year. Celebrity was considerably better. Both have interesting menus but on RCI I sent back three dishes over the two weeks as they were poor. A coq au vin was full of grissle. My other half had salmon one night that was 3/4s pink in the middle and cold. They took it away and on return it was clear it had been microwaved and had a terrible smell. Even the Maitre D' winced when he smelled it.

 

Also, we didnt like the evening preamble where the waiter would describe the 'Theme' for the evenings menu. They gave each menu a name such as Basil, or Lemon and one dish would have that ingredient but the waiter had a set speach about 'This nights menu is called Basil. Basil is a rich Mediterannean herb and therefore I would recommend......'

 

On our X cruise had no such issues and felt the ingredients and presentation was better.

 

 

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[merinski]

We were once on the Radiance & the food was awful! Celebrity is good!

[lovetotraveltx]

Thank you!

[lovetotraveltx]

And, we love hamburgers. Just making the point that when we travel food is an important part of our vacation enjoyment.

 

I know at the end of the day it's prepared for thousands! Have cruised but not on these lines!

[drarill]

Another vote for Celebrity and we are D+ in RCCL;)

[southernbreezes]

I agree Celebrity is a notch or two above RCCL when it come to food. We have been Cruising for 40 years (59 Cruises). Celebrity is 1. Disney 2. Holland 3. all the rest are about equal. I think they all buy from the same food service company. Sysco nation wide and Cheney Brothers in Florida. I see there food service trucks pulled up to the ships at the docks.;)

[Milhouse]

We haven't sailed on Royal Caribbean in a few years but we thought the quality difference was pretty noticeable in the MDR when sailing on Liberty of the Seas between our two X sailings; the quality of X being noticeably better and having more interesting menu selections.

But as previously mentioned, you have to keep in mind MDR dining is essentially "banquet dining" tho X does a great job for the situation.

 

Don't know if "foodies" consider the finer points of hamburgers, but Celebrity's Mast Grill has MUCH better hamburgers than Royal does on their buffet line.

 

Really like the Mast Grill also. Maybe RC wants people to buck up to eat their burgers at Johnny Rockets (which I quite enjoy too).

[vi1234]

If you really know food, you will not be happy with any cruise food. I cruise in spite of the food. It is is of course banquet food--regular banquet food and better banquet food. Looks pretty and very exciting to people who have never eaten in great restaurants. Your satisfaction will depend on what your previous experiences have been.

[Aloha 1]

If you cruise for good food there are really only two lines that can claim to offer foodie worthy cuisine; Regent and Oceania. Of course you will pay for that experience. For the mass market lines like X, RCCL and Princess, my experience is that X and Princess are about equal with X having a definite edge in specialty restaurant dining. RCCL appears to be in a race to the bottom with Carnival for worst food on a cruise line. The other factor to consider is the Executive Chef on board. I've dined on cruise ships with chefs who were members of Chaine des Rotisseurs and offered outstanding meals. Then I've been on some where the head chef would have fared quite well slinging hash at One Eyed Moe's.

 

Bottom line, Celebrity has really good specialty restaurants on board if the MDF does not fit your desires. There are posts by others who have dined ONLY in those venues with great satisfaction. As others have stated, BLU is also a great venue and our dining room of choice compared to the MDR. Finally, starting in 4/15, X will be adding a separate dining venue for Suite guests that promises upscale meals. Enjoy!

[wallie5446]

Our 1st RCCL was in 1987, last was the Freedom in 2011. 1st X was in 1994, Reflection last Nov, with Princess in 2012. Celebrity has managed to stay a step above in our taste buds opinion.:D

[southernbreezes]

If you really know food, you will not be happy with any cruise food. I cruise in spite of the food. It is is of course banquet food--regular banquet food and better banquet food. Looks pretty and very exciting to people who have never eaten in great restaurants. Your satisfaction will depend on what your previous experiences have been.

 

Hardly banquet food and you can not compare cooking for 3,000 people to a great restaurant cooking for 50. My wife is by far the best cook in the world so if great food is all I care about I would just stay home. There is a lot more to eating out than just food. If we ate out 7 nights at a great restaurants the cost would almost equal our 7 day cruise cost. Some of Celebrity's specialty restaurants are as good if not better than 90% of any restaurants on land, the cost is a little more but you get more. Come on what do you really expect for the price of a cruise.:rolleyes:

The question I think was which line Celebrity or RCCL has better food. My pick is Celebrity.

[miched]

The food quality is very high.

 

They make sure that items on the buffet don't exceed the time limits, and dispose of any food that is over time or not not used at the end of the session.

 

All of the food in all of the venues come form the same source. The differnce is how it is prepared.

 

If anything is unsanitary it is because of the passengers and not the prep.

 

 

.🌊🚢🇺🇸🍸🍻

[BosoxI]

CC beats RCCL on food but neither is anywhere as good as they used to be in the 90's.

J.[/quote

I dunno. I stopped cruising on Celebrity in the early 90s for a very weak reason: back then their shrimp cocktail comprised baby shrimp while Princess was providing much better cuisine, much more professional waiters, and big shrimp:p. That was enough to keep me loyal to Princess (along with a few other things such as better itineraries) Times have changed.

[SuiteTraveler]

I'm a foodie, too. In fact, I'm a chef. Food on RCCL Oasis of the Seas and newer ships is extremely good - especially their specialty restaurants which are sometimes outstanding. One thing they have done to improve things is hire different chefs for the different specialty restaurants and actually give them some degree of control which makes it more like a land-based experience where the food represents each chef's personal point of view. The specialty restaurants were so good, we never actually made it to the main dining room. Food on Celebrity is extremely good to excellent - not outstanding. Their specialty restaurants are extremely good, although I was not impressed with the food at Murano last time - the chef is required to cook a corporate menu which really impacts quality in a negative way, IMO. We had better luck at Qsine which was a fun experience. There is much, much more entertainment on RCCL. Celebrity is a quieter cruise. It all depends on what you want out of your cruise. I think both RCCL and Celebrity are good lines and you would have a good cruise on either.

[Cruising89143]

We are kind of foodies. Now considering celebrity and royal carribean to Alaska. I know it's cruise food but how did you like the food on celebrity. And, if you've taken both, which of the two did you prefer and why?

 

Thank you!

 

Took my first Celebrity cruise last year on the Reflection. Have taken many cruises on RCI and IMHO Celebrity is a step up across the board IMHO. Of course food is very subjective.

 

We found the food on the Oasis class ships lacking compared to the rest of the fleet. The worst experience with specialty dining was on the Oasis.

Edited March 1, 2014 by cruisingator2

[DavidYYC]

If you really know food, you will not be happy with any cruise food. I cruise in spite of the food. It is is of course banquet food--regular banquet food and better banquet food. Looks pretty and very exciting to people who have never eaten in great restaurants. Your satisfaction will depend on what your previous experiences have been.

 

Oh so pretentious and patronizing.

[germanyboy]

We have only eaten in MDR on Mercury and Century and never saw a bad meal, or item. Expect to be even better on Solstce.