Food on NCL Reaching New Lows??

[kandagal1939]

We cruised recently with NCL - our first time & last time. We found the food mediocre & the service in the dining room lacked that little bit of finesse. Plates were dumped in front of you with a bang, waiters reached across me to place plate in front of next diner. We are not overly fussy but we felt the dining experience was below par.

[Stillfloatin']

For those of us who have been cruising for a few years, I think we can all agree food has definitely decreased in quality in the MDR. When I first started cruising, there were no speciality restaurants. That said, by adding those restaurants and stepping down the MFR quality, the mass market cruise lines have been able to keep the base price of cruising affordable to more people. While I miss the amazing meals of the early years, I am happy to be cruising more frequently at affordable prices.

 

And it's not just cruise lines. Several years ago meat branding was downgraded and what we eat now as "prime" was once just "choice". There are many other examples of food cost cutting, including the sizes of candy bars, etc.

 

Some people would rather pay more for increased quality and some people would prefer to pay less for quantity. It's just economics.

[newmexicoNita]

So I was wrong. Oh well. It's always a matter of opinion. Maybe the problem is I was simply comparing with my experiences on Carnival last year. On Lobster night, we had nice sized lobster tails in the mdr and shrimp cocktails were on the every day menu (had 2 each night). Thanks for all the input.

 

last year and this year are 2 different times: As for the Lobster tails on another line, I think you were lucky, I have yet to have a really decent lobster on any cruise ship. They are frozen and normally not Maine or even New England Lobsters.

[biker@sea]

The lobster pasta last night in the buffet had good lobster tails and my tenderloin in the MDR was slightly better than the one I ate in Le Bistro .

 

New menu choices in the MDR too since our last repo cruise .

Edited July 19, 2014 by biker@sea

[ALS1214]

I had a wonderful prime rib on the Dawn last night. I found the food to be good , even in the buffet. My least favorite meal was tepenyaki and my favorite was the grilled shrimp in la cacuccina.

 

 

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[KeithJenner]

We cruised recently with NCL - our first time & last time. We found the food mediocre & the service in the dining room lacked that little bit of finesse. Plates were dumped in front of you with a bang, waiters reached across me to place plate in front of next diner. We are not overly fussy but we felt the dining experience was below par.

 

 

I think this post is a good example of how people view things differently. You consider yourself not overly fussy, but raise the fact that waitrons reached across you as an issue.

 

Personally, I wouldn't even notice if they did, and on the off chance that I noticed, I wouldn't care. Not would I have any idea how gently they put the plates down (as long as the food stayed on the plate and nothing got broken). :)

 

That isn't a criticism of you, or your opinion, but is just demonstrates how some people have totally different expectations. Whilst you don't consider yourself overly fussy, that statement would lead me to imagine that a considerable proportion of people are even less fussy than you.

 

 

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[rics321]

I am not sure that any mass market cruise line can offer good tasting food, its way too expensive. I cruise for the adventure and entertainment!

 

That said I do agree ncl's MDR has gone somewhat downhill since I 1st started cruising. Their speciality restaurants have however stayed the same. Infact as far as I can remember they haven't changed their speciality restaurant menus since 2002 and the food tastes exactly same.

[KeithJenner]

Cagneys menu changed a couple of years ago.

[Love my butler]

If your standard of food is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster you won't even notice the (lack of) food quality on NCL. NCL has been cutting corners at every turn and the meals served in the MDR have not been spared. People say it's mass market cruising so you get mass market meals. Huh, 15 years ago on NCL we received excellent food on a mass market ship. They didn't seem to have any trouble preparing and serving hundreds of meals in the MDR.

[KeithJenner]

If your standard of food is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster

 

 

It's always handy when a statement like that is made at the start of a post. Saves having to bother reading to the end. Thanks. :)

[JohnIreland]

I found the new menu to be a big step up from the old.

 

Don't know how anyone could think it's going downhill.

[sparks1093]

First note the question marks in the title. Let's cut right to the chase. I just got through reading my review and several others of recent cruises on the Breakaway and they all mention in very unglowing terms the food situation.

 

Look, I understand NCL's food policy revolves around trying to get people to use the specialized restaurants and I don't think there is anybody who can say that in recent times, NCL's food for the masses (the mdr's and the buffet) have been both declining and is very far behind other cruise lines (which is not to say there aren't cutbacks there also). Also I know that NCL execs do read these boards and sometimes comment.

 

Now having said all that, I really believe NCL (and it apparently is not just my opinion) may have gone too far in this. They push the dining package which is their perogative but that also makes it difficult to get reservations for the specialized restaurants at desirable times (try to get a reservation say at Teppanyaki for around 1900 or 1930). Of course we've gone through the whole evolution of lobster tails first having been removed from the mdr's to the buffet and now, at least on several ships and apparently a corporate policy, of being removed from the buffets in favor of an inedible lobster pasta (I carried on enough about this but the point has been made).

 

Do others feel this way? Is it time to give some sort of message to the suits at NCL or do others feel I'm imagining all of this (just read the reviews).

 

My three cents. On our recent cruise DW and I agreed that the food quality had improved since our last cruise on NCL. We have never felt compelled to eat in a specialty restaurant and did so for the first time this last time out. While it was worth the price we paid it wasn't a must have. And by way of comparision we attended a concert last weekend and ate in the restaurant at the venue. Two cocktails, a plate of nachos and a pannini cost us $45 and were similar qualitywise, which is to say we liked it, to what we had at the Blue Lagoon.

[clarkg]

I will say that my first cruise on NCL was the Norway. It had amazing food. If we fast forward to 2014 then all of the cruise lines I have been on have not even held a candle to that.

I do miss the old days, but I am not starving to death on cruises though.

We do eat in MDR and specialty places. One time when I was eating specialty restaurant, it was so bad I wished that I had gone to the MDR.

To each his own I guess. Will the food stop me from cruising. I think not.

[Rhea98]

I found the new menu to be a big step up from the old.

 

Don't know how anyone could think it's going downhill.

 

Thanks, JohnIreland. I was getting a tiny bit of concern about it especially having just booked a 14-day transatlantic. Of course it's all subjective, but two years ago we thought the food on the Epic was--well, epic. Fortunately, I found many pastries/breads to be just ordinary so easy to ignore, but main dishes and sides-even in the Garden Buffet were very enjoyable and the variety amazing. We tried Carnival (Liberty) last year. I loved the ship but didn't care for most of the food. Guy's hamburgers were great, and their Danish pastries were really good. Hope we enjoy the food on our 7-day Nov. Epic cruise. We've actually started dieting so we can afford the weight gain!

 

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[Powriv]

Maybe I am not the foodie I thought I was as I thought the food on Epic this last January was pretty great. Ate most dinners at Taste and while one dinner was dry(got more sauce when asked for) they were all tasty. Found lots of tasty food at buffet and O'Sheehans other than the 'hot' wing which were blah and not what I would call hot

 

I don't know if I would ever purchase the UDP since the 'free' food is plentiful and tasty.

 

To each their own :)

[swedish weave]

If your standard of food is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster you won't even notice the (lack of) food quality on NCL. NCL has been cutting corners at every turn and the meals served in the MDR have not been spared. People say it's mass market cruising so you get mass market meals. Huh, 15 years ago on NCL we received excellent food on a mass market ship. They didn't seem to have any trouble preparing and serving hundreds of meals in the MDR.

 

 

Can you give me the locations of the dumpsters you use ? I may be ready for a change.

[KJE Atlanta]

If your standard of food is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster you won't even notice the (lack of) food quality on NCL. NCL has been cutting corners at every turn and the meals served in the MDR have not been spared. People say it's mass market cruising so you get mass market meals. Huh, 15 years ago on NCL we received excellent food on a mass market ship. They didn't seem to have any trouble preparing and serving hundreds of meals in the MDR.

 

If you are really being served food that tastes like it came out of a dumpster, then maybe the rumors are true.... you know, the ones about NCL keeping track and telling the staff who the guests are that remove the DSC. Just a theory. :rolleyes:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. I actually do find your posts amusing and entertaining, even the ones I completely disagree with! :D

[All-ready2cruise]

Can you give me the locations of the dumpsters you use ? I may be ready for a change.

 

Well, I could tell you about some really great locations for dumpsters, unfortunately, the raccoons, cats, and bears beat most of us off, so we need to feed off the NCL ships....

 

Mr & Mrs Lobster... whose kiddies aren't big enough to be eaten yet, are getting tired of losing their youngsters too ... sniff .. sniff... :eek: :p

[Cruisercl]

We cruised recently with NCL - our first time & last time. We found the food mediocre & the service in the dining room lacked that little bit of finesse. Plates were dumped in front of you with a bang, waiters reached across me to place plate in front of next diner. We are not overly fussy but we felt the dining experience was below par.

 

That is so funny that you say this because I thought the same things last Winter, only I was on Celebrity and RCCL. So back to NCL I go, where, IMO I have not experienced this type of service.

 

I guess you just don't know.

 

Happy and safe cruising all! :)

[Cruisercl]

If your standard of food is the equivalent of eating out of a dumpster you won't even notice the (lack of) food quality on NCL. NCL has been cutting corners at every turn and the meals served in the MDR have not been spared. People say it's mass market cruising so you get mass market meals. Huh, 15 years ago on NCL we received excellent food on a mass market ship. They didn't seem to have any trouble preparing and serving hundreds of meals in the MDR.

 

So, you haven't cruised on NCL for 15 years? How do you know what it is like now?

 

Things are different because the cruise industry is different ....:)

Even the marketing term 'mass market' means something different now.

Just wondering.

[beerman2]

And I was told last night that the MDR food was all buffet and you really need to do the dining package instead of freestyle.

 

Just had to laugh at . Correct me if I'm wrong , just have a hard time believing MDR isn't a sit down and be served. LOL!

[All-ready2cruise]

And I was told last night that the MDR food was all buffet and you really need to do the dining package instead of freestyle.

 

Just had to laugh at . Correct me if I'm wrong , just have a hard time believing MDR isn't a sit down and be served. LOL!

 

:eek: What!?? :eek:

 

Last time we cruised there was a sit down MDR, have they taken that away too, along with the lobster... hahaha.. Were they trying to sell you something or they honestly didn't know?

 

Hilarious.. :p

[hooterville_mom]

How much is the dining package? This is our first time cruising NCL, we cruised Disney in 2008. Kind of worried that NCL seems to nickel and dime more (i.e., paying to go bowling)

[graphicguy]

Was on the Breakaway a few weeks ago. We ate in both specialty and "no fee" restaurants. Food was ass good, or better as anything I had on either the recent CCL Breeze or RCCL Allure.

[beerman2]

Already2 cruise

 

Guessing she really had no clue what she was talking about.

 

LOL

 

As SGT. Joe Friday used to say Facts ma'am only the Facts .

 

 

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