Navigator disappointment

[Sandifer]

Sorry to say this and I am sure I will get blasted, but just off a 7 day cruise on Navigator of the Seas and found the food very disappointing. We had only 2 good meals at Giovanni's table, but the food in the main dining room was less than mediocre. We have cruised a lot on several different lines, and have always enjoyed the dining experience and found things we liked, but not this time. Was this just an anomaly or is the quality going down? It almost seems that royal Caribbean wants to force cruisers into specialty dining, for which they will pay increasing premiums.

[ryano]

The quality must be going down fleet wide. :( There will always be the "we have always loved the MDR food" and the "food is too subjective" crowd but there are too many complaints about the food from many other ships for them not to at least have some truth to them.

 

We always do MDR dining.. Bare in mind its been almost 3 years since Ive been on a cruise but I thought the food was good to very good with some even being what I would consider excellent. Since then, the menus have changed and there are many complaints about the quality of food. Couple that with less wait staff and you have "less than mediocre" food AND service.

 

As far as getting blasted, yes unfortunately you probably will. I really wish the Mods would do more about opinions getting flamed around here. Saying the MDR food is less than mediocre is NOT talking personally about someones family. I dont understand why some have to be so nasty to others. Ill probably be blasted for that opinion too.

Edited February 18, 2015 by ryano

[Big_G]

Could be an anomaly. Our last three cruises were Freedom, Brilliance, and Independence and the food in the MDR ranged from good to excellent. We were also impressed with how smooth MTD ran. Here's to it being just that, an anomaly.

[bilyclub]

I've thought the food is okay, but that the service in the MDR has gone way down.

[ryano]

Could be an anomaly. Our last three cruises were Freedom, Brilliance, and Independence and the food in the MDR ranged from good to excellent. We were also impressed with how smooth MTD ran. Here's to it being just that, an anomaly.

 

Well Im certainly glad to hear that about Freedom :) That was my experience with the food and MTD exactly but its been 2.5 years ago.

[Moobaby214]

We did the Navigator in October and thought the food was okay, but the menus lacked any thought. Handmade pastas were more like mushy paste. We sailed Serenade a couple weeks ago and the MDR food was not good and actually ran out of lots of things. We ended up in Giovanni's/Chops for many of our meals.

[Big_G]

I've thought the food is okay, but that the service in the MDR has gone way down.

 

I should have added that we also had great service on our last three. For a while I thought the service reflected a shortened staff but after our last three waiters now I'm thinking it was the individual wait staff in the past that caused the problem. Then again maybe the service is just better in MTD than traditional.

[LetsGetWet!]

The quality must be going down fleet wide. :( There will always be the "we have always loved the MDR food" and the "food is too subjective" crowd but there are too many complaints about the food from many other ships for them not to at least have some truth to them.

 

We always do MDR dining.. Bare in mind its been almost 3 years since Ive been on a cruise but I thought the food was good to very good with some even being what I would consider excellent. Since then, the menus have changed and there are many complaints about the quality of food. Couple that with less wait staff and you have "less than mediocre" food AND service.

 

As far as getting blasted, yes unfortunately you probably will. I really wish the Mods would do more about opinions getting flamed around here. Saying the MDR food is less than mediocre is NOT talking personally about someones family. I dont understand why some have to be so nasty to others. Ill probably be blasted for that opinion too.

Could be an anomaly. Our last three cruises were Freedom, Brilliance, and Independence and the food in the MDR ranged from good to excellent. We were also impressed with how smooth MTD ran. Here's to it being just that, an anomaly.

No blasting here! Food IS subjective - what's mediocre or worse to some is good or very good to others. But yes, one should look at the preponderence of the reports to try to get as best an idea as is possible. FWIW, our November experience on Indy I'd categorize as good to occasionally very good, but not what I'd term excellent.

[OCruisers]

Sandifer .... No reason you should be blasted/flamed!

You simply stated your opinion.

On Oasis OTS we had dinner in a specialty restaurant 6 or the 7 nights because we didn't care for the food in the MDR for dinner.

On a positive note ... Giovanni's food was wonderful. :)

LuLu

[ryano]

No blasting here! Food IS subjective - what's mediocre or worse to some is good or very good to others. But yes, one should look at the preponderence of the reports to try to get as best an idea as is possible. FWIW, our November experience on Indy I'd categorize as good to occasionally very good, but not what I'd term excellent.

 

Im pretty easy to please when it comes to food so Im sure I will be just fine :) I have a little higher expectations than the "I didnt have to cook it or clean it up" crowd but I always enjoyed the MDR. Im actually a little more concerned about the service complaints Ive been reading than anything but again, Im sure everything will be just fine.

[Starry Eyes]

I'm sorry the food disappointed you. Did you like the sound of the items when reading the menus, then not care for the taste/presentation of the food? Or did the menus not appeal to your tastes?

 

We have done many Royal Caribbean cruises, including B2B cruises on NOS last month. To me the food quality was similar to our past Royal Caribbean cruises, with an occasional disappointment and an occasional pleasant surprise. Service was very good the first week and good the second week (the assistant waiter the second week was a delightful person who is still growing into the job).

[Sandifer]

I agree. We found Giovanni's both excellent food and service.

[George C]

Last April we were on Navigator and only had 2 meals in MDR and both meals were fine, not as good as specialty restaurants but no complaints. Had a friend on last July and they really liked MDR. I do think MDR is hit or miss depending on your taste and what is offered.

[Ladysilver]

I've been on the Navigator 3 times and each time the food was just a bit worse that the last time. Not enough to complain loudly but still.....:cool:

[nomoreknothead]

We were on Navigator in November 2014 for a B2B and We are Not normally big complainers. We did notice a decline in the food choices in the MDR with the new menus. Did we go hungry? NO !! Will I cruise again? YES , Will I still eat in the MDR? Certainly !

Service the first week was horrible on both the waiter & absent assistant waiter! Second leg ( after our complaints to head waiter) was wonderful !!

Edited February 18, 2015 by nomoreknothead

[F27TW]

We did the Navigator in October and thought the food was okay, but the menus lacked any thought. Handmade pastas were more like mushy paste. We sailed Serenade a couple weeks ago and the MDR food was not good and actually ran out of lots of things. We ended up in Giovanni's/Chops for many of our meals.

 

 

DING !!! I think you've hit it on the head .. its pretty clear that they (and not just RC, you read this on the boards of the other lines on here too) ..are dumbing down the MDR experience in order to get us up into the extra $$$ places ... like it or not, its just the wave of the future in cruising, I think.

 

That said, we were on Explorer this past June and had mostly very good food (with a substitution here and there made when something wasn't making us happy) ... and extra orders of things were never a problem. We're pretty easy to please .. but yes, the decline each year is noticeable for us overall.

 

The area we have noticed changing rapidly is the number of staff in MDR ... (pool area too) ... the MDR waiters are really stressed now ... almost panicked during service ... sad to see. They work so hard to make us happy though.

[MAHA]

When many are mentioning the service going downhill in the MDR, how much of that is due to the automatic gratuities that are added to your seapass daily? So far, we have not noticed a decline in service. We don not adjust our gatuities and always tip more at the end proveded we have had good service.

[bighairtexan]

I often cruise out of Galveston b/c it's easy for me. So that means the Navigator and before that the Mariner. (and the same thing for the Explorer etc). I find the food on RCI to be fair. Nothing to write home about; but I always find something that appeals and that I enjoy. If I don't like what I ordered, I have no qualms about politely asking for a replacement of something else and I've never had any of the wait staff to be anything but gracious about getting something else. Heck if they notice I'm not eating much of my food, they practically insist on getting something else for me.

 

MOSTLY I have found that if I go w/ what the wait staff recommends, I usually do better. They know what looks good and what other diners have been happy with. SOmetimes their recommendations are for something I don't want so I order something else.

 

I also often cruise Celebrity and while I definitely find the food in the MDR to be better than RCI, it too is nothing to write home about IMHO. It used to be better. But that's life. But again I don't leave hungry.

[wolfganghowell]

We have always noticed that each menu has good items and not so good items. Often, the waiter can steer you away from the bad choices. I do think they have cut their food budget for the MDR and it shows up in the quality. We don't go hungry - we can usually find something that is appealing to us. Too bad you didn't try Sabor. We felt it was the best meal ever on a Royal ship.

[wolfganghowell]

OMG - Other Sharon and I are saying the same things again. Stop that!!!! :D :D Hi O/S!

[Wave Hopper]

We just got of the Oasis last week and we thought the MDR food was good. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and they are all valid. I'm sorry Navigator MDR wasn't good for you. That was the first ship I sailed.

 

The last night of our cruise on Oasis something happened to the service in the MDR. Service was good all week and on Friday we waited a long time for every course. It was the same time we ate the other nights we were in the MDR and it didn't seem like there were anymore people than any other night. They even had the head waiters, the guys wearing suits, bringing out food and picking up empty dishes.

 

As I said that everyone has their own likes and dislikes...we tried Sabor for the first time and we thought the food was terrible. We heard people saying how good it was all week. The menu also seemed rather odd.

 

Giovanni's was excellent, as was Chops.

[djkk]

My daughter and I were on the Freedom this past December. We both thought the MDR food quality was poor, especially the beef dishes, which were tough and unappetizing. It's a shame. We used to enjoy the whole MDR dining experience, but we ended up going to the Windjammer the last three days of the cruise. I've always recommended RCI for cruises and now I hesitate to do so.

[George C]

We just got of the Oasis last week and we thought the MDR food was good. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and they are all valid. I'm sorry Navigator MDR wasn't good for you. That was the first ship I sailed.

 

The last night of our cruise on Oasis something happened to the service in the MDR. Service was good all week and on Friday we waited a long time for every course. It was the same time we ate the other nights we were in the MDR and it didn't seem like there were anymore people than any other night. They even had the head waiters, the guys wearing suits, bringing out food and picking up empty dishes.

 

As I said that everyone has their own likes and dislikes...we tried Sabor for the first time and we thought the food was terrible. We heard people saying how good it was all week. The menu also seemed rather odd.

 

Giovanni's was excellent, as was Chops.

 

Interesting you are 1st person that I have heard that did not think Sabor was great, we thought chops was just ok on last cruise and loved Izumi and Giovanni's , have never tried Sabor I guess we will try that sooner or later.

[Wave Hopper]

Interesting you are 1st person that I have heard that did not think Sabor was great, we thought chops was just ok on last cruise and loved Izumi and Giovanni's , have never tried Sabor I guess we will try that sooner or later.

 

There were plenty of people saying they liked Sabor so you may like it too. It might be that we have a lot of authentic Mexican restaurants in our area so we might be spoiled.

[MichaelCMTX]

If I don't like what I ordered, I have no qualms about politely asking for a replacement of something else and I've never had any of the wait staff to be anything but gracious about getting something else.

 

I agree here. If you find the food to be hit-n-miss, take a few more shots and you may find more "hits".

 

I don't at all find the OP to be out of line with their opinion, but there are some who just go overboard with hyperbole :rolleyes: on the poor quality of the food. ("We couldn't swallow a bite of that swill" "Golden Corral rejects" "Worst steak I've ever eaten.") My eyes are open that there's a compromise trying to prepare top-quality food... for 3000+ people, so I don't get bent out of shape that the cuisine wasn't 5-star perfection at every meal.

 

But I'm keeping tabs on the service level, last trip our Waiter's helpfulness ('if you want another entree you need to order it now') prompted others at the table to pull their Grats, but the Assistant was aces. Last trip on Serenade wasn't horrid, but nor was it spectacular.

 

Just to pick the Forum's brains on this one, we booked the last trip on Navigator before they reposition from Galveston. Any reason for concern? "Short timers" attitude?