Star - Food

[logan25]

I'm hearing back from husband his disappointment of food available from the buffet and O'Sheehan's.

 

My husband is very easy to please. Meat and potatoes. Good burgers. Decent hot wings. Nuf said.

 

He is reporting to me the variety and quality of buffet offerings is less than we experienced on the same ship three years ago. Burgers are not available in the buffet at all. (Now that may be a good thing to some passengers. To each his own.) And the burger in O'Sheehan's is served on a brioche bun which he finds overly sweet and thus inedible to him.

 

Do we know if these changes are rolling to the entire fleet?

[wilmingtech]

I'm hearing back from husband his disappointment of food available from the buffet and O'Sheehan's.

 

My husband is very easy to please. Meat and potatoes. Good burgers. Decent hot wings. Nuf said.

 

He is reporting to me the variety and quality of buffet offerings is less than we experienced on the same ship three years ago. Burgers are not available in the buffet at all. (Now that may be a good thing to some passengers. To each his own.) And the burger in O'Sheehan's is served on a brioche bun which he finds overly sweet and thus inedible to him.

 

Do we know if these changes are rolling to the entire fleet?

We were on the STAR in June and thought the quality and flavor of about 80% of the items we tried in Osheehans was not very good at all. We also didn't really care much for the buffet either. In reviews it had been compared to a "high school cafeteria" for atmosphere and offerings and that was about right in our experience.

 

We highly enjoyed all the specialties (except for Italian) and the MDR.

 

Any changes made to Osheehans and the buffet on the STAR would be welcomed.

 

-Sean

[Oakman58]

Aren't they serving hamburgers and hot dogs by the pool anymore?

[FranknBeans]

I'm hearing back from husband his disappointment of food available from the buffet and O'Sheehan's.

 

My husband is very easy to please. Meat and potatoes. Good burgers. Decent hot wings. Nuf said.

 

He is reporting to me the variety and quality of buffet offerings is less than we experienced on the same ship three years ago. Burgers are not available in the buffet at all. (Now that may be a good thing to some passengers. To each his own.) And the burger in O'Sheehan's is served on a brioche bun which he finds overly sweet and thus inedible to him.

 

Do we know if these changes are rolling to the entire fleet?

 

I"m sure there is a Mc Ds at every port.:cool:

[logan25]

He said they serve burgers by the pool starting at 2 p.m. That does not help him for lunch.

[casofilia]

We were on the Star for a B2B Norway and the Baltic. While the food was acceptable and some meals even outstanding we did enjoy the MDRs for all meals where possible. When we went elsewhere as the MDR's were closed, not the buffet, we thought the choice wasn't as great as we have come across before. I am still missing the potato skins we had on the PoA a few years ago. :D

[mikenhe]

I was on there a couple of weeks ok.

Burger was ok. Poutine was very good as was the fish and chips.

sandwich was ok.

 

Buffet had plenty of choice. tough not to be able to find anything you like.

 

 

I'd suggest hubby is being a little precious.

[mking8288]

By any chance, they are serving turkey or vegan burgers instead ?? Or, offering it with an upcharge :D :eek:

 

Might be an inventory / supply chain shortage - specific to the port ?? ... trying to pretend to defend this from the cheerleading crowds, away from their keyboards this week, apparently :rolleyes: As they would typically suggest haven't "us" done grocery shopping lately ! And, oil prices are down, way down - even at the retail level here in the N.E. - obviously, the savings are retained & not shared/passed along. But, whatever.

 

It's pretty sad to expect a beef burger (can't/won't say "looking forward to") and be disappointed ... hoping OP's hubby still make the best out of cruising the Star. They are still serving chicken pot pie in OSH (at least on the BA 2 weeks ago) - although, I find it just okay, it's comfort food & too "watery" for my taste (opinions are obviously, highly subjective on food experience)

[TooFunCruisers]

We were on the Nov 29th sailing on the Star. Burgers were available by the pool everyday by 11:30am and you could request a veggie or turkey burger

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mexico8]

I'm hearing back from husband his disappointment of food available from the buffet and O'Sheehan's.

 

My husband is very easy to please. Meat and potatoes. Good burgers. Decent hot wings. Nuf said.

 

He is reporting to me the variety and quality of buffet offerings is less than we experienced on the same ship three years ago. Burgers are not available in the buffet at all. (Now that may be a good thing to some passengers. To each his own.) And the burger in O'Sheehan's is served on a brioche bun which he finds overly sweet and thus inedible to him.

 

Do we know if these changes are rolling to the entire fleet?

 

We were on the NCL Spirit last month and there were hot dogs and hamburgs on the buffet every day for lunch with regular hamburg buns. They were in an out of the way area and harder to find. Perhaps they are on the buffet on the ship he is on. He should ask and check around.

[kateg]

I'm just off the Star and there were burgers by the pool everyday for lunch. One day they did steak (not good quality steaks) but they always had burgers.

 

I am very much a food snob and I loved the buffet. Now sure there were plenty of items that didn't interest me or that weren't good- but I always found plenty that I liked. Worst case scenario we would make a plate of cheese, olives, pesto and pretzel bread (and dessert). The Indian dishes were very good. Every night they had a theme with new and different things. There was always lots of fresh fruit available and a small salad bar as well.

 

I didn't care much for O'Sheehans. The menu was very limited. I tried fish and chips -the fish was decent and the batter could have been good but it was so greasy...like pools of oil in the basket. My husband had the Paella special...and later we went to the buffet and they had it too-but by serving yourself you got a nicer portion with more seafood than O'Sheehans served. We also shared the nachos...they really were sad. Chips with liquid fake cheese, a squirt of sour cream, a mystery meat and three jalapeño slices.

 

I honeslty didn't care for the main dining rooms. I felt like they served the same food as the buffet-general taste and quality but in a nicer environment. However the dining rooms were willing to serve pretty much anything we asked for. I personally would just rather try lots of things vs getting an entire entree that I didn't care for. Plus our kids liked the buffet so we ended up there several times a day no matter where else we dined.

 

We were able to go to Moderno for breakfast and lunch...I didn't think it was much different in terms of food quality- a few unique items and a nice quiet atmosphere did make it nice.

 

We also went to Cagney's and Le Bistro. Nice presentation, decent food. The meats were better quality than the main dining rooms but they weren't amazing. All the food was too salty but I would still recommend the specialties just because it's a nice experience and a break from the same ole stuff in the main dining rooms.

 

I had been very concerned about the food but I never went hungry...I think I gained 4 pounds. Even my picky kids found plenty they liked. I imagine cruise ship food used to be quiet grand so if one compares today's offerings to 15 years ago it could be a disappointment. Otherwise I'm very surprised to hear anyone not finding some food they liked on board.

[cb at sea]

You are NOT a "food snob"...at all!

[Oakman58]

Your description of the Nachos made me laugh kateg. You described ballpark nachos and the cost is $8.00 to $14.00 depending on the Major League Baseball park.

 

Oh and by the way, we refer to that liquid fake cheese as Gourmet Cheese Sauce. :D

Edited December 11, 2015 by Oakman58

[kateg]

Ok for the sake of comparison. I would call myself a food snob because I buy 70% of my food from local organic farmers including all my meat, dairy, eggs and produce) I cook entirely from scratch. I don't eat at chain restaurants like outback or Applebee's...I hate those places. I can eat at a local diner or sandwich shop sometimes. My husband gets wined and dined for his job...he has eaten at all the best steak places from NY to Dallas to LA- so he knows a good steak. So I assumed I would hate the cruise ship food. I was pleasantly surprised. Now I knew it wouldn't be high quality stuff so I adjusted my expectations. And by day 5 I could definitely tell my body was "reacting" to the food -and not in a good way. But still I found a lot of decent things to eat. I mean an omelet and fresh fruit...or oatmeal with dried fruits and pecans and brown sugar....who couldn't eat that for breakfast. Not as good as what I make but still a decent meal.

[kateg]

Oh I wouldn't say these were as good as ballpark or movie theater nachos...not enough "gourmet cheese sauce" (my son's favorite). I could forgive the toppings but there just wasn't much on the chips. Out of a basket there was enough topping for maybe 5 chips.

 

I found the food service just fascinating. We had the same bread served at LeBistro as was served on the buffet. But seriously they are making thousands of meals for so many different palates. For people from all over the world (although mostly American). I thought they did a good job considering the gargantuan task.

[Richie2pies]

I was on the Star 3 years ago. Food hasn't changed much. Still lousy!

[Oakman58]

My thoughts on cruise food. I’m not a food snob and while I have my likes and dislikes, I will eat just about anything put in front of me. Perhaps my years in the military are the reason I’m so easy when it comes to food.

 

I am always amazed when people complain about the food on the buffet. I’ve done a 14 day cruise on the Star (Nov '14 pre-refurbishment) and a 7 day cruise on the Dawn (Feb '15). I thought the food served at the buffet was very good with an amazing amount of choices. I’ve never encountered a land based buffet that serves better food. If someone knows of a land based buffet that serves better food I’d like to know about it.

 

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and the only time I wasn’t happy with my breakfast was on the Star when I ate in the main dining room. The service was S-L-O-W and my food came out lukewarm. I want my breakfast hot. I loved the omelet station at the buffet because on the one side you could get fried eggs. Breakfast in the Blue Lagoon was always good but the speed of service was spotty. Toast in the Blue Lagoon was always akin to warm bread.

 

Typical breakfast in the Blue Lagoon. Notice how light the “toast” is. Those round things on the plate are hash browns, not what I expected but I really liked them.

 

 

We ate lunches on the ship on sea days and many of those meals were just hamburgers or hot dogs from the Topsiders Grill. It’s not a gourmet burger but what they serve is OK. The only thing I didn’t like about the Topsiders was the buns were always incredibly DRY. We did eat lunch a couple of times at the buffet and again, I was amazed at the variety. The lunch buffet always had hot dishes, deli sandwiches, breads, pizza, etc. I loved the pretzel bread.

 

 

Click on this link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2130707&page=3 and scroll to post #45 to see a few pics of the buffet on the Star. This was pre-refurbishment.

 

We ate most of our evening meals in the main dining room. The menus were always varied and I had no problem finding something I liked. The Whole Roasted Striploin surprised me though, I was expecting something like a strip steak but instead it was roast beef or something like that. It was good but not what I was expecting. If you want a great steak you have to go to Cagney’s.

 

The only foods I’ve never been impressed with on any cruise line have been desserts and bakery goods, they are never moist enough or sweet enough. I blamed my sweet tooth for that. When I go to a bakery here in the mid-west for breakfast I’m looking for chocolate or white icing longjohns, or cheese danish, or cherry or apple tarts. I like sweet, very sweet.

 

Overall I think NCL does a pretty darn good job with the meals they serve. Actually I think it’s amazing how good the food is considering that even on their smallest ships they are serving 3000 plus people 3 meals per day.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Oakman58

[jpcdds6]

My thoughts on cruise food. I’m not a food snob and while I have my likes and dislikes, I will eat just about anything put in front of me. Perhaps my years in the military are the reason I’m so easy when it comes to food.

 

I am always amazed when people complain about the food on the buffet. I’ve done a 14 day cruise on the Star (Nov '14 pre-refurbishment) and a 7 day cruise on the Dawn (Feb '15). I thought the food served at the buffet was very good with an amazing amount of choices. I’ve never encountered a land based buffet that serves better food. If someone knows of a land based buffet that serves better food I’d like to know about it.

 

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and the only time I wasn’t happy with my breakfast was on the Star when I ate in the main dining room. The service was S-L-O-W and my food came out lukewarm. I want my breakfast hot. I loved the omelet station at the buffet because on the one side you could get fried eggs. Breakfast in the Blue Lagoon was always good but the speed of service was spotty. Toast in the Blue Lagoon was always akin to warm bread.

 

Typical breakfast in the Blue Lagoon. Notice how light the “toast” is. Those round things on the plate are hash browns, not what I expected but I really liked them.

 

 

We ate lunches on the ship on sea days and many of those meals were just hamburgers or hot dogs from the Topsiders Grill. It’s not a gourmet burger but what they serve is OK. The only thing I didn’t like about the Topsiders was the buns were always incredibly DRY. We did eat lunch a couple of times at the buffet and again, I was amazed at the variety. The lunch buffet always had hot dishes, deli sandwiches, breads, pizza, etc. I loved the pretzel bread.

 

 

Click on this link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2130707&page=3 and scroll to post #45 to see a few pics of the buffet on the Star. This was pre-refurbishment.

 

We ate most of our evening meals in the main dining room. The menus were always varied and I had no problem finding something I liked. The Whole Roasted Striploin surprised me though, I was expecting something like a strip steak but instead it was roast beef or something like that. It was good but not what I was expecting. If you want a great steak you have to go to Cagney’s.

 

The only foods I’ve never been impressed with on any cruise line have been desserts and bakery goods, they are never moist enough or sweet enough. I blamed my sweet tooth for that. When I go to a bakery here in the mid-west for breakfast I’m looking for chocolate or white icing longjohns, or cheese danish, or cherry or apple tarts. I like sweet, very sweet.

 

Overall I think NCL does a pretty darn good job with the meals they serve. Actually I think it’s amazing how good the food is considering that even on their smallest ships they are serving 3000 plus people 3 meals per day.

I agree with you 100%. While it's not the buffet at the Belagio, it's fine for a cruise ship. The food on every ship I've been on with NCL has been good. There have been some things that I didn't care for, or was served cold, or was not seasoned to my liking, etc., but that happens just as much at restaurants on land.

[broncorckcrwlr]

I'm not a food snob at all. I prefer a buffet to any other kind of restaurant although being able to order 2 of everything in the MDR is almost as good. I must say that I do prefer my toast just like the picture rather than what I called burnt. My wife like it what she calls crispy. I call it charcoal. :)

[bobstheboy]

Just back off the Epic and must have put on a few pounds, enough said !!

[Raleigh Traveler]

We sailed on a transatlantic with the Star just over a year ago. Been awhile but the opinions of poor food and service pre-date our cruise. We were 14 days on the Star and ate at different venues and were very pleased. If something was not right, like cold fries, all you had to do is say something and hot fresh fries appeared at our table within minutes. I know we all have different opinions on the food but comparisons to school cafeterias? I wish I went to your school. It's like we cruised on different ships. I would spend another 14 days on the Star in a heartbeat.

[DreamingBig1]

Got off the Star December 13. We were very pleased with the food. We ate at all complimentary venues, including Cagney's and Moderno.

 

All were great! We actually expected it to be poor quality and taste. We found it couldn't be further than the truth.

 

The burgers were half pound burgers, and tasted great

 

The complaints about the food actually baffle me. Everybody has different tastes, and those tastes often fall in line with a person's personal experience. There is no way to make everybody happy, and there is no way that everybody is going to like the food.

 

While not everything on the Star was spectacular. We enjoyed the majority.

 

We have been on Disney, RCCL, Celebrity and now NCL. NCL was as good if not better than the others in our opinion. With that said, we think land based restaurants are better overall.

[CruiseAficionado]

After 20+ years of cruising various cruise lines I cannot say I have ever had a "bad" meal on a ship. Maybe some I didn't like but not "bad".

I do think people are being honest in their food opinions but IMHO with so many of us having different tastes (vegans, meat, seafood) the reviews run the gamut of individual likes and dislikes. However, just getting off the Star, the food from lobster, steak to pasta, burgers and fries was delightful. Never had to come even close to sending anything back. Was always able to find something enticing as well as delectable on board and service was never an issue.

[wilmingtech]

I’ve never encountered a land based buffet that serves better food. If someone knows of a land based buffet that serves better food I’d like to know about it.

 

I'm not a buffet fan by any means. I'd much rather have a single, simple well cooked meal than a buffet full of pre cooked food. I do travel full time so I've certainly have seen what's out there. Just off the top of my head there are quite a few land based buffets that I have had the chance to eat at recently (in the past year or so) that blow away the buffet on the STAR -

 

Ive had the buffet at Gaylord National, Texan and the brunch at the Gaylord Palms. Id assume all Gaylord properties have a pretty darn good buffet (recently taken over by Marriot so this may change) but the ones I've been to in these venues were fantastic.

 

Just ate at the buffet at the Aria in the past month and it was amazing for a buffet. I typically can't stand the Vegas buffets and stay away from them but My wife and I happened to be staying there and had a 2 for 1 coupon and tried it. I'd go back. (Bacchanal at Cesars palace is good as well but waaaay over priced.)

 

In Wilmington NC (actually its in the little town next door called Leland) there is a mom and pop BBQ called Dukes (not the famous chain south of there, there is only one of these and its a single family that owns and runs it) And hands down its downright fantastic. Simple home cooked deliciousness you just can't find anymore.

 

In Orlando there is a place up by Altamonte called "Crazy Buffet"(may have closed since we were there last January) and the variety and quality there was great. We liked it because they had a hibachi grill, sushi, nice salad bar selection, a whole section of chinese dishes and crab legs and shrimp and bacon wrapped filet mignon. For 25$ a person it really was crazy.

 

For chain restaurants we often eat at Sweet Tomatoes. We have been to about 15 different locations in the US from Orlando, FL to Vancouver WA. There were one or two that were lacking. If given the choice between the buffet on the STAR and Sweet Tomatoes, Id take Sweet Tomatoes every time.

 

The STAR buffet wasn't awful. It really wasn't even bad. We just found it lacking. For example -

 

Sandwiches were "pre made". I'd rather see a nice selection of deli meats, cheeses and a bowl of tuna or chicken salad with a choice of bread and toppings than pre-made sandwiches on a buffet.

 

Salad bar and toppings were lacking. No lettuce selection (only one type), Poor dressing choices (not that you couldn't find one) no crumbled bacon, blue cheese or sesame seeds. No selection of walnuts or sliced almonds or dried fruits (I do think they had dried fruits and nuts on the breakfast buffet).

 

Only two or three cheeses that were run of the mill. Cheddar, Swiss, Jack ...etc.

 

Fresh fruit was whole apples, oranges and bananas with sliced cantaloupes and honey dew.

 

You could definitely make due and there was a variety of items, it was just missing that little extra touch.

 

And the decor and ambience did have a "cafeteria" feel to it.

 

I do agree that feeding 3000 people a day is a massive job. I'm certainly impressed with the crews ability to pull this off week after week. I think NCL does a fantastic job between buffet and the high number of restaurants found on the STAR.

 

-Sean

[jpcdds6]

I'm not a buffet fan by any means. I'd much rather have a single, simple well cooked meal than a buffet full of pre cooked food. I do travel full time so I've certainly have seen what's out there. Just off the top of my head there are quite a few land based buffets that I have had the chance to eat at recently (in the past year or so) that blow away the buffet on the STAR -

 

Ive had the buffet at Gaylord National, Texan and the brunch at the Gaylord Palms. Id assume all Gaylord properties have a pretty darn good buffet (recently taken over by Marriot so this may change) but the ones I've been to in these venues were fantastic.

 

Just ate at the buffet at the Aria in the past month and it was amazing for a buffet. I typically can't stand the Vegas buffets and stay away from them but My wife and I happened to be staying there and had a 2 for 1 coupon and tried it. I'd go back. (Bacchanal at Cesars palace is good as well but waaaay over priced.)

 

In Wilmington NC (actually its in the little town next door called Leland) there is a mom and pop BBQ called Dukes (not the famous chain south of there, there is only one of these and its a single family that owns and runs it) And hands down its downright fantastic. Simple home cooked deliciousness you just can't find anymore.

 

In Orlando there is a place up by Altamonte called "Crazy Buffet"(may have closed since we were there last January) and the variety and quality there was great. We liked it because they had a hibachi grill, sushi, nice salad bar selection, a whole section of chinese dishes and crab legs and shrimp and bacon wrapped filet mignon. For 25$ a person it really was crazy.

 

For chain restaurants we often eat at Sweet Tomatoes. We have been to about 15 different locations in the US from Orlando, FL to Vancouver WA. There were one or two that were lacking. If given the choice between the buffet on the STAR and Sweet Tomatoes, Id take Sweet Tomatoes every time.

 

The STAR buffet wasn't awful. It really wasn't even bad. We just found it lacking. For example -

 

Sandwiches were "pre made". I'd rather see a nice selection of deli meats, cheeses and a bowl of tuna or chicken salad with a choice of bread and toppings than pre-made sandwiches on a buffet.

 

Salad bar and toppings were lacking. No lettuce selection (only one type), Poor dressing choices (not that you couldn't find one) no crumbled bacon, blue cheese or sesame seeds. No selection of walnuts or sliced almonds or dried fruits (I do think they had dried fruits and nuts on the breakfast buffet).

 

Only two or three cheeses that were run of the mill. Cheddar, Swiss, Jack ...etc.

 

Fresh fruit was whole apples, oranges and bananas with sliced cantaloupes and honey dew.

 

You could definitely make due and there was a variety of items, it was just missing that little extra touch.

 

And the decor and ambience did have a "cafeteria" feel to it.

 

I do agree that feeding 3000 people a day is a massive job. I'm certainly impressed with the crews ability to pull this off week after week. I think NCL does a fantastic job between buffet and the high number of restaurants found on the STAR.

 

-Sean

If you want to experience a fantastic buffet, check out the Nordic Lodge in Charlestown, Rhode Island.