Quality of food on Royal Caribbean

[cravingthis]

3 hours ago, Debrad128 said:

We are frequent RC cruisers.  We noticed the food was really going downhill and it was quite disappointing.  On our last cruise on the Harmony we noticed a tremendous improvement.  I met two men from the culinary department and told them how much better it was.  Turns out they have a new director for culinary and he seems to be making tremendous improvements.  So glad RC listened to feedback 

That's great news!  It must have been exciting to meet the two men.  Being a food lover, I would have had a ton of questions!

[cravingthis]

18 minutes ago, catugirl said:

It’s interesting...we have friends who have done 55 cruises, 90% on RCI.  After every cruise I ask how the food was, and they always say, “meh,” but RCI is as their favorite cruise line.  To DH and I, great food is one of the things we look for on a cruise.  We have done several cruises on Celebrity, several on Princess, one on RCI (and a couple of river cruises).  The food in Celebrity Blu and Luminae was great and in the MDR it was good.  Princess MDR had great food. The one RCI was on Radiance in 2000, and the food was terrible.  Some was overcooked and most lacked flavor.  We are trying Harmony in November and hoping for memorable food.

I've heard good things about Celebrity and NCL.  It'll be nice to hear your comments on Harmony.  Hope you have an amazing cruise!  November is not that far off!

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, red-dragon said:

I didn't know the WJ has themed nights.  I must look for it on our upcoming cruise.  Do they list the themes on the cruise compass?  I don't remember seeing it, or I could have just missed it.  

 

It was in the Compass on Harmony 

 

And the funny thing is we didnt like the ingredients they were using, so we went around the WJ and designed our own Mongolian Grill.

Edited August 12, 2019 by John&LaLa

[shofer]

Food can definitely vary from ship to ship and cruise to cruise.  In 2015, we took a Mediterranean cruise on Vision of the Seas.  The selection in the buffet was quite bland, repetitive and lacking in variety.  The MDR was just ok.  On the follow up survey, we rated the buffet a 0 and the MDR  4.  

Two years later, we were back on the Vision for a Baltic trip and were astonished at the change in food quality and selection for the better.   Naturally we were delighted and it certainly enhanced a terrific experience.

[Hogbay]

I find the quality of the produce to be excellent , storage rotation and supplies. Two thums up ☺ The numbers of different dishes and volume and speed it is presented is outstanding. No Chef or even home cook is perfect BUT they strive for that recognition , appreciation or HAT . Cooking for 2 or 20 or 200 or 

2,000 some thing might not go to plan ,but i have sat at a many a table and others after been ask hows your meal , they respond "great /lovely Thanks " and in the next breath say "that was the worst meal I will score them low /write on  CC ." The bottom line and the price of a fare is a unbelievable challenge, hope you enjoy your next dinner. ☺

 

[BecciBoo]

12 hours ago, shofer said:

Food can definitely vary from ship to ship and cruise to cruise.  In 2015, we took a Mediterranean cruise on Vision of the Seas.  The selection in the buffet was quite bland, repetitive and lacking in variety.  The MDR was just ok.  On the follow up survey, we rated the buffet a 0 and the MDR  4.  

Two years later, we were back on the Vision for a Baltic trip and were astonished at the change in food quality and selection for the better.   Naturally we were delighted and it certainly enhanced a terrific experience.

Yes...this....our first Vision was Jan. 2018 and we were also astonished at the difference between Vision and Liberty...I agree, ship to ship can be totally different.  We've since cruised Vision again this past April and again food was not just good but actually great.  I think they're really trying to get back their reputation for good quality again........at long last!  I have such fond memories of our first cruises on RCCL back in the early 2000s....She Crab Soup....mmmmmmm....coconut Creme Brulee...

[Andy C]

13 hours ago, catugirl said:

It’s interesting...we have friends who have done 55 cruises, 90% on RCI.  After every cruise I ask how the food was, and they always say, “meh,” but RCI is as their favorite cruise line.  To DH and I, great food is one of the things we look for on a cruise.  We have done several cruises on Celebrity, several on Princess, one on RCI (and a couple of river cruises).  The food in Celebrity Blu and Luminae was great and in the MDR it was good.  Princess MDR had great food. The one RCI was on Radiance in 2000, and the food was terrible.  Some was overcooked and most lacked flavor.  We are trying Harmony in November and hoping for memorable food.

 

I tend to agree with you on this.  Food on Celebrity is slightly better.  RCI is really mainstream chain type food (Applebee's, Outback, Bahama Breeze, etc...).  

 

On our last two sailings on Harmony the food in Coastal Kitchen was mostly lame.  Chef Henry who we know from prior cruises made us many nice ethnic dishes but the reality is the only reason we asked him for those dishes was to survive another night of eating the regular ship food.  

[TeeRick]

34 minutes ago, Andy C said:

 

I tend to agree with you on this.  Food on Celebrity is slightly better.  RCI is really mainstream chain type food (Applebee's, Outback, Bahama Breeze, etc...).  

 

On our last two sailings on Harmony the food in Coastal Kitchen was mostly lame.  Chef Henry who we know from prior cruises made us many nice ethnic dishes but the reality is the only reason we asked him for those dishes was to survive another night of eating the regular ship food.  

Andy,

They probably served the better food in CK to Pinnies!  Actually in Jan we sailed Harmony in a CL suite and we thought the CK food was pretty good overall.

[Giorgi-one]

I was on Allure in June.  MDR food was good but certainly nothing like food we got on our first cruise is1996.  Windjammer was absolutely the worst buffet I have encountered in 36 cruises.  Luckily there were other options.  Chops was really bad - watery soup, soggy shrimp and rib steak I couldn't chew!  Fortunately it was a freebie from my TA.

[schlimazel_traveler]

2 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Yes...this....our first Vision was Jan. 2018 and we were also astonished at the difference between Vision and Liberty...I agree, ship to ship can be totally different.  We've since cruised Vision again this past April and again food was not just good but actually great.  I think they're really trying to get back their reputation for good quality again........at long last!  I have such fond memories of our first cruises on RCCL back in the early 2000s....She Crab Soup....mmmmmmm....coconut Creme Brulee...

The food on Vision in January was laughably awful. Elementary school cafeteria selection and taste. I'm really glad to hear that has changed because we otherwise loved that cruise! It was non-stop fun.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, Andy C said:

 

I tend to agree with you on this.  Food on Celebrity is slightly better.  RCI is really mainstream chain type food (Applebee's, Outback, Bahama Breeze, etc...).  

 

On our last two sailings on Harmony the food in Coastal Kitchen was mostly lame.  Chef Henry who we know from prior cruises made us many nice ethnic dishes but the reality is the only reason we asked him for those dishes was to survive another night of eating the regular ship food.  

 

We only had dinner up there three nights, and one was a special request. 😉

We are really disappointed with the day 5-7 lunch menu. Oasis did lunch much better than Harmony.

 

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Andy,

They probably served the better food in CK to Pinnies!  Actually in Jan we sailed Harmony in a CL suite and we thought the CK food was pretty good overall.

 

Hardly, but we'll be $uite passengers next week, so I'll see if its different. 

[LauraLL]

Recently off Symphony of the Seas and we had a great time, but the food was hit or miss.  In my family's opinion,  food was drastically better when it was for an additional fee.  All the Specialty restaurants and Playmakers were very good, but the rest was definitely lacking.  The Windjammer was completely disgusting.  The other thing we noticed, in the non paying restaurants, it is basically the same thing just in a different ship location.  Royal really needs to make some drastic improvements in the general restaurants. 

[cravingthis]

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It was in the Compass on Harmony 

 

And the funny thing is we didnt like the ingredients they were using, so we went around the WJ and designed our own Mongolian Grill.

Thank you, that's very helpful.  It must be new since our last sailing (which was eons ago).  I took out my old cruise compasses that I kept for souvenirs, and it didn't mention any theme nights.  

 

So funny about the Mongolian night, good thinking about doing it your own way.

[cravingthis]

1 hour ago, Giorgi-one said:

I was on Allure in June.  MDR food was good but certainly nothing like food we got on our first cruise is1996.  Windjammer was absolutely the worst buffet I have encountered in 36 cruises.  Luckily there were other options.  Chops was really bad - watery soup, soggy shrimp and rib steak I couldn't chew!  Fortunately it was a freebie from my TA.

 

So sorry to hear that, what an awful experience

 

I read about cruises back in the day, with the sculptures, etc.  Those were the good ole days I guess ... Now I read they don't have the chocolate breakfast anymore, let alone chocolates on our pillows ...
 

We had a complimentary dinner for 2 from our TA for our first sailing as well.  We chose Chops, and it was really good.  I would say one of the best meals on our sailing.  150 Central Park was a nice experience, but we left hungry.

 

We were thinking of going to Chops again for upcoming cruise, but it sounds like there are a lot of inconsistencies.  

[Judyrem]

16 hours ago, red-dragon said:

I didn't know the WJ has themed nights.  I must look for it on our upcoming cruise.  Do they list the themes on the cruise compass?  I don't remember seeing it, or I could have just missed it.  

I missed Italian night, I almost cried!

My granddaughter wanted to go to the "fancy restaurant"😉 American Icon.

[boscobeans]

19 hours ago, mk-ultra said:

In my experience, food quality (along with a long list of other things to rate) can be extremely ship specific.  I think it really comes down to the "hotel" and BoH (back of house) management overseeing operations.  Each ship uniquely reflects the competency of the folks who manage the guest's experience, and is like visiting a differing hotels all under the same brand name.

 

It is amazing how the proper touch of seasoning or a steak cut from the correct end of a primal slab of beef can make all the difference in an evening's meal. 

[Judyrem]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We only had dinner up there three nights, and one was a special request. 😉

We are really disappointed with the day 5-7 lunch menu. Oasis did lunch much better than Harmony.

 

 

Hardly, but we'll be $uite passengers next week, so I'll see if its different. 

What ship are you on?

[legaljen1969]

17 hours ago, red-dragon said:

I didn't know the WJ has themed nights.  I must look for it on our upcoming cruise.  Do they list the themes on the cruise compass?  I don't remember seeing it, or I could have just missed it.  

I always thought WJ just followed the theme of the MDR on whatever given night it was. I have always been told it's the same food but the difference is you get seated service in the MDR.

[legaljen1969]

1 hour ago, Giorgi-one said:

I was on Allure in June.  MDR food was good but certainly nothing like food we got on our first cruise is1996.  Windjammer was absolutely the worst buffet I have encountered in 36 cruises.  Luckily there were other options.  Chops was really bad - watery soup, soggy shrimp and rib steak I couldn't chew!  Fortunately it was a freebie from my TA.

I'm sorry to hear that Chops was not all that great.  I had a less than stellar experience there in April 2016. Same type thing- watery soup, yuck shrimp (ours were grossly overcooked) and very overcooked steak.  I'm hoping Chops is okay on Brilliance when we go in December.   The rest of my party loves Chops and they want to book twice.  We shall see.

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, schlimazel_traveler said:

The food on Vision in January was laughably awful. Elementary school cafeteria selection and taste. I'm really glad to hear that has changed because we otherwise loved that cruise! It was non-stop fun.

Of course food is subjective, one man's trash is another man's treasure.  No accounting for taste...so anything goes.  I can say I am the best cook in my family if not one of the best of any of our acquaintances and I thought it was perfectly fine.  Having said that, I think Ruth Chris Steak House sucks for the prices they charge so there you go.  I never pay much attention to what someone else thinks is tasty, it only matters to me if I think it's tasty.  To each his own!

[John&LaLa]

44 minutes ago, Judyrem said:

What ship are you on?

 

Back on Harmony 😎

 

She's conveniently located 😉

[John&LaLa]

33 minutes ago, legaljen1969 said:

I always thought WJ just followed the theme of the MDR on whatever given night it was. I have always been told it's the same food but the difference is you get seated service in the MDR.

 

I think it depends on the ship. Harmony has hot stations in the back of WJ and they cook food to order. Oasis currently doesn't have that, but they can set up a temporary station, just not very efficient 

[schlimazel_traveler]

1 hour ago, legaljen1969 said:

I always thought WJ just followed the theme of the MDR on whatever given night it was. I have always been told it's the same food but the difference is you get seated service in the MDR.

That was the case on Grandeur but not on Vision (in January). 

 

[mac66]

On 1/1/2017 at 4:47 PM, cb at sea said:

 

This is why the quality has declined....before "specialty" restaurants, the food options were plentiful, artfully presented, and quite tasty! Then, they decided to lessen the "included food options", and if you wanted what you had in the past, you'd pay extra for it....and it seems folks are willing to do that.

 

I foresee, in the not too distant future, that only the buffet will be included in your fare....if you want anything else, it will be an uncharge.

 

Yeah, this ^^^^^ and....

 

...As the ships have gotten bigger the quality of the food and service has gone down. That is of course in exchange for more eating venues and more stuff to do on board.

 

Food being a massive undertaking on a ship it is virtually impossible to please everyone, every time. Most cruise lines do an admirable job however but...it ain't what it used to be.

 

[legaljen1969]

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

Of course food is subjective, one man's trash is another man's treasure.  No accounting for taste...so anything goes.  I can say I am the best cook in my family if not one of the best of any of our acquaintances and I thought it was perfectly fine.  Having said that, I think Ruth Chris Steak House sucks for the prices they charge so there you go.  I never pay much attention to what someone else thinks is tasty, it only matters to me if I think it's tasty.  To each his own!

I think Ruth Chris is grossly overpriced for what you get.  I have never had a bad meal there, but I always leave with an anxiety attack after paying the bill.  LOL