What to skip on the NCL menu

[Minoushka]

I did not like osso bucco in Cucina it was covered in yucky brown sauce ....after that I always say sauce on the side ...they have a tendency to be very salty

[sverigecruiser]

The banana foster in aqua and venetian was just ice cream and cut up banana.

 

So not close to what they used to serve at Cagney's!

[Stewartgilbert76]

Salad. I shall be avoiding salad[emoji52]

 

 

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[delaware32]

Well, my husband's experience with sugar free carrot cake was not stellar . Tried it twice just to make sure it was just not an off night . I would stay the taste made me think back to pre school days when kids would taste jarred paste.

[trivimp]

It was meant to come off as humor, so if it fell flat as a fritter, I'm sorry---:o

 

I took it that way & was answering in kind! ;p

On a related note, they had some kind of breakfast fritter type thing in the buffet on the Sky, and it was just awful :( Dunno if it was just a one-time thing or what, I didn't eat at the buffet very often.

[17cruisesnsl]

Shrimp rigatoni genovese with pesto - too much pesto and 4 baby shrimp. Haven't tried it a second time to see if it was just an off night

Ditto on O'Sheehan's nachos - cheese wiz ruins them. Spinach dip can be very watery too

 

Saw the following VP Food & Beverage Operations position posted by NCL last month so some menu items may change. IMHO a challenging and difficult job. Listed among the responsibilities were:

To ensure that the guests' expectations are exceeded with respect to their experience of the company's cuisine and beverage services. At the same time, to minimize costs by ensuring that the company is purchasing only the correct quality and quantities of food and beverage items. These functions to be accomplished via the review and improvement of product specifications, menus, wine lists, shipboard promotions and storing practices.

 

*

Together with the ship's Chefs, develop a standard 14-day menu cycle, together with alternative menu items, which will allow each ship to present a consistent level of cuisine. This menu cycle to be revised every six (6) months to ensure that the company's cuisine continually reflects the current trends in guest expectations and contemporary culinary taste.

 

Monitor food consumption on a cruise-by-cruise basis to ensure that waste is minimized.

 

Maintain records for each individual chef, which will track his/her food cost and guest satisfaction performance.

 

Together with the ship's Sommeliers, develop a standard wine list for all ships.

[4774Papa]

Salad. I shall be avoiding salad[emoji52]

 

 

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We love the salad bar in the buffet, it helps with calorie intake.

[lucy12]

We've only cruised on ncl once a few weeks ago, I thought the soups were awful. Not a clam or potato in the clam chowder and not an onion or cheese in the French onion soup .

Prime rib was delicious , we didn't like the same menu every lunch in the MDR

[dogboy]

For me the food on Escape is very good to great but some of the desserts are not worth the time and corn beef hash is not what I'm used to.

[stacymay30]

We love the salad bar in the buffet, it helps with calorie intake.

 

 

 

Us too! We would go get chicken wings or something then get a salad and some cheese for a snack.

 

Honestly, we enjoyed everything we ate.

 

The one thing I did not get again was the biscuits and gravy. I chalked that up to the face it was a Mediterranean cruise. The Indian food on the buffet was wonderful!

 

 

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[weltek]

 

The one thing I did not get again was the biscuits and gravy. I chalked that up to the face it was a Mediterranean cruise. The Indian food on the buffet was wonderful!

 

 

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No, they are sad all the time. And I think they've improved over the years (the biscuits used to be hard as a rock), but still not good. DH will get them once just because he can't walk by them every day and hear them call his name. Then when he's done, he just shrugs and says "meh."

[weltek]

 

I usually bring a bag of chocolates from home to satisfy my sweet tooth during a cruise. There's enough salt in everything that my salt cravings are usually completely satisfied!

 

I find a dessert martini cures my sweet tooth. :-) The bartenders are really good at making something that is better than most desserts.

[weltek]

 

Saw the following VP Food & Beverage Operations position posted by NCL last month so some menu items may change. IMHO a challenging and difficult job. Listed among the responsibilities were:

 

Perhaps we should send the new hire this thread. :p I have to say, it's become my favorite thread of late.

[barbarossa_hoosier]

This has been a great read! Thanks, all of you.

 

I'm happy to hear that desserts are the overwhelming choice so far. I have no sweet tooth, so I rarely eat them, anyway. :)

[ellasmomanddad]

I enjoy most of the food I've had on NCL ships, but I don't understand how they manage to make their desserts taste so blah. I would take a dessert back to my room after dinner to savor it before bedtime. They would look so delectable but were invariably tasteless and not worth the calorie splurge. NCL, read and heed. Please. You have time to fix this over the next 7 months till my next cruise.

I have a theory I think they use basic bleached flower instead of cake flower to save on cost. I just checked this thread again after a few days and it occurred to me my cupcakes always stunk until I used the cake flower.

[dogboy]

I have a theory I think they use basic bleached flower instead of cake flower to save on cost. I just checked this thread again after a few days and it occurred to me my cupcakes always stunk until I used the cake flower.

Sound good, we could have used your cupcakes on last cruise Lol

[brikee]

Rubin sandwich in O'Sheehans, the so called lox in the buffet, it is a lox mouse sort of and am not a fan of the desserts except as others have said, Creme Burle. I was surprised to see someone say Eggs bene in the buffet. It must have been a bad morning or the end of a pan of them. I always get them and love the spinach eggs benedict.

 

They have real lox but you have to request it from someone standing behind the counter.

[YangtzeCruiser]

Don't order the fried chicken in the dinning room. It tasted like cardboard, and the lasagna was very strange as well.

Pretty sure the lasagna in the MDR on our last cruise was turkey lasagna. Very strange, no doubt if you're not expecting it; I just found it different.

[YangtzeCruiser]

Add my vote for the lava cake with gelato in MDR. had it 3 times, always good:D

Creme brûlée hit or miss...Cagney's had the worst desserts. Skipped over to MDR for dessert.

Cookies out for late afternoon snack and late night at outdoor dining venue.

I just skip the lava cake and ask for a couple of scoops of gelato.

[1smudslide]

We loved the banana foster bread pudding in the mdr the one time we caught it. We usually take the dinner package so don't eat in the mdr very often. Last two cruises we stopped in the mdr every night to see if that bread pudding was on the menu, but haven't found it since. I'll be on the Dawn in a few weeks and will continue my quest

[denimore2000]

Messed up quote. I was trying to respond to the poster you said that he avoids salads.

 

 

;) finally someone that I can relate to!

Edited October 2, 2017 by denimore2000

[megansdad1]

I was not a fan of the Shepard's pie at O'Sheenan's.

 

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[squick64]

I second the non-recommendation for the French onion soup. It was brought, and I was like "***" out loud (not that the waiter heard). It was depressing.

 

In fact, I only ate in the MDR twice, and the food and service were both disappointing. I had pork loin on one night and lamb on the other, and while the meals tasted OK, the meat didn't seem to have been freshly cut off a larger hunk of meat. They seemed like they'd been cut and processed and kept that way for future use.

 

I ended up in the specialty restaurants the rest of the time, and now that I don't trust their MDR, I'm probably going to end up with a 7-night SDP for a 9-night trip, LOL.

[dogboy]

For me the food on Escape is very good to great but some of the desserts are not worth the time and corn beef hash is not what I'm used to.

Quoting myself and others here. A little update- Warm Breezes, on her informative review of her 9/23 cruise on Escape, mentioned how much the desserts improved over past cruises. So, so much for saving calories by skipping dessert.

[Stewartgilbert76]

Slightly off topic i know but everyone here seems to have some sort of experience with NCL.

 

Dose anyone know if the premixed cocktails are the frozen type and do they just add the alcohol to the mix?

 

Sorry to hijack your thread, I will delete if this is not aloud.

 

[emoji846]

 

 

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