First RCI cruise....No burgers, no hots, no fries, & pizza is worse than Tombstone

[Ergates The Ant]

That would make sense to me, since I'm sure freshness is a pretty important consideration for escargot.

 

I'm pretty sure the escargot served on cruise ships are tinned or possibly frozen, and reared en masse, a far cry from the pampered French versions fed on succulent lettuce and fragrant herbs.

[ryano]

The only downside is JR is $9.99/pp. I have one here on land near my house, and it doesn't even cost that much for a burger and fries.

 

Someone reported 12.95 the other day :o pretty ridiculous but obviously they are pushing to see where the stopping point is. Once JRs becomes a ghost town, maybe they will lower the price a little. As long as people are paying, it will continue to go up.

 

Just a few years ago we paid 5.95 pp and our waiter even gave us free soda.

[Tatka]

When I first sailed on Disney the food was *Amazing*!! The second time we cruised we were disappointed at the menu changed. The host told us because people wanted burgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets they had to scale back the menu. My reply was, who cruises wanting to eat junk food?!?!

I thought cruises were all about trying exotic dishes from around the world? Why would someone want to eat hot dogs and bad pizza after spending thousands of dollars on a trip with free food? Not putting anyone down, but I totally enjoyed the old way of a daily menu that served up dishes you couldn’t pronounce lol

I’ve cruised Carnival and after cruising Disney and RCI I said I’d never go back to Carnival.

You definitely get what you pay for.

 

 

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I am with you on this one. I guess some people are conservative and like the food they are used to eat.

[Countrygurl]

"I will never forget walking to get back on Harmony in Cozumel and my 7 Yo Daughter grabs my hand and points to a Carnival ship on one of the other piers and calmly says-

 

"look at that dump"

 

she may have been spoiled by harmony for her first cruise"

 

 

Obviously you have never been on the Vista. Its very nice. And all Carnival cruises I have been on, including my Alaska cruises, were not "dumps" nor rust buckets.

 

Geez, people. I am happy to be sailing RCI. But Carnival is pretty great too. I don't understand the put down mentality. Enjoy vacation and appreciate the fact that you can.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Countrygurl
Looked like post I was quoting was written by me.

[baileybrad]

Casual dining on Royal is mediocre to non existant. Outside of MDR and specialty restaurants, lunch is garbage. Go on Royal for the ship, certainly not the food.

Well, sign me up for a heaping plate of garbage. The food that we had in the Windjammer on the Brillance in April was outstanding.

 

You must eat like a king at your palace.

[ryano]

"I will never forget walking to get back on Harmony in Cozumel and my 7 Yo Daughter grabs my hand and points to a Carnival ship on one of the other piers and calmly says-

 

 

"look at that dump"

 

she may have been spoiled by harmony for her first cruise"

 

 

Obviously you have never been on the Vista. Its very nice. And all Carnival cruises I have been on, including my Alaska cruises, were not "dumps" nor rust buckets.

 

Geez, people. I am happy to be sailing RCI. But Carnival is pretty great too. I don't understand the put down mentality. Enjoy vacation and appreciate the fact that you can.

 

The Dream class is nice too and they very much have "curb appeal:" or in this case "pier appeal". The only class of Carnival ships I dont care for aesthetically is the Fantasy class. Especially since they welded them yougly balconies on some of them. That whole class needs to be retired lol. Royal no doubt has "prettier" ships but the truth is, Carnival does much better food and has more included options. Im not loyal to either one and enjoy both myself.

[barb13east]

Dear all,

 

First RCI cruise......so from my understanding....there is no fresh grilled burgers and fries (like Guy's joint).....cafeteria style burgers and hots probably in some big metal container of "juice" on the buffet and soggy fries......No Blue Iguana or anything comparable to that on RCI.....

 

What great "FREE" food items does RCI have?!?! What is there to eat for lunch?!?!!? What am I missing here?!?!

On most ships, I dont know what ship you will be on there is a burger joint called Johnny Rockets. On the "boardwalk" near the merry go round the is another place that serves burgers, hot dogs etc.

 

I will be on Harmony 05/26 and they have a ton of great snack food places.

 

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[baileybrad]

Wow ya'll can be a tough crowd. I, too, have cruised Carnival several times (including the VISTA which is not a rust bucket, by the way) and this is my first RCI cruise coming up in August. I love to follow these threads for real and honest opinions. But good grief, some of ya'll act like you work for the cruiseline. I'm going into my first RCI cruise knowing I will find some things I like better and probably some things not so much. But hey, its a vacation and I'll enjoy it no matter what. And, I don't own stock in either cruiseline, so no loyalty here. Happy cruising!

Hope your vacation is great. We sailed Celebrity 25 years ago when they were just getting started and still believe that their food was the best (3 cruises over 4 years) that we ever enjoyed on a cruise line. We have been on 10 RCCL cruises (8 in the past 6 years) since our sons have gotten older. We have never done any of the other cruise lines. We enjoy our vacations on RCCL. Your are so correct that it is a vacation and that is all that really matters.

 

I am sure that you will find yourself comparing your reference point: Carnival to what you experience on RCCL. That only makes sense. And you will most likely find some things that you prefer on one line over the other.

 

I do find it so rich when people completely trash any cruise line's food like you cannot find hardly any edible food on a ship.

 

We sat at dinner with a very rich (diamond brokers) older couple years ago on Celebrity's Horizon ship. They were doing back to back to back cruises in San Juan. We were only on the ship for a week. They were worth millions. It came out in very casual conversations after dinner over coffee. An amazing experience for us as we had just scraped together the money to buy our first home. Anyway the husband told us a story about sitting down to dinner on the first night of their 1st of 3 seven day cruises (they were on the last week of their trip). They were seated with 2 women who immediately started commenting on all the various courses that they were eating that particular night. He said that he and his wife found the food to be quite delicious (again at that time Celebrity was known for amazing food). They decided to give the women one more try as dinner companions. The next night it started again with how bad everything was. He said that he leaned over and very quietly said that he and his wife had travelled all over the world, eating at some the best restaurants in the world. He then said that he would sure like to know what the heck that they eat at home because he and his wife thought that the meals that they were receiving were outstanding. A very quiet dessert followed and he and his wife asked to be moved to a 2 person table for the remainder of that week.

 

Again, hope your trip is great and that you enjoy RCCL as much as you have Carnival.

[MandyMooToo]

Someone reported 12.95 the other day :o pretty ridiculous but obviously they are pushing to see where the stopping point is. Once JRs becomes a ghost town, maybe they will lower the price a little. As long as people are paying, it will continue to go up.

 

Just a few years ago we paid 5.95 pp and our waiter even gave us free soda.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking, I could have sworn a few years ago (4 I think since we have been on a RCCL ship) we paid roughly $5 each. It was a good lunch for that price, especially to keep from going to the oft crowded buffet but I would never pay $12pp.

[MandyMooToo]

"I will never forget walking to get back on Harmony in Cozumel and my 7 Yo Daughter grabs my hand and points to a Carnival ship on one of the other piers and calmly says-

 

"look at that dump"

 

she may have been spoiled by harmony for her first cruise"

 

 

Obviously you have never been on the Vista. Its very nice. And all Carnival cruises I have been on, including my Alaska cruises, were not "dumps" nor rust buckets.

 

Geez, people. I am happy to be sailing RCI. But Carnival is pretty great too. I don't understand the put down mentality. Enjoy vacation and appreciate the fact that you can.

 

Unfortunately it seems as though this is the standard on both lines. When I cruised Carnival for the first time last year I was on their boards reading a lot to get a feel for what the cruise would be like. The Carnival cheerleaders trashed RCCL at every turn and here in the RCCL forums their cheerleaders tend to trash Carnival. It is not exclusive to any one line. I suppose people have their favorites and want to "stand up" for them but sometimes it it a bit frustrating.

[MandyMooToo]

The Dream class is nice too and they very much have "curb appeal:" or in this case "pier appeal". The only class of Carnival ships I dont care for aesthetically is the Fantasy class. Especially since they welded them yougly balconies on some of them. That whole class needs to be retired lol. Royal no doubt has "prettier" ships but the truth is, Carnival does much better food and has more included options. Im not loyal to either one and enjoy both myself.

 

I keep seeing Carnival cruisers say this and it confuses me. I have not been on a RCCL ships for about 4 years so I may not be remembering correctly but I thought they were about equal in free food offerings. On our Carnival cruises there was the MDR, the buffet, the Blue Iguana, pizza and Guy's Burgers. On RCCL there is the MDR, the buffet, Park Cafe, Sorrento's, the Boardwalk Dog House, Boardwalk Donuts, the Solarium Bistro and Vitality Cafe and the Cafe Promenade. Am I missing something?

 

 

** And this post is not a knock on Carnival but I have seen the statements that Carnival has more free food so I am wondering what I have missed here.

[TravisP]

I am not that experienced of a cruiser. I am 45 and went on my first cruise last year for my Daughters HS Graduation. We went on Carnival Sunshine on a 5 day to Bahamas out of Charleston, SC. Had an awesome time and I do agree about Guys and the Blue Iguana. I really liked the Blue Iguana for breakfast. Had awesome breakfast burritos. The only real turn off for me when it comes to Carnival is the 15 adult beverage limit. I hit that the very first day. The rest of the cruise I would get my wife and a friend of ours to get a few beers throughout the day and I would take them back to the room and put in the fridge. Helped me stay under my daily limit the rest of the cruise.

 

We are booked on HOTS for 4/14/19 and are looking forward to it. I think overall I will probably like RCI much better. I just wish they also had a ship out of Charleston. It is under a 2 hour drive for me to the port there.

 

I still say, they would make a killing if they put a waffle house on one of the ships for the late night drunks. ;)

[gerif]

Guys and Iguana Rock. Great burgers fries and fish tacos

 

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Guess I’d starve on a Carnival cruise. Can count on one hand the number of burgers I’ve consumed on a cruise ship and absolutely detest TexMex. No draw for me.

[Aquahound]

I keep seeing Carnival cruisers say this and it confuses me.

 

I do agree that Carnival is better for convenient comfort food....meaning several options poolside. However, I try not to eat like garbage on my cruises. I had, I think, 2 Guys burgers on my last CCL cruise. I'll admit they were good, but I would never give preference to a cruise line based on the availability of garbage food. In fact, this isn't even something I think about when booking a cruise.

[dcgrumpy]

I keep seeing Carnival cruisers say this and it confuses me. I have not been on a RCCL ships for about 4 years so I may not be remembering correctly but I thought they were about equal in free food offerings. On our Carnival cruises there was the MDR, the buffet, the Blue Iguana, pizza and Guy's Burgers. On RCCL there is the MDR, the buffet, Park Cafe, Sorrento's, the Boardwalk Dog House, Boardwalk Donuts, the Solarium Bistro and Vitality Cafe and the Cafe Promenade. Am I missing something?

 

 

** And this post is not a knock on Carnival but I have seen the statements that Carnival has more free food so I am wondering what I have missed here.

It depends on the class. The OP is on Adventure I'm pretty sure the only complimentary options are MDR, Windjammer and Cafe Promenade.

[ryano]

I keep seeing Carnival cruisers say this and it confuses me. I have not been on a RCCL ships for about 4 years so I may not be remembering correctly but I thought they were about equal in free food offerings. On our Carnival cruises there was the MDR, the buffet, the Blue Iguana, pizza and Guy's Burgers. On RCCL there is the MDR, the buffet, Park Cafe, Sorrento's, the Boardwalk Dog House, Boardwalk Donuts, the Solarium Bistro and Vitality Cafe and the Cafe Promenade. Am I missing something?

 

 

** And this post is not a knock on Carnival but I have seen the statements that Carnival has more free food so I am wondering what I have missed here.

 

For the most part, Im a Royal cruiser that just tried Carnival a couple times over the last few years :) Honestly, the newest ship Ive been on was Freedom and it doesnt have most of what you listed. Magic had Guys Burgers, MDR brunch on sea days, Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ, Blue Iguana, the Deli, the Lido buffet, Pizza, Mongolian Wok, Tandoor all of which are included in your cruise fare. Cucina Del Capitano is also "free" during lunch. I guess it just all depends on which ship you try on both lines. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to Harmony to experience all you have listed :)

[BNBR]

For the most part, Im a Royal cruiser that just tried Carnival a couple times over the last few years :) Honestly, the newest ship Ive been on was Freedom and it doesnt have most of what you listed. Magic had Guys Burgers, MDR brunch on sea days, Guys Pig and Anchor BBQ, Blue Iguana, the Deli, the Lido buffet, Pizza, Mongolian Wok, Tandoor all of which are included in your cruise fare. Cucina Del Capitano is also "free" during lunch. I guess it just all depends on which ship you try on both lines. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to Harmony to experience all you have listed :)

 

Funny enough, MandyMooToo did miss something. Harmony also has Mini-Bites which is a semi-large complimentary venue up near the sports deck. ;)Johnny Rockets for breakfast is complimentary, also. So add 2 more to the list.

 

What I like about Harmony is that the complimentary venues are all over the ship and very unique. Almost every neighborhood has at least one. Carnival has a lot of great offerings but they are all part of the lido marketplace, counter serve. Other than the change in decorations for that station, their complimentary offerings could almost be confused as buffet stations because they all attach to the buffet. Carnival does do a GREAT job with all the complimentary offerings, though. But so does Royal on their mega ships.

[davy jones]

My $0.02. (Your $0.02 may respectfully differ)

 

I like the varied casual lunch options on Carnival for quick burgers, sandwiches, or burritos. It is one of their strengths and I like not having to go inside and wiggle my way through the buffet mania for lunch. It is nice to grab something outside and eat at my chair. (I don't want the chair to be unoccupied for fear of being called a chair hog) If the Carnival ship has the BBQ joint, that's a bonus.

 

That said, I don't go hungry on Royal. The food in the buffet is more than adequate. That said, I do not eat the WJ burgers. It used to be that you could get a pretty good burger in the MDR lunch. They used the same patties as Johnny Rockets and it would arrive fresh. On our last cruise on Anthem, we did not do the MDR lunch, so I don't know if that is still the case. We did have pretty good hot dogs on Anthem at the Dog Cart.

 

For me Royal could up their lunch game in two ways. 1. An outdoor grill. 2. Improve the ice cream machines. The hours are limited and they seem to require frequent service or restocking.

[Countrygurl]

Hope your vacation is great. We sailed Celebrity 25 years ago when they were just getting started and still believe that their food was the best (3 cruises over 4 years) that we ever enjoyed on a cruise line. We have been on 10 RCCL cruises (8 in the past 6 years) since our sons have gotten older. We have never done any of the other cruise lines. We enjoy our vacations on RCCL. Your are so correct that it is a vacation and that is all that really matters.

 

I am sure that you will find yourself comparing your reference point: Carnival to what you experience on RCCL. That only makes sense. And you will most likely find some things that you prefer on one line over the other.

 

I do find it so rich when people completely trash any cruise line's food like you cannot find hardly any edible food on a ship.

 

We sat at dinner with a very rich (diamond brokers) older couple years ago on Celebrity's Horizon ship. They were doing back to back to back cruises in San Juan. We were only on the ship for a week. They were worth millions. It came out in very casual conversations after dinner over coffee. An amazing experience for us as we had just scraped together the money to buy our first home. Anyway the husband told us a story about sitting down to dinner on the first night of their 1st of 3 seven day cruises (they were on the last week of their trip). They were seated with 2 women who immediately started commenting on all the various courses that they were eating that particular night. He said that he and his wife found the food to be quite delicious (again at that time Celebrity was known for amazing food). They decided to give the women one more try as dinner companions. The next night it started again with how bad everything was. He said that he leaned over and very quietly said that he and his wife had travelled all over the world, eating at some the best restaurants in the world. He then said that he would sure like to know what the heck that they eat at home because he and his wife thought that the meals that they were receiving were outstanding. A very quiet dessert followed and he and his wife asked to be moved to a 2 person table for the remainder of that week.

 

Again, hope your trip is great and that you enjoy RCCL as much as you have Carnival.

 

 

 

Thank you. And thanks for the chuckle! I've traveled thru hurricanes and lost luggage and still had a great vacation. I know I will enjoy RCCL too.

[MacMarauder]

RCI's pizza is fine, I don't understand why it gets so much hate on here. I'm glad to have the option especially when you have little kids who would eat pizza 24/7 if they could. It's certainly better than Tombstone lol.

[MandyMooToo]

Funny enough, MandyMooToo did miss something. Harmony also has Mini-Bites which is a semi-large complimentary venue up near the sports deck. ;)Johnny Rockets for breakfast is complimentary, also. So add 2 more to the list.

 

What I like about Harmony is that the complimentary venues are all over the ship and very unique. Almost every neighborhood has at least one. Carnival has a lot of great offerings but they are all part of the lido marketplace, counter serve. Other than the change in decorations for that station, their complimentary offerings could almost be confused as buffet stations because they all attach to the buffet. Carnival does do a GREAT job with all the complimentary offerings, though. But so does Royal on their mega ships.

 

Good catch! JR's breakfast is good too. I have never been on Harmony so I was not aware of the Mini-Bites but it sounds neat!

[MandyMooToo]

RCI's pizza is fine, I don't understand why it gets so much hate on here. I'm glad to have the option especially when you have little kids who would eat pizza 24/7 if they could. It's certainly better than Tombstone lol.

 

I think the pizza on RCCL is fine also but I love pizza so even bad pizza is kinda good to me. Now my son and his friend that cruised with us on Oasis lived in Sorrento's! I loved Carnival's pizza, the options and the flavor were great but having to wait so long for one meant that I tried one pizza and never went back. I wish the cruise lines could meet in the middle with their pizza offerings!

[BNBR]

Good catch! JR's breakfast is good too. I have never been on Harmony so I was not aware of the Mini-Bites but it sounds neat!

 

Mini-Bites is where Wipeout is on Oasis.

[rjrpar]

Dear all,

 

 

 

First RCI cruise......so from my understanding....there is no fresh grilled burgers and fries (like Guy's joint).....cafeteria style burgers and hots probably in some big metal container of "juice" on the buffet and soggy fries......No Blue Iguana or anything comparable to that on RCI.....

 

 

 

What great "FREE" food items does RCI have?!?! What is there to eat for lunch?!?!!? What am I missing here?!?!

 

 

 

We are Diamond on Royal and have cruised Carnival 5 times and have been on both lines in the last 6 months. There is no doubt that Carnival provides more variety and higher quality lunch foods than RCCL; Guy’s, burritos, better pizza, good deli, etc

 

 

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[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Am I the only person on earth who doesn't think Guy Fieri's burgers are all that? I've eaten in his restaurant in NYC and they were meh. I get better ones down the street at Schnippers.