Carnival Food Quality Very Subpar

[DrSea]

21 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Go on the newer ships and you'll have more options.  What specific ethnic options are you looking for?

I was on the radiance and the food options are very similar to the older ships.

 

It would be nice to have a variety other than American and Mexican food. I travel with a lot of different guests who would like more ethnic food options. 

[ninjacat123]

1 minute ago, DrSea said:

I was on the radiance and the food options are very similar to the older ships.

 

It would be nice to have a variety other than American and Mexican food. I travel with a lot of different guests who would like more ethnic food options. 

My DH and I were chatting about this...why not have a restaurant like Bonsai Sushi size that features Indian cuisine?  The head chef is usually Indian and whenever we get the Indian vegetarian dish in MDR we are very happy.  I know there is Tandoor kiosk on some ships, I'm talking a full restaurant.

[vwrestler171]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

My DH and I were chatting about this...why not have a restaurant like Bonsai Sushi size that features Indian cuisine?  The head chef is usually Indian and whenever we get the Indian vegetarian dish in MDR we are very happy.  I know there is Tandoor kiosk on some ships, I'm talking a full restaurant.

Tandoor went away because it wasn't very popular.  Why would a restaurant be any different?

[ninjacat123]

1 hour ago, vwrestler171 said:

Tandoor went away because it wasn't very popular.  Why would a restaurant be any different?

Then why does Carnival feature Indian Vegetarian on the MDR menu every night?  I think Tandoor was an afterthought.  I  saw it on Breeze and it could have been an ice cream cart with it's stature. Have a restaurant, like Bonsai Sushi or Cucina del Capitano or JiJi's (all three were in one area on Sunshine) and I bet it would do well.

[SS Uganda]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

My DH and I were chatting about this...why not have a restaurant like Bonsai Sushi size that features Indian cuisine?  The head chef is usually Indian and whenever we get the Indian vegetarian dish in MDR we are very happy.  I know there is Tandoor kiosk on some ships, I'm talking a full restaurant.

 

When I cruised the Splendor, one particular cruise I spent 7 days having lunch at the YUMMY and WONDERFUL Tandoor at the back of Lido Deck. Do darn Good, so darn YUMMY. They used to have

extra spicy Vindaloo sauce waiting for me........makes your insides HOT & ON FIRE!  Anyone in SoCal wanna go to Little India tomorrow for lunch :-) lol ???

[Joebucks]

I got back from the Panorama last week. I was worried the food would suffer as I read that a couple of times. I should have known better than to listen to the complainers.

 

I understand "better" food can be had in the world. I'm not interested in eating Michelin star meals every night for a minimum $5000 cruise to feel like I got it for free. The food was very good. Even the MDR delivered better than I expected. Nothing to me seemed any different than our last cruises. 

[beerman2]

14 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Then why does Carnival feature Indian Vegetarian on the MDR menu every night?  I think Tandoor was an afterthought.  I  saw it on Breeze and it could have been an ice cream cart with it's stature. Have a restaurant, like Bonsai Sushi or Cucina del Capitano or JiJi's (all three were in one area on Sunshine) and I bet it would do well.

Carnival has a Pasta, Fish, Pork, Beef, Chicken AND a Vegetarian Dish available enticing to “many” pax.

Indian Vegetarian is limited to those who like that food.

Cruise-lines have tendency to do things that work for the majority.

[DrSea]

15 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

Carnival has a Pasta, Fish, Pork, Beef, Chicken AND a Vegetarian Dish available enticing to “many” pax.

Indian Vegetarian is limited to those who like that food.

Cruise-lines have tendency to do things that work for the majority.

Other mass market cruise lines have Indian food daily.

[Joebucks]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:43 PM, ninjacat123 said:

Then why does Carnival feature Indian Vegetarian on the MDR menu every night?  I think Tandoor was an afterthought.  I  saw it on Breeze and it could have been an ice cream cart with it's stature. Have a restaurant, like Bonsai Sushi or Cucina del Capitano or JiJi's (all three were in one area on Sunshine) and I bet it would do well.

 

Fairly extreme "all or nothing argument". It's quite possible it's on the MDR as an option, but not in demand enough to be needed on a larger scale.

 

While I enjoy Indian food, it's fairly clear that it doesn't have the mass market appeal as some other foods do.

[SS Uganda]

4 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

...............While I enjoy Indian food, it's fairly clear that it doesn't have the mass market appeal as some other foods do.

 

You are certainly CORRECT in this regard. They don't know what they are missing, Joe. 😅😅😅😅

Now please stop it with all this Indian food talk, you guys are gonna making drive down to Little India, yet again TODAY for lunch!

Can we get back to Coronavirus or better yet, Norovirus? lol lmao rofl 😅😅😅😅

[Calnev1]

On 1/19/2022 at 4:44 PM, ninjacat123 said:

My DH and I were chatting about this...why not have a restaurant like Bonsai Sushi size that features Indian cuisine?  The head chef is usually Indian and whenever we get the Indian vegetarian dish in MDR we are very happy.  I know there is Tandoor kiosk on some ships, I'm talking a full restaurant.

I was sad to see the Tandoor depart from the Carnival ships we have sailed from.   It was one of the reasons that in the past I have marked Carnival food generally as a notch above other mainstream cruise lines we sailed.  Other posters are probably correct that Indian food doesn't have the mainstream appeal of, say, Italian or Mexican food.  One thing I noted about the Tandoor on earlier cruises was the large number of ship's officers (including many who were obviously not from southern asia) who ate lunch regularly at the Tandoor.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Calnev1

[Duanerice1]

Just off the Sunrise.  Food was

pretty good on the whole.  Some hit or miss but generally pretty good.  Didn’t eat at the buffet so can’t comment on that.  

[sfaaa]

6 hours ago, SS Uganda said:

 

You are certainly CORRECT in this regard. They don't know what they are missing, Joe. 😅😅😅😅

Now please stop it with all this Indian food talk, you guys are gonna making drive down to Little India, yet again TODAY for lunch!

😅😅😅😅

Can never get enough of fresh warm naan bread and butter chicken back in the days. I was very disappointed when Carnival phased out its complimentary Tandoor station on Lido. The mango chutney was particularly good. I ate it like a dessert in a bowl.

Edited January 21, 2022 by sfaaa

[TravelBluebird]

On 1/19/2022 at 11:09 PM, SS Uganda said:

When I cruised the Splendor, one particular cruise I spent 7 days having lunch at the YUMMY and WONDERFUL Tandoor at the back of Lido Deck. Do darn Good, so darn YUMMY. They used to have

extra spicy Vindaloo sauce waiting for me........makes your insides HOT & ON FIRE!  Anyone in SoCal wanna go to Little India tomorrow for lunch 🙂 lol ???

 

I’ve sailed twice on the Splendor and I just LOVED that Tandoor station at the back of the Lido Deck—and the spicy sauces were divine. I do NOT like bland “American style” cruise food like you get on most lines. I’m excited about Street Eats with a few more interesting selections on the Mardi Gras, and I wish they’d add back some permanent Indian food on most Carnival buffets (also was my go-to buffet lunch)

[Mutumbojimbo]

Food is always a subjective topic. We just got back from a cruise on the Valor and felt that for the most part the food was pretty good. The strip loin on the "from the grill" section was really thin, but was still cooked correctly (at least for me). The barramundi was a hit at our table as was the beef tenderloin. The breakfast menu was good, but as someone who occasionally has issues with eggs, the brunch offered fewer choices. I was disappointed in the brisket "burger". I really enjoyed the brisket at the Old fashioned BBQ. Our meals from the Blue Iguana Cantina, and the Pizza Pirate were all good. We didn't get much from the main buffet and I missed out on Guys and the deli (I'm not sure I can count this as a cruise) Anyway, we found lots of good things to eat and had a few misses. I was happy overall. 

[SNJCruisers]

11 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

I was sad to see the Tandoor depart from the Carnival ships we have sailed from.   It was one of the reasons that in the past I have marked Carnival food generally as a notch above other mainstream cruise lines we sailed.  

You obviously have not sailed on Celebrity.  Just got off of 12 days on the Apex and their buffet had an Indian section every day with at least 4-6 entree choices.

[Calnev1]

1 minute ago, SNJCruisers said:

You obviously have not sailed on Celebrity.  Just got off of 12 days on the Apex and their buffet had an Indian section every day with at least 4-6 entree choices.

We have sailed on Celebrity 3x and we thought their food was quite good.  Don't recall the Indian food being an everyday thing on our previous Celebrity cruises though.

[SNJCruisers]

19 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

We have sailed on Celebrity 3x and we thought their food was quite good.  Don't recall the Indian food being an everyday thing on our previous Celebrity cruises though.

Our last two X cruises were on the Apex (2022) and the Edge (2020) and both had it every day.  

[vwrestler171]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:43 PM, ninjacat123 said:

Then why does Carnival feature Indian Vegetarian on the MDR menu every night?  I think Tandoor was an afterthought.  I  saw it on Breeze and it could have been an ice cream cart with it's stature. Have a restaurant, like Bonsai Sushi or Cucina del Capitano or JiJi's (all three were in one area on Sunshine) and I bet it would do well.

The Tandoor on the Carnival USED to be a spot on Lido, similar to the PIzza place and Guys Burgers. So it had a set spot.  

[sfaaa]

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

You obviously have not sailed on Celebrity.  Just got off of 12 days on the Apex and their buffet had an Indian section every day with at least 4-6 entree choices.

Not the same. Carnival Tandoor used real tandoor oven like the ones in Indian restaurants on land.

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Not the same. Carnival Tandoor used real tandoor oven like the ones in Indian restaurants on land.

I guess it must have been a bad investment in the ovens if they are no longer offering it.  I don't eat the stuff so I have no dog in the game, but it would be hard to believe that something on the Carnival buffet would be more authentic than the buffet on Celebrity.  In general, the food quality at the buffet on Celebrity blows away the quality of the buffets on Carnival, RCI, MSC, & NCL.

[staceyglow]

On 1/19/2022 at 12:39 PM, famof4togo said:

That is how I look at it...if I didn't have to go to the food store to buy, I didn't have to prepare and most importantly I didn't have to clean up.....that is still leaps and bounds ahead of eating at home!!!!

Not to mention that my next cruise has a per-day base price that is less than what I have to pay for a carryout lunch where I live. On the cruise I am getting breakfast, dinner, hotel room and resort amenities on top of that.

[Doggielover68]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:44 PM, ninjacat123 said:

My DH and I were chatting about this...why not have a restaurant like Bonsai Sushi size that features Indian cuisine?  The head chef is usually Indian and whenever we get the Indian vegetarian dish in MDR we are very happy.  I know there is Tandoor kiosk on some ships, I'm talking a full restaurant.

You can get Indian food in the MDR if you order it ahead of time. They have an entire Indian menu available aside from the featured vegetarian entree. You can ask to see it on the first day and make your selections.

[Pellaz]

9 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Not to mention that my next cruise has a per-day base price that is less than what I have to pay for a carryout lunch where I live. On the cruise I am getting breakfast, dinner, hotel room and resort amenities on top of that.

 

Same here, at $35/pp total.  Even adding in port fees and taxes, it's still FAR less than a 3-star hotel would charge.   😮   

 

[Calnev1]

3 hours ago, Doggielover68 said:

You can get Indian food in the MDR if you order it ahead of time. They have an entire Indian menu available aside from the featured vegetarian entree. You can ask to see it on the first day and make your selections.

As much as I want to believe that the MDR has an "entire Indian menu" separate and apart from the featured vegetarian dish   . . . I do find it hard to believe!   Did you personally experience this post-pandemic?  What ship(s)?   Thanks. (My mouth is watering already . . . )

Edited January 23, 2022 by Calnev1