How is the Food on RCL vs Celebrity ?

[mcrcruiser]

We are sailing on Navigator   next October &   was hearing that the food was not as good on this ship as it is on a Celebrity ship   .Is that generally true 

 

 Also can you still order  in the MDR a Chops steak & pay for it  ? what is the up cost now ?

 

 TIA

[PhillyFan33579]

I think the food on Celebrity is definitely a notch or two above the food on RCI. However, keep in mind food is very subjective. 

[mcrcruiser]

Thanks  for 😀 your reply  .We thought that is the case  . so I posed another question  out in this forum wether   we can still order the Chops steaks in the MDR & what is the current cost 

Edited November 13, 2022 by mcrcruiser

[sgmn]

If you go to the app, though the menu won't be available yet for your sailing, you can go to your profile and select 'browse our ships'. Select this weeks sailing and check out the menus. 

Here is the upcharge for ordering chops steak and/or lobster in the MDR on Symphony.  No doubt it will change by next October.

Though I haven't sailed on RC since 2019, I have had three cruises on Celebrity in the last year and was a little disappointed with the food, maybe I was expecting too much

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by sgmn

[mcrcruiser]

Thanks 😀 for  that info 

[sjb317]

I think the food is pretty similar on both lines.  Some dishes are good, some not so good.  I do think  Celebrity gives you more to choose from on their menus and in the buffet.  Royal has much better breads and pastries.

 

Sherri🙂

[shofer]

As much as we enjoyed our meals on Symphony, we do feel that Celebrity's food is definitely a step up.  However, I was very impressed with the buffet on this last cruise.  I think the new ships always have the the best:  food, crew, etc.  

We did 2 cruises on Vision OTS in  2016/Mediterranean & 2018/Baltic.  The food was terrible in both the MDR and the buffet on the earlier trip.  My traveling partner ate the "sliders" option for dinner at least 3 times.  On the survey we gave the food a big, fat Zero.

The ship itself was fine as was the crew, entertainment, etc.  We were a little hesitant to book the Vision again but wanted the itinerary.  Big Surprise!  The menu and buffet were totally revamped and we could add the enjoyment of our meals to the whole experience.

[Cruising89143]

We like the food better on X but have found that both are about equal in specialty dining. Both can be inconsistent in this area. Varies by ship. We were just recently on the Freedom and Symphony on an almost B2B. We really enjoyed having the use of Coastal Kitchen on the Symphony for our meals (never made it to breakfast). Overall much better than we expected. We only dined at specialty dining twice since we enjoyed CK. We’re not huge buffet people but X does this much better than RCI. On the Navigator, the Food and Beverage officer Cornelius recently left the ship. We could tell a difference and it wasn’t for the better. 

[fenton04]

Total agreement Celebrity is a notch or two above Royal.

[Cinders411]

We have only taken one Celebrity cruise so far.  We agree Celebrity's food was better at least on the Equinox.

[DirtyDawg]

The food is better on Celebrity BUT according to the folks over on the Celebrity board if you wear shorts while eating your food, your food and everyone else's food will taste like horse poop. 🐴💩

😉

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[Deeliteful]

Have sailed both lines extensively and always enjoyed food in MDR. 
our Chops meal last month on Jewel was the only disappointment food wise.

[kruzerci]

Celebrity is definitely a few notches above Royal. Both have diminished in recent years, but Royals has become consistently meh. Royals MDR food reminds me of a cafeteria quality food with a better presentation. 
 

Edited to add- IMO you will not go hungry on Royal Caribbean, but you won’t be dying for more or reminiscing about the food once you leave. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by kruzerci

[Deeliteful]

Have to disagree kruzerci - on Jewel last month and the food was excellent in the MDR and I go to high end restaurants a lot.

 

No it’s not high end restaurant quality but it is excellent IMO. And they know how to cook fish which is quite a rarity in some places! 😀

[davekathy]

12 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We are sailing on Navigator   next October &   was hearing that the food was not as good on this ship as it is on a Celebrity ship   .Is that generally true 

 

 Also can you still order  in the MDR a Chops steak & pay for it  ? what is the up cost now ?

 

 TIA

IMO, it's not generally true. Food = subjective. We find the food good on both RC and Celebrity (no matter the dining venue).  Doesn't mean one lines food is better or worse than the others lines food. Only you can be that judge. 

[time4u2go]

29 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Celebrity is definitely a few notches above Royal. Both have diminished in recent years, but Royals has become consistently meh. Royals MDR food reminds me of a cafeteria quality food with a better presentation. 
 

Edited to add- IMO you will not go hungry on Royal Caribbean, but you won’t be dying for more or reminiscing about the food once you leave. 

Agreed. 

[Tatka]

  Celebrity is overall premium massmarket, while Royal is a quality massmarket (better than all other massmarket companies). Food is generally a bit better on Celebrity, but we are completely satisfied with RCI food too.

[Tatka]

What is so funny?

Last 2 years:

Celebrity Edge

RCI: Anthem X 3, Oasis X 2, Enchantment, Adventure

 

 We enjoyed 4 different themed MDRs a lot. With French, Italian, Greek, Grill restaurants and more sophisticated cuisine I prefer Celebrity, but yet with RCI I am able to find good seafood selections, escargots etc. 

[Rondo]

In April we did Explorer and Symphony B2B. Food on Explorer was not the best. Food was much better on Symphony and there was more selection. We were quite impressed with selection in the buffet.

 

We just returned home from Transpacific and New Zealand cruises. The Transpacific  was on Celebrity Eclipse and the food was not good at all. And we weren’t the only ones that noticed. Tasteless bread, soups and meat.The buffet was very bland and very little selection (especially of cooked vegetables).  The New Zealand cruise was on Ovation and the food was much better. After two nights we stopped going to dining room because we had a much better selection at the Windjammer and it tasted as good or better than the dining room. Food was definitely a step up from the Eclipse….much to our surprise. Desserts…never have liked any dessert on a cruise.

 

Maybe the food is better on bigger and newer ships???

[F355c5]

On 11/13/2022 at 7:48 AM, sjb317 said:

I think the food is pretty similar on both lines.  Some dishes are good, some not so good.  I do think  Celebrity gives you more to choose from on their menus and in the buffet.  Royal has much better breads and pastries.

 

Sherri🙂

Just off oasis of seas, main dining room breads and (what ?) pastries.

bread stale every meal, the long loved bread basket is no longer.

over all food is suffering in quality.

150 restaurant  is a tragedy.

chops lunch bargain 

playmaker good also

THATS IT

[apierson23]

I just got off Celebrity Solstice on Saturday and the food was excellent and a step up from my last couple RCL cruises.  The buffet on Celebrity had more selection and the food in main dining room was always hot and great flavors.  I didn't like how dull the Celebrity was but in terms of food it was hands down better.

[George C]

I think mdr is about the same , but buffet is definitely way better on celebrity, I like specialty restaurants on navigator and ships entertainment is better than celebrity.

[jsf]

When we started cruising back in 1991 it was said that if you want better food go Celebrity if you want better entertainment go Royal. I think it's still the same today.

[jcc1025]

I thank that Celebrity is, in most cases a little higher price for similar cabins, so you might expect the food to be a little better. 

[volk904]

I took three cruises this year. 2 on Royal And just last week on the Connie. I think the MDR food on Celebrity might have been a bit better but I thought the menu was more limited than RCL.  I would say Speciality Dinning was about equal. That said if you are on an Oasis class ship I like the I like the extra dinning options.  The Mast Grill on Celebrity has great Burgers and Dogs pool side which is something RCL does not have.