Anyone enjoying the new menu selections?

[dleahy4444]

It seems that most of the posts about the quality of the food since the new menus seem to indicate that the quality has gone down, but of course that is subjective. Considering that I’m committed to an upcoming cruise and cancelling isn’t an option, I’m hoping that the food isn’t as bad as it seems. Anyone enjoying the new menu on the Oasis? 

[lovesthebeach2]

The new menus are mostly fine, though they did lack some choices that were available in the past, such as more expensive meats like lamb chops.

 

They also lack choices for vegetarians and vegans. I’m not either, but liked items that are no longer available and nothing that’s considered vegetarian (only 1 vegan choice nightly)

 

We noticed the quality of ingredients has changed and how the items are being cooked improperly and were served at the wrong temperature (not warm). They seem to cover the food with gravy or sauce which masks the taste of the food more than I remembered, and very salty as well.

 

So while the menu changes are fine, the quality has changed more, at least on the ship we were on. Cruising again in a few days on a different ship, so that will give us a better picture.

[kruzerci]

My issue is not with the selection, it is with the quality, which has been non-existent on our two sailings with the new menu. Zero consistency, low quality ingredients, and poor preparation. 

[HappyTexan44]

I'm with you in that I'm committed to the nonrefundable cruise.  So, I'm closely reading the reviews hoping to spot something on each menu where people say, "Well, this item was pretty good."   So far it seems the kitchen is still getting used to the new items, so I haven't started a list yet.  

[cruiseguy1016]

I was happy with the food selection and quality on Voyager 2 weeks ago. But again, food quality is a very subjective topic. I don't eat in 5 star restaurants every night at home so I don't know what it's like to have 5 star choices and 5 star quality every night. The selections and quality were as good or better than what we have on a nightly basis at home, and I can say that because I'm the cook in our house.

[CruiserLucas]

We're sailing on Vision in May. This will only be our second cruise on Royal, our first being in late February 2022, and at that time we thought the food was waaay better than what we were getting on our Carnival cruises, especially in the MDR. That time we were on Harmony. I'm looking forward to the menu for the MDR personally. The selection and themes look good to me. What I'm wondering is if the size of the ship will make a difference. With less specialty dining options on Vision, will that mean more attention is given to make the MDR food better there? 

[tomcherv]

I'm not sailing until July 2024 (over a year from now), so I'm hoping many of these issues I keep hearing about are resolved - especially since I'm on a 13 night cruise.

[Rubyfisch]

2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

They also lack choices for vegetarians and vegans. I’m not either, but liked items that are no longer available and nothing that’s considered vegetarian (only 1 vegan choice nightly)

It seems like they might also have vegetarian Indian options now as well - I've seen several posts on FB of menus with italics under the meat based Indian options saying there is also a vegetarian option available on request.

[welshrich]

Sailing in two weeks and looking forward to seeing the new menu.  I've read about complaints about the food for years but have yet to come off the ship lighter than when I went on.

 

Maybe RC are looking at going more like the Norwegian way with having just a couple of basic free venues and then all the others for a fee to encourage people to spend more.

[lovesthebeach2]

21 minutes ago, CruiserLucas said:

We're sailing on Vision in May. This will only be our second cruise on Royal, our first being in late February 2022, and at that time we thought the food was waaay better than what we were getting on our Carnival cruises, especially in the MDR. That time we were on Harmony. I'm looking forward to the menu for the MDR personally. The selection and themes look good to me. What I'm wondering is if the size of the ship will make a difference. With less specialty dining options on Vision, will that mean more attention is given to make the MDR food better there? 

unfortunately I highly doubt that more attention will be given the menu. 
 

12 minutes ago, welshrich said:

Sailing in two weeks and looking forward to seeing the new menu.  I've read about complaints about the food for years but have yet to come off the ship lighter than when I went on.

 

Maybe RC are looking at going more like the Norwegian way with having just a couple of basic free venues and then all the others for a fee to encourage people to spend more.

Both my husband and I both lost weight on our last cruise as did others in our group for that cruise.  We mentioned a few times while on the ship that we had never noticed our stomachs growl on any other ship ever.  Not a bad thing to not gain even when we were drinking more 😁

[dleahy4444]

3 hours ago, kruzerci said:

My issue is not with the selection, it is with the quality, which has been non-existent on our two sailings with the new menu. Zero consistency, low quality ingredients, and poor preparation. 

Yikes! I’m sorry to hear that.

[PhillyFan33579]

I have cruised several times recently with the new menus. I have not had any issues with the menus or anything I have ordered. The only bad meal I have had was at the Mason Jar on Wonder a few weeks ago. That is one speciality restaurant I have no plans to go to again. When reading comments about food, I always keep in mind that food is very subjective. I don’t think anyone should take someone’s comments about food, including this comment, to heart since  people’s tastes vary significantly. 

[dleahy4444]

2 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

unfortunately I highly doubt that more attention will be given the menu. 
 

Both my husband and I both lost weight on our last cruise as did others in our group for that cruise.  We mentioned a few times while on the ship that we had never noticed our stomachs growl on any other ship ever.  Not a bad thing to not gain even when we were drinking more 😁

This does not bode well for our upcoming Oasis sailing in May. I am not a foodie by any means but my son is getting married on that sailing and several of our friends and family ( that are incurring the expense in terms of time and money) have never cruised before and are only going because of the wedding. I don’t want them to be disappointed or to be turned off to cruising by subpar food or service.  I know that the industry is trying to make up for lost revenue due to the pandemic but this is not the way to attract new customers. There will always be a core group that is loyal to Royal but even there they may start to lose customers. I’ve been on 20+ cruises and I’m starting to re think it myself 

[dleahy4444]

7 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have cruised several times recently with the new menus. I have not had any issues with the menus or anything I have ordered. The only bad meal I have had was at the Mason Jar on Wonder a few weeks ago. That is one speciality restaurant I have no plans to go to again. When reading comments about food, I always keep in mind that food is very subjective. I don’t think anyone should take someone’s comments about food, including this comment, to heart since  people’s tastes vary significantly. 

Good to know that you have had a positive experience. there is hope!

[lovesthebeach2]

20 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

This does not bode well for our upcoming Oasis sailing in May. I am not a foodie by any means but my son is getting married on that sailing and several of our friends and family ( that are incurring the expense in terms of time and money) have never cruised before and are only going because of the wedding. I don’t want them to be disappointed or to be turned off to cruising by subpar food or service.  I know that the industry is trying to make up for lost revenue due to the pandemic but this is not the way to attract new customers. There will always be a core group that is loyal to Royal but even there they may start to lose customers. I’ve been on 20+ cruises and I’m starting to re think it myself 

We were not on Oasis for our last experience that I spoke of above. I would speak to the Maitre D (and maybe slip a little 💵) when you board the ship and let him know about your group. I’m sure he will make sure things are perfect.  Congratulations!

 

[sjb317]

We just finished 8 night cruise on Jewel last Saturday, our first with the new menus.  IMO, food was pretty much the same as it’s been for several years; some dishes are excellent and some are disappointing with most falling in between. Protein portions were typically a good size but the sides with them were small. One night I had one pieceof broccoli, one carrot slice and a serving of mashed potatoes that was maybe 1/4 of a cup.😂

 
I really liked the jerk pork chop, cheese tortellini, and the chili lime salmon on Mexican night.   My husband enjoyed his prime rib, the roast beef on British night and the lobster. Amazing desserts were Key lime pie, tres leches cake and, according to my husband, anything chocolate. I would avoid the strawberry shortcake, apple cobbler and the English trifle. 
 

We had great service in the MDR as well as in Giovanni’s one night.  The food in Giovanni’s was excellent, too.
 

Sherri🙂

[dleahy4444]

29 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We were not on Oasis for our last experience that I spoke of above. I would speak to the Maitre D (and maybe slip a little 💵) when you board the ship and let him know about your group. I’m sure he will make sure things are perfect.  Congratulations!

 

Thank you. That’s my plan. 

[dleahy4444]

2 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

We just finished 8 night cruise on Jewel last Saturday, our first with the new menus.  IMO, food was pretty much the same as it’s been for several years; some dishes are excellent and some are disappointing with most falling in between. Protein portions were typically a good size but the sides with them were small. One night I had one pieceof broccoli, one carrot slice and a serving of mashed potatoes that was maybe 1/4 of a cup.😂

 
I really liked the jerk pork chop, cheese tortellini, and the chili lime salmon on Mexican night.   My husband enjoyed his prime rib, the roast beef on British night and the lobster. Amazing desserts were Key lime pie, tres leches cake and, according to my husband, anything chocolate. I would avoid the strawberry shortcake, apple cobbler and the English trifle. 
 

We had great service in the MDR as well as in Giovanni’s one night.  The food in Giovanni’s was excellent, too.
 

Sherri🙂

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m going to make a more of what you and others enjoyed 

[cruisegus]

I've now been on several cruises using the new menu.  Food is still cafeteria quality as it has been for years now.

 

I have tried a number of the newer dishes that have been added and I'm satisfied with most.

 

I found the Mexican night Burrito that someone decided to call an Enchilada to be pretty good.

Edited March 15, 2023 by cruisegus

[foodsvcmgr]

Anyone been on Liberty of the Seas to see how they are handling prep and service of the new menu?

[CanadaRob]

15 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

It seems that most of the posts about the quality of the food since the new menus seem to indicate that the quality has gone down, but of course that is subjective. Considering that I’m committed to an upcoming cruise and cancelling isn’t an option, I’m hoping that the food isn’t as bad as it seems. Anyone enjoying the new menu on the Oasis? 

Got off Oasis, 2weeks agp, ate in the MDR every night except last one, food was as good as my previous October Odyssey sailing. The deal for us is is we both can’t see something we want we don’t go, hence the last night, wife didn’t see anything that she would want, I felt pretty similar.  Had salmon a couple of times, pasta(I don’t eat pasta at home).  Generally food was good, our service was not, so I can’t blame a lukewarm entree on the kitchen when we waited 20-30minutes for them sometimes.

[rimmit]

I found when the MDR actually got our order right decent.  I am not a foodie though.  My issue is they NEVER got our order right in 5 nights we went to the MDR in one try.  Not once did we get out of the MDR without a mistake to our or our table mates order and the service in the MDR was the worst in my 33 years of cruising. The waiters were bizarrely argumentative  when we argued we got the wrong item, or argued if something was vegan or not etc.  It was just a bizarre experience.  One table mate said his entree was still frozen as well and sent it back.   Never seen that in 30+ years.

 

It wasn’t spectacular food but I didn’t notice it was notably different than before in the MDR.  I do miss the option for the sirloin everyday though.

I noticed significant cutbacks in Cafe Promenade and the WJ though.  To the point I struggled to find things I wanted to eat in the WJ and Cafe Promenade.  I think RCI knows that they can fill the shop no matter what and are just gonna keep cutting back.  They have taken the Disney approach to business.  Keep raising the prices and cut back until the bottom line shows that the guests are unhappy.

Edited March 15, 2023 by rimmit

[39august]

Is RCI still  allowing you to order more than one main dish in the MDR? I know that an additional lobster tail is extra cost. How about anything else?

[ReneeFLL]

6 minutes ago, 39august said:

Is RCI still  allowing you to order more than one main dish in the MDR? I know that an additional lobster tail is extra cost. How about anything else?

There have been several threads already started.

 

[cruiseguy1016]

You can order more than one but you need to be a good boy and finish your first one before they will bring you a second one.