Okay, Where's The Beef?

[FredZiffle]

Did I miss something here?  We cruised on the Bliss in December, and while the food was still pretty poor in the MDRs, they at least had a beef dish on the regular menu every night.  We just got off the Breakaway today, and there were no beef dishes on the MDR menu any of the five days I checked.  The only options were to pay the extra charge for a Cagney's steak or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak.  Is this something new, and I've just missed any discussion of it, or did we catch an aberration?

[Back to school]

It’s a good question!

[ready2cruzagain]

And here I thought the Epic was bad in January. We did have one beef choice every night on the MDR menu other than the really tough New York Strip. Mostly though the emphasis was on cheap fish, (swai, bluefish, hake), some type of turkey several times and cheap cuts of pork.

 

Gone are the days of Grouper, Snapper, Salmon, Swordfish. I have only had turkey on a cruise during Thanksgiving but it is actually one of the main items now the same as pork (pork loin, pork medallions, pork ribs, pork chops, pork belly, etc). 

 

We have a 22 day cruise on the Jewel and then we are going back to MSC because we miss their food.

[dexddd]

6 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

And here I thought the Epic was bad in January. We did have one beef choice every night on the MDR menu other than the really tough New York Strip. Mostly though the emphasis was on cheap fish, (swai, bluefish, hake), some type of turkey several times and cheap cuts of pork.

 

Gone are the days of Grouper, Snapper, Salmon, Swordfish. I have only had turkey on a cruise during Thanksgiving but it is actually one of the main items now the same as pork (pork loin, pork medallions, pork ribs, pork chops, pork belly, etc). 

 

We have a 22 day cruise on the Jewel and then we are going back to MSC because we miss their food.

Hope it works for you.  We always had great food in YC but last October filets and other menu items in YC stunk.

[ready2cruzagain]

1 minute ago, dexddd said:

Hope it works for you.  We always had great food in YC but last October filets and other menu items in YC stunk.

14 cruises on MSC and love their food in MDR. I have read on MSC boards many YC people complaining that MDR food is better than the YC.

[dexddd]

10 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

Did I miss something here?  We cruised on the Bliss in December, and while the food was still pretty poor in the MDRs, they at least had a beef dish on the regular menu every night.  We just got off the Breakaway today, and there were no beef dishes on the MDR menu any of the five days I checked.  The only options were to pay the extra charge for a Cagney's steak or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak.  Is this something new, and I've just missed any discussion of it, or did we catch an aberration?

Check the 18+ page thread on decline.

 

I'd be a bit worried for Arnold if they are dropping beef unless he can maybe host nightly entertainment.

[dexddd]

1 minute ago, ready2cruzagain said:

14 cruises on MSC and love their food in MDR. I have read on MSC boards many YC people complaining that MDR food is better than the YC.

We have 8.  We last had 11 day.  Walked out three times and either had buffet or room service.  Burgers actually go to or pasta.  Rest not good.  Nothing booked either line this year.

[G-DawgMN]

4 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

14 cruises on MSC and love their food in MDR. I have read on MSC boards many YC people complaining that MDR food is better than the YC.

 

 It's interesting how subjective food tastes are. We did MSC a few years ago and found the MDR food horrible, but the buffet was ok. Pizza of course was great. 

  We've since done the YC and are again this fall, the food there was spectacular.

 

 

[david_sobe]

16 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

Did I miss something here?  We cruised on the Bliss in December, and while the food was still pretty poor in the MDRs, they at least had a beef dish on the regular menu every night.  We just got off the Breakaway today, and there were no beef dishes on the MDR menu any of the five days I checked.  The only options were to pay the extra charge for a Cagney's steak or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak.  Is this something new, and I've just missed any discussion of it, or did we catch an aberration?

Wow.  NCL is forcing us to become vegetarians.  No hash browns, no cookies, no beef 😲

Edited March 11 by david_sobe

[UKstages]

i would think hash browns or cookies would be welcomed by vegetarians, unless made with lard.

 

 

[mking8288]

I double checked the calendar - today isn't April 1st - fellow CC not joking around, right  🤭 🙄 🤔   NCL gonna to serve turkey burger in The Local and O'Sheehan's instead of beef ??   We recognize that the grass isn't necessary greener on the othe lawn.  

 

My real beef burger last week at Cracker Barrel Country Kitchen/Store was quite good 😁 with steak fries and sweet corn ... what are we cruising for ??  

 

 

 

Edited March 11 by mking8288

[UKstages]

 

20 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

My real beef burger last week at Cracker Barrel Country Kitchen/Store was quite good...

 

did the bun hold together till the burger was completely consumed?

 

(asking for a friend.)

[PATRLR]

17 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

Did I miss something here?  We cruised on the Bliss in December, and while the food was still pretty poor in the MDRs, they at least had a beef dish on the regular menu every night.  We just got off the Breakaway today, and there were no beef dishes on the MDR menu any of the five days I checked.  The only options were to pay the extra charge for a Cagney's steak or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak.  Is this something new, and I've just missed any discussion of it, or did we catch an aberration?

In December they had beef on 4 of 7 nights on Viva that we either ate in or looked at MDR.  But considering how awful the MDRs have become, I guess I'm not surprised if they are in fact eliminating beef.  Sigh.

[UKstages]

i really can't imagine them eliminating beef.

 

i place this more in line with the urgent APB put out on donna summer recently due to the inability to book that show online. it's a fantastic notion, corroborated only by limited circumstantial evidence. i don't doubt for a moment that there was no beef for five days on the breakaway, as the OP recounts, i just don't think we can say that means that NCL has abandoned beef.

[Travelling2Some]

There are a substantial number of people (like me) who do not eat seafood/fish at all, so beef dishes are important to us.  We no longer go to Cagney's because, oddly, every single appetizer involves seafood.  (Kind of weird in a venue billed as a steakhouse.)  What I would really appreciate is if they would STOP putting seafood in so many of the pasta dishes.  I've asked if it can be removed but the answer has been no, that is is cooked into the sauce so the dish would still taste fishy.

[Rick&Jeannie]

36 minutes ago, UKstages said:

i really can't imagine them eliminating beef.

 

i place this more in line with the urgent APB put out on donna summer recently due to the inability to book that show online. it's a fantastic notion, corroborated only by limited circumstantial evidence. i don't doubt for a moment that there was no beef for five days on the breakaway, as the OP recounts, i just don't think we can say that means that NCL has abandoned beef.

Agreed...they may just have had some very serious provisioning issues for that sailing.

[ready2cruzagain]

5 hours ago, KSSS2013 said:

 

 It's interesting how subjective food tastes are. We did MSC a few years ago and found the MDR food horrible, but the buffet was ok. Pizza of course was great. 

  We've since done the YC and are again this fall, the food there was spectacular.

 

 

 

I agree it is very subjective! We don't care for MSC's pizza at all. I wish they had more than the 3 they offer, Marguerita, Cheese, and Pepperoni, all thin crust.

[G-DawgMN]

8 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

 

I agree it is very subjective! We don't care for MSC's pizza at all. I wish they had more than the 3 they offer, Marguerita, Cheese, and Pepperoni, all thin crust.

 

 I can live off of pepperoni so I'm set. I know Royal usually has a good selection and the one Princess Cruise I took had a rotating selection, I do recall even seeing anchovies on pizza at one time.

 

 

[complawyer]

traveling 2some. try the french onion soup or the lettuce wedge if you dont like the sea food appetizers, 

 

or, go tole bistro, you can get steak tartare, filet, cordon bleu, but unless you truly hate sea food, the lobster thermidor is amazing, and worth the $25 upcharge

 

by the way, i am a did in the wool carnivore, but although i would be upset there are no beef dishes for a few days, with such a wide variety of choices on a cruise ship i guess i could suffer through 5 days, as long  as they dont run out of chivas and heineken

[Sand and Seas]

If MDR menus are changing as noted in this thread, is there someone onboard who can post three or four days worth?   

[david_sobe]

This thread reminded me that its the 40th anniversary of "Where's the beef?"

 

[itsnotjustme]

On 3/10/2024 at 7:47 PM, FredZiffle said:

or eat that sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass on the everyday menu that they call a strip steak

I had the NY Strip three times on our recent sailing on the Spirit. It was quite good all three nights.  Cooked a nice medium rare, it was brown on the outside and pink to red inside.  It was tender, juicy, and flavorful.

 

I will admit on a prior sailing the quality was lower.  Perhaps not quite as bad as "sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass" but far from my pleasant description above.

 

Did you have the strip steak on this sailing?  Or is teh description from a prior sailing?

 

And since people mentioned pizza, we found it very good at the buffet on Jade last summer, and sorely lacking on the Spirit last month.

[Ellis1138]

I made the mistake of ordering the NY Strip on the Pride of America in February. It was seriously inedible. I made a joke about how if it was a NY Strip, it must have been 10th Ave and 39th Street. The Cagney upcharge steak was far better. And the Moderno's had beef, although they did struggle to cook it medium rare.

[Travelling2Some]

3 hours ago, complawyer said:

traveling 2some. try the french onion soup or the lettuce wedge if you dont like the sea food appetizers, 

 

or, go tole bistro, you can get steak tartare, filet, cordon bleu, but unless you truly hate sea food, the lobster thermidor is amazing, and worth the $25 upcharge

 

by the way, i am a did in the wool carnivore, but although i would be upset there are no beef dishes for a few days, with such a wide variety of choices on a cruise ship i guess i could suffer through 5 days, as long  as they dont run out of chivas and heineken

Yes to all your suggestions.  In Cagney's I have tried asking for a soup or salad instead of an appetizer and been told they will not substitute.  Was told I MUST order an appetizer, main and dessert.  (I didn't want the dessert either.)  There was a whole thread about this awhile back and the consensus was that it depended on which ship you were on.  I would have been very happy with either the French onion soup or the wedge salad but they would not budge on the Bliss.  Very strange and rigid behavior since I'm sure my choices cost less than any of the seafood appetizers.

 

We do enjoy Le Bistro but even the smell of lobster is off putting to me.  I usually get the filet or duck and my husband would agree with you about the lobster thermidor.  I've never gone hungry on a cruise ship for sure but I love pasta a do wish they would stop dumping seafood on so much of it.  Agree that adult beverages are far more important!

[mking8288]

8 hours ago, UKstages said:

did the bun hold together till the burger was completely consumed? (asking for a friend.)

Tell your friend that the burger at CB was quite good, too full to finish it and the toasted bun didn't fall apart.  Five Guys burgers chain getting the heat lately with their wacky menu prices ... Shake Shack's prices not really any better either.  It's unrealistic to expect Michelin star graded cuisine on a cruise with 2,000 to 3,000+ fellow passengers - trending is what is disturbing, at least to a few of us.  

 

Pizza onboard NCL has gotten better over the past decade but without a wooden burning oven like these we had earlier today - these from Frank Pepe Pizzeria, another regional chain - been around since 1925, served up excellent pizza - plain yummy, one of the closet one from our home is like 20 miles away.  

 

Fingers crossed that it was one-off provisioning and/or onboard refrigeration / storage issues and not a "new" fleet-wide realignment, to .... and .... 

Edited March 12 by mking8288