Not that I want to tick anyone off, but what is up with RC food

[lv2cruisgrl]

I just wish when people complain about the food they would say what they didnt like about it. We always like the food but we also enjoy all types of food so we always find things we like to eat. I love the lunch menu because they have a good salad bar and we love salads. We have never had a meal we didnt like or didnt eat because it tasted bad. It's not 4 star but its usually tasty and we like the variety of choices. I did Celebrity once and didnt think it was as good as RCCL, I guess everyone has different tastes in food. Looks like the Food Police are at it again, where are the fashion police when you need them? I must admit they have lowered the number of choices but I bet its because it makes it easier for preparation. I say do away with the midnight buffets, I see more food thrown away at that!!

[Ocean Boy]

Cannot understand the attitude - There is always plenty of food - I never go hungry.

I guess that I had better clarify my previous post. On all of my RCI cruises I do not remember experiencing the sensation of hunger because there has always been more than enough food that I have LIKED to keep me full. Is that better?

[ahoys]

I have to agree. We were on the Enchantment in June and weren't impressed. We had cruised with Disney and Carnival before that. Believe it or not, Carnival's food impressed us the most. Disney was a close second. There wasn't a meal on our cruise that I loved (or even remembered). I wasn't impressed with their desserts, either.

 

We felt the same way on the Grandeur. We really enjoyed the rest of the cruise, but the food was a disappointment. Nothing was especially bad, it just was cafeteria quality food in the Windjammer and just okay restaurant food at dinner. The pizza was incredibly bad and I found myself longing for Carnival's 24 hour pizzeria. Also, for the first cruise ever, I couldn't find any desserts I really liked. We decided that we will cruise RCI again someday, but we won't be anticipating a great dining experience.

[Lynnees]

Looks like the Food Police are at it again,

 

 

I see no food police here. A simple discussion of likes and dislikes as well as expectations perhaps, but certainly not Food Police.

[familia_solis]

I so agree! We were really disappointed with the dinner on the MOS. We are avid cruisers and were not the only people complaining. Another couple at our table who also cruise quite often, agreed. I love RCI and will cruise again but they really need to get their act together and get some taste in their food.

This was not our first cruise with RCI but our first complaint.

We have 7 cruises under our belts (Carnival, RCI & Princess) and only this 1 complaint. Except for Johnny Rockets!

[RM]

I agree the food need improvement. I've been sailing RCI for years and the food has dropped off in quality, selection and taste. I am a pretty plain eater, chicken and veggies work as well as pasta and fish. I don't eat meat 99% of the time.

 

My biggest complaint is the sauces that they add to the pasta.......blue cheese and sun dried tomato???? Key lime sauce?????? What happened to alfredo???? I know.....it's in Portofino's! Same place I can now find flourless chocolate cake. The pay restaurants are changing the face of cruising and will continue to do so as long as people are willing to spend money!

 

On the Adventure I had an amazing head waiter who noticed I didn't eat very much and I explained to him that I just don't care for the menu. Even the chicken had no taste. He wanted to help so he offered to have sauteed garlic sent to us each night and it truly improved the food! I was a happy person. I really appreciated the caring this kind man had and made sure that he was well rewarded and I sent a letter sent to RCI regarding what a wonderful asset he is to the company.

[Cruisin'40]

Just got back from a 3 nighter on the SOS. I only have Princess to use for comparison. I found the breakfast buffet to be about the same, I thought the Windjammer buffet was overall better than the Princess Horizon court, I also thought RCI had better offerings in room service. I did think Princess was superior in both food and service in the main dining room. I am hoping that we just had a mediocre service crew and it will be better on our upcoming 7 day cruise.

[pcur]

To the OP and ahoys:

 

Can I have your desserts, please?:D :D

[bpear1600]

I wouldn't say the food "stinks" on RCI but it is a shade worse than traditional banquet fare in our opinion. It's satisfactory for the most part but nothing to rave about.

 

Our first RCCL cruise was in 1981 on The Song of Norway and, while there were more selections to choose from and better quality beef, we didn't think their food was anything special either.

 

Cruise ship "gourmet food" and "pampering" by the crew were always figments of some PR guy's imagination, LOL.

[dfishner]

I went on the radiance of the sea last year and after reading all the posts I was concerned about the quality of the food. I was pleasantly surprised on how good the food was. I not sure what people are expecting on a cruise ship but if you are expecting 5 stars then you should go on Seabourn or Radisson. I am in the food business and enjoy good food, I felt the RCL did not disappoint me. I loved chops steak house. That was my back up plan if I found the food unsatisfactory was to go to the speciality restaurants. I did do that but that was because I wanted a difference enviroment. I found the dining room food good. With all the choices on a ship I found it hard to believe someone cannot find something they like

[Darcy03231]

On our first RCCl cruise our whole family agreed that while the food wasn't bad, it wasn't great either. The general consensus was that it was "ok". I was prepared for that when I recently sailed the Monarch. Well, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised as I found the food to be excellent (as did my mother and sister who were cruising with me)! There was only one thing I ordered and didn't like and that wasn't the fault of the chef, I just didn't like it. I think RCCl has taken the comments about food to heart and is trying to improve that area. They certainly succeeded on the Monarch.

[Andiamo39]

I have learned to lower my expectation on the quality of the food since I first starte cruising (which was a very long time ago). That way I'm not disappointed.

 

However is saying that I have to add that our last cruise on the Tahititan Princess the food in the dining room was excellent.

 

The worst food we've ever had was on the Serenade. Now that was really disappointing. (along with the poor service.)

OOH have to agree. Went on the Serenade to Alaska two years ago and thought it was worse (way worse) than Dennys. We ordered Strawberries Romanoff (an elegent frozen fruit smoothie type of dessert) one night and got a bowl of Cool Whip topped with canned strawberrys. Honest to god. Am going on the Voyager to the Mediterranean next month. Hope the food is better.

[baabtx]

I've enjoyed reading the responses to the original poster and have thought long and hard about his statements (and others) as well as seeing various reactions on board RCI Cruises. For the most part, most enjoyed the food and service (as far as I can tell) and while the food is not Michelin Guide Quality, it's not too bad (although sometimes you may just get the unlucky servers, etc). The question I always think to myself when someone complains about the food on a cruise ship is...when is the last time you served Shrimp/Lobster/any number of dishes for 2500+ PEOPLE? All in all they do it quite well (and by the way there's always salt)!

 

I don't know, I guess I cruise for the love of the seas, the activities and the ports of calls to visit, the food is an added benefit....

[num1crewsfam]

Just got back from the Jully 22nd Navigator Western sailing. We were very disappointed with the dinning room food....not nearly as good as in the past.:(

[broncoboxer]

I guess that I had better clarify my previous post. On all of my RCI cruises I do not remember experiencing the sensation of hunger because there has always been more than enough food that I have LIKED to keep me full. Is that better?

 

ROFL.

 

On a side note, I've cruised RCI and Carnival, I've been to many fine restaurants and I liked the food just fine in both of their dining rooms.

[pcur]

To all of the posters who don't like the food that much:

 

Can I have ALL of your desserts, please? :D

 

You can overnight Fed Ex the flourless chocolate cake to me!!

[nlcentralchmps03]

Now, before I start I know that alot of people are going to get angry but here goes.

 

The food on RCCL stinks! Dinner's are OK. Lunch was the worst. Breakfast was OK.

 

Now we have been on 2 other cruise lines and took our 1st RC trip on the Grandeur. We were totally disappointed in most of the food on the ship. We thought we would give them another shot so decided to book the Explorer. After reading alot of current posts on their food I think NOT.

 

Maybe RC should spend less time on ice rinks, golf, the surf thing, etc and concentrate on their FOOD.

 

OK, let me have it!!!!!!!!

I just took my first cruise with RCI in May. I have heard that the food has declined in recent years. I thought the food was out of this world! I can't imagine what it would have been like 5 years ago!

[Merion_Mom]

OOH have to agree. Went on the Serenade to Alaska two years ago and thought it was worse (way worse) than Dennys. We ordered Strawberries Romanoff (an elegent frozen fruit smoothie type of dessert) one night and got a bowl of Cool Whip topped with canned strawberrys. Honest to god. Am going on the Voyager to the Mediterranean next month. Hope the food is better.

Andiamo: I'm not going to argue with you about whether you had real whipped cream or Cool Whip, or the source of those strawberries, but the classic Strawberries Romanoff recipe calls for strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier liqueur then topped with whipped cream. The frozen mush to which you refer is an Americanized version of the classic recipe, much as Chop Suey is invented Asian food for American tastes. :)

 

http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/strawrom.html

 

But a HUGE "thank you" for being the first person on this thread to be specific about a food misadventure. :)

[Vakshun]

I am relatively new to cruising but have been on three RCI cruises in the last year. The first cruise was on the Majesty in Oct 2005. The second was on the Grandeur (the ship the OP referred to). The third was the Enchantment.

 

I loved the food on the Majesty. The same menu (at least dinner menu) was served on the Grandeur (Dec 2005). The Granduer food was no where near as good as what I got on the Majesty.

 

Just to give one example I had ordered lamb one night on the Majesty and it was cooked perfectly. The same lamb dish on the Granduer looked extremely dried out and not very good. A table of 6 or 8 near us all sent it back to the kitchen. The person at our table that ordered it did not like it (because of how it was cooked). I had fortunately ordered a different dish that night.

 

I was not all that impressed by the Grandeur and can only guess that how the food is cooked is as important as the ingredients. The Majesty and Enchantment, which had esentially the same dinner menus, were great. The Grandeur dinners were ok at best and some dishes were not very good at all.

 

Despite the bad experience on Grandeur (which went way beyond just the food) I went on Enchentment and had a good time.

[rubrrick]

Interesting replies.........from bad to good.....to excellent. I have, to date been on 10 RCCL cruises........and I must admit that on some of the ships the food was rather bland.

 

The taste of food depends on: where it was purchased, and who the executive chef is onboard. This doesn't apply just to RCCL but to all cruise lines.

 

We have enjoyed some of the best gourmet meals anywhere, on RCCL...............and some of the worst. Food does not happen to be our criteria for what cruise line we sail on.........but we do know that it is important to so many people.....

 

Like Captains...........Executive Chefs get moved around the fleet.......actually more. when a ship is having a noticeable problem with complaints........one of the better chefs will be brought aboard to get the problem under control. Imagine planning and executing 2500 meals for an evening. The executive chef has about 120 chefs working under him to produce the quantity of food that is produced for each meal. If the guidelines are not followed exactly......the food comes out not tasting so good.

 

Rick

[Andiamo39]

Andiamo: I'm not going to argue with you about whether you had real whipped cream or Cool Whip, or the source of those strawberries, but the classic Strawberries Romanoff recipe calls for strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier liqueur then topped with whipped cream. The frozen mush to which you refer is an Americanized version of the classic recipe, much as Chop Suey is invented Asian food for American tastes. :)

 

http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/strawrom.html

 

But a HUGE "thank you" for being the first person on this thread to be specific about a food misadventure. :)

Hey Merionmom

 

Be it the mush I am familiar with or the classic recipe you describe, either would have been vastly superior to what was served. Trust me, I know Coolwhip and canned strawberries when I see them. Even the waiter seemed embarrassed to serve it. And speaking of specific food nightmares, I never did get an Eggs Benedict that was palatable. I don't think the Eggs Benedict problem is unique to Royal Caribbean however because I have heard the same complaint from cruisers on other lines. Nevertheless, the Eggs Benedict on the Serenade were so hard, you could have used them as a weapon. I sent them back 3 times and simply gave up on the fourth. Still, in a perverse way I'm glad the food wasn't top notch. Otherwise I would have overindulged like I invariably do on other cruises and am always sorry when I get home and step on the scale. :-)

[Tristan]

I just had my first cruise with Princess (the Crown) and I feel that Royal Caribbean's food is SOOOOOO much better than Princess's!!

 

We sailed VOS last year, and the french toast at Breakfast was the best I've ever had. (And I've eaten my fair share of it.) LOL

 

In general, RCI's food is superior to Princess, but I'm sure not nearly as good as Regent or Seabourne.

[Ericknow32]

I think the problem with the food is that although it is edible, it is not worth the price paid for me personally. I don't eat alot....I eat a very small breakfast (fruit & coffee)...salad for lunch. I expect my evening meal to be my best meal of the day....and yes, gourmet for the price I pay. I don't request room service, & I would think I'm probably not getting what I pay for. The evening meal on a cruise ship historically is suppose to be "grand"...on the Grandeur in May it was not.

No, I am sorry but No. The price of a cruise is far less than what you would pay for a hotel, activities, and all meals, for the same period of time.

 

 

These food threads are starting to bug me. People want more activities, more features, better food, but all for a lower price. That is ridiculous. Cruising is a relatively inexpensive vacation when you add everything up. I really don't get why people expect so much because you're really not paying that much.

[MrPete]

All these RCI bad food threads have lowered my expectations of what I will find to eat next week. Food is VERY important to me on a cruise.

 

But my expectations are now SO low that I'm hoping to find the food better than my expectations! :eek:

[isujim]

Pete

 

As you know it is so subjective.............I'm not a foodie so I think it is good......not great......and sure as heck beats cooking at home.

 

I hope you have a great cruise and hope you find the food at least satisfactory.........have a great time...........

 

Hope to hear what you really think when you get back.

 

Bon Voyage

 

Jim