Worst food item you tasted on a cruise??

[shops54]

Ryndam buffets - awesomely awful!!

On the other hand their chocolate croissants were wonderfull and I had one every morning for breakfast.

The Costa ships have great dessert soups. They also gave us a copy of the menu each night which we have still - great food - great memories.

[sanjosebarbie]

This, for some reason, is one of my favorite threads. I know some people might think we're all just big whiny babies, but to me, the really terrible food is just as important as the really good food. I still can't get over the most awful dish I ever had...every time I think back to that night, I smile at the memory of me trying to hide the fact that I ordered something truly hideous while everybody else around me was making sounds of pleasure.

 

So...it was on Carnival Elation in 2003, and it was some sort of stuffed roasted squab. I don't know if it was actually the chef's fault or if squab (which is essentially a meatless pigeon, as far as I could tell) is just universally awful. I was an inexperienced cruiser at the time. Now I would just send it back and get something else and be pleased that I had gotten to try two different things on the menu.

 

Also, I know that everybody raves about the sailaway seafood buffet on the Caribbean Princess, but I had the most rubbery and heinous crab legs I've ever eaten on my life (of course, it was served side by side with all you can chilled shrimp, which were divine).

 

And I feel like a rube, but I actually loved the pineapple creme brulee that everybody else seemed to hate. Granted, it didn't really taste like creme brulee, but it was still yummy.

 

Oh, and my favorite dish was on the Caribbean Princess and it is flying fish with polenta and okra (I hate okra, but this was nummy) and a tomato sauce on top. I don't know anybody else who loved this one the way I did, but I was enamored.

 

A hint: i never get bad food (well, at least after that first cruise), because I always ask the waiter what I should order, and unless they come back with something I hate (like lamb), I always take their suggestions. This is sometimes more successful than others, but our waiter on the Caribbean Princess' second voyage, Hannes from South Africa, was truly gifted at picking good food.

[The Monocled Mutineer]

The worst dish (in about 1000 dishes I have ate on 20+ cruises)?

 

A "Mediterranean" Seafood Soup served with Rouille.

 

The soup was devoid of herbs, saffron, wine and anything that had once swam in the sea. It was weak, tomato flavoured & stock cube originated. It had the density of the water I pour out of my Robot Chef when rinsing after processing my own such soup at home.

 

The rouille was a bland, pale, coral pink affair with absolutley no "fire".

 

A rouille should be fire-engine red and should blow your wig and socks off.

 

The worst dish I have ever had at sea.

 

The Monocled Mutineer

 

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[cruisinbuddy]

For me on the Liberty, it was the much coveted fish & chips, absolutely inedible. I couldn't eat for the rest of the day til dinner. It was absolutely disgusting.

[PineappleGal]

On the Glory, it was the Stuffed Game Hen or Stuffed Quail. It was too boney for me. I couldn't eat it, I should have ordered something else but felt weird asking for something else. So I ate more Desserts.

[shofer]

The cioppino (seafood soup) in Sabatini's on Coral Princess. The broth was very flavorful but the seafood was so rubbery I could have stretched it around my waist.

 

The seafood buffet also on Coral Princess. I was expecting something like the one people talk about on Caribbean Princess but it was all cooked with mostly salmon and french fried shrimp. We skipped breakfast just so we could indulge in this lunch and it was a washout.

[wdrl]

Any American style fruit pie on any cruise ship. I don't think the chefs know how to make pie pastry. It's never flaky but tough and tasteless like cardboard. So how come every one of the chef's make excellent pastries other than pie crust? :rolleyes: ?:eek: ?:rolleyes:

[gaileeh]

Most of the offerings at the midnight buffets on Carnival Fantasy, (poor refrigeration). Escargot on RC Rhapsody.:eek:

[AZbeachboy]

The escargot on the Rhaposdy tasted like good lobster compared to the buffet food on the Rhaposdy. Worst buffet on any cruise ship.

[SharkieRools]

Jellied Beef Consommé on Princess :eek:

[shops54]

Mom and Wife,

I do have the menues from the Costa Romantica and could dig them out and tell you but that was about 9 years ago and I'm sure things have changed. The food was fabulous then and I hope it still is.

[kelmac]

Jellied Beef Consommé on Princess :eek:

 

SharkieRools,

 

Sounds like another form of "Terrine":p Pretty nasty stuff!

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[tinlizzy]

I have read about all these jellied beef/chicken sides on a lot of different threads lately and it reminds me of the meat sticks in that jellied broth for babies.

[SharkieRools]

SharkieRools,

 

Sounds like another form of "Terrine":p Pretty nasty stuff!

 

Enjoy!

Kel

 

Almost but now quite! Think of something like beef jello! :)

[JkyLovesRuss]

I know that taste is subjective and that what one person may not like, another may love. But if a friend asked you what food they should avoid on their up coming cruise, what item(s) would you tell them to skip? And don't forget the cruise line. What may be bad on one, may be to die for on another. ;)

 

For me, on RCCL (AOS) i would have to say the Lobster Bisque in the dining room. It had a very unlobstery taste, with no lobster in sight. Was also very runny, like canned tomato soup.

 

Maybe being in New England has spoiled me for lobster bisque. I would be interested to know what others thought of RCCL's Lobster Bisque.

 

The Sushi on Carnival's Paradise was not good at all when I had it. It was warm and not fresh... ilk! :eek: The Strawberry soup was different, it tasted like strawberry quick in milk, I could have made that at home. :rolleyes:

[JLC@SD]

..........cremated steaks and prime rib on the Zenith.....they would not cook rare meat on our cruise.

[SailAwayWendy]

Our absolute worst was the cheesecake on Carnival Spirit. It was this weird tasteless jello-y jiggly thing. Really horrible !! Actually, all the food on that cruise was horrible, resembled nothing that it was named and was itty bitty teeny tiny in portion size. We actually LOST significant weight that cruise. I got a 'side' of salsa with a dish in the dining room (can't remember the dish, sorry) and it was probably a 1/2 tsp. of salsa.

[sanjosebarbie]

On the Glory, it was the Stuffed Game Hen or Stuffed Quail. It was too boney for me. I couldn't eat it, I should have ordered something else but felt weird asking for something else. So I ate more Desserts.

 

I would bet that this is the same stuffed squab that I so hated. I refer to it as "anorexic pigeon." Truly disgusting.

[LOWTYD]

I WAS ON THE CARNIVAL SENSATION DEC 2005 AND HAD THE ABSOLUTE WORSE LOBSTER TAIL EVER. I'M FROM NEW ENGLAND...I KNOW WHAT LOBSTER IS SUPPOSE TO TASTE LIKE. THE MAIT'RE DE CAME OVER BECAUSE HE SAW THE LOOK ON MY FACE AND ASKED IF THERE WAS ANYTHING HE COULD DO OR GET ME ANYTHING ELSE. I HAD THEM MAKE ME A PB&J, CHIPS, 2 COOKIES AND GLASS OF MILK. NOW THAT WA THE BEST MEAL I HAD ALL WEEK!:rolleyes:

[gatour]

Just curious, if the dishes you are voting for the worse ever are the types of dishes you have had before either at home or on other cruises.

 

For example, I regularly eat sushi at home but have not found a good rendition on Princess, RCCL, or Disney. So that is my choice for worst food item on a cruise.

 

However I see a couple of people mentioning game hen/squab as being bony and because of that being bad. However, in my experience in cooking game hen at home it is not as meaty as a chicken breast. So in general I find most game hen dishes on a cruise acceptable.

 

The other factor is how "authentic" a dish is to its roots. For example, I find most "jerk" dishes okay, but not really like the jerk you can get in Jamaica. Where-as curry dishes on some cruiselines are much better in their overall flavor profile.

[dolfansam]

HAL - Maasdam

 

Lunch buffet inedible.

 

Sauerkraut saturated in russian dressing is considered a salad.

 

Melons (cantalope/watermelon) was old, soft mushy and had that rotting smell.

 

Carving board roast beef - couldn't be chewed. Saw everyone thowing it away after trying one bite.

 

Dinner

 

King crab legs - the meat was dried up and shrivelled in the shell. It was probably cooked, thawed and re-cooked too many times. Leftovers were served cold on the lunch buffet the next day and looked even worse.

 

I actually liked the buffet and room service alot more than the food served in the dining room. Of course the horrible service in the dining room probably was a major factor in the food preference. We were waiting upwards of 20-30 minutes between courses, glasses left empty, etc.

[praetorian316]

On Carnival Spirit to Hawaii 4-15-07 they had a cake that I can't pronounce. No one could pronounce it. It was french. I have no idea what it was. The inside wasn't creamy, it wasn't cakey, it wasn't moussey, it was who knows what. Airy is one thing it was. The icing was chocolate ganache. That was good. I took 2 bites and was finished. My mother noticed that a few other people took 2 bites and were finished.

the other thing was the meat on the bone--some nites beef other nites veal. It was alive, bleeding. I only saw 2 people who liked it that bloody. Everyone else wanted something a little more dead.

[Ape Cruizer]

Foie Gras Creme Brulee...it was horrible...and the worst part was that DH loved it!

[mumsiesof2]

We had lamb shanks for dinner one night on Adventure of the Seas. Ilike my mothers lamb chops,so I thought that I would give this a try. I swear never again !!!! It was just BAD-nothing could describe the smell or taste.:eek:

[tysaunt]

It doesn't matter what ship or line they overcook them until the could jump onto the bun w/o the cooks assistance. I know that this is for safety reasons but I would rather take my chances with a moist one than the cardboard they serve.

 

I'm afraid I can't agree with you. On all my Princess cruises I've had the hamburgers and they were juicy, fresh and delicious! Absolutely the best I've ever had in any kind of a restaurant. The fries on princess are also the best thick cut ones around!!!