Cruise Talk: Food???

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Topic: Food???

snowman
First Class Passenger
Member # 786

posted 11-26-1999 08:06 AM

Sailed last winter on NCL's sea. The food was great all except for a couple of small incidents.

Am I going to be dissapointed in the food on Carnival? I'm thinking of sailing on the Triumph or Destiny this winter. What is the real difference? Not as fancy, cold, dry or is it just a few bad experiences that I've read on the web that lead me to believe that Carnival's food is not as good?

How do thew other cruise lines rank on the food scale??

Thanks!

Posts: 13 | From: Fredericton, NB, Canada | Registered: Jan 99 | IP: Logged

Mercy
First Class Passenger
Member # 322

posted 11-26-1999 08:44 AM

I've cruised on Carnival's Elation and Jubilee. And I 've cruised on Celebrity's Mercury twice and there is a HUGE difference!
My biggest complaint was the beef. Every bit that I had was inedible (on the Elation). Imagine sitting down to a Filet Mignon and cutting into it, but the sharp knife will not cut the meat , no matter how you saw away at it.Then you pull it apart with your fork and there is strings of gristle running through it. Every time I got brave and tried the beef again, it was the same quality. I will add that this was not the case on the Jubilee. I don't know if they had a different meat supplier? They were both cruising out of San Pedro. The meat on the Mercury was amazing! I ordered beef every night. That is not to say ALL the food was bad on the Elation. Some was very good. But you can really tell that they didn't put the money in the ingredients that Celebrity does. It's like comparing a five star restaurant with Denny's!

Posts: 697 | From: Stanwood, Wa. USA | Registered: Sep 99 | IP: Logged

nathan
First Class Passenger
Member # 720

posted 11-26-1999 10:49 AM

I have a different opinion on Carnival's food. I have sailed on the NCL and Carnival this year, and I thought the food on Carnival was much better than NCL. Plus, food was much more plentiful, and served a lot quicker on Carnival than on NCL. A lot might depend on where you sail from. We sailed on Carnival out of Charleston, and they told us on the galley tour that all of their food comes from the home port -- in that case Charleston, even though they were only there for two voyages.

Posts: 534 | From: Knoxville, Tennessee | Registered: Aug 99 | IP: Logged

ABBY
First Class Passenger
Member # 882

posted 11-26-1999 06:19 PM

We have cruised with Carnival twice in the past two years. We found a big change in the year between the cruises. There were improvements in the quality and more expensive dishes (eg. lobster, crab) appeared the second time. However, these are less expensive cruises and food is one of the areas that savings/cost cutting is seen compared with HAL or Princess. This is definitely not the cruise choice if food quality is a major issue.

Posts: 11 | From: wellington,ontario,canada | Registered: Oct 1999 | IP: Logged

cncservo
First Class Passenger
Member # 532

posted 11-27-1999 01:54 PM

Snowman:
We sailed the Imagination in 98 and the lunch buffet was very disappointing. Seem to be the same menu every day. Food quality was ok but not what we expected. The dinner meals were ok so not many complaints there. We have sailed Hal and there is no comparison. Hals' lunch buffet was an experience in itself. Seemed to be unlimited gourmet type choices. We probable ate twice the food on Hals buffet then we did on Carnivals. Maybe this is why Carnival has chosen to skimp on their food, cost savings.
Not taking anything away from Carnival for we did have more fun with them. They had the best entertainment value far exceeding Hal. Would'nt it be great if these two would adapt each others strong points.

Posts: 170 | Registered: May 99 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 11-27-1999 04:40 PM

I think that it's all a matter of opinion! I've cruised with celebrity on the Mercury. Everyone raves about Celebrities food, except me! I rated it as O.K., nothing more.

We must bear in mind that most mega-ships are producing 2000 or more meals per evening by assembly line methods. I'm sure that all the sucessful cruise lines produce reasonable food..after all food is an important part of cruising. If the food was poor I think that the cruise line would soon loose their reputation and popularity.

[This message has been edited by Malcolm (edited 11-27-1999).]

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

asoowal
First Class Passenger
Member # 485

posted 11-27-1999 09:13 PM

I have sailed on just about every major line, and some smaller ones. Carnival, NCL, RCCL all are about the same, plentiful, edible but not gourmet. Princess, Celebrity, HAL have more gourmet choices, service is a little nicer. Every voyage depends upon your attitude towards the wait staff, and in turn theirs about you. Listen to their reccomendations, they know what the kitchen does best.
If you get to the dining room late, they get the orders in later, and you often end up with cold or leftover food from the mass galley. I have often asked the waiter when ordering what his suggestion would be based on his ordering time and position in line.

Posts: 68 | From: Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA | Registered: Feb 99 | IP: Logged

geno-r
First Class Passenger
Member # 931

posted 11-28-1999 10:48 AM

We sailed on the Tropicale, before The Incident, and found the food to be vastly improved over our previous cruise on the Holiday. I'd say Carnival has put a big effort to making their food much better. Also everybody in our group LOVED the pizza

Posts: 549 | From: Mt. Pocono,Pa. Usa | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

Mermaid
Just Boarded
Member # 933

posted 11-29-1999 09:48 AM

Just returned from a cruise on the Destiny. IMO the food was fine. Dining room food was varied, very good, included steak and some type of seafood every night (yes, one night was lobster). Service was excellent. Casual dining area food served cafeteria style was okay. Nothing special, but good enough. Grilled sandwiches and pizza very good. Room service menu was limited, but service and quality were good. IF you did not make the effort to eat in the dining room, at least most evenings, I can see where you would be disappointed if you wanted something special on your cruise in the food department. And by the way, I LOVED the ship!!!

Posts: 1 | Registered: Nov 1999 | IP: Logged

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