Who has the best or worst food?

[dawcruiser]

Originally Posted by swscruiser

Best to worst

Celebrity
HAL
RCCL
Princess
Carnival
Costa

To compare here is my rankings.

Costa
RCCL
HAL
Princess
Carnival
Never sailed Celebrity

Taste differ between people. When we first sailed Costa we were told the food quality was poor. We took the ship because of the price, $299.00 for a 7 day western Carribbean. But we thought the food was the best. Mind you it wasn't the Italian Americans have grown to love but it was true Italian. We loved it but many didn't.

Just my 2 cents worth. What you love others hate especially when it comes to food.

Don

[Fieldmouse]

We're still fairly new in comparison to other CruiseMates, but so far we rank food the following:

1. Celebrity (Mercury, Infinity)
2. HAL (Oosterdam)
3. RCCI (Raphsody of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas

Celebrity IS really good overall....but following close behind are HAL and RCCI.

[kd]

A few years ago, Celebrity was unbeatable in our opinion. However, in the past couple years, we've found there to be very little difference in the dining room between Celebrity and RCCL (same head chef). The buffet is a different matter. Celebrity is immensely better than RCCL. Our only experience with NCL was just that, the last. From talking to other cruisers, Costa or MSC sound awful.

[san007]

eventhough, Carnival is my favorite so far compared to Princess, the food is not very good. The filet mignon tasted like a shoe. Not a good variety of food. love the Pizza place,the Grill and the icecream. Like the fahitas on the room service menu too. Sometimes they shock me. The deli is very good too
Carnival Glory kicks Caribbean Princess's butt.

[colorcrazie]

I like HAL food the best. I can drool at the mere thought of their muesli and bread pudding. But, I must admit that, lately, Carnival's food has been way better than it used to be.
Marty

[subtropic]

Dining room -
1.RCCL
2.Carnival
3.Princess

Buffet -
1.Princess
2.Carnival
3.RCCL

Never cruised Celebrity or HAL which I hear are very good.

[arrowhead55]

I am just an old country boy. I have had great food and okay food on cruises. One thing we all need to remember is they are cooking 6,000 to 10,000 meals a day depending on the ship size. With that said here is my list.
Costa- the pasta was great!!!
Carnival was very good and the service was great
Dawn Princess to Alaska is last due to the servers always trying to sell you something while you were eating. This was the most anoying thing which took away from your meal no matter how good the food.

[sirobin171]

I need to chime in on this topic.

I have only been on Carnival and RCCL so I can only really speak about them.

I think most of the lines are about the same with the food quality, I think the biggest difference between the two is the service.

Carnival has the dancing waiters, RCCL does not. RCCL has a better room service menu than Carnival.

One final thing.

I LOVE THE CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE!!!!



I had to get that off my chest :-)

Rob

[colorcrazie]

Now if I could just get it off my hips!
Marty

[rosetattoo]

I'm with you Rob, I LOVED the chocolate melting cake, had it every night. My June 23rd cruise on the Liberty is almost here, my mouth is watering already. If I close my eyes I can taste that warm, gooey chocolate center, heavenly!! I'll have a couple for you.

As far as dining room food, I think some people who haven't sailed on Carnival recently would be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the quality of the food served in the formal dining room. At least Carnival has hot, fresh rolls at dinner. You could kill someone with RCCL's cold, stale rolls.

Now, if Carnival would only stock dark beer, I'd be a happy woman.

[sirobin171]

I always got it with Vanilla ice cream, its simply the best :-)

Originally Posted by rosetattoo

I'm with you Rob, I LOVED the chocolate melting cake, had it every night. My June 23rd cruise on the Liberty is almost here, my mouth is watering already. If I close my eyes I can taste that warm, gooey chocolate center, heavenly!! I'll have a couple for you.

As far as dining room food, I think some people who haven't sailed on Carnival recently would be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the quality of the food served in the formal dining room. At least Carnival has hot, fresh rolls at dinner. You could kill someone with RCCL's cold, stale rolls.

Now, if Carnival would only stock dark beer, I'd be a happy woman.

[dshowgina]

hello, i see this topic and to be here for informations.
cause i am planning a crusine next month.
i love oriental foods and here some good choices.
thank you







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stainless steel screw WAGOTerminal blockleather sofabamboo blindslanyard

[colorcrazie]

The larger Carnival ships, such as the Glory, have an area in the Lido buffet that is oriental food every day. Different selections each day, but quite good. I hope that this helps answer your question and that you have a wonderful time.
Marty

[huffca]

Hi Foodie,
I saw Alaska on Carnival. My parents did Alaska on Princess. Mom said the food was the best she had had on a cruise. She said that what she liked best they have a section of the menu that doesn't change. So if you want a steak every night you can have it. And, if you want shrimp coctail every night you can have it. She loved the food on princess.

[mosiegirl]

Originally Posted by karessamom

Our very first cruise was on Carnival Conquest and We thought the food was fantastic! I thought the wild mushroom soup was to die for! as well as many other dishes! I do wish however that they would do more dishes without alcohol.--that was my only complaint they did have dishes where they cooked out the alcohol which was great but there were others--especially the deserts that had uncooked out alcohol that i would have tried had it not been for that. Grand Mariner souffle for one--i'd heard that it was really good until i found out how much alcohol was in it and refused to try it. The presentations were great--the breafast menus and buffet could be varied a little more but other than that--No complaints what so ever! Food was also HOT for hot and cold for cold (i'd heard complaints in the past of food arriving cold)

I agree.. I have an allergy to alcohol.. and I would love to try the souffle....they ruin it with all that Grand Mariner.. Same with some of the dinner entree's.. would love to try if only I could get it sans booze..

[Gypsyfish]

Carnival has a dessert- warm molten chocolate cake- that I would kill for! And I'm not usually a dessert eater.

[Cruze Lover]

I absolutely agree that Celebrity is the best!! From their appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, and desserts they truely excel!! I am a foodie and perhaps 50-60% of the cruise experience to me is the fine dining and service.
We are sailing Celebrity this summer after my last 2 cruises being on RCL and NCL. I will now appreciate the food on Celebrity even more. Looking at the speciality dining menus on NCL, I was reminded of the regular dining rooms menus on Celebrity and I didn't have to pay extra!

From my experience: 1. Celebrity
2. HAL
3. RCL/NCL

NCL had a diffeent souffle for dessert every night that was to die for......entrees were nothing special.

But then, any cruise is better than no cruise!

[My2cents]

Carnival (3 ships) - mediocre
Royal Carribean - notch above Carnival
Norwegian - Excellent

[cactusflower]

We have been on RCL and Norwegian (Hawaii) cruises and found Norwegian to be the best of the two. Of course part of that was the delicious pineapple!!

[Hub]

Celebrity= fantabulous! They used to make everything some scratch- the salad dressings, the soups- they make their own stock for the base. I haven't heard different, so I would guess they still do.

BUT our first cruise was on Carnival and they had the very best croissants!

[debbyedoops]

Originally Posted by dottiel

We also have to say the food on the Spirit was fantastic! Granted this was our first cruise but we enjoy our meals and good food.

We never sent anything back or had anyone refuse to eat something that was served/chosen. We sailed with my elderly mom (78 at the time) and two children, ages then were 6 and 3. Everyone was happy EVERY time!

Hoping the Conquest holds the same pleasures and some suprises!!!

Hi there, I am sooo jealous, we are sailing on the Conquest Dec 14th 6-1/2 month away. I would love to hear fromyou after your cruise.
We are going for birthdays - my mom's 75th, my sis's 51st (1st time cruiser) and my 56th. Yes were oldies but we are still running and love to travel together. Hoping to hear all about your cruise
debbye in Houston, TX

[SPACECOWBOY]

We have done three cruises. Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Costa. I would rate Royal Caribbean and Norwegian about the same excellent. But Costa was fair at best. And the service was terrible. The waiters rushed you through your meals. You had barely started one course when they brought the next. We had to keep telling them to slow down. Won't cruise Costa again!!!

[Dannyboy]

I see that Celebrity for food has received better marks then there competition.
I must say, I have been on many cruises, I have had good food and not good. even a dish that is just OK is long as it is hot, that is the price you pay for preset dining. All the cooks in the kitchen and servers start the production line, it's all about speed.
The larger the ship and the lower the staff to passenger ratio, will result in the food temps. being affected.
Now, that Celebrity has the Solstice arriving in November, they have there hands full.
Back in the days of the Zenith and Mercury, the staff to passenger ratio was very favorible and the excutive chief's had 50% less passenger to serve.
Now about Princess.Princess has made a few changes in there venue, they do not have an Excutive Chief designing the menu fleet wide, each ship has there own Excutive Chief. I must say that there $25 charge in the Itialian Speciality Restaurant was not my personal favorite. The preset dishes served prior to the main course were a bit much.
The $25 Sterling Stake House severd choice cuts of beef, I was informed before making reservations that they served PRIME, better off eating in the anytime dining rooms, the quality of the meats was not the best, but the food was prepared when ordered and was always hot.
PS the coffee sucks but the buffet was better for the most part because they were open around the clock.

Carnaval was not bad, it's a hit or miss on all large ships.

Holland America Line, food was good, buffet was not so good,

[DianeTexas]

Originally Posted by VS

I'm so glad to hear that someone else has had a good experience on the Carnival cruiseships (the Spirit in particular). We absolutely looooooved sailing on the Spirit. Granted, it was our first cruise, and we have nothing else to compare it to. I also loved the pumpkin soup as well as the escargot. I don't think I ate anything there that I thought was bad. ...Oh, yeah, I thought the chicken caesar salad served at the Pizza area was a bit bland.

Our table of three would each order four different entrees and switch the plates around so we could have a taste of everything. We did the same thing with desserts and appetizers. My mother-in-law actually ordered a second plate of the jumbo shrimp appetizer so she wouldn't have to share. Each evening we finished our meal with a cappuchino doctored up with cocoa that our assistant server would concoct for us. The service was absolutely wonderful.

Carnival Valor has excellent food as well, RC service and food has really declined the past couple of years.

I thought that our next cruise should be on a different ship (so we could eventually compare all the different ships and decide which one was our favorite). But, maybe I should stick with a "good thing". The Carnival Spirit has a great price, lots of balconys, and really good food. (All the things I want in a cruise ship).

[rpjkw11]

After living in Houston for 28 years and in New Mexico for the last 10, I'm very, very picky about seafood. One of the many reasons I enjoy cruising is for GOOD seafood. On 3 14+ day cruises with Princess, I ate seafood (dining room) almost every night. On HAL, once or twice. Regent & RCCL were excellent, too, but not the luscious 'variety' of Princess.

So:

1: Regent
2: Princess
3: RCCL
4. HAL

In all other 'foodie' areas, same order. EXCEPT on HAL's Maasdam last year I enjoyed grits for the first time on a cruise. Still hoping I might one day find biscuits & gravy aboard a cruise ship.

Bob

[erikhag]

Cagney's Banana Foster Flambee on Norwegian Jewel is the best thing I ever have eaten!

[batman3896]

Since I have only cruised Carnival I cant compare, but must say the food on our cruise last year on the Triumph was fantastic. We went on a back to back cruise so same menu both weeks and I was still drooling. The Mahi Mahi dish was one of the best dished I have ever eaten. The Grand Marnier Souffle was also out of this world.

[hombre]

for me, hal reigns supreme. on my recent maasdan 14-day carib, the food in the dining room was over the top in presentation, service, taste, and just the whole experience. the final night's dinner, a chef rudi sodomin special, was just about the finest tasting meal i ever had -- and i've been on 30 cruises. i've cruised on nccl, ncl, and cunard -- they can'[t compare to hal -- especially ncl.-- lots of venues, poor food.
put poor food in any surrounding with any theme; it is still poor food.
that said, however, if your standard of fine food is the olive garden, cracker barrel, or longhorn steak house, you'll love ncl and nccl. and if you are in to chuckie cheese, disney is for you. go for it.

[peanutbrittle]

Princess in heads above all the others but I do love the sushi on Celebrity.

[peanutbrittle]

I forgot to add that I think RC has the worst food of any line I have ever sailed upon.