Best Food on Luxury Cruise Lines
Nov 13th, 2015, 04:48 AM
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Best Food on Luxury Cruise Lines
My husband and I would like to plan a future luxury cruise but are overwhelmed by the choices! Being a chef, my husband's top priority is the best food, but there are SO many different opinions! We are interested in cruising to Alaska & would love to hear from anyone who has cruised on several different lines (such as Crystal & Regent Seven Seas) & can give an objective assessment of the food! I have contacted the individual cruise lines, but their opinions are, of course, subjective. Since this is a major investment, we don't want to make a mistake. Help , please!!!
Nov 13th, 2015, 07:12 AM
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We've sailed on several different upscale cruise lines including, but not limited to, Regent Seven Seas, Seaborne, Crystal and Oceania. Overall, we found the food on all of them to be fairly good but often inconsistent. Some meals on a particular cruise could be quite good and other meals on the same cruise were just OK. It didn't seem to matter whether we dined in the main dining room, one of the specially restaurants or the more casual sites - some of the meals were memorable others were forgettable.
The point I'm trying to make is over the course of a 7, 10, 14 or more day cruise you have lots of meals prepared by many different chefs, sous-chefs and/or line cooks - there's no way you'll have an excellent meal every time.
One other thing to consider, the ship's staff "rotates" and just because someone says the food on their last RSS cruise aboard "Mariner"was excellent doesn't mean if you sail on that same ship the "chefs" will be the same. In fact we recently sailed on two different RSS ships but had the same Executive Chef on both cruises. That meant someone else was the Executive Chef on the "other boat".
In short, no one cruise line has "the best" food - they just have "good food". If you choose an upscale cruise line you should have some very good meals and a few that you'll talk about in less than flattering words.
The point I'm trying to make is over the course of a 7, 10, 14 or more day cruise you have lots of meals prepared by many different chefs, sous-chefs and/or line cooks - there's no way you'll have an excellent meal every time.
One other thing to consider, the ship's staff "rotates" and just because someone says the food on their last RSS cruise aboard "Mariner"was excellent doesn't mean if you sail on that same ship the "chefs" will be the same. In fact we recently sailed on two different RSS ships but had the same Executive Chef on both cruises. That meant someone else was the Executive Chef on the "other boat".
In short, no one cruise line has "the best" food - they just have "good food". If you choose an upscale cruise line you should have some very good meals and a few that you'll talk about in less than flattering words.
Nov 13th, 2015, 08:24 AM
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I have the opposite issue in a way, as we are vegan and just want a cruise who can deal reasonably with that. However, there are websites that deal specifically with cruises (don't think I'd be allowed to name them) and there is a vast amount of information and reviews relating to lines, food, cabins and so on. I'm sure you could get more detailed advice there.
Nov 13th, 2015, 03:08 PM
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RoamsAround, thank you for your realistic comments! Since you are familiar with many of the luxury lines, I would love to ask if you were only able to take 1 cruise line in the future, which one would you choose?
Nov 13th, 2015, 04:12 PM
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I don't think I'd ever want to limit myself to just one cruise line. That said we like RSS very much but have not been disappointed with any of the cruise lines we've sailed on (we've only done upscale cruises - no Carnival, Princess, etc. for us).
Nov 14th, 2015, 03:08 AM
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RoamsAround, would you mind comparing RSS & Crystal for me? We have pretty much narrowed it down to those two & knowing their differences would certainly help us to make a final decision. I only know what the travel agents have told me or what I've read online from their websites. Thanks!
Nov 14th, 2015, 03:56 AM
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Go to to cruisecritic.com and read the hundreds of comparisons and reviews for both of those cruise lines. Everything that can possibly be said about RSS and Crystal has already been written there.
Other than telling you Crystal has larger ships I'm not sure anything I write will be helpful. The choice comes down to whether you want to be on a ship with 350 to 550 fellow passengers or one with around 1,000 to 1,.250 of your closest friends.
Other than telling you Crystal has larger ships I'm not sure anything I write will be helpful. The choice comes down to whether you want to be on a ship with 350 to 550 fellow passengers or one with around 1,000 to 1,.250 of your closest friends.
Nov 24th, 2015, 05:59 PM
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Crystal rarely has 1,000 people onboard because there are many singles who sail. I'm not an authority since I have not sailed on Regent, but because we have loved so many Crystal cruises, my husband is reluctant to change. The food is incredible and pretty much "on demand." You can request almost anything if you give them 24 hours notice. The service is always friendly and efficient. The ship never feels crowded and the lecturers/entertainers are fabulous. Have a wonderful trip!
