mscarls

We are thinking about taking a cruise on Spendour of the Seas, but the one thing making us hesitate is the mixed and negative reviews about the food on Royal Caribbean. Some passengers, in their reviews on the various cruise web sites say the food has improved, but even more say it is going downhill. Several of the "professional" critics at these sites say the food is pretty good or good, but in some of the books, the critics' comments are negative.
The only cruise we have taken was on Celebrity's Summit, where the food was very good.
How would you describe the variety and quality of the food on Royal Caribbean and Splendour of the Seas in particular?

travelinwifey

In my experience with RCI, Princess, and NCL I've found the food to be best to worst in that order. I've read several bad food reviews on the 3 RCI ships I've done and found them to be incorrect in each case. You must remember some people live to complain. I am very easy to please and found the food to be above average on each of our cruises.

On another note, I think that people like to see gigantic portions of food on their plates. RCI's servings are normal portions (the way it should be) but a lot of folks like to have so much food that it spills over their plates. If you really want to gorge yourself you can ask for seconds....

But set your fears aside, the food is very good.

josephz

One night we had steak with vegetables and red potatoes. I asked for the steak "medium rare" and it came well-done. The waiter said, "well, we are cooking hundreds of steaks at a time so we can't control that."

We were served one red potato each. I asked for more, and the maitre d' came over and asked if this was "the table that asked for more potatoes." So I said yes, and she said, "We cannot accomodate you. There wouldn't be enough for the second seating."

In contrast: I have heard of cruises where you could even get a second steak if you asked for it.

travelinwifey

Interresting, when I ordered a steak on our cruise "medium well" it was one of the few times I've ever received a steak the way I wanted it, they mostly come back med. to med. rare.

I've read numerous times on the cruisecritic.com website where people have asked for and received a second portion of any part of their meal.

jacketwatch

The food on RC was fair. It was well prepared but we did not have "prime cuts" on most nights. Carnival blew them out of the water in terms of quality of food. However I have never heard of food being denied due to insufficient stock on any cruise. JM2C.

katorric

Just returned from a European sailing on the Splendor of the Seas. The ship itself is outstanding. It must have just been refurbished. It has a great enclosed pool area that is like a roman spa and the lounges etc are beautiful.
The food was so so. Frankly, RCL is below Carnival and definitely Princess in this category. Dinner was great but breakfast and lunch only passible. Best cruise food I ever had was on the Dawn Princess.

TopMan

Anyone who accepts a comment from a waiter about "serving hundreds of meals" etc., and does not send the food back is foolish.

I'm not sure what you are going to do about this "dilemma" since everyone's tastes tend to be diferent. You may end up having to jump in and find out for yourself...relying on some of the reviews is dicey given some of the ridiculous "complaints" one reads.

Theresa

Of the cruise lines I have sailed (Celebrity, RCCL, Carnival and Princess) -- RCCL had the worst food.

I was surprised that Carnival's food was better then RCCL's.

P_M

I was on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas in May and we thought the food was great. I am not a picky eater, but my husband is. On that ship he never once complained about the food. Most unusual for him....

ParrotMom

We have been been NCL fans and when we went on the RCI BOS I was sadly disappointed at their food...never mind their indifferent service.. and I've been on "lesser" lines...Everyship is different.. it depends on the Chef...but our one experience on RCI was quite a disappointment.. Maybe I'll try a Celebrity or Oceania next time.

travelinwifey

check out the current thread on cruisecritic.com's RCI message boards entitled RCI vs Celebrity

hewlpac

We just returned from the Splendour trip. There was plenty of choices in their Windjammer. The salads, desserts, fruits were good, the leading meat entree was invariably tough, fatty and small, except for the turkey on the last day. Baked potatoes were cold. There were plenty of other choices that made the entire experience fine and served our needs fine. The main dining area food was OK but the service was overbearing and obviously only clamoring for tips though maybe some see this as good.

Budman

We've always had great food and great service on Royal Caribbean. Celebrity is a step better in my opinion.

In fact, I don't think I've ever been on a cruise where I've wanted to order turkey or a baked potato -- there are so many other creative dishes.

drummer0002

I heard that they just had a budget increase for food.
I keep hearing of comparisons between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, that is comparing apples to oranges. Eveb though they are owned by the sanme company, they are supposed to cater to different clientele, Celebrity is a premium line and Royal Caribbean is a contemporary line. It would make sense to compare RCCL to Carnival but not to Celebrity.

Budman

That certainly hasn't been my experience. I would never compare Carnival with RCCL, as Carnival is in a class all of its own.

JudithE

My husband and I are not hard to please. RCCL has disappointing food. Bland and tastes like it has been on a warming tray for hours. We took an 11 day Hawaii on the Legend of the Seas. The food quality was so poor that I lost 3 lbs! Too bad, their ships are beautiful, but we will never cruise with them again.

Hold

I would have to agree with several others, that even Carnival had better food than RCCL. On RCCL it felt as though food was being rationed out, and I'm not a big eater. Food is a nice part of the cruise experience and (just my opinion) but RCCL needs to either spend more on their food service operations, or put different people in charge of it.

jammy_j

Here's my two cents- recently travelled (April '04) on Splendour of the Seas, first experience with Royal Caribbean. Have taken several cruises on Princess, as well as NCL in the last 3-4 years.

I would rate Splendour's food as slightly better than Princess in the main dining rooms, and about equal to NCL. Princess has the best buffets and breakfasts, including the most variety of the three lines. I like NCL's poolside lunch barbeques, however. So in short, each line has their strengths and weaknesses. Enjoy your cruise!

Theresa

Our food on Princess has been far superior than our food on RCCL.

esd

The food on the Rhapsody of the Seas was excellent. The Grandeur a few months later was very disappointing. Carnivals food has always been good.. no complaints. NCL was 'when it was good, it was very, very good and when it was bad it was horrid'. Enough good though not to stop us from cruising with them again.

That's been our experience to date. We will be on the Galaxy (our first Celebrity cruise) in November and it will be interesting to see how they compare after all I've read about them.