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Originally Posted by that_pope
Are you Linda Johnson? Seriously, I enjoy cruises and have been on 3 and loved each, but the food is not what I would call top of the line quality. The all day buffets are poor quality and the dining rooms are just assembly line created that loose the luster after a day or 2. You really seem like a cruise line shill from that post.
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Originally Posted by that_pope
Carnival twice and Princess.
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Originally Posted by DalTXColtsFan
This is second-hand information but I heard from several different people aboard that the food on Royal Caribbean is the best of every cruise line they'd ever been on, and Carnival was one that people specifically singled out as not having particularly awesome food.
I've been going on cruises for over 30 years and have sailed on every mass market cruise line multiple times (CCL, RCL, HAL, NCL, Celebrity, Costa, etc.) as well as some of the luxury and specialty lines, (Seabourn, Windstar, etc.) so I think I can speak to this issue with a little bit of experience.
The first thing you all need to do is to quit thinking that because you sailed on one ship, for one week, on one cruise line, that gives you any indication at all for what the quality, preparation, and taste of the food is on that line or cruising in general. It not only varies by line, it varies by ship and by chef. As an example, I was on RCL's Mariner of the Seas for a 30-day trip around South America and the food was just meh; a few months later I was on RCL's Voyager of the Seas for a 14-day transatlantic crossing and the food was delicious (but nowhere near four-star). I've had similar experiences on different CCL ships in the same year as well.
In general, the more expensive the cruise line, the better the food (big surprise). Dining on lines such as Seabourn and Crystal really is akin to going to a four-star restaurant with a well-known chef. But then again, the kitchen is cooking for only 2-400 people, not 2-4000 (or more). It's possible to get a similar experience on a mass market line such as RCL or HAL, but you'll pay extra for it. These lines have now added alternative dining venues where you make reservations and pay extra for your meals. The service is more personal and the meals are prepared individually rather than assemply-line style. Oh, and they are not AYCE like the main dining room is. You are limited to one entree.
I should make one other distinction. There are levels within the mass market cruise lines. There are "entry-level" cruise lines (CCL, NCL, RCL) and also mid-tier lines that serve as a bridge between the entry-level and the true luxury lines. For RCL, that mid-tier line is Celebrity; for CCL, it is HAL (although it has begun losing that distinction). In general, Celebrity offers a better dining experience than RCL and HAL is better than Carnival.