COMENTARIOS ARISTOCRATICOS: June 2024

ood disappointment

Recently came back from a 3 night Miami - Nassau - Perfect Day cruise on Freedom of the Seas and I must say it seems like the quality of the buffet food and variety has decreased from before the pandemic. Has anyone noticed this? Granted my first RCL cruise (Indy of the Seas) was back in 2015 but I remember the food being noticeably better.

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pyro_sporks

•

hace 2 a

It could just be my imagination, but it feels like there is less variety these days.

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Rhijtmom

•

hace 2 a

Especially with the windjammer desserts, same thing each day.

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Avatar de u/jbaugues

jbaugues

•

hace 2 a

I personally feel food and dining service is not as good on the bigger ships.

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Avatar de u/Hartastic

Hartastic

•

hace 2 a

I definitely feel like the bigger ships have more food options but lower quality execution on average.

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Avatar de u/jbaugues

jbaugues

•

hace 2 a

When you think about it seems to be expected. Amazing they can pump out so many meals all at once in main dining room. But the quality just seem as good as on smaller ships.

But could be perception too.

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admirable_axolotl

•

hace 2 a

Is Freedom really even that big of a ship? At least in comparison to the newer ones?

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whiterbytheday

•

hace 2 a

It's like one class smaller. So it's definitely not small.

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Vol4Life31

•

hace 2 a

It's in the 3rd biggest class and the 12th biggest in fleet out of the 27 ships.

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T-Rex_timeout

•

hace 2 a

We just got off radiance and we’re disappointed too.

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Drippycolon

•

hace 2 a

Currently on the radiance and I agree. It's very hit and miss. On two occasions at the buffet I had undercooked hamburgers (red and cool on the inside). I mentioned this to staff and they just shrugged their shoulders.

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Redddyou

•

hace 2 a

Buffet food has never been my favorite but post pandemic food in general has declined. For me the dinner buffet is probably the better time to visit and almost any ship I’ve been on Indian food is usually quite good for lunch or dinner.

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wagggggggggggy

•

hace 2 a

Same. I always eat where I see the crew go offshore too.

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Avatar de u/bookon

bookon

•

hace 2 a

•

Editado hace 2 a

I’m on the Anthem right now and the buffet quality is roughly that of a bad Golden Corral.

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whiterbytheday

•

hace 2 a

I agree with OP. Food quality isn't as good, which is a bummer. But Sorrento's is still amazing so there's that.

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Avatar de u/Hartastic

Hartastic

•

hace 2 a

At least on the 3 ships I've been on post-pandemic, Sorrento's is way better than it used to be. Did they actually work on the recipe during the closedown?

It used to be like, well, this isn't great pizza but it's fresh and I can get it at 1 am and that has a charm all its own, but it wasn't... very good? But now it's actually good.

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platydroid

•

hace 2 a

They did go through a recipe change, I think specifically the crust.

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LeglessPotato

•

hace 2 a

I was pleasantly surprised by Sorrento's on Oasis. The little side dishes of marinated olives, cheeses etc were really good. And they made us custom pizzas to take back to our rooms at 1am. The bomb diggity

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blueiriscat

•

hace 2 a

Had the best gluten free pizza on Oasis in Oct. I wasn't expecting much because gluten free pizza is generally not that great but it was incredibly good. Since you get a whole pizza my boyfriend, not gluten free, would end up eating half of it & he said it's really good & it was hard to tell it's gluten free.

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Avatar de u/LeoMarius

LeoMarius

•

hace 2 a

Diamond

I was disappointed in Sorrento's on Odyssey.

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Avatar de u/Diligent_Balance4570

Diligent_Balance4570

•

hace 2 a

Still? Lol

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knotty1999

•

hace 2 a

Every single thing I buy at the grocery store is crap these days. Huge difference in the last 2 years.

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Lopsided-Front5518

•

hace 2 a

Everything goes bad way quicker than the expiration dates, even if it’s sitting sealed up and unopened in the fridge. Lettuce wilts fast, bread molds quick.. ugh.

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Avatar de u/joeconn4

joeconn4

•

hace 2 a

The milk I'm getting lately, last 3-4 months, is smelling fresh 2 weeks past the best by date.

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Velvis

•

hace 2 a

Milk, 3-4 months? You might have that can't smell/taste covid symptom.

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Fearless_Ad4904

•

hace 2 a

Should read "the last 3 or 4 months, the milk I've been getting has been smelling OK 2 weeks past exp date"

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Avatar de u/joeconn4

joeconn4

•

hace 2 a

Yes indeed. Funny how leaving out a simple "the" makes it read a lot differently!!

For the record: the milk I have been getting the last 3-4 months is smelling/tasting fresh for about 2 weeks after the best by date. I've actually switched from buying half gallons to gallons. Started when I had a coupon for a gallon which brought the price down to less than a half gallon. I do the smell test every time before I pour it onto my Frosted Flakes. Was amazed that the gallon lasted as long as it did, so I bought another one afterwards. The pattern repeats...

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pdcolemanjr

•

hace 2 a

Naw that new fangled A2 milk as well as the Fairlife have some pretty long shelf lives

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Lopsided-Front5518

•

hace 2 a

I don’t drink milk but that’s good I guess? Haha.

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AndyInAtlanta

•

hace 2 a

Just my opinion, I've always enjoyed the food in the RCI buffet (most recent being Odyssey). I tend to gravitate to the Indian/Asian choices so maybe that's why I've enjoyed it more. The few times I've had, say, a burger, its definitely been just okay. That said, its a buffet burger, the bar for me is pretty low. Here's my take, I've been to the "famous" buffets in Las Vegas, and those I was much more disappointed in because of the cost and reputation. I don't really have a high bar for cruise buffet cruise on an RCI ship.

Again, just my personal opinion, but I'm sort of expecting "just okay" when it comes to a Royal Caribbean cruise; the bar gets raised when I go on Celebrity, and raised further when I go on a Viking ship.

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ETXCheeses

•

hace 2 a

Diamond

Agreed. Same experience on Allure in June. MDR was still pretty good, tho.

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stevensokulski

•

hace 2 a

So far I've been on RCI and Carnival since the restart. Royal came first, and I was surprised (not positively) by how small the buffet offerings were compared to what I remembered from other lines.

Being on Carnival more recently, I saw basically the same lack of variety. More stations that repeated what other stations offered than I seemed to recall. Though in general I found the buffet food on Carnival to be better than RCI, albeit none of it blew me away.

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KatelynC110100

•

hace 2 a

I went on the same one! Breakfast was actually good in my opinion and the others were ok. One thing I am disappointed with though, is the lack of coke options/ water options. I purchased the Coca Cola beverage package thinking I was going to get my favorite coke (vanilla coke) which I can’t find anywhere else but in the freestyle machines. Disappointed when I found out they only had regular coke :(. I also feel like they should have more water stations around the ship, just my opinion though. Other than that I had a great time on the ship!

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KrypticKeys

•

hace 2 a

Doesn’t every bar have a water tap in it?

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DumbbellDiva92

•

hace 2 a

I wish they had a self-serve dispenser so you don’t have to bother the bartender though.

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hollys_follies

•

hace 2 a

I agree. I went on Freedom in Oct. and I thought the food in the dining room, windjammer, and everywhere else was low quality.

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LeglessPotato

•

hace 2 a

On Oasis in May, I thought the buffet breakfast was okay. Some things were really good like the hash browns and the cheesy scrambled eggs. Pastries were awful, anything meat based was full of gristle and bone chips. But the MDR was the worst offender. We went on lobster night and everything was bad. Lukewarm chewy steaks, mushy flavorless lobster. Ordered a molten lava cake that came ice cold like they forgot to warm it up and when I told the head waiter, he insisted it was supposed to be served cold 😐

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McFU

•

hace 2 a

I think in general the quality across the board is hit or miss and I'm not so sure it is the cruise line's fault. Even normal grocery shopping is hit or miss with the quality of items I buy regularly. I really think they are doing the best they can with what they are able to get. Believe it or not, there are still supply chain issues and a lot of items are not as good as they were pre-pandemic.

I just think it comes with the reality that things are different now than before and you have to adjust your expectations accordingly.

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Avatar de u/chadlawton

chadlawton

•

hace 2 a

Of the course the buffet isn’t that great anymore, how else would they get you to pay for specialty dining if the buffet was actually good?

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mrcanoehead2

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hace 2 a

It's tough. Everyone wants the best deal on a cruise but still want top quality. With pandemic and inflo, something has to give.

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mikesw1193

•

hace 2 a

Johnny rockets dies a good complementary breakfast

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Sea-Spray-9882

•

hace 2 a

[eliminado]

trtviator

•

hace 2 a

Lmao. Buffet food has never been good. It looks fresh and good but the taste isn't there. Of course YMMV! For reference I find the main dining meals to be 8-9/10.

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oh-my-gerd69

•

hace 2 a

I’m going on the Mariner of the Seas, first time ever going on a Cruise (May 2023) I Just joined this community. I hope the food is good, since I love to eat.

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fearless_acorn

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hace 2 a

We were on Mariner in May and pleasantly surprised by the main dinning room. It was our first with Royal but on this sub I saw someone say having realistic expectations makes for a better experience, it’s not 5 star dinning but mid chain restaurant quality. That helped us know what to expect and we were only disappointed with one item (truthfully I interpreted the menu wrong), and they replaced it quickly with something else and I learned to just ask questions if I wasn’t sure on a dish. We made time to enjoy lunches in MDR when possible. It made for a nice experience and avoided the craze of the buffet at peak times. We had a great trip - wishing you the same!

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oh-my-gerd69

•

hace 2 a

Thank you. Honestly I don’t know what to expect, we have never been on a trip like this, EVER!

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[eliminado]

•

hace 2 a

Avatar de u/Rocktamus1

Rocktamus1

•

hace 2 a

I went on Wonder of the Seas and the food is arguably the worst part of the entire experience. If you want great food my guess is to do the specialty restaurants.

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Dizzy_Ice2938

•

hace 2 a

After reading this- I’m thinking about getting the ultimate dining package for my trip on Brilliance. How are you guys finding the food in the MDR?

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cybe2028

•

hace 2 a

Get the package if it’s reasonable, or just pay when you go.

The main dining room is fine for a night or two, but it gets old fast. Same with windjammer. Most specialty restaurants are $50-$75/person at dinner - but the food is excellent.

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Avatar de u/DumbbellDiva92

DumbbellDiva92

•

hace 2 a

I might be an outlier here but I thought the Windjammer food was better than the MDR food. You can get slightly “fancier” ingredients in the MDR, but they often aren’t really given the right care. Whereas Windjammer will have cheaper cuts of meat, but often better executed.

Example, the coq au vin I had from MDR was kind of dry and bland. The Windjammer chicken cacciatore meanwhile was pretty decent. My husband also preferred the carving station beef he got from the Windjammer to what was available without an up charge for beef/steak in MDR.

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DumbbellDiva92

•

hace 2 a

We did do the specialty restaurants as well FWIW, though we were on a smaller ship so not a ton of options. Chops and Giovanni’s pretty good but Izumi was awful. I am admittedly not a huge sushi person but even just the fried rice didn’t taste good?!

My favorite food on the whole cruise (we went for 14 days) was Caribbean night at the Windjammer. Indian night solid as well. So if you like either of those cuisines that would be a good night to save your money on specialty dining.

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cybe2028

•

hace 2 a

Just got off Freedom last week - the food in MDR and windjammer was shockingly bad. Not sure I will ever take a Royal again unless something changes for the better.

The $75 hibachi was delicious, though.

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WorldWideBeerGuy

•

hace 2 a

We were on this same sailing. I completely agree

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ArayR

•

hace 2 a

We just got off Ovation on a 11 night New Zealand. We found Windjammer to be fine for all the meals we experienced there. I had prime rib from the carving station one night and it was better than I expected. In general though it was what I expected in terms of buffet. Food that’s easy to prepare in mass quantities. I will say some of the curry dishes were better in Windjammer than MDR. In fact I felt like I enjoyed my food in windjammer more than MDR. But that’s because of what I ordered and my expectations. Not the fault of RCI.

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TheBlackHymn

•

hace 2 a

We came off Wonder a couple of weeks ago and found the windjammer to be of a decent quality, but really lacking in vegan options some days. Like they had toast and baked potatoes but only butter to put in them. Just the inclusion of some plant based spread would have been useful here. We often felt like the only option was Indian food or more Indian food. I like Indian food, but not twice a day for a week. Also absolutely nothing was labelled vegan except the cakes. Why make us ask at every station? The MDR had better options but the quality was all over the place, some courses were like real fine dining and others were absolutely vile. Weirdly in the MDR the kids meals were routinely twice the size of adult meals.

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Insomniakk72

•

hace 2 a

Yup, not just you. I just did like 9 days in Europe on Vision of the Seas, and it wasn't good to me.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw a sign the read "corn beef hash" and there was a pan with corn kernels and beef chunks in it LOL.

Little nuisances too - they'll put fried shrimp out, but no cocktail sauce. Found myself teaching my stepdaughter ls hot to mix ketchup, horseradish and Worcestershire sauce.

Spaghetti was okay. Hard to screw up.

Smoked salmon everywhere that was ok.

The rest was rough. Weird "smoothies", small dessert selection.

My time dining wasn't much better. That was also S-L-O-W.

Definitely declined.

Oh... Izumi was on point though.

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ngod87

•

hace 2 a

Got off the Voyager 3 weeks ago and having the same sentiment. First time cruising RCL and remembered thinking “Carnival was better”. Didn’t understand the hype of RCL dining that everyone was raving about. Never had I felt 7 nights of dining on a cruise ship was boring and monotonous.

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kmhwll

•

hace 2 a

I totally agree! I was on Mariner of the Seas earlier this month and we were disappointed in the Windjammers lack of options and quality as well.

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Sunday, June 30, 2024

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