Just back from Mariner Cruise

[cruiserjohn]

Hi all. I'm new here & this is my first post. My Wife & I have cruised 4 times previously on Sovereign, & Explorer, & this time we decided to take the kids with us on Mariner. After reading all of the comments here regarding the change in food quality on RCCL, we were curious to compare the food on Mariner to the other ships that we have been on. First off, let me say that Mariner is a great ship with great entertainment & good service. We had the best vacation that we have ever had. However, unfortunatly the food is not as good as it once was...& the Windjammer Cafe food was horrible...scrambled eggs, at least thats what I think they were, sausage, bad, bad, bad...we ate there once & never again. Dining room food was either very good, or very bad. Of our 7 dinners, nights 3 & 4 were blah...the other nights weere pretty good.
We are thinking about cruising on Carnival next time to see what the differences are between the 2 cruise lines.

John

 

[Schooner]

This is just my opinion and I'm sure you will get tons more but if you want better food your going the wrong direction with Carnival. You want to be thinking Princess, Celebrity or Holland America.

 

[lizardstew]

Just as Schooner said, you'll get differing opinions.....I think Carnival has great food!!! Although I've never had any complaints about RCCL's food either. :grin.

I haven't yet sailed on Pincess, or Celebrity, but I have sailed on HAL and wasn't overly impressed. I'm not too hard to please....if I don't have to cook it or clean up after, I'm tremendously happy.

 

[Deb Mumaw]

lizardstew, I agree with you on HAL's food. That was our least favorite. Very bland. It was the first cruise we actually had a hard time finding something we wanted to try. Would love to try Celebrity. Haven't done Carnival but have friends who said the food on Carnival beat the daylights out of HAL. Will be interesting to see how they compare RCCL. Sorry, you didn't enjoy your meals, John. We have never had a bad meal on Mariner but know it can happen. We are going to try one of the alternatives this time also. Hope it gets better before we sail in April.

 

[oceanblue]

Cruiserjohn, glad you enjoyed Mariner.....we have sailed both RCCL and Carnival. I think we prefer RCCL overall, but as far as food goes, Carnival in our experience, cannot be faulted - it was superb. In our experience, the food was generally better than RCCL, especially in the dining room.

 

[sailingrose]

I agree with your thoughts on the Mariners food. I'm not much of a buffet person so at lunch I ate mostly salads and had sandwiches made and breakfast was omelets fresh made. Sorry to hear nothing has changed since we were aboard. She's a lovely ship but the food could use improvement.

I've sailed Carnival, HAL, Princess and Celebrity as well as RCI. If your kids enjoyed RCI's kids program I'd skip Celebrity unless it is a summer sailing.

 

[Coppertone Girl]

I heard the same thing about HAL food being tasteless! I expected to hear otherwise... Royal has the prettiest ships, Carnival has the best food... I think, and my husband is a chef, so I know food!

 

[backheidi]

I too had heard bad things about RC food but our group (of which many have been on Carnival as well) all thought the food on RC was much better (especially the desserts). And the buffets on RC were much better. But honestly, neither was near the "excellent" category, just good to very good.

 

[Deb Mumaw]

We have never done a Carnival cruise but our friends said they loved the food on their 2 cruises with them. They are cruising the Mariner with us in April will see how they think the 2 compare. I have no bias either way but we are cruising RCCL until Diamond for the perks! HAL just didn't work for us and we didn't find the service to be any better than RCCL either and we had 4 suites booked!

 

[suretocruise]

We have sailed Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, so far I think princess edged out Celebrity just alittle. Carnival was fine but not great. But if I don't have to cook and clean it seems like good food to me. We will be going on RCCL MOS 4-3-05 and am curious about that food as well. Although I am not going on a cruise for gormet food, it is nice to have nice tasty well presented meals. I think the cruise lines do about the best they can considering the amount of food that goes through their kitchens on a daily basis. I have a suspicion the workers get somewhat bored and annoyed after awhile with their jobs and get a little lacks. Considering they are there 24/7. I bet they just don't care after awhile. Not that it's ok for them to be that way. I just wonder . Because you hear good about all of the ships and bad about all the ships . I think sometimes it's hit or miss no matter what ship you are on. Maybe the smaller more exclusive ships are different. Cyrstal, Seaborn, etc. Never been on those . Has anybody else wondered about this?

 

[rcibaby]

I just got back from the Carnival Glory, after 6 cruises on RCI/Celebrity. I will never cruise Carnival again. The food was awful IMO. No flavor. The best food you had TO PAY FOR EXTRA in the Emerald Club and at the coffee shop (desserts). The desserts were terrible in the dining room except for the flourless chocolate cake. Plus, I got FOOD POISONING the last day and was hooked up to an IV in the infirmary half the night due to dehydration. Nothing stopped my vomiting, it was that bad. They tried 3 different drugs. They were going to send me to the ER in Port Canaverval, but I lied and said I was better.

I could go on and on with comparisons, and I will write a review soon, but DON'T try Carnival, try Princess or Celebrity. I went on this cruise with a very open mind and was wanting so bad to be totally impressed, but it didn't happen. I was on the Mariner last year and would take that ship any day. Yes RCI isn't perfect, but I haven't had nearly as many awful experiences on those 6 cruises as I did this one Carnival cruise. I am just happy to be alive after that cruise....

Nicole

 

[mlzangel78]

I have sailed both princess and carnival, and now have an upcoming cruise on rccl for the first time,,, food was great on both lines,,, i have sailed carnival twice,, this time the food was ok but not great,,, and on neither of my cruises was the food OUTSTANDING,,, its 3000 dinners a night ,, how good could it be,,, but hey i dont have to cook it so it all tastes like filet mignon to me

 

[Mbandy]

I have never had a bad meal on a ship. Beats the heck out of my "bachelor cuzine" :lol Guess I am just easy to please. The food on Celebrity is definately a notch up on all the others though. :chef

Happy Cruising =sailor

 

[tricemom]

We just got back from a cruise on Adventurer of the Seas and the Widjammer breakfasts were great (great schmeer for bagles ands made to order omelets). Our only other cruise was on the Navigator last year and the food was great