Alaska cruise- horrible time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upcharge restaurants are mostly found on mass market lines, providing an option for people who don't mind paying for a different dining experience aboard, while keeping costs down for passengers who are not as selective in their tastes or whose budgets are a limiting factor. On 6-star lines like Regent, there are no upcharge restaurants. Any passenger can eat in any dining venue, although the specialty restaurants have limited capacities so it's usually not possible to eat there more than a few times per cruise. The main dining room, however, is able to accommodate everyone who wants to eat there, and many passengers prefer it to the specialty options. The cuisine is usually uniformly excellent to outstanding in all the restaurants (read the comments on cruisecritic.com); the specialty restaurants exist to provide regional or style foci for passengers who want something a little different from time to time.

The presence of upcharge restaurants is a clue that the food in the main dining venue is going to be a little (or a lot) more pedestrian. That's not to say it will be bad, just probably unremarkable. The upcharge restaurants are there to provide a comparatively elevated experience but foodies are better off on more luxury-oriented lines, if budget allows.

This. We went on Celebrity line, which is a notch up from RC and is affiliated with them, they still had upcharge restaurants and one was apparently Michelin star rated. We went to the upcharge restaurant once and used the cafeteria the rest of the time. I found the food adequate and not terrible TBH due to many choices in the buffet and combinations of flavors you could create yourself. Many people would just drink alcohol and sweet beverages all day as they bought drink packages, this is another way to not focus on cafeteria style food shortcomings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: food on cruise ships -

I’ve cruised multiple lines and the food is largely the same.

The upcharge restaurants aren’t markedly different—except for the sushi.

Pro tip: generally speaking, don’t order chicken or pasta. Go for the specials—particularly the vegetarian or Indian (or other ethnic) option. Why? The chefs are typically from countries where the more ethnic meals are from, and they tend to have better seasoning.

Seafood is hit or miss. I’ve had some very good seafood on cruises.

But yes, chicken and pasta are bland. Steak is hard to screw up.

Better cruise lines have interesting ethnic options in their buffet. Celebrity offers an Asian breakfast (among other options) as an example.

Tell me your palate is so unsophisticated that you have no business commenting on this thread without telling me ...

So which cruise lines have you eaten in the MDR and the upcharge restaurants?

And which ones were markedly different?

BTDT

Icymi: cruise ships prepare food for the masses. It’s all basically the same. Some lines have better menu options, but none of it is amazing—but most is decent.

FTR, I’m from an upper crust background and I have friends who are chefs. I know good food…and you just don’t find it on a ship. But you can find decent options. Like I said: the vegetarian and Indian options are usually good along with some fish dishes. Why? The chefs are from countries where that’s their jam.

ITA. I have friends who are chefs too and one of them recommended Celebrity as having adequate food quality in the cafeteria (plus a choice of some upcharge restaurants). I found international food (especially Indian and Halal) to be the best tasting. The crew was from all over the world, it's why they had chefs who could cook these foods well. If you go with traditional American foods and Italian foods like pizza/pasta, grilled stuff, etc, it's all very meh, Italian food simply disgusting, Mexican food tolerable. Cold cuts were good and you could make this work. You also get sauces you can mix and match to make your food more flavorful on the plate. If you are more of a traditional food person and given that this food is rather meh you can always drink your way to make it taste better by purchasing an unlimited alcohol package. Desserts were amazing there and fresh and quality similar to a nice bakery.

[Anonymous]

I find that people who hate cruises tend to have unrealistic expectations or don't know what they're getting into. I have had some truly excellent meals on a cruise ship and also some lackluster ones. But that is also the case at the restaurants I have been to on non-cruise vacations (and around DC). Alaska was one of our most favorite cruises.

[Anonymous]

There’s a lot of Applebee’s quality food on cruises but also some much better stuff. Some of it is just knowing what to order (avoid stuff like barbecue and Alfredo (because they are pitching that for the Applebees fans). Some of it is luck — you have to kind of try stuff and if it’s gross just leave it and try something else. Soups are often good, filet mignon. Shrimp cocktail. Sometimes salads in the dining hall or things like club sandwiches. Dining hall almost always better than buffet. Always check cruisecritic to see i was the buzz is on specialty restaurants, some of which are not upcharge — eg I went on a NCL that had a small Cuban place that had delicious beans and rice and desserts, or a carnival with a small fried fish place that had great fish and chips, but both were sort of tucked away hidden on the ship.

Anyway. I think the lesson of this thread is that it’s always worth putting some time into researching before you put down money so you have realistic expectations and can make informed decisions about whether you want to spend more money for a different experience. And once you are there you might as well make the best of it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Just want to share- I got talked into an Alaskan cruise recently with my SIL, her husband & DH. DH & I have always been extremely wary of cruises and had never been on one before. SIL assured me we got "top of the line". I wasn't paying attention and let her plan and trusted her judgment since she often picks top restaurants and stays only at 5 star hotels. It was awful. Food was disgusting & everything was processed, entertainment was corny and bogus, rooms were ok I guess. It was an argument the whole time cause all I wanted to do was leave. It was a Royal Caribbean and she had paid for upgrades. I don't know how high end you have to go for these things but I can guarantee you I will never do a cruise to Alaska ever again.

Cool story, bro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Just want to share- I got talked into an Alaskan cruise recently with my SIL, her husband & DH. DH & I have always been extremely wary of cruises and had never been on one before. SIL assured me we got "top of the line". I wasn't paying attention and let her plan and trusted her judgment since she often picks top restaurants and stays only at 5 star hotels. It was awful. Food was disgusting & everything was processed, entertainment was corny and bogus, rooms were ok I guess. It was an argument the whole time cause all I wanted to do was leave. It was a Royal Caribbean and she had paid for upgrades. I don't know how high end you have to go for these things but I can guarantee you I will never do a cruise to Alaska ever again.

Who told her royal was “top of the line”? It’s actually the bottom.

Royal Caribbean m is one of the lowest tier lines- it’s like the best western/homewood suites of cruises. I think you went in with too high of expectations. Maybe you should have booked a lower tier room on a high quality ship to get better food etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the royal carribean cruise to Alaska in 2017 (so admittedly a while ago). I’m a huge food snob and found the food okay. I was really only in the ship two days because the port days in Alaska are so long that I was mostly off the ship. They had really good vegetarian curry in the buffet. I don’t really remember the dinners but there is a trick to ordering at places that are making large scale dinners — generally some things they do well and some things they don’t. Oddly, cruise lines almost always make a good filet mignon — they seem to have that cooking down to a science. The beauty of a cruise line is that if you mid order it’s not a big deal to just order something else or skip it. The dinners are usually 3-4 courses so if half of it is good, I’m fine with that. But I definitely would not take an Alaska cruise for the food—that’s not the draw. iME, a lot of vacations with gorgeous nature don’t have the best in food.

Sorry you didn’t have a good time. I’m sure your SIL is saying “never again!” as well.

I agree with this. I’m kind of snobby about food and went on a RC cruise for a family wedding. I ended up just ordering more basic things like the chicken dishes, steak, baked salmon, pasta and everything was great. Anything fancy like duck, more complicated fish dishes, beef wellington, lamb, shellfish, etc, avoid! They are going to use lower quality than you’re used to at nicer restaurants and it will not be on par.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Just want to share- I got talked into an Alaskan cruise recently with my SIL, her husband & DH. DH & I have always been extremely wary of cruises and had never been on one before. SIL assured me we got "top of the line". I wasn't paying attention and let her plan and trusted her judgment since she often picks top restaurants and stays only at 5 star hotels. It was awful. Food was disgusting & everything was processed, entertainment was corny and bogus, rooms were ok I guess. It was an argument the whole time cause all I wanted to do was leave. It was a Royal Caribbean and she had paid for upgrades. I don't know how high end you have to go for these things but I can guarantee you I will never do a cruise to Alaska ever again.

Who told her royal was “top of the line”? It’s actually the bottom.

Yeah, I’m a cruise hater but even I know that RC and Princess are lower end.

[Anonymous]

The cruise demographic is boomer land so the food likely caters to their tastes. Bland, over cooked, nothing exotic like spices etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with OP.

+1

[Anonymous]

I’ve been on two Alaska cruises on NCL with family and had a great time. Was very happy to eat Indian food from the buffet every day. The wildlife viewing on land and sea were phenomenal and unforgettable.

[Anonymous]

Oh great, I’m leaving for a RC cruise in a few days. It’s going to be a multi-generational trip and I’m going in with low expectations. Wish me luck!

OP: sounds like you would be happier on a Ritz-Carlton cruise. Me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh great, I’m leaving for a RC cruise in a few days. It’s going to be a multi-generational trip and I’m going in with low expectations. Wish me luck!

OP: sounds like you would be happier on a Ritz-Carlton cruise. Me too.

I think you’ll have fun. It is definitely worth spending a few hours on cruise critic forums reading the posts about your specific ships — people will say what/where to eat and what to avoid. At this point you’ve probably booked your excursions but cruise critic forums are a fabulous resource to find the best tours that are not through the ship. This really is an area where a small amount of advance research pays major dividends.

[Anonymous]

A theme which often runs through cruise-related threads is the assumption that cruises are all alike, when nothing could be further from the truth. Different lines, ships, and itineraries cater to different kinds of passengers and offer very different experiences even if all involve ships of varying sizes and features.

While some people posting clearly understand this, others obviously assume whichever cruise(s) they have been on in the past are representative of all cruises everywhere, which is nonsense.

Do your research to make sure your preferences and expectations will be met, which they can be if you pick the right cruise. Characterizing all cruises with broad sweeping generalizations is just ignorant. Not everyone will like that type of vacation at any price point, which is fine, but it's really quite foolish to assert that "all" cruises have mediocre food, poor entertainment, loud and boistrous guests who mostly want to drink booze, etc, assertions which pop up here with regularity and which reflect limited experience with specific cruises which were clearly poorly matched to those writers' tastes.

[Anonymous]

NP here. If we have only cruised Disney and been happy, what other cruise lines should we consider? The Disney itineraries can be somewhat limited with ports and dates.