Very helpful...with a lot of types of places compared...often we are all looking for different things at different times...great friesh fruit in Buffet or room service can really be special when cooking for one or two at hime and you just have very fresh and numerouse choices all the time..that can be as pleasant as 3.5 ofer 5 star extra price restaurants and want simple steaks vs a more complicated dish..lived all the areas and Disney is nice to know about and that that top one, Remy is really something. I had a home stay study in Franch for a spring semester and we had a caterer especially for the Baptism and Confirmation times in family's children's loves...a big thing in 1980..do not know now and..she was simply a chef...a fresh food chef...in Franch even a school cafeteria can have amazing lunches but we had to stop eating lunch...just have snacks at 4 ish and light bread and coffee in am and save it for the dinners,,,I know that I would never eat that freshly and dinely afain on the daily....She showed her "kids" true amazing home cooked by an expert with things that stay perfect over a few hrs..or stopping and cooking them of mny kany courses..her Easter dinner had 3 meat mains...an all these inbetween and side dishes and just,,,we were grateful.
This video was so helpful, I’m thinking of booking my first cruise and am mainly going as someone who likes to try a bunch of food. I think I’ll be going with Disney on this one! Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words! If you need any assistance planning or booking the cruise, reach out and we'll be happy to assist. We're a full service travel agency in addition to creating all of these helpful tips here on TH-cam. :) You can book a time to chat at your convenience via our online calendar. Thanks again for the kind words and have an amazing day! www.whereswaltertravel.com/contactus
I love the VV model. Ships where the MDR is an "also ran" to encourage you to pay more for "specialty dining" is not the way it should be. I don't have a problem with one fancy dining room, or even maybe 2....but one MDR and 8 "specialty venues" is just wrong. Most buffets are not really very good. Celebrity was a nice exception. Princess used to have much better food than we experienced on our last cruise. We even had a seriously raw dessert in the Crown Grill. No, we didn't send it back, we just left it uneaten (note, that was the first time there was an issue in this restaurant on several different Princess ships). Virgin is so much better than the others on a nightly basis! I agree with your top 3 lines, after that, I'd need a reason for choosing a line or a cruise other than food. I also agree with your number 1 choice and number 2 ties. However, given the cost of Remy, it needs to be great. $125 surcharge, not including alcohol....yeah. that better be the best ever!
Thanks so much for watching and the comment. Yeah, Remy will set you back for sure, but it's one of those things where I don't mind spending that kind of money for rare occasions so long as the food is going to be good. That is one of those rare places where the dinner lives up to the food. And VV definitely surprised us not only with the food, but everything else about it. If you have not already seen them, we have a full food tour of the ship and a full review along with a tour of our Cheeky Corner Suite. Have an amazing day!
Hi Walter great video! Wow I am a little surprised by the ranking with royal Caribbean. I’ve only been on one sailing so far, it was a four day and the food was decent. I was on royal princess a few years ago loved the Buffet but did not like the steakhouse and the MDR. I am not surprised by carnival being at the bottom, but yes Rudy’s…now that is a big surprise!
Thanks for watching! Food is completely subjective which is the main reason I said "don't let my rankings influence your next cruise booking." :) And the food experience you receive on the same cruise line can vary so much just based on who the culinary crew is when each of us sail. Yes, Rudi's Seagrill just absolutely impressed the heck out of us. Was not expecting a dining experience like that at all from Carnival if I'm being honest. But the Mardi Gras was a lovely ship to sail and Shaq's Big Chicken sandwiches were AWESOME! I really want to sail the new Celebration next year to check out that new Terminal area. Thanks again for watching, have an awesome day!
I have been on a lot of cruises and this guys list is pretty spot on, with one exception. Cunards QM2 has the best food by miles. Also, no kids running around. I've been on the QM2 5 times. The main and buffet are heads and tails above the rest. I found the buffet is better than most other lines main restaurants. And now that I have been on there 5 times, my internet if free. The main restaurant, which is called the Queens Grill is included with your cost. The worst part about the QM2, is that is very class oriented. If you have a basic package, you can only dine at certain restaurants. The more you pay, the better your restaurant. Next is Princess grill, Britannia club, Britannia restaurant. The Kings Court is open all the time and a great place to grab a burger or fish and chips at 2 in the morning if you like. Suprisingly, the Kings Court has exceptional food and is included in your fair. I found the Veranda is the best food on the ship. There is an up charge though but anyone can book a reservation there. The QM2 is truly a real ocean liner. But like I said, it is very class oriented. I have sailed on all but the best bang for the buck is the Queens grill. But for a little more money the Princess grill is the best. But for comparison, the Queens grill has had lobster, steak, suculant prime rib. Many of the crew have told me the Queens and Princess comes out of the same kitchen.
Thank you so much for your detailed reply! I'm planning a NYC to Europe TA on Cunard for either 2024 or 2025 as part of my River Cruise expedition. The plan is to go both ways across the pond on a ship so we only have to fly domestically. :) I will definitely be testing out the food throughout the ship and thanks so much for your recommendations.
I just came back from Holland America Koningsdam Mexico cruise. The buffet was like a good cafeteria food and the main dining room was just ok. You are spot on about HAL but I don’t know why other people rave about food quality on HAL. The food quality was poor.
It's been a while since we sailed HAL, we need to get back on their ships. At the time we sailed, the Buffet was much better than the MDR. But their specialty dining was quite good. Thanks so much for watching and your kind words!
Very useful video! We've been on a few Virgin Voyages and have been blown away by the food quality and variety, but looking for something different for later this year, and feel whatever we pick will be disappointing in comparison
Thanks so much for the kind words. If we can assist in any way with your upcoming cruise, feel free to reach out. We've sailed 9 cruise lines so far and food is a big part of each. I would probably lean in to Celebrity or Princess if you're looking for a potentially similar food experience. Or if you want to step up to Oceania, they have some amazing culinary on their ships. Thanks for watching!
How funny, we find Holland America superior to Princess on food. We've sailed both multiple times. We find food changes based on where you sail and the kitchen staff. I can tell you if you want truly exceptional food then Oceania does it best. This is our new cruise line.
We can't wait to sail Oceania! Holland America is our guest on Cruise Chat Live tonight at 8:30p ET and Oceania will be joining us Sept 14 at 8:30p Live. :)
have you done Hal? we did one hal on Koningsdam. I think we're doing another soon. I thought was similar to Celebrity (we only did one celebrity, on their oldest ship, but still pretty nice, kept up well). (never mind, looks like you've done hal. We've only done their pinnacle class, not actually that interested in doing their older ships).
Yes we sailed the Nieuw Amsterdam and she was a lovely ship. The main dining room was ok for me, but that's where my wife got good vegetarian meals. That's where we first learned that trick of ordering vegetarian dishes in the MDR to have something that might be more fresh and more flavorful. Tamarind was a fantastic restaurant onboard, we did two nights there. We have not tried a pinnacle class yet, but the signature class ships are quite lovely. Thanks again for watching!
I knew you'd pick Remy first, and for what it costs it should be first! We dined at Palo for dinner, it was 20 bucks pp at the time, it was excellent (but not the grand, drawn out experience of Remy). Not sure if Remy existed quite yet (2013).
Thanks for watching! Remy is only on the Disney Fantasy and Dream. We did Palo for lunch and it was a good meal. But Remy was other worldly. We've eaten at Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian in WDW as well and Remy completely blew that experience out of the water. It's one of those rare places where the high cost matched the meal. But then you look at our three way tie for second and all of those restaurants were included in the fare. If you're a foodie fan, you really should take a look at what Virgin Voyages is offering these days. Thanks again for watching!
Thanks for this review, the food on cruise ships has been my biggest disappointment, it’s like you can give a fancy name to a dish but that doesn’t make it taste good, right? I feel that the formal type service in the MDR on most ships is incongruous to the mediocre food quality. But based on your review I would like to try Virgin although, up till now, I really hadn’t been interested in that line. Thanks again!
We are loyal Disney Cruise patrons. We even got married on a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean. I didt have to worry about a thing. From flowers to food to planning the movement of 30+ family members - Disney did it all for me. They have always outdone themselves. We go off season so there aren't as many children and the adult offerings are always perfect. We always include a Remy/Paolo visit at least for a dinner and an "Afternoon tea". Two things that made our Wedding Cruise so special for us wasnt even food related - It was rainy on my wedding day and overcast. I had made one mention to our photographer that I wasnt going to have the puffy clouds and blue skies for my wedding pictures and low and behold, he did "Disney Magic" and my wedding photos returned with the skies photoshopped with blue skies. You would never know that it wasnt a beautiful sunny day. The other thing they went above on was my father had Alzheimer's. When we checked in, we made note to them that he had it. They took a special ID picture for him and it became useful. He wandered off when my mother went into the bathroom in their cabin and instantly a crew member saw my panicked mother looking for him in the halls. He called a code and my fathers picture was posted at every crew station and he was found in minutes.
I was wondering if the food on Virgin woold really be worth the booking... we were actually planning on Celebrity because of the food But might have to reconsider now
You know both of those cruise lines have really good food. We LOVE Celebrity. If you have not watched it yet, I have a full food review from Scarlet Lady you might enjoy. th-cam.com/video/pBolzKvXjMU/w-d-xo.html
![[DRIP] ‘Woke Up In Tokyo (RUKA & ASA)’ PREVIEW](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QN44lcR_VkI/mqdefault.jpg)
What is YOUR list for the 5 best meals you've had at sea? :)
Very helpful...with a lot of types of places compared...often we are all looking for different things at different times...great friesh fruit in Buffet or room service can really be special when cooking for one or two at hime and you just have very fresh and numerouse choices all the time..that can be as pleasant as 3.5 ofer 5 star extra price restaurants and want simple steaks vs a more complicated dish..lived all the areas and Disney is nice to know about and that that top one, Remy is really something. I had a home stay study in Franch for a spring semester and we had a caterer especially for the Baptism and Confirmation times in family's children's loves...a big thing in 1980..do not know now and..she was simply a chef...a fresh food chef...in Franch even a school cafeteria can have amazing lunches but we had to stop eating lunch...just have snacks at 4 ish and light bread and coffee in am and save it for the dinners,,,I know that I would never eat that freshly and dinely afain on the daily....She showed her "kids" true amazing home cooked by an expert with things that stay perfect over a few hrs..or stopping and cooking them of mny kany courses..her Easter dinner had 3 meat mains...an all these inbetween and side dishes and just,,,we were grateful.
This video was so helpful, I’m thinking of booking my first cruise and am mainly going as someone who likes to try a bunch of food. I think I’ll be going with Disney on this one! Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words! If you need any assistance planning or booking the cruise, reach out and we'll be happy to assist. We're a full service travel agency in addition to creating all of these helpful tips here on TH-cam. :) You can book a time to chat at your convenience via our online calendar. Thanks again for the kind words and have an amazing day! www.whereswaltertravel.com/contactus
I love the VV model. Ships where the MDR is an "also ran" to encourage you to pay more for "specialty dining" is not the way it should be. I don't have a problem with one fancy dining room, or even maybe 2....but one MDR and 8 "specialty venues" is just wrong. Most buffets are not really very good. Celebrity was a nice exception. Princess used to have much better food than we experienced on our last cruise. We even had a seriously raw dessert in the Crown Grill. No, we didn't send it back, we just left it uneaten (note, that was the first time there was an issue in this restaurant on several different Princess ships). Virgin is so much better than the others on a nightly basis! I agree with your top 3 lines, after that, I'd need a reason for choosing a line or a cruise other than food. I also agree with your number 1 choice and number 2 ties. However, given the cost of Remy, it needs to be great. $125 surcharge, not including alcohol....yeah. that better be the best ever!
Thanks so much for watching and the comment. Yeah, Remy will set you back for sure, but it's one of those things where I don't mind spending that kind of money for rare occasions so long as the food is going to be good. That is one of those rare places where the dinner lives up to the food. And VV definitely surprised us not only with the food, but everything else about it. If you have not already seen them, we have a full food tour of the ship and a full review along with a tour of our Cheeky Corner Suite. Have an amazing day!
Hi Walter great video! Wow I am a little surprised by the ranking with royal Caribbean. I’ve only been on one sailing so far, it was a four day and the food was decent. I was on royal princess a few years ago loved the Buffet but did not like the steakhouse and the MDR. I am not surprised by carnival being at the bottom, but yes Rudy’s…now that is a big surprise!
Thanks for watching! Food is completely subjective which is the main reason I said "don't let my rankings influence your next cruise booking." :) And the food experience you receive on the same cruise line can vary so much just based on who the culinary crew is when each of us sail. Yes, Rudi's Seagrill just absolutely impressed the heck out of us. Was not expecting a dining experience like that at all from Carnival if I'm being honest. But the Mardi Gras was a lovely ship to sail and Shaq's Big Chicken sandwiches were AWESOME! I really want to sail the new Celebration next year to check out that new Terminal area. Thanks again for watching, have an awesome day!
Love this! Very helpful and informative!
Thank you so much!
I have been on a lot of cruises and this guys list is pretty spot on, with one exception. Cunards QM2 has the best food by miles. Also, no kids running around. I've been on the QM2 5 times. The main and buffet are heads and tails above the rest. I found the buffet is better than most other lines main restaurants. And now that I have been on there 5 times, my internet if free. The main restaurant, which is called the Queens Grill is included with your cost.
The worst part about the QM2, is that is very class oriented. If you have a basic package, you can only dine at certain restaurants. The more you pay, the better your restaurant. Next is Princess grill, Britannia club, Britannia restaurant. The Kings Court is open all the time and a great place to grab a burger or fish and chips at 2 in the morning if you like. Suprisingly, the Kings Court has exceptional food and is included in your fair. I found the Veranda is the best food on the ship. There is an up charge though but anyone can book a reservation there.
The QM2 is truly a real ocean liner. But like I said, it is very class oriented. I have sailed on all but the best bang for the buck is the Queens grill. But for a little more money the Princess grill is the best. But for comparison, the Queens grill has had lobster, steak, suculant prime rib. Many of the crew have told me the Queens and Princess comes out of the same kitchen.
Thank you so much for your detailed reply! I'm planning a NYC to Europe TA on Cunard for either 2024 or 2025 as part of my River Cruise expedition. The plan is to go both ways across the pond on a ship so we only have to fly domestically. :) I will definitely be testing out the food throughout the ship and thanks so much for your recommendations.
@@WheresWalterTravel No problem. Enjoy.
I just came back from Holland America Koningsdam Mexico cruise. The buffet was like a good cafeteria food and the main dining room was just ok. You are spot on about HAL but I don’t know why other people rave about food quality on HAL. The food quality was poor.
It's been a while since we sailed HAL, we need to get back on their ships. At the time we sailed, the Buffet was much better than the MDR. But their specialty dining was quite good. Thanks so much for watching and your kind words!
Very useful video! We've been on a few Virgin Voyages and have been blown away by the food quality and variety, but looking for something different for later this year, and feel whatever we pick will be disappointing in comparison
Thanks so much for the kind words. If we can assist in any way with your upcoming cruise, feel free to reach out. We've sailed 9 cruise lines so far and food is a big part of each. I would probably lean in to Celebrity or Princess if you're looking for a potentially similar food experience. Or if you want to step up to Oceania, they have some amazing culinary on their ships. Thanks for watching!
How funny, we find Holland America superior to Princess on food. We've sailed both multiple times. We find food changes based on where you sail and the kitchen staff. I can tell you if you want truly exceptional food then Oceania does it best. This is our new cruise line.
We can't wait to sail Oceania! Holland America is our guest on Cruise Chat Live tonight at 8:30p ET and Oceania will be joining us Sept 14 at 8:30p Live. :)
you know the guy knows what he is talking about when he told you to TOUR the buffet first before you get your food. Sounds logical but 10/10 advice 👍
If you don't tour the buffet first, you're gonna miss something! :)
@Where's Walter Travel hahaha. I used to stuff myself with food then realize there something else i want to stuff myself with
have you done Hal? we did one hal on Koningsdam. I think we're doing another soon. I thought was similar to Celebrity (we only did one celebrity, on their oldest ship, but still pretty nice, kept up well). (never mind, looks like you've done hal. We've only done their pinnacle class, not actually that interested in doing their older ships).
Yes we sailed the Nieuw Amsterdam and she was a lovely ship. The main dining room was ok for me, but that's where my wife got good vegetarian meals. That's where we first learned that trick of ordering vegetarian dishes in the MDR to have something that might be more fresh and more flavorful. Tamarind was a fantastic restaurant onboard, we did two nights there. We have not tried a pinnacle class yet, but the signature class ships are quite lovely. Thanks again for watching!
Are there any cruise lines that use or have artificial creamer, cheap butter or margarine, etc? I won't even consider them. Also - No farmed fish.
I knew you'd pick Remy first, and for what it costs it should be first! We dined at Palo for dinner, it was 20 bucks pp at the time, it was excellent (but not the grand, drawn out experience of Remy). Not sure if Remy existed quite yet (2013).
Thanks for watching! Remy is only on the Disney Fantasy and Dream. We did Palo for lunch and it was a good meal. But Remy was other worldly. We've eaten at Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian in WDW as well and Remy completely blew that experience out of the water. It's one of those rare places where the high cost matched the meal. But then you look at our three way tie for second and all of those restaurants were included in the fare. If you're a foodie fan, you really should take a look at what Virgin Voyages is offering these days. Thanks again for watching!
Thanks for this review, the food on cruise ships has been my biggest disappointment, it’s like you can give a fancy name to a dish but that doesn’t make it taste good, right? I feel that the formal type service in the MDR on most ships is incongruous to the mediocre food quality. But based on your review I would like to try Virgin although, up till now, I really hadn’t been interested in that line. Thanks again!
Thank YOU for watching and I hope you do give VV a shot, great cruise line! If we can assist in any way, please let us know! :)
We are loyal Disney Cruise patrons. We even got married on a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean. I didt have to worry about a thing. From flowers to food to planning the movement of 30+ family members - Disney did it all for me. They have always outdone themselves. We go off season so there aren't as many children and the adult offerings are always perfect. We always include a Remy/Paolo visit at least for a dinner and an "Afternoon tea". Two things that made our Wedding Cruise so special for us wasnt even food related - It was rainy on my wedding day and overcast. I had made one mention to our photographer that I wasnt going to have the puffy clouds and blue skies for my wedding pictures and low and behold, he did "Disney Magic" and my wedding photos returned with the skies photoshopped with blue skies. You would never know that it wasnt a beautiful sunny day. The other thing they went above on was my father had Alzheimer's. When we checked in, we made note to them that he had it. They took a special ID picture for him and it became useful. He wandered off when my mother went into the bathroom in their cabin and instantly a crew member saw my panicked mother looking for him in the halls. He called a code and my fathers picture was posted at every crew station and he was found in minutes.
I was wondering if the food on Virgin woold really be worth the booking... we were actually planning on Celebrity because of the food But might have to reconsider now
You know both of those cruise lines have really good food. We LOVE Celebrity. If you have not watched it yet, I have a full food review from Scarlet Lady you might enjoy. th-cam.com/video/pBolzKvXjMU/w-d-xo.html
Please let me know the sea food at 9:40 in your video is from which cruise ship? Thanks
If you're talking about that big pile of shrimp in the buffet, that's the Disney Fantasy. They have one of the best buffets at sea.
After is saw what Disney supports I could never support them again.
Disney is an AMAZING company. Our dear friend is an Animator there and they are an incredible company to work for. Plus we love Disney Cruise Line.
Surprised you encourage people to waste food.
Over ordering and wasted food drives up the cost of Cruising for us all.
It's a question that comes up all the time when I talk about cruising. I'm giving the honest answer to that question.