Our team had the opportunity to try Royal Caribbean’s new Main Dining Room menus to see how the new menus compared to previous dining experiences onboard Royal Caribbean ships, and here’s what you should know!
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40 Comments
New menu looks like a cost cutter.
A little disappointed that they removed the vegan only menu, as a pescatarian it gave me a lot more options
I think I would love the rotating theme nights.
Having sailed with RC a few months ago the new menu's look appealing but there's no mention of the taste of the food. I was thoroughly disappointed in many MDR meals and the taste. Bland, bitter, overcooked and that was my starters on day one. Then Tatar tots with prime rib????? Many around us complained about the same things. So I hope that the new food menu's also improved on the quality and taste of these meals!!
Taking away six steady choices, that are always there for you every night, is NOT an upgrade, it's a downgrade. And everyone that says the new menus look great, is missing the big picture. They used to have a great menu but always had the six additional classic choices in case it was a off night for you (menu wise) with the choices they offered. Those choices are gone. More choices and selections are always better to have. So this is a big downgrade. And it's going to cause some, not all, people to start considering other cruise lines. Their entertainment is head and shoulders above other cruise lines. If it wasn't for that, they wouldn't be getting away with what they're doing in the MDR
So basically The MDR menu dropped higher price dishes like duck, seafood and rack of lamb for cheaper pasta, VG and GF dishes. After watching this video, we purchased the Unlimited Dining Package for our upcoming RC cruise. Now we can eat all the seafood, meat and lamb dishes we want. I am not knocking the new menu but to say it is better or the same would be a lie. I believe RC saying this new menu will shorten one dinning time is just a way to detract from the real reason which is to save the cruise line money.
The time it takes to eat in the MDR is probably the main reason I don't eat there. I wish there was the ability to eat in under an hour. The portions aren't big so I find myself being done with the food quickly and waiting for a long time. That's fine if I want to sit and relax but sometimes I just want an elevated experience over the buffet without being seated for over an hour.
I didn’t know about the special dietary needs email, that’s such great info! Thank you!
Will there still be themed nights on a 3 night cruise as well?
I always take this channel’s opinions as being dubious at best. Matt is a huge horn blowing Fanboy of RCCL and is never going to “bite the hand of those who feed him”.
My family and I took our first Royal Caribbean cruise and the food was underwhelming and not a lot of variety.
We just got home from a 7 night on Oasis. It was their first week working with the new menus and the staff was noticeably scrambling to adjust and food quality was much lower. Food that should have been hot came out cold, deserts with ice cream came out completely melted. Service still took roughly 2 hours.
The also cheapened the menu. Things like tuna, lamb chops, duck, braised short ribs, ect are all gone and salmon and prime rib only appeared once. So disappointing
My fav on the menu is the Tagliatelle…. I wish they would serve it on the shorter cruises. Don’t think kids are going to like these selections. But I will find out how I feel about it in September. The Mediterranean night looks like a good night to do your specialty dining. 😊
Are new menus available on all ships now or only on Symphony?
All Royal has done with this is dumb down the menu trying to force people to go to their over priced speciality restaurants! They are going to keep this up and run off their customers. It has nothing to do with speeding up the service!
Don't like the new menu. There was nothing wrong with the old one. Famous words, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
I am SO DISAPPOINTED in RCCL! I am Loyal to Royal but I would not eat most of this food. It looks small and cheap. SO DISAPPOINTED!
I’m not too uncomfortable with these changes. Over the years I’ve been cruising, I’ve found myself more and more interested in either specialty dining or buffet. Unless the MDR is doing something super special I don’t want to miss out on, I’m fine with eating at another venue. I completely understand why they’re charging for extra lobster tails, and do accept it – although I have to say, that’s the #1 menu change I’m unhappy with. Having unlimited lobster tails in the MDR was magical, and definitely a happy part of the whole cruise dining experience. I’m booked on Harmony for April, and am excited to try everything out myself. Judging by this video, the MDR still looks like it won’t disappoint.
We are on the Wonder and haven’t heard one person say the dining room was good. The buffet is a cheap food and we won’t go there again. Been eating Diamond lounge snacks as our dinner. Pretty sad.
I’m going on my cruise today. I will see if we have the new menu on this sailing.
I was on the last cruise before menu was changed and Main Dining room was nothing spectacular. Windjammer had better choices ❤
Give me them Windjammer
We just got off a 12 night cruise on the Enchantment. This was the first sailing with the new menus. I agree with those who have commented that it is a challenge to find an entre that sounds good. With this length of cruise, some of the menus were repeated. The worst was Mexican. On the second Mexican night, for the second seating, the MDR had to send wait staff to the Windjammer because so many people went there for dinner and the MDR was pretty empty. The pulled pork enchilada was pretty bad. In general, we felt that something was missing, including the options offered every night on the old menu. The kids menu is also shortened. We hoped that the lobster would be bigger since they charge for additional tails. Nope, same size. Our head waiter had over a page and a half of room numbers of those who did not like that item in just his section. On the positive side, we found the steaks to be tender and tasty, I liked the pork chop and the Caribbean chicken quite a lot. The deserts were better than those in the past, but I missed the fruit plate and cheese plate options. I did not notice any improvement in dining time, but for the past several cruises we have used My Time so our meal duration was already shorter.
Trying to sell this as a way to cut dining times that were never an issue for most people to begin with, rather than the real reason which is to cut COST, is just simply a lie. This is nothing more than a fare increase by way of lesser quality. I have never been on any cruise line other than Royal Caribbean but just booked my first Princess cruise. Got off of Vision Of the Seas last month. Royal lost it's mojo on that cruise for us and this will only make it worse.
I just got off the Harmony of the Seas and this new menu is bland, off temp, and not a very great dining experience. It’s just as long for dining. The calamari was so disappointing, all the red meat options are so tough to eat or chewy. It’s so disappointing =
The new menu options don’t seem appetizing to me. And for goodness sake, if they’re going to do a night by night cultural cuisine, they definitely should’ve kept those unchanging classics.
Btw, going on Odyssey OTS in 8 days. Not sure if the new menu has hit there yet but we’ll see.
Another possible is they cut their staff due to high fuel & food prices and needed to make menu changes for less staff.
We just got back from Adventure of the Seas and we’re disappointed in the lower quality of the food. The new menus are great but quality went down tremendously. Not just in the main dining room but at Windjammer as well. Another couple we travelled with were also disappointed in the quality. It’s really made us consider traveling with a different line.
I'm on the Wonder this week. I have to say that I'm NOT pleased with the new menu. On two nights, I had a hard time finding something that I wanted. I have no problem with the speed of service, now or on past cruises.
I wish they didn't get rid of the hard backing to the menus. Not a fan they just hand out a paper menu now. It feels a little less "upscale" now.
We just got off the Enchantment of the seas on Thursday. There is also no comment on your video about them dropping "My Time Dining". You are now welcome to only do My Time Dining as long as you don't go till after 7:30pm! Then Lobster night was such a disappointment. It said they were suppose to be Maine Lobster, and the thing that showed up was a little larger then a jumbo shrimp. I am assuming (I hope) they are just getting rid of the old stock. But don't change what the menu says till the food is changed. Also I am not a picky eater, but there were a couple nights (12 night cruise) that it was tough to chose an appetizer and Main. I agree with other peoples comments this is just a push to get people to go to the specialty restaurants. And that ship only has 1 very small specialty restaurant. The service was no faster then before. There was so much complaining on the ship between passengers in the lounges after dinner about the food changes. We have traveled with a few different lines over the years, and always found the food quality in the MDR was the similar from one cruise line to the other. However we were very disappointed this time and we had been on this ship since Covid return so we know they can do better. We are taking a step back and deciding of we are done with Royal C.
Do you have any information about the lunch menus in the MDR? (I'd actually love to see menus for all the dining options) I did watch your rankings of the included dining options and paused the video to see what things were in glass cases etc and on the menu boards. Thank you for providing such great information!
Maybe it is her ship as our sailing on Jan 9 on Freedom for a table of 6 each night took usually 2-2.5 hours as we were on the first sailing with the new menu. Food many times was ok and in the past was better (pork chop was very dry)
Is there a lobster night for 3-night cruises?
Our extended family got back off of wonder of the seas two weeks ago now, and we definitely had mixed reviews of the MDR. That MDR did feel faster. The SERVICE WAS FANTASTIC! Quality was about the same. I noticed many times when our group was less than pleased with the food but generally, it was pretty good. My personal biggest complaint was actually from Mexican night. Enchiladas are not made, generally, with FLOUR tortillas. There was a noted lack of salsa and spice. Most everything was bland and pretty colorless, which is the opposite of what Mexican food usually is. I have never seen tofu tacos although I do get it’s a vegetarian option. I agree the warm chocolate chip cookie was a huge hit and probably the best dessert at the cruise.
Exited to go on my first cruise this summer on Allure of the Seas. New York still included as a selection. Was bummed to see our sample menu did not have the lobster tail listed instead under Premium Selection a whole lobster is $30, also under it is Filet Mignon from Chops $17 and Surf & Turf for $35.
They need to fire who ever is responsible for the menu changes.
How do I find the schedule for my 9 day cruise?
Just of Allure with the new menus. We thought the speed was fast, no for us as we told our waiter to slow down on the first night; but, we saw many other tables turned in the course of our meal. For us Mexican and Mediterranaean nights were poor…really missed the Classic. Do not know where Elizabeth's lobster came from, but ours were no where near a pound. We eat main lobster at home and our tails were about the size of a tail from a 1# lobster, so way less than a pound. For us 75 minutes is the minimum for a leisurely meal. Also, miss the option of a cheese plate for dessert.
Taking my first cruise in 20 years this June. I will miss the showmanship when dessert is served. I remember the flaming baked Alaska and flaming cherries jubilee.