Cruise Vacations and Cuisine

Posted by cruisevacationsexpert on July 23, 2009 under general cruise vacation information | Be the First to Comment

Cruise vacations are an enjoyable way to get away from the “riff-raff” and the stresses of land vacations.  An important part of any vacation is the food.  I know when I’m on a vacation, some of the highlights are the restaurants that I dined at and got to experience.  Fine cuisine is a way to create memories with friends and loved ones.  On the other hand, if the food is horrible or you have a bad experience with dining on your vacation, it could tease a sour taste in your mouth (literally).  This post is a guide to what you can expect when dining on a cruise ship.

Like I’ve said before, you get what you pay for in life.  This is the motto of cruising.  The more you pay the better experience you’ll have.  The more you pay the better food you’ll eat.  How good is the food on a cruise ship?  This question can only be answered with one statement, it depends.  With many cruise ships chartering the waters, there are so many varieties of service that you cannot generalize the adequacy of cuisine just by being on one cruise ship.  One cruise line could have frozen, re-heat, microwavable foods, while another cruise line could have champagne and caviar for every meal.
Expect more, pay more.  These days, high-quality foods cost more and high quality ingredients cost money.  The expenses of higher quality ingredients are trickled down to the vacationer.  If you’re on a low budget cruise, don’t expect to eat steak and lobster for every meal.  The thing you have to understand is that cruise lines are serving up hundreds to thousands of meals at one sitting, it’s nearly impossible to create such fine dining for that many people.

The term “banquet hall” comes into mind when dining on a cruise ship.  Think of eating at a Golden Corral or at a large wedding and this is the experience you might have while cruising.  Often times, the food is tasteless, yet palatable.  Aboard low-budget boats, you will eat portioned, pre-frozen meals.  The term “fresh fish” can be laughed at because nothing is really “fresh” on a cruise ship (how could it be?).  Many times, vegetables are treated with agents to make them last longer.

Typical Dining Schedule

Here is what you can expect your eating schedule to be when vacationing on a cruise:

Early risers can expect to have coffee and tea and breakfast is generally served after 6 am.  Typically, breakfast boasts around 60-70 different types of items to choose from.  If you do not want to deal with the crowds, you can always serve yourself in a buffet style setting at an indoor or outdoor cafe.  You will be able to get the usual breakfast fare but it the selection won’t be as high as the main banquet hall breakfast.  Lunch locations are in the main dining hall, banquet style buffet at an indoor or outdoor cafe or fast food style food courts that serve hamburgers, pizza and hotdogs.  If you’re still hungry after lunch, you can always try the “high-tea” or “afternoon tea” during the latter hours of the afternoon.  Afternoon tea consists of finger sandwiches and an assortment of cookies and small cakes.  When dinner time comes around you will be able to experience a formal style banquet hall.  Usually people will dress up for dinner with casual nights being on the first and last night’s of the cruise.  IF you’re STILL hungry after all of the other meals, you can always feast on late night snacks within the public areas.  Late night snacks are served buffet style and have typical fast food fare.

Seating Arrangements

Many people are not used to the seating arrangements of curie ship dining.  If you are not a social person, eating in the main banquet hall is going to be difficult for you.  If you’re on a cruise ship, expect to meet people, this is a plain and simple fact.  Most ships have directed seating and you will sit wherever a seat is available.  This means you might have to sit next to strangers.  You can get out of this by having large enough group of friends or family members to occupy an entire table.   Think of it like a big barbeque where you don’t know anyone.  You grab your food and find a seat at one of the picnic table where other people are congregating.

Sometimes you will talk to people; sometimes people will talk to you.  The main factor is that you’re going to be amongst a lot of people and you’re going to have interact in one way or another with ship mates.  Tables for two are very rare and most tables seat around four to six people.  Some good advice is to seat at a larger table if you are a couple.   The reason for asking for a larger table is that if you do not get along with the people at a 4 person table, it could ruin your dining experience.  Having a larger seating arrangement means that you won’t have to be “face to face” with another couple. There are different seating arrangements depending on how large the cruise ship is.  Typically a smaller cruise ship will have one to two seating’s and larger cruise ships will have up to four seating’s.  You are allowed to pick your seating time on most large cruise ships.

Do you like buffetts? Personally, I would stay away from buffeets but many people do not mind this type of eating style.  Make sure to be careful for the angry old ladies (they really want first pickings!)  Make sure to be patient as everyone else is waiting just like you to get their food.  It’s usually good to get to the front of the line so you do not have to see the reminants of what used to be an apple cobbler.  The food looks pretty worse for the wear after a few hundred people go through a buffett line.

For me, I like to go on cruises not for the food, but for the water sports and for a unique experience. Cruise vacations are a great way to get away from your typical vacation and do something that is out of the norm.