Liberty of the Seas...How's the food?

[Dr. M]

Just booked our very first RCCL/non-Disney cruise! We are leaving out of Galveston port in May 2016, for a 7 day Caribbean cruise! I was a little nervous deviating from our typical Disney vacations, but my kids are now much older, and they assure me that they are excited about the fun thrills Liberty of the Seas offers, like surfing, ice skating, rock climbing, and new water slides. Also, we took advantage of the current 30% discount--we were able to book 3 staterooms with balconies, for our family of 6 to spread out. And it cost us LESS than the price of 2 balcony staterooms on Disney's Fantasy!!!

So now I'm starting to read reviews of Liberty, and the one thing that keeps coming up is the sub-par food in the main dining and buffet...is it really that bad? How does it compare to DCL? Do tell

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Just booked our very first RCCL/non-Disney cruise! We are leaving out of Galveston port in May 2016, for a 7 day Caribbean cruise! I was a little nervous deviating from our typical Disney vacations, but my kids are now much older, and they assure me that they are excited about the fun thrills Liberty of the Seas offers, like surfing, ice skating, rock climbing, and new water slides. Also, we took advantage of the current 30% discount--we were able to book 3 staterooms with balconies, for our family of 6 to spread out. And it cost us LESS than the price of 2 balcony staterooms on Disney's Fantasy!!!

So now I'm starting to read reviews of Liberty, and the one thing that keeps coming up is the sub-par food in the main dining and buffet...is it really that bad? How does it compare to DCL? Do tell

We find the food on both lines to be comparable - mediocre at best on both lines. The only reason we prefer RCL over Disney on food is RCL has a wider range of venues, and they stay open longer than Disney. You can also book a specialty restaurant more than once

 

[LSUfan4444]

I think the food is pretty comparable. Each cruise I hope and hope the MDR is better and each cruise I end up leaving disappointed (I admittedly do it to myself).

We did a week on the Fantasy in June and have a week on the Liberty for February. The main strategic difference I am doing between the two trips is we are only doing 3 or 4 nights in the MDR in February. On both ships we think the food in the MDR is better than the buffet food, but eating something out by the pool is so much easier and gives us so many more options for the night. It isn't that the food in Cabanas or Windjammer is bad, because it's more a compliment to them than a knock on the MDRs, but we just don't think it's worth giving up 3+ hours each night for food that is only marginally better than the respective buffets.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Just booked our very first RCCL/non-Disney cruise! We are leaving out of Galveston port in May 2016, for a 7 day Caribbean cruise! I was a little nervous deviating from our typical Disney vacations, but my kids are now much older, and they assure me that they are excited about the fun thrills Liberty of the Seas offers, like surfing, ice skating, rock climbing, and new water slides. Also, we took advantage of the current 30% discount--we were able to book 3 staterooms with balconies, for our family of 6 to spread out. And it cost us LESS than the price of 2 balcony staterooms on Disney's Fantasy!!!

So now I'm starting to read reviews of Liberty, and the one thing that keeps coming up is the sub-par food in the main dining and buffet...is it really that bad? How does it compare to DCL? Do tell

Please do a review when you return! We too are trying Liberty (1st timers on Royal), in October and are really excited to try something new and saving some money.

 

[CesD]

Please do a review when you return! We too are trying Liberty (1st timers on Royal), in October and are really excited to try something new and saving some money.

Hey, we are on the same boat. ( Pun intended)... We are looking into Liberty because it is 30-40% cheaper than Disney in 2016. Please do update us on the food quality.
If it is Souplantation / Chili's quality, I can take it!

 

[jhoannam]

We are looking at the May 22nd sailing. I'm excited to see what it will look afire the dry dock

 

[srferson]

We were on the Liberty in June. Only non-DCL cruise so far.

As far as the MDR, DH (not a big guy) was constantly disappointed in the portions. Whenever we left a DCL MDR we were full and happy. On RCCL that didn't happen. He left still hungry. (Seeing his portions, I believe it.)

I am vegan. So things are always a little different for me. The food I got wasn't bad, though nothing stands out in my memory as particularly impressive. But it always took them quite a while to get me something I could eat. (One night was over an hour before I got anything.) This is even after throwing away the idea of anytime dining (which we did the first day or two) and making a standing reservation so they knew when I was coming. Of course, if you don't have a special diet, that's not going to matter to you much.

Anyway, we were both happier with food on DCL than RCCL. That is just our experience in the little time we have spent cruising (three total so far) and with some special diet issues.

 

[Dug720]

We were on the Liberty in June. Only non-DCL cruise so far.

As far as the MDR, DH (not a big guy) was constantly disappointed in the portions. Whenever we left a DCL MDR we were full and happy. On RCCL that didn't happen. He left still hungry. (Seeing his portions, I believe it.)

I am vegan. So things are always a little different for me. The food I got wasn't bad, though nothing stands out in my memory as particularly impressive. But it always took them quite a while to get me something I could eat. (One night was over an hour before I got anything.) This is even after throwing away the idea of anytime dining (which we did the first day or two) and making a standing reservation so they knew when I was coming. Of course, if you don't have a special diet, that's not going to matter to you much.

Anyway, we were both happier with food on DCL than RCCL. That is just our experience in the little time we have spent cruising (three total so far) and with some special diet issues.

It seems like special diet needs might be better dealt with in the traditional seating (probably not what you wanted to hear). We had some vegans in our group on my Royal cruise to Alaska, and we had early traditional and they always had amazing food served pretty much right alongside the rest of us (the one time theirs was a bit delayed other than the first night when the standard questions were dealt with was on our "optional" dining room night and they fully admitted it was their fault for not deciding until the last minute to dine in the MDR) - in fact, they enjoyed it so much that after the second night, they didn't even put in any requests and just had the chefs surprise them,

 

[srferson]

It seems like special diet needs might be better dealt with in the traditional seating (probably not what you wanted to hear). We had some vegans in our group on my Royal cruise to Alaska, and we had early traditional and they always had amazing food served pretty much right alongside the rest of us (the one time theirs was a bit delayed other than the first night when the standard questions were dealt with was on our "optional" dining room night and they fully admitted it was their fault for not deciding until the last minute to dine in the MDR) - in fact, they enjoyed it so much that after the second night, they didn't even put in any requests and just had the chefs surprise them,

Oh yeah, if we ever try RCCL again, that was already my plan. Because I imagine you're right.

We were hoping it would be helpful once we made a standing reservation. I mean, we were in the same section each night and once we said 'Ok. We will always be here at 8:00,' I think the service should have been a little better than what we ended up with.

I wouldn't ward someone off of RCCL because of the food, but we were definitely less impressed than we were with DCL. That said, it's been a couple years since our last DCL cruise, so we'll see if they're still "up to snuff" in January. (Yay!)

 

[cruisingtwins]

I thought liberty's food was way better than DCL. Also RCCL has a dinner buffet and lots of different locations to eat.

 

[Mrsjvb]

as some one who has sailed both Disney and Royal.. Disney LOSES the food war in major way outside of Palo. as in I went hungry in the MDR every night on Disney. the only time I left a restaurant full and content was Palo for brunch and dinner. (I still miss my grape pizza which i understand isn't even on the menu any more)

while I am never a fan of buffets in general, WJ is usually perfectly acceptable for breakfast. have never done it for dinner and lunch is hit or miss.
Lib has Sorrentos, supposedly better than decent pizza, and the Promenade Cafe which offers light bites and snacks. By your trip she will also have Sabor the Mexican joint.( I hate Mexican but everyone else swears its the best place ever)

the MDR menu rotates and of the 7 only one I never find anything to eat on( that day is reserved for Giovannis or Chops)

i am on Lib 6 December and I normally write my review on cruse critic but if I remember I will come back here and comment as well.

 

[RedHatDisney]

Had grape pizza in Palo during Wonder's last Alaska cruise in August.

 

[kellietony]

We were on the Liberty in June. Only non-DCL cruise so far.

As far as the MDR, DH (not a big guy) was constantly disappointed in the portions. Whenever we left a DCL MDR we were full and happy. On RCCL that didn't happen. He left still hungry. (Seeing his portions, I believe it.)

I am vegan. So things are always a little different for me. The food I got wasn't bad, though nothing stands out in my memory as particularly impressive. But it always took them quite a while to get me something I could eat. (One night was over an hour before I got anything.) This is even after throwing away the idea of anytime dining (which we did the first day or two) and making a standing reservation so they knew when I was coming. Of course, if you don't have a special diet, that's not going to matter to you much.

Anyway, we were both happier with food on DCL than RCCL. That is just our experience in the little time we have spent cruising (three total so far) and with some special diet issues.

Couldn't he have just asked for another portion?

 

[srferson]

Couldn't he have just asked for another portion?

I assume he could have. I think he did once.

I think he was generally not impressed enough with the food to feel it was worth the extra time in the dining room. We'd usually been sitting there long enough at that point that he would rather get up and go then wait for another plate to come out.

These are just our experiences on the one RCCL cruise we've ever been on. As I mentioned, I wouldn't tell someone to avoid RCCL based on our experience. Just telling you how we felt it compared to DCL.

 

[karmacats]

Just for background, we've been on Liberty 4 times over the past few years (most recent being Aug 2015), and Disney 3 times over the past 3 years (Magic last month, Dream in Oct 2013 and 2014).

On our last Liberty cruise, we thought the food in the MDR had slipped some. I'm very picky about meat quality, and it was kind of...meh...compared to our previous Liberty cruises. That said, we still think it's better than the Disney MDRs, which have always had pretty poor meat quality and, i think, not as much selection.

Palo is my favorite specialty restaurant, and I think cabanas offers a better quality lunch buffet than the windjammer on liberty, but in the MDR, liberty wins every time. The windjammer is good for breakfast and totally fine for lunch; i just think cabanas is a smidge better. Same with the specialty restaurants - chops and portofino (and giovanni's table, which is supposed to replace portofino if it hasn't already) are all good, but palo is a little more of an "experience."

fwiw, we found portion sizes to be pretty much the same between all the ships. just our observation. however, i often left the disney dinners hungry because i didn't finish my protein because the meat quality was so bad.

liberty also has a cafe with sandwiches and snacks which is open all night and a pizza place which is open until about 2 a.m., so if dinner is not to your liking there's a chance to grab something else. the little chicken curry sandwiches at the cafe promenade are delicious.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

For people who only eat in the main dining rooms, IMO the biggest difference is the chefs on RCL cruises understand the concept of presentation, seasoning, and taste. The quality of the components on the plate is about the same (and neither would qualify as fine dining), but we always found the dishes on Disney to be rather blandly presented and lacking in any depth of flavor. On the evenings that Cabana's is open, we prefer to eat there. It is unfortunate that Disney forces its passengers to either eat in the MDR on the first and last night, or book at Palo or Remi's. On RCL cruises, you can book a different specialty restaurant every night if you choose, the windjammer is open every night, and with the possible exception of lobster night, you can get everything that's on the menu in the MDR in the windjammer - plus a lot more options that aren't ever available in the MDR. Breakfast and lunch in RCL's MDR are better than anything Disney does for either meal, but we prefer Disney's buffet breakfast over the windjammer, and windjammer's buffet lunch over Disney's.

Either way, we never lose weight on a cruise

 

[Jerseymomof2]

We just went on our first Royal cruise and the food in the main dining room was good. The dining room was always dirty and we had the first seating. But the food was good. Also if there was nothing on the menu in the MDR we wanted to eat we went to the buffet and there food was great. A wonderful variety and always a place to sit. The service in the buffet was as good as if not better the in the MDR.
Compared to Disney I have to say they were about the same in quality to us.

 

[hootey]

The wife and I were on the Liberty for a week several months ago. The food we had was very good, especially for cruise ship food! The buffet food was good for buffet food. Breakfast at the main buffet was the best. We dined in several of the ship cafes and were surprised at how good the food was. The main dining room always had very good food and great service. We had dinner one night with business associates in one of the smaller cafes which served a seven course dinner. The dinner lasted almost three hours, it was GREAT! While we were on board the Liberty, the ship was spotless, the entire crew was always professional, and courteous. I would not hesitate to sail again on the Liberty of the Seas

 

[hoffman1]

I sailed on the Liberty last year. I actually preferred the main dining room food to DCL. I do like the selection on the DCL buffet better but on RCL Windjammers is open for supper as a buffet which I thought was great!
We used the main dining room most mornings for breakfast. They had a smaller breakfast buffet selection but you still had a server and the nicer atmosphere. We did order breakfast off the menu one morning. It was ok and they really made you feel pampered (the bananas are served open and sliced).

 

[Fairy Lyn]

I have yet to go on DCL, but my husband and I did a five day cruise on the Liberty in March of this year. The food in the main dinning was really good. We were lucky to be at a table with another couple much like us and the waiters for our table were amazing! One night they offered our table mate a second plate of what she ordered and she was a little surprised at first but said yes. Another night we asked for an extra scoop of ice cream with our desert and without a question he said yes. We had been joking all week about asking for two lobster tails on lobster night and seeing if they'd say yes and when the night came, they said yes without a question. We prepaid for our gratuities, but we loved our waiters in the main dinning hall so much, on the last night we gave them each an extra tip.

The buffets are ok, but nothing to call home to mom about. The Chops Grill was by far our favorite out of pocket restaurant we ate at. I got the filet mignon and my husband had a pork chop. My filet was so tender it melted in my mouth and my husbands pork chop was amazing. If you want to splurge, I suggest Chops Grill because the food was delicious.

If you like a good time and they do the game "Quest" on the last night, DO IT! It's so much fun and I'm pretty sure that ended up being the highlight of our entire time on the ship. It's a game only for adults, because they have you do things like swap clothes with a team mate. Don't worry, you get split into 4 or 5 teams with everyone who showed up and only the people who volunteer have to do the actual activities.

We booked another cruise on Liberty for 2017 with our whole family. I can't wait to try some of the new restaurants they will have at that time.