I was depressed the second day of our Alaskan cruise last year; one of the reasons being how people gorge themselves (on mediocre food) just because they can. It was a stampede to the buffet line. We saw this the first two days before we reacted a port were we immediately disembarked to experience Alaska. Some passengers didn't even get off the ship the whole cruise!

Okay, what was good--one night the premier on-board restaurant was transformed into a Le Cirque experience. i.e. ambiance, menu, uniforms, and chefs for $35 which is a paltry amount compared to the menu in NYC. The food was exceptional and the experience was a highlight. I don't know if I can legitimately say "I have been to Le Cirque".

Another positive food-related experience was the opportunity to attend the Le Cirque's chef's cooking class. Chef made a salad; he concluded the class with a tasting and said "that salad would cost you $45 at Le Cirque".

You would have to appreciate that having worked in NYC for many years and I never could rationalize splurging on a night at Le Cirque considering my expense account or personal budget. Not to mention I couldn't get reservations.

I took an 11 day cruise once on the Renaissance Line....the food was 5 star all the way as was the service....but 11 days is too long for a cruise!
And the veal was milk fed, the steaks prime, the cheeses French.
I think the people who gorge on mediocre food because it's free are the same ones who get blitzed on bud light and boxed wine at a wedding because it's free.
Alas the Renaissance line is no more and I have not taken another cruise....not really my cup of tea.
Linda C

Just returned from taking my 14 year old GS on an Alaskan cruise, 3 weeks ago. We went on the Golden Princess.

I'm a cruiser mainly Carnival, and this coming February 2012 will take my 10 cruise with them.

I never cared for the buffet, on Carnival or the Golden Princess. If I had to rate one over the other, I'd say thumbs up on Carnival's buffet.

Seated dining, I'd rate the two fairly equal.

As far as service during seated dining, Golden Princess outranks Carnival.

I have made Carnival's strawberry bisque quite a few times, plus their chocolate lava cake. Yummy for both.

I loved the food on Carnival Ectasy so much that I bought the cookbooks. Haven't made one thing from them. LOL

We cruised the Celebrity line and after the first afternoon where we experienced the "stampede to the buffet", we ate only in the dining room and in the non-inclusive french and tapas restaurants.
We loved that. We spoke with our sommelier and discovered there were made to order crepes on a remote pool deck, fresh granitas with Spanish guitarist on another level, and, our favorite, the chocolate croissants with espresso in a tiny bar.
I would cruise every chance I got. Loved the entire experience and it is my dream to go back....

Sissyz - Celebrity is supposed to have the best food on the high seas, but I'm not really surprised that some of their passengers have a tendency to act like the clientele at Golden Corral, Ryan's or Ponderosa. My wife bought us a Celebrity cruise out of NYC several years ago, but we had to cancel because of work. With kids, including a 3 year old grandson, I don't think we'll be cruising Celebrity for a few years.

Glenda al - I wouldn't say the service was bad in the Ecstasy dining room. In fact, I really liked our server. But, when I asked him to warm our nightly appetizer of brie and fruit, he said "I really do all I can to please our passengers, but we really cannot warm the brie." Seriously? Because of that, I decided the "customary" tip for the maitre 'd would be seriously reduced. Meantime, the service in Royal Carribean's dining room was as good as I've ever experienced. Not only did they warm the brie, our server cut our salads -- right down to the last sliver of carrot.

Linda - Our veal had the consistency of a cube steak. It felt more like I was eating at Dairy Queen. (I like DQ, by the way.) Perhaps they soaked it in milk before dredging it in breadcrumbs?

Mustangs - I can appreciate that!

I have only taken one cruise and that was on Carnival for 8 days. The food was fantastic but overall, a bit bland for the seated evening dining.
We haven't cruised since as I'm sensitive to motion sickness though we were on one of their largest boats.

I enjoyed the tour of the dining rooms and kitchens.

First time to Alaska, went on Celebrity the Summit, and was not pleased with much of everything. It must have been one of their smaller ships.

Golden Princess, the highlight of the trip was the naturalist that was on board the whole cruise. Even GS reminded me of time to go to his programs. I even purchased his book.

This time I splurged and we had a mini suite with an extended balcony which made the trip even more fantastic.

GS enjoying breakfast, from the buffet, while cruising Glacier Bay!

Breakfasts from the buffet were delightful.

He ran up to get breakfast so he could experience glacier viewing, while enjoying the food :o)

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It is gross to see people filling a tray with several pounds of food, just because it's there.

Given the demographics of cruise line customers--those freshly married, then some people who overindulge in eating, and then a bunch of seniors--one wag once described the cruise ship customers as 'the newly wed, the overfed, and the nearly dead'.

I've only been on a few cruises--2 on Carnival, one on Norwegian--and haven't been knocked out by the food on either. One trick you may find useful if you don't want to battle the huge buffet is to go to one of the ship's specialty or ethnic restaurants. We were on the Carnival Dream a year or so ago, and they had a separate buffet that served up some decent curries and other Indian foods. Maybe it was too exotic for the mass of passengers, but there was never a crowd there, and I preferred the food there to the main buffet.

I have never been on a cruise, but I have been told, and always assumed, that food quality is directly related to the price/level of the cruise lines. Some are bargain lines and you get the HomeTown Buffet food. Other top-rated (and top $$$) companies give you a far greater quality in the dining rooms.

True?

I found some interesting cruise line ratings on this page.

Here is a link that might be useful: rating cruise lines

Went on Holland America's Zaandam to Alaska last year. Wasn't impressed by either the buffet food nor the 'specialty' restaurants, including the $20/extra/pp supposedly gourmet one. The food and service was better in the regular dining room, than paying the extra.

We dine out a lot, living in the San Francisco Bay Area. We thought we were prepared for the whole mass-market dining idea, and selected Zaandam because it is one of their smallest ships. Unfortunately, it turned out to be about the level of Denny's at best, and well below that, at worst. The pizza was so bad, DH took one bite and left the rest in disgust - and he's a pizza fiend!

As an example: afternoon high tea in the dining room consisted of trans-fat laden supermarket bakery cakes, and Bigelow tea in foil packets.

The best food was the curry, because the crew (non-officer) is 100% Indonesian. We would have paid extra to eat what they were eating, not the slop we were served.

Every time we passed by, the frozen yoghurt bar had a line. You'd think the stuff was rare or something, very strange - the weather outside was cold and rainy, so it wasn't like you were going to stroll the promenade deck, basking in the sun and eating a freezie.

Fortunately, we drove up to Seattle and back again, and the food both coming and going was terrific. Big change from my first visits to the PNW (my relatives live up there so this was my 11th visit in 30 yrs).

Used to be just pizza and beer up there, but now the food is amazing! We had terrific meals in Eugene, Portland, and Bandon, OR; Seattle and Pt. Angeles, WA; and Victoria BC. Oddly, the worst food (outside of the cruise) was in Eureka, CA, lol.

I know most associate cruises with buffets but on our trip most of our meals were in the seated dining room or in the made to order/cafeteria style casual restaurant.
We did do the dockside breakfast buffet a few times and did go look at the late night buffet but didn't get anything to eat there- as we weren't hungry after the formal dining room dinner.

I've never been on a cruis either, but Elery has been on two. He assures me that I'd hate it. (grin)

He says neither cruise he went on had a buffet, but that the food was OK, nothing exceptional other than he had "really good" bagels and lox every morning for breakfast. the first cruis was to St. thomas/etc. I don't even know where the second one was.

I would love to take an Alaskan cruise and I'd happily eat bologna sandwiches on Wonder Bread if I could go there.

Annie

Well we're on our way to Alaska right now. Spending a couple days in Vancouver and boarding on Wednesday. We're not going for the food, rather the scenery. We'll be on Holland America's Volendam. I'll be happy to report back on our return. Internet access on board is VERY expensive.

Annie, we aren't 'cruise' people either, so when we went to Alaska we found someone who arranges over-land tours. The whole itinerary was arranged and tweaked for our preferences ahead of time, mostly staying at private B&Bs and eating local foods. I don't know if the owner, Colette, is still in business, but I wouldn't hesitate to use her again. She saved our trip when the only road to Denali washed out. We felt like we had the whole state to ourselves, and the locals were super friendly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rainbow Mountain Adventures.

We aren't cruise people either --- never been on one, and don't have any desire to do one. Our entire family just cringes when we are in a port city and see the crowds of people that have just a few hours to cram in as many things as possible. We don't vacation like that. If we happen to find something interesting, then we change our plans and spend more time at something and leave something else out. We don't like to have to stick to someone else's itinerary. And, we definitely don't like to be in the middle of the huge crowds at port cities. We like exploring some of the more out of the way places too.

We have done some all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and loved them with the kids. It's great because we didn't have to worry about kids complaining about being hungry ---- they just ate anytime ( or all of the time!). But, we still went to dinner in town at nice restaurants just because we liked the food. We just used the resort to keep the kids happy during the day while swimming and diving.

I have long claimed to not be "cruise people" as well. My brother would talk of a recent or upcoming cruise and I would think "But why would you want to do that?" However just three weeks ago my wife and I returned from 4 weeks at sea in the Caribbean. My wife is a Professor and she was teaching an engineering class on the Semester at Sea's May Voyage and I managed to get the month off from work as vacation to go along as a plus-one, for a nominal additional fee.

Since the ship is essentially a college dorm at Sea, the food (which was buffet style) in my mind was college cafeteria food, and with that as the mental expectation the food was excellent :-) Although to be fair we did have two special meals on the ship, and both of those were on par with meals from the best local restaurants.

To me though the trip wasn't really about the ship or the food on the ship, it was really about the various ports of call we stopped in along the way, in several of which we had quite memorably good meals. (I really want to find a good recipe for Trinidadian Callaloo soup)

An analogy that occurs to me is that if a commercial cruise is like a bank, than perhaps the Semester at Sea is more of a credit union, and so given that the mantra on the ship was "Its not a cruise, its a voyage", maybe in that light, we still aren't "cruise people", but even before we returned, we started looking into when and how we could go again.

-Bob

Have never been on a big cruise ship. Always do small ship cruises to interesting places through Intrav - a small boat adventure company. The food is absolutely gourmet. No buffets. French service at dinner. Three meals and a snack upon return from the day's adventure. Oh, and cocktails and hors d'oevrs before the evening meal. I always manage to lose weight between the exercise of exploring and the attention to not stuffing passengers into a food coma with all day/all night buffet food.

I appreciate your responses, and I agree with most of them. (I was really happy when we arrived at Cozumel and it was raining.) I have borrowed a couple of your opinions in my weekly blog post. (No worries. I didn't ID anyone.) If you can find the time, I'd greatly appreciate you stopping by and subscribing to my rants.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Unorthodox Epicure: Confessions of an aspiring food snob

Elery also said one trip was very rough and everyone was sea sick, so he doesn't remember the food all that much. I would guess not....

Jessica, I think I'd like your way better. A neighbor and his wife are going on a 3 week Alaska trip next month, they'll fly into Anchorage and rent a motor home, then spend 3 weeks just driving around. Now THAT'S my kind of vacation, it sounds like something I'd love.

They are going to give me information like prices and driving conditions, side trips, etc., when they get back.

Now, I'm off to explore unorthodox epicure's blog...

Annie

Been twice to AK. First one was a cruise and Denali expedition from Vancouver. Both were wonderful. 6 years ago on Celebrity.

Second one , in June, was a memory maker with my GS and it was wonderful. 7 day cruise from Seattle.

Highly recommend Golden Princess and a mini suite.

We've only been on a few cruises. A lot of places, we like to go and stay to explore the city more than a cruise allows and there are places where cruises don't go. But we have enjoyed the cruises that we've been on. One was on Celebrity which we chose because reviews generally said it was the best of the big ship non-luxury cruise lines. We chose a cruise that had only one sea day so we only used the buffet for breakfast where it was good and not crowded.

We enjoyed the food. We had one meal in their fancy restaurant and it was worth the extra charge. The rest of the dinners in the regular sit down restaurant were quite good too.

The cruise terminated at Puerto Rico which meant it was close to the other islands we visited allowing most of the day in port. The ones that leave from Florida had a lot of sea days and often short times in port - more for people who mostly want to hang out on the ship. We didn't realize it ahead of time, but that also had the advantage of visiting the ports on uncrowded days. Most of the cruises to that part of the Caribbean leave on Saturday or Sunday and there will be 4 or 5 big ships in the port of a little island on the same day. At most ports there was just us and a couple of small ships.

My other two cruises were with Windstar - small ships (the bigger of the two can hold a few hundred) going into small ports - one small Turkish and Greek islands and one in the Caribbean. The food was great.

I only cruise on small, "all-inclusive" lines --- the Regent Seven Seas, Crystal or Seabourne lines. The ships only carry around 700 passengers. All liquor is included. Sure, the price of the ticket is higher, but the quality of the food, wine, etc. is far superior.

My last cruise was 31 days aboard the Regent Seven Seas Mariner. (In 2008, we sailed Australia, New Zealand, and then sailed from Auckland, NZ to Los Angeles, stopping enroute in Tahiti at several of her islands, and a couple of other small, Pacific islands....there were several consecutive sea days because of the distances we covered.) There were 450 passengers on board. In each restaurant, the maitre d' and the sommelier always recognized us, catered to our preferences, and there were several restaurants from which to choose, plus 24-hour, full-menu room service. AND, there are no "seatings". Dinner is served from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m....come when you choose.

The food -- all meals -- was simply superb. Towards the end of the cruise, when there can, indeed, be too much of a good thing, I began requesting simple food not on the menu. And the kitchen always delivered. The wines were delightful --- French, German, Australian, New Zealand, California, etc. And I always appreciate being able to order a glass of champagne, wine or cocktail without being charged....one requests the drink and it appears, without signing any chit, charging any card, etc. It's an elegant way to travel.

On my last cruise, we sailed with a well-known Australian wine expert (we were in the southern hemisphere), and for several days running, we attended delightful wine tastings, and learned fascinating facts about the wines produced in Australia and New Zealand....No charge; all inclusive.

Also on the last cruise, interested passengers were able to sign up for the gourmet dinner (seating was limited), for $200 each. The food and the wines consumed were truly exceptional!

Because of the price of these cruises, children are not found on board. And this allows the kitchen to focus entirely on adult menus. Also, there are no "midnight" buffets on these types of cruises; breakfast is served, as is lunch, high tea (with champagne, wine, tea, etc.), and dinner. And, if a guest is hungry at the odd hour, there is the 24-hour full-menu room service....with the ability to order something NOT on the menu, if one desires it.

I love traveling like this, delight in the quality of the food, its lovely presentation, and I especially like the ability to come to dinner whenever one's personal plans dictate the time. Twice during the last cruise, I coordinated with the maitre d' of the restaurant I'd chosen, and I hosted a dinner. I selected the guests to invite (there were 12 of us), selected the day and time, and the ship's staff did the rest: sent personal invitations to the guests, arranged the pre-set table in a secluded spot so conversation was easy, alerted the wait staff who would serve us (and the sommelier), and ensured a delightful evening was had by all. For these dinners, the guests chose off of their menu, and I totally relaxed....no planning required, no cooking required or dishes to wash afterwards or bills to pay...all the passengers had already paid their "all inclusive".

Such a civilized way to travel! So, I save my money and take a grand vacation like this every few years, so I can have a truly memorable, and very special experience!

Annie, look at using the ferry system some in Alaska. Some of Alaska needs to be seen from the water, not just from driving or by rail. The ferry system is an inexpensive alternative to cruising and can more easily accommodate your schedule. The site that Jessy recommended uses the ferry system as part of their transportation options.

We love to cruise and do so quite often. In 2009 we went on a 16 day cruise around Cape Horn, from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Valaparaiso, Chile. We only ate off the ship twice, not for a reason, we just didn't. The food was excellent on the ship. I think the food is different ship to ship, even on the same line. We don't mind paying more for specialty restaurants and also find that eating at the buffet in the evening is much better than at lunch. We check what the dining room is serving and if we want to dress up or not and if not go to the buffet or other dining venues!

Glenda, we are very much like your GS, we love ordering breakfast room service and eating on the balcony in our bathrobes, just so vacationist!! LOL

We took our family on a cruise this past Christmas! It was a fun, stress free Christmas, no gift buying and no cooking. Christmas eve the 3 and 6 year old were swimming and I just made the statement, "every other Christmas Eve I am cooking like crazy right now, this is great." My son said, "Mom, I thought you loved to cook for us." Well, I do, but it was a nice change. The little boys had a great time and our daughter had never cruised before and loved it. Our son and DDIL have!

We have gone to places that we have always wanted to go for a few days and after getting there know that one day is enough (Jamaica, Belize and Aruba come to mind) and then others (Costa Rica, Cayman and Alaska) that we would like to go back for a few days, kind of gives you an idea.
I would move to Argentina if it weren't for my DS, DDIL, DD, DSIL and two grands!

I guess to each their own!

I'm not a cruise sort of person but a man I work with loves them. He recommends Cunard. Out of sight for most of us but it's a familiar equation. Higher price = better quality. Not always true, but mostly.

"All American": To me the best part of "American" food is that it includes foods from all around the world.

I thought the 24 hour pizza was the best thing on the Carnival cruise -- it tasted particularly good after returning from an excursion or for a midnight snack.