Where does the food come from on Med cruises?

clairedy6

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
I know the menus are all the same but where do they get their ingredients from? I'm guessing they don't ship food from the states so does anyone know what country their veggies, beef, poultry etc is imported from during the Med cruises? Thanks!
 
A farm, a tree, the ground :) Jk.....I think it would come from the original starting point. A lot of food in the US is shipped from other countries. I've been on cruises where the milk cartons came from local area of starting origin
 
They get supplies every day ... We are normally the sad ones watching it all get loaded and you can see what it is sometimes. Fresh fruit and veg are the most common I seem to remember.

They would have no need to import anything from the US as plenty of countries do grow and rear things too!!!!
 
They get supplies every day ... We are normally the sad ones watching it all get loaded and you can see what it is sometimes. Fresh fruit and veg are the most common I seem to remember.

They would have no need to import anything from the US as plenty of countries do grow and rear things too!!!!

Did you see this happening on a Med cruise?
 


Did you see this happening on a Med cruise?

This was the turnaround day between our Med cruise and WBTA cruise, in Barcelona. Lots of food waiting to be put aboard:

foi2op.jpg
 
This was the turnaround day between our Med cruise and WBTA cruise, in Barcelona. Lots of food waiting to be put aboard:

foi2op.jpg

Loved seeing the labradork drug sniffing dog in the pic.

When we cruised Australia/New Zealand awhile back, the menu included several entrees with lamb. I dare bet the meat was not imported from the states.
 
So considering the potential different sources of food from one cruise originating in PC/USA, to the other sources, originating elsewhere, the question arises in my mind, has anyone that has done both itineraries within a close time frame, noticed a difference in the food?

It appears ships out of PC have a supplier. The ship out of Barcelona has another. I'm sure the ship out of Puerto Rico has another. Are all the dinners the same in the Med and Southern? I'll guess they are knowing DCL. lol :lmao:

So has anyone noticed a difference one way or the other, regarding the meals, on this side of the pond, or the other?

Which are better? East, West, or Southern? lol.

It's an interesting angle I never gave any thought to prior to this thread.

TIA
 


So considering the potential different sources of food from one cruise originating in PC/USA, to the other sources, originating elsewhere, the question arises in my mind, has anyone that has done both itineraries within a close time frame, noticed a difference in the food?

It appears ships out of PC have a supplier. The ship out of Barcelona has another. I'm sure the ship out of Puerto Rico has another. Are all the dinners the same in the Med and Southern? I'll guess they are knowing DCL. lol :lmao:

So has anyone noticed a difference one way or the other, regarding the meals, on this side of the pond, or the other?

Which are better? East, West, or Southern? lol.

It's an interesting angle I never gave any thought to prior to this thread.

TIA

Do you mean does the food taste the same, or are the menus different? The menus can alter slightly depending on the itinerary .. Like they did a few different ones on the EBTA, but the food is the same quality wherever you're cruising in my experience.
 
Do you mean does the food taste the same ......

This is what I meant generally.

And if the meals are the same, is the presentation the same?

If it is that is amazing kitchen work. :)

I have only sailed out of the east coast.
 
When you have a galley staff trained to turn out specific recipes at a high volume in a short amount of time, I imagine that any shift in menu is a Big Deal. My guess (and I've only been on an EBTA, where the first 7 nights were out of PC and had the standard menus so doesn't really count) is that if they do provide the standard DR rotational menus, they're pretty much exactly the same. Sourcing of the ingredients would be different, of course, but there's nothing in the menu that's unique to the US, so there's no reason they shouldn't be able to provide the same meals and experience in Europe.

I think if you see a difference, it would be in the buffet - and maybe quick serve? But I can see the buffet having more of a local flavor - and probably no Krispy Kremes :rotfl:.

I'm pretty sure on our EBTA they reprovisioned in either Funchal or Cadiz. I don't recall noticing any changes to the quality, taste or availability of any particular items.
 
Thanks, good detailed info.

Would love to hear from the WBTA or the Med sailors. I do admit I've never noticed a thread about this food deferential preiously, so I assume it is inconsequential. But you never know till you ask. ;)
 
When you have a galley staff trained to turn out specific recipes at a high volume in a short amount of time, I imagine that any shift in menu is a Big Deal. My guess (and I've only been on an EBTA, where the first 7 nights were out of PC and had the standard menus so doesn't really count) is that if they do provide the standard DR rotational menus, they're pretty much exactly the same. Sourcing of the ingredients would be different, of course, but there's nothing in the menu that's unique to the US, so there's no reason they shouldn't be able to provide the same meals and experience in Europe.

I think if you see a difference, it would be in the buffet - and maybe quick serve? But I can see the buffet having more of a local flavor - and probably no Krispy Kremes :rotfl:.

I'm pretty sure on our EBTA they reprovisioned in either Funchal or Cadiz. I don't recall noticing any changes to the quality, taste or availability of any particular items.

This is what stood out to me the most... As an American living these past 20 years in Europe, I was kinda hoping for American specialty foods, like Krispy Kremes, Rice Krispie treats, anything peanut butter, anything (even resembling) maple syrup, marshmallows, corn dogs... etc. Can anyone who has done the Med cruises let us know if any of these kinds of things are available on board?
 
I'd heard during one of the ship tours on the Magic last fall that for the med cruises they ship all the food frozen in from the US because they prefer to stick with their regular suppliers.
Or at least that's what they'd done previously.
 
This is what stood out to me the most... As an American living these past 20 years in Europe, I was kinda hoping for American specialty foods, like Krispy Kremes, Rice Krispie treats, anything peanut butter, anything (even resembling) maple syrup, marshmallows, corn dogs... etc. Can anyone who has done the Med cruises let us know if any of these kinds of things are available on board?

The menu on our two Med. cruises onboard the Magic did not change much at all than the standard menu of the Caribbean sailings. Granted they added the names of the local areas like "Rome pasta" but it was the standard fare. I was a little disappointed that they did not really change the foods more and cook more regional fare. We were on different cruise lines and they did more in the way of the menu to reflect the cuisine. All the dogs, burgers fries and condiments are available but sadly NO VERMONT MAPLE SYRUP.;)
 
This is what I meant generally.

And if the meals are the same, is the presentation the same?

If it is that is amazing kitchen work. :)

I have only sailed out of the east coast.

On any cruise there may be variations of what is actually plated. This is due to prices and availability of specific items. The biggest differences we've ever noticed is that the veggies that are plated with the meat may be different than what has been described on the menu.
 
So considering the potential different sources of food from one cruise originating in PC/USA, to the other sources, originating elsewhere, the question arises in my mind, has anyone that has done both itineraries within a close time frame, noticed a difference in the food?

It appears ships out of PC have a supplier. The ship out of Barcelona has another. I'm sure the ship out of Puerto Rico has another. Are all the dinners the same in the Med and Southern? I'll guess they are knowing DCL. lol :lmao:

So has anyone noticed a difference one way or the other, regarding the meals, on this side of the pond, or the other?

Which are better? East, West, or Southern? lol.

It's an interesting angle I never gave any thought to prior to this thread.

TIA

When we did the Baltics cruise in 2010 we were talking with one of the chefs and he was very impressed with the quality of the cheese being used on board for those cruises. He told us to make sure we tried the pizza from Pinocchio's since the cheese was so good. He was right, that's been the best pizza from there on any cruise we've done in 14 years.
He also told us the fruits were much better on the European cruises than the ones sailing out of the US. But also mentioned, the better quality also came with a higher price tag for all food products bought in Europe.

They did have Krispy Kreme donuts on those sailings since they have many, many locations outside the US.
 
This is what stood out to me the most... As an American living these past 20 years in Europe, I was kinda hoping for American specialty foods, like Krispy Kremes, Rice Krispie treats, anything peanut butter, anything (even resembling) maple syrup, marshmallows, corn dogs... etc. Can anyone who has done the Med cruises let us know if any of these kinds of things are available on board?

I'm on the Magic right now (last full day of cruise -- *sniff*). Any fresh foods appear to be locally-sourced (dairy products, fruits, vegetables). The donuts don't appear to be Krispy Kreme to me, but I haven't tasted the ones on the ship so I can't compare. We did get Rice Krispie treats at the Gold/Platinum Castaway Club reception. Topsiders breakfast buffet does have the individual packets of Smuckers Peanut Butter. Those are shelf stable and I'm guessing probably were stored while in the states. I've never seen real maple syrup on the ships, but the buffet has the fakey stuff available. I don't recall seeing marshmallows on their own on any sailing. Corn dogs aren't available at Pluto's, but I don't know if they are perhaps on the kids dinner menus.
 
Did they have mickey bars on the med cruises? Last time we did the med they didn't have the and since that trip my boys have been calling chocolate lollies on stocks 'Donald duck beak lollies' bc that's what the servers called them
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!














Top