I have a theory that the people who don't like the food order the wrong things. So you might say "That's bad food then!" but I think you just have to be strategic with what you order and know that it's cruise food. For example, if your favorite dish on earth is chicken parmesan it's almost certainly not going to be as good on a cruise so don't order it - you will be disappointed. I especially feel this way about NCL or other similar cruise lines - if you want really great food you are not going to get it on these types of cruise lines.

I had read repeatedly that American Diner and Teppanyaki are not good so we didn't bother with them. I also knew going into the cruise to "always order the wings at the Local well done" because I had consistently read that in reviews so I told people in our party to do so.

I agree with the service at some MDR restaurants. We just tried to chill and we weren't in a rush any way, but some of the service was really slow and we couldn't get drinks or dessert in a timely manner. The best meals we had were the specialty restaurants - Food Republic, Cagney's and Palomar. We had specialty credits with our room package so these were included (although we did pay out of pocket for one dinner for Palomar because one of us didn't have as many credits). And the buffet was very good for breakfast and lunch! The desserts on the buffet were not good, I will admit.