Food is a highly subjective subject. What I like and think is good to excellent might be anywhere from uninteresting to subpar for another. Then you add in the variability from cruise to cruise even with the same cruise line and even the same ship. Our seven cruises on Silversea is a case in point. Obviously since we keep going back to Silversea year after year there must be enough positives like food to keep us cruising with them. On the whole we’ve found their food to be several cuts above Holland America’s standard fare.
That’s not to say every dish has been excellent. Again for example all Silversea ships have a non-additional fee Italian restuarant called La Terrazza. We love Italian cuisine and eat frequently at a couple of really good and authentic Italian restaurants at home. We’ve also eaten what you’d hope was authentic and excellent Italian food in Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast several times. Has every dish in La Terrazza been fantastic? No. Our first two or three cruises our dinners were great to excellent. We could hardly wait to eat there again on our fourth. Ugh. Some of the worst Italian food we’d ever had and this was all on the same ship as the previous three cruises. Went back to La Terrazza on our fifth cruise and the food was fantastic again. Same experience with the main dining room. While generally very good there have been some clunkers.
For us it’s all about managed expectations. We’ve cruised on Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, and Silversea. If I were to rate them on food, and actually overall experience, it would be Silversea first, Celebrity and Holland America tied for second, and Carnival last. We don’t consider ourselves “foodies” we just know what we like and don’t like. I’d imagine a true “foodie” might be aghast at most cruise cuisine. Generally cruise line food is at least a cut above the “rubber chicken” banquet food but certainly not up to the level of Michelin stars.
I’ve heard good things about the food on Viking, Regents, Seabourn, etc., but we’ve not cruised with any of them so I’ll let others comment.