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Horizon court food - what has happened?

MTJSR

By MTJSR,
in Princess Cruises

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MTJSR

MTJSR

Posted
Posted

Accidentally miss-posted, I meant to post this here in the hopes Princess might see it and your comments:

 

 

Originally Posted by Duck Duck Cruise

I took my favorite bread roll, buttered it up, and then tasted it. Unfortunately, it was stale. This should never have been put out or should have been removed if it was there that long to go stale. 1 Star. I tried 3 different meat dishes. One beef, one pork, and one veal. Every one of them was dry and overcooked and the sauces and gravies couldn’t cover up the poor preparation. These were all so bad they only deserve 1 star. The best part of the meal was the lumpy mashed potatoes. 2 Stars. I am extremely disappointed with the meals we have eaten in the Horizon Court. The dorm food at the U of O is so much better than what we have had in the HC. In reality, I wouldn’t feel good serving this food in prison. For me, the Horizon Court food is basically inedible.

 

 

I know this is just one quote, but the theme is rather common these days. (Far different from my experience on Grand Princess several years ago). Has Princess ditched their interest in preparing good quality, good tasting food at their buffets? Who is not doing their job anymore? I know food is subjective, but I have never read a poor chefs table review, so there is some "supervisory/management" culture in the kitchen that has minimized the concern for the buffet line food quality. Is Princess hearing the customers or more importantly are they listening?

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roe2ship

roe2ship

Posted
Posted
Accidentally miss-posted, I meant to post this here in the hopes Princess might see it and your comments:

 

 

Originally Posted by Duck Duck Cruise

I took my favorite bread roll, buttered it up, and then tasted it. Unfortunately, it was stale. This should never have been put out or should have been removed if it was there that long to go stale. 1 Star. I tried 3 different meat dishes. One beef, one pork, and one veal. Every one of them was dry and overcooked and the sauces and gravies couldn’t cover up the poor preparation. These were all so bad they only deserve 1 star. The best part of the meal was the lumpy mashed potatoes. 2 Stars. I am extremely disappointed with the meals we have eaten in the Horizon Court. The dorm food at the U of O is so much better than what we have had in the HC. In reality, I wouldn’t feel good serving this food in prison. For me, the Horizon Court food is basically inedible.

 

 

I know this is just one quote, but the theme is rather common these days. (Far different from my experience on Grand Princess several years ago). Has Princess ditched their interest in preparing good quality, good tasting food at their buffets? Who is not doing their job anymore? I know food is subjective, but I have never read a poor chefs table review, so there is some "supervisory/management" culture in the kitchen that has minimized the concern for the buffet line food quality. Is Princess hearing the customers or more importantly are they listening?

I think the downfall theme about the Horizon Court buffet is more common from those who are comparing HAL or Celebrity's buffet. Other than that, I have not noticed posts that it was really bad. It is certainly better than RCI's buffet.
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Clutterlady

Clutterlady

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Posted

Not saying some people have not experienced poor food in Horizon Court, but fortunately I have never experienced that! Now, let me say that I am a picky eater and not everything was to my liking but for the most part on my 2 recent Princess cruises I must say the buffet food was pretty darn good! On the Emerald we ate in the buffet about 5 nights out of 9 nights and on our CB cruise in September we didn't go to the dining room one night! So....perhaps food is that subjective or it was really good:) Tubs of tender lobster tails, prime rib carving station, wonderful shrimp gumbo...whats not to like:D

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Grego

Grego

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I have never had a complaint regarding the HC. It is a buffet and I really don't see how everything will be perfect to everyone's taste. Since it is a buffet, there will always be something that can be found that will appealing and delicious. Of course, if one's pallate is towards the meat and potatoes, then how can they judge the whole offering?

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Iamcruzin

Iamcruzin

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Posted

I'm inclined to agree with the OP. We enjoy the breakfast buffet more than the dining room breakfast. When it comes to dinner the buffet food just doesn't cut it for us. I also find the food to be dried out. We eat late around 8:00PM so it really doesn't surprise me. I love the lamb chops. I usually stop there to grab one or two just before we go to dinner.

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pg.

pg.

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Posted

I have basically been pretty happy with the buffets on Princess, but, to be honest,, I have never done them for dinner. I only use them for snacks, breakfast and lunches. I like dinner in a dining room,, and I am sure the food must be better in a dining room then a buffet.. on pretty well any ship or line.

 

I am interested though to see if Princess is letting the buffets slip though,, I will be on the Sapphire in three weeks, so I will report back..

 

I don't accept "any meal I don't cook is good enough for me" .. but, I do realize the limitations of a buffet on a ship for thousands,, where I have only paid hundreds.. LOL

 

 

Would I change cruiselines over food. Yes,, if food was consistantly poor, I would,,, we always consider trying another line,, ( Celebrity maybe) but so far,, Princess has kept us happy,, and they DO have the best fresh pizza afloat!

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kruisey

kruisey

Posted
Posted

In the past I have found if one comes back from a half day excursion later than lunch hour sometimes the hot food has been standing around if you know what I mean.:D

On my last long cruise on Diamond Princess I thought the food was good the times I used the Court at Lunch time.

And yes those Pizza's are to die for good fine crunchy crust and good toppings very Yummy:)

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TorontoTL

TorontoTL

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I have not had a bad experience consistently in the HC on any Princess ship. Yes, occasionally you might get something that isn't perfectly fresh, that can happen in any buffet, it is the nature of a buffet that sometimes you hit a plate of food that was there a little while. I don't believe that there has been any significant worsening of the food in the HC over the years.

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billie5

billie5

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Posted

I find this thread most confusing. OP seems to be saying he has no experience himself in recent HC food, has a thread title which certainly implies there is a problem, gives one quote and "asks" if Princess has ditched interest in good quality, and then "states" that there is a kitchen culture which has minimized interest in buffet food. Is this an OP just interested in condemning Princess with no experience on the issue? I would understand if he was seeking views on HC food, but he seems to be both asking about Princess and then, before any answer comes, condemning Princess.

 

For what it is worth, from the bulk of responses so far, there does not seem to be a problem. IMO, surveys are rather tricky. Looking at threads in general may be misleading, as the guy who feels disappointed is more likely to speak up than the guy who hoped for a good experience and had it.

 

Bill

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Times Prince

Times Prince

Posted
Posted
I take these comments with.....a

grain of salt. ;)

.. and pepper. :rolleyes:

 

 

It has been our experience that the food in the Horizon Court, and especially in the Cafe Caribe on Emerald Princess, has improved in the past few years such that it is a very viable alternative to the main dining room - and one that we have chosen the past several cruises.

 

There is a better variety of soups, main entree's and other offerings than before. For dinner there is always a roast or something that is carved, and one gets moist, flavorful meat dishes.

 

Certainly if one looks, one can find a dish that has been on the warmer a little too long. But that seems to be more the exception, which some people seem to focus on...

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Clutterlady

Clutterlady

Posted
Posted
Why does anyone opt to eat dinner in the HC when there is a perfectly good dining venue in the MDR's. The food is always cooked to your liking and is always hot and you get served by courses. Just my opinion!!

 

For several reasons. At times we want to catch a certain show and just want a quick dinner, don't feel like a formal dinner or previewed what was being served that night in the buffet and found it very much to our liking:)

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Sea42

Sea42

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Posted
Why does anyone opt to eat dinner in the HC when there is a perfectly good dining venue in the MDR's. The food is always cooked to your liking and is always hot and you get served by courses. Just my opinion!!

We ate in HC for dinner one night last week on the Caribbean Princess. We did not want to dress for formal night. I had shrimp in a garlic butter sauce and it was very good. My husband had the beef wellington. While it was not the best he had ever had he said it was much better than he thought it would be and did have seconds.

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Oi

Oi

Posted
Posted
Why does anyone opt to eat dinner in the HC when there is a perfectly good dining venue in the MDR's. The food is always cooked to your liking and is always hot and you get served by courses. Just my opinion!!

 

options...it's nice to have options... :)

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MTJSR

MTJSR

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  • Author
Posted
I find this thread most confusing. OP seems to be saying he has no experience himself in recent HC food, has a thread title which certainly implies there is a problem, gives one quote and "asks" if Princess has ditched interest in good quality, and then "states" that there is a kitchen culture which has minimized interest in buffet food. Is this an OP just interested in condemning Princess with no experience on the issue? I would understand if he was seeking views on HC food, but he seems to be both asking about Princess and then, before any answer comes, condemning Princess.

 

For what it is worth, from the bulk of responses so far, there does not seem to be a problem. IMO, surveys are rather tricky. Looking at threads in general may be misleading, as the guy who feels disappointed is more likely to speak up than the guy who hoped for a good experience and had it.

 

Bill

 

I have not had a bad experience at all. My questions were somewhat rhetorical in nature. Having experience in the food industry, I was curious what kinds of comments it might bring. If you assemble ten of the most recent reviews, it seems a common comment that the food was of some concern. If Princess reads the CC board, this thread might give them the broadest cross section of true Horizon Court reviews/comments and that might be of the most value to them. I am about to cruise again and would hate to find the Horizon Court different then how I remember it from the last trip.

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NotWthOutablcony

NotWthOutablcony

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Posted

We always do breakfast and lunch in the HC, sure, I've had a few things that I absolutely hated, big deal, its a buffet, I'll go get something else. I've also had some things that, for a buffet, were incredibly good!

I don't take things with a grain of salt, because people are reporting on their experiences, so I tuck it away in my head for my next cruise, I may agree with the poster regarding a certain soup, or I may disagree. But at least I've had fair warning if I don't like it. That way if I read about one dish in the MDR, and its between that dish or another, I'll probably choose the other. Just my opinion :D

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