Will we be disappointed in the food on the Princess Sapphire

[tarheelmjfan]

This will be our 2nd cruise, but the 1st was 12 years ago. I have been seeking guidance on here, because we are cruise newbies. Based on the criteria that is important to us, people have recommended that we cruise on the Princess line. We had decided to book Princess Sapphire, because we want to cruise to Alaska from Seattle. Now, I have been reading through some of the posts on here, & it seems that noone considers Princess as having the best food. :( The 2 things that are most important to us are great food & good entertainment. Cruising will be DH, DS(13), & me. DS is not a typical teenager. He isn't interested in the teen club, but he will want to eat things like escargot, souffle's, filet mignons, duck, lobster, etc. (You get the picture. :D ) We won't be dining at the buffets, & won't be ordering pizza. Also, we won't mind paying a surcharge ocassionally, if that's the only way we are assured exceptional food. We will have to book one of the "mass market" cruises. Is Princess not the cruise line for us? :confused: Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :)

[mtaylor04]

We sailed on the Diamond Princess to Alaska last summer. The food was great and we enjoyed it very much. The entertainment was also great. This trip completely hooked us on cruising and Princess.

 

My suggestion is to book dining as soon as you get on the ships as the dining venues can fill up fast.

 

I think you made a wise choice in booking with Princess.

[kelmac]

If food is important, you might consider cruising Celebrity's Mercury out of Seattle; or even better, the Infinity, out of Vancouver. After 19 cruises, some on princess, I would say Celebrity's food is much better. Entertainment will be a little better on Princess; that is, if you can get in to see it. Princess does smaller venues and my wife and I didn't want to show up 45 minutes early just to find a seat. Celebrity's showroom is so large you will have no problems finding a seat 5 minutes before showtime. Holland America also has better food than Princess, but the crowd can be very "senior". Princess, Royal Caribbean and NCL are all about the same in the food department--that is, "large amounts of low quality food."

Having said all this, we have two Princess cruises booked; one Celebrity cruise; and one Holland American cruise. No such thing as a bad cruise, just different cruises.

Can't make a mistake here!

 

Enjoy! Which ever cruise you choose. :D

 

Kel

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks to both of you for your input. :) We have booked the 10 night San Francisco to Vancouver, Alaskan cruise on Celebrity's Infinity. I have heard nothing but good things about Celebrity's food. Hope that's our experience. We were thinking of booking on the Mercury, but our DS wanted a longer cruise. The only drawback is the ocean view rooms on the Infinity have smaller windows, than those on the Mercury. Forced us to book a balcony. :D

[GeminiA]

I was on the Sydney-Auckland Christmas Cruise on the Sapphire Princess recently & I must say the most disappointing aspect of the cruise is the quality & variety of their food, in comparison with my experience with Celebrity cruises & Queen Mary 2. I also like the production shows on Celebrity more than on Princess.

 

The best food I've had on cruises are with Celebrity - they are the best of the mass market cruise lines.

[tarheelmjfan]

Glad to know I made a good decision. :D

[Tmeister]

Tarheel:

Since it's 12 years since your last cruise, you may be a little disappointed in what has happened with food quality and service throughout the cruise industry. Even the finest cuisine and service afloat now isn't much better than what was considered average 12 years ago. I think you'll be pleased with Celebrity, though. We were on the Horizon a few years ago and I'm aching to try one of the larger, newer ships. Service and food were excellent; entertainment didn't "wow" me, but it wasn't disappointing. On Princess you would have found outstanding entertainment and activities, and the food would have been good, at least in the dining rooms (buffets have been disappointing the last 2 times we've sailed on Princess--not much better than Bob's Big Boy) but it's still not outstanding.

[kelmac]

tarheelmjfan,

 

Make sure you dine at least once in the Infinity's specialty restaurant! Conde nast and Frommer's rates these restaurants as the "best at sea"!

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Kel