Princess - please read this

[DougH]

Wow, complaining before something negative might actually happen. I guess that saves lots of time and moves you right to the top of the upgrade list.

[2little time]

Having been on several different lines, I would rate Princess at the top. I consider myself a lover of food that is prepared well and served at the correct temperature. I find the food on Princess to fit into both categories. That being said, there are nights when the entire MDR menu did not appeal to me and we went to the buffet and had a very nice meal. I often forget the food is "mass prepared" and appreciate the care taken with my dish. I appreciate the OP's concerns but hope she will give Princess the chance to impress her.

[timetravler]

I am a true foodie. Heck, I still cook every meal at home from scratch. Plus my favorite TV channel is the food network. I also have been asked more then once to cook professionally. So with that being said, I really think the food on all the Princess ships is truly outstanding. You have to take into consideration that they are feeding thousands of people a day. Top notch restaurants feed far less people, sometimes less then 100 people. This is true of the French Laundry in California and most top restaurants in the Napa Valley. So for Princess to constantly put out really good food is an incredible achievement. For the best of the best, do try the chefs table at least once. Yes it is expensive, but you can not go wrong with the chefs table. Oh, I prefer to eat most all my meals in the MDR as I think presentation and being served is very important. Because food is so very objective, you always have to take that into account when reading any review. I found that most bad reviews are because that person is a negative person in the first place and one bad thing will turn them into thinking the whole cruise is bad. I love Princess food and yes, I do gain weight and I'm proud of it.

[FamilyGuy1010]

I am not on the Coral at this time; however, the source of food is the same as the Emerald during the Carib season. I am sitting on the Emerald rapidly gaining weight as the food is very good. The only critique I would have is that the soups are a little on the salty side.

[Loonbeam]

Okay folks, as noted we generally think Princess has good food. That's not the issue here. The issue is that there have been a number of recent concerns about the Coral specifically regarding food quality. The fact that you had great food on the Emerald (or the Island, mea culpa) recently is not really relevant.

 

Now as I have stated before, I believe the Exec Chef and MD have the greatest impact on overall food quality and its entire possible they are lacking at the moment on the Coral.

 

That said, things change all the time, and basing your expectations of the food on any reviews more than a month out is probably not a reliable method. If the negative reports are still coming in 2-3 weeks before you cruise, then be concerned (this holds true for pretty much anything staff related). For the Original Poster this is a valid concern given they are sailing in around 3 weeks.

 

What would help is if recent passengers on the Coral (Nov/Dec) could post updates especially on the service issue, since even if Princess were to read this there is very little they can do about it, practically. In addition, the OP should be prepared to maybe have to push a bit if there are issues.

 

 

With that in mind, if you come in expecting failure, you are likely to get it, so coming in with a positive attitude alone will improve the flavor.

 

 

 

Sit

[Liz54]

I am a true foodie. Heck, I still cook every meal at home from scratch. Plus my favorite TV channel is the food network. I also have been asked more then once to cook professionally. So with that being said, I really think the food on all the Princess ships is truly outstanding. You have to take into consideration that they are feeding thousands of people a day. Top notch restaurants feed far less people, sometimes less then 100 people. This is true of the French Laundry in California and most top restaurants in the Napa Valley. So for Princess to constantly put out really good food is an incredible achievement. For the best of the best, do try the chefs table at least once. Yes it is expensive, but you can not go wrong with the chefs table. Oh, I prefer to eat most all my meals in the MDR as I think presentation and being served is very important. Because food is so very objective, you always have to take that into account when reading any review. I found that most bad reviews are because that person is a negative person in the first place and one bad thing will turn them into thinking the whole cruise is bad. I love Princess food and yes, I do gain weight and I'm proud of it.

 

I agree. We travel with a professional caterer. I have never seen her disapointed. But she also recognizes that it is not the French Laundry or the top rated restaurant her husband owns back home.

 

We like the multiple courses, the ambiance, the good company. We choose those items on the menu that are least likely to suffer when they are prepared in huge quantities. We find that on a week or ten day cruise we usually meet a menu or two we don't like. The always available items or/and specialty restaurants work for those nights. As Pam says, we never leave the dining room hungry!

 

I think it comes down to what we each bring in to the dining rooms - expectations!

[ONT-CA]

One persons yucky food is another's ambrosia. I always take reports of poor food quality and presentation with a grain of salt. ....

 

On the Coral you will be taking it with much much more than a grain, believe me.

 

The subject can hardly be considered subjective when comparing it to our 21 cruises with Princess. We have tasted the best and the mediocre but never so bad as that on the recent Coral sailings.

[Pam in CA]

Now as I have stated before, I believe the Exec Chef and MD have the greatest impact on overall food quality and its entire possible they are lacking at the moment on the Coral.

I agree completely. It's often not the food but the Executive Chef and preparation. All ships are supplied with the same food. We were on a 2-week cruise a few years ago and the first weeks, entrees were cooked poorly or were tasteless. The second week, the entrees were excellent. Turns out the Executive Chef was on vacation the first week. Another time, we had French Onion Soup and it was too salty and the bread took up most of bowl. We said something to the Maitre d' and he said he'd received a number of complaints. The next night, he asked us if we'd like to have the French Onion Soup even though it wasn't on the menu. We did and it was excellent.

 

If you're unhappy with the food, ask to speak to the Table Captain or Maitre d' and let him or her know what you didn't like.

[lovetocruisenow]

Sue,

 

My husband and I were on the Coral in October and the food was GREAT!

We did anytime dining in the Michelangelo but ate in both specialty restaurants and Horizon. The Coral has the best soft serve ice cream on Lido on all Princess ships. We rated food a 5 and we're pretty picky.

debby

[gertz]

I thought these boards existed so we could garner information from other cruisers. If we simply dismiss everything we read or that other people’s opinions don’t matter then what is the use of even reading the boards?

 

The OP was merely pointing out an unusual pattern of negative reporting of the food on Coral by other cruisers on these boards. No need to send them packing to another cruise line!

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences, gives us hope that the rash of complainers were just a fluke and its Princess excellent Food Service as usual on the Coral.

 

Where are the rash of complainers and where are the threads. I try to keep up with CC and rarely see complaints on either the Coral or Island which are probably are most sailed ships and if there is a problem or an issue on one of these ships we would like to know about it.

I went to the reviews section of CC to check reviews on the Coral and CC actually helps you out here, of the 282 reviews on the Coral "86% loved the food and gave it a 5 star rating" and if you read a very few negative reviews it appears to me there is a pattern with not just one thing being negative but almost every thing in the review is sub par.

Let me state we have been on almost all Princess ships, big ones, little ones, and extra big ones which we try to stay away from, and have never had bad quality or badly prepared dinners in the MDR on any. Some ships better than others. But there is a difference in food preparers some are better than others and they move around.

Perhaps when a poster makes a sweeping statement on a problem they have read about they should do a little research to put that problem in perspective. And if they experienced a problem personally they can elaborate on it and also tell what they did to mediate it. JMO.

[ONT-CA]

To the many passengers aboard the Coral who read this site and who encouraged me to write what I did regarding the Coral Cuisine, I hope I have done the subject justice for they said they would be anxiously waiting to see my posting. Not everyone posts. My feeling about the ship in general are best expressed in my last posting of the item "Coral Cuisine"

 

The service aboard the ship was wonderful in both accommodation as well as the dining room. Waiters, assistant waiters, all did their best in an attempt to rectify that, which was well beyond their ability or control. Management cannot alter the outturn of the galley. They can and did make alternate suggestions. A Maitre d' principle responsibility is to the seating of the rooms.

 

The beds were comfortable. The Internet never worked so well in all our cruiing. Alternate food supply such as Pizza and Burgers were delicious. What was served to me in the main dining room was not up to Princess' standards nor ever should be.

[MHMarkL]

Where are the rash of complainers and where are the threads. I try to keep up with CC and rarely see complaints on either the Coral or Island which are probably are most sailed ships and if there is a problem or an issue on one of these ships we would like to know about it.

I went to the reviews section of CC to check reviews on the Coral and CC actually helps you out here, of the 282 reviews on the Coral "86% loved the food and gave it a 5 star rating" and if you read a very few negative reviews it appears to me there is a pattern with not just one thing being negative but almost every thing in the review is sub par.

Let me state we have been on almost all Princess ships, big ones, little ones, and extra big ones which we try to stay away from, and have never had bad quality or badly prepared dinners in the MDR on any. Some ships better than others. But there is a difference in food preparers some are better than others and they move around.

Perhaps when a poster makes a sweeping statement on a problem they have read about they should do a little research to put that problem in perspective. And if they experienced a problem personally they can elaborate on it and also tell what they did to mediate it. JMO.

 

My research has been reading the boards a whole lot the last several weeks. I am not going to find every thread again and quote each one or do a statistical analysis, this is just my observations. The OP, I and others have noticed the subject of poor food on the Coral brought up many times in recent weeks. Maybe it is just a few posters, posting to multiple threads. Maybe I am just extra sensitive to this subject since we are going on our first 14 day cruise on the Coral in March. Maybe there is some credibility to this observation and that is the reason the question is being raised on these boards for the opinions of other cruisers who may have had different experiences. Sounds like we may be making a mountain out of a molehill so that is good news.

 

I am in complete agreement with many of you that YOUR CRUISE experience is 90% attitude and 10% what happens. If your attitude is bad then your experience will be bad no matter what. We have always enjoyed Princess food and plan on doing in the future. It can’t hurt however to let Princess know if quality might be slipping in one area or on one ship.

 

I too work in the hospitality industry and have for many years. Our food service operation serves over 3000 meals a day during peak season. Each and every survey and opinion of our guests is reviewed and discussed to see how we can improve. It is true that specific complaints are easier to resolve than general complaints so I totally agree with your point about sweeping statements not being that productive. Ill take my 30 lashes with a fettuccine noodle.

[Beopthtuh]

the o.p.

is worried that only one part of her cruise experiance will be destroyed.

i hope you sail on the coral and if the foods not up to your liking let the waiter then the head waiter no and get it changed .

enjoy your cruise

[pablo222]

There have been several reports recently on Cruise Critic about the food in the MDR on the Coral. My sister and I (it's her first cruise and my 4th on Princess) will be on the Coral Jan. 17-31 LA to Ft. Louderdale.

 

Can you look into this and see what you can do to improve the food...we're really looking forward to good meals.

 

Let's see -- every week Princess embarks tens of thousands of people.

At the conclusion of each of their cruises, Princess invites them to fill

out a survey, rating such things as food quality.

 

So in the event of an actual problem, I guess Princess would

be ignoring all of those survey comments, but would read a

post on cruise critic and only then take action.

[SanDiegoSue]

I think the OP is referring to all the reports on the boards lately that specifically point out the Coral and the poor quality of the food in recent weeks. The numerous reports on the boards make one think that it may be a bigger problem than just “One persons yucky food is another's ambrosia”.

 

I too am concerned about this as we are sailing in March on the Coral. We have always enjoyed the Princess food in the MDR but the many complaints in the last few weeks have got us spooked as well.

 

Hopefully someone from Princess will read the many reports on these boards and presumably on evaluations from PAX. Hopefully they will take some action to quickly resolve the problems with food on the Coral and bring the quality back up to the level we have come to expect from Princess.

 

Yes, thank you, that was exactly what I was referring to...the recent postings from cruisers on Coral. Many complained about the food, even writing out complaints and talking with the executive chef.

 

But, I do agree that taste varies from one person to another. So perhaps my sister and I won't find it all that bad. On my past Princess cruises (Crown and Dawn) the food was good...not gourmet, but still good and in some cases very good.

 

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Sue (the original poster)

[SanDiegoSue]

Where are the rash of complainers and where are the threads. I try to keep up with CC and rarely see complaints on either the Coral or Island which are probably are most sailed ships and if there is a problem or an issue on one of these ships we would like to know about it.

 

I went to the reviews section of CC to check reviews on the Coral and CC actually helps you out here, of the 282 reviews on the Coral "86% loved the food and gave it a 5 star rating" and if you read a very few negative reviews it appears to me there is a pattern with not just one thing being negative but almost every thing in the review is sub par.

 

Let me state we have been on almost all Princess ships, big ones, little ones, and extra big ones which we try to stay away from, and have never had bad quality or badly prepared dinners in the MDR on any. Some ships better than others. But there is a difference in food preparers some are better than others and they move around.

 

Perhaps when a poster makes a sweeping statement on a problem they have read about they should do a little research to put that problem in perspective. And if they experienced a problem personally they can elaborate on it and also tell what they did to mediate it. JMO.

 

 

Here's the recent thread about the Coral cuisine:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1529040&highlight=coral

 

Sue

[venicecruiser]

We just got off the Coral Princess 12/20. The food in the MDR was excellent! We were in anytime dining.........

 

I do wish Princess would change the breakfast menu in the MDR a bit.

 

 

Claudia and Rod

[SanDiegoSue]

We just got off the Coral Princess 12/20. The food in the MDR was excellent! We were in anytime dining.........

 

I do wish Princess would change the breakfast menu in the MDR a bit.

 

 

Claudia and Rod

 

Thank you Claudia and Rod. So good to hear a positive comment from a recent sailing on Coral.

 

My sister and I are very excited about our upcoming cruise and expect to have a wonderful time. See, I've got the right POSITIVE attitude!! I guess I was just hoping that Princess had read the recent CC posts about food issues. Perhaps they did....

Sue

[spyro1952]

I was on the Coral 9/26, SF to FLL, and the food in the MDR was very good. Our waitress, Maureen was wonderful and made up for any little issue with the food. The Horizon court was ok, not wonderful, but we only had lunch there. Breakfast in the MDR was always good, especially the hot chocolate.

[Beopthtuh]

Thank you Claudia and Rod. So good to hear a positive comment from a recent sailing on Coral.

 

My sister and I are very excited about our upcoming cruise and expect to have a wonderful time. See, I've got the right POSITIVE attitude!! I guess I was just hoping that Princess had read the recent CC posts about food issues. Perhaps they did....

Sue

good for you sue.

princess are more likely to take note of 2000 passengers a week on the coral rather than 3 bad posts on c.c.

some people think the world evolves round c.c. and expect all cruise lines to take note of a few negitive posts on here .

most of us realise that the best way to change things is to be pro active and mention things there and then .

enjoy your cruise with your sister

[seamanfs]

On one of our cruises a woman of rather large size told my hubby and me that she had NOT found one edible thing on the ship in 2 weeks!!!! We said nothing but thought that's not the chief complaint of too many cruisers!!!! It takes all kinds, I guess!!!

[chsalas]

There have been several reports recently on Cruise Critic about the food in the MDR on the Coral. My sister and I (it's her first cruise and my 4th on Princess) will be on the Coral Jan. 17-31 LA to Ft. Louderdale.

 

Can you look into this and see what you can do to improve the food...we're really looking forward to good meals.

 

I'd like to continue sailing with Princess, but if the food is as bad as people are saying, I may switch to another line...I imagine a number of other people will follow.

 

Thank you

Sue

 

No issues with food, I had a bad apple today, should I tell Washington State Apple board to improve their product?

[Loonbeam]

Um, the Coral doesn't have a Michaelangelo dining room.

 

Sue,

 

My husband and I were on the Coral in October and the food was GREAT!

We did anytime dining in the Michelangelo but ate in both specialty restaurants and Horizon. The Coral has the best soft serve ice cream on Lido on all Princess ships. We rated food a 5 and we're pretty picky.

debby

[patrickmoran]

We were on the Coral in mid October for 2 weeks, ate every dinner in the MDR, and managed to gain 5 pounds. Do I need to say any more?! Food was very good.

[ldubs]

No issues with food, I had a bad apple today, should I tell Washington State Apple board to improve their product?

 

 

They would just tell you it is subjective :)