Food on Holland?

[mommy5]

We recently took our 6th cruise with Princess on the Emerald and were very disappointed with the food and the bed was horrible. So many of the dishes were strange, and not very tasty to us. It is alot of money to spend and then eat pizza and hamburgers all week. I have heard the menu on Holland is more pleasing to the American palate....any input from Holland lovers??

Deb

[tangerinebunny]

First, the beds are as good as people claim.

 

You can cruise for a week, never pay for the specialty restaurant and still eat well. There are a few misses here and there, but we've never left the table hungry. And there are always safe choices if one of your group wants simple.

 

I'd rate it far above places like O'Charley's, Applebees, and Olive Garden - all places I'd give C-'s.

 

B+ from me.

[Hlitner]

We recently took our 6th cruise with Princess on the Emerald and were very disappointed with the food and the bed was horrible. So many of the dishes were strange, and not very tasty to us. It is alot of money to spend and then eat pizza and hamburgers all week. I have heard the menu on Holland is more pleasing to the American palate....any input from Holland lovers??

Deb

 

We are Elite with Princess and 4 Star Mariners with HA...and think that HA certainly has better beds then on Princess. As to food, we have noticed various cut-backs on HA similar to what has happened to both Princess and RCI. Regarding pizza, we have long thought that the pizza on Princess is the best at sea and the pizza on HA among the worst :) On the other hand, there are other things on HA that are far better then on Princess.

 

I should add that we will have cruised for 76 days on HA in 2012....and 37 on Celebrity. When it comes to food and entertainment we think that Celebrity is currently far superior to both HA and Princess and they also have very good beds (on their newer ships).

 

Hank

[peaches from georgia]

We recently took our 6th cruise with Princess on the Emerald and were very disappointed with the food and the bed was horrible. So many of the dishes were strange, and not very tasty to us. It is alot of money to spend and then eat pizza and hamburgers all week. I have heard the menu on Holland is more pleasing to the American palate....any input from Holland lovers??

Deb

We have never cruised on Princess and haven't heard much about the food. I was wondering what some of the "strange" dishes were that sent you to eating pizza and hamburgers all week.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are also 4 star Mariners on HAL (way, way past 200 days) and Elite on Princess.

We left Princess years ago because the food went down hill.

Our last few cruises on HAL we were not impressed with HAL's food. Just an example -- beef is of a lower quality and is tough.

Now remember -- food is subjective. What you like -- we may not like and vice versa.

[cruising cockroach]

New to cruising and sailed both lines this year. I'd say the food is pretty similar. There seems to be more finesse on Princess when it comes to fresh fruits (e.g., citrus fruits properly segmented vs. very crudely cut but this may be due to availability of machine-cut citrus in California vs. loading up in Rome.) Some of the breakfasts on HAL need to be worked on: The Japanese breakfast will disappoint and the corn beef hash strangely has tomato chunks in it.

 

Meat (quality and preparation) on HAL is very good, as was the seafood I tried.

 

Desserts on HAL can be good, or downright awful (as I read in another thread, probably a good thing). Had a few Indonesian teas onboard and unfortunately the sweets ("kuah") were generally awful given an primarily Indonesia-staffed galley. The 4* sitting next to us at dinner thought that Rudi may stick his fingers into every single recipe and how its made. I think Princess desserts were better. Scones on HAL were consistently good while they were hit or miss on Princess. Bakery on both were good.

 

Sample of 5 nts on (Island) Princess vs. 15 nights on HAL (Prinsendam).

[O2B@C]

HAL menus tend to include some more exotic dishes and some more familiar ones. And there is (or at least used to be) "always available" chicken breast, grilled salmon, and steak in the MDR, so you won't have to resort to burgers and pizza at dinner if none of the evening's specialties appeal to you. Plus there is Canaletto in the evening (for a $10/pp surcharge) which has Italian dishes, some more adventurous (osso buco), but many you will no doubt find familiar, including spaghetti and meatballs. And Pinnacle Grill ($25/pp surcharge), where you can get a really good steak.

 

So give HAL a try.

 

And do give some of those less familiar dishes a try too - you may be pleasantly surprised! :) You can always send it back and order something else if you really don't like it.

[awh]

The Japanese breakfast will disappoint

 

Just like a genuine Japanese breakfast!

 

and the corn beef hash strangely has tomato chunks in it.

 

I wasn't aware that that was strange. Must be a regional thing?

[headhunterke]

We are also 4 star Mariners on HAL (way, way past 200 days) and Elite on Princess.

We left Princess years ago because the food went down hill.

Our last few cruises on HAL we were not impressed with HAL's food. Just an example -- beef is of a lower quality and is tough.

Now remember -- food is subjective. What you like -- we may not like and vice versa.

 

I don't agree with you here on the beef part. In March, we took a 7 day and I had beef on several occassions and never I've found it to be tough. Not sure when your last cruise was, but ours in March, the food was of very good quality for a cruise line.

[mollyanne]

We always thought the Princess food was very good - the last cruise not so much. Am interested to see how HAL compares.

[mr green]

On our last cruises with Princess, and Hal, we found the food reasonable on both, but not as good as it used to be.

 

john

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We did B2B cruises on HAL/Princess in September; the first week on HAL, the second on Princess. For this particular time frame I would say HAL food was better in the MDR - better choices on the always available side and generally better tasting over all. We had not been on Princess in a year and could see a definite decline in preparation and taste.

 

In the buffet, I found that Princess had greatly decreased their choices for breakfast and lunch whereas HAL was the same as the last time we were on them which was February.

 

As everyone notes, food is subjective and this is one woman's opinion over a two week time frame.

[trixiee]

We always thought the Princess food was very good - the last cruise not so much. Am interested to see how HAL compares.

 

Have always enjoyed the HAL food. Last cruise wad with Princess, as the itinerary interested us. The food was terrible! First cruise where I didn't gain any weight! :o

[dag144]

Holland America's beds are the best. Was on a cruise a couple of weeks ago. The air was not too cool for a night or two. I pulled off the quilts and fell asleep. It got cooler and I just pulled up the quilt --COOL. Princess like Royal C is more efficient with the bed making, but the covers are heavy (think your dentist chair during x-ray session).

 

I like Princess fare better than HAL's. To me HAL food is similar to a niece's wedding at a middling hotel, banquet food. Princess reminds me at least of a real restaurant - and Horizon Court is much better than the warmed over Lido at dinner, soiled table clothes and closing at 8pm.

 

Going on Princess in a few weeks. They are both good and bad. If you like to sleep go HAL. If you like svelte go HAL. The opposite goes for Princess. Me, I like them both>:)

[Himself]

I have been sailing on HAL since November of 1996 and I have yet to have a bad meal.

[PathfinderEss]

I know food is subjective but I think Hal food is better then Princess and Hal bed are awesome.

[iancal]

Our experience is that Hal has much better beds (so does Carnival for that matter). Each time we have been on Princess we have asked for a mattress topper-and I resent the fact that I hav to ask. If it were a land based hotel I would just go somewhere else. If it matters, we find that Princess has the absolute worst coffee on the high seas.

 

As for food and MDR service overall we do not find a great deal of difference between Princess and HAL. Princess odes havemuch, much better buffet hours. At the end of the day, MDR food is essentially well presented banquet food.

 

We have found that food can really vary between ships and between sailings. We have had good and Mediocre on both lines. Sometimes they like to 'dress' up the presentation but thebottom line on both lines is that while presentation is always good....the food has to be made from good ingredients and prepared correctly. Both lines are declining in quality.

[KirkNC]

We recently took our 6th cruise with Princess on the Emerald and were very disappointed with the food and the bed was horrible. So many of the dishes were strange, and not very tasty to us. It is alot of money to spend and then eat pizza and hamburgers all week. I have heard the menu on Holland is more pleasing to the American palate....any input from Holland lovers??

Deb

 

First I can almost guarantee you will like the beds better. Food is very subjective but we have found it to range from good to occasionally excellent.

[dr.dawg]

honestly, i would not cruise hal or any other mass market, mainstream cruise line for the quality of the food. hal is no better than carnival or any of the rest in that category. on hal, i like the lido for lunch, because often, not always, there are interesting new entrees to choose from and try out. and, so far, i have loved the pinnacle; the steaks are just superb, though the rest of it is not. as for the rest of it, i eat better at home. but, on a cruise i don't have to cook it or clean up; that is the perk of cruising for me. not the quality of the food.

[Mary Ellen]

Having sailed on the Emerald Princess pretty recently I can assure you that the beds are definitely better on HAL. Food is subjective, but for me the selection in the MDR and on the buffet is better on HAL. It wasn't a good sign that about half the options each night were from the 'always available' menu. Quality - hmmm, after the first night on the Emerald, when a tablemate complained about how cold the food was, it was served at the appropiate temperature - or at least pretty darn close to it. The butter wouldn't melt on the baked potato my friend was served that first night. I don't think anyone else's food was any warmer. Mine wasn't. We've never encountered that in our 30+ years on HAL. Room service is far superior on HAL.. Princess does have more entertainment options in the evening.

[CruisingWalter]

We recently took our 6th cruise with Princess on the Emerald and were very disappointed with the food and the bed was horrible. So many of the dishes were strange, and not very tasty to us. It is alot of money to spend and then eat pizza and hamburgers all week. I have heard the menu on Holland is more pleasing to the American palate....any input from Holland lovers??

Deb

 

You can follow my Live thread on the Nieuw Amsterdam 11-18-2012 on here. We have been underwhelmed by the Main Dining room so far, but the buffet and definitely Tamarind has been good. I've been posting from the ship each day and will file another report after dinner tonight.

[Taz]

I found the food on HAL to be very nice to look at, but largely tasteless. Hot food was never served any warmer than lukewarm, even when I returned dishes that were served cold and asked for a hot replacement. The beds were awesome.

[Hawaiidan]

Carnival corp has designed a series of ship experiences, each slightly better than the one before

Starting at Carnival and progressing to Seabourn. Each time you co up a line withing the company the product gets s little better

Basicaly Carnival-Costa-Princess-Holland-Cunard-Sebourn

 

Royal Caribbean - does this too all the way to Azamar.

 

So moving Princess to Holland America will always be a bit better in a variety of respects ; it wont be perfect... To get to that level you need to jump streight to first class Cunard and Seabourn. Or an other luxury line that focuses on cuisine.

 

That said, I have never has a poor meal with Holland America in any venue with my favorite being the Lido followed by Tamarind. Wonderful and exotic combos to play with. I am not a main dining room guy in the mass market lines

 

But food is subjective as as the humorist Jean Sheppard once quoted of his father;

"People only really like to eat meat and potatoes... they only eat othere stuff to impress each other"

The comment on "strange dishes made me think of that. and yes Hash with roasted tomatoes and peppers or onion is very common...

 

Remember...only you can dissapoint you.. and likewise please you.

[vicocala]

The comment on "strange dishes made me think of that. and yes Hash with roasted tomatoes and peppers or onion is very common...

 

Remember...only you can disappoint you.. and likewise please you.

 

Not in the eastern United States it isn't, corned beef and potatoes is the norm. Not that the other doesn't sound good, but it wouldn't be what I would expect either.

[Minoushka]

I have been on many different ships from the same company and found some better than others

I think food on the GRAND Princess was wonderful ...a pleasure every night

AS was food on MILLENIUM

and Caribbean Princess

Carnival Dream

best brekfast on EPIC

Best specialty restaurants hands down NORWEGIAN EPIC ,,, and the Brazilian steak house and other specialty restaurant...name escapes me now .... with the unbelievable salad bar ..was absolutely scrumptrious ...the very best

plus EPIC has THE VERY BEST Cinnamon Pecan rolls at brekfast

LOve English Breakfast on ALL princess ships

Lunch the best on Carnival with freshly made Chinese food

 

I love ships