Princess Coffee solution (sort of)

[Talisker92]

My wife's sons bought us a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas which we did not want and thought we would not like. After trying it for a week with all the different coffees, we absolutely love it!

We will be going on a 28 day South American cruise in February, and my wife asked if Keurig makes a smaller one that we could take possibly with us. I went on-line and found a small one, and she was really excited about it. I then pointed out that if we each drank 4 cups of coffee in the morning, we would have to take 224 of the little cups with us! She even went so far as to suggest we could have them shipped to ports of call on the cruise. That gives you an idea of how good this coffee is.

Well that killed that idea, so we will buy a coffee card to get brewed coffee from the IC since we now know what really good coffee tastes like. The downside is that one of us will have to go down to the IC first thing in the morning to get it.

Guess who is elected?

[Hornet]

Well, it is worth the trip for the good coffee. We have a Keurig too and I love that coffee machine. Wish we could order the good stuff from room service.

[TracieABD]

You can also try the Via packets from Starbucks.

[jb008]

It might be worth getting some input from some others recently coming off your ship.

 

We just sailed on Ruby and found the dining room and buffet coffee to be a huge improvement over what was on the Crown in 2008. In fact, we had some self-professed coffee connoisseurs at our dining room table (myself included) and we were well pleased by the coffee. My first purchase was a coffee card when I boarded and I found that I didn't really need it since the coffee at the breakfast buffet and elsewhere was perfectly adequate (and didn't taste like the coffee concentrate of my past 4 cruises).

 

As some alternatives, there are some great little refillable keurig compatible pods that you can use loose ground coffee with, and the Starbucks via coffee packets suggested by TracieABD are also very solid caffeine delivery vehicles (though a tad pricey). You could pack a refillable pod or two, then just pick up some fresh coffee at various ports, interchange with pods you pack, and bring along some via packets for use in "emergencies". But if the coffee on your upcoming cruise is the same as what was found on Ruby a few weeks ago, I think you'll be fine just drinking what's available for free on-board.

 

Edit: I started a thread on the main page about coffee in general on Princess. Might be of some help to you with your dilemma. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36481857#post36481857

[caviargal]

You can also try the Via packets from Starbucks.

 

We took these on the Grand last week and were delighted that we did. While the specialty coffees were ok, the brewed extra charge coffee was too weak for us and the free coffee was just bad. When we wanted a regular cup of coffee, these worked out perfectly.

[pablo222]

The downside is that one of us will have to go down to the IC first thing in the morning to get it.

Guess who is elected?

 

Bring the keurig, and have your first cup in your cabin.

We have a small one that we frequently take on road trips.

On cruises, wonderful husband treks to i.cafe for fresh

brewed each morning. (which is pretty easy to do, as

I am usually killing time, waiting for the gym to open)

 

Also, you can buy a re-usable 'k-cup' for the keurig, and

fill it with ground coffee. Ground coffee should be pretty

easy to obtain 'along the way'.

 

On the other hand, my coffee-a-aholic is satisified with

brewed coffee (and 5-6 speciality coffees per day) from

the i.cafe, so we don't drag the keurig on cruises.

[Kinkacruiser]

We took a jar of Moccona Espresso on the last cruise, but rarely used it. Surprise, surprise, the coffee in the HC has vastly improved.

[cjpj]

The Keuring will likely be confinscated as heating elements, kettles, irons, etc. are not allowed. If you are going to take it, put it in your carryon luggage and not your checked luggage.

[mikjr]

You can also try the Via packets from Starbucks.

 

you can get a good deal on VIA packets from Costco... we always take a couple of VIA 12 packs, but buy the coffee card also.

[paul929207]

My wife's sons bought us a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas which we did not want and thought we would not like. After trying it for a week with all the different coffees, we absolutely love it!

We will be going on a 28 day South American cruise in February, and my wife asked if Keurig makes a smaller one that we could take possibly with us. I went on-line and found a small one, and she was really excited about it. I then pointed out that if we each drank 4 cups of coffee in the morning, we would have to take 224 of the little cups with us! She even went so far as to suggest we could have them shipped to ports of call on the cruise. That gives you an idea of how good this coffee is.

Well that killed that idea, so we will buy a coffee card to get brewed coffee from the IC since we now know what really good coffee tastes like. The downside is that one of us will have to go down to the IC first thing in the morning to get it.

Guess who is elected?

Steve,

Congratulations on your victory in the big election. :)

[ChevyCruiser]

The coffee in the HC is, if nothing else, consistent - consistently bad. We once had someone come around at breakfast in the HC with a clipboard and chef's hat and ask several questions about breakfast, service, etc. Our only negative comments were the waiters not washing/sanitizing their hands between bussing tables and setting tables AND how bad the coffee is. In fact, we told the chef person, we bring our own jar of Tasters Choice instant and prefer it to the swill from the tap. She had quite a shocked look on her face - like we were the only ones who had ever complained about the coffee.

[pablo222]

The Keuring will likely be confinscated as heating elements, kettles, irons, etc. are not allowed. If you are going to take it, put it in your carryon luggage and not your checked luggage.

 

This isn't true. Kettles, etc. with thermostats ARE allowed.

Irons are not good for heating water, and are not allowed.

[Coral]

I unfortunately bought this for my mom around Thanksgiving. $150 later (not including the purchase of the machine), I think we have figured out the flavors she likes and doesn't like. This gift seems to have cost me a $$$ and is one that seems to "keep on giving" on my part.......

 

I bought it because she was only drinking one cup and she was throwing out a whole pot every day. She is now a 4 cupper a day person.

 

--------

 

Though you do have a decent idea. Princess could put Keurig machines in at various places and charge a $1 a k-cup and everyone would be happy assuming they provided a good variety of brands/flavors.

[Talisker92]

Dear Coral,

My wife and I cracked up at your post. When we recently stayed at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, they had the machines in the rooms and charged $10 for 4 cups!

If we ever go there again, we will take our own LOL

[jrzebird]

Personally, while I do get a coffee card for specialty coffee for breakfast and late afternoon, I have not one complaint with the coffee in the HC or dining room.

 

I really am a coffee snob and on my first Princess cruise the coffee was undrinkable, but has since vastly improved.

 

I also have a Keurig at home and have considered getting the smaller one for travel. But, carrying around the pods and cream, and the pot, seems like a lot when I find the coffee onboard just fine. As for VIA, personally, I don't like Starbucks and their VIA would be a last ditch effort for me, although I do bring it to my son's when I visit him.

[biker1972]

You can get a French press coffee maker from Green Mountain or another source.These are allowed because there is no heating element. Get a pot of hot water from room service or go to the buffet. Get your gound coffee from Green Mountain. Many of the flavors and brands that are in K-cups are available from Green Mountain as ground coffee or beans. Be sure to register any new brewers on the Kuerig website to get a free box of K-cups. Lastly, the Mini brewer was redesigned several years ago and is not nearly as travel friendly as the new Mini. The old one even came with a travel bag.

[bjkTX]

You can also try the Via packets from Starbucks.

 

I don't normally have much of a problem with the coffee, and in our experience the "fresh brewed" coffee was actually worse. We typically get a pot of coffee and a pot of tea from room service in the morning and now and then I will add a packet of Via to the pot of coffee to crank it up just a bit :-)

[Potstech]

I unfortunately bought this for my mom around Thanksgiving. $150 later (not including the purchase of the machine), I think we have figured out the flavors she likes and doesn't like. This gift seems to have cost me a $$$ and is one that seems to "keep on giving" on my part.......

 

I bought it because she was only drinking one cup and she was throwing out a whole pot every day. She is now a 4 cupper a day person.

 

--------

 

Though you do have a decent idea. Princess could put Keurig machines in at various places and charge a $1 a k-cup and everyone would be happy assuming they provided a good variety of brands/flavors.

 

They make a commercial grade one that I have seen in several places that would work perfect on ships.

[Alaskanb]

The Keuring will likely be confinscated as heating elements, kettles, irons, etc. are not allowed. If you are going to take it, put it in your carryon luggage and not your checked luggage.

Electrical water heaters with automatic shut-offs are allowed

[Woobstr112G]

My bet is the K will be confiscated...,,

 

Bob

[Hockeylovinmom]

I take it there are no coffee makers in the cabins. Can you order room service coffee in the morning? Does it cost extra? Is it any good? The last time we sailed Princess ( 5 or 6 years ago), the coffee was very good. I hope we are not disappointed this time!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[rdsqrl]

I take it there are no coffee makers in the cabins. Can you order room service coffee in the morning? Does it cost extra? Is it any good? The last time we sailed Princess ( 5 or 6 years ago), the coffee was very good. I hope we are not disappointed this time!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

No, there aren't.

Yes, you can.

No, it doesn't.

Depends on one's taste; since you liked it 5 or 6 years ago, you probably still will.

 

 

[Hondu]

Look into buying coffee in packets from Organo Gold.

[jrzebird]

Look into buying coffee in packets from Organo Gold.

 

Do that, but also try the coffee onboard. I'm pretty confident you'll be pleasantly surprised. or not ...

[skf]

Dunno if this will help, but you can get (for about $14.99) a permanent replacement for the k-cups. You have this lttle receptacle you put your own coffee into from the can. If you like to try the local coffee I guess this would work so you wouldn't have to wait to get home to try it.

Steve