Princess Changes

[dclark]

I find the posts about food so subjective. We have sailed on nine Princess cruises since the menus changed the last time in late 2008/early 2009 and the last cruise was with the new menus. Quality hasn't changed much except for the lobster which is not that good any more. I have found the beef to be hit or miss and typically only eat the filet or sometimes prime rib. On all of those cruises there have only been soufflés about twice per week for dinner.

 

Nothing subjective, food has gone down hill. Comparing the Golden Alaska 2009 to Star Alaska last summer, the differences are pretty obvious.

2009 buffet- some sort of large shrimp dish was there almost daily. On four occassions, they had prime rib

2012- never saw a shrimp there, prime rib once. Very tough roast beef or ham was carved (cheaper meat).

2009 dining room had crab legs, table side desserts like bananas foster and cherries jubliee

2012- no crab, no table side desserts

2009- there were souffles served on four different days, one even during lunch in the mdr (!)

2012-souffle served only once

2009- Halibut served

2012 no halibut

2009- large shrimp, large scallops in main courses

2012 smaller shrimp, smaller scallops in main dishes

My point here is that they ARE using cheaper ingredients to save money

[IECalCruiser]

Nothing subjective, food has gone down hill. Comparing the Golden Alaska 2009 to Star Alaska last summer, the differences are pretty obvious.

2009 buffet- some sort of large shrimp dish was there almost daily. On four occassions, they had prime rib

2012- never saw a shrimp there, prime rib once. Very tough roast beef or ham was carved (cheaper meat).

2009 dining room had crab legs, table side desserts like bananas foster and cherries jubliee

2012- no crab, no table side desserts

2009- there were souffles served on four different days, one even during lunch in the mdr (!)

2012-souffle served only once

2009- Halibut served

2012 no halibut

2009- large shrimp, large scallops in main courses

2012 smaller shrimp, smaller scallops in main dishes

My point here is that they ARE using cheaper ingredients to save money

We were on the Golden for a B2B in Alaska this September. I can't comment on the buffet because we don't eat dinner there. Fresh halibut was served for lunch in the buffet both days after Ketchikan. The Golden picked up halibut there every cruise. There was orange soufflé for lunch in the MDR on embarkation day and passion fruit and milk chocolate soufflés for dinner in the MDR later in the week. I don't mind smaller sized items as long as the quality is good. As we have gotten old we eat smaller portions. It is true that crab legs are gone on the Alaskan cruises and there are not table side prepared deserts, but several desserts were prepared fresh in a central location in the MDR so almost the same. Everyone's experience does vary.

[AmberTeka]

Every person is different. Each ship is different. We just returned from a New Year's Eve cruise on the Caribbean Princess, and my husband an I both (never big fans of cruise food on any line) remarked that the food on Princess, MDR, was much better. He had a lot of seafood dishes..and I note Shrimp Danielle in particular as very good..and liked them all. I even had the fried chicken..and it was very good. The fettucini could have been fresher..but it was still good. The desserts were especially good.

We ate in the MDR for breakfast..and lunch usually.I mean..how could anyone complain? Good food...cooked as you wished..real eggs...and fast. Lunch..we had Rum Baba..yum. A chocolate thing that was really good ..big salads..a good hamburger..a small fried shrimp plate...

The buffet....seemed fine.

The wrapped sandwiches could have used some mayo..but no gripes other than that. I stayed away from the International Court...I was never hungry. The times I did go..the cookies..yum. The chocolate covered donought. Yum.

The coffee bar..NOW there is a problem. Usually ONE person worked there. Passengers were always lined up. The one time I went, I stood in a long line, while a Mom and DAd..ordered very time consuming drinks for the One staff person to make..and then let all of their many children come up and get ditto special coffee drinks..and they were very picky..how many grains of cinnamon on top...THAT IS INFURIATING. I SPOKE OUT. THE GUY AT THE COFFEE BAR..GAVE ME A FREE LATTE WHICH I DID NOT REQUEST..WAS RUDE TO ME..I NEVER WENT BACK.

MORE STAFF. OR ONE DRINK PER PASSENGER. IF YOU WANT A SPECIAL LATTEE STAND IN LINE WITH THE REST OF US.

Other than that......Loved the cruise. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Cruise Raider]

We were on the Star Princess last March and May, then on the Caribbean Princess in December.

We have sailed on the Caribbean Princess before and found everything to our liking. Once on the Star, we knew we were in for a huge disappointment. We boarded the ship and literally had to pick through the leftovers at the buffet just to get something to eat. Couldn't do it -- everything was just so disgusting. We had an early dinner and the MDR food was not a lot better. We found the tuna sandwich in the International Cafe was about the only decent finding -- but can you eat one of those breakfast, lunch and dinner for 15 days?? Yowsa. We actually ate in each port just for a decent meal. The May cruise on the Star showed little improvement and we out of many items (even catsup) by the last day. Really?? There was no catsup anywhere onboard??? I find that hard to believe they could run out of something so basic -- and English Muffins -- they gave us hamburger buns instead a couple of days. Really???

We always thought Princess had the best food out of all the mass market cruiselines, but this was a sorry disappointment and it seemed to go downhill really quickly.

We did sail on the Caribbean Princess in December -- only a 7 night cruise -- so thought we could always do tuna sandwhiches for that long -- and were pleasantly surprised. The food was quite good. For one, it seems like they do a decent job in the Cafe Caribe -- which is nonexistent on the Star. The MDR food was also much better -- as was the service.

 

So, whereas the overall food quality has gone down -- on some ships, the difference is drastic and on others, only barely noticeable.

[Stevesan]

Food quality on ships depends on the head chef, just as with land restaurants.

This thread is testament to that: comments range from excellent to lousy.

 

Maybe some ships need a visit from Gordon Ramsey!:p

[blazerjan]

I just hope Princess is reading this thread... cuz it seems to me it would be more cost effective to serve a higher quality of food one time then to have to serve one person two different meals because the first was not up to par and was sent back.................. just sayin!

[westendgirl]

We LOVE Princess and will be taking our 21st Princess cruise in April. We returned from a Crown TA (Rome to FTL) in Dec. and definitely noticed a difference in the food quality. We had been on the Star in SA Feb/Mar of last year, so it had only been a few months between cruises. And of course, quality differs from ship to ship and from head chef to head chef.

 

I appreciate the smaller portions because there's less waste. That having been said, on the last nite we ate in the MDR my husband ordered the pulled pork for something different. It was quite tasty but he only was served a couple tablespoons of the entree. You can always order more but that shouldn't be necessary. My favorite entree on past cruises was snapper with Thai sauce. This time it was inedible.

 

Princess pizza is well prepared and tasty (unless you prefer Chicago-style deep dish). We went to the pizzaria for lunch one day and there were no pizzas available - at noon??? We ate at the grill on a couple occasions and likewise, no burgers on the grill at noon. 15-20 min. wait for a burger at lunch. Poor management.

 

There are many very good selections and I don't mean to diss the entire department. We were offered escargot and lobster tails - who some report were MIA on other cruises - and we thoroughly enjoyed the Crown Grille, as always. But the food dept. does need a quality boost imo. It's not enough to prevent us from sailing Princess. Anxious to compare the Emerald in Apr. to see if their dining quality remains high.

[guxu]

Nothing subjective, food has gone down hill. Comparing the Golden Alaska 2009 to Star Alaska last summer, the differences are pretty obvious.

2009 buffet- some sort of large shrimp dish was there almost daily. On four occassions, they had prime rib

2012- never saw a shrimp there,

While I agree that the food quality is down, I did see shrimp every night in HC during our Christmas cruise on Caribbean Princess. But the problem for the buffet shrimp was they all dried out because they were on buffet table too long.

[SAC69]

Just off the CB and the food was very good, although I can't comment on cutbacks as it was my first Princess cruise.

[FritzG]

Due to family health issues we had not cruised since Nov. 2010. We were on the Emerald TA in September, and we noticed a difference in the food. There was never a time in the MDR where we couldn't find something to eat, but the quality was definitely down in our opinion. They were still using the old menus. They served steak 3x times, and esp. the rib-eye was of a very poor quality. Other dishes were fine, but the quality was not there. We especially noticed this in Horizon Court and the IC. I used to love the pastries in the morning, and now as someone mentioned earlier, they taste like frozen pastries. I think they stopped using real butter due to the texture and taste, but they could be frozen too. One of my big pleasures was lots of fresh fruit with a nice fresh Danish every morning. I didn't have a nice fresh Danish for the entire 16 days this time. So few items had the delicious taste we remember from our past cruises. In the IC the selection was much reduced. Instead of full cases like I've seen in pictures people have posted, there was a lot of space between items, and one shelf was just a decorative display--no food.

 

We're looking forward to our Hawaiian cruise on the Grand in April and hope to find better food with a different chef.

That being said, we still much prefer the food on Princess to that we had on the Celebrity Eclipse TA.

[drk]

We were just on the 10 day Christmas sailing of the Emerald. We thought the new menus were poor. Mostly thought they tried to "put lipstick on the pig" with fancy sounding sauces on very low grade cuts of meat. Almost no non-seafood appetizers. We ended up having several dinners at the buffet and twice just had pizza which was excellent. This was our 47th cruise across all the mass market lines and the first time no weight was gained....always a silver lining!

[sherryf]

Everyone seems to be complaining about these "new menus" as if they are totally new compared to the old ones. I haven't experienced the new menus yet, but I have seen them posted online and compared them with the old ones. In general, only one item from each category has been changed for each day. Wording may be a bit different (Italian Night now has fancy Italian names for everything that I can't pronounce) but the dishes seem to be essentially the same. Most of my favorite dishes (Goat Cheese Souffle, Eggplant Parmesan, Veggie Egg Rolls, Fettuccine Alfredo) are all still there. As for the burger, you could always get one if you requested it; they've just now added it officially to the menu. What's the big deal?! :eek:

[dclark]

It is true that crab legs are gone on the Alaskan cruises and there are not table side prepared deserts, but several desserts were prepared fresh in a central location in the MDR so almost the same. Everyone's experience does vary.

 

Crab legs are gone for good. We were on the Star 9 day NYE cruise a year ago in the southern carribean- no crab legs, no table side deserts and it wasn't like they were not prepared somewhere else; they didn't exist!

Cherries jubilee? Not served. Bananas foster? Not served. This was also the the first Princess cruise we were on where the coffee in the mdr was not brewed; it was undrinkable syrup.

Based on all the posts here, it can be concluded that Princess food quality is going down hill. Much of it has nothing to do with who the "master chef" is as he doesn't make the food, others do and nothing can be done to turn a cheap tough piece of the roast beef into a prime rib.

[caviargal]

Has anyone noticed the changes in the food quality on Princess ships or isit just me? We were on the Emerald in November and are just off the Grand and we noticed a definite change in the food. It was almost impossible to get a decent steak in the dining room, the pasta dishes were not as good, and at breakfast the pastry didn't taste as fresh and the sausages tasted different. The menus were not as appealing to us as the old menus were. We love the soufflés at dinner but got them only twice instead of most every night. And maybe it was the Grand Princess service which didn't seem quite as good as the service we received on the Emerald.

?

 

Cannot comment on how much it has changed recently as we had not been on Princess since 1995 before sailing on the Grand on 12/22. We thought the food overall was pretty poor and only ate in the MDR twice total and never at HC. Even the specialty dining was not memorable, though one meal at Sabatini was good.

 

We did not care for the menus in the MDR. Seems like they a lot of fussy choices, rather than offering simply prepared, high quality food.

 

We ended up at Alfredo's on a number of lunches and dinners and that was truly the best food on the ship. That and International Cafe were the main places we chose to eat as food quality was better. We also took advantage of restaurants in port at every opportunity.

 

Very disappointing for us and we had modest expectations.

 

Our room showed its age but was clean.

[aaerobear]

A couple of points

 

1. a hamburger on the menu is brilliant. many families have a hard time finding something that the kids will eat and now and then a hamburger is just the thing.

 

2. one poster asked how many of you answered the online survey and not one of you answered his question which would indicate that you didn't answer it. You would rather complain here than go right to the source that would or could change things. I always answer the survey by the way.

[OnVacation11]

On the Emerald, the shrimp salad in IC is now called Shrimp and Fennel salad... and it is mostly finely cut fennel with few shrimp added.

Depending when you show up in IC, you may get an even mix of shrimp and fennel or just fennel if several customers got there before you.

[caribill]

 

1. a hamburger on the menu is brilliant. many families have a hard time finding something that the kids will eat and now and then a hamburger is just the thing.

 

 

A hamburger has always been available in the dining room as it is on the children's menu. It could be ordered by a child or an adult.

 

But by taking a promenant spot on the adult dinner menu every evening, it has replaced an item that no doubt cost Princess more to serve.

[FritzG]

On the Emerald, the shrimp salad in IC is now called Shrimp and Fennel salad... and it is mostly finely cut fennel with few shrimp added.

Depending when you show up in IC, you may get an even mix of shrimp and fennel or just fennel if several customers got there before you.

 

I hate fennel so I didn't have any shrimp salad on my last Emerald cruise--I was very disappointed.

[guxu]

A hamburger has always been available in the dining room as it is on the children's menu. It could be ordered by a child or an adult.

 

But by taking a promenant spot on the adult dinner menu every evening, it has replaced an item that no doubt cost Princess more to serve.

I ordered the half lb hamburger the 1st night but was a little disappointed. It is not bad, but not great either.

[swedish weave]

A hamburger has always been available in the dining room as it is on the children's menu. It could be ordered by a child or an adult.

 

But by taking a promenant spot on the adult dinner menu every evening, it has replaced an item that no doubt cost Princess more to serve.

 

I just got back from the grocery store, and hamburger is $3.99 a pound. Chicken breasts are $1.99 a pound. Somebody needs to tell Princess that they should replace the hamburger with chicken breasts !!:D

[Teris50]

I was on the Golden Hawaii sailing Dec 5, and I thought the food was excellant. Of course you had to read the whole menu, and then make requests from one dish to the other, but we received what we ordered. One night they had Prime rib with whatever, and then the vegetarian meal was tempura shrimp and veggies, so I casually mentioned at the table that I was going to order the PRIME RIB, only and then the Tempura dish. All 6 of us placed that order and it was YUMMY! You just have to be creative when looking at the menu. AND the fettuccine alfredo was to die for! TOTAL comfort food for me!! We did eat at the Crown Grill twice, and that was excellant also!

[gertz]

Food is like cruises. Never had a bad cruise or food on a Princess Ship.

 

Some excellent some only good but never bad. And with all the dining options finding something you like to eat should be doable. Unlike a crowded ship, which it seems a lot of people like.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I realize that these are no longer traditional comment cards, but these days are on-line surveys... nevertheless...

 

For those who have strong opinions about the food (whether positive or negative)-- are you reporting your opinions in the post-cruise surveys? I hope so-- that is the only meaningful way to provide feedback to Princess and hopefully provoke changes to the extent that changes are needed.

 

My last cruise was 15 months ago, so I don't have current data (although I will soon :D), but if the food quality has in fact deteriorated Princess needs to hear about that. I hope that if they receive significant feedback they will act on it. But we have to provide that feedback to Princess, and not just gripe to one another.

 

We were given a paper survey to note comments, so on disembarkation morning, last Wednesday, I dropped off that along with "made a difference" cards. Hopefully tonight, I can get the three of us together to fill out the email survey.

 

Every person is different. Each ship is different. We just returned from a New Year's Eve cruise on the Caribbean Princess, and my husband an I both (never big fans of cruise food on any line) remarked that the food on Princess, MDR, was much better. He had a lot of seafood dishes..and I note Shrimp Danielle in particular as very good..and liked them all. I even had the fried chicken..and it was very good. The fettucini could have been fresher..but it was still good. The desserts were especially good.

We ate in the MDR for breakfast..and lunch usually.I mean..how could anyone complain? Good food...cooked as you wished..real eggs...and fast. Lunch..we had Rum Baba..yum. A chocolate thing that was really good ..big salads..a good hamburger..a small fried shrimp plate...

The buffet....seemed fine.

The wrapped sandwiches could have used some mayo..but no gripes other than that. I stayed away from the International Court...I was never hungry. The times I did go..the cookies..yum. The chocolate covered donought. Yum.

The coffee bar..NOW there is a problem. Usually ONE person worked there. Passengers were always lined up. The one time I went, I stood in a long line, while a Mom and DAd..ordered very time consuming drinks for the One staff person to make..and then let all of their many children come up and get ditto special coffee drinks..and they were very picky..how many grains of cinnamon on top...THAT IS INFURIATING. I SPOKE OUT. THE GUY AT THE COFFEE BAR..GAVE ME A FREE LATTE WHICH I DID NOT REQUEST..WAS RUDE TO ME..I NEVER WENT BACK.

MORE STAFF. OR ONE DRINK PER PASSENGER. IF YOU WANT A SPECIAL LATTEE STAND IN LINE WITH THE REST OF US.

Other than that......Loved the cruise. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I noticed on the Golden, there was often a line for the coffee at the IC. I usually went there for the cookies or desserts. Did have a wait once as the worker was futzing with replacing the soup. Fortunately, one worker saw me and asked if I was waiting for a sweet. She served me the goodies I wanted.

[shofer]

On the Emerald, the shrimp salad in IC is now called Shrimp and Fennel salad... and it is mostly finely cut fennel with few shrimp added.

Depending when you show up in IC, you may get an even mix of shrimp and fennel or just fennel if several customers got there before you.

 

On the Grand this past February we tried the IC for the first time and I LOVED the shrimp salad so much I had it 3x the first day. Would be so disappointed if it is also downgraded.

 

Sue

[ssbeagle]

we were on the Grand dec-8 thru 15. We had excellent services by ALL depts, including our cabin steward.

 

As already mentioned, the menu has changed. our main issue is the offering of a hamburger in the MDR. We feel it should be offered as part of the MDR menu. If someone wants a burger, they can go to the grill., but please not in the MDR.

 

Once we got our cabin straightened out we had fairly good service from our steward. He did the best he could having 20 cabins to take care of daily and two of those were suites. I don't know what happened that he missed the mess in our cabin and didn't notice the broken door and safe. Of course, he couldn't see the safe because the door was shut and couldn't be opened.

 

DH and I along with my mother just returned from the NYE CB cruise and all three of us found the MDR menus to be uninspired. This was the first time that I have ordered off of the 'always available' menu for three dinners. The dessert selection was particularly disappointing as there appeared to be only two options which changed each day. All of that said, we never left hungry and enjoyed ourselves. Our biggest disappointment in terms of food quality was with the filet mignon - everyone at our table commented on how tough the meat was.

 

The hamburger was definitely a low quality meat. I used to like the burgers and on the first day I had one on the Grand and it was so bad I couldn't finish it. We have also gotten meatballs that are not cooked all the way through (pink in the middle) but they claim it's because of the stuff they put in it. I eat so much chicken at home that I prefer not to eat it when I am on vacation but one night I had the fried chicken on the menu and it was very good as was the chicken wings. But the beef is terrible; even the prime rib served was tougher than usual. Princess definitely needs to improve the quality of the food they serve. After 28 cruises with Princess this is the first time I have complained about the quality of the food. I used to say Princess food was better than RCL and other similar lines but now I'm not so sure.