How's the Coffee???

[Jen & Kim]

We are cruising this September on Rhapsody of the Seas and were wondering how good the coffee is on the ship. We are pretty picky about our coffee and want to know what to expect.

 

Thanks!!!

[cruisin from florida]

We just came off the Explorer last Sunday. I thought the coffee was a lot better than it was when we sailed two years ago. It was VERY strong, and I ended up using more half&half than I usually do, but I'd choose strong coffee over weak any day.

 

Is it as good as we have at home, where we grind our beans every morning? No. But it wasn't so bad that I would have used the luggage space to bring our coffee maker, and the fact that it was brought to us by room service and drunk out on the balcony raised the quality tremendously. :-)

[dlbutler5]

It's hot and black!

[BobBeaSea]

A little Baileys in your coffee will help the taste, great in the morning if you are on your balcony or up on deck:D . The coffee is not the best in the world but it is drinkable.

[Nliedel]

It's uniformly horrific. I am not a coffee snob but I like decent coffee and I have never once had it on a cruise. I wish I had a better report but I don't. I am sorry. However, when desperate for coffee I can drink it and enjoy it. Sitting in a deck chair on a deserted deck in an out of the way spot at 6 am makes pretty much any coffee taste decent. It's why I will cheerfully drink instant when I camp :)

[sk8man]

On all 3 of our sailings the coffee has been great. No worries. We drink fresh ground coffee every morning and the ships coffee is fine.

[Jen & Kim]

Has anyone ever taken a coffee pot? I have a percolator that packs very nicely...it's accompanied me on many a vacation. Is that even allowed?

[Nliedel]

I think it is allowed but man... I am glad you do it but I am on vacation and making coffee is not something I do on vacation :)

[susanNjay]

It is advertised to be some kind of "Seattle's Best" Coffee...to me it is very strong. Everyone at our table had to use cream and sugar and extra cream and sugar to get the taste toned down a bit. Several of these were people who said they usually drank their coffee "black." By the second day in the dining room, you will know how much sugar and creamer to add to get it right! :)

 

If you want to drink coffee on the deck, my suggestion is to go back into the Windjammer to get coffee there. I made the mistake of getting coffee from the dispenser that is outside of the Windjammer doors one day, and it was even stronger! Room service coffee tasted like the dining room's coffee.

 

Once I got the right combination for the creamer and sugar, I did manage to enjoy the coffee. ;)

 

--Susan

[mrg0433]

Believe me--it is not the best. It is brewed strong like European Coffee probably based on the fact that the chefs are often European.

 

In October I am bringing some instant coffee onboard Jewel of the Seas and will ask for a pot of water to mix my own coffee because the coffee was that bad on our Legend of the Seas cruise in March.

 

On our last Norwegian cruise, we had coffee pots with instant Sanka and Maxwell House packets in our cabin. Our fridge had fresh creamers every day. I hope Royal Caribbean has coffee pots in their balcony cabins. I don't even know whether we have fridges or not. One more thing to look into. Perhaps I should bring my own coffee pot. Anybody ever do that?

[slk230red]

Believe me--it is not the best. It is brewed strong like European Coffee probably based on the fact that the chefs are often European.

 

In October I am bringing some instant coffee onboard Jewel of the Seas and will ask for a pot of water to mix my own coffee because the coffee was that bad on our Legend of the Seas cruise in March.

 

On our last Norwegian cruise, we had coffee pots with instant Sanka and Maxwell House packets in our cabin. Our fridge had fresh creamers every day. I hope Royal Caribbean has coffee pots in their balcony cabins. I don't even know whether we have fridges or not. One more thing to look into. Perhaps I should bring my own coffee pot. Anybody ever do that?

 

I always take my Taster's Choice with me just in case. The coffee onboard is usually weak, in my opinion. I take my insulated coffee mug with me to breakfast with the instant coffee already in it and just add the hot water, half & half, and raw sugar (the brown packets). At least I know that I will get my caffeine fix.:D

[wrp96]

Believe me--it is not the best. It is brewed strong like European Coffee probably based on the fact that the chefs are often European.

 

In October I am bringing some instant coffee onboard Jewel of the Seas and will ask for a pot of water to mix my own coffee because the coffee was that bad on our Legend of the Seas cruise in March.

 

On our last Norwegian cruise, we had coffee pots with instant Sanka and Maxwell House packets in our cabin. Our fridge had fresh creamers every day. I hope Royal Caribbean has coffee pots in their balcony cabins. I don't even know whether we have fridges or not. One more thing to look into. Perhaps I should bring my own coffee pot. Anybody ever do that?

 

No coffee pots provided in the cabins.

[herecomesthesun]

I suppose it is just a matter of taste, because a lot of people equate strong with good when it comes to coffee. Not myself, but a lot of self-proclaimed "coffee snobs". Of course, there's a huge difference between a bold coffee and a bitter one.

 

Question: How good are the espresso drinks? I know that Voyager class ships offer espresso drinks like cappicinos and lattes at Cafe Promenade, and was wondering if the baristas were skilled and if the drinks were made well, as espresso is definitely an art. I love white mochas, but I'm pretty picky about them.

[jwlane]

Rhapsody of the Seas ...how good the coffee is on the ship.

 

Ya' know, last February when we cruised Rhapsody I noticed they had changed the coffee dispensers outside the Windjammer and saw they had some sort of clear dome on the top with grounds. I think that coffee was better than in the past. Now, I may have just not noticed before, but think it is an ungrade over the liquid reconstituted shi, oops, stuff they used to serve.

 

We've always thought the coffee served in the dining room was rich, fragrant and very enjoyable.

[limbogirl]

Jen and Kim, I went on the Serenade last December and I thought the coffee was very good. I am a coffee snob! At home I grind Starbucks french roast fresh every morning. I like my coffee strong and hot (like my men!) However I did notice the coffee varied in taste from one area on the ship to another. The Serenade also had a coffee shop with pastries where you could by coffee and cappucinos etc.. The coffee was very good there also. I think all the ships are using Seattles Best coffee and its good but it tends to be strong which is the way I happen to like it! Hope this helps.:)

[jbsteven]

I am a coffee snob as well. All I can say is I ALWAYS bring my own coffee pot and fixins.

[hermang]

Yes it is Seattle's Best - I think it was called Royal Carri BEAN

It is a dark roast and I think one problem is the guys brewing the coffee are not Barristas.

 

At one time they used a Concentrate which was strong enough to take the rust off the bottom of the ship. Since they switched to Seattle's best it is much better - Especially when yoou can get cream or half and half - the plastic cow just doesn't cut it.

[negc]

I have taken more than 30 cruises and have had what I would consider a "good" cup of coffee only once. I suspect that whoever made that batch of coffee was fired soon thereafter. :D

[EBFURR]

I can only address the coffee on the Mariner from recent experience (twice in 2 years, most recently 2 weeks ago). Don't know if all ships are the same, but probably so.

 

DW works for a large coffee roaster/distributer. We get the imported bean coffee at cost and have a very good coffee grinder/maker. Don't consider ourselves coffee snobs, but we do like and appreciate a good brew.

 

The Seattle's Best that is in the Cafe Promenade and main dining room is a middle of the road blend and is very drinkable. We like our favorites (Costa Rican & Guatemala) better, but have no complaints with the Seattle's Best.

 

As far as we can tell, the coffee in the windjammer is not toxic, it just tastes that way. It tasted to us like the syrup based institutional coffee that a previous poster mentioned. We asked one of the employees and he verified that it is a syrup mix because of the volume needed. We do not drink coffee in the windjammer, we stick to water and OJ, & go to the promenade for coffee.

[Max Circus]

I found the coffee on our two cruises to be palatable at best. I don't recall if they had Seattle's Best on NOS. Will be looking forward to trying on JOS. We are lucky enough to have booked a suite and I hear that the coffee and espresso in the Concierge Lounge is good - probably because it is not mass-produced like the coffee served elsewhere onboard.

 

Besides the beans/grounds the two most important things about brewing good coffee are clean equipment and the proper temperature for the water. If you goof on one of these, you end up with what my mother used to call "mud".

 

Hopefully the coffee in the dining room is hot (that was a problem on NOS) - nothing is worse than a luke-warm cup of coffee.

[nosnobunny]

I am also a huge coffe snob who goes as far as making her own private blend at home. :o Most of the coffee I've had on cruises has been horrid to the point I switched to tea (the hot vairety) for the duration. There is a big difference between a properly brewed stong blend and one that's bitter and burned. That is what I've had on most ships.

 

Beth

[dlbutler5]

I got used to strong black coffee in the Navy. So I don't think the ships coffee is bad. In the Navy I would drink 25-30 cups a morning. I don't care for flavored coffee that you get at places like Starbucks. Just plain black Juan Valdez type coffee.

[hermang]

On the AOS at least on the last cruise - I saw the guys pouring ground Seattles Best from SBC Bags into the urns. Now did they clean it first?? was the water cold going in?? was the pot kept at the right temperature and dumped after 20 min like they were supposed to?? Your guess is a good as mine

[Sassy Chassis]

The coffee on Vision was bearable...but I think that I'm probably going to pack some of those flavored creamers for Rhapsody :)

[Max Circus]

On the AOS at least on the last cruise - I saw the guys pouring ground Seattles Best from SBC Bags into the urns. Now did they clean it first?? was the water cold going in?? was the pot kept at the right temperature and dumped after 20 min like they were supposed to?? Your guess is a good as mine

 

At least sounds like they are making an attempt to brew it which is better than the instant "syrup" mixture that I saw another poster mention.