The quality of Princess...meals and service

[Nashna3]

We are planning a 2006 Alaska cruise on The Sapphire with a number of friends. Lately, we have heard some very negative things about Princess in Alaska. I would really appreciate the board's recent experiences.

 

We were looking forward to trying the speciality restaurants. But, have been told that a few months ago, Princess changed the menu selection and it is the same as that in the regular dining room with only one menu item reflecting the theme. Also, a neighbor, who is a long time Princess cruiser, remarked that the quality of the food and the service had gone down.

 

Another complaint was that embarcation was long and disorganized.

 

We plan to do a three night post cruise to to Denali with Princess. However, we have heard that the Princess shore excursions are overpriced and we would be better off if we did our own.

 

I have totally enjoyed the four cruises that I have sailed with Princess. But, my last Princess cruise was three years ago, and I really need your feedback.

[Toto2Kansas]

"We were looking forward to trying the speciality restaurants. But, have been told that a few months ago, Princess changed the menu selection and it is the same as that in the regular dining room with only one menu item reflecting the theme."

 

 

Not sure where you heard that the menus have changed in the speciality restuarants so they serve the same as the normal diningroom, but this is definitely NOT the case.

[Nashna3]

I heard this from a friend who was on the Diamond's May sailing and one of my co-workers who sailed on the Sapphire in early June. Two people saying the same thing makes me think that it is a new policy. Have you sailed on Princess in the last few months?

[Druke I]

I think there is a semantics problem here.

 

Princess has changed the menus in the Personal Choice Dining rooms to match that in the Traditional Dining Rooms, rather than having "themed" menus in each of the PC rooms.

 

Specialty restaurants (extra pay) have not changed.

[Nashna3]

Just checked with my co-worker and she said that Sabatini's was still the same 5 course Italian meal. But, the other restaurants were the same menu with just one special entre and the rest of the selections were off the main menu.

[spongerob]

The main dining room selections, whether Anytime or Traditional, are now essentially the same as you would find on the rest of the Princess fleet.

 

As for quality/preparation, etc. I have not noticed a substantial change since our first cruise. Any differences that I have noticed seem to relate more to the style and management of the executive chef on board. This is such a subjective topic anyway that the only opinion that really matters is your own.

 

There is no doubt that any pre- or post-cruise tour could be done more cheaply on your own. Of course, you have to make all your own arrangements, reservations, and do your own itinerary planning, so again, it's a toss-up whether or not the added cost of the organized tour is worth it to you.

[Suze17]

I have cruised Princess many times in the past few years. On the topic of service, my husband and I have thought the service excellent but on the Golden Princess in April of this year, we were very disappointed. The service was overall fair to poor. I have not cruised the Alaska itinerary, nor on the Sapphire, however but have booked the Coral Princess to Alaska next August. I don't want to judge Princess negatively on one bad experience with service, though, because we have really LOVED Princess before this and still had a nice time on the April cruise despite the poor service. Regarding shore excursions-we have always used Princess shore excursions and have loved them all. I know they are pricey-but they are very organized and we have had some wonderful experiences with their tours. Hope this helps. -Sue

[argosy]

We were on the Coral to Alaska in May of 2004, and service was absolutely stellar in all areas. We totally didn't want to get off the ship when it was time!

 

So, though it wasn't the ship you are asking about, it was Princess, and since we were on Princess in Feb of 2005 as well, and saw no difference in service...I think you have nothing to worry about.

 

I highly encourage you to do the land portion yourself, though. We did Princess and found the service in the Princess hotels and tours to be nothing like what we experienced on the ship. It was B.A.D.

[bigcruisefan]

We just got off the Coral last Saturday after it's northbound Alaska trip. I have to say that the room steward on this cruise seemed less 'motivated' then we had experienced in the past, but it's been years since we sailed on Princess and so we can't say if this is just a case of memories being tainted or not. The steward did his job just fine with just a few exceptions, but we felt like he didn't make much effort to really help when DW asked if there were any other pillows to replace the standard ones in the stateroom.

 

We also commented to each other that the waiters seemed a little off. The problem here was that we had 'Anytime Dining' due to the late booking of the cruise and so we don't know if this is a general trend or just a 'feature' of that dining room. We went to several tables and so we had several waiters and we wouldn't say that any of them offered excellent service.

 

We did not have bad service in any way really, just a sense of a general lack of enthusiasm on many of the folks part. We actually thought this might be due to the 'automatic' tips that Princess is charging now. If most people aren't giving a little more than I can understand that it might have some impact on this. I normally tip very well and gave the room service folks nice tips and we got good repeat service from them -- not always the same waiter either so they must talk to each other or have a better attitude in general.

 

Still a wonderful experience, but I would say that I'm not a fan of the automatic tip, but I think Princess might have a problem figuring out how to get the tips for the Anytime Dining patrons.

[ahracer]

We did Alaska on the Island Princess in May and service and food was good as normal.

 

The only ships that had a change to the specialty dining were the Sapphire and Diamond. Now they are the same as every other Princess ship.

 

Scott

[hotmike98]

We are doing the Sapphire on Aug. 14, so can't comment on food or service. As to post cruise, there is no question you can do it cheaper on your own. We rented a car in Seward with drop off in Anchorage. Seward car rental rates are a little high, especially for one way. You might want to consider at least doing the train to Anchorage leg with Princess. There is often road repair on the highway to Anchorage, with short seasons to accomplish ravages of Alaskan winters. Then you could rent a car in Anchorage and go on up to Denali. There are several b & b's in the area. BE SURE that you book your bus trip in Denali two or three months in advance. Both HAL and Princess book up big blocks, and if you wait til you arrive, you stand a good chance of having to wait 2-3 days in Denali, which would surely screw up your short post-cruise timetable.

[cdfev]

My family has made one Princess cruise per year over the last 5 years. the last one was at the end of May 2005 in the Baltics on the Star Princess.

 

We are satisfied with the food quality and the service from the crew; having said that, we prefer the moderate range offerings of Proncess as compared to more upscale lines. We have never been comfortable with the Ritz or The Four Seasons type offerings and prefer the Westin or the Marriott. There does not seem to be any downgrade in the meals or attention from the staff.

 

We are admittedly easy to please and don't dwell on what may be an "off" night (that occurs wherever you go). People seem to only be happy when they have something to complain about...I'd let it go in one ear and out the other. Make up your own mind about this issue after you experience the cruise...if it is unsatisfactory and there are better options, make your choice with your feet.

[ahracer]

We are doing the Sapphire on Aug. 14, so can't comment on food or service. As to post cruise, there is no question you can do it cheaper on your own. We rented a car in Seward with drop off in Anchorage. Seward car rental rates are a little high, especially for one way. You might want to consider at least doing the train to Anchorage leg with Princess. There is often road repair on the highway to Anchorage, with short seasons to accomplish ravages of Alaskan winters. Then you could rent a car in Anchorage and go on up to Denali. There are several b & b's in the area. BE SURE that you book your bus trip in Denali two or three months in advance. Both HAL and Princess book up big blocks, and if you wait til you arrive, you stand a good chance of having to wait 2-3 days in Denali, which would surely screw up your short post-cruise timetable.

 

Princess no longer offers train transfers to Anchorage. The train is reserved only for passengers who booked the cruise/tour package.

 

Scott

[chef Brian]

hello all let me give you my two cents worth i am a corp chef that is well traveled and i have eaten in 5 star places and mcdonalds..that be said i think princess does a very good job with the food preparations and service...i don't know when the last time most of you through a party for friends and tried to time it out where food was ready all at once...well times that by 800- 2300 ppl three times a day with at least

 

2 apps

2 soups

a salad

4-6 entrees...

and desserts :eek: that is alot of food and not to metion the food court and room service and pizza stand and hamburger stand... i have been cooking a long time and it takes alot to push out this amount of food and make it even half way taste good, and i for one think they do a great job!!!

[Tania]

I think the food differences are dur to the different head chefs.

 

I order the ravioli with mushroom sauce on every cruise and there's always a difference, sometimes more pronounced than others. On some ships, the veggies are loaded with butter, others not. Over the years, the meat portions are smaller, thank goodness.

 

My best experinece with food has been on the Star and the Royal. I haven't been on the Grand in a few years and hope it's improved.

[Druke I]

Tania

 

No doubt in my mind that different head chefs can make all the difference in the world.

 

Mar 98, Royal Princess, Buenos Aires to Barcelona, food mediocre at best. Aug 98, same ship, Dover to NYC, different chef, and food very good if not better.

[coiran]

15 Princess cruises and food nand service has always been excellent!

 

Ron

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were on the Sapphire last August so this was before the change talked about. But then we did traditional so we can't comment on the speciality restaurants or the PC experience. I do remember that almost every night we were given the chance to select items from one of the speciality restaurants (one night from the Asian one, one night from the southwest one, etc.) .

 

Our waiter (waitress?) on the last cruise was our ass't waiter from our previous cruise so we were happy to see her and catch up (asking about her boyfriend, etc.). She even remembered that my hubby brings his coffee, tea, etc. (he makes his drink in the cabin from bottled water as he's allergic from the ship's water) and remembered our daughter.

 

We really liked the Sapphire. Our only complaint had to do with the disembarkation -- the mess trying to catch a cab --in Seattle which was too chaotic in rainy weather. But from what I heard the Sapphire won't be sailing out of Seattle next year.

[bbrabozo]

We just got off the Diamond last Saturday and really enjoyed it except for two problems. Let me start with the positives. We did personal choice dining and consistently had excellent service. The wait staff was so on top of things and very pleasant. They place a comment card on your table with the name of the waiters if you wish to write about your experience. We took the time to fill them out and praise the waiters. Our cabin steward, Maynard, was outstanding as well. Overall, everytime we saw a princess employee onboard the ship we were always greeted with a smile. Now onto the food. It was good. We ate in Sabatinis, had excellent service, but found the food to be average and not worth the extra money. We ate in Sterling and felt that the steak was the same as what was served in the main dining rooms. We had filet both times, so can't comment about the other cuts of beef offered.

Okay now onto the problems. We were promised a coupon book, a bottle of wine and $100 onboard credit from our travel agent. When we got onboard I immediately checked to make sure we'd be getting them and was told they only showed a $25 pp credit, that no one onboard was getting a coupon book and they had no bottle of wine for us. I immediately called corporate Princess and spoke with Ruth while we were still in Seattle. She said she showed the $100 credit and everything else promised by our agent. She told me to go down to the pursers desk and have them call the inline and the problem would be taken care of right away. She commented that it was good I called before we sailed. I did that and was told I had to wait for hospitality person to come in to solve the problem, that they would have to e-mail corporate and I'd hear back tomorrow. I checked back the next day and they told me I'd have to wait until monday because the office was closed on sunday. Went back on several times on Monday and was told the e-mail wasn't answered yet. I asked them to send another e-mail which Timothy said he would do, but never did. Finally on Thurs. ed corporate again and got an agent who went to her supervisor and within 1 hour of the phone call I had my coupon book and a certificate for the wine. It was annoying to me to have to spend my vacation time solving this problem myself. I felt the ball was dropped several times and really don't understand why they couldn't solved this problem sooner. Next problem... I made reservations for a shampoo and blow dry as soon as we boarded. Told the spa person that I had 6:20 reservations, but wanted to change before dinner and after the appt. She booked me at 5:00. I showed up at ten till 5 and was told someone would be with me in ten minutes. Well at twenty after I went to find out why the delay and was told it woud be another twenty minutes before they could take me. I told them we were now going to be late for dinner at sabatinis and since they were the reason I'd be late could they call the restaurant and ask for a later time for us. They called and the restaurant would not hold our table beyond ten minutes. Well I got teed off told the spa to cancel the rest of our appts. and ran to the room with only 30 minutes to do my hair, makeup etc, which on formal night takes longer to do. We were going to have pictures taken that night also and had to pass on that because I'm not that great with the hair. We made it to dinner by 6:30. I stopped by the pursers desk the next morning, after I cooled down a bit, and calmly told my experiences to Kate. I told her that in my everyday life when things go wrong I go with the flow. But when I'm on vacation, spending $6000 plus onboard expenses, I expect things to be a notch above average. And when something goes wrong they should take care of it in a timely manner, and that I shouldn't have to spend my time chasing the problems. I told her I hadn't received an apology for the spa incident and that I resolved the other things thru corporate because of the failure of the pursers to follow thru. She told me she totally agreed and would personally take care of this herself. The next morning she told me that we would receive a $200 per person credit apologized for the incidents which were below princess standards. I felt so much better about princess after that and wrote a comment card selecting her as the employee who made a difference .