food compared to Royal?

[Royal44]

is it a notch above? iv heard good things.

[Aquahound]

Nope. I've been on 2 Princess cruises this year and I'd say it's exactly the same. That goes for both the MDR and specialty restaurants. The only area I might give Princess an edge on taste and variety is the buffet. It's amazing what they can pack into the small serving area in Horizon Court. I think RCI's Windjammer islands design is more user friendly though.

[Astro Flyer]

is it a notch above? iv heard good things.

Taste is very subjective but to me the food taste and selection on Princess was better than what I had on RCCL.

 

You'll only get opinions here & I'd suggest to try it yourself & to form your own opinion. I think that most cruise lines have good banquet-style food unless moving up to a luxury cruise line.

[Royal44]

Nope. I've been on 2 Princess cruises this year and I'd say it's exactly the same. That goes for both the MDR and specialty restaurants. The only area I might give Princess an edge on taste and variety is the buffet. It's amazing what they can pack into the small serving area in Horizon Court. I think RCI's Windjammer islands design is more user friendly though.

well this is a disappointment, i am looking for the 20 years ago cruise experience, or at least 10 years ago. quality wise.

[Aquahound]

...i am looking for the 20 years ago cruise experience, or at least 10 years ago. quality wise.

 

Trust me...we all are. :)

[Astro Flyer]

well this is a disappointment, i am looking for the 20 years ago cruise experience, or at least 10 years ago. quality wise.

 

Trust me...we all are. :)

Something we all fondly remember but for the most part is not the same. In general I think that with serving thousands of passengers per day cruise lines do a good job for the prices were paying.

 

Someone posted a 1977 Princess brochure & the current prices are the same as then. To me it's unrealistic to think that things will be the same as they were decades ago when we paid higher prices. And then factor in inflation, cruising is a very cost-effective way to travel. :)

Edited June 3, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Loonbeam]

Not gonna happen.

 

Basic facts- food costs have gone up quite a bit in 10 years. Fares have not kept pace. End of story.

 

That said, food is subjective and very dependent on the Exec Chef that particular trip. Have had good and bad meals on both lines. I often point out that between trips on the Island and the Coral, same kitchen design, same menus, same dining room, the quality was vastly different.

 

Princess is a little more european oriented with with their offerings, while RCCL seems a little more asian/indian inspired, so that could be a factor based on your preferences.

 

well this is a disappointment, i am looking for the 20 years ago cruise experience, or at least 10 years ago. quality wise.

[Royal44]

well i think many buy into the standard excuses for cheaper mass produced food. you will find on royal they have the same menu on many ships to cut costs its all packaged stuff. meanwhile they make millions in profits every quarter. so please spare me the cost hasnt kept up because 2-3 thousand dollars a cabin is plenty to get better quality food in.

[Astro Flyer]

well i think many buy into the standard excuses for cheaper mass produced food. you will find on royal they have the same menu on many ships to cut costs its all packaged stuff. meanwhile they make millions in profits every quarter. so please spare me the cost hasnt kept up because 2-3 thousand dollars a cabin is plenty to get better quality food in.

 

Each of us have her own opinions and guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the reasons. :rolleyes:

[Aquahound]

I knew it was posted somewhere...I just had to find it. You'll see Princess, Celebrity, RCI and HAL all spend about the same for meals. Of course, we all still have our own opinions, but this does show that generally, the food is the same between these lines.

 

According to this post by Philip217 who works for an (undisclosed) cruiseline, this is the daily per person food costs spent by the individual cruise lines...

 

Seabourn, Silver Sea - $24 - 26 per day

Oceania, Regent - $18 - 20 per day

Celebrity, Princess - $12 - 15 per day

RCCL, HAL - $12 - 13 per day

Carnival - $8 - 10 per day

NCL - $7.50 - 8.50 per day

 

Here is his post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=22159681&postcount=4

Edited June 3, 2014 by Aquahound

[OCruisers]

We like the MDR food on Princess much better than RCCL.

The specialty restaurants are good on both.

LuLu

[Pam in CA]

Ten to twenty years ago, cruise ships had hundreds of passengers and set dining for every meal, not thousands of passengers to feed 24/7. Passenger demographics have changed as cruises have become far more affordable. That's the reality and unless you want to pay for a premium cruise line, all of the major cruise lines have made adjustments to changing demands.

 

It's been several years since I've taken an RCCL cruise but I did take several while also cruising on Princess the same years. In every case, IMHO, the food and service was better on Princess. However, food is very subjective and as I've said for years, one person's "Yum!" is another's "Yuck!"

 

Something I really like about Princess is that they are so flexible when it comes to asking for modifications or additions to menu items, or being able to request pretty much anything I want as long as I order it the day before. Easy modifications as you order for dinner are, for instance, to ask for a baked potato instead of the starch on the menu, ask for an entree size of an appetizer or vice versa, without sauce or Bearnaise sauce on a menu item, a dinner-sized Caesar salad with grilled chicken for an entree, etc.

 

Of the Princess ships, I think the Royal Princess (and I assume the Regal now as well) has the best food in the fleet. The buffet is outstanding to boot. Nothing I've seen on RCCL, Celebrity, or HAL come close. The International Cafe on the ships with one is fabulous (love the chicken salad!) and the pizza on Lido deck is probably the best of all the major lines. LOVE the pepperoni pizza in Alfredo's.

 

A suggestion is to do a search for menus which are pretty consistent throughout the fleet. Pretty much what you see on one ship is what you'll see on another in the dining rooms.

[Aquahound]

The International Cafe on the ships with one is fabulous (love the chicken salad!).

 

This is one area I actually think Princess can't touch RCI. RCI's Park Cafe is a lot better than IC, in my opinion. Park Cafe has a much bigger selection and the roast beef sandwiches are to die for.

[Pam in CA]

This is one area I actually think Princess can't touch RCI. RCI's Park Cafe is a lot better than IC, in my opinion. Park Cafe has a much bigger selection and the roast beef sandwiches are to die for.

See? Food is so subjective! I rarely if ever eat roast beef sandwiches... just not something I prefer. :)

[Royal44]

I knew it was posted somewhere...I just had to find it. You'll see Princess, Celebrity, RCI and HAL all spend about the same for meals. Of course, we all still have our own opinions, but this does show that generally, the food is the same between these lines.

 

According to this post by Philip217 who works for an (undisclosed) cruiseline, this is the daily per person food costs spent by the individual cruise lines...

 

Seabourn, Silver Sea - $24 - 26 per day

Oceania, Regent - $18 - 20 per day

Celebrity, Princess - $12 - 15 per day

RCCL, HAL - $12 - 13 per day

Carnival - $8 - 10 per day

NCL - $7.50 - 8.50 per day

 

Here is his post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=22159681&postcount=4

thank you , this is good

[gcvt]

We like the MDR food on Princess much better than RCCL.

The specialty restaurants are good on both.

LuLu

 

We agree. We don't much care for the "regular" food on RCI.

[sashas_mom]

We found the food in the buffet on the Royal to be excellent and wish it was consistently that good on all the ships. It was even hot! It was so good we rarely ate dinner in the dining room, something we've never done before in 14 cruises.

[capriccio]

We found the food in the buffet on the Royal to be excellent and wish it was consistently that good on all the ships. It was even hot! It was so good we rarely ate dinner in the dining room' date=' something we've never done before in 14 cruises.[/quote']

 

We did too - in fact it was the first time in at least 6 cruises we had set foot in the buffet for a meal!

[karena1]

We think they are pretty comparable. Been on Royal many times and Princess a few, but overall, not that much difference in the food. Like the layout of Windjammer over Horizon Court, but never have issues finding something to eat on either line.

 

One thing we did like on Princess was the late night grill out by the pool. When showing movies they had wings, ribs, onion rings, French fries, and you could also get popcorn! As a muncher vs a big meal kind of person, I loved this. Especially being able to get popcorn as I eat popcorn probably 4-5 times a week at home.

[OCruisers]

The problem for me with the roast beef sandwiches in Park Café was they had too much gristle & fat. I opened mine up and cut those away and it did a good taste. Some people actually don't mind having gristle & fat.

LuLu

[caribill]

Having been on both RCCL and Princess in the past year, I would say the dining room food and the buffet food are about equivalent in variety and taste.

 

 

Something I really like about Princess is that they are so flexible when it comes to asking for modifications or additions to menu items, or being able to request pretty much anything I want as long as I order it the day before. Easy modifications as you order for dinner are, for instance, to ask for a baked potato instead of the starch on the menu, ask for an entree size of an appetizer or vice versa, without sauce or Bearnaise sauce on a menu item, a dinner-sized Caesar salad with grilled chicken for an entree, etc.

 

 

On RCCL last year we had no problems with flexibility and modifications. In fact, one of the best Headwaiters we have ever had some nights prepared a special off menu dish when regular menu options were not what was wanted.

[caribill]

This is one area I actually think Princess can't touch RCI. RCI's Park Cafe is a lot better than IC, in my opinion. Park Cafe has a much bigger selection and the roast beef sandwiches are to die for.

 

The Park Cafe might be great (never experienced it myself), but the RCCI Cafe Promenade I experienced last year had nowhere near the selection of the IC and at some hours had 0% food available.

Edited June 3, 2014 by caribill

[Astro Flyer]

The Park Cafe might be great (never experienced it myself), but the RCCI Cafe Promenade I experienced last year had nowhere near the selection of the IC and at some hours had 0% food available.

 

I had the same experience on the Navigator of the Seas at the Café Promenade but don't know if it's been changed since it's recent major drydock. To me the pizzas there were poor and I've had better frozen pizzas than what they served.

 

On the NOS they didn't have a grill & only cooked burger patties in a buffet serving tray to assemble your own hamburger sandwich. Although the burgers at Johnny Rockets were much better than anything I've had on Princess but it cost extra.

Edited June 3, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Aquahound]

The Park Cafe might be great (never experienced it myself), but the RCCI Cafe Promenade I experienced last year had nowhere near the selection of the IC and at some hours had 0% food available.

 

Yes, that I agree with.

 

Park Cafe started on Oasis Class and is slowly being added to other ships during refurbishments. It is leaps and bounds better than both IC and Cafe Promenade. On Oasis Class, it's so large, it's a sit down restaurant.

 

And yes, pizza is better on Princess. :)

[Carolyn R]

My personal opinion is that the MDR food on Princess is much better on Princess with more flexible options. Until the Royal and the Regal Princesses I thought the buffet at the Windjammer on Royal Caribbean was better. Not so anymore, the new Horizon buffet is amazing. The burgers and pizza on Princess ships are really good and far better than RCCL.