food compared to Royal?

[Loonbeam]

Lets just do a little math. As you pointed out, they make millions in a quarter. That's kind of their job as a company. Princess has 45000 passengers at sea on any given day. If they spent just $3 more per day per person on food (which would NOT make a huge difference- maybe back to 2000s level) - you are looking at $135,000 per day, $945,000 per week, $3.7 million per month or $12 million per quarter. There go the profits and now prices have to be raised to compensate. And that's just food. The cost of beef alone has doubled since 2001 (wholesale cattle futures). Have fares?

 

There's a misconception that Princess can just raise fares $x per day. They cannot because they have a perishable product. If the room is not sold by the time the ship sales, its a lost opportunity. People say "well I will pay more" but trust me they are in the minority and I am sure many of those are the same people jumping on price drops.

 

I may not like the downgrading of food or cutting of staff, but I recognize the economic necessity of the lines doing so.

 

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.

[dplusd]

We sail Royal and Princess mostly and find the MDR food about the same. Not much difference IMHO.

 

We do find Princess has better casual dining options. The International Café is much better than Royal's Café Promenade. Princess' pool side grill and pizza are also excellent and Royal has absolutely nothing to compare.

 

Specialty restaurants, we give the edge to Royal.

[shepp]

See? Food is so subjective!

 

Indeed. We're big Indian food aficionados, and are gratified that Princess finally seems to be putting some chili-pepper heat in their Indian and Thai dishes. One night, though, we were eating a not-hot-enough-but-good curry only to have a woman at our table complain vociferously that Princess "went overboard" with their spices.

 

Since I generally pay a total daily cruise fare not that much greater than what a dinner at a moderately upscale restaurant in San Francisco costs, I'm pretty realistic...and content. At least the food is better than the Olive Garden's.

 

Whoops! I'm sure some of you love the Olive Garden...

Edited June 4, 2014 by shepp

[readytoembark]

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.

 

I fell off my chair when I read this one - food is subjective but not this subjective!

Park café is prepackaged microwavable food. You make your selection, the person behind the counter puts it on a plate and literally throws it in the microwave. Same stuff you can get in the freezer section of any grocery store. It doesn’t come close to the IC.

 

Our last cruise was a 12 or 13 day Mediterranean on RCCL. We brought my MIL with us. She readily admits she very much prefers bland food and really liked the dining because of that. I’m not a foodie or a picky eater by any stretch – but some of the stuff served in the MDR and in the buffet honestly wasn’t edible. We really did enjoy the cruise but ended out going to the specialty restaurants a number of times as a result – the food there was outstanding. I’ve never been in a specialty restaurant on a Princess ship. We’ve never had the need.

[Aquahound]

I fell off my chair when I read this one - food is subjective but not this subjective!

Park café is prepackaged microwavable food. You make your selection, the person behind the counter puts it on a plate and literally throws it in the microwave. Same stuff you can get in the freezer section of any grocery store. It doesn’t come close to the IC.

 

Our last cruise was a 12 or 13 day Mediterranean on RCCL. We brought my MIL with us. She readily admits she very much prefers bland food and really liked the dining because of that. I’m not a foodie or a picky eater by any stretch – but some of the stuff served in the MDR and in the buffet honestly wasn’t edible. We really did enjoy the cruise but ended out going to the specialty restaurants a number of times as a result – the food there was outstanding. I’ve never been in a specialty restaurant on a Princess ship. We’ve never had the need.

 

Well, obviously we're going to have to agree to disagree on the Park Cafe thing. Personally, I think the kimmelweck roast beef sandwiches (fresh cut by the way...not microwaved) and the Cuban Mix sandwiches are better than anything I've had at IC. But again, that's my opinion and obviously that is subjective.

 

As for the second part...funny, that same thing happened to me on Ruby. We had to ditch the MDR and eat in the buffet because it was so bad. But that said, having been on 2 Princess cruises and 3 RCI cruises in the past year, I do know the food quality is exactly the same between these 2 lines.

[pppatpc2]

Had to pipe in with a few comments. I am a foodie and doing the chef's dinner on a few of the Princess ships is an enlightening insight into the problems of feeding all those people fresh food. They explained how on a transatlantic they need to lock the refrigerator and open it for a specified amount of time and get everything out that they need for the day because opening and closing it degradates the food quality. Plus regulations about buying food from different ports is much more stringent than it was in the past.

 

I remember cruising 20 years ago and the amount of times a day and venues were not nearly as numerous as they are today. It was rare that anyone took a long cruise to a faraway place and, as a previous poster said, the number of people on the ship was much smaller.

 

I know that for a reasonable price I have seen 17 countries, all the while being treated, by a gracious staff, to some very good food. While some of it was outstanding, some of it was ok and when it was just ok, I asked for something else instead and someone would bring it immediately and at the end of the meal no bill was presented. Life is good. :)

[pris993]

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

 

Try Cunard, we did two cruises in one year on the Queen Victoria a year ago. We were not sure we would like Cunard, booked a TA from Florida to London. Had a fantastic time, found food, service, entertainment all top notch. Enjoyed it so much we cancelled a HAL cruise in the Mediterranean for the same year and booked on the QV again. We had a delux balcony cabin, on deck 5 and then deck 7.

 

For some the only down side of Cunard is it is more formal, which means men are required to wear a jacket and tie every night. Cunard's idea of casual is a jacket with no tie, which was okay on the first and last night of the cruise in the MDR. They do a 2 formal nights a week as well.

 

We had very personal service on the OV in the MDR. My DH is very fussy, he rarely orders off the menu . He was able to special order every night with the Head Waiter the night before in the MDR. I was impressed, since we had not cruised Cunard before. Did notice Cunard staff responding to special requests for many others as well in the MDR.

 

Cunard also has a live band and dance music every night in the ballroom on board.

 

We have been cruising since the early l980s, the Cunard experience was the closest to the old time experience we have had. We have cruised on Princess, HAL, Celebrity and NCL recently. Many years ago we did Crystal, RCCL and some other lines that aren't around any more.

 

We are considering the Queen Mary 2 for a Canada/East Coast cruise in the future.

[pris993]

I fell off my chair when I read this one - food is subjective but not this subjective!

Park café is prepackaged microwavable food. You make your selection, the person behind the counter puts it on a plate and literally throws it in the microwave. Same stuff you can get in the freezer section of any grocery store. It doesn’t come close to the IC.

 

Our last cruise was a 12 or 13 day Mediterranean on RCCL. We brought my MIL with us. She readily admits she very much prefers bland food and really liked the dining because of that. I’m not a foodie or a picky eater by any stretch – but some of the stuff served in the MDR and in the buffet honestly wasn’t edible. We really did enjoy the cruise but ended out going to the specialty restaurants a number of times as a result – the food there was outstanding. I’ve never been in a specialty restaurant on a Princess ship. We’ve never had the need.

 

Your comment about prepackaged microwavable food on RCCL caught my attention. Have family going on RCCL later this month. We have not cruised RCCL in years because we felt the cabins were small when they started to build larger ships in the l990s. So no recent experience. Have been reading here on the boards abour RCCL since our family are going later this month. My impression of these large 5000 passenger ships, is Disney Land... more fast food options and one needs to get a reservation to go to a show. Lots of folks today eat fast food most of the time so am sure this works out fine. Am sure my family will be cool with it since they never cook and buy take out all the time. Our 10 year old grandson will be WOW about the size of the ship and fast food for sure.

[Cruiselover1951]

Never been on Royal Caribean, but have been on multiple Princess ships, RSCC and celebrity ships. I found the food on all 3 very comparable, with no major difference in quality. Our tastes like Princess food, and with few exceptions, we have always been pleased with the MDR and Horizon Court selection and quality. Our recent cruise on the Royal was no exception. 1 lb of wt gain per day of cruising is the "proof" :D

I am always amazed at the infamous "1*" review, which almost without exception rate the Princess food (regardless of ship) "1*" - either these people have unreasonable expectations, are blinded by theirt disappointment, or only can eat a few dishes which were not to their liking.

Even RSCC food IMHO, did not shine significantly above Princess, but the thin staffing in their MDR did, as the waiters there seemed much more hurried with subsequent waits when compared to Princess which together with no incentive to earn additional tipping, made it impossible (for us) to build personal relationships with the MDR staff as we always do on Princess, and which was one of the reasons we returned to Princess after trying RSCC.

[kennicott]

I haven't cruised on RCI either but I find that the Berlitz ratings aren't that far off the mark when it comes to lines I'm familiar with. Over the last couple of years RCI has shown a slight increase in their overall food score while Princess as shown a slight decrease. However, of the top 11 of the largest lines' overall ratings, Princess still ranks number seven while RCI ranks number 11. And the overall food score for both in 2014 was 6.78 for Princess and 5.22 for RCI.

 

We normally cruise on only three, RSCC, HAL and Princess. A comment was made regarding MDR staff familiarity with and attention to guests between Princess and RSCC. We have found that the crew to passenger ratio on a ship pretty much reflects the average level of service one can expect from the crew. E.G.---RSCC Voyager, 1.65, RCI Oasis, 2.4, HAL Statendam, 2.2, and Princess Star, 2.3, (lower the number the better).

 

On RSCC the attention we have received in the main dining room from waiters, head waiters, maitre d, etc. has always been a cut above that we receive from Princess and HAL.

[Loonbeam]

A couple of notes from our RCCL (there's a full RCCL/Princess comparison we did in 2011 here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1726735)

 

As I noted, food preparation is subjective and can vary from cruise to cruise forget line to line. But since the topic has gone wider, there are a few things that each line seems to do a little better procedurally.

 

Excluding the Royal and Regal, RCCL, especially on the bigger ships has more dining options in their Promenade (some have a fee) which overall gives an impression of more choice. Not having sailed the Royal to try alfredos yet, I found their Pizza offering to have far more variety than most Princess ships do with the pool deck pizza (but Princess has slightly better quality). The actual variety is pretty similar, the venues are just more scattered on Princess.

 

RCCL does a way better job LOGISTICALLY on Anytime dining than princess does. First, they have one MDR which can be configured as needed to meet the desires of the cruisers. Need two decks of AD and one of TD, no problem. Switch half a deck over mid service? No problem. Plus, AD waiters make notes about your preferences, so when you check in to be seated, the HW prints out a slip to hand to your server, which means they know what you want as you are being seated (drink preferences, food allergies, etc). This is a far superior system to Princess AD (plus, you cannot check in for AD if you are TD without MD approval and you can make reservations over the TV!

 

Again, taste is subjective, but I have never skipped more desserts than I have on RCCL. Completely uninspiring. Could have just been the pastry chef. Oddly enough, we bought Ben and Jerry's a few times. Coincidence?

[Woobstr112G]

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.

 

I vigorously disagree with you. Other than Alfredo's, I found the Royal's food nothing better than other Princess ships. The buffet was by no means good. Most hot food was nothing more that barely luke warm. Service was also somewhat of a problem as I would have to say that Service in the Royal's buffet was probably the worst of any of my Princess cruises.....:rolleyes:

 

Bob

[Sillyjilly]

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. :)

 

So true!

 

If people want the old experience they can go on the more upscale cruise lines and pay dearly for it. Otherwise, stop complaining about what you no longer get. You CAN still get it if you PAY a much higher price.

 

And, I'll take Princess food over Royal any day of the week. Just my opinion of course.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Sillyjilly

[capriccio]

I vigorously disagree with you. Other than Alfredo's, I found the Royal's food nothing better than other Princess ships. The buffet was by no means good. Most hot food was nothing more that barely luke warm. Service was also somewhat of a problem as I would have to say that Service in the Royal's buffet was probably the worst of any of my Princess cruises.....:rolleyes:

 

Bob

 

Bob - We had wonderful dinner service on our December cruise and the food was hot and tasty. I think you cruised before us -- maybe criticism was heard and acted upon? As I said we were pleasantly surprised since we had avoided eating meals in any Horizon Court for at least our past 6 cruises.

[AZ Stan (FKA Stan in Chicago)]

I vigorously disagree with you. Other than Alfredo's, I found the Royal's food nothing better than other Princess ships. The buffet was by no means good. Most hot food was nothing more that barely luke warm. Service was also somewhat of a problem as I would have to say that Service in the Royal's buffet was probably the worst of any of my Princess cruises.....:rolleyes:

 

Bob

 

Sorry, but had to add my two cents... Have sailed in the last couple of years on both RCI and Princess, IMHO, Princess is WAY better. MDR food on the Liberty OTS and Mariner OTS was bland to say the least. Princess, on the other hand, had much tastier food, and more choices that suited my palate.

 

Finally, just to show how two people can disagree, Bob and I were on the same Royal Princess cruise...I found the buffet food to be outstanding. Lots of fine tasting food, lots of choices, and a variety from day to day. RCI, on the other hand, had basically the same food on the buffet each and every day. On a 14 or 15 day cruise, that is very disappointing.

 

Stan

[Sillyjilly]

I found the buffet food to be outstanding. Lots of fine tasting food, lots of choices, and a variety from day to day. RCI, on the other hand, had basically the same food on the buffet each and every day. On a 14 or 15 day cruise, that is very disappointing.

 

Stan

 

I find the buffet on RCI and Celebrity beyond boring. I'm with you in that I want variety every night in the buffet, not the same old stuff every night. YUCK

[Pam in CA]

Finally, just to show how two people can disagree, Bob and I were on the same Royal Princess cruise...I found the buffet food to be outstanding. Lots of fine tasting food, lots of choices, and a variety from day to day.

I was on the same cruise and like Stan, with whom I agree 100%, we also thought the buffet food was outstanding. So much so that we ate dinner there almost every night. Both sides of the buffet were practically packed solid with others doing the same thing.

[Astro Flyer]

Bob - We had wonderful dinner service on our December cruise and the food was hot and tasty. I think you cruised before us -- maybe criticism was heard and acted upon? As I said we were pleasantly surprised since we had avoided eating meals in any Horizon Court for at least our past 6 cruises.

 

Pam, Bob, Stan & I were on the same Royal TA cruise & I'm basing my opinions solely on my experiences & not on their opinions. I feel strongly that the food in the MDR & buffet was the best food I've had in the last couple of years on a Princess cruise. That may have been because Master Chef Alfredo Marzi was onboard but for whatever reason it was very good.

 

It's just the latest example of how people on the same cruise can have very different opinions about the food. Taste is very subjective & that's why I would never base my cruise decision on the opinions of others.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[caribill]

 

RCCL does a way better job LOGISTICALLY on Anytime dining than princess does. First, they have one MDR which can be configured as needed to meet the desires of the cruisers. Need two decks of AD and one of TD, no problem. Switch half a deck over mid service? No problem.

 

 

One major difference.

 

Princess does not have a limit on the number assigned to Anytime but does limit the number in Traditional. If too many people want traditional, the extra are assigned to Anytime.

 

In comparison, RCCL limits the number in Anytime (actually called My Time) and assigns any overflow to Traditional. Thus there will never be too many assigned to Anytime to accommodate.

 

Another difference is that if you are in My Time on Royal you must pay your gratuities when you make final payment for the cruise. This does mean you cannot use OBC to help pay for gratuities.

 

(Also, since any RCCL shore excursions booked before the cruise must be paid for at the time they are reserved, this also means you cannot use any OBC to help pay for them either.)

[shepp]

Pam, Bob, Stan & I were on the same Royal TA cruise & I'm basing my opinions solely on my experiences & not on their opinions. I feel strongly that the food in the MDR & buffet was the best food I've had in the last couple of years on a Princess cruise. That may have been because Master Chef Alfredo Marzi was onboard but for whatever reason it was very good.

 

It's just the latest example of how people on the same cruise can have very different opinions about the food. Taste is very subjective & that's why I would never base my cruise decision on the opinions of others.

 

Yep. Another vote for the food on the Royal TA having been better than average. Very few disappointments (though that may be because I've learned what's not to my taste, and I'm talking about you, luau pork!), more Indian selections, my favorite cuisine, and the great new Pastry Shop in the HC was....fattening.

[Woobstr112G]

I was on the same cruise and like Stan, with whom I agree 100%, we also thought the buffet food was outstanding. So much so that we ate dinner there almost every night. Both sides of the buffet were practically packed solid with others doing the same thing.

 

As many have said, food is subjective. I found the food dull, uninspiring, hot food usually luke warm at best. There was a lack of variety over time as the items presented were the same day, after day, after day. I also found the much ballyhooed pastry shop nothing special as the deserts served there were the same I had seen on other Princess cruise ships. The Bistro, when opened (which wasn't very often), was very boring, dull and quite uninspiring.....

 

Bob

Edited June 5, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[Woobstr112G]

Pam, Bob, Stan & I were on the same Royal TA cruise & I'm basing my opinions solely on my experiences & not on their opinions. I feel strongly that the food in the MDR & buffet was the best food I've had in the last couple of years on a Princess cruise. That may have been because Master Chef Alfredo Marzi was onboard but for whatever reason it was very good.

 

It's just the latest example of how people on the same cruise can have very different opinions about the food. Taste is very subjective & that's why I would never base my cruise decision on the opinions of others.

 

Well said Frank. I wished others felt the same way.....:):):)

 

Bob

[hubofhockey]

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.

 

I agree with this post. Anyone who says Princess is better than Royal Caribbean or vice versa is splitting hairs. Royal Caribbean is now adding in more of the Oasis restaurants (that I like) like Park Cafe to other ships and I believe has more variety among specialty restaurants. I like Crown Grill better than Chops and Giovannis Table better than Sabatinis. It's hard to believe than anyone would make a real choice between these two lines based on dining.

 

Both lines have decent enough food and our choice is based more on whom we're cruising with, where the cruise is going, the ships themselves, and things like that. We're happy with either line. I've always thought that Royal Caribbean has more and better entertainment and more fun things to do, especially in the Caribbean. Princess has a more relaxed and resort type feel to its ships. It's a bit more "adult". Our next cruise is in three weeks on Princess. After that, it will be Royal Caribbean. I always feel like I can't go wrong either way.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We think Princess is better ..

[hubofhockey]

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.

 

I agree with this post. Anyone who says Princess is better than Royal Caribbean or vice versa is really splitting hairs. I like what Royal Caribbean is doing in adding places like Park Cafe to other ships. They are doing a better job in adding a better variety of specialty restaurants. The food in main dining rooms and buffets is decent banquet food on both lines.