Princess Food, part two: Sanitary/health issue

[toberman]

This is just becoming a "He Said.. She Said" argument.

 

We've all seen different things happening on different ships. All things should be company policy - unfortunately... some crew members get overwhelmed, and have no back-up.

 

BTW - have never seen 'raw' chicken at the grill.

[OCruisers]

REALLY sorry to hear this!

I'm boarding Coral in less than two weeks and am very particular about food and hygiene. When we go out to eat my family and friends know to seat me with my back to the kitchen.

 

Please do look when you're on Coral! Don't think you'll be grossed-out. ;)

LuLu

[Loonbeam]

ISO has little to do with sanitation, its more of a process thing. That said, I should also point out they handle many expensive ingredients in the galley as well as a bar area...

 

On a recent Grand Princess galley tour, I noticed many security cameras (don't remember there being cameras on other ship galleys).

Asked one of the crew and was told "it's for ISO", which I assume was for ISO9001 Quality Management (a certified program for quality control).

So maybe any safe food issues are identified.

[RDC1]

Just off of the Pacific Princess. The chicken and for that matter the burgers at the grill were pre-cooked and the "cooking" at the grill was more of a heating process.

 

The same on the Golden a few months ago. In 10 cruises on Princess ships i have never seen the grill start out with raw meat, always precooked and reheated on the grill.

[MSN-Travelers]

Just off of the Pacific Princess. The chicken and for that matter the burgers at the grill were pre-cooked and the "cooking" at the grill was more of a heating process.

 

The same on the Golden a few months ago. In 10 cruises on Princess ships i have never seen the grill start out with raw meat, always precooked and reheated on the grill.

 

+1 on this. I have NEVER seen raw meat at the grill. It was always pre-cooked and finished at the grill. They serve way too many people in a very short time to do a complete raw-to-finished-product.

[RotaryMike]

This may not be a viable solution for Friends of Bill- those members of AA.

Agree about washing your hands though!

 

Spending a week on a Caribbean cruise must be one of the toughest tests of willpower for the Friends of Bill, that's why they have a get-together almost every day onboard.

[dr__dawggy]

Just off of the Pacific Princess. The chicken and for that matter the burgers at the grill were pre-cooked and the "cooking" at the grill was more of a heating process.

 

The same on the Golden a few months ago. In 10 cruises on Princess ships i have never seen the grill start out with raw meat, always precooked and reheated on the grill.

 

I will see your 10 cruises and raise you two. :) and add that I have never seen precooked hamburgers on any cruise we have taken. I have not paid much attention to chicken before this most recent cruise on the Coral so I can't comment on poultry other than to say what I have already said--both chicken and hamburger meat on this cruise was cooked raw, not precooked and heated on the grill.

 

We are on the Golden in January, and I will be sure to check to see if both meats are cooked from the raw or are precooked and heated. Never been on the Pacific but a small ship experience is on our to do list.

Edited October 31, 2014 by dr__dawggy

[FritzG]

I will see your 10 cruises and raise you two. :) and add that I have never seen precooked hamburgers on any cruise we have taken. I have not paid much attention to chicken before this most recent cruise on the Coral so I can't comment on poultry other than to say what I have already said--both chicken and hamburger meat on this cruise was cooked raw, not precooked and heated on the grill.

 

We are on the Golden in January, and I will be sure to check to see if both meats are cooked from the raw or are precooked and heated. Never been on the Pacific but a small ship experience is on our to do list.

 

On the Grand in April, 2013, the burgers at the grill were always pre-cooked. I only had one, and it was dry and awful.

[caribill]

Spending a week on a Caribbean cruise must be one of the toughest tests of willpower for the Friends of Bill, that's why they have a get-together almost every day onboard.

 

There is usually a get-together of this group every day on every Princess cruise, no matter what the itinerary.

[Cancun01]

I witnessed the same cooking procedure at the Grill as the

O/P and I have not eaten food from the grill for a couple of years as a result..

[RDC1]

This is just becoming a "He Said.. She Said" argument.

 

We've all seen different things happening on different ships. All things should be company policy - unfortunately... some crew members get overwhelmed, and have no back-up.

 

BTW - have never seen 'raw' chicken at the grill.

 

Actually I believe that using pre-cooked at the grill is company policy. Probably the reason why the process was not changed after OP's complaint was because it was compliant with the process. I think this practice is not only for Princess but several other lines as well.

 

The limited cook surface, the number to be prepared, the issues dealing with raw meats, all result in a process where the meats are pre-cooked, grilled to get temperature and surface texture.

 

If anyone is currently onboard take a look. If not do so on your next cruise.

[BruceMuzz]

We found the most troubling aspect of this situation that no change was made after we made our concerns clear at several levels up and down the administrative chain of command.

 

So after the massive salmonella outbreak that surely must have followed this event, what was the final death toll?

 

Next time you go out to your favorite Abilene, Texas restaurant, you might want to question the cooks there. They have never heard of Sanitation, CDC , USPH, or Health Department. Not a single restaurant in America could pass the health inspection that every foreign cruise ship that visits America MUST pass twice every year.

Edited October 31, 2014 by BruceMuzz

[tjwa]

If such an outbreak(salmonella) did occur it would be classed as noro-virus.:eek:

[RotaryMike]

Of course ALL restaurants in the US follow strict health and hygiene standards. Just look in the restrooms - for the sign that says "employees must wash their hands before returning to work", .. isn't that reassuring !!

 

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[chengkp75]

On a recent Grand Princess galley tour, I noticed many security cameras (don't remember there being cameras on other ship galleys).

Asked one of the crew and was told "it's for ISO", which I assume was for ISO9001 Quality Management (a certified program for quality control).

So maybe any safe food issues are identified.

 

Actually, ISO isn't very important to ships. The controlling system is the IMO's ISM (International Safety Management) which covers not only quality management like ISO9001, but environmental management like ISO14001, and a host of other areas (virtually every aspect of ship's business). All ships must have an ISM system, and most of these are also certified as ISO9001/14001, but those certifications are more background data.

 

The cameras in crew areas, including galleys, are not really to deal with food sanitation issues, but more for security and safety.

 

While the crewmember on the Coral was incorrect in his hand hygiene, I will say that no system, and no one is perfect, so mistakes do happen. If this was brought to a supervisor's attention, and nothing was done, or no explanation of the process/practice given, then there is a systemic problem. I'm not familiar with the Coral's itineraries, but often when a ship is away from calling at US ports, the USPH standards are allowed to slip, and this frequently results in poor USPH inspection scores on the first inspection after returning to US ports.

[chengkp75]

If such an outbreak(salmonella) did occur it would be classed as noro-virus.:eek:

 

Not quite true. If you look at the CDC/USPH website for ship outbreaks, they will list the causative agent, if known, and both salmonella (last reported was 2007) and e. coli (just this April) are there. However, given the millions of meals served each year on cruise ships, the incidences of salmonella and e. coli are almost insignificant, and much, much less than what is reported (and even not reported) in shore eating establishments. USPH inspectors are mostly ex state and local health inspectors (many from NYC), and after seeing the standards that the ships must meet, many are VERY selective about where they will eat ashore. They will tell you that the USPH standards are far stricter than any local or state health code.

[seavoyager6]

This may be the absolutely dumbest much ado about nothing thread in CC history?

 

Has there been a single salmonella case on Princess or any other ship to merit the hysteria and alarmism of this discussion?

 

You probably have a much greater probability of falling overboard on a ship than salmonella

[pablo222]

This may be the absolutely dumbest much ado about nothing thread in CC history?

 

I don't know ... that is a very competitive category here!

[dr__dawggy]

Wow. Now I see why its called cruise CRITIC.

[caribill]

If such an outbreak(salmonella) did occur it would be classed as noro-virus.:eek:

 

Salmonella is a bacteria, not a virus.

 

On the ship either would just be listed as gastrointestinal problems with symptoms of one or the other.

 

Analysis in a lab would be required to determine if it is salmonella or noro-virus or something else.

[shredie]

This may be the absolutely dumbest much ado about nothing thread in CC history?

 

Has there been a single salmonella case on Princess or any other ship to merit the hysteria and alarmism of this discussion?

 

You probably have a much greater probability of falling overboard on a ship than salmonella

 

LOL. :D I find it kind of refreshing that people are worried about something common like salmonella instead of screeching hysterically about getting Ebola on a cruise ship. :rolleyes:

[cruisequeen4ever]

I have witnessed poor sanitation and hygiene on Princess ships, too, sadly. I've seen waiters wipe their nose and then serve food, pick up dirty dishes and then hand clean cups and silverware with the same hands, etc. The burgers at Trident on the Regal were made fresh when it opened and then reheated until they ran out and needed to make more. The fresh burgers were fantastic, but the reheated ones were dry, tough, and mediocre. I really hope they're not cross-contaminating because that is serious vacation-ruining business!!

 

 

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