Dining/ food quality, Princess Cruises

[lovevacadays]

Food is subjective.........

Cafeteria quality? Pfffft.........hardly.

 

I agree. While I've had some dishes that weren't good I have found the overall quality to be good and sometimes excellent.

[joeyancho]

I agree. While I've had some dishes that weren't good I have found the overall quality to be good and sometimes excellent.

I agree also. It is rare to get a bad meal. And if you do just send it back, problem solved.

[GrouchyBomber]

Very nice, a lot of Princess defenders. Eye of the beholder , like anything else in life.

Obviously Princess/Carnival is doing a great job. Some statistic from the shareholders report regarding food operating cost vs passenger:

 

Total passengers ( in million): 11.52 (2016) , 10.84 (2015), 10.57 (2014)

Total food cost (in million $): $1,005 (2016), $981(2015), $1005(2014)

This translated to unit food cost/per passenger/per cruise:

$87 in 2016

$90 in 2015

$95 in 2014

 

They are indeed doing very good job with cost reduction in food.

Go to the annual shareholders meeting you will get much better insight.

[Colo Cruiser]

Very nice, a lot of Princess defenders. Eye of the beholder , like anything else in life.

 

 

I am the beholder of 57 Princess cruise's filled with excellent food!!

I can't be an honest defender???

[jwattle]

Hmm....... three posts by the OP and all are complaints about food. :confused:

And he/she joined this month ... just for those three posts . Hmmm hmmmm :confused::confused::evilsmile::evilsmile:

[ar1950]

And he/she joined this month ... just for those three posts . Hmmm hmmmm :confused::confused::evilsmile::evilsmile:

 

Update, now four posts. GrouchyBomber may need to find another venue for food. :confused:

[Iamcruzin]

Many people do like the food on Princess Cruise. But I found the overall quality of food has declined. At the best it is just cafeteria quality. That is the reason they created "specialty restaurant " to get our money. Question is why they make such difference?

The answer is obvious.

Any thoughts?

From what I have been reading the specialty restaurants aren't all that great anymore either.

[Loonbeam]

Except that doesn't mean exactly what you think it does.

 

Cost per passenger trend also has to factor in economy of scale. As you service more passengers on larger venues you also get cost savings on spoilage, etc. Or to put it a different way, the incremental cost of feeding passengers increases more slowly with capacity.

 

 

Take the Island Princess. They added about 5% capacity, lets say, but their food costs would not have increased 5 percent, probably closer to 2 or 3. Which means food costs still go up, but costs per pax go down. As bigger and bigger ships roll out you will see continued per pax reduction over average. Using made up numbers, lets say it cost $30,000 to feed the IP for a week at 3000 pax. They add 150 passengers, so you would expect the cost to rise to $31,500 but it doesn't, $31,000 is probably closer. Which means the per pax count went from $100 to $97 without changing a thing on the menu. That effect is magnified on bigger ships.

 

 

Now that doesn't mean that Princess hasn't been reducing options and removing some high dollar items from menus. All lines are. But that's a far cry from calling it cafeteria food in the manner you clearly intended.

 

 

And its certainly true there are chef's who do a better job working with what they have than others but again also true on many lines. But its also fair to say that Princess has gone nowhere near as far on the specialty bandwagon as others have and continued to commit a relatively large portion of their food service assets to the MDRs.

 

 

Very nice, a lot of Princess defenders. Eye of the beholder , like anything else in life.

Obviously Princess/Carnival is doing a great job. Some statistic from the shareholders report regarding food operating cost vs passenger:

 

Total passengers ( in million): 11.52 (2016) , 10.84 (2015), 10.57 (2014)

Total food cost (in million $): $1,005 (2016), $981(2015), $1005(2014)

This translated to unit food cost/per passenger/per cruise:

$87 in 2016

$90 in 2015

$95 in 2014

 

They are indeed doing very good job with cost reduction in food.

Go to the annual shareholders meeting you will get much better insight.

[majortom10]

I cannot compare with restaurants in the US but we have always enjoyed well cooked steaks in Crown Grill even as recently as a fortnight ago on Crown Princess when we had 4 course meal to include 22oz porterhouse steak for $29 and even taking into account the money we have already paid for meal in MDR. We could not get anywhere near that for price and quality in the UK.

[sfaaa]

I am sure if food is that bad, most passengers would have lost weight instead of gaining a few pounds by the time they get off the ship. So much for OP's less than credible claim.

[sfaaa]

Very nice, a lot of Princess defenders. Eye of the beholder , like anything else in life.

Obviously Princess/Carnival is doing a great job. Some statistic from the shareholders report regarding food operating cost vs passenger:

 

Total passengers ( in million): 11.52 (2016) , 10.84 (2015), 10.57 (2014)

Total food cost (in million $): $1,005 (2016), $981(2015), $1005(2014)

This translated to unit food cost/per passenger/per cruise:

$87 in 2016

$90 in 2015

$95 in 2014

 

They are indeed doing very good job with cost reduction in food.

Go to the annual shareholders meeting you will get much better insight.

 

You obviously went to S/H AGM and asked. So enlighten us on the real facts why Princess's food cost is decreasing.

[GoHuskies!]

Cafeteria quality?! Clearly you should be cruising on a luxury line if you think the food is that bad on Princess. I've eaten in a military chow hall and I think I know what cafeteria quality is and Princess is NOT that!!

 

As I posted on another thread, the uber-gourmets among us (think Charles Winchester III on MASH) should try the SOS on board my Navy ships! They have no basis for comparison.

[Dollyhaycart]

Yes, food is subjective but really, cafeteria quality? I have eaten in Michelin star restaurants and wondering why I bother if I can find such good food in a cafeteria!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Many of the 'food has been declining' posts rhapsodize about how great it was in the old days. But which entrees are often mentioned? Prime rib, lobster tails, and baked Alaska. Not things you would find in a Michelin-starred restaurant!

[sfaaa]

Don't knock the SOS. It was actually featured as down to earth and fulfilling comfort food on a Food Channel show.

[XBGuy]

In fact, they help float the boat and probably allow those of who don't use them to pay lower fares.

 

Jim

 

(y)

 

You and I are on the same page, Jim. I think the same thing every time I walk by the casino. ;p

[LeeW]

In our case we are sailing more Royal Caribbean (next four cruises) because Princess has dropped the beef filets from anytime menu. On our last two Princess cruises their "beef" in the dining room menu on three nights consisted of a really poor brisket, stewed short ribs and nothing. Plus a hamburger. We don't eat in what we would consider an upscale restaurant to eat a hamburger. On most cruises my wife would eat the filets four nights out of seven. Can no longer do this on Princess. Royal's steaks are just ok, but far better than a hamburger.

 

One comment on last cruise we heard was that Princess must have cornered the world market on scallops. While there are a few folks that will eat the Curtis Stone stuff, the fact that Share is not being expanded to the fleet shows what most customers think.

 

So will we be back to Princess? Probably. But we agree with the OP that the food quality has definitely declined in the last three years or so. If you like steak, go elsewhere.

[greenie082756]

DH and I are as opposite people as you can meet. Even with the MDR and Horizon Court menu items we disagree on the taste and quality.

 

I personally like to cook and bake. What I enjoy on a cruise is to taste someone else's food that I might or might not want to try to make @ home. We like some of the meals and some we do not. Same as going to a restaurant on land.

 

When the OP stated "cafeteria style" I immediately remembered going to Luby's cafeteria with the in-laws. It was pretty good especially if you compare it to the cafeteria food I use to get in school :eek:.

 

Even though we are rather new to Princess, we too have noticed a change in food variety, quality and service.

 

Have you noticed the price of cruising going up? I have. But that's okay because we are stockholders and get it back every time we cruise.

[brady729]

Gee, I thought these forums were for people to voice their opinions.

It seems like if someone doesn't agree with you people have to attack them. Everyone can have their own opinion of the food on Princess.

I personally think the quality of food has gone done and some nights I can't find anything to order. If you love the food, great but why attack someone who has a different opinion

[SantaFeFan]

We've always found something we've enjoyed eating on Princess ships. :D

 

We took our first Princess cruise last month, and I would add to your comment: "We have always found something we were very disappointed with when eating on the Grand Princess ship."

 

I would say that about half the meals in the MDR were sub-par compared to the other cruise lines I have been on. As for the buffet, I found it difficult to find things that I was pleased with. From cold fried eggs, to omelet orders that never showed up, to just bland and tasteless food, it was worse than a local Hometown Buffet I had the misfortune of trying on a whim. For instance, I never knew that bacon could have all the flavor cooked out of it, but there it was, on virtually every morning I tried it - zero flavor. Even Crown Grill was very disappointing, with a steak that was barely edible, and small, just warm lobster tails as an option. The Black and Blue French Onion Soup was very good, however, so the meal wasn't a total loss.

 

Don't get me wrong, my wife and I enjoyed the cruise a lot. We liked the ship's decoration and layout, the entertainment was very good, and our mini-suite was the best stateroom we have spent any time in - love those new beds. I especially loved the Peanut Butter Pudding at the International Cafe, and the pizzas at Alfredos were quite good - all three times!

 

But the food overall was the worst of any cruise I have ever taken. I certainly wouldn't cruise Princess for the food. Fortunately there are plenty of other good reasons for us to consider another Princess cruise in the future other than food.

Edited July 15, 2017 by SantaFeFan

[dave_k58]

I am not a foodie but I do like to eat. I have always thought the food was fine on cruise ships. We hardly ever do the extra fee dining but when we do, I always seem to wish that I had just gone to the MDR. We liked the food on Princess, Carnival and Royal and feel that they are more alike than different. We are looking forward to taking a TA on HAL - and after reading the reviews I don't know if the food is horrible, average or fantastic. Banquet is a good way to describe MDR meals. PS - the military dining facilities ( formerly known as mess halls) have excellent food now, in my opinion. We just joined our son-in-law for supper at his base in San Diego.

[rjgdjg]

I would agree that the main dining room food on Princess is fair--but then, I've found it just fair on the other three lines I've been on as well (Royal, Celebrity and HAL).

 

Where I personally think Princess shines is in the buffet--particularly on the Regal Princess. The buffet was truly extensive, with a lot of higher end surprises, such as smoked mahi mahi for breakfast, extensive cheese spreads and poached salmon at dinner, very interesting roll arrays that changed every day and really decent desserts.

 

We've found ourselves at the buffet more and more, and the MDR less and less...- Musing About Cruising

[kmorg1234]

I think it is reasonable to compare the dining room fare on Pricess (heck, any of them) to banquet food. For what they have to do--efficiently feed hundreds, if not thousands of passengers--they do a good job.

 

I do not romanticize the "old days" of cruising. My very first cruise was in 1976 and, frankly, the dining room offerings by day five of a seven-day cruise were pretty pedestrian. I tried to convince myself that the cut up hotdogs in my soup were some sort of exquisite sausages, but the fact is that they were hotdogs.

 

Personally, I love all the various dining options that are available on today's cruise lines. I get to choose. At the risk of sounding nationalistic, that seems totally American to me.

 

There has not been a single report that any passenger has had a gun pointed at them while they were being told that they had to eat at an extra charge venue.

 

 

• If I want to spend $60-$80 for my wife and I to eat in an extra-charge restaurant. I am happy to do so. I cannot imagine why this bothers people who choose not to.
  
• If I want to eat at the buffet, nobody should care.
  
• If I want to have a tuna salad sandwich in my cabin for dinner, nobody should care.
  
• If I decline on the Pub Lunch, why should anybody care?
  
• If I decide to have dinner in a port, why should anybody care?
  
• If I do have a giant lunch in a port and just have a slice of pizza for dinner, why should anybody care?
  
• If I don't have a cocktail or a beer on a cruise, why should anybody care?
  

Extra-charge restaurants on cruise ships do not forecast the end of civilization.

 

 

 

Exactly this. WHY does anyone care about what everyone else does for meals??? i personally do not care in the least what the rest of y'all are doing......

[GoHuskies!]

Don't knock the SOS. It was actually featured as down to earth and fulfilling comfort food on a Food Channel show.

 

Hey, I don't, really. I prepare it myself at times--like any other dish, careful preparation with thoughtful ingredients and seasoning can make a wonderful meal out of SOS or anything else.

[GoHuskies!]

PS - the military dining facilities ( formerly known as mess halls) have excellent food now, in my opinion. We just joined our son-in-law for supper at his base in San Diego.

 

Exactly. And even years ago the quality of mess hall food depended on the cooks and the specific military base or ship you were in. For example, the food at Treasure Island Naval Receiving Station (San Francisco) was surpassingly good. But the absolute best scrambled eggs I have ever had were at the Anacostia Naval Station in Washington, D.C. On the weekends there we would go through the kitchen in back of the cafeteria lines to the guy who prepared them. He had a huge tub of eggs from which he ladled a scoop onto a hot griddle. You would ask for one or two scoops, each equivalent to maybe four eggs, and he spread (kind of tossed) the ladleful across the griddle, then immediately started scooping them together, capturing the moistness within, and thence to your plate or platter. Never a dry egg among them! I always try to emulate this method in my frying pan at home--quickly on and off a hot pan, moist as can be. Plates have to be ready before I start the cooking of eggs. I have been completely spoiled by my Navy chef in this regard; that's why I can't stand those dry, overbaked solid yellow plastic pads they call scrambled eggs in any buffet line. Slow cooking just doesn't do it either.