We all determine value differently

[Barbara60]

My DH and I are taking a 32 day cruise next month on Coral from Shanghai to LA. We haven't cruised in 5 years so we are very excited.

 

I have been doing lots and lots of reading on this website about our ship and also Princess in general. A lot of people seem to complain about the quality of the food, etc etc etc.

 

I am measuring my cruise a bit differently. Most vacations we book are in the Caribbean and we have been renting condos rather than doing AI for several years. We got tired of the quality of food in the AI range. So now we cook many of our meals to save some money and only eat out 2-3 times per week and never breakfast. The food in restaurants is much better than in any AI. And the AI menus repeat every 7 days.

 

I am super excited about this cruise and not having to cook or do dishes for over a month. I'm not expecting the food to be amazing but I am very confident it will be delicious (for the most part). I am also happy there will be lots of activities to participate in if I don't feel like reading my book. Plus on top of all that I get to go to several countries and ports I haven't previously been to. The only place we have been to on this itinerary is Hong Kong. So lots of new things to see.

 

I feel like the price of this cruise is very good when I consider all of the wonderful extras I am getting so if the food disappoints me at all ( I don't think it will) I will certainly be able to live with it.

 

I hope everyone planning a cruise this winter enjoys themselves and remember Look for the postives!

[c-boy]

Great post op. My wife and I will do the same 32 day cruise your D H are going on and hopefully you will post while on it.

[luv2cruz62]

I agree! Great comments! I always look at the fact that I don't have to cook, clean, do dishes, make my bed....and I am not a picky eater (my waist line confirms that!) I absolutely LOVE cruising, and always see the cruises as a 'glass half full' trip! I would NEVER complain about food etc on a ship!!

[cnd crsr]

Barbara 60,

 

 

You have the right attitude! I look on any opportunity to vacation (especially cruising) the same way.

[jwattle]

Our cruises are always about the fun and good to be had. There are adventures to be made, new friends, great new things to taste and fabulous new crewmembers to get to know.

[XBGuy]

Have a great cruise, Barbara.

 

I've stated often that the worst cruise I ever had was wonderful.

 

👍

[Happy2cruise]

I agree! Great comments! I always look at the fact that I don't have to cook, clean, do dishes, make my bed....and I am not a picky eater (my waist line confirms that!) I absolutely LOVE cruising, and always see the cruises as a 'glass half full' trip! I would NEVER complain about food etc on a ship!!

Absolutely agree with you on every point:)

[Croptop]

My DH and I are taking a 32 day cruise next month on Coral from Shanghai to LA.

 

I was jealous at "...taking a 32 day cruise..."

 

Have a great vacation. Based on the remainder of your post, I suspect that you will.

 

If you get a chance, pop in during your cruise and post about your experiences on this trip. I'd, for one, would love to hear about them.

[geocruiser]

We enjoy Princess. I think the food is fine on Princess. But I am one of the people who enjoys food, and I want decent food each day. I would not sail a cruise line if the food was bad. So far, I enjoy the food on Princess .I very rarely eat a hot dog or hamburger at home and don't eat them on a cruise either. The good thing about Princess if you enjoy burger and hots, you can get them and for people like me who want other food, Princess has it too.

We have heard other PAX complain about the food while on the same cruise. I wonder what they eat at home.

I cook all the time at home, most times in my home lunch is hot food of some sort too, besides at dinner time.

But, I enjoy Princess's food. I look forward to it. Because it is different that wnat I make at home. Plus no clean up to do!

[Cruiser411]

For what it matters, the best meals we've ever had on Princess was on Coral Princess. It was a few years ago and I'm sure it was dependent on the head chef, etc. but every meal in the MDR was great.

[elliair]

I hope everyone planning a cruise this winter enjoys themselves and remember Look for the postives!

 

I always look for positives whenever we cruise, we keep cruising because we know where we're going to sleep, eat and we don't have to drive any where when we drink. That being said, the food is a big part of cruising. Some ships have better food than others and we avoid the ships that we find subpar. Then there's some ships that you've cruised on too many times and they are old for us but new to someone else. Not negative, but we're always looking for a new ship and a new adventure.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I totally agree with your post. You have to temper your expectations with reality. Newbies often have to learn this lesson the hard way like I did. Everything won't be perfect. If anyone has told you "everything is perfect" with cruising, they're not dealing with reality. It will be wonderful though - in so many ways! You have to look at the bigger picture and determine what's really important to you. If the cruise line can accomplish those things well, then that's as close to perfect as you can get.

[roxievegas]

We did 34 nights - B2B2B with Celebrity in 2016 - we never had a bad meal in MDR. In 2018 we did 28 nights with Princess. Never had a bad meal - we are not picky, we order what we like and even if it is not exactly what we thought, we could still eat it. We did not eat ever meal in the MDR. Some nights buffet, some times we had room service. If the food was that bad, no one would on the cruise.

enjoy your trip

[Barbara60]

Thanks everyone. We will have a great cruise and I'll try to post while we are away. But I will write a review when we get home for sure.

[thinfool]

I don't know how you can be so cheerful about your cruise.

 

Based on comments by others in other threads it would seem that complaining is the only way to truly enjoy a cruise. :cool:;p:cool:

[neverbeenhere]

I don't know how you can be so cheerful about your cruise.

 

Based on comments by others in other threads it would seem that complaining is the only way to truly enjoy a cruise. :cool:;p:cool:

 

You discovered the key to great cruising... Complaining. Congratulations, I hope you will be about to complain about your next cruise experience. :cool:

[thinfool]

You discovered the key to great cruising... Complaining. Congratulations, I hope you will be about to complain about your next cruise experience. :cool:

 

LOL...my biggest complaint about cruising is that I don't get to do it enough.

 

The second is that Hurrican Season tends to ruin a lot of good sailing dates, unless I want to pony up the $$ for the Med or Alaska.

[TheRabbit]

The DW will tell people it is obvious I have never gone hungry as I am a little picky with how some of my food is prepared. That said, we do late seating always, and I will let the waiter know how I want something, and I have never been able to complain about a single meal. Some times just a couple of words will bring you what you want, how you want it.

 

See you on board Barbara

[TheRabbit]

You discovered the key to great cruising... Complaining. Congratulations, I hope you will be about to complain about your next cruise experience. :cool:

If complaining is the key, I have been missing out!:eek:

[GUT2407]

So many get so uptight about nothing

 

I’m on holidays, no cook8ng, no cleaning, no work (though sometimes I have to take some with me), no housework.

 

Food isn’t gourmet, it’s function or wedding standard, but I didn’t prepare it, cook it, or clean up after it and have never yet once been unable to find something I can eat.

 

On a longer cruise I do sometimes look forward to a simpler meal (grilled cheese, basic sandwich that type of thing) and that can actually be a bit difficult, but some lines are better than others at that type of thing.

[susancruzs]

Barbara, enjoyed your post and do enjoy your cruise! I'm sure it will be fantastic! I'm one of those non fussy foodies, pretty much happy with the food on cruises.

 

I've seen many comments about the Emerald recently, yet when I was on the Emerald for 30 days in March, the food was very good. There were beef items I was very surprised how good the quality was and I don't usually order steaks or prime rib. However, I saw my table mates decided to try it, was glad I did. I had fish, pork, lamb, veal, meat loaf, and the filet mignon, prime rib, no complaints.

 

I had one short rib dinner that wasn't as good and right away my waiter noticed and replaced it. Our wait staff for the 30 days was top notch, everything went like clock work. Early seating, traditional and all of us stayed at the same table as the cruise was sold in 2 portions. We had a few come and go at our table, but 6 of us were there the whole time. My table mates had no complaints either. I don't understand people and their issues with the food.