Meals and menus

[Knickearth]

Felt compelled to post this.  I just got off the emerald princess Panama Canal cruise.  One thing that bugged my group was that the menus in the dining room was awful.  We ended up eating there 2 times only because the menus looked so unappetizing.  Further, the food and choices in the buffet were only slightly better.  
 

I was concerned that it was only the 1 ship, but friends at the same time were doing other cruises on other ships and they returned home with the same criticisms..

[capriccio]

I hope you didn't starve!  As just about everyone acknowledges food is very subjective plus dishes can vary from ship to ship, executive chef to executive chef. 

[pris993]

We did a 15 day canal cruise on the Coral... we did the buffet every night because menu in the MDR in general is not what it use to be, hasn't been great for a while.   We like the Crown Grill, unfortunately the Coral does not have the CG.  Going on the Grand mid February... we will mix it up between the buffet and Crown Grill on that ship.   I found on the Coral Buffet, there were usually 2 fish dishes, 2 chicken and meat ... lots of pork we don't eat pork.   We only do two meals a day, Room Service for breakfast and dinner... more than enough for us... we don't cruise for food.  We love to cook at home, after 10-15 days at sea... ready for home cooked meals again.    We have cruised Princess, HAL, Cunard in the past few years...  all ships about the same ... can't afford high end lines, so don't know what they are offering.   By the way, the menu in the Crown Grill is what cruse menus use to look like every night... one cruise we eat at the CG every night for 10 days. 

[skynight]

We find the selections fine in all the dining locations.

[neverbeenhere]

I find it a big surprise that so many are eating the menus.
I find food on the ship that is fine.  When I want gourmet cuisine, I’m not on a Princess ship. 

[geoherb]

I just disembarked from the Caribbean Princess this morning. Generally I usually found dishes I wanted to order in the menu. Some were better than others. I took photos of all the dinner menus and the sea day lunch menus and included them in the live thread I did from the ship. 

[Tyskie]

We were just on the Regal Princess repositioning NY-FLL. 

 

Out of 10 days, I can only say I had 2 exceptional meals in the MDR.  The menu was severely lacking that it was hard to choose and the always available from the past is not what they offer now.  Reading current reviews on the other ships, menus seem the same or similar.

 

Obviously, food is subjective - some will love it, some will think it's ok, some will hate it.  DH who is pretty much satisfied with most menus was not pleased.  I had more fettuccine alfredo this cruise than any other 🤦‍♀️

 

Staff, waiters, assistants were all great!

[martinitime1]

We did the 15 day Panama on the Coral 11/17 sailing and found the food quality in the MDR especially and other areas exceptional, some of the best quality food on a cruise. Apparently, this head chef gets many accolades on whatever ship he is on. We are not foodies, however, we know good quality food when we have it.

[chrysalis]

14 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

I find it a big surprise that so many are eating the menus.
 

that's because the menus are now chocolate.....yum

[martinitime1]

16 minutes ago, chrysalis said:

that's because the menus are now chocolate.....yum

[K.T.B.]

47 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

I find it a big surprise that so many are eating the menus.
I find food on the ship that is fine.  When I want gourmet cuisine, I’m not on a Princess ship. 

 

 

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

I find it a big surprise that so many are eating the menus.
I find food on the ship that is fine.  When I want gourmet cuisine, I’m not on a Princess ship. 

+1

 

Food tastes are subjective. I prefer a semi raw vegetarian diet (few spices, not 'spicey', and low salt definitely no black pepper - allergy) which my daughter calls bland bc she wants hot sauce, cayenne, very spicey food. DGS wants vegan with an Indian twist. DS wants anything with bacon! Or steak. Definitely meat. Somehow the ship manages it all despite up to 5000 meals at a time. And yes, I've ordered off menu - broccoli stuffed baked potato with cheese sauce 

 

But we'd all like the chocolate menu 🍫

Edited December 20, 2019 by Ombud

[vampiress]

8 hours ago, Ombud said:

 And yes, I've ordered off menu - broccoli stuffed baked potato with cheese sauce 

oh my gosh, its never occured to me to ask for that.  new goals next cruise.

 

i'm wondering, everyone who complains about the MDR menu, are you just reading the descriptions and not even bothering to try something new to you?  i'll admit, not every dish i have is one i like, i find they make their food a bit too fussy for me.  but i have a personal rule when i travel, i try things i wouldn't dream of ordering when i was picking up the check.  i know if i truly don't like my meal, they will bring me something else. 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by vampiress

[kruisey]

I started sailing with Princess 2001.I personally have noticed the last couple of times which was this year first Royal Princess then the older Star Princess that the food in main dining room is not up to the standard it used to be.Even the desert menu does not have the choices,I spent most of my evenings in Crown Grill paying $29 per shot.I pay the single  for my own balcony cabin so two persons food.

Princess keeps having Sales gimmicks to sell cabins alot more than it ever used to do and now many more can enjoy cruising whereas  years ago only those with well lined pockets could enjoy.Something  has to give.

Yes they have Club Class but.. those are few and far between for the more affable members.Maybe those few get the choices we all used to get.

When it comes to the domestic side of Princess the standard is still good.Although on my last cruise noticed did not get the bed turn down at night but that is of no importance.

To sum this all up . Cruising is affordable to all now but that comes at a price for the few that are used to the OLD LOVEBOAT  days.

Edited December 21, 2019 by kruisey

[Essiesmom]

I have to agree with the OP.  I just got off the four day cruise on Island Princess.  The prime rib dinner the first night was excellent.  Second night I was underwhelmed, settled for appetizers and salad.  third night, I checked the menu, didn't see anything I wanted, went up to the buffet to see what was there before going to Anytime dining, and found it was Mexican night.  I had a wonderful meal there.  The last night I also went to the buffet.  On our first two Princess cruises (1999, 2002) we were happy with the food.  When I went to Alaska in 2010, I was disappointed.  Back to Alaska in 2013, it was okay.  But now I am back to disappointed.  EM

[geoherb]

2 hours ago, kruisey said:

 

Yes they have Club Class but.. those are few and far between for the more affable members.Maybe those few get the choices we all used to get.

 

 

Club Class has just a couple of extra items at most from the regular dining room menu. You might, for instance, get the opportunity to order an appetizer and a dessert not offered to other passengers, but the rest of the menu will be the same.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We are just off the Island Princess.  For the first time in 13 cruises with Princess we were disappointed in the food--it has been two years since we sailed with them.

 

The MDR menus were just ok, except for most of the beef, especially anything resembling steaks or roast beef.  I actually couldn't eat some of the beef choices due to toughness and/or over cooking.  The petite filet mingnon I ordered one night was about 3 inches round and 1/2" thick and very, very well done.  I ordered median rare.  My husband's was fine.

 

They did offer to replace it, but we were trying to get to a show and I didn't want to wait. 

 

The buffet had little variety and many repeated dishes.  Desserts were not very good either.

 

We are not picky foodies or hard to please and always found something to eat, but there was a noticeable downgrade in food quality on this cruise.

[kruisey]

When it boils down there is absolutely nothing we folks that know about the past can do about it.

Princess is owned by Carnival who cater on the whole to the budget minded passenger.

For Club Class to charge so much more and only offer a couple of alternatives to the regular menu??

One either pays $29 a night for Crown Grill  or   disappointment.

In old age one of the delights is eating a great meal some else has prepared and no dish washing.

 

 

 

[memoak]

7 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

Club Class has just a couple of extra items at most from the regular dining room menu. You might, for instance, get the opportunity to order an appetizer and a dessert not offered to other passengers, but the rest of the menu will be the same.

But the main attraction with club class is the attention and great service

[holomuku]

I realize the topic here is Princess- but wanted to share that (IMHO) any cruise line can serve a poor meal.  We recently cruised Oceania which some think has terrific food.  I ordered a prime rib end cut and got a bloody undercooked mid-cut.  When I barely touched it the waiter asked what was wrong and I advised him.  He then took it back and they broiled it!  That only made things worse!  They did offer another entrée but at that point I was fine with salad and an appetizer.  As others have said, you make the best of it and move on.  

[satxdiver]

The quality of food is in the eye of the beholder as always.  After 300+ days on Princess I can always find something good to eat in the MDR every night that is to my liking.  Personally I like spicy food with jalapenos or better which of course I am not able to get on a cruise ship or in many restaurants in the US.  I have never gone on a cruise and come back weighing less or even the same so the food my be good.  

[tmt218]

On 12/19/2019 at 10:57 PM, Knickearth said:

Felt compelled to post this.  I just got off the emerald princess Panama Canal cruise.  One thing that bugged my group was that the menus in the dining room was awful.  We ended up eating there 2 times only because the menus looked so unappetizing.  Further, the food and choices in the buffet were only slightly better.  
 

I was concerned that it was only the 1 ship, but friends at the same time were doing other cruises on other ships and they returned home with the same criticisms..

 

 

Did you try any of the other dinner options like the seafood shack? Did they have the BBQ also? 

 

We will be on the Emerald Jan 17th sailing. Did they repeat any menus over the length of the cruise? 

[amanda384]

I find that the entrees at the MDR range, in my opinion, from okay to quite good.  I have never had anything terrible that I can recall.

 

My only wish is that they would change the menu a bit more frequently.  The past few years the menus across ships has been almost identical.