Wheelhouse British Pub lunch

[binkey36]

It has been a few years since we sailed on Princess. Do they still have a British Pub lunch in the Wheelhouse on sea days. Thanks so much in advance. 
sailing on the Sapphire Princess April 2022 to Hawaii....with lots of sea days 😊

[memoak]

It has never been on all sea days but there should be at least 1 on a 7 day cruise and more on longer cruises. There are 2 separate menus

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

It has never been on all sea days but there should be at least 1 on a 7 day cruise and more on longer cruises. There are 2 separate menus

Yes. The menus rotate. On a Hawaii cruise there will usually be 2 Pub lunches. YMMV.

[Retirement2016]

The Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess both have pub lunches.  Fish and Chips are one of our favorite lunches on board.

[dreaminofcruisin]

Just as a cautionary tale.....on one of our recent cruises, there was only one Pub Lunch on a 12 day cruise. It was NOT listed in the Patter. The only way we found out about it was that we had gone to the dining room serving lunch to check the menu. It turned out to be the Pub Lunch!

[geoherb]

They had two pub lunches on my Caribbean Princess cruise to the Panama Canal (10-day partial) last December. Here's the menu from the second one. On the Caribbean, it was held in the Crown Grill.

[binkey36]

Thank you all for the replies and the menu!

[Lucky TGO]

I was on the Caribbean Princess in January and the Pub Lunch was awful!! 
Tony

[nini]

Agree... We were not impressed by food or service.

[jondfk]

Yeah, we've done pub lunch twice, not likely to do so again.  Why?

 

Completely oversubscribed.  Limited seating, hundreds (I'm not joking) hundreds of people lined up to get served (aw those sweet pre-covid days . . . ).  

 

Every flat surface used for food service.  Just imagine trying to enjoy fish & chips served on a cocktail table seated in a wing chair (it is in Wheelhouse after all).  The lucky few got more or less normal tables and chairs, but after waiting an hour on line to get seated, you take what you're given.

 

Finally, the food itself was probably the most disappointing of anything we've had on Princess.  Things that should be hot were at best room temperature.  Things that should be cool were again, room temperature. 

 

All of this after waiting an hour plus on line.  No thanks.  

 

As everyone here knows, Princess is highly variable ship to ship and I have no doubt that someone, at some time, on some ship has had a lovely pub lunch.  We however prefer to stick to the MDR which is after all configured for delivering meals to the masses.  

 

Finally, I'll add that Royal had a couple of lovely fish and chips days in Horizon.  They weren't billed as "pub lunch" but all the bits were there mushy peas included.  

 

I sound grumpy, probably just the anticipation of the inevitable cancelling of our next booking in January.  Can't wait to get back to sea life.

[kiwimum]

On our October TA on the Emerald, the Pub  lunch was held at the rear of the Horizon Court.   Far better location.

[memoak]

In my experience pub lunch is usually in a specialty restaurant like the Crown Grill

[skynight]

As posted, Princess still has the Pub Lunch. It's worth the try if you never have tried it or haven't been there in some time. I do enjoy the prawns when they are on the menu. The fish and chips are ok. The other items, so-so. If you arrive when it opens you will be waiting in a line.  If you wait until later the line is mostly gone. We feel there are better selections in the DR, buffet, Lido deck grill and even the International Cafe. The buffet sometimes has breaded shrimp and fish & chips on the menu.  

[wowzz]

As a Brit, can I point out that the mushy peas are not the real thing. The chefs just puree up frozen garden peas on Princess. True mushy peas are made from marrowfat peas.

[Tedferg]

Another authenticity question, I can't remember if the steak pie has kidney in it.

Edited August 20, 2020 by Tedferg

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Another authenticity question, I can't remember if the steak pie has kidney in it.

To be fair, unless it specifically says Steak & Kidney, it is acceptable to just have just steak.

[Tedferg]

20 minutes ago, wowzz said:

To be fair, unless it specifically says Steak & Kidney, it is acceptable to just have just steak.

I agree, just that my memory failed me. I always enjoy those pies. Often in US they are Steak & Mushroom pies.

[XBGuy]

A lot of people seem to really like the Pub Lunch.  Typically, the line starts to form at least a half-hour before the venue opens.  (The venue varies from ship to ship.)  So, if the scheduled opening time is 12:00 n, and you arrive at that time, you will have a lengthy wait.  The one time we tried it, we arrived about 1:15 pm and had a 10 or 15 minute wait in the line.

 

I might add that the time we tried it on the Emerald Princess the venue was, in fact, the Wheelhouse Bar.  I am inclined to agree with the previous poster who felt that it is not particularly conducive to an enjoyable lunch experience.  I have seen the Pub Lunch offered in the Crown Grill on other ships and feel that would be a better venue.  I do not recall ever seeing it in the Horizon Court, but that should, also, be a better venue.

 

On the other hand, I have never been in an English pub and, so, have no idea what that experience is supposed to be.

[casofilia]

I was brought up in the UK and what Princess off as a "Pub Lunch" is nothing like the REAL "Pub Lunch" I used to have most Saturday lunchtimes because my wife was working all day.

 

I agree totally with the comment about "Mushy Peas"; what Princess provides is contrary to the "Trades Description Act" we have in NZ.

[wowzz]

In many UK pubs, a pub lunch is 5 pints of beer and a packet of crisps!

Personally, I'd want a packet of pork scratchings as well. 

[casofilia]

A "Proper" Pub Lunch!!!

 

3 or 4 different cheeses, pork pie, pickled onion, pickles, pickled egg (maybe/sometimes) along with fresh crusty bread and homemade salty butter.   With a couple of pints of bitter or cider.

 

 

What Princess provides is a British "Booze Barn" "restaurant" lunch.   Very similar to what you get in any large fast food "restaurant".

[wowzz]

40 minutes ago, casofilia said:

A "Proper" Pub Lunch!!!

 

3 or 4 different cheeses, pork pie, pickled onion, pickles, pickled egg (maybe/sometimes) along with fresh crusty bread and homemade salty butter.   With a couple of pints of bitter or cider.

 

 

What Princess provides is a British "Booze Barn" "restaurant" lunch.   Very similar to what you get in any large fast food "restaurant".

I think you have been away from the UK too long.

You are very unlikely to find what you described, especially the homemade butter!

Nowadays you will get pastrami, Brussels pate, olives, chorizo, sourdough bread, tapenade, sun dried tomatoes,  hummus and a pickled onion! The beer will still be excellent, if you know where to go!

[GUT2407]

I think the big attraction is that it is something different. None of it measures up to the real deal, but it is a change from the buffet or MDR.

[brisalta]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

In many UK pubs, a pub lunch is 5 pints of beer and a packet of crisps!

Personally, I'd want a packet of pork scratchings as well. 

 

When I was young a pub lunch was cheeses, bread, pickled eggs, gherkins, etc and a beer. Especially on Sundays there was no charge for the food.

[brisalta]

22 hours ago, memoak said:

In my experience pub lunch is usually in a specialty restaurant like the Crown Grill

 

On the Grand Princess the pub lunch is in the Crown Grill. The food was decent.

Fish and chips. Steak pie or was it steak and kidney pie?

Some other dishes but would turn up late to miss the crowds so not quite sure what was on the complete menu.

Edited August 20, 2020 by brisalta