Least liked menu items in MDR?

[capriccio]

5 minutes ago, blizzard44ca said:

Prime Rib is my favourite food, so I have high standards.  Unfortunately, I have been disappointed at least 50% of the times I’ve ordered it.

My stats are:   good - 33% (we had great prime rib and beef in general on the Caribbean Princess in January), meh - 33%, and a waste of calories - 33%.  I do ask the wait staff and check out other diner's plates.  So why do I keep ordering it?  I'm an eternal optimist! Plus I know I won't go hungry.

[sttopmh]

Bay scallops, usually offered on Italian night, when I don't want pasta. They are small and overcooked to the point of being too chewy.

[CineGraphic]

Matzoh Ball Soup. The matzoh balls were dense and rubbery, and resembled the small bouncing balls kids buy in vending machines.

[MLBFan24]

Cold soups. Can't stand them.

[1emerald1]

5 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Thanksgiving dinner. 

The chefs are from other countries and have no idea what American food is supposed to taste like.

Turkey was a salt lick, who salts turkey? Everything else was cooked to mush... and salty.

We walked out and had a hamburger on deck. Happy Thanksgiving!

I always do specialty the last night.  Can't stand their version of a roast turkey and the sirloin steak is inedible.

[Rick&Jenny]

21 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I have had decent prime rib on embarkation night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to agree with Wishing on a star. I have ordered prime rib many times on embarkation night and (as I recall) it had always been delicious.  They served it later in the week and the quality had been not so good, too much fat or grizzle and usually under done.

The Coral had a streak several years ago where the MDR food was consistently excellent for approx 3-5 consecutive years.  I don’t recall that time span now.  The Coral has always been one of our favorites.  Love that forward buffet!

[Kay S]

Grandma's Coq Au Vin.

[Ombud]

Hollandaise sauce. It's normally fluid but some reason I can cut it with a fork. 

[SiliconCruiser]

8 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Thanksgiving dinner. 

The chefs are from other countries and have no idea what American food is supposed to taste like.

Turkey was a salt lick, who salts turkey? Everything else was cooked to mush... and salty.

We walked out and had a hamburger on deck. Happy Thanksgiving!

The food served on Princess ships must be created from a central source (probably American,) and it is served across the board on all of the ships.  It's been my experience that there is a consistency in the food regardless of the ship, and the food in all the MDRs are the same.  In many cases you can even predict what will be on the menu on any particular day of the cruise, including the theme nights (previously known as Italian night and American night.)  The line cooks are given a set procedure as to how each dish is to be prepared.  Think of it as institutional food served on table cloths.  How else can you maintain consistency feeding a population of up to 3600 people.  Not surprisingly, one of the Cruise Directors did tell me that the crew usually has a broader variety of food served to them, since they are on the ships for longer periods of time than a passenger on a 10 day cruise.  I'm sure there is also greater variety for passengers when they are on trans-oceanic cruises as well.

 

[SiliconCruiser]

2 hours ago, Kay S said:

Grandma's Coq Au Vin.

I'll second that, along with the ridiculously soggy interpretation of Duck à l'Orange.

[mtnesterz]

4 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

The food served on Princess ships must be created from a central source (probably American,) and it is served across the board on all of the ships.  It's been my experience that there is a consistency in the food regardless of the ship, and the food in all the MDRs are the same.  In many cases you can even predict what will be on the menu on any particular day of the cruise, including the theme nights (previously known as Italian night and American night.)  The line cooks are given a set procedure as to how each dish is to be prepared.  Think of it as institutional food served on table cloths.  How else can you maintain consistency feeding a population of up to 3600 people.  Not surprisingly, one of the Cruise Directors did tell me that the crew usually has a broader variety of food served to them, since they are on the ships for longer periods of time than a passenger on a 10 day cruise.  I'm sure there is also greater variety for passengers when they are on trans-oceanic cruises as well.

Being Elite, we have noticed this too. While not for everyone, we find the best food is to order off menu in the MDR the night before. Order Indian food, chef's choice, at whatever heat level you can stand.  I'm told the chefs are often Indian and to our tastes, it is much better than the buffet line Indian food.

[Ombud]

@mtnesterz try the little known separate vegetarian menu (ok it's really vegan). My favorite PCL soup is the vegan onion soup (beets in broth) once they add cheese (I'm vegetarian not vegan). SO GOOD!! And I normally don't eat beets but it adds a something something

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, I know that the Princess menus are pretty much 'institutional'.  But, that doesn't mean that there are not significant differences in quality and presentation from ship to ship.  Most likely due to the leadership and preferences of the head chef onboard.  (whatever that official title is)

 

First time on Regal,  a lot of the stuff was way over cooked, very over salted, just strange and barely edible.

Yes, it was the same menus, same suppliers, but big differences in quality, preparation, and presentation.

Our last cruise on the Regal, pre-shutdown, the food was mostly the same menus, but was much better.

 

Also, for people who have crused for any number of years,  we know the different changed and 'updates' that are made at the corporate level.   Things are not always the same.

 

As a matter of fact, I know that there were fairly recent posts here from somebody who had sailed two of the newer ships in a short time period.  They even posted detailed descriptions and pictures of how it was much better on one ship than the other.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

I don't want to be the one to start a thread about the food and food quality on Princess.  But, I think that many here know that Princess really is not the greatest.  Other lines, even NCL in some cases, Celebrity, etc. all have a consensus who report that these other lines have better food.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that there was somebody currently or recently on a Princess ship, who reports that there is a new person, like a main chef, onboard who is actively working on bringing up the level of dining on Princess.  They reported that most of the food onboard has been excellent.  Let's hope that maybe this is true, and upgrades to the dishes on the menus and dining will be in the works for all Princess' ships!

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[atomax]

17 hours ago, WatchHill said:

Overall, food is good, not great - DH calls it banquet food, not Ponant quality.  I find that too much salt is used in all of the dishes and I still have to watch the coffee [syrup]. 

 

Darcy

On my first (and only, to date) Princess cruise, I was having terrible headaches. An experienced cruiser let me know that Princess made their coffee from syrup, so I was having caffeine withdrawal! Is this really still the case? May have to look into buying a coffee package after all if this is the case 😭

[dides]

My other half won't eat lamb at home so it's usually a real treat for me to order this off the menu. Pre-covid there used to be lamb shank which was awesome but now it's just a couple of slices. On Discovery Princess last month, the offering was too fatty for my liking and the radioactive looking mint jelly had little flavour. Not that enjoyable at all.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2022 by dides

[Coral]

10 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I don't want to be the one to start a thread about the food and food quality on Princess.  But, I think that many here know that Princess really is not the greatest.  Other lines, even NCL in some cases, Celebrity, etc. all have a consensus who report that these other lines have better food.

 

I heard thru the grapevine that there was somebody currently or recently on a Princess ship, who reports that there is a new person, like a main chef, onboard who is actively working on bringing up the level of dining on Princess.  They reported that most of the food onboard has been excellent.  Let's hope that maybe this is true, and upgrades to the dishes on the menus and dining will be in the works for all Princess' ships!

 

I honestly think it won't improve until CCL is in a much better financial situation.

[worldtraveller]

I had a great lamb shank on our cruise in August but the other lamb dishes were not very good.  And sorry we love most of their cold soups!

[Wishing on a star]

Wow, something as simple as a mint jelly/sauce comes out looking like that???

MMMMMmmmm,  OKAY!

I will note that in the photo, the lamb looks great.

 

I do not prefer either, but I hear the 'GREEN' salad dressing is also similar 'radioactive'.

 

Good gracious, give me some real dairy butter. (not those pat 'blends') and some decent salad dressing.

 

PS:  The sauces/dressings etc, and presentation (not the basic inventory of food meat and veggies) were said to be one of the focus' of that one main Chef onboard that I mentioned earlier.

 

[startedwithamouse]

Anything with basic meat for bland 'American' tastes.

Tip - get to know what nationality the chefs are - and ask for their creativity - you'll be pleasantly surprised. Indian, Malaysian, Filipino, Peruvian, etc, etc. This ensures you'll never have a subpar meal.

[memoak]

Landfall dinner is always my least favorite. That Tom Turkey is like the worst ever

[Kay S]

4 hours ago, worldtraveller said:

I had a great lamb shank on our cruise in August but the other lamb dishes were not very good.  And sorry we love most of their cold soups!

Princess used to do lamb well.  My roast lamb earlier this year was fatty and full of gristle, very disappointing.  I think they are buying a lower quality meat nowadays.  I don't dislike the cold soups, but I can't bring myself to call it soup when I drink it through a straw. 🙂

[mjmalino]

On 10/14/2022 at 1:28 PM, MLBFan24 said:

Cold soups. Can't stand them.

I am not sure I have had a cold soup that I DIDN'T like. To each their own.

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, atomax said:

On my first (and only, to date) Princess cruise, I was having terrible headaches. An experienced cruiser let me know that Princess made their coffee from syrup, so I was having caffeine withdrawal! Is this really still the case? May have to look into buying a coffee package after all if this is the case 😭

Coffee is from syrup on all but the Royal class ships.

It could have been caffeine withdrawal, but...

1) how many cups do you drink a day?

2) the syrup could be lower in caffeine but not completely decaf

3) are you sure you weren't filling your cup with decaf?

[cruisequeen4ever]

My husband got me to try the frog legs years ago; one and DONE! I have no idea how well or not well Princess technically prepared them; they were just awful.