Royal Princess and Bacon.

[Russell21]

BACON, a problem not isolated to just the Royal, but to Princess in general. Usually Princess has English Bacon and US Bacon in their Horizon Court but on our very recent trip to NZ on the Royal it was only US style bacon available. Now this would be no problem if it was cooked either soft, or crispy like US strip bacon is supposed to be. However they have managed to come up with a new style that my wife has named "Neglected Baseball Glove". Best described as tough leather in the softer parts with hard as a boot sole in the tougher parts with an occasional rare sign of crispness now and then that borders on tooth breaker. Come on Princess, you can do better than that. Apart from that problem all else was fine, service was great as usual, dining room food was slightly below pre coved days but still very good. Some of the pre covid Platinum benefits that were free are now either charged for or non existent. All in all a good trip.

Edited February 22 by Russell21

[OzKiwiJJ]

48 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

BACON, a problem not isolated to just the Royal, but to Princess in general. Usually Princess has English Bacon and US Bacon in their Horizon Court but on our very recent trip to NZ on the Royal it was only US style bacon available. Now this would be no problem if it was cooked either soft, or crispy like US strip bacon is supposed to be. However they have managed to come up with a new style that my wife has named "Neglected Baseball Glove". Best described as tough leather in the softer parts with hard as a boot sole in the tougher parts with an occasional rare sign of crispness now and then that borders on tooth breaker. Come on Princess, you can do better than that. Apart from that problem all else was fine, service was great as usual, dining room food was slightly below pre coved days but still very good. Some of the pre covid Platinum benefits that were free are now either charged for or non existent. All in all a good trip.

I've found it very much depends on who is cooking or even perhaps as far up as the Executive Chef. I've been on one, maybe two, Princess cruises out of 20 that had perfectly cooked crispy bacon that actually tasted like bacon. So the odds are usually stack against decent bacon on Princess. On some cruises I just gave up ordering bacon. 

[JohnGc]

1 hour ago, Russell21 said:

BACON, a problem not isolated to just the Royal, but to Princess in general. Usually Princess has English Bacon and US Bacon in their Horizon Court but on our very recent trip to NZ on the Royal it was only US style bacon available. Now this would be no problem if it was cooked either soft, or crispy like US strip bacon is supposed to be. However they have managed to come up with a new style that my wife has named "Neglected Baseball Glove". Best described as tough leather in the softer parts with hard as a boot sole in the tougher parts with an occasional rare sign of crispness now and then that borders on tooth breaker. Come on Princess, you can do better than that. Apart from that problem all else was fine, service was great as usual, dining room food was slightly below pre coved days but still very good. Some of the pre covid Platinum benefits that were free are now either charged for or non existent. All in all a good trip.

Mmm sounds the same as Carnival, on the Luminosa for sure.☹️

Edited February 22 by JohnGc

[cruiser3775]

On a recent Grand Princess trip, I discovered that one of the cost cutting measures was that bacon was only available at buffet breakfasts every second day. And you couldn't help yourself. It was served out one rasher at a time, unlike the rest of the hot foods. I have no idea who equated bacon with fillet steak or caviar.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

On a recent Grand Princess trip, I discovered that one of the cost cutting measures was that bacon was only available at buffet breakfasts every second day. And you couldn't help yourself. It was served out one rasher at a time, unlike the rest of the hot foods. I have no idea who equated bacon with fillet steak or caviar.

When was the cruise? There was no shortage of bacon on Diamond in November. 

 

Are you sure it was cost cutting? It could have been supply problems ie they were running out and their new supply hadn't arrived when it was supposed to.

 

 

[cruiser3775]

It was in September/October.   I didn't eat at the breakfast buffet much, but one evening I was at a shared table in the dining room, and someone there told me about the missing bacon, and said she had enquired and was told it was a new policy to only have it every second day.  Of course, that's not necessarily true. It could have been a supply issue, I suppose. I was curious, so I did have breakfast the next day, a "bacon day", and it was true they were being very careful about how much they gave you.

[Blackduck59]

Bacon is a bit of a dilemma. What is thought of as "English" style bacon is cut thicker, and barely cooked so it is soft and limp for lack of a better word (the way I prefer). What is often thought of as "American" style bacon is the same pork belly product but sliced much thinner and usually has a bit higher fat content, this helps in getting it properly crispy (for those who like it that way). Then of course there is what Americans call "Canadian" bacon which is a total misnomer, it is "Back" bacon made from the loin of the hog not the belly. I don't think many places in Canada refer to "Back" bacon as Canadian bacon and it is impossible to have "crispy" back bacon, you either have it limp or re-sole your shoes with it.

Edited February 22 by Blackduck59