Alaska sailings and seafood

[cusematt4]

Hi all,

 

Does anyone know if Alaska sailings have the same dining menus as Caribbean and other ships and itineraries?  Or are dining menus different with features for locally sourced salmon and seafood?

 

Thank you.

Edited April 3 by cusematt4

[karatemom2]

They may have a couple of regional dishes that feature seafood with reference to the Alaska itinerary, but by and large the menu is the same. You will find the standard seafood menu items - salmon, sea bass, halibut, shrimp, lobster etc. on the menu as usual on different nights. Not sure they are even actually sourced from Alaska. Not that they aren’t good - generally the seafood dishes on Princess are fine. 
 

But if you want fresh, locally sourced Alaska seafood you will be better served eating in the ports at a local restaurant. There are many great options. 

[KKB]

12 hours ago, cusematt4 said:

Hi all,

 

Does anyone know if Alaska sailings have the same dining menus as Caribbean and other ships and itineraries?  Or are dining menus different with features for locally sourced salmon and seafood?

 

Thank you.

That is what I LOVED about Princess in Alaska (RCCL didn't change).

Over the course of the week, they served several different KINDS of salmon...they obviously got it at each port.

OMG it was SO SO good.

[KKB]

11 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

They may have a couple of regional dishes that feature seafood with reference to the Alaska itinerary, but by and large the menu is the same. You will find the standard seafood menu items - salmon, sea bass, halibut, shrimp, lobster etc. on the menu as usual on different nights. Not sure they are even actually sourced from Alaska. Not that they aren’t good - generally the seafood dishes on Princess are fine. 
 

But if you want fresh, locally sourced Alaska seafood you will be better served eating in the ports at a local restaurant. There are many great options. 

Not true on our Sept 2022 Discovery Princess sailing! See my post above.

[startedwithamouse]

10 minutes ago, KKB said:

Not true on our Sept 2022 Discovery Princess sailing! See my post above.

Maybe Princess scored an "end of the season" price on seafood.

 

Our Alaska sailing, this was definitely NOT the case.

[karatemom2]

1 minute ago, startedwithamouse said:

Maybe Princess scored an "end of the season" price on seafood.

 

Our Alaska sailing, this was definitely NOT the case.

 

Same here. We have been on multiple Alaska sailings and have never noted a significant difference in the menus over any of our other sailings in other areas, with the exception of maybe one or two dishes during the week that they describe as an homage to Alaska cuisine - similar to our Hawaii cruises. 

 

And given that they are generally filling the food coffers at the point of embarkation, I highly doubt any of it is "fresh" Alaska caught seafood. That is not by any means to say I'm complaining or the food is bad - but just a reality check.

 

If you want fresh and local seafood in Alaska you will find it in the ports.

 

[KKB]

33 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Maybe Princess scored an "end of the season" price on seafood.

 

Our Alaska sailing, this was definitely NOT the case.

Interesting…I was going to expect in the future! 

[sherryf]

It's been 5 years since I've been on Princess in Alaska, but I remember there being quite a few Alaskan seafood dishes.  I found some menus from last year posted online, and most nights there is at least one "Alaskan" dish listed, some nights have several.  Whether that seafood is really sources in Alaska, I cannot say for sure, but there will definitely be a lot of Alaskan-style dishes.

 

[EDVM96]

8 minutes ago, sherryf said:

I remember there being quite a few Alaskan seafood dishes.

This is all not fresh locally sourced. It's loaded just deep-freezed in Vancouver, Seattle or Whittier.

Edited April 4 by EDVM96

[sherryf]

2 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

This is all not fresh locally sourced. It's loaded just deep-freezed in Vancouver, Seattle or Whittier.

Well, they claim to have Alaskan seafood: 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2022/03/princess-cruises-goes-wild-for-alaska-seafood-with-new-menus-and-events-debuting-spring-2022

[startedwithamouse]

34 minutes ago, sherryf said:

Well, they claim to have Alaskan seafood: 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/news/news-releases/2022/03/princess-cruises-goes-wild-for-alaska-seafood-with-new-menus-and-events-debuting-spring-2022

That was two years ago for the restart when they were trying anything to get customers back due to the covid protocols.

[karatemom2]

12 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

That was two years ago for the restart when they were trying anything to get customers back due to the covid protocols.

And we did a 12 day round trip out of Vancouver in May of 2022 shortly after this was published and nothing like this was offered on the Royal. As I said, it was Alaska themed dishes a couple of evenings as one of the menu options. Certainly not every night and not all that different from seafood offerings we have had on non Alaska cruises. Maybe you will find something different but after years of cruising to Alaska with Princess, I’ve learned where to find the best fresh seafood meals and that is on shore. No complaints about the food in the MDR, but it doesn’t quite compare to the seafood we have had in our Alaska ports. Going back again this September on the Ruby so I guess I’ll see if something dramatic has changed with the menus.
 

We did love our cruise on the Royal that year though - our first in over two years thanks to the pandemic. My daughter got engaged on that trip and it was one for the record books - even though we all got COVID a couple days after getting home!