Princess Food...what's Up?????

[Hlitner]

I agree that food is very subjective, but we do cruise a lot (more than 60 days a year) and we tend to compare the various lines and the changes we have noticed over the years. In the past year we have cruised on Princess, RCI, Celebrity and HA. The biggest change we noticed was on HA (the Noordam) where food had improved dramatically. We thought the Noordam surpassed all the other cruise lines. The Celebrity Infinity had the best buffets, but the dining room left much to be desired and showed a major decline from our previous Celebrity cruises. RCI seems to have improved from their major decline in food quality (my opinion) and is now back to the mediocre to very good food we expect on RCI. As to Princess, its really been hit or miss and we never know what to expect. The dessert souffles are always good as is the rack of lamb. But we have experienced everything from outstanding to darn awful on recent Princess cruises and every cruise is now an "adventure of anticipation" as we await the first meal. We recently booked a 20 day Grand Princess cruise so we will again get to evaluate the food (its a tough job but somebody has to do it).

 

Hank

[CoolChile]

Hey Quincytoo ~

 

Love to cook, but I'm not allowed to bake ... DH can't stand cleaning up the flour. :o

 

Silverrill's corn is on the list for this weekend ... after the market at Saanich Fairgounds. All good ....

 

My DH often does the Ogden Point breakwater at lunchtime to clear the cobwebs -- you probably know each other. :D

 

We're in BB. Would love to connect off the board ... to talk about food, restaurants, cruises, watevah. But I don't want to post my e-address. Ideas how we could do that?

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:cool: CoolChile

[quincytoo]

Hey Quincytoo ~

 

Love to cook, but I'm not allowed to bake ... DH can't stand cleaning up the flour. :o

 

Silverrill's corn is on the list for this weekend ... after the market at Saanich Fairgounds. All good ....

 

My DH often does the Ogden Point breakwater at lunchtime to clear the cobwebs -- you probably know each other. :D

 

We're in BB. Would love to connect off the board ... to talk about food, restaurants, cruises, watevah. But I don't want to post my e-address. Ideas how we could do that?

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:cool: CoolChile

 

Maybe towards the end of August we can meet down at the Breakwater hopefully whe a cruise ship is in...;)

 

We can get a coffee and walk the breakwater and wish we were on that ship.

24-Aug Fri GOLDEN PRINCESS Ketchikan 19:00 23:59 Seattle 2,600 Princess Cruise Lines 951 '

I am away alot until then but it sounds great :)

[CoolChile]

Maybe towards the end of August we can meet down at the Breakwater hopefully whe a cruise ship is in...;)

 

We can get a coffee and walk the breakwater and wish we were on that ship.

24-Aug Fri GOLDEN PRINCESS Ketchikan 19:00 23:59 Seattle 2,600 Princess Cruise Lines 951 '

 

I am away alot until then but it sounds great :)

 

Sounds good ... a coffee, walk and ... and hopefully a cruiseship! But how to connect, Quincytoo :confused: ... this thread will be long-buried (and anyway, I know I've hijacked it , bad girrrll ;) ).

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:cool: CoolChile

[LARGIN]

Which is better, Largin, outstanding or excellent? I need to know for when my husband says I was one or the other. ;) :D

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:cool: CoolChile

Outstanding means you were completely satisfied.. :D:D

[Mommy40]

I think the food is excellent.

 

It is very yummy.....here is a picture for you.

 

Thanks for the great picture. It looks yummy!!

[quincytoo]

MMMMMMM....... Chocolate........Is that the Princess chocolate loveboat dessert I have heard about??

 

I went out and bought chocolate chip pecan cookies from Thrifty's groceries but they are not even close to the warm gooey chocolate chip pecan cookies i enjoyed on the Diamond....I am going to have to email Princess and ask for the recipe. SHall I post it here if I get it??

 

LOL I was starving last night reading all these posts!!! Tonight was my night to cook (chicken wraps and Coronas :)..DH is working too late to cook.

 

Coolchile I will find you closer to the date and we can arrange a time and place to meet, like the front gate at the breakwater at 7PM or what ever works for you :) I feel funny about giving out my email too........

 

Looking forward to meeting you :)

[ras2007]

Celebrity Horizon was top notch in 1998 - very formal; sorbet intermezzos between courses; closest to fine dining. Sun Princess in 2005 was outstanding (ok, 2 "blips": the papperdalle pasta w/ rabbit could have used a bit more rabbit and the rolling seating at tea could have you getting pastries b4 your sandwiches if you're not there 1st thing).

 

Traveling companion likes price & freestyle of NCL so did 3 of those. Wind in 2002 was just OK (buffet inedible). Sea in 2003 was much better and I realized all ships in same line are not equal. Still my expectation of NCL was you get what you pay for; until the Star:

Dosi, I agree: Food may have been better than Princess (would have to do side by side tasting) and the ships service everywhere was outstanding; VERY unlike other NCL experiences(pity Star stays in mexico & alaska)

 

Quincytoo, Please post recipe for cookies if you get it.

[billet]

Hi Quincy, sorry to derail the thread a little but I am from Victoria too (Oak Bay)

 

I had always enjoyed the LoveBoat dessert until my last trip on the Crown where I was merrily eating it when the elderly lady passenger next to me asked me what is was and when I had finished explaining she licked her dessert spoon and scooped off a piece of my love boat. It put me off eating anything else for that meal for sure.

[CoolChile]

Quote:

Origianally Posted by quincytoo>

Coolchile I will find you closer to the date and we can arrange a time and place to meet, like the front gate at the breakwater at 7PM or what ever works for you :) I feel funny about giving out my email too........Looking forward to meeting you :)

 

Ok Qincytoo, hope it works out. I can just feel a good gab coming on ...:D

(And I bet we've passed each other at Broadmead Thrifty's :) )

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:cool: CoolChile

[quincytoo]

Hi Quincy, sorry to derail the thread a little but I am from Victoria too (Oak Bay)

 

I had always enjoyed the LoveBoat dessert until my last trip on the Crown where I was merrily eating it when the elderly lady passenger next to me asked me what is was and when I had finished explaining she licked her dessert spoon and scooped off a piece of my love boat. It put me off eating anything else for that meal for sure.

 

Yea I can see where that would put you off!!! LOL!!

 

Clearly we need to do a Victoria CC meet down at the breakwater in August when a ship is there :)

[we2cruze]

The buffet is where we disagree. I to am not a picky eater & thought the buffet on the CP was great- Always a varied choice to select from, food kept hot at all times, not over salted, although the deserts were not always as good as the DR. They handle a large number of people in a short period & do a great job of it- what more can you expect?

 

I agree here. I have enjoyed my Princess buffet experiences. Of course it's not the same as the dining room, but the food and variety is good for a buffet. When we sailed on Carnival, I could barely eat in the buffet. In my experience the selections and quality were awful. I can't really remember the buffet on our one RCI cruise, since that was the first cruise with our youngest children and the only thing I remember was how hard it was serving them and myself from the buffet. By the time I got a bite in my mouth it was cold and I was stressed. Ahhh, what fun, huh? :p

[ISABELLA]

We love good food and easy can tell the difference between good, bad and plain ugly. Here what we think:

Just for the past 4 years:

Star Princess -Med. - May, 2004 - food was excellent

Grand Princess -Caribbean - September 2005 - fair.

Star Primcess - Baltic - May, 2006 - fair - poor

Carribean princess - September, 2006 - good

Coral Princess - Panama - April, 2007 - just ok.

Caribbean princess - September, 2007 - will see.

I think the quality and variety of food went down hill after September 11 along with prices for the cruise. We couldn't get a balcony for $749 7 years ago, that was a price for inside room in 1999. We all got spoiled with bargain prices for some cruises, but we still demand filet mignon for dinner. On Coral Princess, during 10 days, was not even once offered on the menu. You could get at the steak house, but not in the regular restaurant.

Nothing is the same anymore , we like it or not.

[billet]

Yea I can see where that would put you off!!! LOL!!

 

Clearly we need to do a Victoria CC meet down at the breakwater in August when a ship is there :)

 

I have started a separate thread to not hijack this one http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=11055471&postcount=1

[coiran]

We love good food and easy can tell the difference between good, bad and plain ugly. Here what we think:

Just for the past 4 years:

Star Princess -Med. - May, 2004 - food was excellent

Grand Princess -Caribbean - September 2005 - fair.

Star Primcess - Baltic - May, 2006 - fair - poor

Carribean princess - September, 2006 - good

Coral Princess - Panama - April, 2007 - just ok.

Caribbean princess - September, 2007 - will see.

I think the quality and variety of food went down hill after September 11 along with prices for the cruise. We couldn't get a balcony for $749 7 years ago, that was a price for inside room in 1999. We all got spoiled with bargain prices for some cruises, but we still demand filet mignon for dinner. On Coral Princess, during 10 days, was not even once offered on the menu. You could get at the steak house, but not in the regular restaurant.

Nothing is the same anymore , we like it or not.

 

Steak (either NY strip or Tournedoes (tenderloi/'fillet) is on the menu every night on the "always available list.

 

Ron

[Katie333]

Quite frankly, I give the cruiselines a bit of a break in terms of my expectations because they are essientially one of the biggest production lines in the world today. Making up immense quantities and varieties for thousands of people 24 hours a day is a really tall order.

 

So do I expect the quality and flavour to be identical to my favourite onland restaurant where I pay $200 for dinner? Nope! Especially not when that $200 covers 1 day of our total cruise fare.

 

I think it's amazing that I can get a burger at 10pm, call room service for cake at 3am, and wake up early to enjoy some breakfast on my balcony. (and so could every other passenger!) Sigh, that reminds me when we went to afternoon tea thinking we wouldn't get full and then trying to cram in prime rib 3 hours later (BIG mistake!). You won't starve on a cruiseline, I think even picky eaters can find something enjoyable.

[sunviking82]

Princess did fall down some on food quality and service back in 99 and 2000, but just this year have begun introducing 1400 plus new items completely revising their menus. I personally find Princess food just as good as Celebrity. Celebrity just sold "food", but honestly no big difference between them. Carnival has very good food as well, better then RCI. The worst food is NCL. . YUCK.

[mikjr]

Please don't say it's all subjective...either the food is good or it's not!!! We liked the food then, has the food gone downhill?

 

I must totally agree with you... Food is either tasty or it's bland.

 

One problem I have with Princess food is the sauces... the put the same bland, tasteless white sauce on all the fish!! And... I wasn't the only one at the table that mentioned it. we had a diverse group age wise, and all said the same thing... the sauces were tasteless!

 

After cruising on Celebrity several times, I still believe... hands down... Celebrity has better food! And I know there are those on this list that disagree... but the truth is the truth!

[phillipahain]

I agree that food on Celebrity is better than Princess in many aspects but not all of them however Celebrity simply do not have the itineries to match Princess when it comes to outside of the run of the mill Alaska /Caribean/Med cruises

 

HAL has a far better buffet that either Princess or Celebrity but dinner oh dear !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that really needs work

[gazzas127]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire has the new menus yet or when are they due to get them.

 

THX Gary & Bev

[jakzak]

Last week on the Crown we found the food to be very bland, not just in the dining room but all over the ship with the exception of the International Cafe.

We have sailed approx 25 times and this was our first Princess experience. I was very disappointed in the quality of the food in the buffet, dining room and poolside grill and pizza. Thought the food was very good at Sabatini's, the Grill Room and International Cafe. I think we may have to give Princess one more try before making a final decision on the cruiseline.

 

Alan

[MCManders99]

When I was on my star cruise in April I thought the food was excellent. I think Princess's food is much better than even some restaurants I've been too.

[cruzinchris]

I frequently see folks refer to Princess' food as "bland". I consider myself to have a sophisticated palate; I enjoy good food and fine wine. I'm also a very good cook. I don't like food served to me that is too salty, too spicy, overly-seasoned, and/or heavily sauced, and I'm careful about keeping these at a minimum when I cook for others. Salt, pepper, herbs, spices, sauces, etc. should enhance the natural flavors of food - not overwhelm them. jmo

 

There are many restaurant foods that I typically avoid because I know that they are too salty. Among these would be soups. For that reason, I avoided ordering soup in the Princess dining room but DH wanted me to taste the soup that he had ordered one night. I was pleasantly surprised that the soup wasn't salty, and I ordered some for myself. Since that time, I have felt confident ordering some Princess offerings because they are fairly "bland".

 

I've said many times in reviews and other food-related discussions, I don't expect 5* cuisine on Princess or any other mainstream cruiseline, for that matter. There are some Princess menu items that have been consistently outstanding on all of my cruises (rack of lamb, eggplant Parmesan), some dishes that are excellent, others that are average/good. I've never had anything that wasn't palatable, and the few things that I didn't enjoy were poor choices on my part.

 

Bon Appetit!

Chris

 

PS, Roz. I didn't say anything about food being "subjective". :D

[coiran]

I totally agree - I am somewhat of a gourmet cook also and prefer the "bland" if you want to call it that - you can always add salt, pepper or hot sauce. Spices should be used to enhance the natural flavor of the dish - not to disguise it.

 

Ron

[CoolChile]

Guess there's no point (read: NO HOPE) of ever getting good Mexican food on a Princess ship. :mad:

 

Probably have to order in from a top-notch Mexican resturant. :D

(I'm called "CoolChile" for a reason ;) )

 

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:cool: CoolChile