Princess or NCL, whose food is better?

[aprilsp88]

Hi,

 

I can't decide which cruise to choose since they have exactly the same Itinerary, so I want to decide by which cruise offer better meal.

 

For no specialty restaurant, which cruise ship is better? NCL or Princess? More specific, NCL star or Sapphire Princess?

 

Thank you very much!

 

April

[Cruise Junky]

Oh, run, don't walk, book Princess. NCL's food was absolutely horrible. I don't set my expectations too high on a ship producing all that mass food, but NCL really was the bottom of the barrel.

[BalconyBumz]

Oh, run, don't walk, book Princess. NCL's food was absolutely horrible. I don't set my expectations too high on a ship producing all that mass food, but NCL really was the bottom of the barrel.

 

Completely agree with you. NCL was the worst. :D

[pyrogy]

My two most recent cruises are on those two ships. The main dining room food for the most part was better on Princess. With 7 days of appetizers, entrees and desserts, there are going to be a few choices here and there that might be better on NCL, but on the whole there is no question in my mind that the main dining room food was better on Princess.

[Pia1913]

Hi,

 

I can't decide which cruise to choose since they have exactly the same Itinerary, so I want to decide by which cruise offer better meal.

 

For no specialty restaurant, which cruise ship is better? NCL or Princess? More specific, NCL star or Sapphire Princess?

 

Thank you very much!

 

April

 

NCL and Princess cannot be compared. NCL is in a class all its own. YUK!

 

Pia

[WCAB]

If basing strictly on food, Princess is way ahead of the game. NCL was the only cruise line where we were looking for another option, even buffet over what was being served in the dining room.

 

NCL did have some great shows and we took grandkids on NCL and they had a blast.

[willysgrandma]

Princess. I am not even overly fond of Princess's food, but they are far and above better than NCL.

[Sillyjilly]

Oh, run, don't walk, book Princess. NCL's food was absolutely horrible. I don't set my expectations too high on a ship producing all that mass food, but NCL really was the bottom of the barrel.

 

Oh please!!!!!!!!!!! Listen to the above poster. I have been on both ships, and run, run, run, don't walk, but run................to Sapphire Princess. I do not exaggerate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Jill

[quincytoo]

Oh please!!!!!!!!!!! Listen to the above poster. I have been on both ships, and run, run, run, don't walk, but run................to Sapphire Princess. I do not exaggerate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Jill

 

I soooo agree!!!!!!!! NCL I actually lost weight :(

[BalconyBumz]

NCL was truly the worst food I have ever choked down on any cruise line. I know all ships have hits and misses, but we are talking awful on NCL!

[mpwarder]

NCL is the only place I have ever had lobster that I didn't want to finish. There are some good things at the buffet, like two trays of bacon and good mushrooms, but Princess food was so much better overall it isn't even really comparable.

[CwazeAndCwaze]

Don't hold back, everybody! How do you really feel? :p

[BalconyBumz]

Don't hold back, everybody! How do you really feel? :p

 

LOLOLOLOL :eek:

[flvol77]

I will say this NCL's food in their dining room was horrible, I got something that look like a burn piece of toast and they called it a steak.

 

Now their pay Asian restaurants are very good - Teppankai, (sp?) Chin Chin and the sushi bar were all very good and some of the better alternative restaurants we have ate at. But, I don't cruise to pay extra to eat, on a special occasion yes, but not 6 out of 7 nights like we did on our NCL cruise.

[BalconyBumz]

I will have to agree that the $20 pp Teppiyaki place that we had to pay extra for was the ONLY good meal of the trip. The dining room, forget it! There wasn't one good meal in there ever. I did like the salad bar caesar salad you could get in the buffet with the roasted chicken at lunch. About the only thing I lived on. The Mexican restaurant was actually disgusting and slower than mollasses running up hill in the dead of winter.

[Sillyjilly]

I soooo agree!!!!!!!! NCL I actually lost weight :(

 

That was the only positive I can say about that cruise. :D

 

If you're on a diet............GO! If not, RUN!!!!!!!!

 

Jill

[cynbar]

We sailed the NOrwegian Gem last summer and had a lovely cruise -- but the food in the main DR was nowhere close to what you get on Princess. The specialty restaurants were better than the DR, especially teppanyaki and Le Bistro, but of course you pay a surcharge for those. However, often NCL's prices are lower than Princess, so a few surcharges won't break the bank. We would sail NCL again if the price and itinerary were right, but I would just plan to eat most nights in the specialty retaurants.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I've sailed with NCL four times (slow learner) and Princess twice. IMHO, there is NO COMPARISON. The food (and everything else) was far better on Princess.

[paul929207]

Princess food is definitely better.

[Clutterlady]

Except for the 2 pay venues we ate in, I to lost weight! Worse food I ever had on a cruise......real shame because the cruise itself was good.

[willysgrandma]

OP, have we convinced you??????:D

[cyberfilly]

It would be interesting to see opinions of the same on the NCL board.... April, did you post the same question over there?

[flvol77]

Except for the 2 pay venues we ate in, I to lost weight! Worse food I ever had on a cruise......real shame because the cruise itself was good.

 

I tend to agree - the reason I always look at their cruises because they change up their itineraries so much in the Caribbean. We are thinking of taking the plunge and just staying away from the DR.

[Clutterlady]

I tend to agree - the reason I always look at their cruises because they change up their itineraries so much in the Caribbean. We are thinking of taking the plunge and just staying away from the DR.

 

The only problem is that it's sometimes very hard to get reservations in their pay venues. Hate getting up early just to get reservations.....seems to defeat the purpose of a relaxing cruise vacation! Really didn't think their buffet was any better than then the dining room food.

 

We all know food is very subjective and I will admit I can be a picky eater at times, but my DH will eat just about anything and when he says the food is horrible well then you know it's bad:p

[jla418]

Hi, I just returned from my first Princess Cruise aboard the Crown Princess. I was quite suprised after reading the Princess board because I was expecting a huge difference in food quality and service, but to be honest, I did not find it to be true. From my observation, NCL is more willing to place items on the menus that have a more multi-cultural, international flair. The Princess menus were "safer" and more geared to the typical North American tastes. I've always been very happy with the food on NCL, but I enjoy trying new types of food and flavors. The food on Princess was very good as well, just a bit more predictable in the offerings. One area that I did find to be better on Princess were the desserts!

 

To us it seems that "Freestyle Dining" on NCL works better than "Anytime Dining" works on Princess. Maybe it's that NCL has been doing it longer and just has it down, or maybe it has to do with the sizes of the dining rooms on Princess. Not really sure on that issue.