How's Your Coffee?

Are we Aussies coffee snobs?

Three and a half years ago we went on our first cruise and have now done seven with number eight coming up in three weeks. From the first we found the coffee was pretty lousy no matter if it was served in a lounge, MDR or buffet.

Then we saw that either Carnival or Princess had acted on coffee quality complaints, by Aussies, by retraining baristas on ships operating out of Sydney.

Since then we have seen an improvement. Our last 2 Celebrity cruises this year had Lavazza coffee machines in the buffet which used ground coffee and dispensing filtered coffee. And on Carnival there were self serve coffee machines which had coffee beans you could actually see and hear being ground and also offered a selection of Espresso, latte, cappacino.

We still find that some of the cafe coffee can still be a bit hit and miss.

So, how's your coffee bean (been)?

Are you talking the free , available 24/7 coffee , or coffee thats individually made and charged for?

Are you talking the free , available 24/7 coffee , or coffee thats individually made and charged for?

 

 

Both. We've had a few individually made and paid for that were terrible.

I'm not a coffee drinker, maybe one or two n a month.

But Australia is fast getting a reputation as a coffee country, I'm pretty sure that it was last year an Aussie won the worlds Barista competition.

I think the coffee on ships is at best ordinary at worst undrinkable, wifey who drinks a lot more of t than I do says it's worse than that.

We have just come back from 6 1/2 weeks in America. We struggled to find decent coffee. In the end we resorted to Starbucks (which isn't good by any stretch of the imagination).

We were told to try Dunkin Donuts as they don't make their coffee so strong. It was not bad.

On Carnival we had a few cappuccino's on board. Most were quite good. The free coffee was drinkable, unlike on MSC.

I think Australia makes the best coffee. I read a travel article from an American who asked why in the whole of America can't they make a decent coffee when you can go to a one horse town in Australia and get a decent cappuccino?

I take my own coffee with me. Happy with Moconna or Nescafe so I am not a coffee snob but just don't find any flavour in whats provided on board. Those little sachets that hotels provide are quite useful. If going to a hotel locally I take a small jar from home and collect the ones provided in the room for my next cruise. If i havent accumulated enough by the time the cruise comes around I take a small container. Might be more difficult if flying to a port but most of my cruises have been out of Australia. I just leave any thats left over on the ship. Did do an around Japan cruise a few months ago and I just declared them when arriving in Tokyo and on boarding no issues at all.

I cannot stand Instant coffee of any type so I don't drink it. My preference is for filtered or French press coffee. I find extraction method coffee just too strong. I do like the Lavassa coffee in the buffet on Celebrity ships. That said the specialty coffees in Café Bacio are also great especially when chased with a cognac after dinner. Wasn't too happy when they changed the glass coffee mugs in the buffet for Lavassa branded plastic cups though. Its like coming down to Princess standard

On Sun Princess last Christmas we struggled to get a decent coffee. DH managed one really good espresso during the whole trip, at the IC from the one Brazilian barista who seemed to know what he was doing. Unfortunately they used UHT milk for the lattes which I think tastes nasty when steamed.

On Rhapsody of the Seas the espresso was much better. I didn't bother trying to have a latte but I did have a couple of espressos.

On Dawn Princess in August the espresso was good- very good in the MDR according to DH and excellent from both the Patisserie and Horizon Court. Again I didn't bother trying the lattes, I just had espressos.

I made the mistake of having a Nutty Irishman liqueur coffee on Dawn. I've had both Irish whiskey and Frangelico many times before with no ill effects but I felt nauseous after that coffee, which was probably made from the brewed coffee and canned cream. Nasty!

I haven't travelled yet but from the above reviews and as I enjoy my coffee, I think I will be taking my own on board with my travel mugs when I travel in January..

Agree don't know why you can't get a decent cup of coffee on most cruise ships, Oceania is the only one I have cruised on that does a decent coffee they have trained baristas on board, recently on HAL the coffee was shocking even Explorer lounge where we paid around $5 a cup. Even went looking for coffee bags in Italy, so we could have at least one decent cup a day. Anyone with thoughts re upcoming VOS cruise, should I bring coffee bags? Also does anyone know if they have peppermint tea bags on board, or should I bring my own. Had to resort to buying peppermint tea bags for my cruise on HAL as they only had green tea with mint. Thanks guys.

Specialty coffees in Cafe Bacio on Celebrity Solstice were delicious when we cruised back in February this year. Spent many quiet moments enjoying the best coffees and hot chocolates etc. along with of course a special pastry or two while people watching. Oh cruising is just the best.

I can taste the UHT milk used on board and have yet to find a decent coffee onboard (except for the occasional espresso). It would be nice to have fresh milk but on long cruises with many sea days I suppose it is too hard.

I can taste the UHT milk used on board and have yet to find a decent coffee onboard (except for the occasional espresso). It would be nice to have fresh milk but on long cruises with many sea days I suppose it is too hard.

Now oN Solstice they could put a few cows on the lawn for fresh milk.

It would also keep the lawn fertilised.

On my recent HAL cruise they had this milk that was fresh but had a longer shelf life, not UHT, it was produced in the Netherlands and found it so good, never seen it before, so wondering if it is a new product only produced and supplied to ships cruising in a Europe.

On my recent HAL cruise they had this milk that was fresh but had a longer shelf life, not UHT, it was produced in the Netherlands and found it so good, never seen it before, so wondering if it is a new product only produced and supplied to ships cruising in a Europe.

It would be wonderful to get something like that down here. I miss my lattes when cruising.

I don't think it's just coffee, but most of the food/drink onboard.

It's mass produced, got to be transportable and long lasting. I think if you're a connoisseur of anything most of it is pretty average, and it's hard to get anything specialised.

I don't think it's just coffee, but most of the food/drink onboard.

 

It's mass produced, got to be transportable and long lasting. I think if you're a connoisseur of anything most of it is pretty average, and it's hard to get anything specialised.

Yes and no. Yes, as far as many foods are concerned but no as far as Australian-style coffee is concerned.

Coffee beans can be vaccuum-packed to give a decent shelf-life. They charge extra for what they call "speciality" coffees yet don't train their baristas to produce them properly. Or rather they train them to American standards. Espresso is served 40-50mls instead of 30 mls, lattes are large than traditional in Australia so that the ratio of coffee to milk is wrong.

AT least they mostly serve tea correctly in the MDR - with the teabags in the pot, not sitting on top, and decent hot water.

Specialty coffees in Cafe Bacio on Celebrity Solstice were delicious when we cruised back in February this year. Spent many quiet moments enjoying the best coffees and hot chocolates etc. along with of course a special pastry or two while people watching. Oh cruising is just the best.

We found cafe Bacio did good coffee on Infinity and millenium.

One they didn't have was iced coffee (or chocolate) done the way we have it here.

I find it really hard as I have worked as a Barista over many years (not now). I have my own coffee machine at home and have become a bit if a coffee snob so even going for a land based coffee its hard to find a good one. + if i m on holidays somewhere I walk pass numerous coffee shops, checking out peoples lattes lol, to see if they look like coffee or glass of milk to determine if I should order extra shot or not!

But to their credit ( last 5 cruises with P&O) its not the coffee making skills that let them down.... Its the milk they have to use! Its like that long life s... That leaves a taste in your mouth thats not pleasant :(

How's the free coffee? I've learned to love tea ;)

How's the free coffee? ;)

YUCK!

But then I don't drink much coffee so when I do I want a GOOD one

We have found the speciality coffee that you buy on RCI to be pretty nice. For breaky though we bring our instant coffee (just in a ziplock bag), and ask for room service tea to go with whatever else we are eating. That way you get the hot water, milk and sugar, and add your own coffee instead of the tea bag. We ask for extra milk also, as the hot water is normally good for a few cups.

How's the free coffee? I've learned to love tea ;)

Me too, only trouble is I take milk in my tea, but in the dining room I

ask for a small pot with 2 teabags.:D:D

On Princess I get the coffee card. It's great value. You get so many (can't remember the number- 10?)- speciality coffees and unlimited standard coffee and hot chocolate. I spent a lot of time at the International Cafe.:D

On Carnival when you buy a specialty coffee they punch a hole on a card. After 6 you get one free.

I cannot drink coffee with creamer and I hate UHT milk. If that's all they have, I have black tea.

On Princess I get the coffee card. It's great value. You get so many (can't remember the number- 10?)- speciality coffees and unlimited standard coffee and hot chocolate. I spent a lot of time at the International Cafe.:D

 

On Carnival when you buy a specialty coffee they punch a hole on a card. After 6 you get one free.

 

I cannot drink coffee with creamer and I hate UHT milk. If that's all they have, I have black tea.

It's 15 on Princess Card.

Sorry but I've never seen fresh milk on any ship, it's always UHT.

They can't get fresh milk every day.