HleeCruiser

On a recent Caribbean Princess cruise I though the food was some of the best we have had on any cruise. Do not understand why anyone would be disappointed with the offerings in the MDR. Having two or three pates is probably not on most peoples requirements. Specifically the prime rib, filet mignon, shrimp dishes, the fish, several chicken dishes, strip steak and short ribs were all very good to excellent. And the Norman Love desserts are outstanding. The service was excellent.

Unfortunately the Curtis Stone entrees were not well received.

The salmon, chicken breast and shrimp cocktail on the always available were very good.

I am sorry for your disappointment in your recent cruises. Perhaps we just got lucky and the chef on board was taking care of business.

I'm afraid Princess has hooked their wagon to the wrong star. We have been on one cruise with CS entrees available and not one of them was an A List candidate. However the regular menu was very nice and we experienced very good to excellent food each and every evening. I really do not mind the CS menu additions but I do regret the downgrading of the Always Available menu. I.E. deletion of the beef medallions.

You will get lunch. Just get to the ship and go up to deck 14 to horizon court buffet. Have fun!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Kathy

Or if you prefer a seated meal check to see which MDR is open for lunch. Hours are usually 12 Noon til 1:30 P.M. We always dine in the MDR on embarkation day.

Bon Voyage

I disagree. The wikipedia article, (hardly an authoritative source for culinary advice), states that the pork belly "is a boneless cut of fatty meat". Yes, the uncooked cut of meat is fatty. But the finished product should not be. It should contain fat, but not be fatty. Proper cooking time and technique will account for that.

Your description is right on. I had it once in a restaurant and it was crispy with some fat but not "fatty". On a cruise in Jan. on CB one of our table mates ordered it and it was not great. Not crisp and fatty. All depends on the cook.

Henry

This post is a real puzzler for me.

We took a cruise on CB to celebrate our 50th Anniversary in March 2016. We had read all the naysayers negative comments about her. It turned out to be one of the best cruises we have ever taken on any cruise line including some of the luxury lines. The crew, the food, the entertainment and the ship met or exceeded our expectations.

So happy you are experiencing the same level of service.

Henry

As the buyer(and part owner)of a large food service company, I found the beef to be of "select" and lower quality. Not bad, but certainly NOT "Prime" or even "choice" quality.

According to Sterling's web site their beef is graded choice and prime. Is this the same beef Princess uses? They call some of their steak houses Sterling Steak House.

We have a local steakhouse that advertises Sterling beef and I have always found their steaks very good to excellent.

We were on a recent Caribbean Princess cruise which was one of the best we have ever been on. We are Elite status and did not receive a survey.

Our dining experience on Caribbean Princess was fantastic overall but the Curtis Stone menu items got a unanimous thumbs down. We were a party of 8 that tried some of the Stone items. The flank steak was overcooked and tough. The pork belly which should be nice and crisp was a soppy mess.

I would add to others comments that the Norman Love desserts were exceptional. Wish the Stone additions to the menu were half as good.

It is interesting that Princess has to send out a survey to determine the Stone menu is a total fail. Just read your passenger survey comments!

As far as Curtis Stone being a celebrity chef, I have my doubts. There are many celebrity chefs with marquee appeal that would have represented Princess much better.

Henry

We’ll be on the Royal this December..We were on the Celebrity Equinox last year and loved the days at the pool, the food, both in the MDR and specialty restaurants, however, the night life activities were very limited..looking for some insights from others who have been on both of these ships..Thanks

We have been on both recently. And Princess wins in almost every category. Food, Service, Ship Décor, Entertainment, Cabins. But wait the balconies on Equinox get the nod .Also Equinox wins for pool areas (Covered Pool) Crown Grill is head and shoulders above the Tuscany Steak House and Equinox has nothing to compare to International Café and Alfredos Pizza Restaurant.

Thanks for the info on the mini bar swap for coffee cards.

Henry

Am I the only elite who does my own laundry? Disappointed with results when I have used it. Would never send undies anyway. All laundry done in a couple of hours rather than waiting days.

 

In my view, the real perks are 2 coffee cards and free internet.

We have been Elite level for several cruises and have never received a free coffee card as a perk. Neither is it listed on the Captain's Circle list of benefits on the Princess site.

We are booked on another Princess cruise in Feb. Who do we contact to get our coffee card perk?

Thanks,

Henry

Looking forward to the rest of the review, especially about Manzanillo.

 

Enjoying the photos too, but I have to say, an In-N-Out outside of Southern California is just plain wrong. 😎

We love our Texas In and Out Burgers!!!!

Chances are slim to none for late dining. The Maitre D' can occasionally help, but most folks after standing in line for an hour or more on embarkation leave with a "see what we can do" He does have a complete list including Captains Circle level etc. and more importantly WHEN you booked the cruise. They now have an early early seating (5:15) that is more open for seating. Be sure and check you mail box frequently before 5:00 IF the Maitre D" can change your seating, he frequently will say I'll say what I can do in the cattle call, to avoid other PAX from overhearing. They will send you a note confirming the change. If you don't show up. the have more than once given the table to someone else. He really doesn't have a clear idea what he can do until after the cattle call as he needs to fix "mistakes" before he fill requests.

Thanks for this useful information.

Henry

Elite status has no bearing on dining times.

 

If you don't clear the wait list just see the Maitre'd on embarkation day at the time and place listed in the Patter.

Its usually held in one of the DR's between 2p-3:30p. He has the power to make it happen for you.

Thanks.

Henry

We prefer late dining and just booked a cruise that is more than 6 months out. The only dining time they could confirm is "Anytime" and wait listing us for late. We are #99 on the waitlist. Anyone have any experience with this? What are the chances we get confirmed for Late? Does our Elite status have any affect on our position on the list?

We have never done Anytime dining and do not think we would like.

Thanks,

Henry

Last month on the CB, a hamburger was offered on the always available menu.

Hamburger for medallions!! What a joke Princess. Talk about cost cutting.

Slightly off topic. We have been on several 7 night cruises on Princess and are very familiar with all the changes over the past couple of years. As far as we are concerned the Curtis Stone items are a total fail and no substitute for the always familiar beef medallions that were on the always available for many years.

Now we are headed for a 14 night Cape Horn cruise and were wondering do they just repeat the 7 night menu?

Thanks,

Henry

Life is too short to drink cheap wine or cruise in an inside cabin.

Same here. I sailed in an inside the first two cruises. After that (36 cruises) we always book a mini or a balcony.

In the inside cabins I always felt I was living in a closet.

You will be happy to know we just got off the Equinox on a 10 day Med cruise and the quality and reliability of the internet was great. Some people I talked to said it supported the service you are inquiring about. There are no more packages by the minute. On our cruise it was $199 for 10 days unlimited. We got a 25% discount for being Select in the Captains's Club making our net price $149 for the cruise. The only other offering was $.99 per minute.

Just returned from 10 nights on Equinox and from my observations you may anything you like anywhere you like anytime you like. There is no more dress code for the MDR.

Thank you. I am not concerned about streaming. Just need to check emails, login into our portal and database (I am in IT).

 

I wish Celebrity had different prices for different types. Royal is charging $9 for non-streaming and $12.99 for streaming wi-fi per day if you pre-book.

 

We are also Select on X (Emerald on RCI) so I hope we can get 25% discount. :)

 

Our cruise is in December so Celebrity might do something like this too.

We are select and received a 25% discount resulting in $149 for a 10 night cruise in Europe for unlimited use. It is a good service and much improved. The "list price" for the ten days was $199.00. The only other option was to purchase by the minute. I believe it was $.99 per minute.

Just returned from a Med cruise on the Equinox. Based on my observations there is no enforced dress code in the MDR. It was the scruffiest group of passengers that I have encountered on any cruise. Shorts were ok in the dining room. Many people were wearing them.

I wore a jacket and tie on Chic night and felt over dressed.

Maybe it is just the European market.

I really do not see Celebrity as a premium line anymore. The food in the MDR pretty much matched the decorum and dress of the passengers -- mediocre at best.

We have never had an issue with flights out of FLL. Although we do abide by what the C.L. advises is usually 11:30 A.M. the earliest.

What a rip!! Who of us really needs unlimited internet? Just another Celebrity practice that forgets the customer in pursuit of profits. I will be doing my communicating in port and instead of their getting maybe $100 bucks from me they will get nada!! Hope most everyone else follows suit.

But wait, there are those who can not bear the thought of not having the ability to communicate the most inane things and live with their phones in their hands. Can not imagine doing this on vacation.

Hope the pricing scheme backfires on them. On my upcoming cruise of 10 days the internet package on the site is pricing at $299.00.

Did you use the internet on board? If so how was the pricing?

Thanks