Anyone Care to Guess - and how's the Coffee?

[brentp]

Searched and didn't really find these answers, . . . so

 

Anyone care to guess if the hot water heater (kettles) currently on the Eclipse in Europe will remain once she starts sailing in the Caribbean this fall?

 

That said - how's the coffee in the buffet or from room service been lately? I heard the coffee was changed in 2008.

 

Thinking of bringing our travel french press and regular coffee if the hot water heaters remain, . . . might just do so anyway. Thinking it might be nice on sea days to wake up and go to the balcony for that first cup or two without having to go through the ritual needed to run "upstairs".

 

We're not coffee snobs, . . . but do like good tasting coffee in the morning. This will be our first balcony cruise, . . . it use to be a no brainer - wash up, cloths up, and go upstairs. Now, we have options. :)

[skt4cruise]

I've never found a great solution for this problem, we love good coffee and would like to have it on our balcony as well but alas no more kettles that I've seen since our Century cruise, there used to be little coffee pots and we could bring our own coffee, oh those were the days......

[true45]

Just a suggestion.

To use the balcony - just order room service breakfast. Get a pot to enjoy on the balcony. To make it easy, put the doortag out the night b4. You can have a nice, healthy breakfast or just coffee to hold you till you go to the MDR or buffet.

 

I like the coffee very much & I'm hard to please

[Splint]

Has anyone ever had Turkish Coffee onboard? Do you know if they serve it? I don't care for the watered down Americanized coffee (And I'm American! lol).

[motherofteenagers]

No coffee pot in rooms. Coffee in buffet and restaurant taste the same, not very good. I doctor mine with plenty of cream and sugar. If you want some on your balcony, either order room service or if you have an early riser, send them up in their robe to the coffee station at the buffet and get a few to go cups or bring a thermos from home.

[Momorider]

It has been our experience not with Celebrity but RCI and NCL that you can have a pot delivered any-time it does not have to be with breakfast.:D

[Lsimon]

They did improve the coffee once or twice over the past few years but that isn't saying much. I'd say it went from about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 to somewhere between a 3 and a 5. The range is because it is not consistent although more apt to be a 3 than a 5. I consider anything 5 or above drinkable and 8 or better decent.

 

I continue to be amazed that it is so hard to brew a decent cup of coffee or at least have some really good drip brewed coffee available for sale at a reasonable price. The espresso based coffee is pretty decent but prices start at $4.60 (including gratuity) for a single shot cup of espresso, latte, etc. Which is very expensive even compared to expensive land based coffee bars and I'd prefer drip (or "filter" as some call it) based coffee myself.

 

 

Has anyone ever had Turkish Coffee onboard? Do you know if they serve it? I don't care for the watered down Americanized coffee (And I'm American! lol).

I've never seen anything like his on board - but they do sell espresso at the coffee bar and at some other venues.

[brentp]

No coffee pot in rooms. Coffee in buffet and restaurant taste the same, not very good.

 

Thanks for all the feedback folks;

 

So far, the consensus is: The traditional coffee on board is not that good. :(

 

Just in case some people are not familiar with a french press, . . . it is not anything like a traditional North American drip style coffee pot. There is no heating element (you do not plug it in). You simply put hot water in, add coffee, wait, push a plunger to filter the coffee, - bingo you have coffee. I would say this is the mainstream way to make coffee in the UK, maybe in Europe.

 

A few years back, I had no clue what they were - it was funny, we spent our first few days in Scotland "making coffee" in one of these things. Went to a coffee house one afternoon, got to see how it was served and really done. I wont tell you how many grounds we had in our coffee those first few days. :)

 

We bought one for travel after that. I don't believe this device would violate any "no coffee pot in stateroom rules". Pretty sure that is referring to ones with heating elements.

 

With the current reports that the Eclipse sailing in Europe has kettles to get hot water in every stateroom, . . . if they stay after repositioning, this is a perfect solution. If not, it still could be a good solution. But, someone would need to run upstairs to get hot water or order it from room service.

 

I think I'll bring one on board and hope the kettles stay. Unfortunately, we are the first full week cruise on the Eclipse after it gets to Florida, so will have to take our chance I guess on the kettles.

[true45]

Before I'd go to the trouble of making my own, I'd at least try the coffee from room service (complementary) -- they will send up a hot carafe. The cafe au lait is delicious at the coffee shop & the espresso is wonderful too -- yes, there is a charge for the specialty coffees but snacks are complementary. Never seen any turkish coffee, however. Have a wonderful cruise.

[biker1972]

If coffee is important, and you have to have that Starbucks or Caribou every day ( I prefer Tim Horton's) then think seriously about one of the drink packages for non-alcoholic drinks. Coffee has reached the same level as wines. If you drink for the caffeine, then add lots of sugar and cream to the house brew and drink away. If it is for the flavor, aroma, and finish, spend the extra.:)

[FritzG]

DH, who loves his good, strong coffee, always gets a coffee card on Princess. However, on our TA last spring he brought the Starbucks Vaio (sp?) packets in both regular and decaf, and he loved them. He was amazed at how good the coffee was. He's definitely bringing it again on our Eclipse TA in Oct. He didn't try them when they first came out because he thought they'd taste like instant coffee, but they absolutely do not.

[dzcruisers]

You could order however many cups of hot tea from room service. They being you pots of very hot water and tea bags. Just save the tea bags!:D

[vickykay]

While I found the coffee at the buffet not good, the coffee delivered with room service was much better - I also like an early morning cup. You could also order hot water and and then use your french press.

[zoncom]

Just call room service upon boarding; tell them you wish a pot of coffee or water w. tea bags or both at whatever time every morning and it will be there.

[seafun]

Turkish coffee?? No, never found anything like it on board. But I still attribute the hair on my chest to it. Dang, it is STRONG!! :eek:

Great idea Dianne, about ordering the tea from room service to get the hot water. Hmmm... brings back memories of Folgers crystals from the olden days, LOL.

[bestmom1]

Hi Brent, we are with you on the Eclipse, Nov 20.

 

As OP have said, Hang out the room service card every night, the coffeee is better than the coffe in the buffet, but still not great.

 

I always pack the travel french press and a single cup coil heater. It is not exactly according to Hoyle, but I have never had it confiscated. Did discover that it works better in a SS press than the poly-carbonate one, which burned a small spot when the coil touched the side. Hoping, as are you, that the kettles will remain as it's simpler.

 

You can always order hot water from room service, but by the time it gets to you, it's not quite hot enough to brew the french press well.

 

I'll be curious to find out if the coffee varies by location on the S-class ships. On the M class ships, the best coffee was from a dispenser at the very rear of the buffet, it was always twice a strong as the swill from the large pots.

 

The issue is that the cruise lines use coffee syrup. I have heard many theories as to why they do this, but hoping always that the executives will listen to us and realize that it's important to many of us. The coffee card system on Princess is almost enough to make me book with them, rather than X, although I like everything else about X far better.

[librarylady19]

I like fairly strong - and hot - coffee. On Equinox, the room service coffee fit the bill. Nothing like a pot of coffee with freshly baked croissants to start the day on the balcony! The coffee at both Aqua Spa cafe and buffet were drinkable if not outstanding. I thought the coffee in Blu was decent.

I plan to take advantage of the free cappucinos for suites on our Summit cruise as that's a real treat for me (can't see spending $4 each day for Starbucks).

[Lsimon]

...The issue is that the cruise lines use coffee syrup...

 

For what it's worth - at least some of the coffee is now made from ground coffee. As I said it's improved from what it was several years back but still not very good. It could be that the inconsistency is partially due to them using different methods in different locations.

[rothjer]

Hi Everyone

 

I do work for a rather large GREEN coffee company ;), and I am so very passionate about my coffee.

 

A few suggestions/ things we do

 

1. Try the coffee in Cova Cafe- X has now switched to Lavazza branded coffee- Although I am not a huge of Italian espresso as they typically use a blend of lower quality Robusta beans to round out the flavors of Arabica beans. Lavazza coffee, however, is still pretty good in comparison to what you will get elsewhere on the ship. On our upcomming cruise, we are going with the drink package- mainly for the coffee/water selections.

 

2. Bring a coffee press!- OP mentioned to tag along a coffee press- I do concur and we do so on many vacations. Our suggestion is to NOT bring anything made with glass, look around your town/city for a stainless steel/metal press that will make life on vacation a lot easier- not to mention is MUCH better for heat retention.

 

You can order hot water from your butler/attendant and it can be delivered practically at all times of the day. As an alternative, you can walk over to the buffet and help yourself to as much hot water as you require. Actually, you can do this at most bars as well.

 

We travel with our own "personal" coffee pressess now, I know the company I work for sells these, and also, Bodum has their own personal press/tumbler too. Best part about this is that after you press it , it also serves as the cup you drink your coffee out of too!

 

3. Try Instant- starbucks has a great product called "Via" ready brew- mix it with a cup of hot or cold water, and there ya go !!!

[Kluge]

We're particular about our coffee, too - has to be Peets, and drip brewed (don't care for french press coffee.) This fall will be our first time on Celebrity, but last year on HAL we brought our ground coffee, one-cup filter cone and filters and ordered a carafe of hot water, cups, cream and sugar each morning. It took a couple of days for them to figure out what we wanted, but it worked fine (tea bags showed up once or twice - not a problem.) The water in the insulated carafe was hot enough for drip brewing (don't want boiling water for that anyway) and we could enjoy a cup (or two) on the balcony each morning at our leisure.

[Coffeequeenj]

I always travel with instant since I too like very strong coffee...I tried Starbucks Via and love it!...carry it in my purse...I'm a French Roast drinker...the Princess coffee card is quite nice with the travel mug-wish X had something similar.

 

CoffeequeenJ:D

[Taxguy77]

I grew up on "Truck Stop Coffee". My Dad used to drink t so fast, when I first started dring the brew I had to put ice cubes in it to be ready to leave with him. I won't pay for coffee on a ship and avoid S*** and others in casinos and restaurants, call me a slob if U have to.

Even thought I'm a coffee drinker, Asia has such great teas, I forgot about it.:)

[brentp]

Hi Brent, we are with you on the Eclipse, Nov 20.

 

It will be great to find out together how the coffee is on our cruise. We are looking forward to it very much.

[bellybutton530]

Right now I'm testing the instant versions of Starbucks coffee. If I like it, I may bring a couple of boxes with me.

 

I just might also bring a couple of pounds of the ground stuff and ask my butler to use it when he brews some coffee for my gang. If not, I'll be ordering many espressos, and add them to the pot he brings on a regular basis.

 

I can drink coffee and then go to sleep....