Does the crew aboard princess eat well also???

[NSWP]

It is amazing the number of senior ships officers you see eating in the Speciality Dining Rooms, i.e. Sabatinis/Crown Grill, I wonder if they pay the 'cover charge?' My guess is they don't or pay a very small amount.

 

I know the Captains have a wine account, on Regal Princess Capt.Froude dined with us twice, he had to sign for the wine he ordered for our table and then told us nicely he had a 'wine account.' But I must admit the Captain's wine was nice, personally selected by, opened by, poured by the Maitre'D. Strange that ! LOL.

[brfan]

There are two types of employees (entertainers excluded), crew and staff. Crew can eat at HC while staff may not. Staff eat in the staff quarters.

 

Actually I believe there are three types - crew, staff and officers.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

On my last Ruby Cruise I was lucky enough to have the captain join me for diner at the Crown grill, I did however have to pay for his meal

 

yours Shogun

[GranJean]

I *love* curry. On a recent cruise, the curry served in the MDR was blah so I asked our waiter (who was from India) if this is what *he* ate in the crew mess. "No, ours is much, ah, different." was his reply. So of course I pressed him to serve me some of the curry selections from the crew mess. After a consultation with the head waiter (also from India) I was provided same at our next dinner seating. Have to say the curry and sides were as good or better than what I had eaten in India. We continued to dine on excellent Indian food each night for the remainder of the cruise. One final note .,. the waiter also provided samples of the pepper sauces and oils that the crew uses to 'kick it up a notch'. Really good stuff!

[EddieCruzer]

It is amazing the number of senior ships officers you see eating in the Speciality Dining Rooms, i.e. Sabatinis/Crown Grill, I wonder if they pay the 'cover charge?' My guess is they don't or pay a very small amount.

 

I know the Captains have a wine account, on Regal Princess Capt.Froude dined with us twice, he had to sign for the wine he ordered for our table and then told us nicely he had a 'wine account.' But I must admit the Captain's wine was nice, personally selected by, opened by, poured by the Maitre'D. Strange that ! LOL.

 

Anyone working on the ship my eat in the specialty dining rooms and they pay the same charge that the passengers do.

[pablo222]

Anyone working on the ship my eat in the specialty dining rooms and they pay the same charge that the passengers do.

 

This is up to the staff captain. And, it's up to the department head

if staff/crew in a particular department can go to the speciality

resturants. And, even then, it can only be when there are no pax reservations.

 

The times I have gone with a crew member, the price for them

was the same as pax.

[billet]

This is up to the staff captain. And, it's up to the department head

if staff/crew in a particular department can go to the speciality

resturants. And, even then, it can only be when there are no pax reservations.

 

The times I have gone with a crew member, the price for them

was the same as pax.

 

Absolutely right. I have always paid as a staff member and the officers with me have paid too.

[simbasmom]

That's what I was told this afternoon (when I also found out that Matt IS staff). that staff can eat in the Horizon Court, but not crew. And I asked about the "Staff mess", which he said was basically just a smaller room off the crew mess. And for whatever reason, it's only open limited hours. There may be 3 levels of employees as someone mentioned. I wonder whether both staff and officers or just officers can use the specialty dining establishments.

[cruisingallover]

That's what I was told this afternoon (when I also found out that Matt IS staff). that staff can eat in the Horizon Court, but not crew. And I asked about the "Staff mess", which he said was basically just a smaller room off the crew mess. And for whatever reason, it's only open limited hours. There may be 3 levels of employees as someone mentioned. I wonder whether both staff and officers or just officers can use the specialty dining establishments.

 

 

last cruise our waiter said he dines in them also and pays the fee.

[NH Cruisers]

A well feed crew is usually a happy crew. On every cruise I have been on, no matter the line, the crew have been happy. So I would guess they eat good! If not you would have no long time employees. Our waiter on the Carnival Dream had 17 years in the company. Who would stay stay that long if you ate bad food?

 

Jon

[pablo222]

Who would stay stay that long if you ate bad food?

 

When you can make twenty-times the money you make

at home working on a ship, you will put up with a lot

of bad food, long hours, and disrespect, to support your

family.

 

The ship:home ratio depends (of course) on where one is from.

[patopato1944]

To clear up the guessing going on here.

 

There's three "types" of crew on board:

 

Officers, which includes obviously the Bridge Officers, the Engineering Officers, the Doctors and Nurses, the Hotel Management (also the Front Desk staff) and the Social (Cruise) Staff up to the Cruise Director. All of these, with exception of the Cruise Staff, wear stripes denoting their rank. They can either eat in the dedicated Officer's Mess, the Horizon Court or the Specialty Restaurants (and they do PAY the cover charge & drinks). If space is available they can also eat in the "regular' restaurants, this needs always be confirmed with the Maitre D', though. When eating in passenger areas consideration is to be given and passengers always come first.

The food in the Officer's Mess is the passenger menu (no lobster or crab legs and other high cost items or items in high demand) plus a buffet.

 

Staff, which includes the Photographers, Spa Personnel, Shop Staff, Musicians, Dancers (the managers of these areas are considered Officers) and Petty Officers such as the Housekeeping Supervisors, Security Staff, the Deck Petty Officers (the guys you see around in dark blue) and others on supervisor level.

They can eat in a dedicated staff mess (buffet), use the Horizon Court or the specialty restaurants (they pay, too) and, if the Maitre D' approves, the regular restaurants.

 

Crew which is pretty much all the rest. Like your waiter or cabin steward, for example. They can eat in the crew mess (buffet) and nowhere else. If they have, for example, a special occasion to celebrate they can request to be granted access to the specialty restaurants for a night. They also have to pay the cover charge & drinks. They cannot use the Horizon Court.

 

Staff & Crew cannot use the Officer's Mess whereas Officers can make use of the Staff or Crew Mess (doesn't happen too often)

 

Now if the food is good... First, the crew (in this case all of the above) is on board for a long time. Each ship runs a so called menu cycle which is set up for an itinerary. Thus the menu & buffet repeats itself every seven, ten or fourteen days... Meaning you'll find the same food on any given Tuesday for six, seven months straight. It might be "good" but it'll drive you nuts after a while.

The food in the Crew Mess is geared towards the majority of nationalities, which is generally Indian and Filipino. Lots of rice... Needless to say that this can cause problems for the "lucky" few that don't belong to these nationalities and are used to different diets.

And no, the buffets are not always good. Why do you think you see the Spa girls, dancers, musicians and so on in the Horizon Court so often?

All mess rooms are served by a galley (kitchen) dedicated to these rooms only. The menu items for the Officer's Mess come from the regular galley serving the dining rooms.

Staff & Crew cannot order from the passenger menu. And they cannot enter the main galley to get something... If you're not a cook you have NO business in the galley!

 

To come back to the original question: Yes, the crew is well fed. But sometimes it's literally fed up with it, too. ;)

[billet]

The staff captain/hotel manager set the rules about eating in passenger areas and on some ships Staff are not allowed in the HC except late in the evening and speciality restaurants can be difficult to get into, at their whim.

[NSWP]

Some great replies on here. I recollect our Indian waiter on Crown telling us the curry in his mess was 'on fire.' Although I like curry, I declined his offer to fetch me a sample next night, I value my stomach lining. LOL.

 

I have read that P&O UK carries some very good Indian Cooks and produce great curries for the pax..mmm on Arcadia next year, have to try some and compare with Princess curries. I will probably be 'on fire' for 49 nights. LOL.

 

Still and all, good to see the crew getting pretty well fed, irrespective of their status.

[englishbird]

I know that alot of the " crew " do not like the food on board and will try and eat ashore when they have the time and the money.

 

I have a good friend who is a bar steward with Princess and I often go out to eat with him and his friends when I am on board. They are Filipino and we have eaten at Filipino Restaurants in Alaska, Chinese Resaturants in The Caribbean and they always like to find a restaurant that serves lobster and steak.:D

 

:p

[billet]

I know that alot of the " crew " do not like the food on board and will try and eat ashore when they have the time and the money.

:p

 

Too true, and it also gives them a short break from the routine of ship life.

[lovevacadays]

I think Shoalwater got it bassacwards. The staff (officers, youth and spa staff) are normally allowed to eat in the HC, but it is up to the Staff Captain who can do what. Entertainers are basically passengers and play by most of the same rules as passengers. The crew (stewards, cooks, engineers, seamen etc) eat in the crew mess with their own galley and have no access to the passenger galleys. The staff have the officers mess to eat in and the menu is the fundamentally the same as the MDR (although you have to beg and bribe to get the lobster).

 

Yes, he got it backwards.

[NSWP]

The crew like to get their snacks ashore too, you see them getting off the crew bus or around the Port towns with vast supplies of potato chips etc.

[ina905]

one of our room stewards asked if we could bring him pizza. we did and he called his friends to share it with him. apparently this is not one of the ethnic offerings in the crew mess.

[pablo222]

one of our room stewards asked if we could bring him pizza. we did and he called his friends to share it with him. apparently this is not one of the ethnic offerings in the crew mess.

 

That's because it's not made with rice. :(

[KansasCityTBone]

So since the crew is working while we are having fun...do they have a employee buffet area??? and is the food also on par?? thanks.

 

 

I work at a major las vegas casino, and our employee dining room is just like a vegas buffet and pretty good since it is free. thanks again. :)

 

I gather that the crew eat diffeent food and staff and officers have different dining rooms. I found alot on a great crew member blog, but you have to sort through a lot of junk to find a few good posts.

[simbasmom]

I gather that the crew eat diffeent food and staff and officers have different dining rooms. I found alot on a great crew member blog, but you have to sort through a lot of junk to find a few good posts.

 

Unfortunately, that staff and officers dining room isn't open much (our son is staff so he noted), so often everyone has to eat in the same place, unless they go up to the Horizon Court.

[Crew Wolf]

I bet that you have asked yourself this question before you board your first cruise ship on your very first contract “where do I eat and will I like the food?” The question is very valid and honestly to the first question there is a clear answer, but to the second one it all depends on how adaptable you are. I know most of us are used to a home cooked meals and our own traditional cuisine, but once you board a cruise ship three words are very important ADAPT, ADAPT, and ADAPT. Same goes for the food, times it is served, where you eat, how fast you eat, and so on. Working, living, and eating on a cruise ship as an employee have a new meaning and dimension. If once you worked at a slow pace and 8 hours per day, now you will most definitely work much faster and more than 10-12 hours per day. If you used to have a nice sit down dinner with your family while watching the TV or having a nice and long conversation, now you will most certainly learn how to eat in less then 20 minutes

Read More at

http://crew-center.com/how-food-crew

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Having been below decks and seen and chatted to crew, none complained about the food, been in officers and crew dining areas OK I was a passenger so their answers might have been tainted, but it appeared so long as there was rice onboard the ship they were happy, as to passenger food well some i spoke to said they would never eat it.

 

I have also travelled with folks who requested food not on menu and was told it would have to come from crew mess, can not recall name but it was a hot spice rice dish, they were happy with it and ate non menu food the whole of the cruise.

 

yours Shogun

[centralcalicruzer]

We were on the Emerald in January/February with our daughter who is one of the Production Singers, and she could eat anywhere that we could. She was free to walk into the Anytime Dining room and request a table just like she was a passenger. She could eat at the Horizon Court whenever she wanted, and was also allowed to eat at the specialty restaurants, paying the same fees as everyone else. The dancers, however, needed to apply ahead of time to eat in the MDR, but could eat at Horizon Court or Specialty Dining.