HAL Cruise in March.. I want Princess back!

[Pereiras]

We just returned from a Holland America Cruise on the Zuiderdam. I have spent a week or so on the HAL boards, and posted a strong thread regarding the terrible food, with one night being horrible (steak chromaise as one reply stated). Really awful. We had to upgrade every other night to the Pinnacle ($20 pp), where the food was good to avoid the Main dining. This was not our opinion solely... on the contrary, both passengers on our cruise, and many posters on the board have confirmed that they had problems with the food there. Also, the CS I found in dealing with issues at HAL was non-existant. I can fill you in more on this if interested.. however, this is a Princess thread!

 

We have been on the Golden Princess 2 years ago, and loved it. Noticed some good and some bad threads here.. and would invite both the positive and negative posters on this board to let me know what they think.

Has the food gone downhill on Princess in the past 2 years?

Are there some ships better than others?

Do you recommend a return to Princess?

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond.

 

Looking for a December cruise.. should it be Princess? (I hope so!)

[DrivesLikeMario]

We just returned from our first HAL cruise on the Oosterdam and couldn't have found things to be more different than your experience! We found the food and service to be excellent!

 

We would sail with HAL again in an instant. Although there were little things we disliked about HAL, there were also things we really liked. If I could only take the best from Princess and the best from HAL, I'd have the perfect cruise line.

 

Don't judge all HAL experiences by the one you had. I think you just had a bad cruise. Ship happens. Hopefully, you'll give them a try again.

[Italy52]

We just returned from a Holland America Cruise on the Zuiderdam. I have spent a week or so on the HAL boards, and posted a strong thread regarding the terrible food, with one night being horrible (steak chromaise as one reply stated). Really awful. We had to upgrade every other night to the Pinnacle ($20 pp), where the food was good to avoid the Main dining. This was not our opinion solely... on the contrary, both passengers on our cruise, and many posters on the board have confirmed that they had problems with the food there. Also, the CS I found in dealing with issues at HAL was non-existant. I can fill you in more on this if interested.. however, this is a Princess thread!

 

We have been on the Golden Princess 2 years ago, and loved it. Noticed some good and some bad threads here.. and would invite both the positive and negative posters on this board to let me know what they think.

Has the food gone downhill on Princess in the past 2 years?

Are there some ships better than others?

Do you recommend a return to Princess?

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond.

 

Looking for a December cruise.. should it be Princess? (I hope so!)

 

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with the Zuiderdam. We sailed the Zuiderdam two summers ago and the Dawn Princess this past summer. We enjoyed both sailings very much. We found customer service to be very friendly and accommodating on both lines. The only negative we found on the Zuiderdam was the quality of food in the main dining room for dinner. We felt the food was OK, nothing special. There was little variety in the menu and the meat and chicken at times seemed to be over cooked. We felt the Pinnacle was OK, but would not spend the money again. We did enjoy the many options in the buffet area. In fact, I would say that the Zuiderdam offered more variety in their buffet than other lines we have sailed (including Princess). We felt Princess' evening dining choices were far better than what we were offered on the Zuiderdam. We thoroughly enjoyed every one of our evening meals. We are sailing the Sapphire in May and hope to continue our good luck in the dining area.

[portsleft]

We have sailed Holland 7 times and Princess 12 times including the Zuiderdam and have never had a food complaint on either line. We always enjoy the dining experience.

[spongerob]

Overall I don't think the quality has suffered during the last couple of years, but I have noticed that there are ups and downs. I think these are related to the chef in charge and his ideas of presentation and preparation. I have learned to listen to the waiters' recommendations, they usually know what is good and what might be best to avoid.

[mountainhouse]

I guess it really is a matter of taste, but I don't know how anyone could complain about Princess food. Last week, on the Grand, my first Princess criuse, my whole party of 4 thought the food in the dining rooms was excellent. The ONLY negative was a veggie burger, which was a bit weird. EVERYTHING else was a last very good, with numerous dishes being absolutely delicious! One person travelling with us, has had 12 Princess cruises. She said this was the best dining experience ever. Better than their September Tahiti Princess cruise, which they also really liked.

 

By the way, we'd requested low fat in the Cruise Personalizer. The head waiter, Franco, came over on the first night, and explained all the various things they could do to accommodate us. Very nice. By the way, Franco cooked up a great rigatoni one night. Said it was what he grew up with. VERY nice!

[fllcruiser]

My sister and I just got off the Sun Princess March 19 sailing. This was our 8th cruise on Princess and we both agreed most likely our last. The staff was great, Tomas in the Atrium bar especially. Food was just okay ( I like fish which Princess has never done well), tiny balconies with plastic furniture and deck chairs placed almost on top of each other. Holland America is our first choice, food is good balconies with nice rattan furniture and wonderful staff.

[Aquarian]

You asked if the food quality has declined on Princess? We don't feel that it has but we think the portions served at dinner are slightly smaller than in years gone by - but we felt that was a "plus" because we didn't leave the dining room stuffed and uncomfortable as we have in the past. We have been very fortunate in that we have NEVER had an unsatisfactory meal on Princess. But, I'd like to add that we often defer to the opinion of our waiter as to what to order. They always suggest a delicious item.

[Pereiras]

Thanks for the post. I am not worried about portion size.. you can always get a second main if need be.. or hit the buffets or room service. Glad to hear in your opinion, it hasn't gone downhill. I loved the Princess food we had 2 years back.

 

 

 

You asked if the food quality has declined on Princess? We don't feel that it has but we think the portions served at dinner are slightly smaller than in years gone by - but we felt that was a "plus" because we didn't leave the dining room stuffed and uncomfortable as we have in the past. We have been very fortunate in that we have NEVER had an unsatisfactory meal on Princess. But, I'd like to add that we often defer to the opinion of our waiter as to what to order. They always suggest a delicious item.

[cruiserforlife]

Can safely say based on 4 Princess cruises since 2001 that the quality of the food has not been affected by any cost-cutting measures that I can see with the exception of the Horizon Court where I found the selection to be somewhat limited...small complaint indeed!

[Pereiras]

Thanks Cruiser. That was very helpful.

 

Can safely say based on 4 Princess cruises since 2001 that the quality of the food has not been affected by any cost-cutting measures that I can see with the exception of the Horizon Court where I found the selection to be somewhat limited...small complaint indeed!

[jetwet1]

Well Pereiras we are with you on this one,for us the Zuiderdam,while a great ship to look at just didn't cut it.

 

We've eaten better food on a 4 day cruise on the Holiday !!

There were a number of CC baord users on our cruise and from what i've heard the majority agreed that the food was horrible.

 

We to ended up in the Pinnacle which was good everyother night.

[sabaka]

We are just off the 3/26 Zuiderdam sailing and thought food was not very good. Thank God we had a suite so we nibbled on the appitisers in the Neptune lounge. We never did recive a single brealfast room service odere correct! We were on the Diamond last May and will be trying the Sun in two weeks. we sure hope the food on the Sun is better than the Zuiderdam! Nice large cabins on the Z but food is not a highlight!

[wrkfire911]

We were on HAL Maasdam last March. 1st with HAL and out of the 6 previous cruises I have been on HAL had the BEST food of any!! Are you sure you just had a bad night? Did you try the food in main dining at all after that experience? I have a hard time with alot of fancy smancy foods because I do not care for most of it but never had a hard time finding something to enjoy and it was delicious. The one dining room complaint was they refused to serve coffee WITH the meal....ONLY after. it was quite funny and almost gave the Maitre D a heart attack when we walked in with our own cups and a carafe the second night!!! they finally got the hint and we we served coffee with the meal but not until the 5th or 6th night out...of a 10 day cruise...sad SO that's why I say their staff leaves alot to be desired

 

What I DID NOT like about HAL was the average 'age' of the passengers. OLD, never seen so many wheelchairs, walkers and canes in my life. The entertainment and music played around the ship even catered towards a much older crowd. Because of this, HAL is NOT high on our list of cruise lines to frequent....It would have to be a really really great deal! And that's a shame because the ship was beautiful, staff OK (seen much better) but food cant win for everything.

[Toto2Kansas]

I know exactly where the OP is coming from on this one. We just returned from an RCI cruise and I am heading right back to Princess. I don't plan on straying again, the food was simply terrible on RCI compared to Princess.

Although the service was top of the line and all of the RCI staff was incredible, we missed the food served on Princess, big time!