Coffee on Princess Cruises

[SnorkelMoose]

Just got off the Caribbean Princess, and drank the Horizon Court coffee all week. No complaints here!

 

I believe someone asked if hot water was available, and I just wanted to verify that yes, hot water was always available--I had quite a few cups of tea in the evenings.

 

Happy sailing! :)

[remydiva]

I just tried Starbucks Via yesterday, thinking it would be a good alternative. Tasted pretty much like Folgers instant coffee to me. So, I can save that packing space/weight. Try it out first before depending on it, we fortunately got a box as part of a Christmas gift this year, will save it for emergencies.

 

VIA comes in a variety of roasts..French, Columbian, Blonde etc so perhaps your gift pack wasnt a roast you like. it might take some trial and error to find one you like. We drink the French roast brewed coffee so it was easy to pick up and enjoy the French roast VIA.

[kruznkanuk]

Thanks for the answers, caribill!

Looks like I'll be trying to make room for my little 4 c coffeemaker in my luggage. And yes, I do know they are not allowed. Sitting on the balcony, first thing in the morning, watching the sunrise and hearing the birds or waves, with a good cup of coffee is what hooked us on cruising. Can almost smell/taste/hear/feel it now! :D Only 3 weeks to departure for us.

 

We met a lady on our last cruise who says she has donated 32 coffeemakers to various ships as she brings one always and then, unconcerned about the $8 cost, leaves it in the cabin.

[tntfox]

Thanks for the answers, caribill!

Looks like I'll be trying to make room for my little 4 c coffeemaker in my luggage. And yes, I do know they are not allowed. Sitting on the balcony, first thing in the morning, watching the sunrise and hearing the birds or waves, with a good cup of coffee is what hooked us on cruising. Can almost smell/taste/hear/feel it now! :D Only 3 weeks to departure for us.

 

We met a lady on our last cruise who says she has donated 32 coffeemakers to various ships as she brings one always and then, unconcerned about the $8 cost, leaves it in the cabin.

 

If I thought for a minute that we could get away with a small Keurig brewer, I'd pack our little B30 unit in a heartbeat!

[caribill]

Cruise critic members comments on coffee quality on other cruise lines:

 

HAL: Coming back to HAL after a 7 year hiatus, I forgot just how BAD the coffee is. UGH absolutely undrinkable. One reviewer has mentioned that they use real coffee in the Lido...NOT, it is freeze dried instant. I am a black coffee drinker, but when coffee doesn't taste right I add milk to see what color it turns (should be a rich caramel), on the NA it consistently turned something resembling olive green!!!.

 

Celebrity: How is the coffee? Here's an anecdote. Was sitting yesterday at a luncheon with five other people. Everyone had coffee. The waiter poured all from the same carafe. The woman on my right said, oh that's good coffee. The man on my left said, that coffee is way too strong, and poured some water into his cup. The woman across from me said, this coffee is really bitter. Her husband asked, why can't you make coffee this good. The woman next to him made a face and said that it tasted stale to her. I thought it was too weak.

 

So how's the coffee board? Probably too strong, too weak, too bitter, too stale, too hot and too cold.

 

Celebrity: Free coffee is bad. Not the worst at sea, but baaad.

 

Celebrity: We are veterans of a couple Celebrity cruises and remember that the free coffee was just horrible

 

Carnival: Personally, I find the Carnival room service coffee to be awful; just my opinion. [/color]

 

Carnival: The coffee on my last Carnival cruise (Pride) was horrendous... no exaggeration.

 

RCCL: The coffee we had on Voyager in summer 2011 was terrible. If you asked for cream, you were given watery milk. We had a suite and often ate breakfast in Portofino and had the same terrible coffee. We loved our cruise and would do it again in a heartbeat, but just did not like the coffee.

 

RCCL: I don't care what they call it... I call it terrible. Very bitter. No amount of extra cream and sugar will help. Its enough to turn a person into a tea drinker.

[UpcountryTravelers]

I'm particular about my coffee and NEVER use sugar or cream (ugh). I fresh grind beans right before brewing at home and prefer Island Blend.

 

Princess coffee in room and elsewhere is as good as most restaurants and hotels and FAR better than Starbucks. (Which means "just OK".) Celebrity coffee is indistinguishable from Princess.

Edited January 28, 2013 by UpcountryTravelers

[Whoo]

I drink my coffee black. Although Princess coffee is not "wonderful" it is no worse than most restaurant coffee and I really have no objection to it.

 

I have noticed on occasion that the water in the restaurants at times has a chlorine or iodine taste and wonder if that is responsible for the bad tasting coffee that many people find. At all other times the water tastes fine.

 

Marty

 

You may have a point, as to the quality of the water affecting the coffee. I had never considered that, and I should have thought of it! We have a well for our water needs at home - and due to the high amounts of minerals which react especially badly with hot water, we must use bottled water to make our Peet's brewed coffee at home.

[Astro Flyer]

Cruise critic members comments on coffee quality on other cruise lines

Those quotes say it all & like so many other things it's subjective & rarely will any two "experts" have the same opinion. ;)

[sminfiddle]

Are there any coffee advantages to being in a suite on Princess?

In a word: Yes.

You get to have breakfast in Sabatini's.

While there you can enjoy fresh brewed coffee, Espresso and Specialty Coffees, and the special Teas at no charge and without a coffee card.

 

Rick

Edited January 29, 2013 by sminfiddle
added Espresso (always a good thing to add)

[roe2ship]

Wouldn't you think with all of the complaints about how terrible:eek: the coffee is on the Princess ships, they would do something to improve it? Surely they read comments on this website.;)

Cole

They did do something...they know how horrific their coffee is so they introduced a coffee card so you can purchase the REAL coffee.:rolleyes:

[Happy ks]

VIA comes in a variety of roasts..French, Columbian, Blonde etc so perhaps your gift pack wasnt a roast you like. it might take some trial and error to find one you like. We drink the French roast brewed coffee so it was easy to pick up and enjoy the French roast VIA.

 

 

It was the same Starbucks (French roast) we sometimes use at home. It was just the flavor tasted so "instant coffee" to me. I don't think a different roast would help, but you're right, we got 2 boxes and the other one is Italian roast, I'll wait until tomorrow and try that one. We do prefer a full bodied roast.

 

We like Espresso roast the best, I'll see if they have that in the VIA form next time I go to Starbucks.

 

Most of the time, we just suffer through the week and cherish our morning brew when we get home :)

Edited January 29, 2013 by Happy ks

[MicCanberra]

Cruise critic members comments on coffee quality on other cruise lines:

Celebrity: How is the coffee? Here's an anecdote. Was sitting yesterday at a luncheon with five other people. Everyone had coffee. The waiter poured all from the same carafe. The woman on my right said, oh that's good coffee. The man on my left said, that coffee is way too strong, and poured some water into his cup. The woman across from me said, this coffee is really bitter. Her husband asked, why can't you make coffee this good. The woman next to him made a face and said that it tasted stale to her. I thought it was too weak.

So how's the coffee board? Probably too strong, too weak, too bitter, too stale, too hot and too cold.

Celebrity: Free coffee is bad. Not the worst at sea, but baaad.

Celebrity: We are veterans of a couple Celebrity cruises and remember that the free coffee was just horrible

Carnival: Personally, I find the Carnival room service coffee to be awful; just my opinion. [/color]

Carnival: The coffee on my last Carnival cruise (Pride) was horrendous... no exaggeration.

RCCL: I don't care what they call it... I call it terrible. Very bitter. No amount of extra cream and sugar will help. Its enough to turn a person into a tea drinker.

I have to agree that the standard free coffee is disgusting for me as it was soo bitter. That said, I do not mind the Princess standard free coffee. I drink better coffee at home and work but when on holidays do not want to stress over the little things. I taste it and if I do not like it I drink hot chocolate or tea or get a cuppacino from the cafe.:D

[ScootRN2]

Hi all cruise friends. Just wondering your thoughts on coffee on Princess. Last time on the Sapphire, we had horrible coffee everyone on the ship except the specialty places. Just off the Crown last month and the room service coffee was actually good which we had every morning. Of course this is knowledge after packing a small pot in our luggage. Could have brought more shoes! :eek:

I know coffee like food can be subjective. DH is a coffee snob, and he even said he was drinkable. Your thoughts to help others not to waste space in luggage.

Warm Regards

 

 

sharon, we just got off the sapphire princess dec 22. the bakery at the atriam had very good coffee. a large mug was $1.25 but all the pastries,were free :) im a coffee snob too

myra

[Astro Flyer]

I have to agree that the standard free coffee is disgusting for me as it was soo bitter. That said, I do not mind the Princess standard free coffee. I drink better coffee at home and work but when on holidays do not want to stress over the little things. I taste it and if I do not like it I drink hot chocolate or tea or get a cuppacino from the cafe.:D

The other part of the quote about RCI coffee needing so much sugar also said they didn't like the RCI Starbucks either..."I got a Starbucks and even that was awful - bitter and burnt tasting. I was very disappointed that I couldn't get a decent cup of coffee for 7 days".

[MicCanberra]

The other part of the quote about RCI coffee needing so much sugar also said they didn't like the RCI Starbucks either..."I got a Starbucks and even that was awful - bitter and burnt tasting. I was very disappointed that I couldn't get a decent cup of coffee for 7 days".

Thats why I get a drinks package on X and the UKP on Princess, that way you have plenty of other options. Although, I do not mind the Princess coffee.:D

[Jamrenjer]

We have not been on a Princess cruise in 10 years.... Going on the Crown soon... I've read that the International Cafe has better coffee... Is the coffee there all extra charge? Or is the extra charge for specialty drinks only? ( tried doing a search-- and didn't find the answer.) THANKS for any help. :)

[Stevesan]

We have not been on a Princess cruise in 10 years.... Going on the Crown soon... I've read that the International Cafe has better coffee... Is the coffee there all extra charge? Or is the extra charge for specialty drinks only? ( tried doing a search-- and didn't find the answer.) THANKS for any help. :)

 

See post #46.

[Jamrenjer]

Thank you very much, Stevesan! Appreciate it!:)

[cruzincat50]

On our recent Golden cruise, the coffee in the Horizon Court was way too weak. Occasionally I got a decent cup in the Main Dining room.

 

I guess I could be considered a coffee snob by some here. I have even tried roasting my own, and the best coffee is fresh roasted Kona. I had to have a bag of green Kona beans shipped from Hawaii, in order to do that. I have since found Keurig machines to my liking. When i was roasting my own, I learned that exposure to air is what kills the flavor of coffee. As soon as the coffee is roasted, the clock starts ticking on it's flavor. The optimum flavor is about a day after it is roasted, because it needs to degas a little. The next thing that speeds up the clock is grinding the beans.

 

I used to go to the Costco type stores and buy the large cans of coffee, thinking I was saving a lot of $. By the time I got a third of the way through the can it was almost flavorless.

 

Starbucks is successfull because they use a dark roast. What this means is the beans are roasted longer(burnt) and that gives the coffee its burnt flavor. The reason they do this is because the burnt flavor is more consistant. No matter what the quality of the bean is, when you burn it, it tastes similar to other burnt coffee. When you get coffee at any Starbucks they pretty much all taste the same. By the way, most coffee lovers that roast their own would NEVER roast Kona beans as a dark roast.

 

Bold coffee is merely just a stronger flavor. It can be achieved by using a particular bean(blend) or by just mixing more coffee into the water. There is a difference between dark roast and bold.

 

The reason Keuring is so successful is that each K-cup is sealed from the air. You can buy a month's supply of a given flavor of K-cup and the last cup of a given lot will taste pretty much the same as the first one.

 

I would like to see the buffets on ships install Keuring machines for the passengers to use, with K-Cups they bring on board or K-cups they could be selling in the store on board. Keurig would probably give them the machines for the exposure it would give them to the people who have never tried it.

 

I first discovered Keuring before they ever started making home machines. I started communicating with them so that I could get one when they did.

 

The best thing about K-Cups is when someone in your family prefers a different flavor or decaf vs regular. With a regular coffeemaker, there is lingering flavor of the last pot made that intermingles with the current pot. There's no waste with K-cups, either.

 

My current K-cup favorite: Newman's Own, Special Blend, Medium Roast, Extra Bold. I used to get Timothy's 10% Kona Blend, but the current favorite is better IMHO.

[cruzincat50]

BTW, if you roast your own, green coffee beans last a long time without losing their flavor compared to once they are roasted and/or ground.

[Pmorton3360]

I have a Nepresso plus now and have my lattes every day. After only a month, when I drink regular coffee, all I taste is water with flavor in it. Bought a coffee card for upcoming cruise. It's amazing how fast you get spoiled by the expresso. The only coffe I'll be worried about is my room service first thing. I am sure I can manage for a week, but need my wake up call. May have to run down to IC.

[Stevesan]

On our recent Golden cruise, the coffee in the Horizon Court was way too weak. Occasionally I got a decent cup in the Main Dining room.

 

I guess I could be considered a coffee snob by some here. I have even tried roasting my own, and the best coffee is fresh roasted Kona. I had to have a bag of green Kona beans shipped from Hawaii, in order to do that. I have since found Keurig machines to my liking. When i was roasting my own, I learned that exposure to air is what kills the flavor of coffee. As soon as the coffee is roasted, the clock starts ticking on it's flavor. The optimum flavor is about a day after it is roasted, because it needs to degas a little. The next thing that speeds up the clock is grinding the beans.

 

I used to go to the Costco type stores and buy the large cans of coffee, thinking I was saving a lot of $. By the time I got a third of the way through the can it was almost flavorless.

 

Starbucks is successfull because they use a dark roast. What this means is the beans are roasted longer(burnt) and that gives the coffee its burnt flavor. The reason they do this is because the burnt flavor is more consistant. No matter what the quality of the bean is, when you burn it, it tastes similar to other burnt coffee. When you get coffee at any Starbucks they pretty much all taste the same. By the way, most coffee lovers that roast their own would NEVER roast Kona beans as a dark roast.

 

Bold coffee is merely just a stronger flavor. It can be achieved by using a particular bean(blend) or by just mixing more coffee into the water. There is a difference between dark roast and bold.

 

The reason Keuring is so successful is that each K-cup is sealed from the air. You can buy a month's supply of a given flavor of K-cup and the last cup of a given lot will taste pretty much the same as the first one.

 

I would like to see the buffets on ships install Keuring machines for the passengers to use, with K-Cups they bring on board or K-cups they could be selling in the store on board. Keurig would probably give them the machines for the exposure it would give them to the people who have never tried it.

 

I first discovered Keuring before they ever started making home machines. I started communicating with them so that I could get one when they did.

 

The best thing about K-Cups is when someone in your family prefers a different flavor or decaf vs regular. With a regular coffeemaker, there is lingering flavor of the last pot made that intermingles with the current pot. There's no waste with K-cups, either.

 

My current K-cup favorite: Newman's Own, Special Blend, Medium Roast, Extra Bold. I used to get Timothy's 10% Kona Blend, but the current favorite is better IMHO.

 

Fresh roast is my supplier's middle name.:p He roasts on site.

100% agree about the Kona. Why kill a good thing?

I like "Bill's Blend", a combination of Kona And Columbian Supremo. A nice combo.

http://www.javacoffee.com/Coffee/Blended-Coffees/Bill-s-Blend-p1323.html

[WolfpackFan]

I first discovered Keuring before they ever started making home machines. I started communicating with them so that I could get one when they did.

 

The best thing about K-Cups is when someone in your family prefers a different flavor or decaf vs regular. With a regular coffeemaker, there is lingering flavor of the last pot made that intermingles with the current pot. There's no waste with K-cups, either.

 

My current K-cup favorite: Newman's Own, Special Blend, Medium Roast, Extra Bold. I used to get Timothy's 10% Kona Blend, but the current favorite is better IMHO.

 

Thanks for this great write-up on coffee. I am also a big K-Cup fan. My favorite blend is Green Mountain Breakfast Blend and the Donut Shop Medium Roast Decaf.

 

Question - Have you compared prices for K-Cups at different stores? I've checked a bunch of stores and it seems to me that Bed, Bath and Beyond have the best selection and prices.

[coloradocruisers101]

This is a great thread and I am glad I started it. Great reviews, both good and not so good. Keep them coming. I did find a website that all you coffee snobs might find interesting. DH is the snob in the family, not me :D. Take a look at coffeereview.com It has more info than needed :rolleyes:

[cruzincat50]

Thanks for this great write-up on coffee. I am also a big K-Cup fan. My favorite blend is Green Mountain Breakfast Blend and the Donut Shop Medium Roast Decaf.

 

Question - Have you compared prices for K-Cups at different stores? I've checked a bunch of stores and it seems to me that Bed, Bath and Beyond have the best selection and prices.

 

I buy all my K-cups from coffeeforless dot com. Typical cost is less than 60 cents per cup. I buy enough for the free shipping and it comes within a day or two. Where you are, figure 2 days max. They are quick! I think is comes out of SE PA, so it's a quick jaunt down I-95.

Edited January 30, 2013 by cruzincat50