Soup and salad?

[SASSYMI2]

My wife and I will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Royal next Sunday.

 

We are big fans of salads and soups.

 

What are Princess' best salad dressings (regular or low fat) and what are some of their best soups?

[Pam in CA]

My wife and I will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Royal next Sunday.

 

We are big fans of salads and soups.

 

What are Princess' best salad dressings (regular or low fat) and what are some of their best soups?

Oh, man... you're going to be in heaven. The Horizon Court has a large salad bar with a lot of dressing options, including some non-fat plus make-your-own oil and vinegar. As I remember, there is low-fat Italian, a couple of vinaigrettes, as well as ranch, Italian, blue cheese, French, etc. Sometimes, they had honey mustard which is my favorite. It's not a thick creaming dressing but more like a mustardy vinaigrette. Lots of vegetable topping options. At lunch, the Horizon Bistro also has a salad bar as well as several bins of pieces of ham, turkey, chicken, roast beef, pork, and cheese. You can order a salad as your entree in the dining room if you want. I often order a large salad and grilled chicken with honey mustard dressing on the side. Yummy.

 

There are several soup choices every night in the dining room as well as in the Horizon Court. At night, they usually have the same soups as in the dining room.

[Pam in CA]

Here are some photos of the salad bars (there is more than one just in the Horizon Court):

[Astro Flyer]

Honey mustard and balsamic vinaigrette are 2 of our favorites. :)

[shredie]

The mushroom soup in the MDR is really good. Husband gets soup at the International Cafe and says it's always been good. The honey mustard dressing isn't always advertised, but when I've asked for it in the dining room, I've always gotten it. Pam is right--it's light and not at all sweet-syrupy.

[elliair]

We just got off the Sapphire and the salad bar was our favorite. They had different kinds of sprouts every day, crisp greens, and everything you would expect on a salad bar and then some. I got the lemon oil dressing everyday, it was quite good. There were several kinds of dressings to choose from.

 

As for the soups, they had a soba noodle bar one day and it was a hit as the line was long, and a long wait to get it but it was worth it. A few people did not like the clam chowder and didn't eat it. I tried the egg flower soup and didn't like it. After that I didn't try any more of the soups. The "Cream of" was not creamy at all. JMHO.

[skynight]

The International Cafe in the Piazza also has a soup of the day and a selection of prepared salads, as well as Paninis and yummy sweets.

[Pam in CA]

We just got off the Sapphire and the salad bar was our favorite. They had different kinds of sprouts every day, crisp greens, and everything you would expect on a salad bar and then some. I got the lemon oil dressing everyday, it was quite good. There were several kinds of dressings to choose from.

FYI, the Royal, which the OP is sailing on, has 3-4x the salad options as the Sapphire. They're in different sections and not all in one place. If you put them all together, they'd be the equivalent of most of the Sapphire's entire Horizon Court. :)

[geoherb]

When eating lunch and dinner in the dining room, you can order a large salad. I always ask for the dressing on the side since I don't like a lot of dressing. The balsamic vinaigrette is good.

[melody hounddog]

Honey mustard and balsamic vinaigrette are 2 of our favorites. :)

 

These are my two favorites as well.

[Nancyquilts]

At dinner in the MDR I love it when they have the cold fruit soups. Nothing like having dessert first!:D

[giselleacttwo]

I love the cold fruit soups in the MDR as well. :D

[partybarbie]

One of my favorite salads is the spinach salad on the Italian night menu. I just had it again, in December, and it was delicious as always.

[klenklen]

I have some nice matzo ball soup at least twice early on cruises with princess

[skf]

You can order a salad as your entree in the dining room if you want. I often order a large salad and grilled chicken with honey mustard dressing on the side. Yummy.

Hiya, Pam...

This sounds like a good idea. Do you place an order in advance, or wait til dinnertime?

Thanx, Steve

Edited February 9, 2014 by skf

[melody hounddog]

You can also get soup at the Horizon Court for breakfast. It's either a congee, chicken congee or chicken noodle. I like to get a bowl and then walk around the buffet adding bacon pieces, cheese, scallions, soy sauce or what ever else looks appealing at the time. It's my "oatmeal".

[Pam in CA]

You can order a salad as your entree in the dining room if you want. I often order a large salad and grilled chicken with honey mustard dressing on the side. Yummy.

Hiya, Pam...

This sounds like a good idea. Do you place an order in advance, or wait til dinnertime?

Thanx, Steve

You can order a plain large entree salad with chicken any time. If you want a chef's or Cobb salad, you should pre-order it as it takes more preparation time. It doesn't hurt to pre-order the night before but it's not necessary for a plain salad.

[whataboutport]

You can also get soup at the Horizon Court for breakfast. It's either a congee, chicken congee or chicken noodle. I like to get a bowl and then walk around the buffet adding bacon pieces, cheese, scallions, soy sauce or what ever else looks appealing at the time. It's my "oatmeal".

 

OMG I wished I had noticed the congee earlier on in my cruise! It was delicious! Thick and nice ginger flavor, not bland at all like how my mom used to make LOL.

[quincytoo]

We were huge fans of the soups (My DH said repeatly thorughout the last cruise...."Princess just KNOWS how to make a great soup")

The mushroom soup mentioned is wonderful as was the Chicken Matzo ball soup at the HC.

Dh also really really liked the soup at Alfredos.

 

We are huge fans of the HC salad bar(s) at the buffet., we had many a huge lunch salad made up of meats, cheeses, veg, fruit and salad fixings in Jan. Very good :)

I will have to try the honey mustard dressing next Jan....so often it is not made right (too sweet).

[seamwoman]

Pam, who knows everything, shared the chef salad idea from Horizon Court and it is now my lunchtime staple. My only problem is taking too much of each item and ending up with a huge salad! I look forward to having the salad with chicken on our South Pacific cruise in April. Thanks Pam. Karen

[Melcoug]

OMG I wished I had noticed the congee earlier on in my cruise! It was delicious! Thick and nice ginger flavor, not bland at all like how my mom used to make LOL.

 

I think I'm going to have to try the congee at breakfast now. Last cruise I got a little cup of grits each morning. I saw the congee but had no idea what it was. I love ginger!

[whataboutport]

I think I'm going to have to try the congee at breakfast now. Last cruise I got a little cup of grits each morning. I saw the congee but had no idea what it was. I love ginger!

 

It's Chinese rice porridge. It's supposed to be pretty thick. Not as thick as oatmeal, but pretty close. I top with green onions and red pepper flakes. Would be even better if they had sesame oil and some chinese pickles! You can put soy sauce or any type of meat too. Traditional way I like it is with pork and 1000 year old egg, but I know that egg is not for everyone.