Emerald Princess

[SwissDave]

I am not difficult to please when it comes to food. I love having my food cooked for me but I also know when food is not good and it was not good on our cruise. I still maintain something was wrong.

 

 

Not doubting you for a second, as reports from newportdave's family would back you up.

 

I hope that what you experienced was a one off cruise.

Did you by any chance speak to the f&b manager? I got to know him very well on my cruise and he seemed very intersted in what people had to say, feedback etc. He would usually be found in vines of an evening, and a genuinely nice bloke i thought.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse tryping orrers.

[Coventrykid]

What does f&b mean. Tried to work it out myself. I just wish some of the other diners who were complaining about the food on this particular cruise were members of cruisecritic and could confirm my opinions.

[Illyria]

What does f&b mean.

Food & Beverage.

[Grammyluvs]

We were on the Emerald for 28 days last May and found the food to be not great but above average. I have discovered that on cruise ships, the food is not prepared the way I would do it at home. So it becomes an acquired taste to enjoy food prepared with different spices, sauces, etc. It is like going to a foreign country and trying different cultural foods. It doesn’t mean the food is bad.....just different. IMHO.

That is why food critics really don’t bother me. I judge according to my likes and dislikes and try to remember that they are preparing for the masses.

We thought the ship, personnel, itinerary and activities were all great!

So sorry OP had a bad cruise.

[Angekins]

We were also on this sailing and whist I'm sorry that the OP had some issues with the food on board, I have to say we enjoyed the meals we took in the MDR, although we didn't eat there every night.

 

The one thing we did find is that when we did this cruise last year we had traditional dining and several times commented that the main course was served warm as opposed to hot. This time round in anytime, we found the food was always served hot, so a definate improvement there!

 

I think the range of opinions just goes to show how subjective the matter of food is and made even more difficult when catering to large numbers of people.

[Flainefan]

We were on this cruise too and had a wonderful time, despite the Noro outbreak. Most people were sensible and followed the Captain's good advice, but we did see some passengers who were neglectful of basic hygiene practices and some who were downright argumentative with the crew who were just trying to do their job.

I agree with the comments about Dubrovnik. It was a zoo with so many people arriving at the same time to the narrow Pile gate entrance to the city. I agree that the port/ city authorities should be mindful of overcrowding when allowing so many ships in port on one day. In my feedback to Princess I also pointed out that CCL have a responsibility to coordinate their brands and plan their itineraries to offer a quality experience to passengers.

We also chose the cruise for the interesting itinerary and it did not disappoint. Sailing into the Grand Harbour at Valletta is wonderful. We really enjoyed the stop at Koper where we took a ship's tour to medieval Piran and the mountain villages where we sampled local, homemade products at a 'farmers' market'. We did not want another city day in Ljubljiana after walking ourselves to a standstill in Venice the day before, so this was something very different and quite charming.

We found the Emerald crew was excellent, unstintingly cheerful despite the extra work caused by the Noro precautions.

I enjoyed all my meals in the MDR; DH felt his steaks were well cooked but that some sauces were little bland. My favourite desserts were the souffles. Princess always does them so well. I don't always care for a big dessert so some nights we just asked for fresh strawberries and got them with no problem.

Overall another great cruise with Princess.

[pantherfan47]

Hi

We were on the same cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the food. We were 'anytime' dining in Michael Angelou dining room. Having a table for 2 our food always came out hot and we weren't waiting for other to be served. I just wonder if this was the difference. The outbreak of Noro didn't affect us too much as we preferred to eat away from the buffet. The choice of menu was the best we've had on a cruise except for Aqua class on Celebrity which is fine dining in a separate restaurant.

We loved Kopa which was a lovely little town and a Hop on Hop off facility at a reasonable price if you want to explore

Anyway sorry you didn't enjoy this is our first with Princess and I'm sure not our last

[Pia1913]

Hi

We were on the same cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the food. We were 'anytime' dining in Michael Angelou dining room. Having a table for 2 our food always came out hot and we weren't waiting for other to be served. I just wonder if this was the difference. The outbreak of Noro didn't affect us too much as we preferred to eat away from the buffet. The choice of menu was the best we've had on a cruise except for Aqua class on Celebrity which is fine dining in a separate restaurant.

We loved Kopa which was a lovely little town and a Hop on Hop off facility at a reasonable price if you want to explore

Anyway sorry you didn't enjoy this is our first with Princess and I'm sure not our last

 

I love the way you spelled it. Much more interesting than Michelangelo. :D We were supposed to be on this cruise with you, and probably would have eaten all our meals in HC. Maybe it was fortuitous that we weren't there.

[nurselaura2001]

The emerald princess was a beautiful ship easy to navigate, easy to embark and disembark at all ports. We ate breakfast in the Horizon buffet, which was great except for the coffee. Coffee was terrible. One way to avoid this is to order coffee in your room. Dinner in the dinning room was excellent except for one evening the steak was dry and tough. Our table server offered to bring another entry. The head maître de was sincerely apologetic and the following night brought us two bottles of wine. Our airline British Airlines lost our baggage at London Heathrow Airport. Princess purser's office made several phone calls to the Airline daily to help locate our baggage. Princess gave us free laundry and free tuxedos because of this and made our cruise as worry free as possible. Princess cruises were wonderful. Entertainment was excellent in the theatre as well the lounges. The casino was nice enough but played much and winning was rare. Finally gave up on the casino. A very enjoyable two weeks.

[Pjran]

The emerald princess was a beautiful ship easy to navigate, easy to embark and disembark at all ports. We ate breakfast in the Horizon buffet, which was great except for the coffee. Coffee was terrible. One way to avoid this is to order coffee in your room. Dinner in the dinning room was excellent except for one evening the steak was dry and tough. Our table server offered to bring another entry. The head maître de was sincerely apologetic and the following night brought us two bottles of wine. Our airline British Airlines lost our baggage at London Heathrow Airport. Princess purser's office made several phone calls to the Airline daily to help locate our baggage. Princess gave us free laundry and free tuxedos because of this and made our cruise as worry free as possible. Princess cruises were wonderful. Entertainment was excellent in the theatre as well the lounges. The casino was nice enough but played much and winning was rare. Finally gave up on the casino. A very enjoyable two weeks.

 

Thank you for posting your experience on Emerald Princess. It must have been awful not having all your luggage but it sounds like Princess handled the situation with care and compassion. It restores ones faith in Princess after reading some negative posts.

 

We are due to sail on Emerald next month, really looking forward to our first cruise with this line.

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

Wow what a difference of opinions. I have to say the reviewers who focus on the positives are a much more enjoyable read. I always find it amazing how some tend to focus on the negative and despite an offer to make it better, can not let it go. Life is way too short to always be looking for the negative. What a slap in the face to the head waiter to refuse his offer of making the situation right.

[minabruuke]

On our second Princess cruise, Crown Princess-Caribbean cruise, we had truly terrible food and also terrible dining room service. It would take 40+ minutes to get an iced tea that by day 4 I'd have thought our traditional dining servers may have noticed I ordered every day, other servers clearly had iced teas ready upon arrival for their regular iced tea consumers. Some of the meals tasted like they had been frozen and microwaved. We had a great cruise but this did still put a huge damper on it because the food is my favorite part of going on a cruise. We had many of the same dishes on our first cruise and they had been delicious the first time around.

 

Since we had only been on two cruises, at that time, we were left to wonder which of the two was more the norm or if the norm fell somewhere between the two. We didn't know and I really wanted better food so we tried something new and went on the NCL Epic next. On the Epic the MDR food significantly lacked in creativity and was as bad if not worse , at times, than the Crown Princess food. We also had bad service. Their specialty restaurants were fantastic but I don't want to feel like I have to pay extra to get a decent meal that I had on my very first cruise without an extra expense. This was another awesome cruise but I realized as time went by, after our return home, that I had really missed Princess. We will likely sail NCL again if we are looking for a more active experience filled with entertainment but Princess is our first choice especially when we want a relaxing vacation.

 

On our Royal Princess sailing, last November, the food and dining service were absolutely fantastic! From that point on, I was convinced the Crown experience was a fluke that could happen again but was not the norm. I went on the Caribbean Princess last April and also had great food and also good service. It was not the Royal Princess fantastic that I'd had but it was definitely pleasing. We are now booked for the Regal and I can't wait for the food:)

 

Moral of my long story...don't let bad food on one cruise, ruin the cruise line for you. You may end up really missing out on something wonderful!

[zephyrella14]

For some people bad food will ruin any kind of resort type vacation, food is just one of those things... Sorry you were disappointed.

 

Another poster mentioned spices used, that was a good point, I hate Indian food because the spices literally make me nauseous. I will have to remember that point if I eat in the MDR and hate it :)

I'm glad there will be pizza and burgers to eat on the Golden lol. For me, my cruise will be about the destination not necessarily about the ship or the food...but like I said I can see how terrible food would damper the entire trip, so sorry.

Edited September 13, 2014 by zephyrella14

[zephyrella14]

AND I can see why you would refuse the head waiters offer. Lol he offered to make the same dish, they attempted to get right twice, the next day. That's laughable...really head waiter? No thanks...lol I guess that was all he could think to offer you, at least he tried. :)

Edited September 13, 2014 by zephyrella14

[marne001]

We were also on the 17 day cruise ending 06/28/14. We had a wonderful cruise but we also found the food in the dining room to be just so-so. The service was excellent but the food was uninspiring. One other thing we noticed that was different from our other Princess cruises was that not once did a head waiter come by to ask if we were enjoying our meal or if we had any problems. On previous cruises (we are both elite so we've had more than a few) we've always found that the Maitre d' and head waiter both came over to see how we were enjoying our meals.

 

I agree that the chef can make a big difference in the food despite recipes being the same. We found that even in Crown Grill and Sabatinis the food was not the same as on prior cruises. At those venues, the head waiters were very attentive though. Just as an example of changes in food quality/taste, the first night we dined at the Crown Grill (we ate there several times) I had the Black & Blue Onion soup which I love and enjoyed that evening. Later in the cruise on our 3rd or 4th visit there, I ordered the soup again. It tasted horrible! A couple of people at the table next to us also ordered it and we overheard them complaining about it as well so I don't think it was just me.

 

Everything else about our cruise was very good. We loved all the ports including Koper where we took a tour to Ljubljana. Dubrovnik was a mess! My daughter stuck it out going into the walled city; I didn't after seeing the crowd. I had been there before and didn't want to contend with 12,000 of my closest friends also trying to go in to see the sights.

 

I know that food and fuel prices have gone up and frankly I would prefer that Princess increase the cruise price a little to compensate than see them let the food quality go down as it has IMHO. I know not everyone will feel that way and I know that food is a very subjective thing, so some people may think it's great. We are all entitled to our opinions.

 

I have been sailing since 1967 and visited several continents. In my experience I have found the raw materials sourced for non-US based cruises vary from food sourced outside the US. In other words, the food served on cruises departing and returning to a US port can be considered different that that experienced on cruises that do not visit a US port. Just my two cents. I am pretty easy to please and was able to dine well regardless of where we were sailing; however, noted it was somehow different.

 

On a loosely related note, I hate ALL airline food served in the US. It is simply awful and I take a snack or meal with me. However, during an Aeroplot flight between Moscow and Krasnodar, I found the meal enjoyable. not sure what we were served, well ok I recognized bread and the salad(!); so I was able to dine just fine.

[Sunviking]

[quote name='marne001']I have been sailing since 1967 and visited several continents. In my experience I have found the raw materials sourced for non-US based cruises vary from food sourced outside the US. In other words, the food served on cruises departing and returning to a US port can be considered [I]different[/I] that that experienced on cruises that do not visit a US port. Just my two cents. I am pretty easy to please and was able to dine well regardless of where we were sailing; however, noted it was somehow different.

On a loosely related note, I hate ALL airline food served in the US. It is simply awful and I take a snack or meal with me. However, during an Aeroplot flight between Moscow and Krasnodar, I found the meal enjoyable. not sure what we were served, well ok I recognized bread and the salad(!); so I was able to dine just fine.[/QUOTE]

[B][I][SIZE="2"]We have taken the Ultimate Ship's Tour a couple of times (on ships sailing to and from Europe) and if what we were told on those tours was true, meats and seafoods arrive via frozen containers from the US in a variety of resupply ports in Europe. In that way Princess is able to control costs and quality as specified by the cruise line. Produce is locally sourced at designated ports. I have no idea if the same is true in the rest of the world or even if what we were told was reality in Europe, but it sounded right to us. Having sat in port and watched container loads of something being loaded we thought it might have been at least meat and seafood. That being said, IMHO beef quality at least has declined.[/SIZE][/I][/B]