Quality of food lower now on Princess

[cruisequeen4ever]

I think it's ship dependent because the Crown had bland food that my DH found slightly off on our 1 night cruise. Our 2 sailings on other Princess ships this year had phenomenal food!

 

 

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[ano]

Was on the Crown in October. It was the worst food I ever had on a cruise ship in 15 years of cruising. I will never be taking Princess again.

[ano]

On our 28 day cruise on the Crown there were several spots in the HC that had no label at all.

I second that. Half the labels they were wrong.

[keithm]

hahahah. I like that. :D

 

I'm not sure exactly what filler food is, but I'll take a shot. I think I'd call it carb loading. Lots of starchy foods, which are often times steam table, hot hold, friendly. Potato dishes, pasta dishes, breaded meats, etc.

 

Somebody tell me if I'm wrong.

We have a large catering company. Being in that industry we know a bit (or 2) about fillers. You hit it spot on.

[BigBit]

Maybe it's the short cruises, maybe it's the Crown, but we did a 5 day on the Crown over Thanksgiving and found the food all-around to be mediocre. When you're choosing meatloaf as your main course in the DaVinci because tripe and tongue don't appeal to you, you know things have gone down hill. In the Horizon, the breakfast was unappealing - even the potatoes were hard as rocks in the corned beef hash. We tried the Salty Dog one night and were unimpressed. By far our most disappointing Princess cruise when it came to the food...

[desertrat23]

I agree with the OP -- we're just now disembarking the Crown after a weekender. We felt like the MDR food wasn't up to par; but we felt like the level of service wasn't up to usual standards all across the ship. I'll write a full review later but corners seemed cut and the staff seemed completely short-staffed.

[jean95404]

Just returned from a 4 day getaway cruise to Ensenada on the Crown.

 

I can't believe the food quality. It has gone way down since last year. Plus the choices are really not that great. My husband and I are not really picky eaters, but one night there was really nothing that even stood out. The Horizon court buffet at lunch seems like they have a lot of choices but it seems to be a lot of filler food. Very disappointed. I am wondering if it is just on the short cruises that they have cut back.

 

What do you all think?

 

I too thought the food was pretty lackluster on my four day coastal cruise. However on a seven day cruise the food selections were much better. I am not a fan of the Horizon Court except for possibly breakfast. MDR is my preferred choice for meals...quieter and more relaxing.

[floridalover5623]

Sounds as though the Crown needs some improvement in the food prep.

[Loonbeam]

Food is subjective especially in preparation, but that said, passengers can't have it both ways..

 

Look at how many posts there are on here about price drops and deals, and getting back the max OBC, etc. As long as people chase the bottom prices, there will be cuts to offset it. They could easily upgrade the food by charging another $20pp per cabin per day, but people do not seem to be willing to pay that.

 

Cruise fares (which are inelastic to a point if you don't sell the cabin, you get nothing, but the price reduction process devalues other cabins) have not risen as much as food has and even to a lesser extent labor. Thus, they are going to buy cheaper items and use less staff to make money. This is econ 101.

[yuccaman]

The menu choice is ultimately up to the executive chef onboard and the food budget they are given for a specific sailing from corporate. He/she selects menus/items from the master rotation that fit within that budget. Shorter cruises often have lower food budgets assigned to them, especially if they have been heavily discounted.

 

Then... does anyone have any experience if cruises such as New Year's cruises (with heavy $$$ fare premiums) have nicer menus?

[yuccaman]

I'm not trying to be off topic, and this certainly isn't targeted toward the OP, but whenever these food threads pop up on CC, I always wonder, where does the OP dine when they are at home? If I knew that I'd have a better barometer by which to understand where the OP is coming from. Again, this isn't directed to the OP on this thread, just an observation about almost every food quality thread on CC.

 

Yes- I mean, is there anyone with a decent mom & pop Italian restaurant in their town, who actually goes to Olive Garden for Italian food? Then I don't want to hear their food reviews... Sorry.

[yuccaman]

The reason I started this thread is we have been on 8 Princess cruises previously and my husband and I had thought the food was quite varied, presented nicely and had great flavor. This time it was lacking, seemed just ho hum. My husband and I don't regularly dine at upscale restaurants very casual and prefer neighborhood establishments. We do like varied menus and it seemed like it was pretty plain compared to the Ruby just last year and that was a 4 day. The year before that it was the Golden and that also was a 4 day. The food was fabulous and the menus varied. All of the others were 7 days and also no complaints. I only started this thread to see if other seasoned cruisers thought that there was a difference. I realize this cruise was a four day but if I book again and it is for a longer cruise I certainly wouldn't want these choices that were offered that's all.

 

That is certainly an earnest question, and one that many of us have. One of the biggest problems that I think we've all had answering this is the seeming inconsistency between ships per cruise line, and even when executive kitchen staff rotates. I've also tried to nail it down with my offline friends/family, and it is a slippery fish.

[bUU]

It's impossible to determine rhyme or reason because what we have to go on is non-normalized data from different people on different days.

[shredie]

It's impossible to determine rhyme or reason because what we have to go on is non-normalized data from different people on different days.

 

 

Or as we always say here, food tastes are subjective.

 

 

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[737binhog]

Came off the Crown on 11/27 from a 5 day Thanksgiving Cabo Getaway. I found that the food in the MDRs and HC were just average and comparable to my previous 7 to 8 day voyages on the Crown so I'm not sure if the length of the cruise plays a part. IMHO the international cafe never disappoints. I will say that the pepperoni pizza at Pregos was really off this time. #wasthatpepperoni? [emoji13]

 

 

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[Loonbeam]

Typically no (although they may do a special NYE one). Menus are planned, tested, budgeted and provisioned months out, before they know what any specific cruise will eventually bring in (with some variation, mostly in the produce area)... The food sailing today was probably ordered in June or July. Plus the kitchen crew has to be trained on new recipes, etc.

 

That said, it would not necessarily surprise me to see lobster or filet or similar make a surprise appearance on the MDR menu one night on a holiday cruise as they can be substituted in for another item fairly easily.

 

Then... does anyone have any experience if cruises such as New Year's cruises (with heavy $$$ fare premiums) have nicer menus?

[BruceMuzz]

A few of the posters here got it almost right.

 

All the mass market lines are reducing food quality to protect profits. Everybody wants a cheaper cruise when every operating cost is going up. Fine, you can have it if you are willing to eat substandard food.

 

Specialty restaurants on ships are VERY expensive to operate.

Despite the extra charges, we lose money on every meal we serve there. For every additional meal we serve there, we lose even more money.The very last thing we want you to do is eat there instead of in the main dining room or buffet.

 

Every ship on every itinerary has a different fixed food budget. The head office sets this budget based on the average cruise fare for that itinerary, and a historical record of the most popular dishes on past cruises on that itinerary. The menus for that itinerary are determined by the head office, with some input from the ship.

There is a master rotation of menus, but for cheap 3-day cruises, many cruise lines give the ship the option of reprinting the menus, and leaving off more expensive items.

 

On every mass market cruise, the passengers eat themselves sick for the first three days, trying to "eat their money's worth". By day 4, most realize that this behavior is not healthy or comfortable. Food consumption drops off considerably starting on day 4. As a result, on a short cruise ( 3 or 4 days) average food consumption is very high. Many cruise lines offset the potentially higher food cost on these cruises by serving less expensive food.

On a longer cruise, the average daily food consumption is much lower, meaning that higher priced, better quality items can be served while still meeting the food budget.

 

Mexican Riviera cruises are notorious for frugal cruisers. Fares and onboard spending on these cruises are lower than just about anywhere else in the world. You can spend less on these cruises, but you are also going to get less.

[shredie]

Specialty restaurants on ships are VERY expensive to operate.

Despite the extra charges, we lose money on every meal we serve there. For every additional meal we serve there, we lose even more money.The very last thing we want you to do is eat there instead of in the main dining room or buffet.

 

 

Does that include SHARE? :);):D

[Bill B]

Specialty restaurants on ships are VERY expensive to operate.

Despite the extra charges, we lose money on every meal we serve there. For every additional meal we serve there, we lose even more money.The very last thing we want you to do is eat there instead of in the main dining room or buffet.

 

This possibly the most bizarre statement I've seen on CC.

[shredie]

This possibly the most bizarre statement I've seen on CC.

 

Yes, but it was BruceMuzz who said it! :p

[jeromep]

We have a large catering company. Being in that industry we know a bit (or 2) about fillers. You hit it spot on.

 

Thanks for confirming. I was just shooing from the hip, but I've eaten enough banquet buffet food to know what you often find at events where you have to put in hot hold food for 300-600+ people and still have it be appetizing and taste good. Catering is a hard business.

 

Maybe it's the short cruises, maybe it's the Crown, but we did a 5 day on the Crown over Thanksgiving and found the food all-around to be mediocre. When you're choosing meatloaf as your main course in the DaVinci because tripe and tongue don't appeal to you, you know things have gone down hill. In the Horizon, the breakfast was unappealing - even the potatoes were hard as rocks in the corned beef hash. We tried the Salty Dog one night and were unimpressed. By far our most disappointing Princess cruise when it came to the food...

 

Am I too off kilter here in saying that the issue might be the kitchen staff on the Crown; or maybe the provisioning and what the kitchen staff have to work with?

 

I'm not into tripe, its one of those things that keeps me from enjoying menudo. However I have to put in a good word for tongue. Done properly, tongue can be very tender and tasty. It isn't an expensive cut, but can be nice from time to time. I am surprised that either tripe or tongue was served on board.

[jeromep]

This possibly the most bizarre statement I've seen on CC.

 

I guess I'll enter the fray on this one. Bruce's comments are below for reference. I don't think he is totally off on specialty restaurant costs vs. the cover charge assessed.

 

Specialty restaurants on ships are VERY expensive to operate.

Despite the extra charges, we lose money on every meal we serve there. For every additional meal we serve there, we lose even more money.The very last thing we want you to do is eat there instead of in the main dining room or buffet.

 

...

 

On every mass market cruise, the passengers eat themselves sick for the first three days, trying to "eat their money's worth". By day 4, most realize that this behavior is not healthy or comfortable. Food consumption drops off considerably starting on day 4. As a result, on a short cruise ( 3 or 4 days) average food consumption is very high. Many cruise lines offset the potentially higher food cost on these cruises by serving less expensive food.

On a longer cruise, the average daily food consumption is much lower, meaning that higher priced, better quality items can be served while still meeting the food budget.

 

I've dined in Sabatini's and the Crown Grill and my take away is that the cover charge isn't nearly enough to cover the cost of materials for what they serve in the specialty restaurants compared to MDR or HC.

 

How do I say this succinctly and correctly? Let's say that dining on board is costed out on a per diem basis. So, each pax is allotted an average of $x per day for dining. Now, if somebody visits a specialty restaurant then the cost of that meal is (x/3)+25. x/3 would be 1/3 of a daily dining expense. But that is all based on averages of each meal being of equal cost, which just isn't possible because breakfast and lunch are more casual, and usually smaller meals than dinner, but let's keep it this way for this explanation.

 

So, let's say that x=60 and the cruise line allots for $20 per meal. So, a guest visits the Crown Grill and has to pay a cover charge. So that meal is partly paid for by the cruise line, the $20 estimate for that MDR or HC dinner, and then the guest kicks in $25 as a cover charge. So that means the cash value of each meal is $45.

 

Ok, I'm not sure about you, but I've been to a fancy steakhouse or two in my day and I've never gotten out of a place like that for less than $100/head, and that is going cheap: one side per person, the lowest priced salad shared, non-alcoholic drinks only, no desert.

 

So, Bruce's comments about loosing money on the individual meals served at specialty restaurants on board makes sense. I've always suspected such, but never heard it from somebody with direct experience to confirm it.

 

People's behavior on those first 3 or 4 days on board also is humorous. I mean, on embarkation day a stroll through the HC is like attending an all hands orientation on the sin of gluttony. And yes I agree with Bruce, observing the HC on day 5 or 6 and you see much smaller portions being eaten, plates that aren't heaping, fewer people in line at the same time.

Edited December 5, 2016 by jeromep

[caribill]

Or as we always say here, food tastes are subjective.

 

When you're choosing meatloaf as your main course in the DaVinci because tripe and tongue don't appeal to you, you know things have gone down hill.

 

Food tastes may be subjective, but the reduction in fine dining choices in the main dining room are not. Even if the tripe has the greatest taste possible, it is not from the menu that used to be.

[caribill]

All the mass market lines are reducing food quality to protect profits. Everybody wants a cheaper cruise when every operating cost is going up. Fine, you can have it if you are willing to eat substandard food. Princess pricing is up significantly from what it was two or three years ago. We are paying more but getting lower quality food.

 

Specialty restaurants on ships are VERY expensive to operate.

Despite the extra charges, we lose money on every meal we serve there. For every additional meal we serve there, we lose even more money.The very last thing we want you to do is eat there instead of in the main dining room or buffet. If that was the case, there would be no specialty restaurants. When they were promoted on Princess, it was not because passengers demanded better food than the main dining room had because the main dining room had excellent food quality. But by moving, for example, the better steaks off the main dining room menu and only available at the specialty restaurants, the message was clear: want a meal the way it used to be, pay extra for it. Some cruise lines even now charge extra in the main dining room for the quality of steak that used to be included in the cruise fare. Princess used to have a great seafood buffet in the Horizon Court at the start of a cruise. That's gone, but you can pay extra for much of that seafood in the "pop-up" Crab Shack specialty restaurant.

 

 

see above in red

Edited December 5, 2016 by caribill

[shredie]

Food tastes may be subjective, but the reduction in fine dining choices in the main dining room are not. Even if the tripe has the greatest taste possible, it is not from the menu that used to be.

 

I guess I missed seeing tripe on the menu?