Food on Princess Cruises

[Twinsmomct]

We've been on RCCL and Celebrity and are going on RCCL again next month, but we've booked a Princess cruise for next year. Just curious as to what people think of Princess' food...:)

[PescadoAmarillo]

Food is very subjective, but since I've done several cruises on all three cruise lines, here's my opinion:

I find Princess's dining room food to be a slight step up from RCCL (but this has been quite inconsistent on our cruises, and ranges from ok to excellent). Princess's buffet food is a step down from RCCL, and neither the buffet or dining room food can match what we've enjoyed on Celebrity (JMHO). But, we sure do love the flexibility of Anytime Dining and 24 hour buffet on Princess, compared to Celebrity's very traditional dining offerings.

[coiran]

17 Princess cruises and the food just keeps gettin better and better!

Ron

[giggster11]

I loved the food we had in the buffet and the dining room. Pizza and burgers too! It was all tasty and better than cooking for ourselves.

[Cruisin' Rookie]

We were aboard the Sapphire in August for an Alasakan cruise. Food was great. Good buffet choices, dining room meals were wonderful, fun food at the pizza/burger area by the pool. You should enjoy all the choices. Have fun.

[belmont]

Escargo? (sp?) Is this available on the Princess Star each night?

[BLE_1]

Hi Twinsmomct!

We were on the second sailing of the Caribbean Princess. We didn't feel there was a great choice of appetizers or entrees. We had the same thing many nights. Tried to go to a buffet about midnight, but there wan't one. You had to sit & be waited on. Lots of time wasted just to get a light snack. Didn't like paying for ice cream either. Carnival & Royal Caribbean had Princess beat by a mile. Can't believe we're going on this same ship again. Certainly isn't for the food. It's the Eastern Caribbean itinerary with Princess Cays.

Have fun!

Barb

[magnumcoog]

My ranking of food happens to be on how tasty the escargot is when it is offered.

 

On my last cruise, which was my first on Princess the escargot was the best ever. Disney would be second and RCCL escargot a very distant third.

[iancal]

We very much preferred Celebrity food and dining room service. Found Princess comparable to our RCI cruise. The Princess food did get better as the days passed. Too much beef, not enough other choices. Buffet was just ok but we found it very poorly laid out. Coffee: Absolutely terrible.

[Coral]

I actually preferred the food on Princess to RCCL and Celebrity. It looks like everyone has different opinions.

[mii]

You will ALWAYS get differnt opinions on food with the different lines. Now with that said I have spent more time on Princess and also done one Celebrity cruise. In my case I had always heard that Celebrity was better with their food than any other line. After sailing Celebrity last year both my DH and I felt that while each line had their good points in regards to food we found that neither line was better than the other. Princess did some things better and Celebrity also did some things better but no line outshown the other.

 

Marilyn

[spongerob]

Having only been on Princess ships, all I can say is that there are differences from ship to ship and chef to chef. Most of the time I've been quite pleased. On our last cruise, just a week ago, the fish entrees were excellent. Horizon Court, which we normally don't visit very often, was also quite good and better than we remembered.

[kosmo]

I agree with Spongerob as I was on the same cruise on the Grand a week ago. Food was great and the buffet was surprisingly nice. Lots of variety and everything was very fresh. Dining room menus changed each evening and even though I am quite picky I did not have any problem ordering each night. The Mahi Mahi was fabulous as were the cheese blintzes and the cheesecake and the prime rib and the fettuccini alfredo and the tiramisu and the chicken cordon bleu and the ...

 

Wow ... must be getting close to lunch time! :D

[Druke I]

Generally, we find the food on Princess to be good, with an occasional disappointment, and of course the occasional outstanding.

 

Considering the numbers they are cooking for, particularly on their larger ships, I think they do a good job.

 

Different chefs can make a big difference.

 

That said, this past August we sailed Oceania's Regatta into the Baltic, found their food in the dining room and specialty restaurants to be outstanding. The food in the Lido was about the same as Princess or HAL.

[SharkieRools]

Too much beef, not enough other choices.

 

I have to disagree with this statement, on any given night you'll find a pasta dish, 1 or 2 fish dishes, and 1 or 2 poutlry dishes in addition to a beef dish (not to mention the always available fettuccine, broiled salmon, grilled chicken, steak and vegetarian options.)

 

Coffee: Absolutely terrible.

 

Can't disagree there! :D Although the dining room, Pattiserie and room service coffee is OK, the buffet coffee leaves much to be desired! :eek: There's enough threads about it so I'll just leave it at that. :)

[tonyt]

Escargo? (sp?) Is this available on the Princess Star each night?

 

If you want this every night, you must request it from your waiter the night before you want it. They will usually accommodate you.

tonyt

[Twinsmomct]

OK, now after all this talk of the food, what's the average weight gained on a cruise??? I'm liking the sounds of cheesecake, souffle....:o

[cnmiranda]

My opinionated opinions;)

Princess v RCCL

pizza - hands down Princess

burgers & fries - Princess

buffet - RCCL

dining room - about the same

coffee n/a

[Chris54]

When ordering room service coffee for two, do they bring you a pot or just two cups of coffee?

 

Thanks,

[Cruisin' Tater]

I was wondering about the Princess' food as well. We sailed a year ago wtih NCL - Wind and the food was terrible. I actually lost weight on the 15 day cruise. Same veggies every night, but with a different name!! Also, baked stuff tasted like it was bought and frozen, even muffins!! Does Princess do its own bakin? We were on RC and the baked goodies were wonderful. Would really like a repeat of that. Has anyone been on Island Princess and how is the food there?

[mtjlr]

Just off the Golden. Food was good, but we thought better on the Sun last year, so it obviously varies from ship to ship. We still give Celebrity the edge on food. Don't like Horizon Court on Princess -- the set up is crazy with stations everyone and no organization. We try to avoid the buffet on Princess. The grill with chicken and hamburgers and pizza was very good.

[cnmiranda]

I was wondering about the Princess' food as well. We sailed a year ago wtih NCL - Wind and the food was terrible. I actually lost weight on the 15 day cruise. Same veggies every night' date=' but with a different name!! Also, baked stuff tasted like it was bought and frozen, even muffins!! Does Princess do its own bakin? We were on RC and the baked goodies were wonderful. Would really like a repeat of that. Has anyone been on Island Princess and how is the food there?[/quote']

 

 

I thought the NCL food was the worst of our cruises too, that's why we never sailed them again after our first cruise. But we are very happy with Princess. No comparison. Of course I have no idea what NCL food is like now, but I think you'll be much happier with Princess. NCL's prices are so inexpensive they have to be skimping somewhere. Yes, Princess does it's own cooking, I think all cruise lines do? Princess offers tours of the kitchen, very entertaining.

[TexasMom2]

You can't get a hot room service breakfast on Princess, only Continental and it's the same every day. You also can't order from the dining room menu for dinner, there is a set menu. Best coffee is from room service or at the patisserie bar. You serve yourself from real coffee pots.

 

My favorites in the dining room (Grand) were the French onion soup, cheesecake, fettucine alfredo, chocolate hazelnut souffle. Sabatini's and Painted Desert are both excellent.

[Cruiseteach]

Listen, if somebody else is going to cook it, serve it, and clean it up, it's gourmet to me!

[Laurab23]

We will be going on our first Princess cruise,on the Crown Princess.We've only been on Carnival Legend and loved their food. I figure we will enjoy Princess food as well. As long as my SO can have steak every night if he wants it,he'll be happy. We are not hight class food eaters,our favorite restaurants are Olive Garden and The Outback,just to give you an idea of our tastes. I worry over some of the food reviews I've read about Princess but i read the same thing about Carnival. As long as they have lobster and escargot,I'm happy.And I will ask if I can have escargot a couple nights.

 

Laura