coffee

[aprilsp88]

Is coffee from dinning room or buffet from syrup or brewed? Thx

[crystalspin]

I think it's syrup on most if not all HAL ships. Except you can get "real" cappucino in the MDR (upcharge). 

[highscar]

1 hour ago, aprilsp88 said:

Is coffee from dinning room or buffet from syrup or brewed? Thx

Many times I have seen them make the coffee brewed in the lido. They have large coffee   Filters with grounds. 

[Lido deck main]

1 hour ago, aprilsp88 said:

Is coffee from dinning room or buffet from syrup or brewed? Thx

I have been on the kitchen tours with HAL and have asked that question, they make their coffee with beans.  We sail with Princess as well and there coffee is made using syrup.

[RuthC]

It's brewed. I have never known HAL to use syrup. 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I think it's syrup on most if not all HAL ships. Except you can get "real" cappucino in the MDR (upcharge). 

 

Sorry, no - it’s brewed.

 

3 minutes ago, RuthC said:

It's brewed. I have never known HAL to use syrup. 

 

Completely agree with RuthC.

[cat shepard]

And we discovered that not all Lido coffee is created equal.
 

No clue why, but the self-serve coffee from the big pots tasted much better than the coffee the servers poured. I wish I had thought to ask about the source of the coffee in those carafes.  
 

 

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, cat shepard said:

And we discovered that not all Lido coffee is created equal.
 

No clue why, but the self-serve coffee from the big pots tasted much better than the coffee the servers poured. I wish I had thought to ask about the source of the coffee in those carafes.  
 

 

I noticed that too.  I thought the lido coffee was much better.  No amount of cream and sugar could cut the bitterness of the MDR coffee.  

[cat shepard]

17 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

I noticed that too.  I thought the lido coffee was much better.  No amount of cream and sugar could cut the bitterness of the MDR coffee.  

I treated myself to cappuccino in the MDR, so I can not comment on their coffee.

[MAVIP]

7 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

I treated myself to cappuccino in the MDR, so I can not comment on their coffee.

Sssst, donot tell anybody: ask for a pot of coffee for breakfast in your cabin. 🙂

 

 

[Tom O.]

I have found the HAL coffee to be very good. We always have breakfast delivered to our room, including coffee. I don't have coffee after breakfast.

People who are fans of Starbucks will not like the regular coffee, and will need to pay extra for fancy coffee. I prefer "donut shop" coffee and have no problem with HAL regular coffee - as long as it is hot. When having it delivered to the room sometimes it is not as hot as I would like.

[leerathje]

I'm a person who drinks their coffee black (not polluted with cream and sugar!) Taste is very important to me, and I found that HAL coffee was not up to snuff for me on our Koningsdam cruise in January 2019. But then, sorry, I think "donut shop" coffee is vile too.  I don't need Starbucks, just a decent roast.  There's a million different kinds of tea available, why not a decent coffee???

 

L.

[Tom O.]

Everyone has their own taste, and that helps make the world an interesting place.

It is easy for a cruise ship or restaurant to provide a large assortment of tea - they simply keep an assortment of tea bags available.

But, not so easy to supply a large selection of coffee, since it must be brewed and kept fresh. Most restaurants usually only have the choice of regular or decaf.

So a cruise ship simply brews something that most people will accept. There will always be some who don't like it and others that do.

[FlaMariner]

We think the no up-charge coffee is very good...at lido and MDR and when you order a pot for room delivery.  

 

 

 

 

[tuolumne couple]

31 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

Everyone has their own taste, and that helps make the world an interesting place.

It is easy for a cruise ship or restaurant to provide a large assortment of tea - they simply keep an assortment of tea bags available.

But, not so easy to supply a large selection of coffee, since it must be brewed and kept fresh. Most restaurants usually only have the choice of regular or decaf.

So a cruise ship simply brews something that most people will accept. There will always be some who don't like it and others that do.

 

 I love your positive spin on it. ... We grind beans at home and find HAL coffee in Explorations or Pinnacle to be fantastic. We also pack our little via packs and ask for hot water for our Lido Breakfasts. Of all the things to enjoy on a cruise ship, our morning cup of Joe is not the deal breaker for us. It takes a lot to put a wrinkle in our day. Good suggestion about the tea if you are picky about your morning coffee. What i really crave each day is my morning dose of Vitamin Sea! 

[crystalspin]

Apologize for wrong info I gave above. I have both HAL and Princess cruises booked and get confused between the boards!

 

I do not like the Lido coffee (I need to see if self-serving is different than server-poured). My mom has no problem with it! @Tom O. -- love your analogy of "donut-shop" vs. Starbucks coffee! Will have to remember to tell her that.

[cat shepard]

14 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Apologize for wrong info I gave above. I have both HAL and Princess cruises booked and get confused between the boards!

 

I do not like the Lido coffee (I need to see if self-serving is different than server-poured). My mom has no problem with it! @Tom O. -- love your analogy of "donut-shop" vs. Starbucks coffee! Will have to remember to tell her that.

 

@crystalspin, if you “take the Lido coffee test” and find a difference between the two of them - would you try to find out what might cause it? I do not want to give you an assignment, but it could be your mission, if you are willing to accept it.😎

 

I also drink my coffee black, which might skew the results. My first job was in one of those donut shops, where I learned to drink my coffee black.

[Billthekid]

On our last galley tour I took a picture of the coffee machine used in the MDR.  As you could see all staff has to do is push a button for the desired style of coffee.  The prices listed are the cost to have that style of coffee.  Regular coffee no charge, but the next button down is labor intensive and therefore cost $3.50 to push that button.  On top of the coffee machine is a barrel of coffee beans used for all the styles of coffee.    

[STANCPA44]

On 12/15/2019 at 1:50 PM, leerathje said:

I'm a person who drinks their coffee black (not polluted with cream and sugar!) Taste is very important to me, and I found that HAL coffee was not up to snuff for me on our Koningsdam cruise in January 2019. But then, sorry, I think "donut shop" coffee is vile too.  I don't need Starbucks, just a decent roast.  There's a million different kinds of tea available, why not a decent coffee???

 

L.

I agree, I was on the Koningsdam also in January of 2019, the coffee was vile,  eventually, after a few weeks, I was able to tolerate the coffee.  Like you, I don't need Starbucks just a decent roast.  I will be on the Koningsdam again this January and also February, hopefully the coffee is better.

[STANCPA44]

On 12/15/2019 at 2:06 PM, Tom O. said:

Everyone has their own taste, and that helps make the world an interesting place.

It is easy for a cruise ship or restaurant to provide a large assortment of tea - they simply keep an assortment of tea bags available.

But, not so easy to supply a large selection of coffee, since it must be brewed and kept fresh. Most restaurants usually only have the choice of regular or decaf.

So a cruise ship simply brews something that most people will accept. There will always be some who don't like it and others that do.

How come the coffee on Royal Caribbean taste great while Holland's coffee is vile.  Royal have Seattle Best grounds.  I sail frequently on both Holland and Royal.  

[Tom O.]

7 minutes ago, STANCPA44 said:

How come the coffee on Royal Caribbean taste great while Holland's coffee is vile.  Royal have Seattle Best grounds.  I sail frequently on both Holland and Royal.  

Once again, to each their own. For me Seattle's Best is vile.

[old mike]

On 12/15/2019 at 12:06 PM, Tom O. said:

Everyone has their own taste, and that helps make the world an interesting place.

It is easy for a cruise ship or restaurant to provide a large assortment of tea - they simply keep an assortment of tea bags available.

But, not so easy to supply a large selection of coffee, since it must be brewed and kept fresh. Most restaurants usually only have the choice of regular or decaf.

So a cruise ship simply brews something that most people will accept. There will always be some who don't like it and others that do.

 

So true, we did not "accept" what we were served on our first Hal cruise, the Veendam, 2013. Since that first cruise with HAL we discovered  Neptune suites and the Neptune lounge with a good self service barista machine. That has been one of the factors that has kept us going back , I've never never forgotten the captain on "a ship", that shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, he would come into the lounge every morning to grab a coffee, probably just before his regular staff meeting, He confessed that he didn't know how HAL was getting away with the "crap" generally available coffee. but it is all from beans, just so-so beans, you could say "has beens" . Sorry I'll get my coat.

[Samanthac25]

On 12/15/2019 at 11:42 AM, cat shepard said:

I treated myself to cappuccino in the MDR, so I can not comment on their coffee.

Is there still a charge for cappuccino in the MDR if you have the beverage package? 

[cat shepard]

2 minutes ago, Samanthac25 said:

Is there still a charge for cappuccino in the MDR if you have the beverage package? 

I believe the beverage package covers specialty coffees. 

[kazu]

On 12/17/2019 at 8:05 PM, cat shepard said:

I believe the beverage package covers specialty coffees. 

 

Absolutely correct 🙂