Royal Princess Australia post Covid

[LaRoLarRo]

Hi, Has anyone sailed on the Royal Princess exit Australia Post Covid? I have read that the food in the buffet and the main dining room is very limited and repetitive. Can you please let me know if you agree? Thank you.

[space27]

When are you going? I'm going on the 10th of Jan, so if you're going after then, I am happy to provide my review on it. 

 

However, I've been on the Majestic Princess from Aus recently which is mostly the same as Royal. The food was great. I rarely ate at the buffet, though, because it's just not my style. But I ate a few times, and it was pretty good. 

 

Cruise food in general is repetitive and a lot of recycling ingredients but I still thought it was very good. The main dining room was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mostly, I ate on the Lido deck pizzeria/grill for an early lunch, snacked around between lunch and dinner and then ate at the main dining room. Food is not something that you will be concerned about on an Australian Royal-class ship.

[LaRoLarRo]

Thank you so much! We are planning on going in March. I would love to hear your review. Enjoy your cruise in January. 
And seasons Greetings to you as well

Edited December 9, 2023 by LaRoLarRo

[space27]

Yep! I'll definitely let you know.

[LaRoLarRo]

Hi Space27, not long now until your cruise! Enjoy! 😀

[azbirdmom]

We were on the Royal recently and disembarked on December 15th.  The buffet offerings have returned to the pre-Covid selections.  The Bistro section is open through mid-day with tacos, nachos, soups, sandwiches, grilled veggies, and other miscellaneous stuff.  The nightly themes have returned and in fact we had a note about what they would be in our cabin on embarkation day.  Is it repetitive?  Yes, some selections are but no more than it's ever been.  And the quality is all over the place but that's also something that's been that way pre-Covid.

 

As for the MDR it's different menus every day, we didn't find a repeat over the 13 days.  Quality there was similar to the buffet, some dishes good, others not so much.

[PurpleTraveller]

I was on the same Royal cruise as azbirdmom in December and thought the breakfast buffet was much the same as prior to Covid. We didn't eat in the buffet for lunch or dinner.

 

In the MDR for lunch on sea days it was the same menu every day and the food was good.

 

There was no repetition during the 13 nights of dinner menus in the MDR though I found some menus were not terribly interesting. The food was good but not great and I only had a couple of very good meals. For the first time ever (after twelve Princess cruises) I had a meal that I thought was horrible and had to ask for something different. I thought overall the meals I had in the MDR on Crown Princess in June 2022 were better.

 

I thought the pizza from the pool deck was very good.

 

Edited January 4 by PurpleTraveller

[LaRoLarRo]

Thank you Asbirdmom and Purple Traveller,

That puts our mind at rest a bit. We had done a repositioning cruise on Royal Caribbean Ovation of the seas last year and found the food to be pretty average and very repetitive and didn't know if we should assume it was the Cruise Line (we have never sailed on Royal Caribbean before) or the fact that it was a repositioning cruise. Or that it was post Covid lockdown recovery still underway and they had to make cuts to food and entertainment.

We are very hopeful that our March Princess experience will be much better!

Just as a side note, we aren't picky eaters at all. So for me to find the food average and repetitive is quite a feat LOL 

Thanks again :)

[Jimmy147]

On 12/9/2023 at 8:51 AM, space27 said:

When are you going? I'm going on the 10th of Jan, so if you're going after then, I am happy to provide my review on it. 

 

However, I've been on the Majestic Princess from Aus recently which is mostly the same as Royal. The food was great. I rarely ate at the buffet, though, because it's just not my style. But I ate a few times, and it was pretty good. 

 

Cruise food in general is repetitive and a lot of recycling ingredients but I still thought it was very good. The main dining room was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mostly, I ate on the Lido deck pizzeria/grill for an early lunch, snacked around between lunch and dinner and then ate at the main dining room. Food is not something that you will be concerned about on an Australian Royal-class ship.

Hi Space 27

I’m also on Royal Princess leaving Sydney on 10th Jan

Fly out from Heathrow Sunday evening and stay at Four Seasons Hotel on the 9th

[coo359a2]

On 1/4/2024 at 2:51 PM, PurpleTraveller said:

 

In the MDR for lunch on sea days it was the same menu every day and the food was good.

 

Good to know that the Royal lunch menus were the same each day.  We were on the Grand this fall and their lunch menu  was the same except for having about 2 new items switching out each day.  We thought it was maybe the cruises in Australia but maybe it's changing fleet wide.  In March, we will be on Ruby going into US ports so will see how their lunch menu works.

[space27]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:47 PM, LaRoLarRo said:

Hi Space27, not long now until your cruise! Enjoy! 😀

Hi, sorry for the late response.

 

I’m currently aboard the Royal Princess and I think the food is quite similar to before COVID. Although not perfect, the food remains made with good ingredients. The MDR is a little iffy sometimes, there were a few dishes that I couldn’t finish because they were just inedible. (mostly their cured fishes were very hard and far too fishy and salty, didn’t feel fresh) Their risotto is always undercooked but still delicious. Their desserts were all good, in my opinion and their pastas are delicious. I mostly stuck to French Onion Soup and Prawn Cocktail after tasting some of their entrees, though.

 

The buffet, however, for dinner and lunch is always really good. With different stations each day, my family and I find it to be better than the MDR on some days.

 

The poolside grill and pizzeria makes good food too, my daughter probably ate her body weight in pizza and fries. 
 

A really nice touch for me was that they make everyone wash their hands before entering the buffet. I had many concerns about hygiene and this really helped.

 

[space27]

Well then, I might see you aboard the ship! Have a great rest of your cruise and Wellington for today.

On 1/7/2024 at 4:31 AM, Jimmy147 said:

Hi Space 27

I’m also on Royal Princess leaving Sydney on 10th Jan

Fly out from Heathrow Sunday evening and stay at Four Seasons Hotel on the 9th

[jajsmom]

We did a BTB the first two Australia cruises this year.  the food was generally the same every single day.  After 23 days on board, I didn't want to eat anymore.  Came home after a month a few pounds lighter!

Interestingly, we're from the US.  We thought we didn't like the food at dinner as it was based on an Australian diet.  We met some Aussies on an excursion who were also complaining about the food.  They thought they were catering to the American crowd!  The food was just weird and not good.  We had been on the Sky Princess a few months earlier, and the food was much better.

[space27]

I think that the food is definitely catering to Australian tastes, or at least attempting to. The ‘Australian’ dishes taste like they’re made for American tourists. Like for example, the fish and chips aren’t authentic but they seem as if they’d impress someone from the US as being exotic and Australian. So the Australian dishes are hardly ordered by Australians because we can get something way better at home. So I can see how it would’ve turned out that way.

4 minutes ago, jajsmom said:

We did a BTB the first two Australia cruises this year.  the food was generally the same every single day.  After 23 days on board, I didn't want to eat anymore.  Came home after a month a few pounds lighter!

Interestingly, we're from the US.  We thought we didn't like the food at dinner as it was based on an Australian diet.  We met some Aussies on an excursion who were also complaining about the food.  They thought they were catering to the American crowd!  The food was just weird and not good.  We had been on the Sky Princess a few months earlier, and the food was much better.

 

[jajsmom]

1 minute ago, space27 said:

I think that the food is definitely catering to Australian tastes, or at least attempting to. The ‘Australian’ dishes taste like they’re made for American tourists. Like for example, the fish and chips aren’t authentic but they seem as if they’d impress someone from the US as being exotic and Australian. So the Australian dishes are hardly ordered by Australians because we can get something way better at home. So I can see how it would’ve turned out that way.

 

The food choices were just weird.  They combined ingredients that didn't go together. One night, they had salmon on the menu.  Everyone at our table was so excited. When we tried to order it, we were told that it was a mistake and no available.  I prefer a "healthy" way of eating, and I also enjoy many different ethnic foods.  The choices on our cruise were just wrong.

[space27]

1 minute ago, jajsmom said:

The food choices were just weird.  They combined ingredients that didn't go together. One night, they had salmon on the menu.  Everyone at our table was so excited. When we tried to order it, we were told that it was a mistake and no available.  I prefer a "healthy" way of eating, and I also enjoy many different ethnic foods.  The choices on our cruise were just wrong.

A similar thing happened to me. On the menu on the app, there was a surf and turf (they called it a reef and beef) one night. Then, we got to the restaurant and they had a completely different menu and it wasn’t there anymore. 

[LaRoLarRo]

On 1/16/2024 at 6:57 AM, space27 said:

Hi, sorry for the late response.

 

I’m currently aboard the Royal Princess and I think the food is quite similar to before COVID. Although not perfect, the food remains made with good ingredients. The MDR is a little iffy sometimes, there were a few dishes that I couldn’t finish because they were just inedible. (mostly their cured fishes were very hard and far too fishy and salty, didn’t feel fresh) Their risotto is always undercooked but still delicious. Their desserts were all good, in my opinion and their pastas are delicious. I mostly stuck to French Onion Soup and Prawn Cocktail after tasting some of their entrees, though.

 

The buffet, however, for dinner and lunch is always really good. With different stations each day, my family and I find it to be better than the MDR on some days.

 

The poolside grill and pizzeria makes good food too, my daughter probably ate her body weight in pizza and fries. 
 

A really nice touch for me was that they make everyone wash their hands before entering the buffet. I had many concerns about hygiene and this really helped.

 

Thanks so much Space27 🙂

[LaRoLarRo]

On 1/16/2024 at 10:32 AM, jajsmom said:

We did a BTB the first two Australia cruises this year.  the food was generally the same every single day.  After 23 days on board, I didn't want to eat anymore.  Came home after a month a few pounds lighter!

Interestingly, we're from the US.  We thought we didn't like the food at dinner as it was based on an Australian diet.  We met some Aussies on an excursion who were also complaining about the food.  They thought they were catering to the American crowd!  The food was just weird and not good.  We had been on the Sky Princess a few months earlier, and the food was much better.

Thanks for your reply jasjsmom, That is how we felt when we did the repositioning cruise on the Royal Caribbean Ovation of the seas from Sydney to Hawaii. I am REALLY hoping Royal Princess has lifted its game since you were on it this year! Thanks again for giving us your point of view 🙂

[jajsmom]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:45 PM, space27 said:

A similar thing happened to me. On the menu on the app, there was a surf and turf (they called it a reef and beef) one night. Then, we got to the restaurant and they had a completely different menu and it wasn’t there anymore. 

Don't feel bad.  The "reef" was chopped up shrimp stuffed into a dumpling.  No even identifiable seafood.