I miss the old Princess

[landnsea]

Just back from our Southeast Asia sailing Singapore to Tokyo onboard Diamond Princess. A wonderful adventure we had,crew and staff were great as always service wonderful in every way. Our second Princess sailing since the industry’s return from Covid. This is not the same Princess Cruises that we fell in love with cruising with. So many corners have been cut most if not all of the little things that ment the most to us are long gone.We did not once eat in the Horizon Court nothing and i mean nothing looked at all appealing. We enjoyed our morning breakfast in Sabatini’s as always. The evening dinners repeated itself though out the sailing no WOW whatsoever. No more Sterling Steak House or Crown Grill it was replaced with something they called the Brazilian all you can eat meat experience? I did speak with the Food and Beverage Officer The Maitre De and the Executive Chief each pretty much had the same thing to say in response to my questions. The menu choices in Asia change Not as many choices for the foodies onboard. That was very obvious to say the least. Our next two sailings are not with Princess we do have two open bookings on our books but nothing booked as of now. Feeling disappointed with our Princess Cruises as cruising is such a big part of our life. 
 

Landnsea

John Laura and Gaby

Seattle, Wa. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Did they not offer the Japanese "Always Available" MDR menu items on your cruise, as well as one or two Asian dishes in the main section of the menu?

 

We cruised on Diamond around Japan last November and I was in foodie heaven with all the Japanese/Asian selections in both the MDR and the buffet. 

 

But it very much depends on what your personal tastes are. I love Asian food, especially Japanese, so it suited me perfectly.  

 

However I have heard there are noticeable cutbacks on the ships sailing out of Australia this season nonot what I want to hear with a 110 night world cruise starting in a month's time!

 

 It would be interesting to hear if many people have noticed menu/buffet cutbacks on US-based cruises.

[90scruzer]

58 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Did they not offer the Japanese "Always Available" MDR menu items on your cruise, as well as one or two Asian dishes in the main section of the menu?

 

We cruised on Diamond around Japan last November and I was in foodie heaven with all the Japanese/Asian selections in both the MDR and the buffet. 

 

But it very much depends on what your personal tastes are. I love Asian food, especially Japanese, so it suited me perfectly.  

 

However I have heard there are noticeable cutbacks on the ships sailing out of Australia this season nonot what I want to hear with a 110 night world cruise starting in a month's time!

 

 It would be interesting to hear if many people have noticed menu/buffet cutbacks on US-based cruises.

Not sure what standard you are holding them to, but we found the food to be less awesome even pre-covid.   but post-covid, I'm still crossing my fingers they improve once they are "profitable" (in quotes as I know they are making a profit now).   We took a cruise last fall and the food was meh.  Though for sure not all of it, but a lot of it was unappetizing or unmemerable.  But this is not limited to Princess.   They all seemed to have gone into survival mode to survive covid era.   I am waiting for return-to-normal 😄   Not to say that the specialty dining is bad.   I'm only talking about MDR and Marketplace.   

[cr8tiv1]

The Diamond does have a Japanese breakfast menu, but probably not offered in Sabatini’s (unless requested). They did have more of a variety of vegetables.  I also like Japanese food, but the Diamond offerings were very much Westernized.  The tempura was more of a beer batter than a light tempura.

[Iamcruzin]

I keep reading posts like this on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean as well and I haven't returned to cruising post covid yet because of this.  I think I'm going to try Virgin for my next cruise. It's a different experience and I won't have any expectations or past experiences to compare it to.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

The Diamond does have a Japanese breakfast menu, but probably not offered in Sabatini’s (unless requested). They did have more of a variety of vegetables.  I also like Japanese food, but the Diamond offerings were very much Westernized.  The tempura was more of a beer batter than a light tempura.

This was one of the menus we had on our Diamond cruise.

 

 

 

I had no complaints about the dishes I chose over the whole nine night cruise - and that is actually unusual for me.

 

No, I lie, I chose the lobster/steak combo on one of the formal nights and the lobster wasn't worth eating. It was tough, tasteless and tiny. The steak was lovely though.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I keep reading posts like this on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean as well and I haven't returned to cruising post covid yet because of this.  I think I'm going to try Virgin for my next cruise. It's a different experience and I won't have any expectations or past experiences to compare it to.

It's fun! But make sure you book your dining well in advance. The Test Kitchen is really worth trying. 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

We have also found Princess post-covid to be less than it was pre-covid. It is most definitely on the slide. We have 2 cruises booked. We shall take them and then decide whether we want to cruise Princess again or whether we want to stop cruising altogether. Even with the cutbacks it is still pretty good value IMO at the moment but I am not sure we want to continue with it much longer the way it is going. Not sure we would get much more with another cruise line so our options seem to be stick with Princess and accept that change or stop cruising altogether. Both of those make us sad tbh.

Edited March 30 by Snaxmuppet

[555]

Princess has morphed into a cruise line that is nothing like when we started cruising. Every time you turn around there's an additional charge from the moment you book a cruise to the last day you depart the ship. 

We're among the cruisers who are shopping around for better value since their loyalty benefits have eroded to practically nil lately. 

[Coral]

I miss the old Princess also. Unfortunately, I miss the Princess that existed way before COVID but I agree, the cuts from COVID are noticeable. 

 

At one time, I was cruising 4x a year. I haven't been on a ship since last May and I have nothing booked with Princess.

 

It is funny - new cruisers are very happy with the current Princess. My response is "just wait 4-5 years" or most likely how quickly things are changing, "just wait 1-2 years".

 

My sister started cruising right before COVID and even she has noticed the huge changes and not for the better.

[Cruise Raider]

We cruised on the Diamond last year and thought the food was top notch, especially in Sabatini’s.  We only went to the buffet to get a late night snack but thought it was very good.  We are not foodies so, I may not be the best judge.  But, I do like the buffets on the Royal class ships so much more so than on the Grand and Crown class ships.  
I really didn’t care for the Diamond Princess and I wouldn’t be a fan of the Brazilian restaurant.  The Japanese favorites menu sounds like it is right up my alley, though.  

I would try another ship as I think they offer different experiences.  

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, Coral said:

I miss the old Princess also. Unfortunately, I miss the Princess that existed way before COVID but I agree, the cuts from COVID are noticeable. 

 

At one time, I was cruising 4x a year. I haven't been on a ship since last May and I have nothing booked with Princess.

 

It is funny - new cruisers are very happy with the current Princess. My response is "just wait 4-5 years" or most likely how quickly things are changing, "just wait 1-2 years".

 

My sister started cruising right before COVID and even she has noticed the huge changes and not for the better.

Other than the skyrocketing prices (but that’s with everything, not just the cruise lines), I like cruising more now than pre-Covid.  We used to cruise about 4 times a year but since the return to service, we now go an average of every month.  But, come to find out, that has bitten us in the butt as the promos don’t apply to us with so many bookings on our schedule.  

We eat less so really appreciate the smaller portion sizes.  I detest being wasteful.  

But, I also don’t like drinking out of paper coffee cups, just real cups please, real wine glasses and decent wine, please.  I don’t like that Canyon Road swill.  😆 

I do love the abilities of the app, even though it can have some quirky little glitches.  
No more elite lane for security or for check in.  The security one has been gone for a long time, though.  
I do love all the entertainment and activities, especially the enrichment speakers as well as the increased officer engagement with the guests.  I also love the more relaxed dress code.  
I do wish all ships had more casual dining options at lunchtime.  

 

[NewPennCruiser]

I think the one constant since covid is that all mainstream cruise lines have changed. As someone else mentioned, if you go to some of the other boards for Celebrity, RC and NCL you'll read the same thing; complaints of food choices, more nickel and diming, less services, etc. We have cruised twice recently and those trips were with Celebrity and NCL. While some of the changes were noticeable we still had a great time. We will be cruising with Princess in June for the first time in 6 years so for us there will be a lot of noticeable differences because we've never cruised with medallions, Princess Plus, "casual dining" options, etc. Our biggest decision in the past was whether we wanted to trade in our mini bar setup for coffee cards, lol. We realize times have changed and are looking forward to stepping on a Princess ship again, as for us cruising with Princess always felt like we were returning home even though we enjoy cruising with other lines. Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we had many conversations with people who were going to be trying Princess, so I really think it is up to each individual to figure out which cruise line best suits them and I guess it always was that way. Happy sailing everyone no matter who you choose to cruise with; it's still a great way to travel.    Dave

[mtnesterz]

10 hours ago, landnsea said:

Just back from our Southeast Asia sailing Singapore to Tokyo onboard Diamond... We did not once eat in the Horizon Court nothing and i mean nothing looked at all appealing. We enjoyed our morning breakfast in Sabatini’s as always. The evening dinners repeated itself though out the sailing no WOW whatsoever. No more Sterling Steak House or Crown Grill it was replaced with something they called the Brazilian all you can eat meat experience? Not as many choices for the foodies onboard....

We were also on the Diamond late last Summer. Sorry you didn't take more opportunities. You were on a SE Asian sailing, but you missed the Indonesian Beef Rendang by not going the buffet even once? It was the high point of our food onboard. As good as when when we lived in Singapore. Filipino and Indian dishes are also regular in the buffet and these were also good. I always think of where the staff in the kitchen hail from and figure those country's foods are a good bet. Conversely, Thanksgiving dinner on Princess is a bad joke for the same reason.

Also sorry you didn't try their churrascaria,  Wish you'd asked about this in a live from on this sailing, I would have suggested trying Brazilian barbeque. Locally, they make a show of bringing your meat comes to the table on skewers. A step up from a regular Steakhouse.

You call yourself a foodie, someone who sees food in part as adventure. Then say you were bored by repetition and in response didn't try anything new. Hope you enjoy your upcoming bookings more than this one.

Edited March 30 by mtnesterz

[msmoger]

10 hours ago, landnsea said:

No more Sterling Steak House or Crown Grill it was replaced with something they called the Brazilian all you can eat meat experience? I did speak with the Food and Beverage Officer The Maitre De and the Executive Chief each pretty much had the same thing to say in response to my questions. The menu choices in Asia change Not as many choices for the foodies onboard. That was very obvious to say the least. Our next two sailings are not with Princess we do have two open bookings on our books but nothing booked as of now. Feeling disappointed with our Princess Cruises as cruising is such a big part of our life. 
 

Landnsea

John Laura and Gaby

Seattle, Wa. 

 

I'm curious.  Looking at the Deck 14 plan Both Sterling Steakhouse and Churrascaria Grill (Brazilian) are listed.  It also seems to show the Churrascaria Grill in a rear corner on the starboard side of the ship.  Is it possible both options are being offered, perhaps on alternating nights?

 

 

[Coral]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Other than the skyrocketing prices (but that’s with everything, not just the cruise lines), I like cruising more now than pre-Covid.  We used to cruise about 4 times a year but since the return to service, we now go an average of every month.

I am guessing you are retired? And you seem to live near a port. I am no where near a port and am not retired, so going monthly is not an option as it takes me all day to fly to a port.

 

I do not cruise for the ship experience. I cruise for the ports and am no longer interested in Caribbean, Mexico, etc... Though there are things on the ship experience that do affect my cruising and when those are decreased, I desire to be on the ship even less.

Edited March 30 by Coral

[landnsea]

21 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

We were also on the Diamond late last Summer. Sorry you didn't take more opportunities. You were on a SE Asian sailing, but you missed the Indonesian Beef Rendang by not going the buffet even once? It was the high point of our food onboard. As good as when when we lived in Singapore. Filipino and Indian dishes are also regular in the buffet and these were also good. I always think of where the staff in the kitchen hail from and figure those country's foods are a good bet. Conversely, Thanksgiving dinner on Princess is a bad joke for the same reason.

Also sorry you didn't try their churrascaria,  Wish you'd asked about this in a live from on this sailing, I would have suggested trying Brazilian barbeque. Locally, they make a show of bringing your meat comes to the table on skewers. A step up from a regular Steakhouse.

You call yourself a foodie, someone who sees food in part as adventure. Then say you were bored by repetition and in response didn't try anything new. Hope you enjoy your upcoming bookings more than this one.

  
 

😂👍

[90scruzer]

4 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

 but I am not sure we want to continue with it much longer the way it is going. Not sure we would get much more with another cruise line so our options seem to be stick with Princess and accept that change or stop cruising altogether. Both of those make us sad tbh.

I don't know why you cruise, but if it is purely for the food - and you can afford it - oceania (even tho worse than pre-covid on our last sailing) has very good to great food.   And if not, I hear that the food on MSC is supposed to be wonderful as well though never sailed with them.   

 

2 hours ago, 555 said:

We're among the cruisers who are shopping around for better value since their loyalty benefits have eroded to practically nil lately. 

Unfortunately true in some aspects.   But nothing is absolute - for some regions, Princess is likely the most value (or at least, not worse).   I'm thinking of Alaska here.   Where of the mainstream cruise lines either Princess or HAL are the top 2 options (that I know of - as I would never claim to be so well cruise-travelled to be above learning!)  

 

 

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We eat less so really appreciate the smaller portion sizes.  I detest being wasteful.  

Yes, I was not commenting on portion sizes.  As for me at least it's more about the quality and flavor.   on the wasteful front, we agree.   As an example, we took a land tour of Georgia (country) - which I can 100% recommend.   The *only* complaint was that half the food every night went to waste.   Literally the only complaint.   Such a first world problem 😛 

 

 

1 hour ago, NewPennCruiser said:

 Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we had many conversations with people who were going to be trying Princess, so I really think it is up to each individual to figure out which cruise line best suits them and I guess it always was that way. Happy sailing everyone no matter who you choose to cruise with; it's still a great way to travel.    Dave

Agreed.   In many ways we complain as we have a benchmark.   But at least personally, I really dislike their current buffet.   The salad bar is OK, but not a lot of variety.  I think I tried the soup once on the last sailing.  There was a lot of beef, which is not something we want daily.  And at least on our last cruise, their non-American fare tended to be Indian.   We had a friend in college who would invite us to his house - eg. for Thanksgiving.   That Indian food was fantastic.   Every commercial option I've ever tried was horrible.  Of course my Indian friends all say they never eat out Indian as there are no good restaurants 😕.   So I admit some of it is personal - we have our preferences.  And, unfortunately, cooking large portions for the masses is much more challenging than individuals at the specialty restaurants.   

1 hour ago, mtnesterz said:

Filipino and Indian dishes are also regular in the buffet and these were also good. I always think of where the staff in the kitchen hail from and figure those country's foods are a good bet.

 

Also sorry you didn't try their churrascaria,  Wish you'd asked about this in a live from on this sailing, I would have suggested trying Brazilian barbeque.

maybe we've been unlucky and/or our taste buds, but for example - I have always thought that Thai on the buffet would be awesome due to the cook staff.   Never happened.  To the point where I've gotten some I wouldn't eat (and I dislike wasting food).   Agree on the Brazilian if you have never tried it, you should.  just don't eat all day before going.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

3 minutes ago, 90scruzer said:

I don't know why you cruise, but if it is purely for the food - and you can afford it - oceania (even tho worse than pre-covid on our last sailing) has very good to great food.   And if not, I hear that the food on MSC is supposed to be wonderful as well though never sailed with them.   

 

Can't afford Oceania.

 

Wouldn't sail MSC if they were giving the cruise away. I would rather spend a week in the dungeons of hell than sail with MSC... but this is a Princess forum so I'll leave it up to your imagination as to why 🙂 

[DCThunder]

To the OP, please remember the ancient Arabic proverb:  "The dogs bark but the caravan moves on".

[90scruzer]

28 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Can't afford Oceania.

 

Wouldn't sail MSC if they were giving the cruise away. I would rather spend a week in the dungeons of hell than sail with MSC... but this is a Princess forum so I'll leave it up to your imagination as to why 🙂 

Yeah - I understand.  It's for special occasions only for us as well.

 

MSC isn't on our radar any time soon -- so when/if an itinerary appears, good to know that I need to actually research what you are talking about.  

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

7 minutes ago, 90scruzer said:

Yeah - I understand.  It's for special occasions only for us as well.

 

MSC isn't on our radar any time soon -- so when/if an itinerary appears, good to know that I need to actually research what you are talking about.  

Just look at the David and Ben YT channel.

[macaws2]

I just came upon this roll call and started reading out of curiosity, well, the last time we cruised princess was way back in the 2000's before there were any specialty dining or packages to purchase, you paid as you went along and there was only the MDR and the buffet which to be honest for us was just fine, not complicated and personally we liked it that way, not having to try and book any special dining and formal nights were nice evening where everyone dressed up and the dining room was full of passengers that were looking forward to what was on the menu that evening and what entertainment was going to be performed by the dining room staff, and whether you preferred early or late dining etc. We've cruised before and after covid on other cruiselines, the last this past New Years and noticed such a change, on formal nights, individuals were walking in wearing jeans, men with hats on etc, plus we only ate in the MDR and even though we were setted at a table for 6 we were the only ones that showed up every evening. We are booked on a 21 day Mediterranean this coming Aug on the new princess sun and with all the changes, costs etc this may by our last cruise, we're retired and at this point because of all the changes may look at other travel alternatives. We've lived in the pacific when my husband was active duty so had the privilege to experience different cultures and live it. Yes, I know there are alot of individuals that don't mind the changes but I guess we're just old school and like the simple way things use to be. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

11 hours ago, 90scruzer said:

Not sure what standard you are holding them to, but we found the food to be less awesome even pre-covid.   but post-covid, I'm still crossing my fingers they improve once they are "profitable" (in quotes as I know they are making a profit now).   We took a cruise last fall and the food was meh.  Though for sure not all of it, but a lot of it was unappetizing or unmemerable.  But this is not limited to Princess.   They all seemed to have gone into survival mode to survive covid era.   I am waiting for return-to-normal 😄   Not to say that the specialty dining is bad.   I'm only talking about MDR and Marketplace.   

Definitely going to take a while with the billions in debt they now have.

Return to normal?  Do you think things will return to the way they were precovid?  Time always marches forward except using the Professor's Way Back Machine in Back to the Future.

We still enjoy cruising, don't complain about the changes except to ourselves and remind ourselves we were lucky to have the experiences we did.  Not only cruising, but travel.  Think about how many places you would not consider today!  A bit sad.

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, macaws2 said:

I just came upon this roll call and started reading out of curiosity, well, the last time we cruised princess was way back in the 2000's before there were any specialty dining or packages to purchase, you paid as you went along and there was only the MDR and the buffet which to be honest for us was just fine, not complicated and personally we liked it that way, not having to try and book any special dining and formal nights were nice evening where everyone dressed up and the dining room was full of passengers that were looking forward to what was on the menu that evening and what entertainment was going to be performed by the dining room staff, and whether you preferred early or late dining etc. We've cruised before and after covid on other cruiselines, the last this past New Years and noticed such a change, on formal nights, individuals were walking in wearing jeans, men with hats on etc, plus we only ate in the MDR and even though we were setted at a table for 6 we were the only ones that showed up every evening. We are booked on a 21 day Mediterranean this coming Aug on the new princess sun and with all the changes, costs etc this may by our last cruise, we're retired and at this point because of all the changes may look at other travel alternatives. We've lived in the pacific when my husband was active duty so had the privilege to experience different cultures and live it. Yes, I know there are alot of individuals that don't mind the changes but I guess we're just old school and like the simple way things use to be. 

We find it much better now. In the 1990’s we were paying ny the drink and even back then it came to over $100 per day. Now we pay $120 for the plus package and get the gratuities and Wi-Fi included. Since I retired I also retired all my ties. For formal nights I dress in slacks and a long sleeve shirt. For casual nights it is short sleeve shirt and either jeans or cargo pants