POLL: Coffee quality onboard the Princess Fleet

[scots]

POLL: Coffee quality onboard the Princess Fleet

[britsbest]

In the interests of fairness there should be some way of expressing a view that I like Princess coffee

[spongerob]

Here is my "any other concern". I just made my coffee. The used grounds weigh 4 ounces (100 grams). I made enough coffee to fill up two large travel mugs. Let's assume that the average coffee drinker on a cruise will consume just one travel mug's worth, and 75% of the people on board drink coffee.

 

50 grams * 2500 * 75% = 94 kilos of trash that must be stored for disposal every day. For arguments sake, that's 100 kilos of trash per day, 365 days per year. In US measurements, that works out to more than 80,000 lbs per year per ship that has to be stored, offloaded, trucked, and disposed of. How much would that cost? I'm sure no one wants it just dumped at sea! The flying fish might be reaching several thousand feet of altitude if we did.

 

Honestly, I really don't like the syrup stuff except as a last resort, but when it's fresh it's tolerable. I really think if a little more time and attention was put into making it right, the complaints wouldn't be as prevalent.

[pamwinn]

I do not like the syrup coffee. It has an aroma that is very unpleasant to me and the flavor is intolerable. I've tried the many different suggestions I've read on this board to try to make it more tolerable. I only want a couple of cups in the AM...but I want them in my cabin. I would pay for a carafe of fresh brewed coffee delivered to my room in the AM but I would silently think it was a ridiculous charge. I don't want to go to the patisserie in my pj's with my eyes crossed and my hair sticking up all over the place first thing in the morning.

[spongerob]

Have you tried adding Bailey's? That seems to help.

[lansingisland]

My main coffee gripe is that good brewed coffee is not available when I want it...early (like 5:30 or 6) I'm willing to pay! As I recall from the Diamond last year, the places that brewed coffe didn't open till at least 7.

[Jules1]

HAL has great coffee - same parent company as Princess.

[Leslieswiger]

I have done the poll and thank-you, for taking the time and trouble to do this. We have also sent in e-mails telling them about the threads on bad coffee. Let us hope they do something about it. :eek: More people must take part.;) Happy Sailings...Leslie Swiger:)

[UTAH]

On our last Princess cruise I packed along some fresh home-ground Starbucks and a small stainless 4-cup dripper. It worked out so well we're going to take that stuff along on every cruise. It really added to our mornings to start off with good fresh coffee. And, we could brew it fresh anytime we wanted and did not need to wait on staff or leave the room.

 

The only down side was that our room became very popular with friends wanting a good cup of coffee and we ran out of grounds about half way through the cruise (Amazon). So... I asked our steward to help out and he brought in some good-quality grounds from the restaurant. I don't recall what the brand was, but it was good coffee. He also did a coffee set up each night for us (all the cups, spoons, sugar, cream, etc.) so that we would be ready to go in the morning.

 

Bill

[Pam in CA]

This is a very skewed poll. The question is, "Princess Coffee: Do you or do you not like the current onboard coffee options?" but there's no option in the poll if you do like the current coffee options. Also, the coffee IS free so one of the poll answers is incorrect.

 

I would not want to pay more for a cruise that would have to dispose of all of the coffee grinds generated by all coffee being brewed directly from beans.

 

I like the free Princess coffee just the way it is and do not want any changes. Please include that in your poll results.

[LARGIN]

Agree with Pam

[Genessa]

This is a very skewed poll. The question is, "Princess Coffee: Do you or do you not like the current onboard coffee options?" but there's no option in the poll if you do like the current coffee options. Also, the coffee IS free so one of the poll answers is incorrect.

 

I would not want to pay more for a cruise that would have to dispose of all of the coffee grinds generated by all coffee being brewed directly from beans.

 

I like the free Princess coffee just the way it is and do not want any changes. Please include that in your poll results.

 

I agree with you, also!

[mii]

I also have to agree with Pam. I myself think the coffee is not that bad and my DH is very picky on that subject. Granted it could be better but every day while we are on the cruise we have room service deliver our coffee and it truly is not that bad.

 

Marilyn

[pamwinn]

The disposal problem is not an issue with me. They have to dispose of watemelon rinds, carved fruist displays, bones, and half eaten platters of food also. I would have no problem paying $5 more per cruise to take care of the coffee issue and I wouldn't mind paying a $10 surcharge (to coffee drinkers only) to avoid the necessity of bringing a coffee maker ( it's a hassle no matter how you look at it) for a coffee sticker that allowed fresh brew each AM.

 

I have tried the Bailey's, because I like coffee and Bailey's on cold winter nights. But in the AM, I do not sweeten my coffee...sugar in the AM makes me feel funny. That's why I've never tried the french toast everyone raves about.:)

[Cruise38]

Coffee and Bailey's - YUM.

 

I personally do not find the coffee to be all that bad and I LOVE my coffee.

 

If I want a really good cup of coffee I go to one of the bars and get a fresh brewed cup not made with syrup.

 

IMHO if you drink the coffee in the Horizon Court during normal breakfast and lunch times it is not bad because it is fresh and moves quickly. If you have it during other times of the day it can get a little rank because it has been sitting for awhile. However, any coffee will get that way if it sits whether brewed from grounds or syrup.

 

Barbara

[AlainBob]

Everyone knows that many different people might have many different taste. But don't forget the "power of the mind"... Let me explain.

 

On the first night of our last cruise, our asst.waiter came to us with his coffee pot and said with a big smile "Starbuck coffee everyone ?". Since we live in the eastern part of Canada (in Quebec), we do not have Starbuck here. We have Tim Horton's.

 

So we told that to our asst.waiter and the next night he came to us with his coffee pot and said: "Tim Horton everyone ?" We said yes ! After he filled up our cups, he then went to the next table (with the same coffee pot) and said loud enough for everyone to hear: "Starbuck Coffee everyone ?" Everyone in our section laught... After that, no more complaints about the coffe... Everyone had his "favorite" coffee ! :D

 

So remember to think in your mind that this coffee syrup is some kind of your favorite coffee and you should find it to be ... well... not too bad. :rolleyes:

 

Alain R.

[UTAH]

I agree that different tastes factor in to all of this. However, I don't think that fact allows for the kind of minimization of concerns over the quality of Princess coffee many of us have expressed.

 

It says something that "the coffee" issue comes up again and again.

 

Bill

[bdjam]

This is a very skewed poll. The question is, "Princess Coffee: Do you or do you not like the current onboard coffee options?" but there's no option in the poll if you do like the current coffee options. Also, the coffee IS free so one of the poll answers is incorrect.

 

I would not want to pay more for a cruise that would have to dispose of all of the coffee grinds generated by all coffee being brewed directly from beans.

 

I like the free Princess coffee just the way it is and do not want any changes. Please include that in your poll results.

Ditto.

I really think that if the people at Princess are going to take notice of this poll, it needs to be created in such a way as to give a fair representation of the opinions of the passengers and the coffee options on board. Anyone at Princess who reviews the poll is going to be able to see that it doesn’t evenly represent the options for coffee on board.

If the objective is to make a one-sided complaint, just do it. Don’t waste it on a poll that doesn’t do what it says it does.

The disposal problem is not an issue with me. They have to dispose of watemelon rinds, carved fruist displays, bones, and half eaten platters of food also. I would have no problem paying $5 more per cruise to take care of the coffee issue and I wouldn't mind paying a $10 surcharge (to coffee drinkers only) to avoid the necessity of bringing a coffee maker ( it's a hassle no matter how you look at it) for a coffee sticker that allowed fresh brew each AM.

But the disposal issue may be one for the cruise line. The dispensing of coffee efficiently for and average of 2500 people might also be an issue for the cruise line. Others have specialty coffee places (and Princess has Patisserie) but these are low-volume dispensers. Given we’re talking about ships at sea, it might be interesting to know the limitations those ships have before we can say why or why not the syrup concentrate is used.

I'm a coffee drinker and I don't agree with a surcharge or additional cost to my fare to improve the coffee - I think it's fine the way it is. Unfortunately this poll doesn't allow me to vote my preference.

[madelinerose]

Well, I won't be sampling the coffee until September on the Crown, but, I can assure you that we'll be ordering 2 carafes with breakfast every morning through room service.

 

We've only cruised once, on the Carnival Miracle, and, if Princess serves the same room service coffee, that will be fine with us. On Carnival, we also had free decaf capuccino after late dinner every night. It will be interesting to hear from the 6/14 Crown pax whether there is a charge for "non-designer" coffee.

 

I do not agree with paying $1, $1.25 or whatever for a cup/carafe of regular coffee at dinner or from room service. Yes, we will be paying at the patisserie for our espresso and capuccino during the day.

 

Oh, and we do grind our own beans every morning at home. ;)

[OuiOnboard]

Have you tried adding Bailey's? That seems to help.

I wouldn't want to ruin the Baileys.:)

[West Coast]

So we told that to our asst.waiter and the next night he came to us with his coffee pot and said: "Tim Horton everyone ?" We said yes ! After he filled up our cups, he then went to the next table (with the same coffee pot) and said loud enough for everyone to hear: "Starbuck Coffee everyone ?" Everyone in our section laught... After that, no more complaints about the coffe... Everyone had his "favorite" coffee !

 

It's nice to see they have still fun with this. On one of our cruises, it was Starbucks-(like) with the (like) spoken very softly. Of course, with the hearing ability of some, they didn't hear the (like) part and just thought it was regular SBucks

[scots]

In the interests of fairness there should be some way of expressing a view that I like Princess coffee

 

I am sorry that I did not include an option for those that like Princess coffee - it was simply a case of submitting the request too quickly. Please feel free to email your "likes of Princess coffee" and I will be sure it gets sent to Princess to be accounted for.

[scots]

This is a very skewed poll. The question is, "Princess Coffee: Do you or do you not like the current onboard coffee options?" but there's no option in the poll if you do like the current coffee options. Also, the coffee IS free so one of the poll answers is incorrect.

 

I would not want to pay more for a cruise that would have to dispose of all of the coffee grinds generated by all coffee being brewed directly from beans.

 

I like the free Princess coffee just the way it is and do not want any changes. Please include that in your poll results.

 

I am terribly sorry to those that feel that this poll is "skewed". This was the first time I had ever done a poll. I thought I would try it myself as I did not see anyone else do this kind of thing even though there have been countless threads about it. It is not meant to be "one sided" as a previous poster noted. Thanks to those who have participated. And thanks to those who will participate. I appreciate the comments that I have not provided an option to people who like Princess coffee. Please note that emails can always be sent and they WILL be forwarded to Princess to be accounted for. As for the fact that one of the poll answers is incorrect, it is not. The point I was trying to make was: some people want free coffee and some people are willing to pay for it.

 

I would think that Princess could come up with some sort of recycling process for all of the waste they generate, including coffee grinds.

 

I will certainly include your comments made above to the info that gets sent to Princess.

[bdjam]

Again, you might want to reconsider the wording of the choices of the poll. The winning choice is the suggestion that Princess provide fresh brewed coffee ship wide. The cruise line already provides fresh brewed and they could indicate to you that it is ship wide since it is available in the lounges. The charge is $1. So they’ve really already provided what the poll is asking for.

[scots]

Thanks for your comments. I am in contact with the Hosts to see how I can amend the poll.