Comparing Food on Different Ships

[Sandytoes]

For those who have cruised on several Princess ships have you noticed a difference in food quality among them? Was it because of the ship?

 

From my own experience, here's how I rated the ships food -

I thought the Golden had the worst. Nothing outstanding, decent, this was the worst out of all my Princess cruises.

Grand was consistently very good to excellent, food was quite delicious and attractively presented.

Caribbean and Crown - outstanding, high quality, plentiful and generous, plus the Seafood Buffet.

[chrysalis]

One interesting comparison we were able to make was when the Golden was new and she and the Grand were both sailing out of Lauderdale. We sailed the Golden (Saturday to Saturday) and a day later we got on the Grand (Sunday to Sunday). It was remarkable how different the food was.

 

One other point to be made, was we found that the Sea Princess food, earlier this year to be the best we have had on any Princess ship.

[coiran]

We have been on several Princess ships and find the food quality on all of them about the same - excellent!

Ron

[Cruise Raider]

We have been on several Princess cruises and found the food on the Crown Princess was far better than any of the other Princess ships.

Don't get me wrong, the food was good on all, the service always exceptional, however the food was definitely a cut above on the Crown Princess....in every arena from the ondeck casual dining, international cafe, buffets and the formal dining rooms. One drawback, seems as though they are trying to figure out how to trim back on lobster consumption. Usually, the waiters would come around with a tray of lobster tails to inquire if you wanted seconds. This seems to be going away on most lines, not just Princess. That's ok, we shouldn't eat so much anyway.

[Druke I]

I think different chefs can make a huge difference.

 

Way back 3-98, on Royal Princess, food not so hot; 6 months later, same ship, different chef, food very good.

 

This past March on Regal Princess, food so-so; yet 3-01, food very good.

 

If you want to try really good food, I think it is hard to beat Oceania Cruise Lines.

[MaryPoppinz]

I've never noticed a whole lot of difference in the dining room. I know the chefs have flexibility and discretion about some things, but the recipes and menus are static. I've repeated several of the 'menu standards' on several Princess ships and didn't see much difference.

 

I'm expecting things to be different on Crown Princess, where items are offered that are unique to that ship. Starting with the panini :-) After a lot of rich food, I like a simple sandwich now and then, and I'm glad to see Princess add those to the line-up!

[Pam in CA]

I've found that on my longer cruises on smaller ships, the food has tended to be better and more varied. Many of the menus are not the same old/same old.

 

The chef, the Maitre D and the Section Captains have a lot to do with the menu and your dining experience. Most people think they don't do anything because they're not visible or serve you directly but they have the responsibility for the training, maintenance, food service, etc. of all of the chefs, waiters, etc.

[spongerob]

It really depends on the executive chef, his staff, how well the galley staff works with the dining room waiters, your waiters' abilities, and the quality of the provisions available when the ship restocks and on longer cruises, how long it's been since the ship has been restocked. Here's my experience having repeated a couple ships.

 

Golden (2 cruises) - first time great, second time adequate but probably the most disappointing of all our cruises.

 

Grand (5 cruises) - generally good, once not all that great. The one time I was disappointed, I thought the portions were skimpy and presentation was very plain. The two most recent cruises have been quite good.

 

Sea, Royal, Regal, Caribbean - no complaints with any of these. All got good ratings for quality and service in the dining room.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The chef, the Maitre D and the Section Captains have a lot to do with the menu and your dining experience.

 

I totally agree Pam. That is the most obvious explanation why, on some ships, that same old same old Sailaway Menu offers awesome tastes; on others, the meals are awful. (They're the same meals!).

 

Here's my ranking (and dates, because of Pam's point, things change over time), best to worst:

 

Sea Princess, Dec 2005

Sapphire Princess, Nov-Dec 2004 (still with themed menus)

Diamond Princess, Apr-May 2006

Grand Princess B2B, Feb 2005

Sun Princess B2B, Dec 2003

[ISABELLA]

In our experience - never the same in the same year. We had so-so food on Star during MAy Baltic cruise. Two years earlier food was very goon on the same ship during our Med. cruise. Last month food was very good on Caribbean Princess. You never know till we tried.

[cruzinchris]

Consistent.

 

On five Princess sailings to date (Star, Golden, Grand, CB twice), I'd have to say that the food quality has been fairly consistent from one ship to another. The Princess dishes that have become favorites were equally enjoyable on all the ships. Most of the offerings have been good to very good with a few Princess signature dishes being truly outstanding. I adore the Rack of Lamb on Chef's Night!

 

Having only done week-long cruises with Princess thus far, I'll admit that I'm longing for some variety and, hopefully, there will be some new Princess menus to experience on an 11-night Dawn cruise in January. I'm also hoping for some different options for breakfast in the dining room.

 

Bon Appetit! and Bon Voyage!

Chris

[TexasMom2]

Since the Tahitian is a small ship, will the food be better?

[bdjam]

The food on Regal Princess surpasses the rest of the fleet. As ‘chris mentions, all of the food is consistent, but it’s a notch above on Regal Princess.

[cruiserforlife]

stick around for another week,it could all be better...or worse depending on how burnt-out the crew is.

[barbarah33]

I agree that the food quality does vary with each ship. Way back on the old Star Princess the food did not impress me at all - it was there and edible but so is Applebee's. The food on the Grand several years later was much better but still had room for improvement over some of the other lines in my opinion. The Golden was the same way. I took a longer cruise on the Regal down to Australia/New Zealand for a couple of weeks and the food on that ship was excellent. Last year on the Caribbean I was impressed with the food and moved Princess up in my rankings of 'best food on a cruise ship' to second behind Celebrity.

 

I am going on the Crown next week and I can't wait to try the food on her. IT seems everyone has been impressed with it so I am excited but I try to not to get my hopes up too high as I don't want to be disappointment and tastes and opinions vary.

[canadiansnowbird]

I am very interested in any answers from those on longer cruises.... Is the quality of food consistent? Does the size/portion and appearance wane? Are you tired of the same old/same old? We are booked on Sapphire's 31 day in 2008 and I'm sure any that are on the 2007 will be interested also.

 

Snowbird

[septrack]

Sailed a 1 dayer on the Dawn then a 3 dayer on the Coral recently. The Coral was much better.

 

I realize that 1 day is not much of a sample but the dining room food was cold, badley prepared and presented. On the Coral the Princess Exec Chef was onboard and you could really see it. Probably the best food in our 13 Princess cruises.

 

My main gripe is that the menus never seem to get a facelift. Every cruise we sail we recognize the same menus, sauces deserts, etc... I would think every 3 years or so the entire menu would get a makeover. We can only hope.

 

All n all, I think the dining room menu is good, not great, but second only to Celebrity, in their peer group.

[Sandytoes]

Depending on the Chef, this can make a huge impact on the food quality.

 

I also agree, a change in menu, rotating yearly would be nice.

But, I guess they will keep things the way they are, since Princess is known for their food.

[Hapinowagain]

This will be our fifth Princess cruise. We have always enjoyed the food. Last year we tried HAL again and we were very disappointed in the food. So, we are back to Princess. ;)

[DiRon]

In most recent years we have sailed the Grand, Golden, Dawn and last month the Island. I have to say the most disappointing - and just about everyone in our group of 9 agreed - was the Island. It seemed the presentation was of more importance than the quality of food. Sorry, but no matter how pretty it looks on the plate - if it doesn't taste good or is not cooked correctly (almost all beef dishes were overcooked) it gets a poor grade. Having said all that I will say that the food in the Bayou Cafe was fabulous!! We ate there twice because of the quality. We also ate dinner in Horizon Court one night - which we never do - and it was as good or better (because of options) than the dining room.

[traci28]

SpongeRob - can you email me.... I have a question for you that pertains to information that is preferred not to be mentioned on the boards here.

 

thanks - Traci

 

tma101876@yahoo.com

[PescadoAmarillo]

I am very interested in any answers from those on longer cruises.... Is the quality of food consistent? Does the size/portion and appearance wane? Are you tired of the same old/same old? We are booked on Sapphire's 31 day in 2008 and I'm sure any that are on the 2007 will be interested also.

 

On our 30 night and 29 night cruises, there was a different menu offered every night. Some of the entrees may have been repeated (it wasn't obvious), but there was a different combination of items to choose from every night. The food was very good to excellent, the portions stayed the same (unfortunately :eek: ). The only thing you might notice is that a shipment of an item (i.e.papaya) taken on at one port might be better/worse than that of another port. Or you can tell when the fruit is new (less ripe) vs. riper. And we ran out of one thing (bananas, I think?) because a shipment was refused for being too ripe.

[spongerob]

SpongeRob - can you email me.... I have a question for you that pertains to information that is preferred not to be mentioned on the boards here.

 

thanks - Traci

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