Princess Food...what's Up?????

[cruzinchris]

Guess there's no point (read: NO HOPE) of ever getting good Mexican food on a Princess ship. :cool: CoolChile

 

The guacamole is awesome! DH and I order the guac/salsa/chips from room service to enjoy in our stateroom upon arrival.

 

I can't comment on the quality because I don't go to the buffet often but there is a Mexican spread at lunchtime occasionally. Maybe someone will post to tell you more about it.

 

In the Detroit area, our favorite is "Mexican Village". The original restaurant is in the Mexican neighborhood in Detroit with another location in the northeast suburbs.

Chris

[we2cruze]

I must totally agree with you... Food is either tasty or it's bland.

 

One problem I have with Princess food is the sauces... the put the same bland, tasteless white sauce on all the fish!! And... I wasn't the only one at the table that mentioned it. we had a diverse group age wise, and all said the same thing... the sauces were tasteless!

 

After cruising on Celebrity several times, I still believe... hands down... Celebrity has better food! And I know there are those on this list that disagree... but the truth is the truth!

 

So basically what you are saying is that the only opinion that is correct is yours? Oh, I agree, absolutely, if you say it's bland then I must have been mistaken when I liked it.:D However we do have a little problem. You see my husband has spent the past 26 years convincing me that the only opinion that is correct is HIS. Oh my, now what do I do?:p

[CoolChile]

The guacamole is awesome! DH and I order the guac/salsa/chips from room service to enjoy in our stateroom upon arrival. I can't comment on the quality because I don't go to the buffet often but there is a Mexican spread at lunchtime occasionally. Maybe someone will post to tell you more about it. In the Detroit area, our favorite is "Mexican Village". The original restaurant is in the Mexican neighborhood in Detroit with another location in the northeast suburbs. Chris

 

OhMyOhMy, Chris. Now I gotta "order in" from the Mexican Village in Detroit. We make awesome guac ourselves (and other Mex), but man, does that sound like a good way to welcome ourselves to the ship!

________________

:cool: CoolChile

[twnkltoz]

Does anyone know if the Sapphire has the new menus yet or when are they due to get them.

 

THX Gary & Bev

 

I'm wondering this myself!

[arabrab]

Our experience was that the food varied quite a bit between Princess ships, for whatever reason. The pastas on Sun Princess were really good in the buffet, and amazing in the dining room. On CB they were at the lower end of the OK scale. Sweet soups were excellent on Sun Princess, but not so good on CB, but savory soups were better on CB. I'm not sure if it is a small ship/megaship difference, or different chefs, or just random luck, but we certainly saw real differences.

 

Never had trouble finding enough to each on either ship.

[gambit57]

I don't know about it being "bland". I'd choose the word "repetitive" as my main complaint. The main ingredients are fine and diverse. It's the sauces and soups that start getting too similar and repetitive.

[cruiseAZ]

We were on the Golden Princess two weeks ago and I found the food in the dining room to be very good - really enjoyed the chilled soups and lamb and veal chop. They also had a wonderful salmon buffet the day we were in Ketchiken - with a baked large fish supposedly caught that morning. I don't normally eat much on the buffet but found the buffet to be better than the buffet food on the Sapphire last spring. Room service sanwiches were good and very prompt.

[Host Caroline]

They are changing the menus fleetwide I believe by the end of the year. I get tired of the same menu bec. we cruise Princess so often but find the best buffets IMHO on Carnival.. but then anyone who has Asian (and good Asian) every day gets my vote! I think Princess' food is on par with the others i.e. better some days and not as good others. We like buffets on Cranival better but the service and menus in Princess in the dining room..

[spongerob]

No complaints about the food during this cruise. I've been quite impressed with the quality of food and service in the main dining room. There have been some changes to the menus that are quite welcome and give us a few new things to consider.

[mytwocents]

We just got off the Golden Princess this morning. We were on the Inside Passage Alaska cruise. If that is the one you're going on, you're in for a treat! We had a great time. The ship is great, and the scenery is beautiful! Tracy Arm Fjord is amazing!

 

Back to the food...we had the anytime dining choice. We ate in the dining room 4 of the 7 nights. We found the food in the dining room to be quite good. One night we had Alaskan king crab legs that were delightful! Another night was lobster tail..very sweet. The cornish game hen was also good. We eat out at restaurants quite often. My husband's favorite thing to order is steak and lobster. He thought the lobster on board was very good. He did try a steak at Donatello's and didn't care for it. One night we opted for the Desert Rose steakhouse. The steaks there were delicious! If you like steak, I would recommend it. There is an additional charge of $15.00 per person to eat there.

 

The buffet was not the best. It was fine for grabbing a quick bite. They did have a lot of variety, but the food was not top notch.

 

I am wishing I were back on my balcony watching the whales! Keep your eyes open...we saw a lot of them!!

[mikjr]

I frequently see folks refer to Princess' food as "bland". I don't like food served to me that is too salty, too spicy, overly-seasoned, and/or heavily sauced, and I'm careful about keeping these at a minimum when I cook for others. Salt, pepper, herbs, spices, sauces, etc. should enhance the natural flavors of food - not overwhelm them.

 

I've said many times in reviews and other food-related discussions, I don't expect 5* cuisine on Princess or any other mainstream cruiseline, for that matter. :D

 

OK... if "bland" doesn't work for you... how about "tasteless"?? I don't salt my food... and haven't used salt for 25 years on my food! So, I'm not talking about salt, pepper, spice, chili hot, or anything else like that... I'm talking about NO FLAVOR... If the dinner menu says halibut with a "lemon caper sauce", shouldn't the sauce have some lemon flavor?? what you get is a white sauce with NO taste, NO flavor... I call it bland, you call it whatever you want... it is still void of taste.

 

Do I expect a 5 star restaurant... NO, I don't either... but I at least expect the dinner food to taste better than Denny's or Norms... even the hamburger joint in my town has flavor... not always good, but at least flavor! :)

[nycglitter]

We just got off our first Princess sailing, so I can't say if the food has gone down hill. However, I can say that we are "foodies" and eat at NYC restaurants all the time and love to compare and contrast the best of the best. That said, our dining experience with the exception of Sabatini's and the lobster in the dining room was just awful. We actually found our food to be extremely salty.

 

We searched a couple of nights for something to eat and actually went to bed hungry due to the lack of finding anything that was edible. Imagine going to sleep hungry on a cruise.

 

Of course this is just our opinion and others will disagree, but our experience was just that, OUR experience. It wouldn't stop me from sailing Princess again, the Crown was beautiful!

[SandDragon]

One thing I found curious about the food in the dining room on the Crown was that on a number of occasions what was served did not correspond to the menu description - not on a qualitative level but simple ingredients/side dishes. Perhaps the menus are printed in advance of the food deliveries.

[wizard-of-roz]

nycglitter: OMG! I'm so sorry about your "food" experience on the Crown!

Yikes, we'll be on the Golden soon and I hope we don't have the same experience on it that you had on the Crown!

My DH keeps crusing with me because he's a "food-aholic!" He loves to play "chef" in our own kitchen and truly appreciates the varied tastes and presentations in the fine dining venues in our local area. I don't dare share some of these posts....or, he'd never cruise again!

"Going to bed hungry?" :eek: Did you try room service? :confused:

[nycglitter]

nycglitter: OMG! I'm so sorry about your "food" experience on the Crown!

 

Yikes, we'll be on the Golden soon and I hope we don't have the same experience on it that you had on the Crown!

 

My DH keeps crusing with me because he's a "food-aholic!" He loves to play "chef" in our own kitchen and truly appreciates the varied tastes and presentations in the fine dining venues in our local area. I don't dare share some of these posts....or, he'd never cruise again!

 

"Going to bed hungry?" :eek: Did you try room service? :confused:

 

 

I actually laughed at the experience and ended up thankful that I didn't fall in love with the food, at least this time around! I am in a wedding this weekend with a very fitted gown, so it worked out for the best.:rolleyes:

 

We did try room service and it was pretty pathetic. Cold and soggy. Actually, I was told "no" the first time I called. No they wouldn't deliver because they were out of the sandwich I requested. Go figure. I just ordered something different from the menu which seemed to blow their mind. I guess they thought if they said they didn't have what I wanted I would be one less delivery.

 

Also, I wanted to clarify, the lobster was very good and so was Sabatini's, it was the rest of the food that was off. When I re-red my post, it sounded like I didn't care for the lobster. Silly me!

[Clutterlady]

nycglitter: OMG! I'm so sorry about your "food" experience on the Crown!

 

Yikes, we'll be on the Golden soon and I hope we don't have the same experience on it that you had on the Crown!

 

My DH keeps crusing with me because he's a "food-aholic!" He loves to play "chef" in our own kitchen and truly appreciates the varied tastes and presentations in the fine dining venues in our local area. I don't dare share some of these posts....or, he'd never cruise again!

 

"Going to bed hungry?" :eek: Did you try room service? :confused:

 

Hey Roz:

 

You know how subjective food is............you will always have someone complain...too bland...to salty...too cold...to whatever! Then the next cruiser comes in with...wonderful...4 star...best food I ever had! I honestly don't pay attention to reviews where food is concerned and I don't think anyone should:)

[wizard-of-roz]

WHEW......................Be damned those reviews!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

[Clutterlady]

WHEW......................Be damned those reviews!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

 

Love reviews, think they are very useful to planning a good cruise. Just stated that I don't pay too much attention to the "food part" because it so subjective:)

[iancal]

We found that the beef dishes had gone down. Not the preparation, but the quality of the meat. Living in cattle country spoils us, but the difference was noticeable.

[dixonge]

Keep in mind that you have a kitchen cooking for upwards of 3000 people on a ship like CB. The quality that they produce in that quantity is rather amazing, considering hotels I have worked in were far less able to produce that quality for 200.

Thus I am keeping my expectations on the low side...

 

Also, keep in mind that they have to save money somewhere when they are selling balcony cabins for $800pp on a 7 day cruise. You couldn't stay in a fairly decent hotel for that amount, without food.

 

Regards,

 

Chef

 

Pray tell, where are these $800 balcony cabins? We paid over $900pp for the cheapest, smallest inside cabins available. I suppose with those prices we should expect stellar food?

[Fuzzzy]

I love the food on Princess in the dining room. I have never been disappointed.

 

What may have gone down is the presentation and the staff service.

 

It is tough to feed 6,000 meals a day. I think the food is always fresh and delivered as ordered.

 

The presentaion flair and the staff's service might be varied between cruises.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've always enjoyed the food on Princess until we sailed on the Grand last December. Except for the lobster, which was great, the rest of the food was a step down from what we were used to. The dining room food was ok, but a little bland and the steaks were tough. Even the Love Boat Dream didn't taste as good! I see from reading this thread that they have apparently changed the recipe--and it is noticeably less favorful.

 

The buffet food was honestly the worst we have had; really cafeteria style. I too like Carnival's buffets the best; lots more choices, and tastier, better desserts, better arranged and of course has the deli and Chinese choices as well.

 

I know food tastes are subjective, but we really did notice a change for the worse compared to other Princess cruises.

[chefim]

Thus I am keeping my expectations on the low side...

 

Which is a wise thing to do, as it has been repeated over and over again how subjective food is. Nobody is going to have a lower expectation than a professional chef, believe me. However, I go in there knowing that to me, this is nothing more than glorified banquet food.

 

Pray tell, where are these $800 balcony cabins? We paid over $900pp for the cheapest, smallest inside cabins available. I suppose with those prices we should expect stellar food?

 

Did you book that with a TA, or directly with Princess? That is really high. I can assure you that during November, you can find those lower prices.

 

Regards,

 

Chef

[dixonge]

Did you book that with a TA, or directly with Princess? That is really high. I can assure you that during November, you can find those lower prices.

 

Regards,

 

Chef

 

with a TA, booked in February

[CrusinAgain]

with a TA, booked in February

 

Was that price for your cruise in Alaska or for a cruise in the Caribbean in November. For Alaska, it is higher but even that price is too high and for the Caribbean that is way too high for November. Late October, and all of November and December (leaving the holiday weeks out) is the best prices to cruise.