Quality of food lower now on Princess

Just returned from a 4 day getaway cruise to Ensenada on the Crown.

I can't believe the food quality. It has gone way down since last year. Plus the choices are really not that great. My husband and I are not really picky eaters, but one night there was really nothing that even stood out. The Horizon court buffet at lunch seems like they have a lot of choices but it seems to be a lot of filler food. Very disappointed. I am wondering if it is just on the short cruises that they have cut back.

What do you all think?

Just back from Canada to FLL on Caribbean Princess and thought buffet food greatly improved over previous Cruises on that vessel. Also, absolutely love the buffet on the Regal. So many excellent choices and cuisines. Prefer it to MDR.

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I am in the process of doing a review on the Caribbean Princess and my conclusion was the opposite of the OP and more in line with umuva. For the most part, I found the food to be an improvement over prior cruises. I don't think that a large cruise line can be viewed monolithically when it comes to food. Quality will vary based on the provisions loaded on that week as well as the talent and care of the galley staff. Your provisions were loaded on in San Pedro and mine in Port Everglades. Your kitchen staff was not the same as mine. So it stands to reason that the end results taken to your table were not the same as the finished products that I received. So there is room for us both to be right. You may have experienced slippage while I experienced an uptick.

Food is subjective. I am sure there were people on your cruise that loved it. ;)

They are lower everywhere.

They are lower everywhere.

That's an interesting observation. There is a lot to that. There is the basic tendency for people to remember the past more fondly than it was in reality. There is also the trend in all hospitality industries to give in to consumer demand for low prices even at the expense of quality, which in turn leads to what used to be a standard service being marketed as a premium service (at a premium price). Back in the day there weren't all these specialty restaurants. That quality was once the standard in the MDR, but over time, in deference to typical American consumer bargain hunting behaviors, it is now something you have to pay extra for.

I remember most of what was positive or negative on a cruise actually. This was our 8th Princess cruise, and I have never found absolutely nothing that appealed to me, yes they have the everyday options that are available, but I and my husband would prefer quality for quantity, especially in the main dining room. We actually have done anytime ding the last 3 cruises and it was excellent service as well as this time. Probably the uncharge on the dining in the specialty restaurants had something to do with the lower quality.

I was surprised on the formal night the choices it always seemed to be very special but didn't seem like it this trip.

It still was a very fun time, with great entertainment and a positive helpful attitude across the board.

Next time we might just do a couple of the specialty restaurants.

Just returned from a 4 day getaway cruise to Ensenada on the Crown.

 

I can't believe the food quality. It has gone way down since last year. Plus the choices are really not that great. My husband and I are not really picky eaters, but one night there was really nothing that even stood out. The Horizon court buffet at lunch seems like they have a lot of choices but it seems to be a lot of filler food. Very disappointed. I am wondering if it is just on the short cruises that they have cut back.

 

What do you all think?

Been on Caribbean, Emerald and Regal this year. Went to HC too for lunch and we had nothing to complain about on every ship that can be attributed to cut backs.

The menu choice is ultimately up to the executive chef onboard and the food budget they are given for a specific sailing from corporate. He/she selects menus/items from the master rotation that fit within that budget. Shorter cruises often have lower food budgets assigned to them, especially if they have been heavily discounted.

Not sure what you mean by filler food.

Most food fills me.....eventually.

That makes a lot of sense about the budget and if the cruise was heavily discounted.

Understandable for sure then. They worked with what they had to stay within a budget.

Thank you for pointing that out.

M

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Interesting - I did not post the above post.

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m

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M

 

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Interesting comment:D;)

 

I can't believe the food quality. It has gone way down since last year. Plus the choices are really not that great. My husband and I are not really picky eaters, but one night there was really nothing that even stood out. The Horizon court buffet at lunch seems like they have a lot of choices but it seems to be a lot of filler food. Very disappointed. I am wondering if it is just on the short cruises that they have cut back.

 

What's that?

I agree that may be better off having a little less variety (less filler foods) and focusing on a lesser number of better quality foods, but overall the Horizon Court is pretty good. I have not cruised enough to be able to compare over more than the last couple years, but the quality on the cruises we have gone on has remained relatively consistent. The biggest improvement I could see would be to find a better way to keep the hot food hot and the cold food cold. But really you have a lot of people eating a lot of food. Hard to keep quality up with that volume of food being served.

Just off the Ruby last week and we all (18 in our group) thought the dining room food was really good. Never been a fan of the buffet personally, so I thought it was not very good as per usual. Looking forward to trying the Royal buffet in March, which I hear is exceptional.

Not sure what you mean by filler food.

 

Most food fills me.....eventually.

I was curious about the same thing.....:D:D:D

Bob

Off the Ruby 3 weeks ago. The menus have not changed. The food was good to very good. Buffet was good, always something good to eat.

I don't think it's specific to Princess. All cruise lines are trying to sell specialty dining and the mdr meals have gone downhill imo because they want to upsell you.

The last two cruises I found myself eating more meals in the Horizon Court. The buffet has a lot to offer when there's nothing exciting in the mdr.

That makes a lot of sense about the budget and if the cruise was heavily discounted.

 

Understandable for sure then. They worked with what they had to stay within a budget.

 

Thank you for pointing that out.

Sorry. But you get what you paid for.

Just returned from a 4 day getaway cruise to Ensenada on the Crown.

 

I can't believe the food quality. It has gone way down since last year. Plus the choices are really not that great. My husband and I are not really picky eaters, but one night there was really nothing that even stood out. The Horizon court buffet at lunch seems like they have a lot of choices but it seems to be a lot of filler food. Very disappointed. I am wondering if it is just on the short cruises that they have cut back.

 

What do you all think?

I think it's the Crown.

We just spent 43 days on the Crown. We went to the buffet almost every day for lunch. The same soups, pastas and some other dishes were in the buffet for 3-4 days at a time.

On other ships, those dishes changed daily.

The food in the MDR at dinner ranged from good to great.

What's that?

I think "filler" food is stuff like potatoes, rice, breads, mac & cheese, etc.

Like when you go to a buffet, the tip is to not fill up on these less expensive foods and go for the seafood, steaks and such.

I could be totally wrong though.

They must have sent all the good food over to the Royal's buffet. :D We had loads of choices at every meal which varied every day with lots of new innovative dishes created by the Italian & Filipino chief who watched every station with a keen eye ready to correct anything wrong.

The Horizon buffet seemed to have much better selections, except for the formal nights.