Coffee

We are sailing shortly on the Voyager. Coffee is important to us and on previous Regent cruises we have been very disappointed with the quality. It was the same beans or ground coffee throughout the ships and of a very inferior blend.

Has it improved or do we bring our own?

I'm on the Mariner now and the coffee is just as bad as it has always been from all the sources on the ship. I did talk to some of the managers and they agree about the sheer numbers of complaints but have no answers.

My DH found the coffee on the Mariner better than the Voyager (not sure why since they use the same beans). His best cup of coffee was from the machine outside of the Coffee Connection. Since nothing will probably change in the foreseeable future, maybe you should have your own beans (ground) and maybe a French Press coffee maker.

I have found that ordering a Cafe Americano gets you a decent cup of coffee on Regent ships.

My DH orders a "double Americano" but still prefers the machine.

I may bring my own silver as I prefer my pattern to the one on the Navigator.

Debi

Maybe your napkins as well...

Not a bad idea!

Debi

It is particularly bizarre that the coffee on Regent is so bad when the coffee on Oceania is not bad at all - quite drinkable in fact, even for someone like me who only drinks espresso at home (Nespresso, that is!) And Oceania's espresso is a cut above Regent's. They are supposed to have common purchasing so why should the coffee be different??

Regent and Oceania purchase from the same company but not necessarily the same quality or products. I do find the topic of coffee interesting even though I am not a big coffee drinker and wonder what Regent passengers are looking for. I suspect that coffee drinkers from the U.S. are used to different coffee than in other parts of the world (I base this on having tried coffee in many different countries and find coffee in the U.S. the weakest of any I have tasted).

If you took 20 people from different parts of the U.S. and overseas, I wonder if they could agree on what a "good" cup of coffee is. In some ways coffee reminds me of beer. Some is very mild, some very strong, others bitter and some very rich in flavor - neither particularly strong or weak. When I do drink coffee (or beer) I like it very dark, very rich in flavor with no bitterness. Maybe Regent should offer a variety of coffees - as they do with beer?

We Were on Mariner in September, our first Regent cruise, and were were prepared for terrible coffee from reading this board. We didn't find the coffee all that bad. It did vary from venue to venue. It actually tasted like different blends in different places. I think only once in ten days did I get a terrible cup of coffee.

I didn't realize I was that easy to please!

My DH orders a "double Americano" but still prefers the machine.

I have preferred the machine, as well, Travelcat2, on all 3 vessels. Consider this! My home water changed for the better when I had a water specialist test for ph. My well was found to have enough problems to impact my coffee. I made the necessary changes and sure enough the coffee I love was again back in my cup.

The best beans in the world can be made to lack flavor when the water contains small amounts of bacteria, iron, lead, copper and/or arsenic. I'm wondering what would happen if we travelers brought test kits with us to discover why so many complain about their coffees? Jack

maybe they use Seattle'sworst

I have preferred the machine, as well, Travelcat2, on all 3 vessels. Consider this! My home water changed for the better when I had a water specialist test for ph. My well was found to have enough problems to impact my coffee. I made the necessary changes and sure enough the coffee I love was again back in my cup.

 

The best beans in the world can be made to lack flavor when the water contains small amounts of bacteria, iron, lead, copper and/or arsenic. I'm wondering what would happen if we travelers brought test kits with us to discover why so many complain about their coffees? Jack

That is amazing information!

That is amazing information!

Thank you, Travelcat2, I hope I have helped a wee bit regarding the ongoing coffee complaints. One of the things I also learned was how to read the color stains in wash basins, kitchen sinks and shower tiles. My ph guy was very open with me during his residential testing. And I was very inquisitive. Remember this! When you see red stains you have too much copper in the water. Green stains point to a melting down of your copper pipes resulting in time to minute squirts or leakage of water into the walls and flooring. What we try to avoid is acidic or alkaline water. Balancing the ph is the goal and the testing is really quite simple.

Why don't we make a point of asking to see the crew member responsible for the vessel's drinking water. His explanation should include frequent tests of the water system. Who knows, Travelcat2, you might be offered a tour of the ship's waterworks. Pleasant travels! Jack

Aloha All,

We just got off of Voyager in Istanbul and made the 28 hour journey back to Kauai--still recovering.

I have written on this topic before. We own and operate both a cafe and a coffee roasting business in Hawaii, so I have a little knowledge on the coffee topic.

In the past, I have written that it is almost impossible to make great coffee on a ship because coffee is comprised of over 99+% water, and the water on a ship will never be "great;" however, a ship should be able to make a drinkable cup of regular coffee, and while I am critical of coffee, I am usually able to drink just about anything.

Having said this, the regular coffee in the restaurants/room service on the Voyager this year were just this side of drinkable to me. Perhaps my perception has changed, but it seemed even worse than on our first two Regent cruises. I was able to get a bit better coffee out of the machines on decks 5 and 11, but these were just OK. We had an Illy espresso maker in the suite, and these make fairly good coffee. My wife enjoyed two shots every morning.

I guess that I got my coffee fix on land during our first two cruises and did not have as many opportunities this time, so I felt the disappointment in the ship's coffee a bit more. I ended up drinking as much or more tea than coffee as the Twinnings bags are pretty good.

I think that a change in beans may be in order for Regent as well as possibly rethinking the huge commercial coffee brewers in the kitchens, at least for some service times. Serving 700 people between 630 and 730 am on excursion days must be a nightmare for the kitchens, so I don't know how realistic it would be to refit these brewers, but having a french press available during the afternoons or in the evenings, when there is far less coffee drinking going on, would improve the quality greatly.

All for now. Time for some more sleep--then back to work.

Aloha from Hanalei,

Mark

It can't be the water as the coffee on other cruise lines is much better. Even having French Press available at breakfast, as does Seabourn, nor new coffee makers in the kitchens won't help if the beans are so poor.

The one good thing I can think to say about QANTAS is that they have small French Press machines for the coffee in their Business class. Perhaps Regent really should consider getting those to replace the dreadful stuff it calls coffee?

But it still doesn't answer my question - Oceania and Regent are supposed to have a common purchasing department. So how come they buy good beans for Oceania and disgusting ones for Regent? If their suppliers are the same surely they could bulk order the same beans?

The one good thing I can think to say about QANTAS is that they have small French Press machines for the coffee in their Business class. Perhaps Regent really should consider getting those to replace the dreadful stuff it calls coffee?

 

But it still doesn't answer my question - Oceania and Regent are supposed to have a common purchasing department. So how come they buy good beans for Oceania and disgusting ones for Regent? If their suppliers are the same surely they could bulk order the same beans?

In your first sentence, Hambagahle, you noted French press machines making great coffee for Quantas and you suggested that if Regent had presses the coffee would likely improve. By this do you mean the press alone would improve Regent coffee without any concerns for the 'disgusting' coffee bean quality or the possible problem with the ship's water? Jack

HanaleiSailor: Welcome back -- hope you will tell us about your cruise when you have time.

In terms of coffee, I believe that coffee in Hawaii tends to be better than on the mainland. How would you compare typical coffee shop coffee on the mainland to coffee on Regent? The reason I ask is that the many people find coffee shop coffee just fine (I do not because I prefer much stronger coffee).

I definitely do not think that the coffee on Regent is "disgusting" nor do I think that more money is spent on coffee beans for Oceania than for Regent. They no doubt use different beans. It may be somewhat like wine..... there are cheap wines that I prefer to more expensive ones. The same could be true for coffee. I just had a "taster" of coffee at Trader Joe's and found it quite nice (not expensive either).

HanaleiSailor: Welcome back -- hope you will tell us about your cruise when you have time.

 

In terms of coffee, I believe that coffee in Hawaii tends to be better than on the mainland. How would you compare typical coffee shop coffee on the mainland to coffee on Regent? The reason I ask is that the many people find coffee shop coffee just fine (I do not because I prefer much stronger coffee).

 

I definitely do not think that the coffee on Regent is "disgusting" nor do I think that more money is spent on coffee beans for Oceania than for Regent. They no doubt use different beans. It may be somewhat like wine..... there are cheap wines that I prefer to more expensive ones. The same could be true for coffee. I just had a "taster" of coffee at Trader Joe's and found it quite nice (not expensive either).

I believe Hanbagahle used 'disgusting' when he compared beans purchased by Oceana with Regent. Not that the coffee itself was disgusting. I used the term again in reference to his writing. I drink coffee mainly from the machine when with Regent and find it to my liking. Coffee in the cabin, for me, has no better flavor than in the restaurants. Jack

I believe Hanbagahle used 'disgusting' when he compared beans purchased by Oceana with Regent. Not that the coffee itself was disgusting. I used the term again in reference to his writing. I drink coffee mainly from the machine when with Regent and find it to my liking. Coffee in the cabin, for me, has no better flavor than in the restaurants. Jack

Definitely could have misunderstood. Thanks for clarification. As I mentioned, my DH drinks coffee from the machine or order double Americano which is better than regular coffee in the restaurants. While I am not much of a coffee drinker any more, the last time I was on the Voyager I had a cough and was drinking French Coffee from the Coffee Connection every afternoon (it does have alcohol) and it was just fine. Probably the alcohol covered the taste of the coffee:)

On the Navigator the coffee bar coffee is quite good. I have an Iced Coffee with a shot of espresso and it's very good. Of course we use Publix ground espresso at home for all of our coffee--a pot for the iced and a pot for hot-- and it's much better than any coffee anywhere. Tap water and Cuisinart pot. We find that whoever makes it for us makes the difference.

Debi

I find it novel that more than a few of we Regent travelers have bones to pick with our coffees when we have bought and paid for (from home) a hundred-plus drinks of most everything alcohol one can imagine. No matter where we are on our favorite vessels we have all the wines and hard and soft drinks available and almost instantly. Very few of us have ever faulted our liquor service. Certainly not me! Finding the 'just right' Caffe Americano (really an espresso with added hot water) or simply a hot cup of decaffeinated java that delights our taste buds seems to be the elusive drink for some/many. I think how each of us approach our coffee is similar in some ways to our like and dislike of cooked eggs. Jack

Had to laugh at the comparison as I don't care for coffee or eggs (and I'm not a picky eater).