Ocean Princess Food

At the chance of getting clobbered by irate cruisers, I have a question just the same. If anyone is on the Ocean Princess now, how is the food in the Main Dining Room? We couldn't believe how bad it was on the Christmas cruise. We always like the meals on Princess, but not this time. They even managed to ruin lobster and steaks. So just curious if it has improved or not. By the way, we were not the only ones complaining. ;)

At the chance of getting clobbered by irate cruisers, I have a question just the same. If anyone is on the Ocean Princess now, how is the food in the Main Dining Room? We couldn't believe how bad it was on the Christmas cruise. We always like the meals on Princess, but not this time. They even managed to ruin lobster and steaks. So just curious if it has improved or not. By the way, we were not the only ones complaining. ;)

Not irate and not going to clobber you.......

If it was that bad why take the chance and book the Ocean again?

Food is subjective so why take others word for it? You experienced it first hand.

I can honestly say we have never experienced "bad dining room food on any Princess cruise".

The food could change in a matter of hours so why would anyones opinion matter? :eek:

Where are all the others that felt the same way?

......

Where are all the others that felt the same way?

They are not here. The four of us who cruise together agreed that the food on the Ocean Princess Christmas/New Year's cruise was absolutely the best of the 14 Princess cruises we have been on.

We didn't care for the buffet, which has OK food but is the only Princess ship we've seen that has a buffet line, but the MDR food was outstanding, as was the service.

They are not here. The four of us who cruise together agreed that the food on the Ocean Princess Christmas/New Year's cruise was absolutely the best of the 14 Princess cruises we have been on.

 

We didn't care for the buffet, which has OK food but is the only Princess ship we've seen that has a buffet line, but the MDR food was outstanding, as was the service.

I agree with this. The MDR food on the Ocean Princess was the best we've had to date.

We were on the crossing this fall and the food was some of the best we've had on one of the mainstream lines. Now, of course, ya gotta realize tastes are subjective, but it fit our tastes better than any other ship/line recently and we've been on HAL, Princess and Cunard in the last few months. Of those, Cunard is at the bottom of the list............but then, we were not in a suite on Cunard and that's a different dining experience. . Just our 2 cents worth

When the Ocean was the Tahitian Princess, the food was good. The service was horriable. They were shorthanded and it made the expierence less than pleasurable.

We were on the Ocean Princess last August for a British Isles cruise. We had no problem with the food in the MDR.

The only negative comment on food I have is that the veggie burger (not MDR) was the worst by far I have ever had on a cruise ship, or for that matter, anywhere else.

During our 61 day journey on the Ocean Princess last year, the cooks for the MDR just could not prepare a steak or a burger medium-rare (hey, after 61 days on the ship, you just gotta have the MDR burger now and then).

Other than that, the food was great.

They are not here. The four of us who cruise together agreed that the food on the Ocean Princess Christmas/New Year's cruise was absolutely the best of the 14 Princess cruises we have been on.

 

We didn't care for the buffet, which has OK food but is the only Princess ship we've seen that has a buffet line, but the MDR food was outstanding, as was the service.

Which all goes to prove that human perception is definitely subject to variability.

We were also disappointed with the food on the Christmas Cruise, but to be fair it was very much like the proverbial 'curate's egg'

We were on a table of eight. One couple were on their first Princess cruise having become dissatisfied with Royal Caribbean and thought it was good.

The rest of us were disappointed, - not with all the meals by any means, and not to the extent that anyone brought the subject up until, two nights before the end of the cruise one of our fellow dining companions was served a chicken dish which looked, and reportedly tasted, awful. It was a breaded roast chicken with just some fries and no vegetables or sauce and looked as if it had been served incomplete. It was completely dry and, I must say, that did not look as though it would not have been improved by a sauce or vegetables.

Not wishing to make a fuss the gentleman concerned simply left the meal, and didn't send it back. Unfortunately it just happened to be the night the Maitre'd came around the tables with the chef and one really felt sorry for the chef when they were shown the chicken dish at which point the other couple at our table expressed disappointment with other dishes.

Service was very questionable, largely it appears from having a very high turnover in staff just before the start of the cruise and with many of the staff clearly being on their first cruise. I wanted to order a wine package, and had to explain to our wine waiter how the package worked at which point he went off to ask his boss how to set it up.

To be fair service improved considerably as the cruise wore on and staff were getting more familiar with their duties, and I would expect by now they are all up to scratch, but at the start of the cruise it really was dismal.

The issue of staffing problem was also emphasised by the number of staff who had been due to leave the ship during the cruise, but had their tour of duty extended at the last moment and in one case I know of one excellent waiter, in Sabatinis who had his contract extended the night before he was due to disembark, in Barbados, until mid January when the ship docked in Equador.

I understand much of the problem was caused by a large number staff having 'family' reasons to leave the ship early in both Rome and Fort Lauderdale and I can understand why some folks had better service experiences than others.

All in all, it was not good, and the OP was certainly not alone in their perception, though I can see why others had different perceptions. It was simply a lottery of whether or not you got experienced staff or folks on their first contract who because of the staff shortages were neither properly trained nor supported and were having to learn on the job.

I do however think it was an exception to the rule, brought on by difficult staffing issues and it has not put us off Princess.

Corfe Mixture: I appreciate your support as I know you had better luck than we did most nights. I agree with your assessment of the problems. We have never been disappointed with Princess dining until this cruise. We enjoyed cruising with you and your wife and hope to meet again sometime. Happy cruising. :)