Taking our first Princess cruise, food?, etc.

[PenguinLife]

My wife and I are taking our first Princess lines cruise next month out of Galveston on the Crown Princess (we have been cruising with Carnival out of Galveston about once per year for the last few years) and have a few questions. First off I guess the obvious one is what sort of differences should we expect with Princess other than a bit more sedate crowd (hopefully)? Secondly are there any online copies of the MDR menus (any other menus too, do they have room service?) my wife and I each have a number of dietary restrictions and it is much easier on us to be able to plan out our meals in advance.

Thanks Ike

[tommycha]

Hi PenguinLife,

We have posted the menus on our blog with photos of the dishes we took, including the various dining room specialty dish.

You might want to check out our blog from the links below.

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We find the service much better on Princess.

[PenguinLife]

Thanks, the food does look great.

[ChiefBoats]

My DW and I have only sailed Princess but we find the food very good. Of course depends on you view of food. (we are not 4-5 Star eater) The Horizon Court buffet is open 24 hours and at times can be crowded depending on what is happening on board. The MDR's have a decent selection and if you do not find something on it ask and they will be glad to help. We always use anytime dining and once we find a waiter/Jr. waiter we like we make reservations in the morning for one of their tables. If you are not real picky you will be satisfied.

[vols52]

Originally Posted by PenguinLife

My wife and I are taking our first Princess lines cruise next month out of Galveston on the Crown Princess (we have been cruising with Carnival out of Galveston about once per year for the last few years) and have a few questions. First off I guess the obvious one is what sort of differences should we expect with Princess other than a bit more sedate crowd (hopefully)? Secondly are there any online copies of the MDR menus (any other menus too, do they have room service?) my wife and I each have a number of dietary restrictions and it is much easier on us to be able to plan out our meals in advance.

Thanks Ike

We did sail Royal Caribbean and Celebrity among others earlier.

We loved Celebrity but discovered Princess and Princess is our first choice.
The staff is much more professional, the food is better and has a nice presentation.We did the Chef's table on our Panama Canal Transit. I have food allergies and the staff for the table all came to check on the allergy and then came out again to be sure I was happy with what I was served

The amenities on Princess are a step better than Celebrity.
I would not hesitate to cruise with Celebrity again but I would check on the itinerary with Princess first.
Enjoy,
Marty
SW FL

[caribill]

Originally Posted by PenguinLife

my wife and I each have a number of dietary restrictions and it is much easier on us to be able to plan out our meals in advance.

The first evening meet with your headwaiter to discuss your dietary needs.

He will bring you the next days dining room menus for B,L and D and work with you to select items that will meet your needs or which can be adjusted to meet your needs. This will be repeated each evening so you can plan the next day's meals.

The information is kept by your cabin number so if you are in anytime dining with a different waiter it can be found easily. If you are in anytime, I suggest using the same dining room each evening so you can work with the same headwaiter.

Although your waiter cannot ask for anything special, make him/her aware of what you should not have so it is not accidentally brought to you.

If you will be using a specialty restaurant, stop by there the evening before to plan your meal with the headwaiter there.

[Pam in CA]

Food is very subjective. One person's "Yay!" Is another's "Yuck!" Overall, I think the food on Princess is very good with some hits and some misses. The good news is that I've found Princess very accommodating if you wish to modify menu items. For instance, no sauce or a different sauce, a baked potato instead of au gratin, etc.

Last September/October, I traveled with a couple and she has a severe shellfish allergy, bad enough to carry an epipen with her. Every night, the next day's menus were dropped off and at dessert time, the head waiter took her order for the next day. Since it was a 17-day cruise, I often get tired of the heavy entrees/meals and several nights, requested a salad with grilled chicken strips. It was sooooo good!

IMHO, Princess has outstanding pastas, excellent soups and while I rarely order fish at home, they have really good fish dishes. Love the home-made ice cream and sorbet. Except for tenderloin and fillet, I don't think their steaks are anything special. I don't have lobster on a ship on any cruise line as I've been spoiled by fresh, cold-water New England lobster. But I do love the lobster bisque. I think Princess does lamb well.

[TracieABD]

I like the food on Princess, for the most part.

You can indicate food concerns on your personalizer, but remember to talk with the head waiter, too. Some times the communication can get lost from headquarters to ship.

You can also request to see the next day's menus, so you can pre plan your food...

Good luck!

[Mom33]

Princess is very helpful with food requirements. Just post your needs on the cruise personalizer and then see the Maitre D or headwaiter onboard. Enjoy your cruise.

[nunuc2000]

We have been on several cruises with both lines (most recently for a B2B in Europe a couple months ago on the Crown), and there are more similarities than differences. We prefer Carnival when we have all our now-adult sons with us (and especially when they were teens!!), but prefer Princess when we cruise without them. Princess is definitley a little more sedate, refined and relaxing. You'll find more tuxes and dark suits on formal nights with Princess, and the overall feel of the ship is quite a bit more... uhhh... shall we say understated elegance? Very different than the bold and somewhat gaudy decorating that Carnival tends to favour.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, necessarily, it really depends on what kind of cruise expereince you're looking for. There's no table dancing on Princess, but you can still find the disco hopping at night (and Skywalkers on the Crown is a great place to dance!) There's also more formal dancing, if you're looking for that... like big band style, waltzes, cha cha, and even latin music trios to let you get your Merangue on! The open deck sailaway party is usually a little more low-key, and you're not likely to find any "hairy chest" contests.. but Princess does put on other fun contests, like Martini mixing or casino contests (same as Carnival's).

We would likely still choose Carnival with our sons, as it's just more "lively" for them with more of a party crowd. But when it's just John and I, Princess gets our vote everytime.

I won't address the dietary concerns, as others have already done an excellent job informing you of that.

I hope you enjoy your first Princess experience, and that you return to let us know what you thought of it.

Celine

[Cruisin' Chick]

At the first meal of my most recent cruise, I mentioned my shellfish allergy to my waiter, and just minutes later, the head waiter stopped by to check on that. I assured him I avoid fish dishes anyway, but it was nice to know I could check with him if I was unsure about whether to order a dish or not. And I know to be really care in the Horizon Court (a few cruises ago, I served myself some stir fry, but fortunately noticed the shrimp before taking a bite).

My main concern is the possibility of cross contamination, but I feel safer that the gallery is better about the use of serving tongs and utensils than some other places (I tried to explain to Panda Express workers their unwise use of tongs, but gave up, and rarely get any food for myself when taking my daughter there).

[basser]

Originally Posted by tommycha

Hi PenguinLife,




We have posted the menus on our blog with photos of the dishes we took, including the various dining room specialty dish.

You might want to check out our blog from the links below.

I don't see the links below. Am I not looking in the right place?

[tommycha]

Hi basser,

The links are in my signature below.

U can click on this too

http://discoverbooktravel.blogspot.s...Cruise%20Menus

Originally Posted by basser

I don't see the links below. Am I not looking in the right place?

[PenguinLife]

Thanks I will certainly follow on the dietary limitations, with myself it seems like when my wife and I go out to eat somewhere studying the menu is more about what I can eat than what I want to eat these days. I had fairly extensive abdominal surgery a couple of years ago, and since then I have a very low tolerance for fried foods, particularly ones that are breaded and fried (3 chicken nuggets are ok if they are not greasy, 4 and it becomes a dice roll, a year ago 2 was a dice roll, so it is improving some), I also have food allergies to tree nuts and sunflower seeds.