Review: Golden 5/9-5/16 So. Carib. Explorer (Part 3)

PART 3

Food:

Breakfast: Had breakfast in Horizon Court every day but two, I think. One of those to days, I got room service due to an early excursion and we ate in the dining room on disembarkation day. FINALLY had that cornflake-encrusted French toast I’ve heard so much about. Yowza, that stuff is goood! Horizon Court was about the same as always for me, except for the fruit. Fresh fruit is usually the highlight of my breakfast, but it was terribly underripe this year (pineapple especially). Still in all, HC provides a GREAT variety of foods, which I love. They even had my favorite cereal! My travel companions noticed that the smoked salmon that used to be available is now smoked mackerel—I can’t remember if they ever did find smoked salmon at least one day.

Lunch: Had lunch in Horizon Court most days and in the dining room one day. Didn’t eat much of the entree-type food in Horizon Court; I ate mostly salad and fruit with a bit of whatever the carving station meat of the day was and a few bites of pasta. Great and plentiful salad options, which was a blessing since I just lost 30 pounds and was trying not to put too much of it back on while on the cruise! LOL The dining room lunch menu the day we visited was, I felt, far too heavy for lunch (a repeat of the dinner menu in most respects). I ended up getting a burger and a salad because the rest of the menu was just too much food for me at lunch (both were good, by the way). I would rather see some lighter options for lunch, like a nice salad with grilled chicken on top.

Dinner: All were in the dining room except Thursday. We had early traditional dining. We loved our wait team, Orlando and Lucian, and our tablemates, Ron and Audrey.

Sunday –I had prime rib—it was fine. Don’t remember what dessert was.

Monday – Italian night: Had the special pasta of the night (Penne alla’Arribiata) and the baked peaches stuffed with almond paste for dessert. Yum to both!

Tuesday – Had Rock Cornish game hen w/wild rice, squash and baby lima beans, and chocolate hazelnut soufflé for dessert. This was my first time trying one of the much-ballyhooed soufflés and it was quite yummy. The Cornish hen and sides were fine.

Wednesday – Caribbean night (in place of French night): Had Caribbean Jerk Chicken (very tasty! but tasted like regular baked chicken—no spices as I would have expected) and the Love Boat Dream for dessert. I’d heard they’d changed the recipe for the Dream. Mostly it seems a difference in texture—like it has more gelatin or something. Not as good as it once was.

Thursday – Ate at the steakhouse: Had filet mignon and baked potato with Caesar salad. My 3 friends and I all seemed to feel that the steaks were good, tender cuts of meat and cooked to order, but bland tasting—not much seasoning at all. Chocolate pecan pie for dessert—tasty but dry (not nearly as decadent or delicious as I expected).

Friday –I got the always available chicken breast, which was fine (I asked for the sides that went with another entrée). Got the honey almond parfait for dessert—always good.

Saturday – I believe I got the prime rib again for lack of other options (I’m a picky eater). This is the one meal I forgot to write down but I know I had the Baked Alaska for dessert and it was good.

One sad note—my favorite entrée of several former Princess Cruises, Chicken Kiev, is no longer on the menu. I was really disappointed. I don’t remember what night this was on previously, but I even checked the dining room menu the night we were at the steakhouse to be sure I wasn’t missing it, and it wasn’t there. Bummer!

Coming up in Part 4 -- Entertainment

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Maui,

I've read all 3 parts and enjoyed all. Thanks for taking the time to report back. I look forward to part 4......

Gloria

Grand Princess, Eastern, April 2001

Grand Princess, Western,April 2002

Regal to Hawaii, April 5-20, 2004

I was on this same cruise as Maui, and my wife and I ate in PC dining each night.

None of our dinner selections overlapped Maui's except the Prime Rib on Sunday night, and a visit to the Steakhouse.

Our assessment of the Prime Rib and the Steak were identical to Maui's. Prime Rib was very good, and the steaks were good, tender cuts of meat and cooked to order, but not exceptionally flavorful.

My overall impression was, I believe very similar to Maui's. The food was certainly good to quite good in all cases, and very good in some cases. (Especially considering the magnitude of the food preparation effort on a ship this large.)

The one thing we had that was excellent was the Lobster tail on Friday (2nd formal) night, and we split an order or Beef Wellington between us.

The ambience was always fine, and we never felt rushed. Also, as I stated in an earlier post, we NEVER had to wait even one minute for a table, but we were always agreeable to sitting at any size table with any other passengers. It was really a fun way to dine.

Bill

<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Bill & Mary</FONT></FONT>

<FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Golden Princess: May 9, 2004</FONT></FONT>

<FONT SIZE="3"><span style="border:blue double 5px;"><span style="background-color:#000066;"><FONT COLOR="#33CCFF">~~~ Bummed Out!!! It's Over ~~~</span></span></FONT></FONT></p>

I was thinking of skipping French night and going to Sabatini's. Since Caribbean night has replaced French night. Any suggestion as to off-night? Did I remember right that the first night, you don't seat at your regular table. That might be a good alternative restaurant night.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tak8:

Did I remember right that the first night, you don't seat at your regular table.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yup, you did remember right about the first night being open seating. I'm assuming the alternative restaurants are open that first night, but I don't know that for certain.

We ate at the steakhouse on Thursday. We picked that day, sort of at random, upon embarkation because we wanted to get a reservation made. When Thursday morning came, I remember checking the menu at the elevator to make sure my favorite dish wasn't on the menu the day we'd be skipping the dining room. As it turned out, my favorite dish is no longer on the menu at all (whaa!), but I don't recall feeling like I was going to be missing anything that Thursday night in the dining room. On the other hand, I am a picky eater, so others may not feel the same way about skipping Thursday's dining room menu.