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Coffee snob question


Montana
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Ok I have to admit that a good capuchino or a good latte are important to my day. I love the Celebrity line and their coffee shop. Can I expect the same quality on Princess since I have already booked my first cruise and purchased 2 coffee packages. Looking forward to a new experience.

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I've not been on celebrity, but I only drink Peet's coffee at home and I thought the espresso drinks were quite good on the Caribbean Princess in April 2017. I was even ok with the regular brewed coffe in the MDR and room service coffee. I like bold, strong coffee.

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A coffee snob would never add any milk or cream or sugar to their coffee and thus hide the true flavor of the beans;)

That said, the coffee on the royal class ships is fresh brewed and much better than you'll find at most of your in-laws:)

Can't speak for the other princess ships, I'm pretty new to cruising.

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There are usually Princess coffee cards for sale on Ebay for quite a savings compared to online or in person on Princess if you're interested.

Also you might want to know that the coffee cards are good for 3 scoops of Gelato at the international cafe for 1 punch.

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A coffee snob would never add any milk or cream or sugar to their coffee and thus hide the true flavor of the beans;)

That said, the coffee on the royal class ships is fresh brewed and much better than you'll find at most of your in-laws:)

Can't speak for the other princess ships, I'm pretty new to cruising.

 

A coffee snob wouldn't drink brewed coffee at any time, with or without milk. Only espresso!

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A coffee snob wouldn't drink brewed coffee at any time, with or without milk. Only espresso!

I agree with you on the espresso, but milk would kick you out of the club;)

When on the ship, I drink their brew; but at home I just went retro and discovered the great flavor of the old fashioned percolator after my saeco machine broke and now I'm hooked.

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I agree with you on the espresso, but milk would kick you out of the club;)

When on the ship, I drink their brew; but at home I just went retro and discovered the great flavor of the old fashioned percolator after my saeco machine broke and now I'm hooked.

 

Not in Australia. Lattes are an art form here. ;p

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Ok I have to admit that a good capuchino or a good latte are important to my day. I love the Celebrity line and their coffee shop. Can I expect the same quality on Princess since I have already booked my first cruise and purchased 2 coffee packages. Looking forward to a new experience.

About 2 years ago Princess upgraded their coffee offerings to what they call "New Grounds Crafted Coffee".

 

They began using Caffe Bossi beans from Genoa, Italy, training baristas at a school in Portland, Oregon & adding additional options. I drink black coffee because I enjoy the taste & have been happy with the brewed coffee (fee) at the International Cafe and the filtered (free) coffee machines in the Horizon Court buffet on the Royal & Regal Princess.

 

While I'm not a coffee connoisseur, I enjoy 100% Kona coffee at home which I drink black. The Princess coffee is more bold flavored to me but coffee taste is very subjective.

 

Here's a photo of the IC coffee menu which as I recall was still valid in January.

 

Almost forgot to include the specialty coffees and teas as well:

 

23833907011_14b4ef3cfa_z.jpgPC130732 by mdgary21043, on Flickr

23916400625_6471e901ab_z.jpgPC130733 by mdgary21043, on Flickr

 

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Ok I have to admit that a good capuchino or a good latte are important to my day. I love the Celebrity line and their coffee shop. Can I expect the same quality on Princess since I have already booked my first cruise and purchased 2 coffee packages. Looking forward to a new experience.

 

 

Both Cafe al Baccio and The International Cafe make great coffee drinks. You will not be disappointed. They both have nice goodies to munch on as well.

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I've not been on celebrity, but I only drink Peet's coffee at home and I thought the espresso drinks were quite good on the Caribbean Princess in April 2017. I was even ok with the regular brewed coffe in the MDR and room service coffee. I like bold, strong coffee.

Is that regular brewed coffee drip or syrup? Just wondering if we have to buy a coffee card to get real coffee in the MDR.

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Is that regular brewed coffee drip or syrup? Just wondering if we have to buy a coffee card to get real coffee in the MDR.

 

Except for the Royal, Regal & guessing the Majestic which have filtered coffee machines that use ground coffee, other ships have coffee made from concentrate except at the IC.

 

Recently posts about the coffee from concentrate were better reviewed which could be a result of better maintaining the coffee machines and/or a better quality of concentrated coffee.

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We've been on 3 different Princess ships recently and thoroughly enjoy International Cafe coffees, ranging from black and espresso to flavored coffee drinks. It also helped to have the AIBP. 😎

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The International Cafe on Princess is comparable (and often better) then what we get on Celebrity.

 

Hank

I am not a coffe snob, not even close, but the coffe on a recent Celebrity cruise was undrinkable. I had several cappuccinos which were quite nice but the regular coffee . . .

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As a fellow coffee "addict" I hope this helps! I say addict 'cause I'll drink just about any coffee if I need the caffeine, but I can tell the difference between beans, some bean origins, and brew styles. My normal AM coffee is Cafe Bustelo espresso-grind through a pour over cone with water about 205-200 degF - I use a little lower temp because the finer grind can get a little over-extracted if I use hotter water.

 

If I remember correctly, Celebrity was using lavazza or ily coffee in the percolators (a european/italian dark roast) for drip coffee. Espresso beans were a similar dark roast style. (Eq, July '16, Silhouette, Feb '17). I like that style coffee (and don't really <3 Starbucks beans other than their blonde roast).

 

Coral and most of the Princess ships use coffee concentrate in the MDR and buffets, quality is variable but it's weaker and lighter roast style coffee (I haven't sailed Regal/Royal, but word is that's fresh brewed there).

 

Brewed coffee at the IC was fine, again weaker side and lighter roast, not my style but fine (think freshly opened folgers/maxwell style coffee). Same lighter roast beans were being ground for their espresso drinks (Note: I got a scoop of beans and was huffing them for an hour during the wine tasting... so I paid a lot of attention to those beans :p). Using that lighter style roast will give a little less depth than a traditional dark roast espresso bean, but beans were ground right at time of tamping for shot to be pulled. Milk was steamed in front of you and then latte/cap was poured there. I don't remember them using a thermometer on Coral, but temps were definitely hot but milk was never scalded (assuming no thermometer though it'll depend on who steams your milk as to whether they overshoot).

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No expert on coffee; but I do fresh grind my beans for making French press every morning. I also am fortunate enough to live in a city where coffee brewing is taken seriously and I happily explore the options.

 

Our first Princess cruise was last month on the Coral. We had as a free perk the AIBP. We frequented the IC each day and found the quality of the coffee or coffee drinks to vary quite a bit. It was decently good but not great. I am hoping the Regal will be even better next February.

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Ok I have to admit that a good capuchino or a good latte are important to my day. I love the Celebrity line and their coffee shop. Can I expect the same quality on Princess since I have already booked my first cruise and purchased 2 coffee packages. Looking forward to a new experience.

 

 

I thought I might have a different perspective since we sail on both lines quite a bit and I absolutely love the Celebrity specialty coffees at Cafe Al Bacio. In my opinion, the specialty coffees on Princess at the International Cafe are inferior to those you can get on Celebrity. I mostly like Espresso, Cappuccino and Cafe Americano and have been disappointed with the ones on Princess. I am not a huge fan of lattes so cannot speak to those but my twin nephews, both of which worked as baristas up in Washington, cruised with us on Princess and said that their baristas didn't know how to make a decent cup of coffee. They reverted to drinking tea ... they thought the coffee was just that bad. I don't think it was undrinkable .. it's just a matter of taste, though. I am sure it was based more on the coffee used than the baristas abilities. But, since you mention that you love the specialty coffee on Celebrity, you and I might have similar preferences and you may not care so much for the specialty coffee on Princess.

 

Of note, Starbucks or Peets?? ... for me, Starbucks wins by a mile! Others prefer Peets ... just a difference in preference is all ... so no flaming from others!!

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No expert on coffee; but I do fresh grind my beans for making French press every morning. I also am fortunate enough to live in a city where coffee brewing is taken seriously and I happily explore the options.

 

Our first Princess cruise was last month on the Coral. We had as a free perk the AIBP. We frequented the IC each day and found the quality of the coffee or coffee drinks to vary quite a bit. It was decently good but not great. I am hoping the Regal will be even better next February.

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