Princess Food has Declined Over the Years

This is my second cruise with Princess. We chose this cruise for the itinerary that included Glacier Bay. I cruised on the Diamond Princess in 2004, also to Alaska, but through the Tracy Arm. I have also cruised on Celebrity to Mexico.

The Ruby was a very nice ship and has been well maintained. Our cabin was on Aloha deck 12 forward. It was a typical balcony but was very adequate. The new Princess beds are AMAZING. We slept like babies, especially as we left the balcony door open and had the fresh sea air.

Our cabin steward was efficient, attentive and very quiet.

We chose Traditional Dining and our Waiter, Alfie was one of the best wait staff I have ever encountered. Him and his assistant Verica, made a great team. However, except for one night, the food was simply OK. This was disappointing, as on my pervious cruised, the food was amazing. Of course, this was before any specialty dining. Our group was good about choosing almost everything on the menu, and nobody was impressed. For the money shelled out, I expected more from Princess.

The Horizon Court buffet was terrible. It was sub-par food with a lousy repetitive selection. Twice we went for lunch and could not find anything appetizing, so went to the Trident Grill for a burger.

The specialty dining venues were, however, very good. Crown Grill delivered a meal that was on par with any fine steak-house. Share was WONDERFUL. It was probably the second-best meal I have eaten in 55 years. The food was awesome.

I took the Ultimate Ship Tour and was impressed. It is worth the $150 fee. Be warned it is a lot of walking, a bit over 2 miles, and some stairs, but worth it. After the tour, you receive a Princess robe, a Princess chefs’ apron, several group pictures, a nice picture frame, and personalized stationary.

We booked the Sanctuary for Glacier Bay and was not disappointed although it was a bit chilly for the first hour or so due to the ships speed. They serve a nice breakfast buffet, and a nice lunch buffet. There are bloody marys and mimosas as much as you want. You get to keep a nice ear scarf as well.

We had several spa treatments, and the Hard Sale was very annoying. In fact, I called to cancel my wife’s second massage because the sales pitch after her first one was so intrusive, it ruined her relaxed mood. I spoke with the spa manager, and she promised to talk with the next masseuse an included 15 extra minutes. It worked, and her second massage was better.

Princess should skip Victoria. The ship arrives late and its just not worth the stop.

On a side note, during the Ultimate Ships Tour we went to the main kitchen, and the cleanliness was amazing. I have managed a large institutional food services department and have been in numerous commercial kitchens, and I have NEVER seen a kitchen in such pristine state. (too bad the food was as good as the kitchen)

Overall it was a very nice and scenic cruise, and we did have a good relaxing trip, but the food quality with few exceptions, that you must pay extra for, made it so I do not think I will ever book a Princess cruise or a larger ship ever again.

Thanks for your comments.

Food is very subjective.

Kind of puzzled though that you would title your Ruby review about food declination with no mention of the ship. :confused:

IMO I think Share on the Ruby is terrible. :o :cool:

I love Victoria.........

They have to stop at Victoria for legal reasons.

DON

They have to stop in Victoria as a foreign port, it's a very nice place and i prefer that to Ensenada. The food quality has deteriorated significantly. Cheap cuts and low end products is my opinion. I tried Share and thought it was horid so you see food is subjective.

I agree, there has been a steady decline in the quality, taste and choice when it comes to the food (But certainly NOT limited to food) IMHO It is all about cutbacks, cutbacks and more cutbacks. It seems to be a race to see how low they can go that passengers will still tolerate. It does not appear the decline will be slowing down anytime soon.

I still love Princess and am loyal, but I honestly really miss what Princess once was. :(

That's too bad you didn't like the Ruby's food very much. I love SHARE. :) So as you and others have stated, food is subjective :)

I find that the first and last day of the cruise have my least favorite meals in the MDR. I do not like buffets at all, some people love them. However no matter where I go, I can always find ONE thing on the menu that I will want. I'm not picky and if I don't like something, it's OK too. I just won't finish it. While I do think that quality had declined since we started cruising Princess, it's still good enough to keep me cruising. If at some point it's no longer palatable to me, I will switch back to land trips. We stopped cruising for a few years previously, the switch up is nice, and makes me appreciate vacation differences.

I agree with Colo Cruiser that food is very subjective. We have always found the food in the MDR to be very good...the service, the atmosphere, the presentation, and most certainly the taste.

The Specialty restaurants, on the other hand, have not always been worth the upcharge. The Crown Grill has been a 50/50 adventure and Sabatini's (the one time we tried it) was very mediocre IMHO...certainly not worth the extra cost.

Having been on my first Princess cruise 35 years ago, I can definitely concur. We don't want to pay the surcharge and only eat in the MDR or the buffet. The food offerings are not up to the standard they were back then. It's been a gradual decline, but definitely a decline. I remember lobsters and prime rib on formal nights, baked alaskas with waiters slicing it at the table, tasty midnight buffets. They had better cuts of meat in the MDR, since they weren't looking to sell them in the "fee" restaurants.

I took a break from Princess and did a RCCL cruise two years ago, but was on Princess in summer 2014. I'll have to see how next February compares.

Food quality is very subjective but clearly the offerings have declined in quality and quantity over the years we have been cruising. This seems to be across all lines. Food cost is one of the few items that cruise lines can directly control, so that is where you see much cost cutting. Also the advent of specialty dining at an up charge has allowed them to decrease the quality in the MDR while driving people to the other venues.

The salad bar in the buffet IMHO is good. If you can't muster a nice salad together and be happy, then the rest of the cruise food you will find something wrong with. As far as the hard sell at the spa, right off tell them no hard sell. Do that when you make the reservation so they don't waste your time or theirs. We like eating in the Steak House versus hootie-tootie food that we may not like. Read too many bad reviews about SHARE to give them a try. Some of the best food we have eaten on cruises was on Carnival. If it wasn't for the kids running amuck, we would book a cruise with them.

"Princess should skip Victoria. The ship arrives late and its just not worth the stop."

Only other option would be a stop at Vancouver, but doubt there would be piers available with ships embarking and disembarking daily during the Alaska season. The ship is required by law to stop in a foreign country.

While food is very subjective, there's no doubt that food has been on the decline with Princess. I refer to it as the "Incredibly Shrinking Menu." Referring to dinners in the MDR, since 2014 through 2017 I've watched Pasta choices shrink from a course with two choices, to one pasta dish featured as an entree. The comfort food choices (bottom left) have dwindled, the most notable change being a hamburger replacing steak.

I've eaten in SHARE 4 or 5 times with its original menu and I enjoyed every meal. I believe they've altered it slightly --and obviously to the better-- as it's nice to read the rave reviews. How far SHARE opinion has come from its inception which faced such negativity within these forums by people who vowed never to set foot in the restaurant!

Probably my biggest disappointment is the new menu for Sabatini's. I've eaten two meals (Grand & Coral) and didn't enjoy either. What a shock to return to a restaurant that you've dined at a number of times to find that dish you wanted to have again is off the menu. Sure, a good restaurant adds and subtracts from their menu to keep it fresh: removing the poor selling items and replacing them with crowd-pleaser's previously offered as a daily special.

That does mean that a small percentage will be disappointed to see their low-selling item has been replaced. However, the new Sabatini's intends to disappoint everyone-- since every previous menu item has been eliminated and replaced.

Add to that the new militant "one from each category" policy that comes with the increased cover charge.

On Grand, I was dining alone, so surveyed the party of six next to me as to how they were enjoying their meal. Shoulder shakes and "there's too many fried foods" for the one course. The veal pocket, which sounded good, was very dry.

On my last cruise with Princess I dined in Sabatini's as a group of five on Coral Princess. These were my table mates in the MDR for our 15 day Panama Canal transit.

The initial waiter for our table explained every item on the menu for every course and took questions. That veal pocket was the only entree to me that was appealing, but from my last experience, I didn't want to order it. I made the mistake of asking if there was a "Chef's Special" for the evening. The waiter made an even bigger mistake with an answer that was borderline condescending: "Oh, with such a wide selection on the menu, there's no reason for a special."

Thankfully, our 8 pm reservation meant the room was fairly empty, and not too many heard my passionate response to the waiter when he returned a few minutes later. That had been just enough time for me to take my boil down to a simmer: I seething-ly started with: "Well since you seem to believe the menu has such a wide selection, let me give you a run-down on what I find is wrong and missing and why I feel a special would be a nice addition." When I finished by pointing out that the menu lacks a steak or chop, he boldly told me those were served in Bayou Cafe.

"I see, so you're telling me I should just eat somewhere else?"

Plenty of you are nodding your heads, as you read this, I'm sure. And I'm sure some will claim the new menu has provided them the best meal in their entire life.

The maitre 'd across the room had to hear at least the second half, as I became more agitated during my run down. I don't know how the server exited the table, but the next thing I knew, another server, a nice lady, came over, introduced herself and began a similar run down of the menu. It took me a minute or two to realize the Maitre 'd had intervened and tapped out the first server: we never saw him again anywhere in the dining room.

I was upset that I had lost my cool. While this was more than a week in on the cruise and the five of us had gotten to know each other and our quirks, I still didn't like making the commotion. At order time, the widower across from me said to the server, "I heard the veal pocket can be dry. Please tell me," as he looked her in the eyes, "will it be dry?" "No," she said, "it won't be dry." Confidently, he ordered. Hesitantly, I ordered it as well.

The veal plate included three fingerling like potatoes, which mine when turned over, were scorched black: burnt. I said not a word and drew no attention to them, as I felt I had said enough. The attentive server saw them and offered to bring more, which I declined. To her credit, she brought replacements anyway.

The widower, sitting across from me, said: "You're right, it is very dry." The newlyweds to my left had both sent their plates back and had to order something else. So, believe me, acknowledgement of the dry veal wasn't vindication, but further confirmation of what a miserable meal and experience Sabatini's had become. None of us were happy.

This isn't a price-value disconnect, as the casino paid for our meals and bottles of wine. Our second server did her absolute best to make us happy, and I left her a $50 gratuity. The Maitre 'd also did his best to ensure our happiness. But I'm sure his trained eye saw through our parting smiles and nods, as we answered his inquiry as to the meal.

That occurred December 2017, and I haven't set sail on a Princess cruise since, throwing away the invites for comp casino cruises.

Keeping this on the subject of declining food, I had taken an NCL comp cruise a few months before and still considered the declining Princess menus to offer a better variety in the MDR than NCL MDR small menu rotation.

But then earlier this year NCL comped me for a Courtyard Balcony in The Haven on Getaway. With it's private Haven Dining Room, it appears no expense is spared. True, the menu didn't change all week, but the food offerings were vast and up-market. Didn't see what you like? Well as long as they had the ingredients, they'd make what you wanted.

So while I have fond memories from many Princess cruises, NCL's The Haven means Princess is just a memory.

While the food is not what it was 20 years ago, it is similar in quality to its competition. We have recently sailed on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Viking River, and Princess. Found the food quality to be very similar on all of them. Some might have certain items that might be a little better or worse, but overall quality is similar.

rbt - I say this in all sincerity: I hope NCL lives up to all your expectations. I'm sure the waiters in Sabatinis do too. Why didn't you just deal with the Maitre'd after the confrontation with the initial wait staff?

Yay! Another food thread. Popcorn anyone?

The Horizon Court buffet was terrible. It was sub-par food with a lousy repetitive selection. Twice we went for lunch and could not find anything appetizing, so went to the Trident Grill for a burger...

Although thou doth protest too much, methinks...

rbt - I say this in all sincerity: I hope NCL lives up to all your expectations. I'm sure the waiters in Sabatinis do too. Why didn't you just deal with the Maitre'd after the confrontation with the initial wait staff?

Let me state that I am appreciative of the hard work and restrictive conditions that cruise line employees endure to ensure cruise line guest experiences are positive as they earn their livelihood and provide for their families who are many times thousands of miles away. I say "please" & "thank you," and acknowledge staff with a greeting even as I may simply pass them in a hallway as they are cleaning.

I perceived the first waiter's delivery as his belief was the final and accurate answer. And he did this after just cementing my opinion that there wasn't anything good on the menu by describing each dish. Perhaps it was his confidence in his answer --to which I obviously disagreed-- that caused my eyes to figuratively roll up in the back of my head.

I certainly DID NOT reply with: "You stupid ignorant fool, let me tell you why you are wrong..." That's not even how I think.

I simply planned to echo back a run down of the entree's and share with him what was wrong (in my opinion) with each, supporting my view that a Chef's Special would be a welcome addition. This was simply supposed to be a reply, sharing there was a different view than his; tattling to the Maitre 'd about the waiter wasn't the focus and would not have served the point to the waiter. Instead it was simply enlightening him to a contra-opinion.

While not planned, my passionate response and distaste for the menu brought out my forcefulness. By the end, I was agitated. I think the Maitre 'd took the best course of action.

While I haven't given thought to it until now, I'm going to believe that the Maitre 'd, realizing we were one of the last tables for the night, excused the waiter for the small balance of his shift without any repercussion. No wrongs were evident, other than opinions about the menu. Diffuse the situation by changing the waitstaff. When I realized that had occurred, my thought was good move. And that was the last I thought about it.

As for NCL, a very nice waiter in Moderno was boasting Norwegian Escape's capacity well over the actual number to both me and guests at the next table. And he remained confident when I said "I don't think the ship holds that many." "Oh, yes," was his reply. On his next trip to the table I shared with him the wiki page which states the capacity. He was surprised but seemed to accept it. The encounter was not about who's right or wrong, but about disseminating accurate information.

As for your assertion and belief that Sabatini's waiters have any aspirations regarding me, I'd instead believe that they've long forgotten me. Instead I would hope they'd remember mine and other's negative feelings about the new menu offerings.

There is not a restaurant on land or sea that we have visited that has not changed from traditional favorites to lesser new items. For example, no rib eye but offer sirloin... There are some very pricey small places (and luxury cruise lines) that have the "old" favorites. Things do change.

We are going on Princess cruise #7 in the last 5 years. We have no complaints but then again we’re not real picky. We can always find something we like. We’re not big on the buffet. Don’t like the mass of people hovering over the food and then trying to find a clean table can be a pain. We love the IC and Alfredo’s and then there is always the Trident Grill. I guess the old adage is true, you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

 

As for NCL, a very nice waiter in Moderno was boasting Norwegian Escape's capacity well over the actual number to both me and guests at the next table. And he remained confident when I said "I don't think the ship holds that many." "Oh, yes," was his reply. On his next trip to the table I shared with him the wiki page which states the capacity. He was surprised but seemed to accept it. The encounter was not about who's right or wrong, but about disseminating accurate information.

Right

This is my second cruise with Princess.

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Princess should skip Victoria. The ship arrives late and its just not worth the stop.

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Sorry... "Princess food has declined over the years" is an overly sweeping conclusion with but 2 datasets.

Otherwise thank you for the thorough review.

FWIW, blame the PVSA (often mis-cited as the "Jones Act") for Victoria. I treat it as a "stationary sea-day",

but without Vancouver or Victoria there's a $750ish fine per passenger.

Having dined in everything from a military field mess to 5 start restaurants, I can agree, without question, how subjective this topic can be. I've had some very good meals made by our mess cooks who had little to work with. That said, the meals produced by these cruise ship kitchens can be pretty darned good. Especially when you consider they are feeding 2,000 to 3,500 passengers per sitting. I have, also, found some meals in a high end restaurant to be only mediocre while discovering treasures at a mom and pop "farm to table" in a town of 100K.

And why beat up on a server who has no say in what he, or she, is presenting? Whatever reasons there are to complain about the food would be best taken up with the Hotel Manager who may address the issue, directly, with the chef. IMHO the food on a cruise ship would, hardly, be the deal breaker in my decision to cruise with them again. But then, for some, the grass will always be greener on the other side.

Food quality is very subjective but clearly the offerings have declined in quality and quantity over the years we have been cruising. This seems to be across all lines. Food cost is one of the few items that cruise lines can directly control, so that is where you see much cost cutting. Also the advent of specialty dining at an up charge has allowed them to decrease the quality in the MDR while driving people to the other venues.

Agree, many of the mass cruise lines have made cutbacks in exactly the same way over the last few years ;). Gone are the days of the midnight buffets, brunch etc.

We have recently returned from The Grand and loved our time spent in Victoria. If anything, we wished we had been able to spend more time there.

 

And why beat up on a server who has no say in what he, or she, is presenting? Whatever reasons there are to complain about the food would be best taken up with the Hotel Manager who may address the issue, directly, with the chef. IMHO the food on a cruise ship would, hardly, be the deal breaker in my decision to cruise with them again. But then, for some, the grass will always be greener on the other side.

This issue was not the trained spiel presenting the menu items but rather his assuredly ad lib reply that a menu as diverse needs not a Chef's Special.

This issue was not the trained spiel presenting the menu items but rather his assuredly ad lib reply that a menu as diverse needs not a Chef's Special.

And what if his opinion cost him more than a removal for the evening. Like his job? Based on your previous comments you probably would not have liked the Chefs Special anyway. My point is, why push his buttons until he says something regrettable and risk losing his job just to prove something? There have been several times I have not been thrilled with my menu choices. I have the personal responsibility to reject the experience and dine somewhere else, or make the best choice available. Again, perhaps your best course would have been to approach those who can, actually, do something about your issue.

Please keep in mind, also, that many of our cruise ship servers use English as a second language and sometimes what we hear is maybe not what they meant. We hope so, anyway. ;)

Larry, this discussion thread is about a perception of declining food aboard Princess. I shared my agreement and personal experiences from my last cruise on Princess (December 2017.)

Your last post seems more focused on my motivations and actions as you veer from the topic.

But let me wrap it up in a nice package for you:

And what if his opinion cost him more than a removal for the evening. Like his job?

 

His opinion is his and just differed from mine. I doubt Princess is concerned about that, as compared with one of their employees being overheard stating their opinion that "Princess is a terrible cruise line."

Again in this situation, the M'd overheard me, could see I was agitated and immediately resolved my outward agitation by changing the server. There wasn't a discussion between myself and the M'd about what happened, what was said, nor a determination of right or wrong.

Much different from another cruise where I witnessed a name dropping passenger retired from the entertainment industry that yelled at an employee, stating the employee wasn't doing his job and he was going to report him to get him fired.

 

 

Based on your previous comments you probably would not have liked the Chefs Special anyway.

 

Many times I do enjoy an evening's Chefs Special; you're drawing a premature conclusion without sufficient relevant facts.

 

My point is, why push his buttons until he says something regrettable and risk losing his job just to prove something?

 

Neither he nor I set out to push any buttons. He just managed to hit a sore spot with me regarding the menu. And as I stated, despite my attempt to keep my cool, I admit that my delivery was forceful and agitated. I was mad at myself when it happened, as I was sitting with four others. I know me, and I do know that had I been dining alone, I would have walked out before he returned. Excusing myself to the four guests at the table would have been inappropriate; the five of us enjoyed each others company and had planned to enjoy a nice meal together.

 

There have been several times I have not been thrilled with my menu choices. I have the personal responsibility to reject the experience and dine somewhere else, or make the best choice available.

 

You're stating exactly what I did: for that evening I settled for the Veal Pocket which turned out to be as dry as the first time I had it. I did feel I had the personal responsibility towards my table mates to not say another critical word about the food. And moving forward, I have already stated that I am dining elsewhere: NCL.

 

Again, perhaps your best course would have been to approach those who can, actually, do something about your issue.

 

My issue is with the menu, and it's not practical or effective to approach the Corporate Executive Chef who created and implemented the menu.

 

Please keep in mind, also, that many of our cruise ship servers use English as a second language and sometimes what we hear is maybe not what they meant. We hope so, anyway.

 

If I were just born yesterday, perhaps I would keep that front of mind. However, I'd say for a good 35 of the 37 years that I have been employed or self-employed, I have both worked and lived in a diverse multi-cultural environment where ESL is at play. However, your comment is not particularly accurate with respect to most passenger-facing employees-- especially at it pertains to specialty restaurants: typically only the most qualified and highly polished employees are awarded these positions.

;)