Best dining options

[DrMark]

Hello all,

 

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess for the August 1st departure. This will be our first cruise, and the recent Caribbean Princess reviews have me nervous :eek:; if I had seen them before booking, I would have chosen a different ship. I really hope Princess realizes how bad this looks for them.

 

I have noticed that most of the complaints seem to be around the dining options (and the smell), with particularly bad reviews of the Horizon buffet. We are doing any-time dining, and I was wondering what you experienced cruisers think are the best options for where to eat? We generally like to eat later (after 7:30) if that makes a difference.

 

From the reviews, it seems like depending on where you go, either the food is really bad, or the place is too crowded to get a seat, or both (Horizon). Should I pack a case of energy bars so that I don't starve? :) Does the AIBP help with the food (you are too drunk to notice how bad it is :D)?

 

Thanks!

[shredie]

You don't have to eat in the Horizon buffet ever if you don't want to, but I think maybe the reviews have been a bit harsh on that point. You can opt for traditional dining in the main dining room for late seating. That way you avoid the long lines of Anytime dining you hear about. The dining room food is good, IMO. There is also the International Cafe, on the plaza deck, where you can get food for lunch (or anytime, really.) That stuff is always good. You can sit out on the deck and have pizza or hamburgers, etc. from the grill. There is always room service (which is not totally yummy as a rule.) The smell issue needs to be addressed, I think, though I noticed nothing when I was last on the ship in 2013. When you consider the ratio of total passengers to number of bad reviews, you might get a different perspective. I predict you will have a great time and want to cruise again.

[paul929207]

We haven't been on the Caribbean Princess, but have over 500 nites on other Princess ships. We enjoy the food.

[Colo Cruiser]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, don't let the negative reviews weigh too heavy or your cruise will be spoiled before it even starts.

You will find people on the same cruise that rave about how good it was as well.

Anytime dining would be a good option. We have never had bad food on Princess. Have I returned something? Of course. Will you starve? Of course not.

Princess does read these boards. Remember there are many passengers that don't even know about Cruise Critic, and the 30 or so people on CC that complain are a minute number. ;)

[Astro Flyer]

I agree with 'Colo Cruiser' and have had great experiences with things on the same cruise that others criticize. I have not sailed on the Caribbean but have sailed on other ships with negative reviews and had great cruises.

 

My experience with CC reviews is that sometimes people only see "critic" and feel it's a site to be "critical" of a cruise. I always take reviews with a grain of salt and if I based my decisions on what I read on CC then I wouldn't have enjoyed dozens of cruises primarily on Princess.

 

When we have anytime dining we usually eat about 7:30 & never have a delay being seated. Delays can happen when eating earlier because many passengers prefer to eat early. No ship has the capacity to handle too many passengers wanting to do the same thing at the same time.

 

At today's prices I do not expect gourmet cuisine & to me it's good banquet food generally well prepared & presented. The buffet has a good variety of food but what can I say...it's typical buffet food! :p

Edited July 15, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[sh2738]

Hello all,

 

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess for the August 1st departure. This will be our first cruise, and the recent Caribbean Princess reviews have me nervous :eek:; if I had seen them before booking, I would have chosen a different ship. I really hope Princess realizes how bad this looks for them.

 

I have noticed that most of the complaints seem to be around the dining options (and the smell), with particularly bad reviews of the Horizon buffet. We are doing any-time dining, and I was wondering what you experienced cruisers think are the best options for where to eat? We generally like to eat later (after 7:30) if that makes a difference.

 

From the reviews, it seems like depending on where you go, either the food is really bad, or the place is too crowded to get a seat, or both (Horizon). Should I pack a case of energy bars so that I don't starve? :) Does the AIBP help with the food (you are too drunk to notice how bad it is :D)?

 

Thanks!

 

 

I can't speak to this particular ship but I just did a Princess one and I found the food wonderful. Even the buffet food was good, imagine that. I don't personally like buffet food or the style of serving yourself but it was a good option for us because I was traveling with someone that likes to eat meals late. We did anytime dining as well, only two of us. We went to dinner on the MDR at 7:30 , sometimes a little before, and we never had to wait for a table for two by ourselves. If you are planning on eating later as you said you shouldn't have any problem, depending on how many if you there are and if you want to share or not. I personally hate having to share with people, it ruins the night for me personally, but we didn't experience any waits at all.

 

But remember, it depends on how your fellow passengers feel as well. You might have a lot of people that want to do anytime at the same time and might have to wait. You never know for sure but best bet is to eat later.

[Cruisin' Chick]

One thing to understand about the reviews is that (as far as the ones on the front page of this site) more people are motivated to post a negative review than to post a positive one. That's the nature of just about anything, besides travel.

 

Personally my hubby and I didn't care for our one time with Anytime dining, not because of any waits (out of the 7 nights that we went out of the 14 nights on the ship, we only had one major wait), but because compared to our experience with traditional, it just wasn't the same.

 

I don't know about the smell issue but there are many dining options on each Princess ship. Check out the info on the Princess site and you'll find out about the different venues as well as other info.

[skynight]

14 day RT Southampton. You should have a nice time.

On the Caribbean Princess they use the two mid ship DR's for ATD. The are both the same with the same menus. The Island DR on deck 5 will open at 5 or 5:30pm and normally fills up by around 6. Since it takes about 2 hours to dine it can be difficult to get seated until the first crowd clears. The Coral DR on deck 6 is used for early traditional dining and opens for ATD around 7:30pm. If you wish to dine at 7:30 or later there should be plenty of seating in both DR's. You can make reservations for ATD if you like by calling the DINE line in the morning.

The Horizon Ct./Cafe Caribe are the buffet areas. One section or another will be open continuously from 6am until 11pm or midnight. I have never found the buffet food to be bad. They have nice salad mixings, made to order omelets in the AM, lots of fruit, yogurt, a carving station, just lots to choose from. Beverages are served at the tables. If you order an omelet that can also be brought to your table.

On deck 5 in the Piazza is the International Cafe (free)open 24 hours. A very popular location. Other free areas include the Trident Grill and Prego Pizza on the Lido deck open 11am until 11pm.

You may wish to try the Crown Grill, or Sabatini's surcharge restaurants. The cost is $25pp. Make reservations once on board. Also there may be a Crab Shack (buckets of seafood) @ $20/pp a few nights during the cruise. This is held in a closed off section of Cafe Caribe.

Edited July 15, 2015 by sknight

[jrzebird]

I have had experience on the CB, LOTS of it, as you can see from my list of cruises below. I LOVE the CB. I pretty much always have Traditional dining because I'm a solo cruiser and enjoy eating with the same people (usually), and having the same waitstaff. The food on the CB is awesome. Service the best.

 

All that being said, last year I had a short cruise on her and I did anytime dining. I had several friends also sailing so it was fine. This October and November I have a b2b and have booked anytime once again. This time on the Regal. I decided to make this cruise one where I do things I don't normally do. Eat in the Horizon Court (never done this for dinner), Crab Shack, Alfredos, maybe even room service one night.When I choose traditional, I always feel as if I must stay there. Now I have more freedom (this is all in my head, your realize). And I can eat when I want as well as where. Make it an adventure!

 

Smell, what smell? To the best of my knowledge, this has not been an issue when I've been on the CB. Maybe there's a brief period of stinkiness, but I had that on the Royal Princess and the HAL ships I have sailed too, but not a along lasting issue.

 

Most complaints are non-issues to me. There was a laundry list of problems people found when the Royal Princess first sailed. Things like, no center stairs above Deck 7, no walk around promenade (you CAN do your walk on the top deck), balconies too small, and worst of all, the toilet paper holder is set too far back (they should have been in the hotel room I was just in when I was in Atlanta!). A lot of people, mostly those who hadn't even sailed her yet, swore they would never sail her. All of these things should not be a determinant or ruin a cruise. As I said, they were non-issues to me. So when you read reviews ask yourself if any of the things people complain about are all that important to your overall enjoyment, and whether you choose to believe the small percentage or the majority consensus. Also, when you check the reviews, please note that it's always the same people (for the most part) complaining

 

Maureen

[skedaddle43]

And remember there are Gloomy Gusses out there who will complain there aren't enough walls in heaven. Just read between the lines and see the general tenor of the comments.

[DrMark]

14 day RT Southampton. You should have a nice time.

On the Caribbean Princess they use the two mid ship DR's for ATD. The are both the same with the same menus. The Island DR on deck 5 will open at 5 or 5:30pm and normally fills up by around 6. Since it takes about 2 hours to dine it can be difficult to get seated until the first crowd clears. The Coral DR on deck 6 is used for early traditional dining and opens for ATD around 7:30pm. If you wish to dine at 7:30 or later there should be plenty of seating in both DR's. You can make reservations for ATD if you like by calling the DINE line in the morning.

The Horizon Ct./Cafe Caribe are the buffet areas. One section or another will be open continuously from 6am until 11pm or midnight. I have never found the buffet food to be bad. They have nice salad mixings, made to order omelets in the AM, lots of fruit, yogurt, a carving station, just lots to choose from. Beverages are served at the tables. If you order an omelet that can also be brought to your table.

On deck 5 in the Piazza is the International Cafe (free)open 24 hours. A very popular location. Other free areas include the Trident Grill and Prego Pizza on the Lido deck open 11am until 11pm.

You may wish to try the Crown Grill, or Sabatini's surcharge restaurants. The cost is $25pp. Make reservations once on board. Also there may be a Crab Shack (buckets of seafood) @ $20/pp a few nights during the cruise. This is held in a closed off section of Cafe Caribe.

 

Thanks sknight! This is exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. With all of the choices, I was feeling a little overwhelmed, and I don't just want to go where the largest crowd is. I also don't want to go where the worst food is just to avoid the crowd.

 

Does anybody have any opinions on room service (particularly breakfast on port days)? Well, after reading posts on CC for a few days, I *KNOW* people have opinions.:D I should say, does anybody have any recommendations?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks sknight! This is exactly the kind of information that I was looking for. With all of the choices, I was feeling a little overwhelmed, and I don't just want to go where the largest crowd is. I also don't want to go where the worst food is just to avoid the crowd.

 

Does anybody have any opinions on room service (particularly breakfast on port days)? Well, after reading posts on CC for a few days, I *KNOW* people have opinions.:D I should say, does anybody have any recommendations?

 

 

RS can be busy, especially on port days. RS staff work very hard to give fast service with quality F&B. Everyone has the same idea, trying to order before they head off for the day. We head to the HC or the DR.

We have been pleased with our RS orders.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[cb at sea]

What "smell" are you referring to?

[DrMark]

What "smell" are you referring to?

 

There were a number of recent reports of sewage smells in different places around the ship. There were also reports of toilets not working. I don't know if the two are related or not.

 

I once stayed at a hotel in Mexico, arriving in the evening. As I walked to my room, I could smell a distinct sewage smell. In the morning, I found out that the hotel was adjacent to the town sewage plant.:eek: I've been pretty good about checking Trip Adviser ever since.

[Astro Flyer]

There were a number of recent reports of sewage smells in different places around the ship. There were also reports of toilets not working. I don't know if the two are related or not.

I am quite confident that they are related because too often passengers ignore the warnings to not put things into the toilet resulting in the vacuum waste system becoming clogged.

 

You read about the smells on the Caribbean but it happens on all ships when careless passengers flush items that the system cannot handle. :(

[cruiserus]

I have not yet been on the Caribbean Princess, but I have sailed on 25 cruises with Princess, so I can reply to generalities. I never even bother to read those reviews any more. I did years ago, and found most of them were so off the mark to what I experienced on the ship. We have encountered people on each cruise who seem to delight in finding fault with anything and everything. Meanwhile everyone else around them is having a fabulous time and very happy. They nit pick everything to death. I've never had a bad cruise on any of the Princess ships. My experience on Princess has been pretty much the same across the board on each and every ship. Maybe a certain cruise director or captain will do things a bit differently, but the quality is quality of our experiences has been high on every cruise.

 

We find the food to generally be very good. If something isn't right, the waiters will exchange it immediately. Trust me, with all the different options onboard, you will not go hungry! We like late Traditional Dining, because we enjoy having our waiter know our preferences and therefore, we do not have to educate them every night. We have done Anytime Dining a few times, and really enjoyed meeting new people at shared tables, but grew tired of the "hi my name is...we are from...etc. every night. We usually have breakfast in Horizon Court. There is a variety of foods to choose from, plus they make customized omelettes for you at a station. If you don't see what you want, ask. In my experience, the staff has always tried to fulfill any request.

 

Some people complain about rust on ships. Well, any ship will develop small bits of rust. You will see painters on the ships working every day on taking care of that, plus the varnished woods. Ships are big, so rust will pop up somewhere and wait its turn to be repainted. To hear some people complain in their reviews though, you'd think the ship was covered in rust and ready for the graveyard.

 

I haven't encountered any prolonged bad smells on any Princess ships. Can it happen? Of course, but it is usually something that goes away in a short time.

 

I think you will be pleased with your choice of a Princess cruise. We are headed out on the Caribbean Princess a few weeks after you, doing a TA, and then heading up to Quebec. I know it will be wonderful.

[ggprincess2004]

Dh and I have spent some time on the Caribbean Princess and find her to be just fine. We have had excellent service the vast majority of the time, and didn't notice any bad smells.

 

A few words on your questions - do give the dining rooms designated for anytime dining midship on Deck 5 and Deck 6 a try. Generally they are a civilized experience and we find the food to be very good the vast majority of the time. We do have our favorites on the menu, and entrees we tend to avoid as we have learned they are not to our particular liking.

 

Room service - you can absolutely specify the time you would like your breakfast delivered. There are time ranges indicated on the card you fill out the evening before and place on your door handle, but we always indicate precisely when we would prefer delivery and it arrives plus or minus 5 minutes. Also, you can specify a delivery time that is earlier than the first time selection on the card. Very helpful on early port days. When you have a fairly early tour scheduled I would recommend room service, or if you go to the dining room request a table for two or four and let the waiter know you have a deadline to conclude breakfast.

 

Backed up toilets - they are marine toilets and work on a vacuum system. They do not like anything but what comes out of your body and the special TP that is provided. If someone puts additional material into the toilet, they may fail to work, and require some repair. It can put more than just that one toilet out of service, can impact an entire "line" on the ship. So, if fellow cruisers are inconsiderate, it can cause problems. May all your fellow cruisers understand "the rules"......

 

Enjoy your cruise - we are cruise addicts and under no circumstances would any intervention cause us to enter a 12 step program for cruise addiction....:D

[Jasperdo]

 

Does anybody have any opinions on room service (particularly breakfast on port days)?

Room Service on Princess ships is mostly continental breakfast type food. Very little hot items. Here's what the menu looks like. You leave the hang tag outside your cabin door the night before:

 

[shredie]

There is also a room service menu available for lunch or dinner. It's in the folder of information you find in the cabin. Not a door hanger.

[riclop]

Hello all,

 

We are booked on the Caribbean Princess for the August 1st departure. This will be our first cruise, and the recent Caribbean Princess reviews have me nervous :eek:; if I had seen them before booking, I would have chosen a different ship. I really hope Princess realizes how bad this looks for them.

 

I have noticed that most of the complaints seem to be around the dining options (and the smell), with particularly bad reviews of the Horizon buffet. We are doing any-time dining, and I was wondering what you experienced cruisers think are the best options for where to eat? We generally like to eat later (after 7:30) if that makes a difference.

 

From the reviews, it seems like depending on where you go, either the food is really bad, or the place is too crowded to get a seat, or both (Horizon). Should I pack a case of energy bars so that I don't starve? :) Does the AIBP help with the food (you are too drunk to notice how bad it is :D)?

 

Thanks!

 

Try the Royal/Regal they have great and much more option in the buffet compared to the other ships.

[Eggy13]

I am not sure of what time you picked for dinner. If you picked late dining, your time is specific. The best is to do is anytime dining. Sorry, if I picked the wrong name. Every cruise companies have their own titles. If you did pick choose own time, you need to call around 8:A.M to get a time for dinner. Really helps with the wait time.

[Jasperdo]

There is also a room service menu available for lunch or dinner. It's in the folder of information you find in the cabin. Not a door hanger.

Thanks for adding that. I re-read my earlier post and it sounded like I was saying only breakfast was available through room service. Of course that's not the case. Here's the regular room service menu:

 

 

[Pam in CA]

I read any review of food with a grain of salt. One person's "Yuck!" is another's "Yum!" I've seen people pour salt over food that they haven't even tasted yet. I've heard people complain about "the awful and weird food" and when asked to elaborate, "You know, lamb."

 

Princess is wonderful in that you can ask for any dish be modified within reason. You can ask for entrees without sauce or, for instance, Béarnaise sauce with your steak even if it's not listed. You can ask for steamed vegetables or an appetizer as an entree (or the opposite.)

[caribill]

I am not sure of what time you picked for dinner.

 

Per the OP's post

 

We are doing any-time dining

[cosytoes]

Having been on the CB in June, it depends on the times of the shows when the queues are longest.

 

7.00 show lasts 45 mins so long queue 7.45

 

9.00 show so long queues at 7.00 to get into show.

 

Also coral dining always half full so they seemed to accept anytime dining whenever you roles up. We usually went there around 7.00.

 

However will say I would pick fixed dining next time on CB as anytime dining they are in no rush to get you served and out, so we had a few meals in excess of two hours so missed the show.