After Golden Princess

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

As most of my friends here are aware I had a rather torrid time on Golden Princess over Christmas and as a result of this decided I was not well enought to proceed with my next planned cruise on March 8th again on board Golden Princess.

 

Whilst we (Jean Elsie and I) like the Golden Princess and find her a very comfortable ship to travel on we all agree that we thought the standard of food in the MDR was decidedly below what he had whilst on board Solstice and Rhapsody of The Seas

 

 

We found the entertainment better on Princess and more suited to our cultural heritage and with respect to our many friends from the USA not dominated by acts from your fair land.

 

So all in all we enjoyed the Golden Princess despite in our opinion the food not being quite as nice as it should be .. we will not mention Curtis Stone... what horrors lie there ...

 

 

So Hoping for better things to come next year and hoping that given enough time I would feel well enough to consider another trip started to investigate a couple of alternatives later in the year

 

One aboard Sun Princess in Late May early June 2016 nearly five months for me to recover and a nice 24 Day Trip and Then a stop off Near Brisbane to visit our new Grandson

 

 

The Other on board Explorer of the Seas for 10 days in a "Grand Suite" up to the pacific Islands a similar trip to what I had to Cancel in March, and this to be combined with a pre cruise visit to My Daughter and the Grandchildren in early November for her birthday.

 

 

 

So why did I find it impossible to make the booking , place a deposit ??

 

We have the $$$s thats not the issue and its six months away and especially with RCCL cancellation is easy if we have issues

 

 

Have I lost it??? have I been frightened off cruises for ever ??

 

Seriously I am a ship addict ....for me not to want to go is unheard of..

 

 

Your advice please

 

Regards

John

[NSWP]

Hit the booking button John, get back on the horse as they say. Life is too short and remember my saying..'Adventure before Dementia.' !!!!

[MicCanberra]

I think you should wait until you feel the urge to cruise again, that way there is no reservation and another benefit is to pick up a last minute special on those cruises you have earmarked. Time heals all wounds.:D

[Fish66]

Why mention Curtis stone at all if you aren't going to mention anything ??? I've heard all great reviews on his food, and I'm looking forward to eating it myself

[VK3DQ]

Why mention Curtis stone at all if you aren't going to mention anything ??? I've heard all great reviews on his food, and I'm looking forward to eating it myself

 

Hi

 

A Fair question.... Perhaps because I cook .. and Belly pork is an all time favorite of mine .. the Curtis Stone dish was so bad .. its engraved in memory perhaps forever... its maybe now one of the reasons I am reluctant to press the book now button on Princess ... 24 Days thats a nice trip we can afford to go .. its about 5 months away I should recover in time .. I just cannot make the decision ... and me a ship lover :D

 

 

Regards

John

[Fish66]

That's a shame you didn't like the food .. I'll let you know what I think in February..

[Aus Traveller]

That's a shame you didn't like the food .. I'll let you know what I think in February..

On the main Princess board there have been a lot of negative posts regarding Curtis Stone food, and a few positive comments as well. I am disappointed that they have removed several of the "Always available" items and replaced them with Curtis Stone items that do not sound appealing, but I will see for myself on our next cruise.:)

[VK3DQ]

On the main Princess board there have been a lot of negative posts regarding Curtis Stone food, and a few positive comments as well. I am disappointed that they have removed several of the "Always available" items and replaced them with Curtis Stone items that do not sound appealing, but I will see for myself on our next cruise.:)

 

I hate to have to say ....our local pub .. just a normal run of the mill Aussie suburban pub far outshines anything I was served aboard Golden Princess.. look I was not well ... I may have not been at my best , I LIKE Golden Princess she is a nice comfortable ship .. her food however was a letdown

 

The three Curtis Stone dishes on the everyday menu are totally wrong.. There needs to be a Steak , a Fish dish (Beer Batter with Fries) or a grilled Salmon , and a Chicken Roast .... this caters far better for the taste of the mainly older people on board .. heavens most of them are Grannies and Grandads !!! :D

 

Keep it simple stupid applies!

 

regards

John

[Aus Traveller]

I hate to have to say ....our local pub .. just a normal run of the mill Aussie suburban pub far outshines anything I was served aboard Golden Princess.. look I was not well ... I may have not been at my best , I LIKE Golden Princess she is a nice comfortable ship .. her food however was a letdown

 

The three Curtis Stone dishes on the everyday menu are totally wrong.. There needs to be a Steak , a Fish dish (Beer Batter with Fries) or a grilled Salmon , and a Chicken Roast .... this caters far better for the taste of the mainly older people on board .. heavens most of them are Grannies and Grandads !!! :D

 

Keep it simple stupid applies!

 

regards

John

We have been happy with the food we have been served in Princess dining rooms although sometimes there are unusual (strange?) accompaniments. Maybe that is the Executive Chef showing off. I have read about Curtis Stones' endive foam that accompanies some dishes. (Pardon me please...) It has been referred to as "cats' puke". I look forward to trying it. :)

 

By the way, out kids took us our recently to celebrate my birthday. We went to a very classy (read "expensive") French restaurant and we did not feel the food was any better than in the Princess dining room.:)

[OzKiwiJJ]

It really depend what you are used to, as in the restaurants you go where you live, and the type of food you cook at home.

 

We went to Murano on Celebrity Solstice. The food was very nice, the style and presentation was fairly traditional French cuisine but also seemed strangely old-fashioned compared with restaurants we have been to in France and in Australia. It reminded me of restaurants 40-50 years ago.

 

I've also dined at a few very modern restaurants, where molecular gastronomy (foams, gels, "soil") plays a big part in the plating up of each dish.

 

I'm very interested to see what the Curtis Stone offerings are.

Edited January 8, 2016 by OzKiwiJJ

[awesome girl]

We were on the Diamond Princess in Nov/Dec, traditional dining and I must

admit I struggled every night to find something I would eat, this has never

happened before and we have been many times on the sun class ships.

As for the Curtis Stone rubbish, DH and others on our table ordered the

belly pork and couldn't eat it. I tried the leek and chicken pie one night

that was it pie no vegetables offered with it and it came with a spoon as

it is so sloppy.:mad:

[OzKiwiJJ]

We were on the Diamond Princess in Nov/Dec, traditional dining and I must

admit I struggled every night to find something I would eat, this has never

happened before and we have been many times on the sun class ships.

As for the Curtis Stone rubbish, DH and others on our table ordered the

belly pork and couldn't eat it. I tried the leek and chicken pie one night

that was it pie no vegetables offered with it and it came with a spoon as

it is so sloppy.:mad:

 

That's not good. :eek:

 

I did notice that the food on Dawn Princess last August wasn't as good as on Sun Princess the previous Christmas but that was more in presentation and oversaltiness, than menu changes, and I put that down to a less vigilent executive chef.

 

Don't know why they hooked up with Curtis Stone. Surely there are better celebrity chefs around than him. Mind you I can only judge by the recipes he has listed on MasterChef and from what I've seen of him on that show, but he's never impressed me.

[MicCanberra]

Food on the Caribbean Princess last September and October was great, always had plenty of tasty options to pick from.:D