Best Food ??? What ship???

[cruzinchris]

:) Cruzinchris, That would be so great if you'd post the receipe. It was chopped up vegetables fried in olive oil and then the big scallops added at the end. The chef on the Golden made it at the cooking demo and it smelled sooooooooooo good. Then the last night it was on the menu and the taste was even better then the smell. Thank you so much, I'll be looking for your post.

 

Nancy

 

Cruisett,

Here's the recipe.

 

Bon Appetit!

Chris

 

 

Seared DeepSea Scallops

 

Princess Cruises

 

Serves 6

36 large sea scallops

salt and pepper

vegetable oil for searing

1 lemon, halved

 

chopped fresh parsley

 

RATATOUILLE

½ olive oil

½ cup onion, large dice

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, large dice

1 green bell pepper, large dice

1 yellow bell pepper, large dice

1 cup zucchini, large dice

¾ cup eggplant, large dice

½ cup black cured olives, pitted

2 cups tomato concasse

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon rosemary, chopped

1 teaspoon oregano, chopped

½ teaspoon thyme, chopped

½ cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper

 

Prepare ratatouille by heating the olive oil in a large heavy pan over high heat. Add onion and sauté. Add garlic and peppers and sauté 4 minutes more. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Reduce heat, cover and stew. Check easoning after 15 minutes and adjust (the cinnamon stick may need to be removed at this stage). Continue to cook for approximately 15 minutes more or until egetables are tender and the flavors have combined well.

 

In a sauté pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil over a high heat. Season scallops well with salt and pepper. Sear scallops on both sides until well-browned. Reduce heat moderately and continue to cook until scallops are just cooked, approximately 6 minutes. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the scallops when done.

 

Serve scallops with ratatouille and garnish generously with chopped fresh parsley.

[DANofNORTH]

We were on the Sun in 2001 and the food was unbelievable! Every meal was fantastic, service was to notch.

 

We have since been on RC 'Brilliance of the Seas' and their food was pretty good, but not as good as the Sun. Service was equal to the Sun but the food, not quite! The Sun has become our benchmark for cruis'n food.

 

We did the Panada Canal tour in November. To be honest they may have had a new or special chef for that cruise. I don't remember that detail but we'll never forget the excellent meals!! :D

 

We are on the Tahitian Princess November 2006. If the food is as good as what we had on the Sun in 01 we'll be in Valhalla!

[VinTek]

We were on the Sun in 2001 and the food was unbelievable! Every meal was fantastic, service was to notch.

 

We have since been on RC 'Brilliance of the Seas' and their food was pretty good, but not as good as the Sun. Service was equal to the Sun but the food, not quite! The Sun has become our benchmark for cruis'n food.

 

We were on the Sun Princess in 2001 as well and it's also our benchmark for food on Princess ships. Interestingly enough, we've cruised twice on the Star Princess since then and found that the food on the 2nd cruise was much better than on the 1st, so the executive chef does make a difference in the quality of the food.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The best food I've had on a Princess ship was on our 30 night cruise on the Sapphire Princess last year. I hadn't been all that impressed with the food on our two Sun Princess cruises, and wasn't all that impressed with the food on our Grand Princess cruises, but the dining room food on the Sapphire was really wonderful, and the menus were varied (30 different ones!) and imaginative.

 

The best food I've ever had on a cruise ship is a tie between my two Celebrity Mercury South American cruises (all that Argentinian beef and fresh Chilean produce), and on the Celebrity Galaxy last year. I have found Celebrity's food quality, both dining room and buffet, to be way above anything I had on the 3 other lines I've been on.

[zalusky]

Tell me about the 30 day LA to sydney. Did they repeat things? How did they keep it fresh for 30 days?

[PescadoAmarillo]

We had a different menu every night for dinner. It was amazing. The dining room lunch menus may have been repeated (I don't recall), but every night, dinner was a fun experience, with the dinners based around a theme (generally from a country or a region). I requested the menus from the Maitre de during the last week, and received a package of every one of them, including the Thanksgiving menu, on the last night.

 

I believe we took on new food stores in several ports, and we did an overnight in Papeete, Tahiti (from about 9 pm one evening until 6 the next evening), where things were unloaded and loaded on the ship all night long. We had the best, freshest papaya I've ever eaten on that cruise.

[cruiseapril]

We were on the Dawn Princess in the Spring and had a very good dining experience. The always available shrimp cocktails, the crisp salads with good dressings, the variety of entrees, and the delicious desserts pleased us every evening. We had wine with our meals- that makes them even better IMO. Our Sterling Steakhouse experience was excellent. The pizza was good; the Grill was good. The only food concern we ever had was that the scrambled eggs in the Horizon Court were not hot enough-so considering we had 3 meals a day for 10 days-I'd say we lucked out!

[cruiseapril]

We were on the Dawn Princess in the Spring and had a very good dining experience. The always available shrimp cocktails, the crisp salads with good dressings, the variety of entrees, and the delicious desserts pleased us every evening. We had wine with our meals- that makes them even better IMO. Our Sterling Steakhouse experience was excellent. The pizza was good; the Grill was good. The only food concern we ever had was that the scrambled eggs in the Horizon Court were not hot enough-so considering we had 3 meals a day for 10 days-I'd say we lucked out!

[cruiseapril]

We were on the Dawn Princess in the Spring and had a very good dining experience. The always available shrimp cocktails, the crisp salads with good dressings, the variety of entrees, and the delicious desserts pleased us every evening. We had wine with our meals- that makes them even better IMO. Our Sterling Steakhouse experience was excellent. The pizza was good; the Grill was good. The only food concern we ever had was that the scrambled eggs in the Horizon Court were not hot enough-so considering we had 3 meals a day for 10 days-I'd say we lucked out!

 

Sorry about the triple posts! How do you erase these?

[cruissett]

:) Cruzinchris,

Thank you so much for the Scallop Recipe. I had checked back before and had given up but today I checked and there it was. So sorry it took me so long to say Thanks.

Our next cruise is scheduled for September 22, 2006 on the Explorer of the Seas. May try to find a March Cruise also

 

Cruisette

[NorcalGuy]

Coral Princess April 2005:

Excellent food and Outstanding service in the dining room

 

Sapphire Princess Sept 2004:

Good food and good service

 

Diamond Princess Sept 2005:

Good food and below par service

 

All had almost identical menus...

[spongerob]

It is absolutely impossible to say which ship has the best food since staff changes regularly. Even on ships we have repeated there have been differences from one visit to the next. For example, the first time we were on Golden Princess, the food, presentation, and service were outstanding in every way. The next time, not quite as good. We had some great dishes on Caribbean Princess but the lines Executive Chef was on board for that one. We even got a taste of "silver service" where side dishes and extra appetizers were served from platters by the waiters.

 

So, it varies...as long as you don't expect the same attention to detail that you'll get at that trendy little place with 12 tables that has a six month waitlist for reservations, you'll probably do okay. Even on cruises where the food has been very good in my opinion, there have been a few things that maybe weren't the best choice for me. Your waiter can give good recommendations, and if he casually indicates that maybe you should choose something else, listen to his advice. They know what they're doing.

[madelinerose]

Again, perfect reply, spongerob!

 

We frequent upscale restaurants on a regular basis and DH immediately develops a "rapport" with the waitstaff. They are a wealth of knowledge and will not steer you wrong in most cases, since their tip is occasionally dependant. We always ask them what they would eat or suggest.

 

IMHO, if on a mass-market cruiseline, expecting any more than an almost-upscale-banquet-type-cuisine, is setting yourself up for major disappointment.

 

We've only cruised once, on the Miracle, and the food in the diningroom was good...in the specialty restaurant, was very good. Nothing came close to 4 or 5 star dining and we would never expect such.

 

You will not starve on any cruise ship and will always find something to satisfy any hunger pangs. ;)

 

So, it varies...as long as you don't expect the same attention to detail that you'll get at that trendy little place with 12 tables that has a six month waitlist for reservations, you'll probably do okay. Even on cruises where the food has been very good in my opinion, there have been a few things that maybe weren't the best choice for me. Your waiter can give good recommendations, and if he casually indicates that maybe you should choose something else, listen to his advice. They know what they're doing.