"American Bacon" Aboard the Sapphire

[crawford]

Just got back from the Sapphire; our third and final cruise of the year. Our prior two were aboard the Coral; Panama Canal and West Coast Wine Country. I found the bacon on this ship acceptable.

 

I am trying to identify the origin of the "American Bacon" in the Horizon. This was by far the worst bacon I have ever eaten in my life and in my 63 years, I have had more than my share.

 

The look, texture and flavor were absolutely hideous. Could it be produced in South America? A different cut? Or is it just me?

 

Thoughts?

 

[LXdad]

Do you have a picture? Could it have been Turkey bacon?

[elliair]

2 hours ago, crawford said:

Just got back from the Sapphire; our third and final cruise of the year. Our prior two were aboard the Coral; Panama Canal and West Coast Wine Country. I found the bacon on this ship acceptable.

 

I am trying to identify the origin of the "American Bacon" in the Horizon. This was by far the worst bacon I have ever eaten in my life and in my 63 years, I have had more than my share.

 

The look, texture and flavor were absolutely hideous. Could it be produced in South America? A different cut? Or is it just me?

 

Thoughts?

 

That so-called "bacon" is not bacon IMHO.  I have no idea what it is but I agree, it's horrid!  It's a low grade piece of meat, the cheapest cut Princess can get for the lowest price.  As long as we've been cruising with Princess (and Carnival), the bacon hasn't changed.  IMHO, not worth putting it on my plate and then dumping it which is what I see a lot of people doing.  It gives bacon a bad name.

Edited December 24, 2018 by elliair

[bemis12]

 It is both wrong and sacrilegious to disparage bacon.

[bigchid]

I love bacon, but I've learned not to bother with it on a Princess cruise!

[-Lew-]

We consider ourselves bacon aficionados and in 50+ Princess cruises have never had an issue.  We like our bacon crispy and find it tasty and to our liking.

 

As far as the source, it is my understanding that all meats arrive via container from the US. 

[RDC1]

I have found bacon on Princess to be pretty much the same product.  However I have seen differences in how it is prepared on various ships.  On my last cruise on the Grand it was nice and crisp.  On other cruises I have seen an under cooked, soft offering.

The under cooked time have tended to be on non-US sailings. Maybe it is only Americans that like their bacon crisp.

 

 

Will see what it looks like on the Sapphire in 4 weeks.

[XBGuy]

I eat the bacon in the Horizon Court all the time.  I find it to, usually, be pretty good.  (I've never worn it on a cruise, but I do have a "Fueled by Bacon" T-shirt.  😁)  Yes, there are inconsistencies from the cooks on this ship vs. the cooks on that ship.  On the other hand, since the OP has a lot of experience on Princess ships, I have to give some credence to the "different supplier/different maker" hypothesis. 

 

[The Wilkies]

Sad I know, but we love the bitty bacon. At least it’s cooked. Makes a great butty (sandwich to our American friends) especially if topped with an egg. Never eat cooked breakfast at home so a treat.

[crawford]

7 hours ago, LXdad said:

Do you have a picture? Could it have been Turkey bacon?

No picture. I wish it had been turkey bacon.

[crawford]

4 hours ago, bemis12 said:

 It is both wrong and sacrilegious to disparage bacon.

I agree. The purpose of my post was to try to identify what Princess refers to as "American Bacon".

[Shmoo here]

I much prefer bacon (over sausages or Canadian bacon), but the "American" bacon on our recent Crown cruise wasn't to my liking.

 

I don't know what type/cut of meat it was, but it was extremely fatty, and, when cooked to "crispy" every time you try to pick some up with the provided tongs it would basically crumble.  Not a lot of actual "meat" there to hold it together.

 

 

[ONT-CA]

The tell tail of turkey bacon although cured and smoked is that it is assembled.  That is, when it is sliced every piece is identical to the other, so what looks like fat and lean are in the identical pattern. And as the fat content is less than pork bacon it fries noticeably different in remaining flat.

 

 Pork bacon is cured and smoked, has a varied lean and fat distribution and curls up when cooked

 

Canadian bacon is not Canadian at all. We refer to it as back bacon or peameal bacon which rather than taken from the pork belly is carved from the pork loin.  It is cured but not smoked.  

[Cabot49]

As a Canadian, I've always found it interesting to hear people from other countries refer to backbacon/peameal bacon as Canadian bacon. Either way, I'm not a fan of it!

 

[MCC retired]

I have always thought that well done crispy bacon was called American Bacon .

Not so done bacon was just called Bacon 🤔

 

[jlp20]

I believe they use the term "American Bacon" just to inform the pax what they bought. Canadian and British bacon are different cuts with different cooking methods. As others have stated, buffet bacon is under cooked. Perfect bacon IS labor intensive and takes perfect timing.

[Hlitner]

We were not very happy with the bacon served, last month, on the Regal.  It was sliced paper thin and overly salty.  We could usually find some well done crispy pieces in the Lido, but it was truly the saltiest bacon I have ever tasted.  And then many of us wonder why our ankles swell on cruise ships :(.

 

Hank

[Knickearth]

On 12/24/2018 at 3:46 AM, crawford said:

Just got back from the Sapphire; our third and final cruise of the year. Our prior two were aboard the Coral; Panama Canal and West Coast Wine Country. I found the bacon on this ship acceptable.

 

I am trying to identify the origin of the "American Bacon" in the Horizon. This was by far the worst bacon I have ever eaten in my life and in my 63 years, I have had more than my share.

 

The look, texture and flavor were absolutely hideous. Could it be produced in South America? A different cut? Or is it just me?

 

Thoughts?

 

we got off the crown in November and in the buffet,. the American bacon was usually uncooked.  BUT,. they had a new sign up above that read If you want crispy bacon please ask.  I did daily and not only were they wonderful about giving it to me,. but others who were going to take the uncooked bacon saw what I had waited to get, they came and said I will have what she is having.  lol

[suzyed]

On our last cruise on the Crown, they had soggy, undercooked bacon on the buffet. We asked for crispy bacon and they had it behind the buffet.  After a few days of asking (I'm sure we were not the only ones), they started putting the crispy bacon out and labeled it as such.

[Taer al Saefer]

Could be worse.

 

Our Golden Princess Cruise to Alaska last summer didn’t HAVE any 😂

 

 

[neverbeenhere]

I know American bacon, but what is Makin Bacon? 

[asctony]

https://news.sky.com/story/vast-majority-of-bacon-contains-cancer-causing-chemicals-11594749

[Thrak]

I love bacon. The main problem with the "American Bacon" on Princess is that is super thin cut and then cooked in mass. One can't cook bacon properly in huge quantities and bacon that is cut super thin will always be "wrong". Like I said, I love bacon. I don't love Princess bacon. Oh, well. One can't have everything - especially on a mass market cruise line. I don't expect great bacon and I don't get great bacon. I still have great cruises. 🙂

[IDB37]

As the destination is the UK, I'm hoping there may be a chance of English Bacon being served. 

 

Each to his own taste, but personally I can't stand the American version - lol !

 

 

[elliair]

49 minutes ago, IDB37 said:

As the destination is the UK, I'm hoping there may be a chance of English Bacon being served. 

 

Each to his own taste, but personally I can't stand the American version - lol !

 

 

I posted a pic of what the real American bacon looks like and the mods deleted it.  I'm telling you that crap that's served on Lido buffet called "bacon" is not bacon.  It's strips of greasy low grade sow that made it to the pkg meat house and sold cheaply to Princess Corp.  Princess has a standing order - the cheaper the better.  Real bacon is bought at places like Costco, thick cut, hickory or apple smoked.  Google it.  There's no comparison of what real bacon is.  /just saying