Royal Princess Food - as bad as the reviews ?

[POF1234]

hi everyone, 

 

Food is subjective, but I am surprised about  some of the reviews where people bash the food on Princess. I'm not expecting find dining by any means (it is mass produced), but edible and tasty see like a good expectation.  How did you find the food ? 

[Micahs Grandad]

Royal class has best buffet we have ever seen on a cruise line

[hbrote]

9 minutes ago, POF1234 said:

  How did you find the food ? 

 

We were onboard for 26 days and found the food excellent in both the Horizon Buffet and the Main Dining Room.  As you said not fine dining but "Excellent" was our experience.  Sabitini's was excellent if you want a wonderful Italian dinner.  For a real "Fine Dining" experience try the Chefs Table.  You have to call "Immediately" upon boarding to be put on the list for seats and if you get them you won't regret  it.

[Pierlesscruisers]

23 minutes ago, POF1234 said:

hi everyone, 

 

Food is subjective, but I am surprised about  some of the reviews where people bash the food on Princess. I'm not expecting find dining by any means (it is mass produced), but edible and tasty see like a good expectation.  How did you find the food ? 

 

As you said, it's subjective and while I've had food I wasn't a big fan of, I've certainly never had anything that I would consider to be "bad" food by any measure.

 

And I've never seen anybody coming off of any cruise ship that I would consider to by "underfed" by any standard nor have I talked to anybody that I heard complain about being hungry.  At least not with a straight face!!!

 

Tom

[MissP22]

I can't imagine what some of the complainers expect on the ship. If the food on the Royal doesn't meet their expectations then all I can say is that they must have very discriminating tastes or just like to moan about every little thing.

The Royal has had some of the best food & preparation compared to the other Princess ships we're sailed on in the past 5 to 10 years. 

We recently sailed the Regal only because the Royal was in Alaska but given the chance we would book it again without any hesitation. 

[JimmyVWine]

I find cross-comparing food among different ships to be largely useless.  In general, I think the food has slid downward over time, (and not just on PCL. This is an industry-wide trend.)  So if the food in general is not a good as one remembers, that person tends to blame the ship that they were most recently on.  "Just got off Royal and the food was much worse than what I had on Golden two years ago!"  Does this mean that Royal's food is worse than Golden, or does it mean that Princess food is worse than it used to be? Far too many people opt for the former explanation.  I find the MDR food to be far more similar than different when comparing ship-to-ship.  You could line up 10 plates of Fettuccine Alfredo, ten plates of tenderloin medallions and ten glasses of Red Snapper Mojitos all from different ships and I'd be hard-pressed to find any meaningful differences.  As for buffets, they can vary greatly as there are indeed major differences between the old-style Horizon Courts as compared to the newer World Fresh Marketplace and significant differences between either of those two and the newer Horizon Courts on the Royal Class ships.  So while the differences might be slight as between Golden, Caribbean and Royal in the MDRs, there are far greater differences between these three ships when it comes to the buffets.   And as between those three types of buffets, it is hard to make the argument that Royal trails behind the other ships.  

[sailingskyward]

Spent a week on Royal Princess a few months ago, and the buffet was terrific. Absolutely the best buffet selection on any Princess ship. So many choices, and really nice presentation in the International section of the buffet. Different countries' cuisines each night. Enjoyed it so much, I booked two more sailings on Royal for later this year!

[dickinson]

Got off the Royal a couple of weeks ago.  Food was fine.  Great buffet on Lido deck.  MDR food was also good.  Food is subjective but I found the food just as good as I have on my previous sailings of the Royal.  Alfredo's is wonderful too.  We ate in the Crown Grill.  Hubby got the filet which he said was excellent.  I usually get it but this time got halibut (we were in Alaska.  Don't know if it is usually on the menu).  Halibut was ok.  I ate it all but wished I had gotten the filet.  Don't worry about the negative reviews.  For every one there are loads of happy people who never did a review.

[MissP22]

47 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

As for buffets, they can vary greatly as there are indeed major differences between the old-style Horizon Courts as compared to the newer World Fresh Marketplace and significant differences between either of those two and the newer Horizon Courts on the Royal Class ships. 

Well as long as you mentioned the buffets of the Horizon compared to the World Fresh Marketplace I thought the World Fresh Marketplace in Dec was consistently was lousy compared to the Horizon court in March on the Crown.

Neither the Horizon of the older ships or World Fresh Marketplace could compare to the Royal buffet having experienced it numerous cruises  since 2014.

 

[JimmyVWine]

5 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I thought the World Fresh Marketplace in Dec was consistently was lousy compared to the Horizon court in March on the Crown.

I haven't tried WFM yet, so I can't compare.  But your opinion is a popular one here.

 

Neither the Horizon of the older ships or World Fresh Marketplace could compare to the Royal buffet having experienced it numerous cruises  since 2014.

If one is inclined to dislike the buffet on Royal, it is hard to imagine what that person is striving for and where they expect to find it.

Thoughts embedded above.

Edited August 5, 2019 by JimmyVWine

[Potstech]

Why be surprised at the reviews on food on a ship.  Some will like it but others will not. For every bad review of the food you can find a corresponding good review. Best way find put is to take a cruise on a particular ship and try it for yourself. After nearly 10 cruises we have not found a problem with the food on any ship. 

[POF1234]

Mostly curious, I guess.  I'm not a picky eater and I am always really happy whenever I don;t have to cook a meal.  Last year we spent 2 weeks in France, which kind of ruined me for great dining.  Everything pretty much pales in comparison.   

 

I do find everyone's opinion really interesting - as well as their point of view.  

 

Thanks for all the responses.  

[Colo Cruiser]

Sailed the Royal a few times. 

Food was awesome in the buffet and the MDR’s. 

On our 70 Princess Cruises never had bad food.

It is subjective and any review should be taken with a grain of salt,

[nukesubsailor]

The only food we don't care for on the Royal Princess is the so-called taco meat they have at lunch in the buffet.  Being from Texas, we like good tacos.  

[MissP22]

16 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I thought the World Fresh Marketplace in Dec was consistently was lousy compared to the Horizon court in March on the Crown.

I haven't tried WFM yet, so I can't compare.  But your opinion is a popular one here.

 

Neither the Horizon of the older ships or World Fresh Marketplace could compare to the Royal buffet having experienced it numerous cruises  since 2014.

If one is inclined to dislike the buffet on Royal, it is hard to imagine what that person is striving for and where they expect to find it.

I will say that many of the posters here on cruise critic seem to love the WFM.

There are only a select group, like myself & DH, that seem to dislike it intensely. 

Our main complaint is the preparation and presentation of their choices each day.

One has to experience it for themselves to appreciate what I'm getting at. 

Certainly you won't go hungry but it still doesn't compare to that of the old Horizon court & definitely not even close to the Royal class ships.

They're in a class of their own.

 

[cougaraz]

Food is perhaps the most subjective part of a cruise, but even understanding that, I think it is fair to say that if cruise lines truly were as bad as the worst reviews they would all be out of business.  There is a certain segment of people that just like to complain, about pretty much anything and the amplification of emotion that the anonymity of the internet permits just makes it worse.

 

However, some don't even wait to get home.  I have been in line at the future cruise desk and had a conversation with a woman who was absolutely RAGING about how bad the cruise, the entertainment, the clientele and the food on board were.....while she was paying her deposit to cruise the same ship again.

 

Go on your own adventure, find what you like and have a great time.  Don't let anyone else, especially a keyboard hero on the internet decide if you like or dislike something.

[MTJSR]

37 minutes ago, cougaraz said:

Food is perhaps the most subjective part of a cruise

 

 

True! We all like food a certain way.

The one thing Princess can fix  immediately and not cause subjective opinions is shriveled old corm cob-lets, slumping ugly cooked tomato halves, dried out whipped potatoes and overcooked vegetables on the plates with the main course. When I get a main course item and the sides are old and tired, the whole plate looks old and tired.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, MTJSR said:

True! We all like food a certain way.

The one thing Princess can fix  immediately and not cause subjective opinions is shriveled old corm cob-lets, slumping ugly cooked tomato halves, dried out whipped potatoes and overcooked vegetables on the plates with the main course. When I get a main course item and the sides are old and tired, the whole plate looks old and tired.

It sounds as though a more upscale cruise line might be a better choice for you. Like Cunard?

I'm following a current thread where many are raving about the food for quality, preparation and service. 

[CI66774]

I've sailed on the Royal Princess for a total of 69 days. Food is very good!

[ceilidh1]

We are on Royal right now and food has been excellent! We ate at Crown Grill the first night and it was outstanding. We have early traditional dining and the dinners have been great. Also eaten at Alfredo’s, which is always fantastic, the buffet (not a huge buffet fan but what we have had has been good) and International Cafe for amazing salad and sandwiches. No complaints yet!

[MTJSR]

39 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

It sounds as though a more upscale cruise line might be a better choice for you. Like Cunard?

I'm following a current thread where many are raving about the food for quality, preparation and service. 

I've invested over 60,000.00 in 15 cruises with Princess. Are you suggesting Princess is working hard to be just average? Also, are you suggesting nobody is allowed to add a parallel comment without being bullied out of a conversation? 

Edited August 6, 2019 by MTJSR

[MissP22]

16 minutes ago, MTJSR said:

I've invested over 60,000.00 in 15 cruises with Princess. Are you suggesting Princess is working hard to be just average? Also, are you suggesting nobody is allowed to add a parallel comment without being bullied out of a conversation? 

I suppose we have also. I haven't been counting.

Princess provides just enough quality to keep most people coming back and if they lose a few disgruntled people along the way, it's to be expected.

You can't please everyone. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I don’t know where you read the food is bad on the Royal, but having sailed it multiple times in multiple parts of the world (meaning multiple sources for food procurement), I find it absolutely outstanding! The variety is amazing! 

[Redwing55]

I admit that I'm not a good food critic.  However, I do wonder if these bulk served food reviews are relevant.  I say this because I  wonder if higher quality dishes are just more readily available so the bar is just higher.  AND to those that say things have changed from years ago, I also wonder if one becomes a bit jaded with the food.  I mean I think many of us would agree that if one has taken multiple cruises, the wow factor isn't as great when one returns to a ship,port, etc... at least as large of a wow-factor.  Might the same apply to our tastes?  

 

Maybe I'm out of school with this, as I'm no food connoisseur.  But thought I'd throw it out for a bit of a different perspective.

[Cruise Suzy]

It certainly didn't ruin our cruise on the Emerald back in 2008, but we never did get a good baked potato. Maybe it was because it was the first Alaskan cruise of the season and the crew was new.

 

The first night we ate in the buffet. After cutting the skin open, we prefer to use just a fork to fluff and eat the potato. They were so hard we had to use a knife to cut them into pieces. And when we ate them, they were CRUNCHY! Mentioned our disappointment as we left.

 

Thereafter we ate dinner in the restaurants. Whenever we ordered a baked potato, we'd mention we didn't want a hard one. All were the same as the ones we had in the buffet. We'd mention it to the waiter and even filled out comment cards. Never had any feedback.

 

To this day we laughingly compare/rate all baked potatoes to those  "Princess potatoes." Never had any that hard. But we still hope to book Princess for our 2021 Alaskan cruise.