items no longer given/offered

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 12/13/2019 at 9:29 PM, cheezenip said:

Was this in either the MDR or buffet?

 

Both in the MDR, I don't know about the buffet as we never eat there in the evenings.

[Pierlesscruisers]

10 hours ago, 1980dory said:

Shoot!  I miss the 5 cent Coke in a glass bottle with a 2 cent deposit on it.  Now we have plastic throw away bottles which are going to destroy the universe and all civilization along with those terrible plastic straws.

Yes, I know.  I'm old and stupid and don't  know anything.

Common sense is quite uncommon nowadays.

 

I remember when vending machine price for a Coke went from 5 cents to 6 cents and the complaint was that we had to have a penny in our pocket somewhere then to get a coke! That was in the late 50's or early 60's I believe.  Of course we forget what we got paid per hour to work, though.  I remember when I was in high school and would work in the oilfields during the summer. Started out at 85 cents/hour!  Ended up finally making $1.00 or $1.05/hour after a couple of raises!  Wow!

 

Tom

[casofilia]

 just give it to your room steward or leave it in your cabin when you disembark

 

Could I suggest that on day 1 you tell the steward that he need NOT leave a tote bag.   I bet that once it has been in your possession it would not be put back into "circulation".

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 12/14/2019 at 5:04 AM, 4x4bob said:

Ref Escargot in Dining Room.  On our 29 cruise on the Emerald, 4 Nov to 3 Dec, it was offered once on the 2nd leg, Fla to LA, and it was poorly prepared.  The little cup was half full of a mystery liquid and the top had no taste.

 

Generally speaking, because food is subjective, we found most of the meals in the MDR to be lacking in taste and often the main portion of the dishes was tough.  I suspected that the meals were precooked and then heated when ordered which was drying them out. 

We discussed this one night with the Head Waiter. 

The offerings at the pastry counter, International Cafe, was really cut back from what we have found on previous cruises. 

 

I've found that the quality of the MDR food really depends on how tight the control is that the Executive Chef exerts over his/her staff. On the two Princess cruises we've done this year the differences were noticeable:

On Sea Princess in August almost all the dishes were excellent and beautifully presented, except for the escargot (which sound very similar to the ones you had) and the lobster. 

On Ruby Princess last week the dishes were tasty enough but the presentation was sloppy sometimes. However the escargot were excellent, large and tasty, and the lobster was very good also.

 

We did the Chef's Table on Royal Princess a couple of years ago, which included some time spent in one of the galleys, and I saw no sign of precooked food being reheated. The galley has what to cook when down to a fine art and the dishes are continually being prepared fresh, sometime more of one dish, sometime less, depending on the time. They are kept warm for a short time then, if not taken for delivery to the MDRs, are discarded. I think the holding time was only 5-6 minutes. So if you're getting dry dishes then someone isn't keeping a close eye on things. I've only had tough food on one out of nine Princess cruises and that was on Majestic Princess last year.   

[neverbeenhere]

How from two cruises this year do you know about the amount of control that the executive chef has exerted over his/her staff? 
 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

I wish unused coffee package "punches" would be moved to your general Princess account so they could be used on a future cruise. We have just completed our first cruise as Elite. We changed our complimentary minibar for coffee packages as we don't tend to use minibar items in our cabin. Unfortunately it was only a short 8 night cruise so we only used one of the packages. In fact we didn't even finish that one as DH's morning espresso in the MDR was never charged to the package, only our coffees from the IC. It's no big deal as they packages were essentially free but in the past, with the cards, you could carry them on to other cruises. We usually do much longer cruises so having some "spare" coffee credits would be great for those cruises where we would use more than 30 "punches".

Edited December 15, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

How from two cruises this year do you know about the amount of control that the executive chef has exerted over his/her staff? 
 

 

The two cruises this year were just examples of the differences. We have done other cruises over the past five years and have noticed the differences in quality and plating. On one cruise, in 2016, the food was very salty but we've never had that issue again since.

 

The Princess menus are the same, at least regionally, across all ships. Good management starts from the top, so when something like the MDR food is not as good on one cruise than on another then there are issues in the galley or in the quality of the produce supplied by Princess. Executive Chefs always have other Chefs managing various aspects of the galleys but a good Executive Chef will do regular spot checks to ensure overall quality is maintained. One poor dish can be just a slip-up, but lesser quality or sloppy plating of many dishes over a whole cruise mean that the galleys are poorly managed and standards aren't being maintained.

Edited December 15, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[neverbeenhere]

Again, unless you know the chef involved I’m not sure you can judge their level of control. And we have found after a lot of cruises, even our “favorite” chefs are not overall consistent. 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, neverbeenhere said:

Again, unless you know the chef involved I’m not sure you can judge their level of control. And we have found after a lot of cruises, even our “favorite” chefs are not overall consistent. 

 

 

Then they aren't doing their job properly if there is no consistency, and I don't need to personally know the chefs to understand management processes.

 

Consistency should be able to be expected on cruise lines, airlines, restaurant chains etc. Unfortunately that rarely happens especially on cruise lines. Of course cruise lines are cutting costs which doesn't help. After the worst MDR food I have ever experienced on Princess on Majestic Princess late last year I was somewhat hesitant about the 35 night Sea Princess we were going on in August this year as I wondered if some of the poor quality food was due to lesser quality produce being supplied by Princess. However the MDR meals on Sea Princess were among the best I've ever had on Princess. I even made a point of ordering a couple of dishes that had been particularly awful on Majestic and they were perfect on Sea Princess.

Edited December 15, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[hobbyfarmer2]

2 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

I did and they said when a ship runs out of their supply they will not be restocked so your ship hadn't run out yet.

Strange.  The Sky is less than 2 months old.  Must be a very recent decision.

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 12/12/2019 at 9:39 PM, Thrak said:

For the sugar folks: In the Piazza on our last cruise the sugar dispensers on the tables (for coffee and tea from IC) are a small kind of bulbous glass container with a spout that looks kind of like a liquor topper spout. They actually dispense a measured amount with each tip of the container. They were picked up in the late afternoon/early evening. I thought they were kind of nice.

I liked them too.  I like just the tip of a teaspoon of sugar in my coffee and the new bottle really reduced overpours.  They look nice too.

[CynCyn]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Then they aren't doing their job properly if there is no consistency, and I don't need to personally know the chefs to understand management processes.

 

Consistency should be able to be expected on cruise lines, airlines, restaurant chains etc. Unfortunately that rarely happens especially on cruise lines. Of course cruise lines are cutting costs which doesn't help. After the worst MDR food I have ever experienced on Princess on Majestic Princess late last year I was somewhat hesitant about the 35 night Sea Princess we were going on in August this year as I wondered if some of the poor quality food was due to lesser quality produce being supplied by Princess. However the MDR meals on Sea Princess were among the best I've ever had on Princess. I even made a point of ordering a couple of dishes that had been particularly awful on Majestic and they were perfect on Sea Princess.

I sailed on Ruby four months apart.  Different Executive Chefs.  Totally different food and level of service.  Hope I don’t sail with the 2nd one again-LOL

[geoherb]

Consistency is not a trademark of Princess. I'm on the CB currently. The first Caesar salad I ordered from room service had the dressing on the side. The second one had it on the salad. I did not request it one way or the other either time.

 

I've found the food to be too salty a lot on this cruise, but I've been attributing it to my not feeling well. Tonight the chicken fingers from the kids' room service menu were under-seasoned. Fortunately I was adding them to my Caesar salad, which made them OK with the salty dressing. 

[donaldsc]

On 12/13/2019 at 7:15 AM, Go-Bucks! said:

 

I was in a full suite on the Regal last month...got bar soap and ship postcard, but the cheap paper tote bag had replaced the canvas one. There was stationary but not personalized. 

 

There is a good reason for no stationary.  Nobody actually writes letters anymore.  We all do it electronically.  Get into the 21st century.

 

DON

[cr8tiv1]

24 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

There is a good reason for no stationary.  Nobody actually writes letters anymore.  We all do it electronically.  Get into the 21st century.

 

DON

 

I respectfully disagree.  I do a lot electronically, but I still "buy" greeting cards, notecards, and use good old folder paper (age showing) to write my correspondences. Don't get me started on educational gurus who have decided that cursive should be removed from the curriculum.  Letters have always been a "primary source" in history.  The same for digital photos.  Where will history get all of its informatio (documentation) and data?

 

 

[JWUC]

They used to flambe desserts in the MDR. Cherries Jubilee and bananas foster.

[pablo222]

12 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

It would have been nice of Princess to formulate a consistent policy instead of a wishy-washy depends on what ship you sail on and to whom you talk.

 

I think most passengers would like this, across all amenities and policies on princess.

 

 

[1980dory]

11 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

I remember when vending machine price for a Coke went from 5 cents to 6 cents and the complaint was that we had to have a penny in our pocket somewhere then to get a coke! That was in the late 50's or early 60's I believe.  Of course we forget what we got paid per hour to work, though.  I remember when I was in high school and would work in the oilfields during the summer. Started out at 85 cents/hour!  Ended up finally making $1.00 or $1.05/hour after a couple of raises!  Wow!

 

Tom

Lucky you!  I picked strawberries for 7 cents a quart, and the quarts had to be overflowing.  It took a lot of quarts to get enough to buy a pair of shoes even though the shoes were cheap.  Standing on a street corner with a WWFF sign would have been a whole lot easier, but even as a little kid , I had too much pride to do that and the concept had not yet  been conceived. 

Then I moved up to a big paying job as a car hop and I got 45 cents an hour plus tips.

[PrincessLuver]

9 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I respectfully disagree.  I do a lot electronically, but I still "buy" greeting cards, notecards, and use good old folder paper (age showing) to write my correspondences. Don't get me started on educational gurus who have decided that cursive should be removed from the curriculum.  Letters have always been a "primary source" in history.  The same for digital photos.  Where will history get all of its informatio (documentation) and data?

 

 

 

I agree....we are always leaving notes for each other in the cabin and find pen and note pad common in most hotels we stay in....now my packing list is growing.....notepad, pen, bar soap, straws, lotion, chair, toothpicks, after dinner mints, sugar packets, etc!.....but you know there will be sales flyers all over the cabin.....

[Knickearth]

I have two more "funny" not longer existing items.

 

One  is no more tenders - no they did not get to dock everywhere, but Princess has been taken over by the Brits in headquarters so the tenders are referred to as "water shuttles".

 

Second one equally silly is no more trivia onboard.  Now they are called quizzes.

[Knickearth]

I have two more "funny" not longer existing items.

 

One  is no more tenders - no they did not get to dock everywhere, but Princess has been taken over by the Brits in headquarters so the tenders are referred to as "water shuttles".

 

Second one equally silly is no more trivia onboard.  Now they are called quizzes.

[Happy2cruise]

17 hours ago, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

Might I suggest either seeing if someone you meet on the ship might want the bag or just give it to your room steward or leave it in your cabin when you disembark. That way it won't go to waste. Just a thought.

 

Tom

We do the same thing Tom! 

[Thrak]

Some things we don't miss at all. Anything with the words Lotus Spa on them (soap, lotion, etc.) is so heavily perfumed I can't use it and my wife doesn't use it because it makes me ill.

[cruzsnooze]

17 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

There is a good reason for no stationary.  Nobody actually writes letters anymore.  We all do it electronically.  Get into the 21st century.

 

DON

The stationary is still there it's just not personalized anymore. 

[Happy2cruise]

17 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

There is a good reason for no stationary.  Nobody actually writes letters anymore.  We all do it electronically.  Get into the 21st century.

 

DON

Be nice!!  Not everyone conducts their life electronically....21st century or not.