Is Food THAT bad?

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, brisalta said:

There has been consolidation of meat packers who are now concentrating on exporting beef to maximize profit and thus it is not available for sale in the US market place.

I believe this may very well be true. 

Blaming the cooks on Princess can't be the reason why there are so many problems across many of their ships. 

[caribill]

44 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I believe this may very well be true. 

Blaming the cooks on Princess can't be the reason why there are so many problems across many of their ships. 

 

If the beef is very thin, that is on Princess.

[spunks]

In our opinion the food on Princess declined markedly when they started working with Curtis Stone. Post covid it declined even more.

[dog]

Everything I ‘ve had in the past 4 days has been good quality on-board the Discovery Princess. 
i didn’t care for any of the lunch selections in the MDR yesterday so had a hamburger. Pistachio gelato was perfect.

service has been quick & outstanding in the restaurants and delivery to the room.

glich has been app- long time loading. Told to log out and log back in. Fixed it every time. 

[MISTER 67]

6 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

I have heard nothing but bad reviews of the food served on HAL ships.

Princess and HAL are our favorite lines and have always found the food on both lines very comparable, pretty darn good but not great. Since Thanksgiving we sailed with Princess twice and HAL once with no complaints on either line. I found the food in the buffet to be very good on all 3 cruises. I do think that the desserts on Princess are better especially ones with chocolate, of course HAL's bread pudding is great. One other item, we love the French Onion soup in the MDR on Princess ships. 

We are sailing with Celebrity next month and it will be interesting to see how they now compare to Princess and HAL. We were on the Equinox twice in 2019 before the pandemic and the food was no better than Princess and HAL, the french onion soup  was a joke with maybe 5 onion strings in the whole crock.

[dog]

7 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

I have heard nothing but bad reviews of the food served on HAL ships.

We loved the food on Holland America.

so, now you have a few you have heard otherwise from.

[Big Tiger Fan]

Is the food that bad? Yes. Just got off a 29 day cruise and there were many nights DH and I had to search the MDR menu for something to eat. You kinda get tired of Caesar salads and Fettuccine Alfredo after a few nights. Even breakfast pastries were cold and hard. 

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, Big Tiger Fan said:

Even breakfast pastries were cold and hard. 

At least the IC would put them in the microwave for a minute.

[PurpleHays]

On 5/7/2022 at 4:25 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

If I can't smell the garlic before the dish arrives at the table, then there is not enough garlic !  

I made a shrimp and orzo dish for dinner this evening. It called for three cloves of minced garlic. I halved the recipe, but still used three cloves of garlic. I love garlic too.

[CU64]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:02 PM, ebeluga said:

Yes, I thought the same about the escargot - not a hint of garlic flavor or aromar! That was on Discovery!

I had escargot on Discovery April 3-10 and it was like they use to make it….delicious 

[Nebr.cruiser]

20 hours ago, brisalta said:

 

You are ignoring several facts.

The supply chain for products including beef is still problematic.

There has been consolidation of meat packers who are now concentrating on exporting beef to maximize profit and thus it is not available for sale in the US market place.

 

Sad that that may be true.  

[wowzz]

On 5/8/2022 at 5:50 AM, brisalta said:

 

You are ignoring several facts.

The supply chain for products including beef is still problematic.

There has been consolidation of meat packers who are now concentrating on exporting beef to maximize profit and thus it is not available for sale in the US market place.

 

Where is the meat exported? 

The EU bans the importation of most US beef.

[Musky Ike]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Where is the meat exported? 

The EU bans the importation of most US beef.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Musky Ike said:

Interesting that the Netherlands is in the list. The EU have higher standards than the other countries regarding growth hormones and antibiotic usage, hence no other European countries appearing.

[Musky Ike]

47 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Interesting that the Netherlands is in the list. The EU have higher standards than the other countries regarding growth hormones and antibiotic usage, hence no other European countries appearing.

The US has been expanding grass fed and antibiotic free meat production.  

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

The US has been expanding grass fed and antibiotic free meat production.  

Good to know.

 

[paul28]

Just got off the Emerald.  Food in the main dining room was pretty awful.  My steak at the Crown grill was solid.  The burger at the salty dog gastropub was good but the lobster Mac and cheese had me wanting a blue box of Kraft.  Honestly the best 2 meals we didn’t have to pay for were at the buffet.  Always got pizza after eating at the main dining room because I was hungry.

And good food is 100% subjective?!?   That’s garbage - there are flavors and textures (both good and bad) that come in food.
But mass produced food on a cruise ship -

you shouldn’t expect much and princess delivers to those low expectations.

[Z0nker]

On 5/5/2022 at 12:33 PM, Kitty Ellas Mom said:

I've read tons of things here about Princess food being bad but now I'm more worried.  Someone I booked tranportation for in Alaska has recommended to me to eat lunch at my hotel before getting on the cruise because then I will have bad food for a week.  She's been hearing how it's bad except in the specialty restaurants.  Hmmm.....I am not in the least bit picky but I want food that is at least decent.  What are my best bets if I want to stick to the "free" foods?  I am planning to eat dinner in the MDR at least sometimes b/c of my group which is booked together but I don't have to eat with them all the time.  I am thinking of trying Crown Grill.

We sailed on the Ruby in November and April.  Crown Grill was exceptional both times. As good as a high end steak house on shore. MDR food was excellent in April, enjoyed everything. Last November there were a few misfires, like rubbery ceviche, fishy mahi mahi and tough prime rib. Buffet was a decent option for breakfast and lunch. April cruise was 2/3 capacity and they only had one side of the buffet open. Hard to get a table and never was able to get one by the windows. International Cafe was excellent - awesome desserts, good Cuban sandwich, good breakfast sandwich. On the pool deck: pizza good, burgers and fries good, tacos so-so. Room service excellent - you can order a wide variety of things on your TV and even get items from Crown Grill or Sabatini's if you are willing to pay $11.

[sjde]

I haven’t read all these posts  but the one time I sailed on Princess -10 years ago so it was already purchased by Carnival- I thought it was the best food I’ve ever had on a cruise ! And I’ve been on Norwegian,  Holland , RCCL, Celebrity , Asmara and Oceania. 

[jeno]

1 minute ago, sjde said:

I haven’t read all these posts  but the one time I sailed on Princess -10 years ago so it was already purchased by Carnival- I thought it was the best food I’ve ever had on a cruise ! And I’ve been on Norwegian,  Holland , RCCL, Celebrity , Asmara and Oceania. 

I think it highly unlikely you’d feel the same now. 

[joe/jack]

On 5/5/2022 at 3:58 PM, waltd said:

I suggest you do not take their advise again.   Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.  

Agreed

Princess Food is above average and

they give you plenty of venues to 

choose from 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, jeno said:

I think it highly unlikely you’d feel the same now. 

Without being unkind, giving an opinion based on one cruise 10 years ago, is not really very apposite.

[WAvoyager]

On 5/9/2022 at 3:26 AM, Musky Ike said:

I really hope my favorite restaurant in Panama (best steaks I have ever had) hasn’t switched their source of meat.  I will go back to Panama at some point, even if it’s just to eat at Gaucho again!

[cruzin4us]

45 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by cruzin4us

[jeno]

8 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

I really hope my favorite restaurant in Panama (best steaks I have ever had) hasn’t switched their source of meat.  I will go back to Panama at some point, even if it’s just to eat at Gaucho again!

Where in Panama is it? What town?