Soft Ice Cream

[rome2009]

I am pretty sure that the soft "ice cream" on Princess is really "frozen dessert" and should be labelled as such. I know it is such a minor problem, but it just amazes me that a cruise line like Princess, where most if not all the eateries serve average to above average fare, cannot figure out how to serve a decent soft ice cream consistently fleet wide. Celebrity does. MacDonals does. Even Costco does. 

[antsp]

When on the Discovery just before Christmas, Princess had a big launch just before sail away, Tyra Banks came onboard a did some promo for smize ice-cream, they gave it out to everybody on deck and said it will be coming to Princess soon

[caribill]

5 hours ago, rome2009 said:

I am pretty sure that the soft "ice cream" on Princess is really "frozen dessert" and should be labelled as such.

 

That will happen when they also change the name of the "Champagne Fountain" to the "Sparkling Wine Fountain."

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:59 AM, LACruiser88 said:

For us it was a different flavor everyday and they also had a sherbet everyday.

once again, we are talking about soft serve ice cream on the top deck, not about what what available in MDR.

[LACruiser88]

38 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

once again, we are talking about soft serve ice cream on the top deck, not about what what available in MDR.

That is what I was talking about.  The soft serve machine was broken and they were serving a gelato and a sherbet everyday (next to the pool, on the "top deck").

[malba2366]

On 1/29/2023 at 3:12 AM, caribill said:

 

That will happen when they also change the name of the "Champagne Fountain" to the "Sparkling Wine Fountain."

Those laws don't apply in Bermuda and Panama.

Edited January 30, 2023 by malba2366

[Thrak]

My wife has always made sure to hit the soft serve several times on each cruise. The last two cruises (since the restart) she has only had it once on each cruise and said it was definitely not good and not how it used to be. She was definitely disappointed.

[cristine]

14 minutes ago, Thrak said:

My wife has always made sure to hit the soft serve several times on each cruise. The last two cruises (since the restart) she has only had it once on each cruise and said it was definitely not good and not how it used to be. She was definitely disappointed.

I agree, the soft serve doesn’t taste anything like it used to.

It tastes oily to me.. such a disappointment… 

 

[LawDog61]

On the sapphire last month it was pretty good. I am leaving on the crown tomorrow, and will definitely check out the soft serve and report back.

[caribill]

It was good on the Ruby recently.

[cr8tiv1]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:30 PM, antsp said:

When on the Discovery just before Christmas, Princess had a big launch just before sail away, Tyra Banks came onboard a did some promo for smize ice-cream, they gave it out to everybody on deck and said it will be coming to Princess soon

 

Did you get one?  How was it?  I will NEVER know.

[ldubs]

On 1/26/2023 at 3:38 PM, rome2009 said:

Is it just me or does anyone else feel the same about the soft ice cream offered on all Princess cruise ships we have sailed? It is absolutely nasty. On occasion we have found it tolerable, but for the most part the soft ice cream looks plastic and tastes awful. Is it that hard to make a product that so many other places have no issue making? The soft ice cream on Celebrity is consistent and delicious every time we have been on one of their ships. MacDonalds make a consistent good product every time. Pretty much every where you go to have soft ice cream it is usually good or great. Not so on Princess. IMHO!

 

Didn't try soft serve on Princess.   Since you mention McDonald's, we like the Wendy's "Frosty" soft serve.  It comes in a cup like a shake would.   We drive between the SF Bay Area and LA fairly often to see the grandkids.  We have a Wendy's stop along the way.   

[victoriaj]

On 1/26/2023 at 9:02 PM, mevs904 said:

Yes, I love soft ice cream, but was very disappointed in all the soft ice cream that I tried on each of the five Princess ships that we’ve sailed on.  It appeared to be very poor quantity in terms of flavor and creaminess.  None of them were worth a second try.  As cjpj said, calorie wise it was probably good that I wasn’t tempted to go back.

I agree and I believe it may be because it is now made with "ice milk" not cream as it used to be. I don't even bother having one now and it used to be a highlight !!!

[Rick&Jeannie]

There *must* be two different "recipes" floating around in the fleet.  What I had very recently was *definitely* not ice milk.  My parents were rather frugal and as such NEVER bought real ice cream...always ice milk.  I grew up on the stuff!  Once married and buying our own groceries...I had "THE REVELATION" as to what I'd been missing! 😃

[cruisequeen4ever]

I used to love Swirls and would go there every day. Sure, sometimes it was on the ice milk side, but for the most part, it was creamy and delicious.

Our Christmas cruise on the Royal, it was inedible in the beginning. I literally through my cone away. Mid-cruise, I tried it again, and after a few bites, gave up. It melted in my bowl, and the end product was exactly as it felt and tasted, totally grainy. Ice cream should never be grainy! I have it one last try at the end of the cruise, and it was edible enough to finish it but nothing like it was pre-Covid. I really hope Princess switches back to the old kind! 

[antsp]

18 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Did you get one?  How was it?  I will NEVER know.

Very nice, but I don't know what the long term plans with the product are

[malba2366]

I used to work at a soft ice cream place in high school and if using liquid mix the grainy texture usually comes from the machines being run too cold, if using powder mix it could be from not making sure the powder is fully dissolved in water before putting into the machine.  Liquid soft serve mix (more expensive) also creates a better ice cream than the powder mix.  The fat content of the mix will also affect the quality (higher fat is more expensive and tastes better).

[akeasley]

On 1/29/2023 at 12:30 AM, antsp said:

When on the Discovery just before Christmas, Princess had a big launch just before sail away, Tyra Banks came onboard a did some promo for smize ice-cream, they gave it out to everybody on deck and said it will be coming to Princess soon

I'm hoping the ice cream is onboard the Regal in April. 

[OccasionalSanta]

On 1/28/2023 at 7:57 AM, marden1970 said:

Just got off of the Emerald and no soft serve there either,  they hand scooped but I don't know if it was gelato or someother type,  it was just ok.

I was also on the Emerald recently. I was not impressed with the replacement ice cream. (I don't think it was gelato.)

[philv]

Why would anybody have soft serve when you can have gelato! 🍨😀

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, philv said:

Why would anybody have soft serve when you can have gelato! 🍨😀

Because soft serve is free and gelato you have to pay extra for unless it's offered in the DR.

[luvtoteach]

6 hours ago, philv said:

Why would anybody have soft serve when you can have gelato! 🍨😀

Because gelato was not available on the Crown in January.....

[philv]

But gelato is so much better!😋

[rome2009]

It seems to me that it would be such an easy fix, and yet for Princess it doesn't seem to bother them that the product they are offering is for the most part inedible. Yes, bring in the Frosty from Wendy's, MacDonalds, or even Costco... anything would be better and more consistent than what is offered on the Princess Ships. Maybe if we get malba2366 to work as a supervisor for the fleet that would improve things.

[Gnat]

I thought it was okay.   I'm wondering if anyone knows the ingredients of the soft serve and where it is manufactured.  My grandchildren have allergies to tree nuts and peanuts plus coconut.  Wondering if it could contain coconut or was processed in a factory that also processes nuts.  I don't believe that it is made on the ship.