Princess Announces Lavazza Official Coffee Partner

[FrankieJayIII]

5 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

Ships prior to Royal will absolutely not be getting Lavazza for “drip” in the MDRs and buffets - the infrastructure is all designed for liquid concentrates that Lavazza doesn’t manufacture.
 

The current no-name beans on Diamond and Discovery are perfectly adequate for drinks with milk and syrups and possibly ice.  They make grim actual espresso.  I’m thrilled for the change but would be happier if they went back to Illy. 

is this an opinion or a fact?

[VibeGuy]

About the infrastructure?   Fact.   The coffee areas are designed to rapidly dispense a mixture of hot water and concentrate.   It would easily be $10k per station to rip out what’s there and replace it with the equipment used on Royal and beyond, which is a maintenance nightmare and cannot serve as many guests as quickly.  Highly automated drip coffee systems combine the expense of automated espresso systems with the poor drinking experience of hastily-brewed drip and don’t generate incremental revenue like espresso bars do.   I don’t see them doing it when I see thermal pots next to the disabled fancy equipment all the time on the newest ships. 

 

In the MDRs, I think the speed of service and ability to offer refills poured at table would probably point to large conventional brewers so the refit cost would be lower but you waste more coffee and quality suffers.  Drip drinkers seem to have settled on the current product being drinkable vs the early hysteria around “syrup”.   Lavazza does not make a concentrate suitable for the Douwe & Egbert system used on the earlier ships.  
 

In matters of taste, there can be no dispute, but I think the current offering is undrinkably bad as ristretti doppio despite nice machines that appear well maintained.  

 

 

 

[1emerald1]

Just got done shopping and bought a bag of Lavazza.  After I've tried it, I'll weigh in.

[malba2366]

36 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

Ships prior to Royal will absolutely not be getting Lavazza for “drip” in the MDRs and buffets - the infrastructure is all designed for liquid concentrates that Lavazza doesn’t manufacture.
 

The current no-name beans on Diamond and Discovery are perfectly adequate for drinks with milk and syrups and possibly ice.  They make grim actual espresso.  I’m thrilled for the change but would be happier if they went back to Illy. 

 

Lavazza is one of the largest coffee processors in the world, it is very likely that they make some sort of coffee concentrate for food service use.  IMHO, Lavazza espresso beans are quite good, but Illy is much better if you are drinking the shot.  In milk drinks both are very good, much better than Starbucks which is the gauge for most people at this point.  Unfortunately, I don't see them going to Illy as the beans are 2x the cost of Lavazza.

[RD64]

1 hour ago, malba2366 said:

 

Lavazza is one of the largest coffee processors in the world, it is very likely that they make some sort of coffee concentrate for food service use.  IMHO, Lavazza espresso beans are quite good, but Illy is much better if you are drinking the shot.  In milk drinks both are very good, much better than Starbucks which is the gauge for most people at this point.  Unfortunately, I don't see them going to Illy as the beans are 2x the cost of Lavazza.

Illy is the superior brand - in my opinion. Lavazza is a good everyday brand, but not a premium brand in any way. Also Lavazza is not just Lavazza - there are several brands under the Lavazza umbrella. Qualita Rossa is my go to - Crema e Gusto is meh. And there is Gran Filtro, and one or two others. Princess saying they are using “Lavazza” is not exactly a true description of the product.

Edited March 25, 2023 by RD64

[Kellyansapansa]

Coffee, coffee, coffee, blah, blah, coffee, coffee ... anyone care to hazard a guess about what this means for hot chocolate afficianados? ☕

[startedwithamouse]

2 minutes ago, Kellyansapansa said:

Coffee, coffee, coffee, blah, blah, coffee, coffee ... anyone care to hazard a guess about what this means for hot chocolate afficianados? ☕

Well, they open a cheap packet of powdered Swiss Miss, and mix it with hot water (or milk upon request). Yuck

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, Kellyansapansa said:

Coffee, coffee, coffee, blah, blah, coffee, coffee ... anyone care to hazard a guess about what this means for hot chocolate afficianados? ☕

Probably tastes yucky, but....

https://www.lavazza.com/en/business/coffee-capsules-pods/blue-choco-fondente#:~:text=Capsule Blue Choco Fondente,intense aroma of dark chocolate.

[Steelers36]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:42 PM, cristine said:

I don’t know how I missed that.

 

Neither do I.

[Kineticoh20]

Now they just need to ditch the coffee syrup and serve real brewed coffee like other lines do. Coffee has been my biggest disappointment with Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, malba2366 said:

 

Lavazza is one of the largest coffee processors in the world, it is very likely that they make some sort of coffee concentrate for food service use.  IMHO, Lavazza espresso beans are quite good, but Illy is much better if you are drinking the shot.  In milk drinks both are very good, much better than Starbucks which is the gauge for most people at this point.  Unfortunately, I don't see them going to Illy as the beans are 2x the cost of Lavazza.

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[arizonaperson]

On 3/23/2023 at 1:18 PM, lx200gps said:

Wasn't there a thread in the last few days announcing Nespresso machines in some cabins on Princess ships? I wonder how this latest announcement fits in. In any case, the addition of a decent coffee maker in each cabin would be great, were it to happen. Fingers crossed.

Yes on The new Sun Princess , but Only in SO (sky suites)rooms. Which I believe there’s only four of them and one is a handicap room. Although I did vaguely hear there are six SO category rooms but I only see four on the deck plan. So there’s a very small percentage  of Nespresso machines and those suites have a dedicated lounge and they can probably get any coffee they want ,so they’ll probably have no need for a machine in their room ,but who knows?

[CynCyn]

On 3/23/2023 at 9:46 PM, FrankieJayIII said:

Im sorry- the suites have them but regular rooms no

 

My suite didn’t have one on the Discovery.  Had access to the concierge lounge, but nothing in the room.

[Guest ldtr]

6 minutes ago, CynCyn said:

My suite didn’t have one on the Discovery.  Had access to the concierge lounge, but nothing in the room.

They were adding them to the new Sun Princess.  Not the older ships as of yet.

[CynCyn]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

They were adding them to the new Sun Princess.  Not the older ships as of yet.

Got it! Thank you. 

[CruiseCrabs]

On 3/23/2023 at 2:22 PM, startedwithamouse said:

Maybe they're off brand machines which take Nespresso type capsules?  Wouldn't put it past Princess!

The OG Nespresso “Classico” machines can take a variety of branded pods. They (and off brands) are ubiquitous in many Italian properties and make great coffee. I prefer Illy but Lavazza isn’t bad.

[VibeGuy]

The concentrate in question is not a cold brew.  It’s a 20-32:1 dilution shelf-stable abomination that looks like used motor oil.  No serious coffee company with pretensions of grandeur is in this space in North America - the Douwe Egberts business ended up in Folgers mitts and it’s the domain of second-tier convenience stores and mass foodservice.   They do have a refrigerated concentrate that isn’t dreadful but that’s not what is plumbed onboard.  
 

Lavazza is just not in this space - this announcement is most likely only covering brewed and ready to drink products and I’d be surprised if any of the complimentary coffee in any venue has ever seen mainland Italy once this is deployed. 

[caribill]

On 3/23/2023 at 9:21 PM, PrincessBuffy said:

Princess should probably check their own website for correct information - if you go to Sun Princess and look under stateroom features for the Sky Suites at least it says...wait for it... what is the last item on the list...

 

On 3/23/2023 at 9:46 PM, FrankieJayIII said:

Im sorry- the suites have them but regular rooms no

 

 

 

Sky suites only it appears.

 

 

19 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

For Sun Princess they may be adding this feature. Not every feature is available in the same cabins across the fleet. Pretty much the same with all cruise lines. It's also possible the feature will be added across the fleet at the same time. 

 

Only it looks like to sky suites. Most Princess ships do not have Sky Suites.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Now they just need to ditch the coffee syrup and serve real brewed coffee like other lines do. Coffee has been my biggest disappointment with Princess.

Some of the finest restaurants on land use coffee syrup.

 

Just like coffee beans, coffee syrup is available in different levels of quality.

 

Suspicion is that Princess is not purchasing the top quality coffee syrup.

[DallasGuy75219]

12 minutes ago, caribill said:

Suspicion is that Princess is not purchasing the top quality coffee syrup.

Suspicion is that Princess is no longer purchasing top quality anything.

[SargassoPirate]

9 hours ago, Kineticoh20 said:

Now they just need to ditch the coffee syrup and serve real brewed coffee like other lines do. Coffee has been my biggest disappointment with Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Caribbean Princes in January I saw them using Nespresso coffee syrup in the HC.  It was better than the usual swill and I actually had a cup or two in the mornings while enjoying the sunrise.

 

She Who Must Be Obeyed buys Lavazza chocolate flavored coffee and it tastes pretty good.  She sprinkles a dash of cinnamon on top for a little treat.. 

 

Good coffee like good wine is subjective and there is no pleasing everyone.

[lx200gps]

8 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

Yes on The new Sun Princess , but Only in SO (sky suites)rooms. Which I believe there’s only four of them and one is a handicap room. Although I did vaguely hear there are six SO category rooms but I only see four on the deck plan. So there’s a very small percentage  of Nespresso machines and those suites have a dedicated lounge and they can probably get any coffee they want ,so they’ll probably have no need for a machine in their room ,but who knows?

If we're talking about those ubiquitous coffee makers being in cabins on the Sun, then according to the artist renderings on the Princess site, they appear to be clearly visible on the cabin desk in every class of room except Interior. Are we saying those renderings are in error, which is highly unlikely given Princess's well known reputation for extreme accuracy in it's advertising and announcements ;o)

Edited March 25, 2023 by lx200gps

[cruzsnooze]

I dislike Lavazza. Some will love this some won't. They'll have to take it out of my cabin because I don't care to give up counter space for something I won't use. 

[CruzR887]

Lavazza is a brand. Saying Princess is switching to Lavazza doesn’t tell you the complete story. There are many different Lavazza roasts; dark, medium, light and various beans and blends. It’s like saying I’m getting a Toyota. Until you know which specific model you only know part of the story.

[Thrak]

19 hours ago, caribill said:

Some of the finest restaurants on land use coffee syrup.

 

Just like coffee beans, coffee syrup is available in different levels of quality.

 

Suspicion is that Princess is not purchasing the top quality coffee syrup.

 

They have also been inconsistent with their "mix". I once had a quite acceptable cup of coffee at lunch in a MDR. When I got a refill it tasted like something that had been sitting in a convenience store pot for about 12 hours. It was one of the worst cups of coffee I have ever had.

 

Our last couple of cruises (since the restart) the coffee in MDR has been "better than ghastly" but not real great. We tend to get our coffee at IC. I've gotten anything from a Vanilla Latte (a very "forgiving" drink but lends itself well to an added shot of Jameson) to a regular coffee with 2 extra shots of espresso and it's been fine.