Discovery Food Review...Read until the end for 2 surprises.....

[Shippy]

    Just off the Discovery Princess

We were just finishing up our 3rd lunch in the Buffet when we were approached by a man in a white jacket & a chef hat.

 He asked how everything was. I said the variety, service & quality in the buffet was indeed impressive.

He then asked about the rest of the ship.  I said...you really do not want to know... He was insisted that I be candid so I started to ramble on.

Starting first whit the Crown Grill where expectations are high. I got the same meal I always get there. I get the scallops for an appetizer. Quite seared yet not cooked through. The seafood bisque....cold. They offered to heat up but I declined.  My husband got the Filet Mignon, med to med well. Again quite seared but it almost mooed when cut. The maiter 'd walked by & I stopped & asked his opinion. He immediately called to have it remove & redone but my husband declined.

  Moving on to the international cafe for my favorite Almond croissants. I tried 2 days in a row, both horrid. Dark & hard as a rock.

Room Service coffee. Even putting hot water in half the cup, it was not drinkable. Extremely strong. He explained that they just started a new powdered product from Italy & obviously need to make some adjustments.

Specialty desserts. Just off the Regent a few months ago & all gelatos off the menu included (we had the plus package). On discovery, not so. I tried to order the Frangelico sundae that I got for free on the Regent but it was $ 8.00. I got around it by ordering the Donetello & saying to hold all the candies & cakes & then going to the bar & having them dump a shot of Frangelico on it.

  I ended the conversation by saying the service & product appeared good but there appeared to by a problem with the preparation of the foods that had to be cooked.

HERE IS THE FIRST SURPRISE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE THE REALITY SHOW UNDERCOVER BOSS ? THIS GENTLEMAN REVEALED HE WAS THE UNDERCOVER CHEF. . BEING DRESSED LIKE THAT MIGHT MAKE PEOPLE FEEL MORE AT EASE TO SPEAK TO HIM.

  As soon as he left, we could see him typing away at his phone....and you guessed it...we went to the Crown Grill again. Same meals perfect.

International Cafe Almond Croissants, light & flaky like on the other ships. Morning room service coffee excellent.

   2ND SURPRISE

Seems a lot of people still do not know about the Dessert Extravaganza in the buffet on the last sea day. It not advertised or in the Patter. I think it is on all ships as we have gone on 3 different ones. It is the pastry shop or an entire regular aisle on ships that do not have a pastry shop.

  Candy sculptures for pictures. Giant assorted fancy cakes. Tiramisu, cheesecake, black forest, etc. they carve them for you. Do not get trapped in the long line with out a plate because those dessert plates will not do. Grab a large lunch plate before you enter. Starts at 11:30am. I go though the line then & get what I want & leave it on the table & then go back to get my regular lunch.  If I waited until after  I ate lunch, the line would be to long.

   It was enhanced this year by the chef going from tale to table with a cart with a giant pan of fresh Paella serving people. This was followed by another cart where they were poring Sangria to everyone.

[1emerald1]

Glad to hear they got the almond croissants straightened out, one of my favorites!

[dickinson]

Impressive!  FYI - In September while on the Enchanted the pastry buffet was listed in the Patter. 

[Shippy]

I think this really shows how much Princess really cares. Not just your survey at the end which probably just goes to corporate !

[wallyj]

9 minutes ago, Shippy said:

I think this really shows how much Princess really cares. Not just your survey at the end which probably just goes to corporate !

Reports are, you should complete survey by day3 of receiving, else the ship and employees will not get the individual recognitions. tabulations are done by day3. You can still submit survey till it expires but those results only go to corporate according to past threads/posts regarding this subject.

[JGmf]

That's terrific on the work to get your feedback, but I'm sorry, what am I missing?  How was he undercover if he was in a chef's outfit?

[Shippy]

5 minutes ago, JGmf said:

That's terrific on the work to get your feedback, but I'm sorry, what am I missing?  How was he undercover if he was in a chef's outfit?

He was NOT a chef ! Just posing as one in the buffet so you would not think anything wrong if he came up & spoke to you. I have no idea what his real function on Princess really is.

  There is a reality show on TV that has CEO's & owners of big companies posing as actual workers so they can really find out what is going on not just taking the word of others. That is what this reminded me of.

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

He was NOT a chef ! Just posing as one in the buffet so you would not think anything wrong if he came up & spoke to you. I have no idea what his real function on Princess really is.

  There is a reality show on TV that has CEO's & owners of big companies posing as actual workers so they can really find out what is going on not just taking the word of others. That is what this reminded me of.

It's all about the survey on the last day. That's all that matters to them is a 10. 

 

BTW, why did you decline the Crown Grill trying to make it right for you, twice?

[Shippy]

20 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

It's all about the survey on the last day. That's all that matters to them is a 10. 

 

BTW, why did you decline the Crown Grill trying to make it right for you, twice?

Sorry if I was not clear.

We DID go back to the Crown Grill. I ordered the exact same things and every thing was hot & perfectly cooked. I would not hesitate to go back to them as I love the menu & have been to them on 3 different ships.

I was going to wait for the survey to say anything but since the 'chef ' asked , I told him & all was corrected.

 

[Sprocket]

We were on the Discovery Hawaii cruise in December and had no problem getting gelato or the desserts that are included in the Plus package.  Weird that they said no.

 

I always order the rib eye in the CG and have learned to ask for it blackened and medium well, comes out perfect!

[victory2020]

We were on NCL awhile back & had their monte cristo at lunch which is usually pretty good. This time it was extremely greasy, probably due to the oil not being hot enough, & we couldn't eat it. I filled out a 'talk to the chef' or something at the front desk. That night after we were seated for dinner the head chef came to our table to apologize. 

[New2cruise2022]

@Shippy Thanks for sharing this experience with all of us. As an avid cruiser as well as a chef owner, my product and service is better because of people like you that share experiences so improvement is possible. 
 

I’ll be on the Discovery in 12 days. Did you get a name by chance?

[Shippy]

5 hours ago, New2cruise2022 said:

@Shippy Thanks for sharing this experience with all of us. As an avid cruiser as well as a chef owner, my product and service is better because of people like you that share experiences so improvement is possible. 
 

I’ll be on the Discovery in 12 days. Did you get a name by chance?

No. Probably because he was undercover    :O)

[New2cruise2022]

3 hours ago, Shippy said:

No. Probably because he was undercover    :O)

I’m all for adding mystery to my week on the seas. Examining staff in the dining room for signs of a wig, a fake beard, or accent that sounds just a little off. 
 

The Crown Grill seems like an easy enough fix, as the redo meal is a fairly common practice on land and sea. But the attention to pastries and the coffee. For you to be night and day pleased with the improvements, your undercover chef must have some serious influence on the Discovery. 

[disneyochem]

I think it’s great that Princess is actively looking to improve guests’ experiences while on board.

 

I however do not wait for an ‘undercover boss’ to approach me if I receive bad/poor food or service while on board.  I am celiac so I need to have gf food available—sometimes there is not the attention to provide tasty and fresh gf food.  If I get something that is subpar, I use CrewChat if I feel that the issue is not resolved by the staff at the venue.   I politely inform GS of the issue (i.e.,hockey puck gf muffins at the IC, no gf syrup at the MDR), usually receive a same-day response from the appropriate department and then, many times, receive a follow up call.  
 

Once while talking to a supervisor, I told him that the item was so bad that they needed to use a different recipe.  Two days later, I had a delivery to my room with freshly made muffins and a note asking me what I thought about the new recipe!  

[New2cruise2022]

8 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

I think it’s great that Princess is actively looking to improve guests’ experiences while on board.

 

I however do not wait for an ‘undercover boss’ to approach me if I receive bad/poor food or service while on board.  I am celiac so I need to have gf food available—sometimes there is not the attention to provide tasty and fresh gf food.  If I get something that is subpar, I use CrewChat if I feel that the issue is not resolved by the staff at the venue.   I politely inform GS of the issue (i.e.,hockey puck gf muffins at the IC, no gf syrup at the MDR), usually receive a same-day response from the appropriate department and then, many times, receive a follow up call.  
 

Once while talking to a supervisor, I told him that the item was so bad that they needed to use a different recipe.  Two days later, I had a delivery to my room with freshly made muffins and a note asking me what I thought about the new recipe!  

And it’s worth noting that your feedback seems friendly and sincere without a hint of “Karen”. I think most staff take great pride in the work they do and seem to be willing and motivated to make things right. 

[disneyochem]

16 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

And it’s worth noting that your feedback seems friendly and sincere without a hint of “Karen”. I think most staff take great pride in the work they do and seem to be willing and motivated to make things right. 

Absolutely!  I also use CrewChat to comment on improvements/great service during the cruise as well!  (That in addition to using the post cruise survey.)

[New2cruise2022]

11 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

Absolutely!  I also use CrewChat to comment on improvements/great service during the cruise as well!  (That in addition to using the post cruise survey.)

Attitude and kindness often makes all of the difference in the world! It’s easy to be kind when everything is going great. The key is to extend the same (or more kindness) when sharing criticism or expressing disappointment.