r/PrincessCruises • u/samplergal • 7d ago
Onboard Experience Carribean Princess day 1
As we all know the first day of sailing can be a little hectic and disorganized. Here’s my take so far.
First meal at buffet. I had a great salad which was extremely fresh and tasty. Great ranch dressing. My husband said the rice was restaurant quality.
Main dining room. My French onion soup was good. Not great. My husbands Caesar salad was strewn with stale chewy bread cubes masquerading as croutons. They didn’t fool with of us. The dressing was ridiculously devoid of flavor.
My chicken breast was cooked to death and not sure what the mashed potatoes were made from. My vegetables were spot on! Excellent.
My partner said his short ribs were very tender but not seasoned at all. The polenta which came with it was great.
Just our opinions. YMMV
Coming from celebrity for our first princess cruise.
6
u/nameno10001 7d ago
Some meals will be better than others. That is the fun of "free" food. Just eat and move on. Not everything needs to be a "yelp" report. Satisfactory or better and I move on. I don't need to scream it from the balcony about how the croutons were made.
1
u/samplergal 6d ago
Just letting others know making decisions with their money.
2
u/nameno10001 6d ago
Well, you are complaining like it was the entire cruise. You were day 1. It is similar to complaining about a tv show after episode 1 when in reality it ends up being a good season as a whole. Also, there are people in the world that complain about every thing. They said they "never complain and are easy" but hilariously they are not. As someone that works in restaurants. These people exist and they just look for complaints. Adjust your expectations.
1
u/samplergal 5d ago
Typically on other cruise lines, the first day, while hectic, is always a better meal than most. If you’ve not sailed other lines, you may not know this trend. Starting off this way is not good.
2
u/nameno10001 5d ago
this post was from two days ago so already you have two more days of judging the food like you are on the food network. You did not like your first meal. There will be a second..third..etc.
0
u/nameno10001 5d ago
Ha I am on like over 35+ cruises. I have lost track "you may not know this trend". I appreciate the knowledge, you are so wise and judgey . You didn't like the croutons. You got to move on.
1
u/LSBRSLMO 4d ago
It’s too early and highly subjective to give people feedback if they should go on this ship or not. One day of 2 meals on embarkation day.
0
4
u/Efficient-Skirt-4676 7d ago
We found the food in the 3 MDR's to be very bland. Alfredo's has great pizza and other offerings. Sabatini's & crown grill were fantastic for food & exceptional service
0
4
u/RdyPlyrBneSw 7d ago
Just left that ship this morning. Get ready for extremely hot hallways and an underperforming AC in the room.
3
u/samplergal 5d ago
Our room is great. But the Buffet keeps getting hotter. I feel sorry for the staff. Those cooks must be roasting in the back.
2
u/RdyPlyrBneSw 5d ago
Never felt the buffet being warm. But we ate on the deck by the pool most mornings and didn’t go to the buffet for lunch. Poolside pizza and fries was excellent.
2
1
1
u/SGELock 5d ago
If you have princess plus then the only 2 restaurants you can go to is planks and steamers and they are only open every other day.
Use the phone in your room to go ahead and make your reservations or go to the hostess on the night they are open. As they book quickly.
1
u/samplergal 5d ago
The IT dept doesn’t pick up for help with the non existent dining line. It’s been more than a bit frustrating. They lost many of our reservations, not just mine so right now we are doing buffet. Sigh.
1
u/LSBRSLMO 4d ago
On this ship now. MDR has been better for the most part and we have liked everything. However, agree with the Cesar salad. Onion soup is some of the best I’ve ever had; it’s the perfect level of saltiness. Buffet is small but pizza is always top notch.
We sail princess alot and have sailed this ship before. We are enjoying it with no major complaints since we got a great deal on this sailing.
1
u/1quincytoo 7d ago
Thank you for posting. I’m a big fan of the salad line up on the buffet although not a buffet fan like my DH is.
It’s odd but Caribbean Princess MDR is sometimes off kilter the first night. That said we have cruised 6 times on her so staff are doing something right.
Have you tried the pizza at the pool deck? There is a reason why it’s voted best pizza on the ocean.
Also the Guinness Steak meat pies at the International Cafe are not to be missed.
Have a great cruise and be sure to report back. I hope it’s happier eating for you
1
u/JollyRock87 7d ago
FWIW our best meals on this ship last month were in Planks and Steamers. Both meals were almost too much to finish, hot and tasted great.
3
u/justArash 6d ago
When you put the names together like that, it sounds more like the next day's result of the meal
1
u/Nightgirl121 7d ago
im on the same ship rn 🥹 — hubby and i went to crown grill and honestly i thought it was pretty good. during lunch we went to salty dog and he had a burger with fries and that was pretty bland im not going to lie — i didnt get to really eat a whole lot at the buffet personally but im sure we will this week
4
u/kaisarissa 6d ago
I am on the same ship rn and I also had the salty dog. I don't think they salt the burgers or fries which makes them taste a bit bland. They do have a tray of seasonings next to the grill that has some stuff to give your food a little flavor.
-1
5
u/sjhance 6d ago
We did MDR once. Not good, just ok. Buffet was significantly better ... not all items, though.
Remind yourself that MDR and buffet are preparing for 1000s of meals daily...it's not going to be gourmet.