Food on Princess
- Thread starter allstar22
- Start date
Beryl
Trivia Specialist
I can't compare to Carnival. In my opinion there is not much difference between Holland America and Princess (others may disagree with my opinion but this has been my experience.) Each line offers a very good dining experience in their main dining rooms. I have had wonderful meals and not so wonderful meals on both....same with service. If you are expecting 5star gourmet food and service in the main dining room on either line you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. What you can expect is very good "banquet" style food served up with a smile!
You will get generally receive a much better quality of food and service in the Premium (read extra cost) restaurants on both lines.
You will get generally receive a much better quality of food and service in the Premium (read extra cost) restaurants on both lines.
Last edited:
Whimsy
Staff Captain
I just sailed Carnival and I have to give the edge to Princess in food.
For instance:
I have the wonderful Princess Fettacunni almost every night as a side dish. One night Carnival offered this and there was no comparsion. The Princess offering is creamy and wonderful, the Carnival offering looked like cream of mushroom soup poured over noodles. Even DH, who thinks I am too critical sometimes, thought the same about the food. If I remember correctly Princess changes up the menu a bit at breakfast in the dining room. Carnival did not, it was the same offerings every day.
It seemed like Carnival had more home type foods, such as BBQ ribs one night, short ribs another night. We look for more interesting food choices when we travel. I would tend to think Princess probably has a larger budget for food than Carnival. I would think the higher the fare the more budgeted per passenger for food.
Now, that is not to say we went hungry on Carnival because we did not. There were lots of great dishes. That warm chocolate melting cake was heaven on a plate. I also enjoyed bagels, cream cheese and salmon almost every morning while DH had eggs benedict. DH also liked the tuna fish sandwich from the deli. I had a roast beef and brie one day from room service that was very good.
For instance:
I have the wonderful Princess Fettacunni almost every night as a side dish. One night Carnival offered this and there was no comparsion. The Princess offering is creamy and wonderful, the Carnival offering looked like cream of mushroom soup poured over noodles. Even DH, who thinks I am too critical sometimes, thought the same about the food. If I remember correctly Princess changes up the menu a bit at breakfast in the dining room. Carnival did not, it was the same offerings every day.
It seemed like Carnival had more home type foods, such as BBQ ribs one night, short ribs another night. We look for more interesting food choices when we travel. I would tend to think Princess probably has a larger budget for food than Carnival. I would think the higher the fare the more budgeted per passenger for food.
Now, that is not to say we went hungry on Carnival because we did not. There were lots of great dishes. That warm chocolate melting cake was heaven on a plate. I also enjoyed bagels, cream cheese and salmon almost every morning while DH had eggs benedict. DH also liked the tuna fish sandwich from the deli. I had a roast beef and brie one day from room service that was very good.
JimandJerry
Shore Excursion Manager
I agree regarding the Fettucini. I also had it as a starter each night on Princess and it was great! On Carnival Holiday in May this year, it had way too much sauce. We just returned from the Carnival Liberty and will sail away again on Sunday Nov. 1st on the Emerald Princess for a B2B. I'm looking forward to the Fettucini again. I think Princess has better deserts than Carnival, but the Fish and Chips on Carnival is great!
Jim
Jennlovestocruise
Deck Crew
okay I love to cruise and just sailed my first princess a few months back. So I will give you my experience. I have also sailed Holland but not carnival. Holland was amazing.... Princess was okay. I was aboard the island princess. The dining room was good.... very good, but not as amazing as other lines. The Lido deck on the other hand was pretty mediocre. It is open 24 hours a day which is night for the late owls like me, but pretty much the same foods every day and very cafeteria tasting. I always look forward to the dessert extravaganzas on ships and the "look" was absolutely incredible.... i HAD to try about 8 of them. My husband was shaking his head because these were not on my diet. But I tried one bite of each and that was it because none of them tasted as good as I expected they would.
This all being said, the thing to remember is that Princess caters to a bit older crowd than me. I am 31 and was clearly one of the youngest on the cruise to Alaska. I think about 10 in my age range. The majority of guests were about 60 and up and I would imagine to cater to an older crowd they probably cook with less salt and rich tasting foods.
Even if it wasn't fabulous... I still found enough stuff to gain a few pounds!
This all being said, the thing to remember is that Princess caters to a bit older crowd than me. I am 31 and was clearly one of the youngest on the cruise to Alaska. I think about 10 in my age range. The majority of guests were about 60 and up and I would imagine to cater to an older crowd they probably cook with less salt and rich tasting foods.
Even if it wasn't fabulous... I still found enough stuff to gain a few pounds!
