Shockingly good cruise ship food? That's the idea behind lines' collaborations with celebrity chefs

I was exploring the 3,084-passenger Ruby Princess, docked at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, when I stumbled across a dessert display and tasting -- a wondrous thing to chance upon, especially given that the theme was "Chocolate Journeys."

Spread out in front of me were hundreds of dreamy desserts in all varieties of chocolate: white, milk, dark and sweet. I saw truffles, cakes, mousses, cupcakes and pastries. Multiple trays were festooned with dozens of tiny chocolate confections, each a silky, rich work of art.

As sweet and wonderful as it was, the tasting was just a small part of a Princess Cruises event to introduce new cuisines and a new restaurant. The media gathering was another volley in the battle by cruise lines to shake off the image of quantity-over-quality buffet lines and focus attention on new culinary offerings.

I did one cruise, and it was the most relaxing vacation I ever had. And I was on my own! (I’m sure it’s even more enjoyable when cruising with friends and/or family).
For the same price of a moderately priced hotel room (no food included), I had all I could eat food all day, entertainment, casino, pool, and transportation to different beaches/countries. What was unexpected was that I also had the best sleep every single night, the movement of the ship on the waves lulled me to sleep within 5 minutes of my head hitting the pillow every night! It does help that I absolutely LOVE the ocean and snorkling!

I worked on an RCCL ship for a total of ten months as a musician. Because of the unique circumstances of my employment, I had enormous privileges compared to most of the crew. Even the engineering staff, even the uniformed officers who drive & navigate the ship. Most of the crew eats in the crew mess, period. Cafeteria grade food.

Generally I ate in the buffet, which was very decent food. As good or better than an Appleby’s, just clean ordinary American food. For the most part I ate simply, steak, veggies, eggs. Not much you can do to screw those up.

I was not especially adventurous eating mystery food on land. In Europe, it was just phenomenally expensive. In the Caribbean, you don’t know what the heck you are getting. I was a musician, I had to dress and stand up & smile & play corny tunes all night long and I saw no need to make that as hard as it would be if I were doubled over with stomach issues. I never got sick.

The ship had a formal dining room and also had two specialty restaurants. I could not eat in the formal dining room (I suppose I could have but I never really asked) but I could go to the spec restaurant which cost $20. One was steakish, the other French cuisine. The food in those restaurants was 4+ star, really excellent.

The food aboard these cruise ships is a major, major deal. I’m not trying to act like a special pleader for cruises, but you hear sordid stories of people getting sick with stomach flu or norovirus. This is not in 90+% of cases due to the food nor food prep. For every PAX who gets sick, there are probably 250,000 who have a very decent time and no problems. The cruise companies have worked this stuff out millions and millions of times. They know very well what they are doing.

Sadly...it is because at some level, you are intimate with the hygiene habits and practices of all the other PAX. There, I said it. You go on these cruises and use handrails and touch things....you go wash your hands every hour or two and you will not get sick. You just do it. There are restrooms everywhere, you just become a mildly fanatical hand washer and you’re good to go.

This is interesting because we recently had to give Princess a low score on the food in our review.

It seems that for some time now (several years— and definitely since being acquired by Carneval) the food has been going downhill on the cruise line. We generally favor Princess because of the shows and destinations and were sorry to see the food being “cheapened”.

So now perhaps the line is trying to turn this around before they lose our loyalty.

I’m not a big show attender or casino player,, destinations are the main thing, that and fresh air and stars in the sky ..

Over the years, I would agree that the portions have shrunk and the tastebuds have to search a bit more for stimulation,, due to parent company owners? I don’t know.

Good thing they have a multitude of options on the large ships.. and / or frequent stops at ports where a good meal can still be had..

but like The Terminator,, We’ll be bock.. next year , maybe.

Cruising is an inclusive all-paid vacation... romance on the sea, great food, fabulous entertainment, swimming pool, shuffeboard, target shooting, luxurious stateroom and of course exotic ports of call to explore.

If I had the money, this would be a dream vacation. And crew service is typically very good so bring along plenty for tips.

As for where to go, from Europe, to the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, the Norwegian fjords, the Danube or the Volga, you have a buffet of destinations to sightsee.

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