Royal Princess – Eating, Drinking and being Merry

As this was my first experience of Princess Cruises I wasn’t sure what to expect of the food on board. Sure I have seen the TV show that is based on the various Princess Cruises ships around the world and am a huge fan of the programme (as was proven to my fellow travellers when I was stalking Timothy from the Shore excursion desk – fellow watchers will know who i mean). I had built it up to be amazing. My own holiday a few months ago was on the MSC Magnifica and although I always found something to eat, the choice in the main dining room was very limited so I was really looking forward to seeing what Princess offered.

I love eating in the main dining room. Going out for dinner at home is a real treat and I love getting dressed up and being waited on. On holidays I am the same, I dont mind the buffet for breakfast or lunch but for dinner I love eating in the main dining room. Gladly this cruise did not disappoint. The food was amazing and to be honest the service from the waiting staff in the dining room made it such an enjoyable experience.

We sat at a table of 10 and it was the biggest size table I had sat at so when we were ordering I was wondering how all our various bits and bobs where going to come out together, still hot and in the right order. I needn’t have worried, everything came out perfect and how they remember what everyone ordered I will never know!!

Below are some pics of the yummy food on board.

We also had the opportunity to eat at the speciality restaurant on board – The Crown Grill. Its $29 per person supplement but for a treat, and especially if you want an intimate dining experience, it is well worth it. It’s a steak restaurant and I am one of those pain in the bum, well done, cook the steak til the smoke alarm goes off, steak gal. The waiter took our order without giving us the evils and brought out the juiciest, well done, not a hint of pink, steak. I would go as far as saying it was the best steak I have had, ever!.

Below is a copy of the menu and some more foodie pics 🙂

Beverage wise we added on the All Inclusive Drinks package, which was $59.99 per person per day (plus a gratuity of 15%). We were only on for a few nights and we had some on board credit to offset it but if you were on for 10-14 nights it would really add up. To make it worth your while you would need to be enjoying at least 6 alcoholic drinks a day as they cover drinks up to $12 each in value. The package also covers speciality coffee, teas, bottled water etc. One gripe I have is that if you want a soft drink it is the horrible soda stuff from the machine rather than a can of diet coke. If you want a can of soda you get charged for it. Only a minor annoyance but something that did annoy me.

I discovered my new favourite tipple – Espresso Martini! I was introduced to it by my room mate Emma and will now be testing the Espresso Martini making skills of every bar tender I come across :