That is rich about "a lot of food for the money." I particularly like Alton's segment on making beer. If I had one I could pop in the vcr/dvd player, that would be the one. I also like the cold smoker he made out of an old refrigerator.
Wouldn't it be interesting to see a cruise ship set up some smokers (electric, of course) on deck and have a real barbecue party with pork butt, ribs, etc.? Now that would be an improvement!
Great topic. I can only speak to Princess, but I woud say the dining room has improved over the years. But it was always excellent so it couldn't really go to far. The number of offerings at each meal has gone down gradually, but that does not bother me--there are always plenty of good choices. And little by little they keep making improvements--little things, like the ginger and curry seasoning in the cream of cauliflower soup and the glazed walnuts and tiny raspberries in some of the salads. I also think they are using better quality ingredients--better beef, fresher vegetables; I will say I think the breads and pastries use to be fresher.
The buffet is another story. Sorry Dwayne, but my experience has been just the opposite--less variety and poorer quality. For example: avocado boats stuffed with bay shrimp and real crabmeat salads use to be buffet staples--serverd almost daily.
They appeared once in my last 15 day cruise. Several times I walked the islands and my plate was still empty--nothing looked good--and poor appetite has never been one of my problems; nothing looked appealing.
Sorry, I accidentially posted before I was finished and my edit/delete function is acting funny--maybe somebody from Princess is trying to sabotage my post!
I just wanted to finish off by saying several ships--notably, Grand Princess, Sea Princess and Sapphire Princess had wonderful buffets--good quality and presentation, although the variety was definitely lacking; but the others have some work to do.
That's o.k. Dwayne, I knew you were talking about Carnival. One reason I'm so looking forward to the cruise-chat cruise is all the good things I'm hearing about Carnival from people here--like yourself.
Looking forward to it as well. Hopefully I will get assigned a table with some of you all. That way I won't be embarassed asking what the heck am I ordering?
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