Adventure of the Sea V. Golden Princess

I've narrowed my January southern caribbean cruise down to 2 ships.
Adventure of the Sea or Golden Princess, but I can't decide which to pick.
We are a group in the 30-45 age group, but not big party animals. The
quality of food is very important. We have taken many princess & celebrity
cruises which were all great. We did one bad RCI cruise on the Nordic
Empress which had terrible food, but I don't know if that experience was
representative of the larger & newer RCI ships. I'd apprectiate some
opinions. Thanks! JJ

In article , JJ
wrote:

The quality of food is very important. We have taken many princess &
celebrity cruises which were all great. We did one bad RCI cruise on
the Nordic Empress which had terrible food, but I don't know if that
experience was representative of the larger & newer RCI ships.

If the quality of food is very important I would skip RCI. My last RCI
cruise was on Adventure of the Seas. The food was not terrible. It is
okay, but it was not as good as Princess and Celebrity. I had actually
resolved to not cruise on RCI for a while because of the decline in
their food. That said I am cruising on RCI in December because while I
would prefer better food quality it is not the most important aspect
for me. I would think that Adventure of the Seas would be better for
the 30-45 age group your group is in. Not just the party aspect but the
other activities on Adventure of the Seas would be better suited for
that age group than Golden Princess. But agian if the food quality
really is that very important, you should go with Golden Princess.

--
Charles

Charles wrote:

In article , JJ
wrote:


The quality of food is very important. We have taken many princess &
celebrity cruises which were all great. We did one bad RCI cruise on
the Nordic Empress which had terrible food, but I don't know if that
experience was representative of the larger & newer RCI ships.


If the quality of food is very important I would skip RCI. My last RCI
cruise was on Adventure of the Seas. The food was not terrible. It is
okay, but it was not as good as Princess and Celebrity. I had actually
resolved to not cruise on RCI for a while because of the decline in
their food. That said I am cruising on RCI in December because while I
would prefer better food quality it is not the most important aspect
for me. I would think that Adventure of the Seas would be better for
the 30-45 age group your group is in. Not just the party aspect but the
other activities on Adventure of the Seas would be better suited for
that age group than Golden Princess. But agian if the food quality
really is that very important, you should go with Golden Princess.

Not sure whether it's simply a matter of taste ("no pun intended"), or
variability within and between ships (e.g., who is supervising food
preparation), lines, and cruisers over time, but I do find the
differences between the dining experiences of cruisers on this group to
be quite intriguing.

I sailed on the Grand Princess in Jan 1999. Loved the food (hated the
ship). Sailed on the Golden in Dec 2001. Hated the food (liked the
ship).

In recent years (since Aug 2001), I have been on five different RCI
ships (Grandeur, Explorer, Brilliance, Serenade, Voyager in that order).
On the first four of these cruises, dining room food was mediocre, at
best. On my recent Voyager cruise (where I was not expecting good
food), I found the food in the dining room to be excellent.

To be quite honest, after having taken so many cruises on so many ships
and lines, the lack of consistency in food and service adds an air of
mystery to each new sailing.

Howie

Charles wrote:

In article , JJ
wrote:


The quality of food is very important. We have taken many princess &
celebrity cruises which were all great. We did one bad RCI cruise on
the Nordic Empress which had terrible food, but I don't know if that
experience was representative of the larger & newer RCI ships.


If the quality of food is very important I would skip RCI. My last RCI
cruise was on Adventure of the Seas. The food was not terrible. It is
okay, but it was not as good as Princess and Celebrity. I had actually
resolved to not cruise on RCI for a while because of the decline in
their food. That said I am cruising on RCI in December because while I
would prefer better food quality it is not the most important aspect
for me. I would think that Adventure of the Seas would be better for
the 30-45 age group your group is in. Not just the party aspect but the
other activities on Adventure of the Seas would be better suited for
that age group than Golden Princess. But agian if the food quality
really is that very important, you should go with Golden Princess.

Not sure whether it's simply a matter of taste ("no pun intended"), or
variability within and between ships (e.g., who is supervising food
preparation), lines, and cruisers over time, but I do find the
differences between the dining experiences of cruisers on this group to
be quite intriguing.

I sailed on the Grand Princess in Jan 1999. Loved the food (hated the
ship). Sailed on the Golden in Dec 2001. Hated the food (liked the
ship).

In recent years (since Aug 2001), I have been on five different RCI
ships (Grandeur, Explorer, Brilliance, Serenade, Voyager in that order).
On the first four of these cruises, dining room food was mediocre, at
best. On my recent Voyager cruise (where I was not expecting good
food), I found the food in the dining room to be excellent.

To be quite honest, after having taken so many cruises on so many ships
and lines, the lack of consistency in food and service adds an air of
mystery to each new sailing.

Howie

In article , Howie
wrote:

To be quite honest, after having taken so many cruises on so many ships
and lines, the lack of consistency in food and service adds an air of
mystery to each new sailing.

I think there is another factor that is important. The head chef and
the kitchen staff. Some chefs can work wonders even with average
provisions and some chefs could muck up even the best provisions.

--
Charles

In article , Howie
wrote:

To be quite honest, after having taken so many cruises on so many ships
and lines, the lack of consistency in food and service adds an air of
mystery to each new sailing.

I think there is another factor that is important. The head chef and
the kitchen staff. Some chefs can work wonders even with average
provisions and some chefs could muck up even the best provisions.

--
Charles

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 11:48:39 -0400, Charles
wrote:

I think there is another factor that is important. The head chef and
the kitchen staff. Some chefs can work wonders even with average
provisions and some chefs could muck up even the best provisions.

Hi Charles,

The provisioning is an excellent point. Some cruise lines import many
of the provisions from the US when they are sailing in different parts
of the world. As an example there are several cruise lines that
import beef when sailing in Europe because they say that they can not
get the quantities of high quality that their chef's require. This
happens in various parts of the world for various items.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

Charles wrote:

In article , Howie
wrote:


To be quite honest, after having taken so many cruises on so many ships
and lines, the lack of consistency in food and service adds an air of
mystery to each new sailing.


I think there is another factor that is important. The head chef and
the kitchen staff. Some chefs can work wonders even with average
provisions and some chefs could muck up even the best provisions.


Thats what I meant when I said:

"who is supervising food preparation"

Howie