This is a bit unique food review. It has been a really hot summer this year in 2018. Luckily, we had planned to take Alaskan Cruise during the heat wave! There are so many options when it comes to Alaskan Cruise, and we decided to go with Princess Cruise. Our ship was Princess Emerald. From what I heard, cruise lines are separated into four categories, and Princess belongs to premium category (comparable to 4-star hotels), below luxury and ultra luxury categories (comparable to 5-star hotels).

So let’s get on the Love Boat! This was a beautiful boat, with very pretty pool in the middle. They had staffs with trays full of drinks to celebrate the beginning of the wonderful cruise. Now, when you purchase a cruise, most of all the meals are included, but not drinks. So, we had to pay for these beverages. Before you board the ship, we were given a personal card with name and cabin number on it. This will be used to open the room and also used as money card while on Princess Cruise. For whatever you want to have that cost money, simply provide the card to the staff and they will scan the card. Then, your purchase will automatically be billed to your credit card on file. This one was about $9 per drink.

We did need some kind of fancy drink to celebrate, right? The drink was tropical and fruity, but very sweet. They had plenty of staffs with tray full of these drinks everywhere, so it was easy to catch them if you wanted more.

The Princess Cruise ship was departing from Seattle, so we said our good-bye to Seattle with excitement!

In case you are interested, here is what the cabin looks like here at Princess Cruise. We had ocean view state room. It is not big, but not too small either. It had a nice fluffy bed, TV, mini-fridge and a desk. The bed was pretty comfortable, and the funny thing was that the TV aired the Love Boat show quite often. I must say, I have never seen a single episode until I was on the Love Boat!

It had an ok-size open closet with a good amount of hangers, safe and some shelves. The bathroom was small, enough for just one person to be in there at one time. Shower is even smaller, standing shower with curtain around it.

Now, the food. Emerald Princess had a great number of options when it came to food and drinks. They had a handful of bars and handful of dining spots, both casual and upscale. One of the popular spots was by the pool side, Pizzeria & Ice Cream bar. You can get soft-serve ice cream cone for free! They only had vanilla and chocolate, but with some toppings if you wanted to make it extra fun. They also had shakes and malts, but for $2.50 each that you can charge to your money card.

Pizza is also free, and they had pepperoni, cheese and some kind daily special that changed every day. And they are freshly baked on deck. You can get as many pizza slices as you want, any time of the day or night…  I know, dangerous! They are not that excellent, but certainly addictive and perfect comfort snack.

Princess Cruise have a couple of other casual dining spot, including bars. If you know you are going to be drinking during your cruise, they do offer drink package that you choose from, which will give you either specific number of drinks per day, or unlimited drinks per day. It can be soda package, alcohol package, specialty coffee package, etc. We wanted to be active and enjoy our cruise without being under the influence, so we didn’t get any drink package. Besides, it is so much more important to keep our body well hydrated with water, especially while traveling. Another casual spot by the pool was called Trident Grill, offering burger, hot dogs and fries. They also have daily specials too. One day, we got North Carolina Pulled Pork with a side of fries from their Smokehouse-Style BBQ. It was not amazing, but another nice comfort food. The fries especially was nice, crispy and potato-y, quite addictive.

One chilly day, the staffs had a table with big pot set up by the pool side, offering nice hot chowder! It was great on a cold day. Especially if you enjoy the cold breath on your skin while getting cozy up with blanket and hot soup.

The evening dining is when you can, or I should say “must” get fancy. Princess Cruise had two restaurants that offered fancy dining, both with the same menu from the look of it. We went to Michelangelo Restaurant on first night, and we liked it so much that we kept going to that one. With the fancy dining, no casual attire allowed. It is kind of fun to get dressed up and fancy. On Princess Emerald, you could choose between Traditional Dining (timed seating) and Anytime Dining. We went with Anytime Dining so that we can go have dinner anytime we wanted. And yes, the food is included in the cruise.

They brought out the bread basket, and they were pretty good. Soft and crunchy, doughy with crunchy bite.

Our server was pretty good, and he gave us good recommendations each time we dined here. On the first evening, I got House-Made Gravadlax of Wild Alaska Salmon as appetizer under his recommendation. It comes with dill-cured salmon with citrus, honey-mustard sauce. The salmon slices were much thicker than I thought, meaty and good, but wanted them to be a bit more salty. It was pretty good dish overall.

My hubby went with Crispy Hand-Rolled Vegetable Spring Rolls as his appetizer. It was super crunchy and crispy, and quite tasty. Fried just right, not greasy nor soggy at all. This one was also recommended by our server. Good choice!

For the main, we again went with our server’s recommendation and ordered Slow-Roasted Corn-Fed Prime Rib, Rosemary Jus and Horseradish Cream. It also came with corn on the cob, char-grilled tomatoes, and baked Idaho potato. The rib was HUGE!!! But then, it had lots of fat…and I don’t like the fat part of the meat, so the edible part of the meat was not as big as it is shown on the photo. With all the sides and juicy meat, it was super filling!

Another main dish we ordered was Steamed Alaska Cod over Warm Lentil Salad. It comes with firm-fleshed cod filet with Dijon-balsamic dressing and broiled potatoes. The cod did have good, firm and plump texture. But, it didn’t have good enough seasoning. I wanted it to have more flavor.

After the dinner, we decided to get some dessert. We usually like to get some specialty coffee or tea with dessert, but then, we knew we had to pay extra… That was until a couple next to us ordered a “regular” coffee. This is when we first found out that regular coffee and tea are included with the Princess Cruise! Nice!

For dessert, my hubby went with Sugar-Free Mango Cheesecake with mango salsa. The cheesecake was so fluffy, and I mean, crazy super fluffy! It was almost like marshmallow. It was very tasty and light dessert.

I went with Milky Chocolate-Hazelnut soufflé with amaretto sabayon. This one was an awesome surprise. The soufflé was brought to table, and then a staff broke open the top, and started to pour amaretto sabayon over it. Oh my goodness!!!

And yes, it was amazing! The amaretto sabayon is basically a custard cream, and it was nice and warm… It was a magical, sweet, glittering gold liquid. Sot tasty! The soufflé was hot out of the oven, it was the perfect dessert!

In the morning, we decided to go to one of their breakfast buffet at Horizon Court. They had a pretty good variety to choose from. I would say, it had all the typical offerings of a buffet, and then some. It had cold dishes like salad, cheese, cold cuts, and then all the hot items like sausage, bacon, eggs. etc. When it came to eggs, they had eggs in all different styles, such as scramble, Sunny-side up, hard-boiled, etc., etc…

They had all sorts of baked goods too, from pancakes, French toasts, rolls, croissants…

And some sweet kinds like Danishes, muffins, fruit breads. They had a good amount of fruits too. They had a canned fruit slices and chunks, and some fruit smoothies too.

For those who wants to go light or easy, they had some yogurt cups, yogurt with granola, and all sorts of cereal boxes.

They also had a nice varieties of fresh fruits too. But at the end, I thought they would have more selections of food that they had… Being on a cruise ship can get your expectation higher. The Horizon Court also offers dinner buffet, with typical dinner buffet items. But, on many nights (or maybe every night?) they featured different cuisine, such as “Italian night”, “Asian night” and “Mexican night.” It is a good option for those who is not a fan of fancy dining.

We found a table by a large window by poolside, instead of inside the Horizon Court, so that we can enjoy our breakfast while watching the ocean drifting by. We got some Danishes and smoothies to accompany our hot breakfast. As soon we sat down, a staff came over asked if we wanted coffee or any other drinks. We asked for coffee and water. It took a while for the staff to come back with them, but it is good to have a table service, wherever we choose to sit.

I got some sausage links, Sunny-side up egg, hashed brown, bacon strips and yogurt with granola. My hubby went with similar options, but with over-easy eggs, grilled tomatoes, and French toast. They were tasty, not amazing but tasty enough to fuel up the body to get ready for the day.

There were a couple or more eateries on Princess Cruise that were not included with the cruise. One of which was The Salty Dog Gastropub, which required door charge per person to get in. The food was included after the door charge, but not the drink. They had a few special events during the cruise at The Salty Dog, without the cover charge.

We decided to check it out when they had an event called British Pub Lunch. Sounded interested enough, and we also wanted to see the inside of The Salty Dog. A large wooden ship model welcomed us at the entrance.

The inside was heavily decorated with British flags and knick-knacks. It was not so large in the inside, but big enough to entertain the crowd who were curious about the event.

We were more excited about this event when we walked in, but when we saw the menu, we were a little less excited… It didn’t have much items that sounded enticing…. I went with Ploughman’s Lunch, that comes with farmhouse ham, mature English cheddar cheese, pâté, pickle relish and crusty bread. It was a cold dish, and everything was just a-ok. I turned them into an open-faced sandwich with everything on it. I was not very happy with this dish…

My hubby went with Bangers & Mash, comes with beef/pork sausages and mashed potatoes. This dish was much better, with juicy sausages packed with flavor. The mashed potatoes also had nice flavor as well, creamy and tasty.

Since I was not happy with the dish, we tried to recover with a dessert. They only had one dessert, Bread & Butter Pudding. It was small, and looked very different from the way the regular bread pudding that I’ve had in the past. This one was surprisingly tasty, warm and comforting.

On the second fancy dinner, we sat at the same section since we really liked our server and staffs. The couple who sat next to us also asked for the same section. They were having dinner already when we arrived, and recommended the asparagus soup. Seeing their enthusiasm about this soup, I decided to order the soup. Creamy Asparagus Soup is made with poached salmon quenelles. It came nice and hot, which was a surprise. I somehow thought asparagus soup would be served chilled. It was creamy, and had two bits of salmon in the cup that went great with the soup. It didn’t have overwhelming flavor of asparagus but more mild, calming with good seasoning. It was a good soup!

My hubby went with Crabmeat and Monterey Jack Cheese Quiche for his appetizer. It is made with savory pie crust, and a side of charred red pepper salsa. It was fluffy and tasty, with a good amount of crab meat.

For main, I went with Shrimp “Daniele” comes with broiled tiger shrimp, café de Paris butter, broccoli, vegetable, and fried rice. The shrimp was awesome, plump and nice size too. Veggies and rice were also tasty, I really enjoyed this dish. It tasted better than it looked.

My hubby went with Pan-Seared Barramundi with leeks, green asparagus, potato barons, and grain mustard sauce. The fish was flakey and cooked well. The mustard sauce was flavorful, went nicely with the fish and potato. But, I gotta say, the shrimp dish was better. My hubby was jealous of my shrimp dish!

When you are arranging and planning for your Princess Cruise, you can enter celebration information, if you are celebrating anything during your cruise. It can be a birthday, anniversary, graduation, anything you want. And then, you can decide which date you want to celebrate. We received a card at our cabin on the morning of our celebration, which said to bring the card to dinner and hand it to our server. At the end of the dinner, the server brought this cute chocolate mousse cake and a candle and several staffs all came together and sang a song. A bit embarrassing but super fun! The cake was very decadent, like a chocolate mousse on a brownie.

Addition to the special surprise chocolate cake, we ordered Banana Foster Flambé à la mode. It was a bit too sweet, but had a nice rum flavor.

The cruise ship was full of all sorts of events happening everywhere at all time. It had lectures, art auction, special jewelry contest & prize, live theater performance, etc., etc… One of the things they had was a champagne tower. We watched the Director pour a bit of champagne first, and then anyone who wanted a photo with him pouring the champagne could go up and have the experience. The champagne was later shared with everyone who was at the event.

But, our favorite evening event on Princess Cruise was Movie Under the Stars! They had a pretty good selection of recent movies, and was shown on a large screen above the pool. Some staffs walks around with a small bag of popcorn, which made it extra fun. The temperature dropped significantly as soon as the Sun went down, so it got quite cold… We learned how we should’ve be dressed for this after the first night. The staffs also had blankets we could borrow during the movie too. It was really fun!

The last fancy dinner we had at the Michelangelo was a pleasant one too. For appetizer, we both chose Tian of Crab, Scallop and Shrimp. It came with duo of caviar and papaya dressing. It was nice and chilled, and pretty darn tasty. The crab, scallop and shrimp bits were all marinated in a creamy sauce, which was really nice. I liked the caviar too, it added extra flavor. It was nice and fresh.

For main, we both got lobster which we were excited about since we heard about “lobster night” for this day. It was Broiled Lobster Tail with lemon-arugula risotto and butter sauce. It came to the table with lobster tail still in the shell. Then, a staff removed it off the plate, and got he lobster tail meat off the shell.

The lobster meat was then placed back on top of the risotto. I liked the presentation, having the bright red tail shell really made a great impression! The lobster meat was super plump! The risotto was kind of thick. This dish was quite filling because of the thick risotto.

The husband of the couple next to us had a hard time choosing between the lobster and ravioli. The server said that he could bring out a smaller portion of the ravioli as a side dish. Hearing this, my hubby wanted it too! So, he also ordered a side of the Ravioli di Vitello in Salsa di Funghi Porcini. It is made with veal pasta, and porcini mushroom sauce. It was quite tasty, comforting and packed with flavor! I am glad we got on this brilliant idea from the couple next table.

For dessert, we got the regular coffee again, with cream.

One item that jumped out from the dessert menu was Baked Alaska on Parade with Chocolate Sauce. I always enjoyed Baked Alaska, especially that ones that gets lit up right in front of you. Here, they were pre-made and pre-sliced. It was not exactly what I imagined or wanted it to be or look… But hey, it still looked good. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste as good as it looked, it was way too sugary. The meringue had too much sugar content, which was so not necessary since the ice cream is sweet enough already.

Our server brought us a piece of Deep Dish Apple Pie with vanilla anglaise, even though we didn’t ask for it. It was a nice surprise and a nice gesture, and yes, we enjoyed it. Pretty nice apple pie.

These are not the only food we consumed, as we were on a 7-day cruise. We did eat more than normal during our vacation for sure… So, what do you do to help burn off all the calories and stay healthy? Well, they had this really nice Promenade Deck that goes all around the ship on one level. People were walking or jogging here every day.

It showed how many miles per how many laps, which was good to know. The ship also had a nice, large indoor gym that overlooked at the ocean, but it is nothing compared to the beautiful fresh breath and views from all angles and directions.

Not only you get to see some gorgeous greeneries, mountains, and even glaciers, but you can actually meet some interesting people along the way too.

We got to see some houses, cabins, and even a beautiful house on a tiny island which was really picturesque… But most of all, the nature! And I am not talking about the ocean and mountains, but living natures! We got to see some whales while we were walking around, which was really, REALLY awesome!!!

So, that is it for this super long blog on the cruise food options for Princess Cruise. We had a really fun vacation with pretty good food, and several casual eateries were open 24-hours, which was another plus for having a snack or two whenever we wanted. All the staffs took a really good care of us, and we didn’t have to worrying about carrying cash for tips. Why? Because the gratuity is charged automatically to your card per day. It was a fun trip, and we ate well, on and off the ship. We would definitely do more cruises in the future!!!