The primary reason why I take photos of the food we eat when we cruise is simply one of completeness. These travelogues on this site are a record of where we went and what we did, and what we did includes eating. The travelogues are diary entries and they can also serve as an example of what one could expect if one were about to do something similar to us, whether that’s taking a holiday abroad or visiting a restaurant or trying out a specific cruise or just considering cruising for the first time in general.
However, you should never, ever assume you’re going to get the same thing or have the same experience as us. Every occasion is different and they’re experienced by different people with different histories and expectations, so the perception of even identical events can trigger completely different levels of enjoyment or lack thereof in people.
This is one reason why I try to steer away from reviewing in the generally accepted sense these days – that is, with an eye to recommending or not – and why I try to present everything about our cruise history in the form of diary-style, photo-heavy entries. These are records; not recommendations.
The second reason that I write about our travels in this way is that things change, and this post will be a good example of that. Or, at least, an example of that. Perhaps not a good one. Let’s not pretend I’m writing anything terribly useful or that most people don’t really know already.
This is a look at the food on Sky Princess during the last two sea days on the ship at the conclusion of our 2022 Norway and Iceland cruise. Except for breakfast; for some reason I never bother with breakfast photos.
Starting below with Alfredo’s, which at the time of cruising was free and fairly popular as a result. The food here was very good, but not to the level that we’d likely pay what they charge now. That might now be free or included if you want to use up a casual dining allowance depending on what type of fare you book your Princess cruise with, but whichever way you slice it, you will now be paying for something that we got at the time for free. When compared to the free offering around the Lido pool (unless that too changes in the future), then the price, if the food were to remain the same, isn’t worth it in my opinion. But the food may be better. Because, here’s the thing: this was just a snapshot of when we travelled.
So, we enjoyed this food. If we’d had the same food and paid for it then the food would have been the same but we might have felt that the value was less. Bear that in mind. And also bear that concept in mind whenever you see reviews of cruising or travel where the people are getting things for free. The perception of value changes, and that can be reflected in what’s reported, and that may not likely match your own experiences. This is why I have trust issues with sponsored travel posts or visits. This is why we don’t get on with many other cruise bloggers. Although, we also don’t get on with many people, period. We’re not people people is what I’m getting at here.
Now here are examples of the food we ate in the main dining room on Sky Princess (that’s the MDR to regular cruisers) and not only does it look great (to me), but it was great (to me). Don’t let that persuade you one way or the other, though, because you won’t be having the same chefs on the same ship on the same day, cooking in the same way, and presenting you with the same food as me unless you have access to one of those new-fangled personal temporal incursion devices that are all the rage. If they’re not all the rage when you’re reading this then oops, someone went and changed something in the past again.
The food in the main dining room was of great quality on Sky Princess but that didn’t stop us splashing out on some speciality dining in Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria. It’s because we like Sabatini’s. We know what we’re getting here in general.
Or do we?
No, because since this cruise with Princess on Sky Princess we’ve discovered on a more recent cruise that the menu’s changed, and quite extensively. And it may do yet again before you cruise. You really just can’t tell. And even if I say that this particular meal was cooked to perfection, with good service, nothing to fault it, you might have a miserable time dining here. We’ve heard people moan about food and service that we’ve thought were absolutely fine, but there’s no point being one of those tedious people who pipe up and say “Well, we had a lovely time” because everyone’s different. That’s like those people who like to tell you that cruising looks terrible and they’d never do it. Great, thanks for that insight that means absolutely nothing to and will affect absolutely nothing for me or anyone for whom this looks wonderful.
Now, you might have read all that and thought “What kind of idiot does this Mark think I am? I know that food can change from ship-to-ship, from cruise-to-cruise, from night-to-night, from table-to-table. I just wanted an idea about the sort of food on the ship and, thanks to this post, I’ve got a few pictures, none of the details I was actually after, and am being treated like I’ve got the IQ of one of the stupider species of hamsters.”
Well, sorry about that, but I’ve read Facebook group posts and seen the questions people ask. What will the sea conditions be like on my cruise in 18 months time? Can you wear two pairs of socks on the top deck if it’s cold? Can you bring a rotary washing line for your balcony? What vegetables will I get on formal night?
In summary: we had great food on Sky Princess. If you’ve found this page because you want to find out whether you’re going to have great food on Sky Princess too then you’d be as well off consulting a tea leaf-reader.