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 The Palm Court Dining Room on Regal Princess
A PARNAMI Cruise Page
The Palm Court, Regal Princess' main dining room, received special attention during the ship's 2000 upgrade. The original Palm Court suffered from a somewhat sterile, congested feel, contributed to by the hard delineation between seating areas and traffic corridors. Past passengers may recall tables surrounding the core of the dining room being a step up with a low containing wall, ostensibly, to provide better views out of the distant windows. The reality was, the step up did little to facilitate views of passing scenery, and the delineated corridors forced crowding of tables, hindering the wait staff in providing professional levels of service. So congested were some tables, that waiters were forced to access some place settings across the plates of others. While on lines such as Celebrity, such lapses could be considered "professional," Princess people know otherwise. Happily, this is now in the past!
The Palm Court is now an open, spacious restaurant, with a quality, upscale feel. Ceilings are high while wall coverings are of good quality veneers and soft fabrics intended to absorb sound reflections. The Dining room is divided port to starboard by a central core from which waiters access the galley one deck below. Fore to aft, painted glass and wood partitions separate the dining room into smaller sections. All together, the result is that this huge 800 seat dining room provides the intimacy one would expect from one several times smaller.
The elimination of the traffic corridors allowed Princess to provide further separation of tables, some into space formerly blocked off for traffic. While passengers are now forced to wend their way around these tables, there is no major inconvenience in doing so. The compromise means an end to congestion, permitting passengers to receive the high level of service expected from Princess.
Regrettably, Palm Court remains situated at the very rear of the ship where it is subject to excessive motion during high seas. This excessive motion is most noticeable in the last 1/3 of the room, beginning about where waiters access the third door to the central core area. Beyond that, and particularly along the row of tables lining the rear facing windows, things are "jumping" during even only mildly rough seas. Although it's quieter, and the views through the windows overlooking the wake can be spectacular, I can't recommend that anyone accept being seated back there. In the event of a bout with "mal de mer", it's a LONG way to the restroom, past a whole lot of seated passengers!
To maximize passenger comfort, dining rooms belong MID SHIP! The attraction of a window, usually that has curtains drawn anyway, is no excuse to place it elsewhere, particularly, not all the way aft where it is on Regal Princess! On a positive note, Princess has done a great job in minimizing engine vibration, with little or none being transmitted to Palm Court diners!
While we were underwhelmed with most of the food served on Regal Princess, on day 18 of our 20 day cruise, we did stumble upon a solution to the problem we had with their pasta. Up until that point, we found the daily pasta offering, a Princess tradition, generally, to be unappealing. While the variety was good, the actual offerings just failed to whet our appetites. Offerings included: Gnocchi over a wild mushroom ragout (we're not fans of fungus); Rollatine filled with spinach, (we're not fans of spinach); Meat Ravioli in a mushroom sauce (mushrooms!); Noodles tossed in Sautéed Shrimp (my wife doesn't eat shrimp!); Pasta with clams, squids and peas (this just doesn't sound good at all!); Fagottini di Formaggio (it sounded good, but was terrible!); Spinach pasta with green beans and tomato sauce (close, but spinach again!); Linguine with sliced potatoes and string beans (ugh, what a combination!); Pasta tubes with smoked salmon strips (we don't eat fish!); Pasta with clam sauce (My wife doesn't eat clams, I do, but not clam sauce), and so on. Finally, two and a half weeks into the cruise, my wife, half jokingly, told the waiter that she longed for a simple plate of spaghetti with no fish, vegetables or fungus. Just spaghetti in a simple marinara sauce. "NO PROBLEM"! What she received was the best pasta I've yet had on board a ship! The next night, many from our table ordered likewise. Somehow, we had overlooked the fact that this was Princess, with "off menu" orders typically being acceptable, and encouraged. We'll not let that happen again!
Princess, along with the rest of the industry, has made serious cutbacks to the cruise experience they provide, particularly in areas of dining. Services of professional wine stewards have been eliminated, suitable vintages now being recommended by assistant waiters instead. Breakfast and lunch are now open seating with service provided by waiters unfamiliar with the passengers they serve. Naturally, service suffers as a result. Breakfast menu selections have been cut back considerably. I remember on previous Princess cruises ordering this wonderful steak for breakfast which, no longer, is listed on the menu. When asked about it, the waiter responded that it was available, "only upon one day's prior notice." Shortly after I responded, "fine," pulling out my notepad in the process, I, again, was approached by the waiter, this time asking how it was I wished my steak prepared?! Folks, carry a notepad!
Over its history, Princess has prided itself with the efforts of its fine Italian "kitchen" staff. One thing of which passengers, always, could be certain was that overseeing all meal preparations would be found a Head Chef of Italian heritage. Sadly, this, no longer is the case! On our cruise, the Head Chef was Filipino, and, the food served reflected this absence of Italian oversight.
Copyright © 2001 Mel Litzenberger. All Rights Reserved
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