Beyond the buffet

What’s the food like on a cruise? Do I have to eat in the buffet? I’m about to learn the answers to these questions during eight nights aboard the Discovery Princess from Sydney to Christchurch.

The full 14-day, 13-night cruise continues to Dunedin, Fiordland and back to Sydney, so I have a few less meals to try as many of the 25-plus food and beverage outlets as humanly possible.

With a few shore excursions and group dinners locked in, that means I am going to have to choose wisely.

On my only other previous big cruise ship experience in 2015, I set myself a target to eat six times a day: breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper — sometimes swapping supper with “pre-breakfast”.

This time, I scale back my ambition to three meals and one snack a day. The thought of visiting the International Cafe at 3am crosses my mind, just to see who is indulging in 24-hour coffee, cakes, savouries and sandwiches, but I decide sleep is more valuable. I do sneak in a few visits for a cup of tea and a slice of lemon or raspberry pound cake before bed.

The World Fresh Marketplace, Horizon Grill and The Pastry Shop are the sprawling trio of food zones that offer buffet service. A couple of mornings in a row I choose fresh fruit, fried eggs, and breakfast potatoes, taking my food outside to eat on deck. People are reminded constantly to wash their hands and sanitise before entering but by a few days in, some have clearly forgotten.

These restaurants are open to everyone, with no additional packages or payment required, so are always busy.

A more sedate option for any meal is to visit one of the main midship dining rooms – Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan – you just need to check on the Princess App which is offering set times, and which is offering walk-ins.

One day I have a particularly enjoyable British-themed lunch.

The queue for coffee at breakfast is long, so the quickest place to get one is the Princess Live! Cafe. A cruise aficionado in my group also suggests ordering coffee to my stateroom — brilliant. There’s no oat milk anywhere on board, and the soy milk is awful, so I quickly grow to love almond milk flat whites.

On two mornings I have shore excursions, and I hang a form on my door before bed, just like you do in hotels, to have pastries, fruit and cereal delivered to my room bright and early. After a long day, I order a classic club sandwich and chips for dinner, which is tasty but not that hot given how far it’s come.

There are a lot of mouths to feed on the Discovery Princess, which carries an average 3660 passengers and 1346 crew. All bread and pastries are made from scratch in a 24/7 bakery that pumps out 8000 mini pastries a day and 18,000 dinner rolls every seven days.

The galley teams use more than 32,000 eggs every seven days, and an average of 60 tonnes of fruit and vegetables per cruise. It’s no surprise to learn about 42,000 plates and 18,000 glasses are washed each day.

More than 55 per cent of staff, known as teammates, work in food and beverage. Produce lists are tailored in advance based on the nationality of passenger bookings. Food waste is separated and closely monitored with the aim of no more than 400g of waste per person, per day.

It’s all part of the plan to give guests the best culinary experience at sea, says executive chef Joel S. Directo.

Even without a drinks and specialty dining package, you will never go hungry.

For an indulgent splurge, 360 Dining offers a seven-course immersive experience where the dining room and your dinner plate come to life with Mediterranean food, drink and stories. I can’t say too much or it will spoil the surprise. This costs an extra $229 per person, with diners per session capped at 20 to keep it intimate.

Having eaten up, down and around all restaurants and cafes except O’Malley’s Irish Pub, here are my picks for my favourite food on the Discovery Princess.

Best casual meal Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar. Chilled edamame, seaweed salad, nigiri and seared spicy tuna sushi are the perfect antidote to overeating. Light, fresh and delicious. This is included in the Princess Premier package, or costs $23 per person.

Best entree Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, fritto misto alla Veneziana. This is so good, I had it twice. Prawns and calamari are lightly fried and served with grilled polenta and spicy marinara sauce. Deliciosa! A three-course meal here costs $80 per person if you don’t have the Princess Premier Package.

Best main Crown Grill and Bar, broiled lobster tail with asparagus and pepper butter. This venue serves up old-school hospitality in plush surroundings. The staff make you feel special, and the mains come with an impressive array of sides. This is also a specialty dining venue.

Best dessert Crown Grill and Bar, baked New York cheesecake with macerated strawberries. Try as I might, I never got the timing right to eat souffle in any of the main dining rooms. This cheesecake apparently came from the main Pastry Shop due to all of Crown’s desserts having pistachios and pecans, to which I am highly allergic. All restaurants are great at catering to allergies — we also had a coeliac in our group.

Best drink A tie — 360 Dining presented me with a dazzling flight of non-alcoholic drinks including a perfect virgin mojito the size of my head, but Crooners led me to Kylie Minogue’s No Alcoholic Sparkling Rosé.

+ Sue Yeap was a guest of Princess Cruises. They have not influenced this story, or read it before publication.

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+ Ask travel agents about Princess voyages.

+ Or visit princess.com.