I think this is an important subject for all of us Coffee addicts.

The Savvy Old Lady is a confirmed tea drinker, so she asked if I could give my perspectives on this “…what cruise lines have a good cuppa’…” question.

I have yet to have good coffee out of any of the huge urns on any of the mid-market big ships in several years. In some cases the coffee is so bad I have to revert to tea; now that is ridiculous. I used to get pretty good coffee on RCI and HAL but not any more. Now, I have noticed that, for an immodest fee of course, you can purchase “Gourmet Coffee” from one of the “Gourmet Coffee” stands that are popping up on so many ships these days. It is analogous to the “Up Scale Dining” experience restaurants – for an extra fee – that too are becoming the norm. On a recent Princess cruise they even started up “The Coffee Club” card; just like the soda cards. Give me a break

Yet, despite my annoyance with these tactics what card-carrying MBA who has taken such pains to study “selling up” or “increasing marginal income” or “high volume revenue centers” would not feel obliged to sneak these ticks in on the mass market cruising public. May I be so bold, or cynical, to suggest that the crummy “complimentary” coffee on ships these days is no accident. If the free stuff was any good then we wouldn’t have any incentive to pony up for decent (oh, sorry, “Gourmet”) coffee. (Tea drinkers don’t feel smug that you can still get decent tea without being charged. You can also pony up for “Gourmet Tea” now, so I suspect most of the nicer brand teas will slowly give way to some generic under powered tasteless stuff; just a matter of time.)

So where is the good coffee? Not on any of the mid-tier mass market ships that I have been on recently. And with the advent of coffee-for-a-fee programs I am not anticipating any on these ships. Maybe Crystal and Regent have it. But The Savvy Old Lady says we can’t cruise them till her book sells its first million copies…. I suppose I won’t know for a while since we just started looking for an agent and a publisher. Till then I will have to a) keep diluting the over done, over warmed and over brewed free coffee with some free hot water and b) drink more tea. But I will NEVER pay for a good cuppa’ on a cruise ship.

Have a pleasant day,

The Crabby Old Guy

The free coffee on Princess is awful. It's reconstituted coffee syrup.

I will gladly pony up $1 and get a regular cup of brewed coffee. The alternative is to buy a coffee card. I can't remember exactly but it's something like $20 and allows you 10 "specialty" (non liquor) coffees plus all the brewed coffee you can drink.

If coffee makes your day, as it does mine, it's worth the price.

Queen Mary 2. The Best coffee on any ship I've been on!

Princess was already charging for icecream (no problem for me, not my "vice&quot. I will not pay $1 for coffee - shows cruising along with everything else is changing and, as I see it, not for the better. If charging works for them there will be no incentive to reverse the rule, restore in some small part the elegance of bygone days and end the meal with good coffee and "dignity".

Perhaps an answer lies in less ships, less competition for them to lower their fares for "off season" sailings, less need to make money on art auctions, photography, and, more particularly, silly food and drink add-ons, a fundamental part of the cruise experience.

Most, if not all, RCCL ships serve Seattle's Best in the coffee/pastry shop and it is free (regular coffee - any special ones like espresso etc cost extra). The coffee is actually quite good.

Oh my, here we go again with the "Princess charges for ice cream" hoopla.

They serve delicious FREE ship-churned ice cream every day at lunch and dinner as well as in the Horizon Court buffet at 3:30 every afternoon.

If you want a dish of Haagen Daz poolside, yes there is an upcharge for it.

Let's not mislead people.

Cruising fares for Princess and other mass market lines are half what they were in the 80's. Something's gotta give and if it's the quality of the coffee, I can live with it.

Anyone looking for a return to the days of Titanic elegance, really should take a premium line, not Princess, Carnival, RCL, Norwegian, etc.

As I said on another thread:

It's the water that makes a good pot/cup of coffee.

Example: we drink one particular coffee all the time at home and it tastes so good. But when I brought that same coffee to work to make a cup, it tastes so different. It's the water - different at work from home.

It's probably why the coffee tastes indifferent on ships.

Again I agree with Bluesea as on another thread. It has a lot to do with the water. My friends and I constantly discuss why some dunkingdoughnuts coffee is different within a 10 mile radius. It is the water. It has to be. Also on cruise ships they seldom serve half and half and I must have that with my coffee or 4getit.

Certainly the water makes a difference. On the other hand, at home I grind my beans each morning and make drip coffee. On Princess they use a syrup mixture and blend it with hot water. Big difference, no matter what water you are using. I agree with the need for real half and half. I think that in the dining room and from room service you do get real half and half --- at the buffet I assume it's the nondairy stuff.

Buffets on the Star Princess used real dairy creamers FYI.

As I'm sitting down enjoying a hot cup of coffee, I gag thinking of coffee syurp being mixrd with hot water and served to me while on vacation. GROSS.

I must say I was shocked when the first morning on my first cruise coffee was delivered to the room and I could smell it's nastiness from 40 paces. I was so disappointed. It took me 2 days to find good coffee on the ship. And I took the cup they served it in back to our room. I hate plastic, and this one was china. I didn't want to take it home, just had to have it for coffee.

diann - NCL ship Norwegian Spirit serve half n half as well as milk and skim in large milk coolers in the Raffles buffet dining room, And, surprise, surprise, their coffee taste pretty good (with half n half, of course) - we usually had 2 mugs each morning with our brekky.

I assume other NCL ships do the same - we hope so as we're planning another NCL cruise.

Rather sad dont you think to have to go "up market" in choice of cruise line in order to finish your meal or start your day with a cup of coffee that does not taste like bilge water.
The dining experience is an integral "part" of cruising: Princess and her medium price category 'buddies" give such good value in all ways even down to the "Titanic style" white tablecloths, "silver and crystal" settings in all her dining rooms that I was scolded for enjoying (by the way, also enjoy the free style dining as opposed to more formal sit-at-the-same-spot routine).
What a pity they have to "spoil the ship for a half penny worth (spelled out for better understanding) of tar.
Pardon the pun.

I just remembered this:

On the NCL ship the coffee in Raffles buffet dining room was the only decent coffee. The coffee in some of the sit down dining restaurants tasted awful.