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Its obvious that Royal's choice for coffee on all their ships is the "Lavazza" commercial coffee brand from Italy.  Lavazza make different blends and quality. Does anybody have any insight as to what grades are actually served and available onboard?  In my suite we get the Lavazza machine with 4 capsules of coffee...2 decaf ,2 regular. Then there is the coffee served in the promenade, the MDR, Windjammer and room service (for those with no machine)   . Then there is the specialty restaurants , and I have no idea what they serve.   If I order a specialty coffee in MDR , what am I really getting?  expresso beans?  It would be interesting to know what kind of contract Lavazza has with Royal and how long. Imagine how many cups of coffee are served on an Oasis class ship daily!, its mind boggling.    Does anybody feel its time to switch it up? And what would be your brand of choice?  Who's a coffee snob? 

(of course there is Starbucks, that you must pay for.)

 

 

 

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FYI, Royal now serves Starbucks in places like Cafe Promenade. They switched a few months ago.

I'm not a coffee snob at all so can't help with the rest. I drink cheap stuff at home and I'm happy to have many cappuccinos in the DL every morning. No idea of the quality but they taste damn good to me.

Back to my cup of Maxwell House.

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49 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Back to my cup of Maxwell House.

I buy my coffee by the 2-3lb bag at Costco in whole bean but don't buy the fancy stuff so know exactly what you're talking about! Although once a year I do order a pound of Kona from Hawaii as a treat. Included coffee onboard isn't great, but perfectly fine and I'll happily drink it all day long.

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I care much less about the brand than I do the level of roast and the correctness of preparation.  I'm sure whatever they use is a decent brand, but I wish there was an option for very dark/Espresso/Italian/French roast without having to go to Starbucks.  Light or medium roast is a disappointment to me.  Making it stronger is not the cure. 

Dining room or free Promenade coffee, one cup is more than plenty.  When good dark roast is available, I drink a lot of coffee.☕

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In June on the Mariner, I found the complimentary coffee in the MDR better than in the Promenade.  Neither one was as good as the espresso I obtained with my Coffee Card.  The Diamond Lounge coffee was OK, but nothing to brag about.  So my experience is that if you just want some caffeine, the free coffee will do, but if you want the best flavor, you need to go for a premium drink of some sort.  I haven't experienced the Lavazza suite pods yet, but I'll find out in 11 days.

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I’d love a hot cup of coffee with no grounds in it  I’m simple that way.

Ive  had 2 different cups, two different areas, with grounds in it on my sailing on Adventure this week.  Second time I went back and asked for a fresh pot.  That cup was old AND cold. I can’t imagine what’s lost in the translation.  

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If you're getting coffee from metal carafes, the carafe can impart bad flavor if they're not cleaned properly.   I've found more consistency when you get by the cup at the point of origin, whether it be the promenade or dining areas.   I think turn over helps.  We experienced more issues with coffee delivered through room service - questionable carafes.   (Exception was just after shutdown when everything was new or really cleaned)

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The coffee in the MDR definitely seems different than anywhere else on board.  It is deep and rich.  WJ coffee makes me think of what you get at work from a Boyd's pot.  I also like iced coffees and found I can mix something that works from this coffee..  The coffee in the Concierge is from a machine, but is mixed for the flavors so is not truly espresso.  It is not bad and I like the flavors so it works for me. I seldom do Starbucks on board as I live in the land of Starbucks and have yet to be on a ship where they do it like I am used to. 

All in all - there is no coffee onboard that I would say is "bad" 🙂

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10 hours ago, Censored said:

Its obvious that Royal's choice for coffee on all their ships is the "Lavazza" commercial coffee brand from Italy.  Lavazza make different blends and quality. Does anybody have any insight as to what grades are actually served and available onboard?  In my suite we get the Lavazza machine with 4 capsules of coffee...2 decaf ,2 regular. Then there is the coffee served in the promenade, the MDR, Windjammer and room service (for those with no machine)   . Then there is the specialty restaurants , and I have no idea what they serve.   If I order a specialty coffee in MDR , what am I really getting?  expresso beans?  It would be interesting to know what kind of contract Lavazza has with Royal and how long. Imagine how many cups of coffee are served on an Oasis class ship daily!, its mind boggling.    Does anybody feel its time to switch it up? And what would be your brand of choice?  Who's a coffee snob? 

(of course there is Starbucks, that you must pay for.)

 

 

 

Can you ask for a different combo of the capsules in a suite? We will have three adults and none of us will want decaf. Thanks

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19 minutes ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Can you ask for a different combo of the capsules in a suite? We will have three adults and none of us will want decaf. Thanks

You can ask for anything. Not meant to be snarky, but no one can promise what answer you will get.

FWIW, my BIL had a harder time getting extra decaf on Harmony in May so my guess would be getting extra regular wouldn't be a problem.

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My daily coffee is either Sidamo Guji or Ethiopian Harrar, both natural process, bought as whole, green beans. I roast them in batches of 12 ounces (just to full city roast, just as first crack dies down) so the roasted beans are always between 2 and 12 days old, stored in special containers that allow them to outgas CO2. I grind them immediately before brewing. My water is a consistent 212F, and my drip brewer simulates a pour-over. It's the best coffee in the world.

I fully expect to hate the coffee on my first cruise, much as I hate coffee almost everywhere except my house.

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16 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Can you ask for a different combo of the capsules in a suite? We will have three adults and none of us will want decaf. Thanks

You can ask of course.  One room attendant minimized my capsules as they were limited.  Paying extra for a GS and not getting coffee?  The next day I simply reached into his trolly and grabbed a bunch...lol. Call me a thief,,,, go ahead.  Yes the them to pass on the decaf. I go through 6 a day.

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16 hours ago, TessOR said:

The coffee in the MDR definitely seems different than anywhere else on board.  It is deep and rich.  WJ coffee makes me think of what you get at work from a Boyd's pot.  I also like iced coffees and found I can mix something that works from this coffee..  The coffee in the Concierge is from a machine, but is mixed for the flavors so is not truly espresso.  It is not bad and I like the flavors so it works for me. I seldom do Starbucks on board as I live in the land of Starbucks and have yet to be on a ship where they do it like I am used to. 

All in all - there is no coffee onboard that I would say is "bad" 🙂

 

11 minutes ago, Censored said:

You can ask of course.  One room attendant minimized my capsules as they were limited.  Paying extra for a GS and not getting coffee?  The next day I simply reached into his trolly and grabbed a bunch...lol. Call me a thief,,,, go ahead.  Yes the them to pass on the decaf. I go through 6 a day.

 

16 hours ago, TessOR said:

The coffee in the MDR definitely seems different than anywhere else on board.  It is deep and rich.  WJ coffee makes me think of what you get at work from a Boyd's pot.  I also like iced coffees and found I can mix something that works from this coffee..  The coffee in the Concierge is from a machine, but is mixed for the flavors so is not truly espresso.  It is not bad and I like the flavors so it works for me. I seldom do Starbucks on board as I live in the land of Starbucks and have yet to be on a ship where they do it like I am used to. 

All in all - there is no coffee onboard that I would say is "bad" 🙂

room service coffee  ....not a fan.  Not very hot, not very strong. 

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Hopefully the Diamond lounge machine is working on the Anthem next month. The coffee in windjammer is pretty bad and I didn't have much luck with coffee in the MDR either.  Although i will say the coffee was better than I had on my NCL transatlantic in April. They're regular coffee was awful IMO.

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I do generally start my day with a latte from Cafe Promenade - but - the coffee in the MDR on Allure a couple weeks ago was just about passable for a free coffee. Much stronger than in the past thankfully. Decaf with my desserts was pretty cringeworthy tho.  Ugh. My waitstaff was so awesome to remember each night that I'd asked for it once, but honestly did not mind the night the assistant waiter was too caught up in other things to bring it to me before my dessert was gone. 

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22 minutes ago, fireclan said:

Is that a suggestion (and a good one!) or do they actually give a complimentary coffee from other venues as a replacement?

No, it's a thing. Never happened to me but I have read several times on the forums that when the machine was broken, Diamond members were given free specialty coffee at Cafe Promenade (as an example). Not exactly sure how it works.

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On 10/17/2022 at 8:22 AM, memebag said:

My daily coffee is either Sidamo Guji or Ethiopian Harrar, both natural process, bought as whole, green beans. I roast them in batches of 12 ounces (just to full city roast, just as first crack dies down) so the roasted beans are always between 2 and 12 days old, stored in special containers that allow them to outgas CO2. I grind them immediately before brewing. My water is a consistent 212F, and my drip brewer simulates a pour-over. It's the best coffee in the world.

I fully expect to hate the coffee on my first cruise, much as I hate coffee almost everywhere except my house.

Yeah mine is Folgers made in a Mr Coffee.  Guess you aren’t coming over for a cup.

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Dear Memebag, I’m sorry really I mean no disrespect to you or what I’m sure is your amazing coffee.  For me coffee is a quick, efficient method of caffeine loading.  I load the pot, push the start button and voila!  Hot liquid caffeine.  My clearly pedestrian taste buds have rarely found a coffee so undrinkable (except for that burned Starbucks stuff) that a little extra cream or a lot of extra Baileys won’t help.

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Full city roast: It's a medium roast. Coffee beans are like popcorn, with some water trapped inside that makes them expand, only they "pop" twice. Full city is after all of the beans have "popped" the first time, and are about to start the second "pop" (called a "crack" in coffee roasting lingo). Second crack gets into dark and espresso roasts, and the flavor of the beans becomes overpowered by the flavor of the roast.

I'm not disrespected by anything anyone drinks. My coffee taste evolved over time, in tiny steps. Well, buying a home coffee roaster was kind of a bigger step. But over decades of drinking coffee with breakfast, I've found my favorite kind of beans, my favorite roast, my favorite brew method, etc., and it's not too time consuming or expensive. About twenty five cents per cup (green beans are cheaper than roasted beans), and about thirty minutes of time each week monitoring the roast, which I can do while I read a book).

Coffee beans are the seed or pit of a fruit, called a coffee cherry. The cherry flesh has to be removed from the bean. Most coffee is made with a "wet process", where the cherry is soaked in water, then crushed between rollers to split the cherry from the bean. Ethiopian coffee uses the dry process. They spread the cherries on a rack and leave them in the sun to dry. While drying, the juices of the cherry soak into the bean, giving it tart flavors like lemon, cherry, strawberry and blueberry. They aren't overpowering or artificial, just hints on top of the base coffee notes. It was a revelation the first time I experienced a medium roast, natural process Ethiopian coffee.

Sir Richard Francis Burton, the legendary 19th century British explorer, wrote about the wonders of coffee from Harrar in Ethiopia. It's where coffee was first domesticated, so they know what they're doing.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

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13 hours ago, Pooch said:

Yeah mine is Folgers made in a Mr Coffee.  Guess you aren’t coming over for a cup.

I get these large cans of Folgers "Black Silk" from Sam's Club.  I found the Black Silk about a year ago and really like that version of Folgers. I have to buy them online, but the shipping is free.  I too use a Mr. Coffee (flat filter) brew pot. 

I am no fan of Starbucks - it tastes burnt to me.  When I am out or traveling, I will drink most any brand.  I really like the coffee at Pilot, Circle K, and Racetrack gas stations.

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All coffee taste burnt to me.  Give me a good copy of Black tea any day.  LOL!

 

@memebag, thanks for the lesson on coffee beans. Now I will sound intelligent when I talk to my kids (all 3 drink coffee) about coffee. Maybe I will get them some Ethiopian coffee beans for Christmas.  They all ground whole beans but they have not taken that last step on burning, ah, I mean, roasting the beans. 

 

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Has anyone successfully found half and half (cream) onboard?!  I swear I will almost drink any coffee presented to me, but do not give me milk to add to my coffee!  I really want my half and half creamer.  🙂   It's definitely a pet peeve of mine onboard, but if anyone can share if this is a special request item or just simply not provided (I would be surprised if I've somehow overlooked it), that would be helpful.  

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21 hours ago, FireFishII said:

All coffee taste burnt to me.  Give me a good copy of Black tea any day.  LOL!

 

@memebag, thanks for the lesson on coffee beans. Now I will sound intelligent when I talk to my kids (all 3 drink coffee) about coffee. Maybe I will get them some Ethiopian coffee beans for Christmas.  They all ground whole beans but they have not taken that last step on burning, ah, I mean, roasting the beans. 

 

I love tea, too. My regular afternoon cup is Darjeeling from Harney and Sons.

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9 hours ago, letscruise said:

Has anyone successfully found half and half (cream) onboard?!  I swear I will almost drink any coffee presented to me, but do not give me milk to add to my coffee!  I really want my half and half creamer.  🙂   It's definitely a pet peeve of mine onboard, but if anyone can share if this is a special request item or just simply not provided (I would be surprised if I've somehow overlooked it), that would be helpful.  

Me too!  I had to ask for half and half every time. The creamer in the little capsules are terrible and I don’t put milk in my coffee.  Thankfully they were great about bringing out half and half.  The funny thing is each time I asked, our table mates would ask for the same once they knew it was available.

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On 10/17/2022 at 11:22 PM, memebag said:

My daily coffee is either Sidamo Guji or Ethiopian Harrar, both natural process, bought as whole, green beans. I roast them in batches of 12 ounces (just to full city roast, just as first crack dies down) so the roasted beans are always between 2 and 12 days old, stored in special containers that allow them to outgas CO2. I grind them immediately before brewing. My water is a consistent 212F, and my drip brewer simulates a pour-over. It's the best coffee in the world.

I fully expect to hate the coffee on my first cruise, much as I hate coffee almost everywhere except my house.

 

 

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