When I committed my life to cruise reporting, I knew it wasn’t always going to be easy – it can be grueling work to flush out the answers to hard-hitting journalistic questions. But my fellow cruise lovers deserve to know the truth!
So in that spirit, on my recent sailing onboard the Majestic Princess, I was determined to verify, once and for all, a claim I’ve seen repeated hundreds of times on cruise-related blogs, websites, message boards, and even in USA Today:
And more specifically, Alfredo’s, the complimentary, full-service, sit-down pizza restaurant on most Princess ships, serves the best pizza at sea! So, is it true? Let’s start with some basic information about Alfredo’s:
Named in honor of former Master Chef, Alfredo Marzi, Alfredo’s is a complimentary full-service restaurant featuring an open kitchen that cooks up made-to-order pizzas, calzones, and other Italian appetizers, entrees, and desserts. There’s also beer, wine, and sangria available for an extra charge (as indicated on the menu posted below).
Discovery Princess, Grand Princess, Majestic Princess, Regal Princess, Royal Princess, Sapphire Princess, and Sky Princess. In addition, Coral and Island Princess have a pop-up Alfredo’s in Sabatini’s Italian specialty restaurant at lunch, where passengers can choose from five complimentary pizzas. On Princess’s newest ship, the Enchanted Princess, the pizza restaurant is called “Gigi’s,” but it has the same menu as Alfredo’s.
Here’s the full menu from my 2022 sailing onboard the Majestic Princess (the menu is identical for all ships that have it, only instead of the pizza called, “Pizza Majestic Princess” it will be named for the particular ship, but will feature the same ingredients):
And here’s the more limited Alfredo’s lunch menu offered on Coral and Island Princess:
On the Majestic Princess, Alfredo’s was open from 11am-11pm every day.
Yes! And I ate there on embarkation day! Which offers a convenient transition to…
I should clarify that I’ve eaten at Alfredo’s numerous times on my five prior Princess cruises, but most of them as a casual cruise passenger, not as a meticulous scientist/objective food critic.
After waking at 3:30am in order to catch a 6am flight and then taking three forms of public transportation from LAX to the cruise terminal, all sans food (I always fast on cruise morning so I don’t waste any of my daily calories on non-free food), I was hungry! So as soon as I performed a series of 90’s dance moves over the threshold at embarkation (another of my weird cruise rituals), I headed straight for Alfredo’s because it was the closest place to stuff my face.
Pro-Tip: Eat at Alfredo’s on embarkation day for a more relaxed dining experience than the buffet.
After being seated at a table with a view of the atrium, I ordered the Minestrone alla Sorrentina (soup), Pizza Margherita, and Rollata di Melanzane (a pasta dish):
After polishing off my soup and entrees, I ordered the tiramisu for dessert:
While the star of the show was the tiramisu (skip your afternoon coffee and order a few slices of tiramisu for a little pick-me-up), the pasta dish was also very rich and flavorful. Heavy, too, with all the cheese, but the portion was small. The soup wasn’t great – too thin and a little bland with a few pieces of chopped up spaghetti noodles floating around, like drowning arms, which I thought was odd.
But what about the pizza? Isn’t that why we’re all here?
Okay, so you noticed that I put off talking about the pizza for as long as possible because, honestly, it was disappointing. The crust was bland and almost more like a giant cracker than a pizza crust and there wasn’t enough cheese for my liking. Part of it was my fault for ordering wrong – I immediately regretted not opting for a pie with more toppings as I looked around at what others had ordered.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible (especially for cruise ship pizza) – it was hot and fresh and I had a whole pie to myself. The quality was similar to what you’d get at MOD Pizza (if you happen to be familiar with that fast food pizza joint). But I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable endorsing at as “the best pizza at sea!”
I mentioned that last part to a couple dining next to me to which they responded, “and just who are you again?” Acknowledging that my endorsement may not matter to anyone besides my kid (and he only cares because he wants me to be happy on cruises so I’ll keep taking him on them) and that I shouldn’t judge all pizza by the most boring option on the menu (please don’t give up on all cruise blogs after reading mine), I was determined to give Alfredo’s pizza another try.
First though, I wanted to try a few additional items on the menu that piqued my interest. Bringing us to day 2…
Day 2 requires a short bit of background information for necessary context. And I mean short literally. I’m a tiny human, clocking in at just 5’3″ and 100 to 120 pounds (pre-cruise vs post-cruise). As such, people always underestimate how much I can eat. And day 2 at Alfredo’s was no exception. After ordering a salad (which I forgot to take a photo of, but it was excellent) and a calzone, I asked “should I order dessert now?” and my waiter replied by saying, “maybe wait and see.”
Then, after placing the calzone in front of me, said waiter joked, “that thing is bigger than you are!” And he wasn’t wrong. After hoisting it up next to me end to end (for science), it looked something akin to a surfboard and measured five foot three and one fourth inches. So, technically bigger than I was, although I’d argue that, after several days of cruise binging, my middle was stuffed fuller.
As you’ll note in the before and after photos above, I smashed that thing! And when my waiter came back around I said, “In your eye, sir! And I’ll have the Crostata di Mele Della Nonna for dessert!” Actually I said, “I’ll have the apple thingy,” because I didn’t have a menu in front of me (not that I would have pronounced it correctly with a menu and a fluent Italian speaker whispering it to me in a hidden ear piece).
And let me tell you, that apple thingy was one of the best apple thingies I’ve ever eaten, on a cruise ship or anywhere! I smashed that too! “In your eye!” If I wasn’t already going back to Alfredo’s to give the pizza another shot, I’d have gone back for more dessert!
But before we get to day 3 and my second apple thingy, let me just mention that the calzone, like all the pizzas, can be customized. I’m a vegetarian, so I asked if I could have artichokes in my calzone instead of the ham. Next time I’d also order a side of marinara sauce as the tiny dollop on the top wasn’t enough for me. So now, day 3…
I started with the Antipasto Assortito di Magro (vegetarian antipasto) and it was the best appetizer course I’d ordered so far. And I ended with, legit, one of the best desserts I’ve ever had, that apple thingy!
So, the pizza. I went with the Pizza Vegerariana because I’m a vegetarian, but also because it sounded like a lot of toppings, including a rare one that happens to be a personal favorite: avocado.
And while this pie was much better than the first and I’d order it again, due to the crust and lack of sufficient cheese, I declare, once and for all, definitively, until a much more reputable cruise blogger comes along to dispute it:
I actually had a much better slice of pizza at the buffet one afternoon on the Majestic (go figure). And when it comes to the best pizza at sea, my endorsement goes to Sorrento’s pizza on Royal Caribbean.
But hold your tomatoes! Because…
Yes!
Yes! I wish I had one right now.
Yes! OMG, yes! I wish I had three right now! And I’d eat every crumb! If you learned nothing else from this review, I hope you learned that you should NEVER challenge me in a pie eating contest (or an apple thingy eating contest). And with that…
Class Dismissed.
Homework (10 points): Check out my other recent Princess-related content…
Princess’s 2022 Main Dining Room Dinner Menus
Preparing For Your Princess Cruise in 2022
Princess Cruise Line’s OceanNow Food And Beverage Delivery Menu 2022
Majestic Princess Mini-Suite Review and Tour
Princess Cruise Line’s Elite Lounge: A Review
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