Orange Juice on DCL - only from concentrate, not squeezed?

[seema]

I had tried to request freshly orange juice for dinner on the Disney Magic, while cruising in the Mediterranean last week.

I was told that freshly squeezed orange juice could not be prepared, because of DCL's interpretation of the FDA web site suggesting that this is a health hazard (of course, as a physician, I know that bulk produced unpasteurized orange juice can be the source of Salmonella typhirium). I have never heard that freshly squeezed orange juice can be the source of bacteria, if prepared in a hygienic manner.

In addition, I do not understand why DCL buys orange juice from concentrate (I was told by the director of hotel operators for the Disney Magic that the juice is bought from the Netherlands), rather than squeezed orange juice (I hope the reason is not related to price issues).

 

[Gurgi]

Ummmmm....okay? Personally, I wouldn't care if they served it out of a carton at my table...I'm on a Disney Cruise!

 

[tvguy]

After the Odwalla scare, which was of course unpasteurized juice, I don't think you can even buy unpasteurized juice anymore in the store. Even Odwalla pasteurizes everything.
We cruised in 2004 on the Magic, and they had fresh squeezed orange juice then.
And while the Odwalla case was linked to apple, not orange juice, I can see why it just wouldn't be worth the risk since there is no way for them to pasturize the fresh squeezed juice on the ship.

 

[gottaluvdisney]

WoW! I can't remember the last time I had fresh squeezed OJ or lemonade for that matter. Am I understanding this correctly, you want them to squash oranges into a glass? How many do you think it would take to make one glass? Two oranges, maybe three? That is a lot of oranges!

Imagine if only half of the people on the ship want OJ in the morning with breakfast..say 1200 people. That is 2,400 probably closer to 3,000 oranges just for one meal. Times that by ten mornings on the Med sailings on the Magic. That is 30,000 oranges for breakfast alone. And, you stated you wanted it for dinner. Oy vey! I am sure it is a space concern - there would be no way they could provide that service every day. Can you imagine one persons sole job would be to squeeze oranges.

I am just having a hard job picturing that? Where are you from that they have fresh orange juice? Or do you do it yourself? Maybe I will try it for a treat. Here in Ohio we just have fresh milk from a cow - yuck.

 

[misseulalie]

WoW! I can't remember the last time I had fresh squeezed OJ or lemonade for that matter. Am I understanding this correctly, you want them to squash oranges into a glass? How many do you think it would take to make one glass? Two oranges, maybe three? That is a lot of oranges!

Imagine if only half of the people on the ship want OJ in the morning with breakfast..say 1200 people. That is 2,400 probably closer to 3,000 oranges just for one meal. Times that by ten mornings on the Med sailings on the Magic. That is 30,000 oranges for breakfast alone. And, you stated you wanted it for dinner. Oy vey! I am sure it is a space concern - there would be no way they could provide that service every day. Can you imagine one persons sole job would be to squeeze oranges.

I am just having a hard job picturing that? Where are you from that they have fresh orange juice? Or do you do it yourself? Maybe I will try it for a treat. Here in Ohio we just have fresh milk from a cow - yuck.

I think if you are from FL or CA (and maybe a few other warm weather states) Fresh orange juice is very common. Not only to make it yourself, but can be found in many restaruants. DH wasn't happy with the "fake stuff" they had on board either. Once you have fresh squeezed, you can't go back.. )

I'm originally from MN and nothing was fresh either, except milk, too!

 

[Aquagirl]

We cruised in 2004 on the Magic, and they had fresh squeezed orange juice then.

We cruised in 2003 and 2004 and never had fresh squeezed OJ. Our waiter at breakfast would offer us oj by saying, "Would you like orange juice, fresh squeezed from a can?"

 

[tvguy]

We cruised in 2003 and 2004 and never had fresh squeezed OJ. Our waiter at breakfast would offer us oj by saying, "Would you like orange juice, fresh squeezed from a can?"

I never had breakfast in the dining room. The fresh squeezed orange juice was in a pitcher next to the pastries at Topsiders.

 

[Skallywag]

We noticed a difference in the orange juice this time on our med cruise. It left a thick paste type of substance at the bottom of the glass so definitely was not fresh.

Noticed a lot of changes in the meals in the dining rooms which were not an improvement and we were very disappointed.

Bren

 

[seema]

1. This link has some answers:

http://www.colostate.edu/orgs/safefood/NEWSLTR/v4n4s03.html

From the FDA's perspective, homemade freshly squeezed orange juice is still potentially hazardous.

(PS-Of course, one can commonly get freshly squeezed orange juice at five star hotels/restaurants, notwithstanding this fact - I wonder if any other cruise lines serve freshly squeezed orange juice)?

I wonder if DCL wanted to squeeze orange juice onboard, it has to the ability to pasteurize the juices itself, as indicated in this article.


2. My main question is why DCL does not buy pasteurized (prepackaged in plastic juice containers seen in North American supermarkets - eg Tropicana or Minute Maid squeezed orange juice) juice, rather than juice (reconstituted) from concentrate? - is it the price?

 

[MarkRG]

I'd more bet on it's the space to store it. Concentrate takes up a whole lot less space then cartons. Storage onboard isn't infinite.

And, I personally can't stand fresh squeezed. If I wanted to eat an orange I'd do so, I don't want to drink the pulp.

 

[mickeyteachers]

I just got off the Magic and my husband and I both thought the food was not as good as in the past. I wonder why? Is it because they are in Europe? Most of the time we did not eat the food.

 

[MarkRG]

We noticed a difference in the orange juice this time on our med cruise. It left a thick paste type of substance at the bottom of the glass so definitely was not fresh.

Noticed a lot of changes in the meals in the dining rooms which were not an improvement and we were very disappointed.

Bren

Was this the repo med or one of the med-only cruises? Could be they were pulling supplies locally and had some issues.

 

[MarkRG]

I just got off the Magic and my husband and I both thought the food was not as good as in the past. I wonder why? Is it because they are in Europe? Most of the time we did not eat the food.

That's what I'm thinking, we're so used to the high quality of product they consistently get thru Port Canaveral, it could be what they're getting out in Europe doesn't match up.

 

[seema]

I'd more bet on it's the space to store it. Concentrate takes up a whole lot less space then cartons. Storage onboard isn't infinite.

And, I personally can't stand fresh squeezed. If I wanted to eat an orange I'd do so, I don't want to drink the pulp.

I can get squeezed orange juice without pulp.

 

[seema]

That's what I'm thinking, we're so used to the high quality of product they consistently get thru Port Canaveral, it could be what they're getting out in Europe doesn't match up.

I only asked the question about orange juice - it was supplied from Holland.

I suspect that most of the food came from EU countries, not from USA.

 

[Skallywag]

That's what I'm thinking, we're so used to the high quality of product they consistently get thru Port Canaveral, it could be what they're getting out in Europe doesn't match up.

Sorry to contradict but the quality of the food was excellent it was the cooking or lack of cooking and bland serving that spoilt our enjoyment.
Vegetables were nearly raw and we had to continually ask for them to be cooked. Vegetarian menu was dreadful and one night my main course was a few strips of uncooked leeks and parsnips arranged around the edge of the plate. This is not european standard and have no idea where this has come from but am writing to Disney to ask. Some food was so highly spiced or curry flavour it was inedible. Also no gravy or sauce was provided unless asked for and some meals were cold. Many people seemed to be eating at Topsiders where the quality and variety appeared much better. We shall do this ourselves next time if the quality does not improve
Bren

 

[MarkRG]

Let me expound a bit. I wasn't saying just the exact food quality, don't get insulted, not inferring at all that the food quality in Europe is any less. Perhaps the selection didn't match up with what they had planned on and had to scramble at the last minute to make what they could get, fit to the menus and the quality of preparation and serving suffered. Have you taken the galley tour? They have nothing less than a full on ballet going on in there when they prepare the main dining meals, and any step outside the rehearsed plan can really ruin things quick. When I meant quality I meant it all the way around, and that includes exactly what they expect to show up on the pier in PC is going to be there every time, this is uncharted territory for DCL, and as such there are going to be some things that may not go exactly as planned.

 

[Skallywag]

they had plenty of varietyof food on board but it was the preparation and lack of cooking that was the problem. Glad we were not the only ones on the cruise that were disappointed.

The quality of the food was excellent but the meals were dry and can only be described as bland. Got the feeling that the servers were embarrassed themselves about the meals offered.

Yes we did the Galley tour also and do appreciate that they have so many meals to provide but this should not stop the quality and certainly did not on our last trip. Topsiders managed to give a much more varied menu and was used by many more people than we would have expected.

Regarding orange juice I cannot drink concentrated juice and never do here.
Always purchase the fresh in the tubs and never have a problem with that.

 

[MarkRG]

I think you've missed my point, I'm not talking about the variety on board, that's already after the fact. It could be they didn't get what they were expecting when they docked, have you watched them load/unload the ship? I have, it goes fast and furious, they have forklifts loading shrinkwrapped skids of food that go directly into the ship's cold storage areas. It could be it wasn't exactly what they had expected and had to step outside of their plan. Which then had a chain reaction to ruining their rehearsed food preparation at dinner time.

I agree they should have been prepared for such an eventuality where it wouldn't affect the final presentation at your table.

I don't know if they changed things for over in the med, but Topsiders for dinner had its own menu that was very good, but also very straightforward, and I didn't think it rotated. Perhaps a menu that would have been a bit easier on the galley to deal with.

 

[Epperbiker]

On our Holland America cruise this past November, freshly squeezed orange juice was available every day at breakfast. You could see the machine they had that they put whole oranges in. It was delicious and we had two or three glasses every day. As far as I know, HAL still does this.