Advice on promotion/specialty dining on the Crown

[cruiseintoheaven]

Hi eveyone

 

DH and I are returning to Alaska next May and very excited to do so as it's been about 13 years since we went - feels like a whole new itinerary.

 

We don't typically book the specialty restuarants, but since we booked under the "3 for free" promotion, we can try one for free - can't pass that up now can we? :) So, realizing that staff, chefs and menus can change between now and May, in general.....which would you recommend, Sabbatinis or Crown Grill? We enjoy both types of foods equally, so really it's a toss up to us personally. What'a your favorite?

 

Also, we've been trying to get my sister/brother in-law to cruise with us for many years. They have no interest in warm weather cruises, but they are "sniffing the air" a bit at the mention of the Alaskan itinerary, SIL more so than BIL. If she decides to book and go solo....how would this promotion work? Since it's for two people, would she get to try both restuarants? Or would she only get one shot at one place under the promotion?

 

Thanks!

[RLBlack]

We also have the promotion, I asked our TA to request the Crown Grill and for a specific day- and she said that when we board, in our cabin will be our reservation for one of the venues- if that does not work for us- we can go to the venue and request a change. And we might be able to change- She said she could not request our preference.

You might call your TA and see if you get the same answer.

[reedprincess]

We've sailed twice this year with the specialty dining included promotion. It's very easy. You'll have an invitation card in your room on arrival that tells you what date, time and restaurant has been reserved for you. You can either stick with that or go down to the dining table and make changes, or call the DINE line and make changes. As many people will have the promo also, the earlier you try to change, the better.

We prefer Crown Grill over Sabatini's any time. The steaks and service is just great. Personal choice.

As for your sister in law - if she books under to promo as a solo, she'll have an invitation for one to dine in whichever reserved restaurant. She doesn't get two reservations. If you all want to go to same dining at same time, you'll need to contact DINE line or head to the dining table to change that up as soon as you can onboard. (we had a lovely solo cruiser at our main dining room table this last cruise who was booked under the promo - she had one reservation. And enjoyed herself dining solo in Crown Grill., they fawned all over her).

Enjoy.-

[hpeabody]

I can recommend Crown Grill and if you like lobster be sure to ask to have lobster added as well.

[Pam in CA]

I much prefer the Crown Grill. :) Really don't like Sabatini's.

 

FYI, if you're on a cruise with the promotion but you didn't get it, make sure you book a specialty restaurant as soon as you board. Every single dining time could be gone by Muster. That's what happened to me last January. By 3pm, there was literally no availability left on any day.

[cruiseintoheaven]

We also have the promotion, I asked our TA to request the Crown Grill and for a specific day- and she said that when we board, in our cabin will be our reservation for one of the venues- if that does not work for us- we can go to the venue and request a change. And we might be able to change- She said she could not request our preference.

You might call your TA and see if you get the same answer.

 

Yes, I'm pretty sure you can't pre-select or make any requests before boarding. Since many folks have the promotion, I'm guessing there will be many dashing to the dining rooms or calling the dine line ASAP....:)

[cruiseintoheaven]

We've sailed twice this year with the specialty dining included promotion. It's very easy. You'll have an invitation card in your room on arrival that tells you what date, time and restaurant has been reserved for you. You can either stick with that or go down to the dining table and make changes, or call the DINE line and make changes. As many people will have the promo also, the earlier you try to change, the better.

We prefer Crown Grill over Sabatini's any time. The steaks and service is just great. Personal choice.

As for your sister in law - if she books under to promo as a solo, she'll have an invitation for one to dine in whichever reserved restaurant. She doesn't get two reservations. If you all want to go to same dining at same time, you'll need to contact DINE line or head to the dining table to change that up as soon as you can onboard. (we had a lovely solo cruiser at our main dining room table this last cruise who was booked under the promo - she had one reservation. And enjoyed herself dining solo in Crown Grill., they fawned all over her).

Enjoy.-

 

That's good to know about the solo dining experience. I'm sure if we can convince her to go she'd want to join us. For clarification, I know you can call the dine line to make or change a reservation, but when you mention going to the dining table, do you mean going specifically to the restaurant you want to dine at, or the one you were assigned? Thanks.

[cruiseintoheaven]

I can recommend Crown Grill and if you like lobster be sure to ask to have lobster added as well.

 

Thanks for the vote....DH is a lobster fan....me not as much but I do love steak, ribs, any kind of meat really, lamb particularly.

[cruiseintoheaven]

I much prefer the Crown Grill. :) Really don't like Sabatini's.

 

FYI, if you're on a cruise with the promotion but you didn't get it, make sure you book a specialty restaurant as soon as you board. Every single dining time could be gone by Muster. That's what happened to me last January. By 3pm, there was literally no availability left on any day.

 

Votes are definitely leaning towards CG. Pam, your reply just promted me to ask another question - we are adding the Vancouver to Seattle 1 night cruise before the R/T Alaska trip - I've never been to Seattle, so we are flying in a few days early, and DH is a train fan....wants to take the Amtrak Cascades ride from Seattle to Vancouver....which means we will be on the ship already. Can you make a reservation if you are on a ship for the next leg of the cruise? It almost seems unfair if you can :confused:

[Working 2 Cruise]

Votes are definitely leaning towards CG. Pam, your reply just promted me to ask another question - we are adding the Vancouver to Seattle 1 night cruise before the R/T Alaska trip - I've never been to Seattle, so we are flying in a few days early, and DH is a train fan....wants to take the Amtrak Cascades ride from Seattle to Vancouver....which means we will be on the ship already. Can you make a reservation if you are on a ship for the next leg of the cruise? It almost seems unfair if you can :confused:

 

You'd better check on that... not sure if both your cruises can be combined. Do you change ships or do you have one night in between? Please be aware of the PVSA Act... You may have to cancel the one nighter...

[cruiseintoheaven]

Hi - no, same ship and cabin and no day in between - we board in Vancouver, sail to Seattle and then on to Alaska. I've no clue what the PVSA is but will be darn sure to find out! Thanks for the reply and info.

[LeeW]

Hi - no, same ship and cabin and no day in between - we board in Vancouver, sail to Seattle and then on to Alaska. I've no clue what the PVSA is but will be darn sure to find out! Thanks for the reply and info.

 

PVSA prevents a ship not registered in the US from carrying passengers from one US port to another (exceptions involve far foreign ports during trip). So you cannot sail from Seattle and get off in Alaska. No problem if the Seattle cruise ends in Seattle, though. Shouldn't be a problem if you get on in Vancouver and off anywhere. One-way Alaska cruises start in Vancouver for exactly this reason. Seattle cruises are normally round trip, so PVSA would not apply.

 

You can't violate the PVSA. If you happen to book cruises that do, the line will eventually notice this and cancel one or all legs. Several ways around the problem. For example, a couple of years ago we took a one-day from Seattle to Vancouver. The ship then sailed to LA, which we could not do even if we wanted to. We just got off for a few days there and then took a different ship down to LA.

 

The big problem for us with Sabatini's is it leans toward shellfish and seafood. Plus more food than we can eat in a week.

[poolreader]

I vote for Sabbatini's, especially if you like lobster. They have a lobster 3 ways, with the best lobster risotto I have ever eaten. The service has been wonderful.

 

I ate in the Crown Grill on the Crown and had a horrible experience. My lamb chops were over done, my husbands steak was rare (and he ordered well done), the lobster we also ordered turned out to be two very small (as in two bites each) to share. The waiter never came back to check on our meal, and when I did see him he gave me the one minute, finger in the air signal, but did not return. My husband had ordered a beer before our main course came and when he did not bring it with dinner we thought he had just forgot.

 

There were only four tables of customers in our section, one he waited on constantly, but they left about the time we got our main course, an hour after ordering. One table had a screaming child, who was very shrill and used this level to communicate everything, including talking to her doll. You could actually see everyone jump, including the waiter every time she opened her mouth, which was about every two minutes. the waiter was trying to push their dinner through faster. Another table had a couple that came in 30 minutes after us. They kept looking over at us doing the shoulder shrug, hands in the air, what is happening signal.

 

The waiter came back when we were done eating and didn't even ask how we liked our food. I told him my husbands steak was underdone and my chops were overdone, he said most people like them that way. We ordered dessert and he brought my husbands beer at that time, almost one hour after my DH had asked for the beer. I wanted to refuse it but my husband does not like to complain.

 

I realize the waiter was probably frustrated from the screaming child, but the food was not as good as the MDR. I had been looking forward to the Black and Blue Onion soup. It was just onion soup with melted mild white cheese, it was not blue cheese, and it was not even browned, just partially melted from the heat of the soup. I asked the waiter if it was blue cheese, and he acted offended and said 'no it is the white cheese'. Later I thought perhaps someone had special ordered it without the blue cheese, and this might account for the cheese not being browned and the waiters behavior (he thought I was the one who ordered it that way and was questioning him to make sure it did not have blue cheese).

 

I love Princess and realize this was fluke, but I could NOT recommend the Crown Grill on the Crown.

[shredie]

I vote for Sabbatini's, especially if you like lobster. They have a lobster 3 ways, with the best lobster risotto I have ever eaten. The service has been wonderful.

 

I ate in the Crown Grill on the Crown and had a horrible experience. My lamb chops were over done, my husbands steak was rare (and he ordered well done), the lobster we also ordered turned out to be two very small (as in two bites each) to share.

 

There you go, subjective! ;) I had exactly the opposite complaints on the Crown last time. The lamb chops were delicious, and the server was great in the CG. The Sabbatini's lobster dish might be the worst thing I've eaten on a ship. So you just have to judge for yourself.

[reedprincess]

That's good to know about the solo dining experience. I'm sure if we can convince her to go she'd want to join us. For clarification, I know you can call the dine line to make or change a reservation, but when you mention going to the dining table, do you mean going specifically to the restaurant you want to dine at, or the one you were assigned? Thanks.

There is usually a table set up in the Atrium or nearby foe folks to book dining before sailaway. You can go there to change it if needed. Or there's often a maitre'd at each of the specialty restaurants who can handle the change for yiu if needed...

[XBGuy]

I want to get in on the "Crown Grill or Sabatini's" debate.

 

My wife and I prefer dining in these restaurants over the dining rooms. (My wife also loves just getting a hamburger from room service for dinner at least once or twice per cruise.) So, on most of our cruises, we will dine in them multiple times.

 

I have never had a complaint about the preparation of the food in either restaurant. I like them both. I do feel that the menu at Sabatini's is a bit more interesting. I love the amuse bouche, and the pasta course, which changes every day and is, invariably, very good. From there you have both "red meat" and seafood entrée choices. Somebody mentioned the "Lobster Three Ways" dish, and my wife loves that.

 

Again, though, I have had no problem finding things that I like on the CG menu. I am a red meat eater and am very happy with steak, chops or fillet. They have a "Mussel Pot" (not sure if that is what it's called) on the menu that my wife just loves. I have to say, also, that I like the bread at CG better than the various bread sticks at Sabatini's.

 

Now, that being said, invariably, we will find that we "connect" with the wait staff better in one restaurant than the other. We have only had one "bad" incident (more on that later), but for some reason or other one of the restaurants will have a server, who impresses us, or seems to enjoy us, or in some other way makes us feel more comfortable or makes the event more enjoyable. So, that restaurant will get more reservations from us the rest of the trip.

 

In my one bad incident I may have had that same CG waiter that was mentioned previously. I could not believe that this guy was (1) a waiter and not a runner and (2) was in the specialty restaurant. (I may be wrong on this, but my expectation is that the waiters in the specialty restaurants should be promoted from the very best of the dining rooms.) The next night we dined in Sabatini's and met, possibly, the best waiter we've had in our last five or six cruises. Here's the best part. He actually was from Italy--the first Italian waiter I ever recall on a cruise.

 

So, to the OP, I say take your pick.

[tonit964]

Thanks for the vote....DH is a lobster fan....me not as much but I do love steak, ribs, any kind of meat really, lamb particularly.

 

At the Crown Grill, your DH can have lobster AND steak if he chooses.

In fact, he can have as many lobsters as he wants.

 

We were on the Golden last April, the cruise right before it went into dry dock.

We went to CG the last night and they kept bringing my DD lobster tails, she ate at least seven of them ( she is an athlete).

 

We thought they were getting rid of them since there would no guests on board the following night but it turns out, they will bring you whatever you want.

[poolreader]

At the Crown Grill, your DH can have lobster AND steak if he chooses.

In fact, he can have as many lobsters as he wants.

 

That was not my experience on the Crown Princess, and that as the ship the OP is sailing. If they want lobster they can get it in Sabatini's, the Lobster Three Ways come with two large tails.

[BigGuy25]

After many years of dressing on formal nights we've given up on packing those extra clothes. So, on formal nights we always book both of the specialty restaurants (the "formal" attire is only requested in the main dining rooms). The two restaurants are entirely different and both very good ... so, it really depends on what you want. There was a time when the meal at Sabatini's took FOREVER (3 hours+) because they gave you a little of EVERYTHING ... all the apps, all the pastas, all the desserts ... the only thing that was single was the entree you selected. But they changed that a few years back and now you simply order what you want.

 

FYI ... if you're curious I'd say there is about a 50/50 split on "formal" and smart casual in the specialty restaurants on a formal night.

[Ethel5]

My 2 cents!

 

We had a voucher from our TA for the Crown Grill on the recent Golden Alaska cruise. I have eaten in the Crown Grill before on other ships and was pretty satisfied. This time I was not.

 

My DD was celebrating her 50th B'day and was given the voucher for a free bottle of wine for the 50th Anniversary celebration. Our waiter gave her a choice of red or white. That's IT. Only three of us were drinking wine and there was about a third of a bottle left. It disappeared! No mention of saving it for the next night's dinner-nothing.

 

Then our waiter said that the sides would be served family style. We did not get one side! Nothing-just the entree.

 

My steak ordered medium rare was chewy and tasteless. My DD ordered the crab and was presented with a bowl of split crab legs. She was happy with that.

 

I have given up on Sabatini's and I might add the CG to my never again list.

[cruiseintoheaven]

Ahhh....decisions decisions.....I'll take this over wandering the grocery aisles pondering what to buy/cook for dinner any day of the week! [emoji4]

[cruiseintoheaven]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences with specialty dining which is admittedly subjective and can vary for obvious reasons - a screaming baby would have me out of there in 3 seconds! Love kids - can't wait for grandkids - but that would be awful! No excuse for that in a specialty restaurant. Of note to those sailing solo as my SIL is considering - when she called Princess she was told that if that the promo included "specialty dining for two" she would in fact be able to try both specialty restaurants as it's value is $50 or two cover charges - confused? Yeah - me two!

[Cruise Raider]

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences with specialty dining which is admittedly subjective and can vary for obvious reasons - a screaming baby would have me out of there in 3 seconds! Love kids - can't wait for grandkids - but that would be awful! No excuse for that in a specialty restaurant. Of note to those sailing solo as my SIL is considering - when she called Princess she was told that if that the promo included "specialty dining for two" she would in fact be able to try both specialty restaurants as it's value is $50 or two cover charges - confused? Yeah - me two!

 

I agree on the screaming kid...would have driven me crazy. I might have even gone up to the table just to scream myself...that way the parents would have realized why it was so annoying....or probably not.

Since your SIL is paying a fare for two (less taxes / port charges for one), makes sense that the specialty dining would cover two cover charges. I would try them both. We had that dilemma when we first started trying out the specialty dining to avoid taking formal clothing. We tried the Crown Grill and were totally impressed. The food was outstanding, service was great and ambience was just to our liking....so much so, we never made it to Sabatinis.

[cruiseintoheaven]

I agree on the screaming kid...would have driven me crazy. I might have even gone up to the table just to scream myself...that way the parents would have realized why it was so annoying....or probably not.

Since your SIL is paying a fare for two (less taxes / port charges for one), makes sense that the specialty dining would cover two cover charges. I would try them both. We had that dilemma when we first started trying out the specialty dining to avoid taking formal clothing. We tried the Crown Grill and were totally impressed. The food was outstanding, service was great and ambience was just to our liking....so much so, we never made it to Sabatinis.

 

Well, screaming babies aside - the (dining) tables certainly seem to be leaning towards the CG, regardless of the ship - I kind of recall a more relaxed atmosphere a well, which is more in keeping with our stage of life - don't mind formal nights but also see the value in an alternate venue - DH has to "suit up" every day for work - and we have plenty of formal night pictures :). Thanks for the reply!

[XBGuy]

Yes, the consensus seems to be to try the Crown Grill. In my previous post I mentioned that I had an unfortunate experience at the CG on the Crown Princess, and it looks like Ethel/Donna is giving up completely on both the specialty restaurants.

 

Am I correct in assuming that you have looked at the sample menus at the Princess site? If not, it might be helpful for you to do so.

 

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants/

 

Of course, these menus are subject to change. My guess, though, is that any change would be minor. I don't think the list of steaks and chops in the CG has changed since my first visit in 2011.

 

Again, I think that to a large extent one's experience is completely dependent on the rapport you have, or don't have, with the staff in that room. In a handful of cruises on Princess, I have had good experiences in both rooms, and I have had not-so-good experiences.

 

We are leaving on a 7-day cruise on the Crown Princess this Saturday. Our plan is to dine at both the Crown Grill and Sabatini's--probably, multiple times. On our return I will make a point of returning to this conversation and reporting our experiences.

 

:)