Sabatini's

[whynotnow]

Just booked the CP 3/4 cruise with another couple. It's their first cruise and we are all avid fans of Italian food. Would appreciate hearing about Sabatini's -your experience, the menu, etc. Most importantly, would you recommend it? Thanks!

[Druke I]

We thought the food at Sabatini's (on Golden Princess) was good, but much too much for our small appetites.

[spongerob]

It's a real tour de force as Michael said. I can tuck in with the best of them but find Sabatini's an over-indulgence. The food and service are quite good IMO.

[sunprincess]

WHynotnow,

 

If you enjoy Italian food you will certainly enjoy Sabatini.

It is all Italian specialties. Just remember to go hungry, as they prepare an Italian feast for you. There are many courses, and by the time your meal comes often you have no room to eat it ! If you pace yourself you can do it.

There is a cover charge for $20/person.

 

 

Here are 2 photos taken of our cruise reunion group in Sabatinis. We went to celebrate a 31st anniversary.

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

[Mike2131]

Just booked the CP 3/4 cruise with another couple. It's their first cruise and we are all avid fans of Italian food. Would appreciate hearing about Sabatini's -your experience, the menu, etc. Most importantly, would you recommend it? Thanks!

 

I cannot recommend Sabatini's. If you want an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet that comes to you, you are in for a treat. If you are looking for gourmet fare, look elsewhere.

I think the actual problem is the premise of selecting only the entree and dessert. In all fairness, they were both quite good (veal chop and tiramisu for me). The other courses are handled with the waiters circulating with large platters of food from which you select what you want. That is where the quality goes down hill.

In addition, the service was uneven and there were long lapses between courses that could not be attributed to pacing. As a final miscue, they charged for cappucino. I expected to pay for it elsewhere on the ship, but not in the specialty restaurant.

 

An off night? Perhaps. I suggest you judge for yourself. We will not be back.

[mringenoldus]

We thought the food was OK - but really enjoyed the experience because we used it as a CC gathering. (We're going to try Sterlings next week)

 

I would have been just as OK with the dining room.

[LARGIN]

On the CP, the Bayou is my favorite.. New Orleans style food with the best steak and lobster around.. You can also enjoy live jazz while you eat...

[cruzinchris]

On the CP, the Bayou is my favorite.. New Orleans style food with the best steak and lobster around.. You can also enjoy live jazz while you eat...

 

DH and I haven't experienced the Bayou yet, but the southwestern restaurant has been our favorite among the specialty venues. I believe it was called Tequila's on the Star and Desert Rose on the Golden.

 

I've read mostly favorable reviews about the Bayou, and DH and I will definitely give it a try when we sail on the Coral.

Bon Appetit!

Chris

[ShelliRae]

Just booked the CP 3/4 cruise with another couple. It's their first cruise and we are all avid fans of Italian food. Would appreciate hearing about Sabatini's -your experience, the menu, etc. Most importantly, would you recommend it? Thanks!

 

We did the Brunch on Sabatini's on one of our sea days and loved it!

Maybe you would enjoy that!

Happy Cruisin'

~Shelli

[kendon]

We loved oit on the Coral, it was so-so on the Caribbean Princess (not surprising). I recommend it.

[Lynda90]

Mediocre at best on the Diamond. Would not do it again.

[jerseygirl3]

If you've never done it and especially since it's your friends first cruise, I would highly recommend Sabatini's. We were there two weeks ago on the Caribbean Princess, and thought it was wonderful. It is a true dining experience, and our food was fantastic (and I'm Italian through and through). The service was outstanding, as well. It is a special treat and one I don't think you will regret, unless you decide not to do it. That would be ashame.

 

But as others have said, go hungry and pace yourself. I didn't eat lunch and still could only take one bite out of my veal chop (and boy how I wish I had that veal chop for dinner tonight, it was spectacular). Don't eat all the stuff they bring you first before the entree...take a taste but don't eat it all or you won't be able to eat your dinner, much less dessert.

[Stepilyn]

We are doing Personal Choice Dining and are planning to have one meal at Sterling Steak House. Is a tip expected at the Sterling Steak House?

[jerseygirl3]

Step, I don't believe a tip is "expected" at either Sabatini's or Sterlings, but we felt the service was so outstanding, it certainly deserved it. But it's not mandatory.

[Once Upon A Time]

Six of us went to Sabitini"s to celebrate a birthday and they certainly did it up right. There is a lot of food, so please please pace yourself. You don't have to try everything and you don't have to eat all that you're served. First comes a selection of cold appitizers, then the warm ones(caviar with potato latkes,crab cakes, shrip with artichoke and truffle oil, prosciutto w/melon, thinly sliced beef w/sun dried tomatoes, porcini mushrooms, fried italian chees w/olive tapenade and steamed mussels w/garlic& fennel) you can choose the ones that appeal to you. Then soup and salad..the ciopinno was one of the best i've seen. Then comes a selection of three different pasta dishes followed by the main course. Main course selections were: Grilled Sea Bass, Langoustines, Lobster, Rosemary Chicken, Sea Scallops, Tiger Prawns and Veal Chop. There are dessert selections that they just serve family style and they are all good. Panna cotte, Tiamisu, cheese cake, chocolate mousse cake, profotiro and carmel sauce for whatever you want. This is followed by Lemoncello (for those of you who enjoy an after dinner drink that helps the digestion) The service was great, but this is not a quick meal... give yourself 2 1/2 to 3 hours for this dinner.... The staff was friendly and alot of fun... not stuffy at all and we enjoyed them as much as the meal. Have a great time..:D

[ladysheri]

We were on the Sapphire in September and did Sabbatini's for our anniversary. There IS a lot of food, but we found it all to be above average for Italian fare. (And we are pretty particular). However, we did skip lunch that day and asked them not to bring the soups, which helped. We enjoyed trying the many different appetizers and both had the lobster and it was extremely delicious. By the end, though, we were way too full for dessert, so we asked, kind of jokingly, if we could have it sent to our cabin, and the waiter said "yes." So, by the time we got back to our cabin (after 3 rounds on the Promenade Deck), we had the 3 types of dessert waiting...which we saved and had the next morning for breakfast with fresh-brewed coffee (I always bring my own coffeemaker and coffee) in Tracy Arm with the glaciers, waterfalls, and icebergs........Ahh! Must be time to book that next cruise! :)

 

ladysheri

[leighj]

We just returned from the 10/1 sailing and we opted to do both Sabatinis as well as Sterlings. Our take is that Sabatinis was marginal and Sterlings was outstanding! As other posters have stated, there is certainly an abundance of food at Sabatinis, and we found the service to be very good. There were a couple of courses towards the end where there were long lapses, and we found ourselves saying that we just wanted to get out of there and on with the evening! If we were to do it all over again, I'd rather book Sterlings twice and skip Sabatinis.

[Breezey]

We just returned from the 10/1 sailing and we opted to do both Sabatinis as well as Sterlings. Our take is that Sabatinis was marginal and Sterlings was outstanding! As other posters have stated, there is certainly an abundance of food at Sabatinis, and we found the service to be very good. There were a couple of courses towards the end where there were long lapses, and we found ourselves saying that we just wanted to get out of there and on with the evening! If we were to do it all over again, I'd rather book Sterlings twice and skip Sabatinis.

 

i agree. Both are a nice change to the dining room experience. Sabatinis was a very long evening and too much food but the service was great and we took small samples since we knew the food was way too much to finish. Didnt mind the long lapses because we knew this was going to be our entertaininment for the evening. The food was good but not outstanding.

 

Sterlings, on the other hand was terrific and if we had tried it earlier on the cruise we would have most definitely gone back because we were quite disappointed in the quality of the dining room food (thats another topic).

The shrimp coctail had huge shrimps and was fantastic and the filet mignon was also terrific.

[carol allen]

Hi

 

We and friends of ours are going to saitini's for dinner week of 10/25

 

can anyone tell me what the apetizers and main course is and also what are the desserts

 

looking forward to this experience

 

carol

[momthecruisedirector]

We tried Sabatini's on the Diamond this past summer - even after reading that it wasn't worth trying, wanted to see for ourselves. We were very disappointed - sure there is a lot of food but didn't think the quality was very good. Also, for us, the service was lacking. We made our reservations when we boarded for the last night, the night we were to get to Victoria, knowing the ship was often late getting into port since we weren't interested in getting off the ship. We booked a time later in the evening, knowing it wouldn't be crowded and therefore service would be better. Well, as soon as we walked in they said they would hurry us along so we could get off the ship, we told them we had no intention of doing that so PLEASE let us enjoy the dining experience and take your time. Instead they would bring things out four and five at a time - you'd barely have a chance to take a bite and they'd bring out the next plate. We didn't feel it was worth the money - food quality wise.

[ChrisB123]

We go on the Sapphire this weekend. Does Sabatini's do anything special for birthdays? I don't know if I should book us for Dh's birthday or our 1st night. Any suggestions?:confused:

[critterchick]

We have tried Sabatini's on the Star and on the Diamond. We did it for dinner on the Star, and it was just too much food too late at night (it was also our first Princess cruise, and we had that "kid in the candy store" mentality). On the Diamond, we had lunch there (open on sea days only, I think), and enjoyed it a lot more. There were very few people, so we had great service and could eat completely at our own pace, not struggle to keep up with platter after platter. We also were more selective in what we ate instead of feeling that we had to try everything. I have fonder memories of the hot appetizers than of the cold, but the entirees were wonderful.

[TorontoTL]

For Sabatini's and the Bayou, do they charge less for lunch or is it the same as for dinner? Are the menus different for lunch vs. dinner?

[Love Cruis'n]

We had dinner at Sabatini's on the Coral this past summer in Alaska.

We all enjoyed it very much, and would recommend it.

There is a ton of food, so we declined a few dished, for example, some in our group did not like mussels, so we just told our wait staff that we'd pass on them. As a result we did not bust our bellies, although we probably stretched them a bit;)

It is a great experinece. Start early and leave time to eat slow, and ENJOY:)

[critterchick]

Toronto, the price was the same. I think they served the same items, but having only done lunch on the cruise, I couldn't say for sure.