Original plan for dining on Saphire Princess

[oskidunker]

I seem to recall when the ship first came out there was a different cuisine in each of the 5 dining rooms. What was this like for those that experienced it? How long did it last? Is this the only ship configured this way? Sounded like a great idea somewhat what Cunard does.

 

 

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[JF - retired RRT]

Our first cruise was on Sapphire in 2013. I'm pretty sure they had it then, but I really don't remember anything...first cruise fuzziness.

[Coral]

I want to say when the Diamond first debuted (she has a similar setup) - each dining room had a fully unique menu (not just one entree). This did not last long as Sterlings (which became Savoy) was the most popular restaurant and it was incredibly uneven passenger numbers wise who went to which dining room. So Pacific Moon had Asian food, Sterlings was like a steakhouse, Vivaldi was Italian and Santa Fe was Southwestern. These were small menus but you could also order from the main menu used in International Dining Room.

 

They later changed it so that each of the 4 dining rooms had 1 unique dish and had the regular dining menu, though since they share the same kitchen, they were available in any of the dining rooms. This lasted until both ships went to Asia. I was recently on the Sapphire and the waitstaff said this no longer exists with the exception that one can order a pork chop in any of the dining rooms.

Edited August 11, 2018 by Coral

[Colo Cruiser]

Have sailed the Diamond/Sapphire many times.

Not a fan of those 4 DR's and never have been. :rolleyes:

[dfields1814]

On the Saphire there were 4 ATD rooms: 2 on level 6 and 2 on level 5.. They just took the normal ATD rooms and split them in half making 4 smaller rooms. Each area had a theme. One was the Pacific Room with an Asian theme. One was the Santa Fe with a southwest theme. The other two are a bit fuzzy in my memory. I think one was Italian while the other was like a NYC steak house. All 4 had the same basic menu. However each room had one dish the matched its theme. I remember when one room filled up everyone would rush to another dining room to avoid the wait.

 

I think the DIamond had the same layout but now it has changed because it is in the Asian market. They don't have ATD on the Diamond anymore. At least not on our cruise to Southeast Asia last year. I think they still have the 4 rooms but not the speciality dishes. (At least as far as I know. We were assigned the DR in the aft that used to be for traditional dining. I don't know went went on in the other dining rooms)

 

We were on the Saphire for a 28 day South Pacific cruise. I really liked the layout in that we could change themes every night rather being in the same ATD room for all 28 nights.

[Coral]

Have sailed the Diamond/Sapphire many times.

Not a fan of those 4 DR's and never have been. :rolleyes:

 

I like them purely because they look different compared to every other dining room in the Grand Class.

[Colo Cruiser]

I like them purely because they look different compared to every other dining room in the Grand Class.

 

 

When ATD started those 4 DR's turned into a bigger mess.

Worst experience with a head waiter at the door of one on the Diamond who had the seating process really messed up. :(

Yeah once seated they are nice.

[Coral]

When ATD started those 4 DR's turned into a bigger mess.

Worst experience with a head waiter at the door of one on the Diamond who had the seating process really messed up. :(

Yeah once seated they are nice.

 

Anytime dining debuted before these ships were released. It started with the Golden Princess I believe. So they always were "anytime".

[fishywood]

Anytime dining debuted before these ships were released. It started with the Golden Princess I believe. So they always were "anytime".

 

The first ship to add ATD was Grand Princess in Spring 2001.

Golden Princess was launched in 2002 so she likely was the first ship with ATD from the get-go.

But all cruises to Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Exotics remained TD only for several more years. So I'm pretty sure Diamond and Sapphire did not have ATD upon their debuts in 2004.

[Coral]

The first ship to add ATD was Grand Princess in Spring 2001.

Golden Princess was launched in 2002 so she likely was the first ship with ATD from the get-go.

But all cruises to Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Exotics remained TD only for several more years. So I'm pretty sure Diamond and Sapphire did not have ATD upon their debuts in 2004.

 

I am pretty sure they did have it as the concept was to visit the different restaurants with the different menus. Obviously, no one would be in Pacific Moon all week with an Asian Menu.

[Coral]

Here is an interesting press release:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1018

 

December 9, 2003

Princess, which has embraced "personal choice dining" in a major way throughout its fleet, intends to expand the concept even further with the unveiling of its Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess – two of three ships that will launch in 2004.

 

In this incarnation, the sister ships will offer five main dining rooms. Of these, just one will provide the traditional set-seating-set-tablemate experience. The other four – and this is the innovative move – will feature specific cuisine styles, such as Italian (Vivaldi), steakhouse (Sterling), southwestern (Santa Fe) and Asian (Pacific Moon).

 

Each of the specialty restaurants – no extra service fee imposed – will offer specialty dishes. These include, for instance, Farfalle alla Scoglio, Ossobuco or Cannoli in Vivaldi. Highlights of Sterling Steakhouse will feature Prime Rib, New York Steak and apple pie. The Pacific Moon's Asian dishes will include dim sum, sushi, and five-spice mandarin duckling. And in the southwestern-themed Santa Fe, options include fried catfish with roasted corn relish, fajitas and kahlua rice pudding.

 

Folks who opt for the traditional dining room won't be left out in the cold; chefs will rotate some of the specialty items onto the regular menu. And vice versa: Personal Choice diners who are loathe to miss the traditional prime rib or lobster culinary celebrations will find them added, as appropriate, to specialty restaurant menus.

[Coral]

But all cruises to Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Exotics remained TD only for several more years. So I'm pretty sure Diamond and Sapphire did not have ATD upon their debuts in 2004.

 

I don't remember that being the case on the Diamond and Sapphire Princess. Maybe the "older ships" doing these itineraries.

 

I forgot it was originally called "Personal Choice".

[Colo Cruiser]

Here is an interesting press release:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1018

 

December 9, 2003

Princess, which has embraced "personal choice dining" in a major way throughout its fleet, intends to expand the concept even further with the unveiling of its Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess – two of three ships that will launch in 2004.

 

In this incarnation, the sister ships will offer five main dining rooms. Of these, just one will provide the traditional set-seating-set-tablemate experience. The other four – and this is the innovative move – will feature specific cuisine styles, such as Italian (Vivaldi), steakhouse (Sterling), southwestern (Santa Fe) and Asian (Pacific Moon).

 

 

Think you are right....thats why we had to wait. You know that memory goes more and more every year. :rolleyes:

All I know is that it was a mess with those 4 DR's and the wait that we had on our cruises on them.:(

[fishywood]

I don't remember that being the case on the Diamond and Sapphire Princess. Maybe the "older ships" doing these itineraries.

 

I forgot it was originally called "Personal Choice".

 

Yeah that obviously makes sense about Diamond and Sapphire. But I am still reasonably sure-ish that the rollout of ATD was more by region than by ship: the ships sailing the Caribbean and Europe were updated in 2001-2 while most of the other deployment areas had to wait a couple more years for newer ships to replace the Sun-class and original Crown/Regal twins.

[Coral]

Think you are right....thats why we had to wait. You know that memory goes more and more every year. :rolleyes:

All I know is that it was a mess with those 4 DR's and the wait that we had on our cruises on them.:(

 

That is probably why they ditched the "special menus" in each dining room. It didn't last long! Then they implemented the "one special dish" per dining room with Savoy (previous Sterlings) being pork chops, Vivaldi being ossobuco, Santa Fe being fajitas and Pacific Moon being shrimp/scallops with noodles and stir-fry vegetables.

 

Personal Choice did debut on Grand and then when the Golden rolled out, it was the first ship to start fully with it. Both in 2001.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Coral

[geoherb]

We had traditional dining on the Sapphire Princess both times we sailed on it. One waiter seemed to be OK with my ordering the specialty entrée from another dining room. Our other waiter made it seem like a big trouble for him, but I was still able to order one the night nothing caught my eye on the regular menu.

[Brisbane41]

I sailed on Sapphire Princess when it was almost brand new in January 2005 and final touches were still being done around the ship with upholstery and carpeting. That is how new it was. I had anytime dining. Yes one of the restaurants was a steak house and it was very popular. You could get in and generally had to make a reservation. If I recall correctly there were similarities with some Princess favourites in all restaurants but all four had a unique different theme and the fifth restaurant that people refer to was the International Dining Room which was aft and catered to traditional dining of 1st and 2nd seating. I was lucky enough to dine at all four anytime dining venues during my cruise and was happy with the service and food provided. In a way I wish it was still the same.

 

Diamond Princess was exactly the same set up as Sapphire Princess in regards to how the dining was. They are now similar to how the rest of the Princess fleet is. The only issue with Diamond Princess now is that they have totally and completely abolished anytime dining for all passengers and forced all passengers to have fixed seating 1st and 2nd sitting. This is because the ship is based in Japan and the crew lacks the competence, professionalism and ability to run an open seating restaurant in Japan. It creates a number of frustrations as when all passengers are forced onto fixed seating and they decide to go and eat in the buffet or speciality restaurants for the entire cruise it leaves many tables in the dining room with vacant seats for the entire cruise making it an unpleasant and uncomfortable experience for those involved. When you have a table for 8 and 3 singles turn up and the table opposite you is the same you wonder why they do not amalgamate the tables or have open seating, but they do not do this because seats are allocated for the entire cruise against the will of the people who would normally choose anytime dining.

[jlp20]

I seem to recall when the ship first came out there was a different cuisine in each of the 5 dining rooms.

 

 

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Not 5, but 4. Entire thing was kind of a sham. 95% of the menus were identical except for one dish. Sounded OK, but in reality was much to do about nothing. The four operated as anytime dining and only lasted a little ove a year.

[jlp20]

Looked back to post December 2005

Earlier this year we were on the Diamond using personal choice. Instead of two large PC rooms, they then had four smaller “themed” restaurants. Each restaurant would have the same menu for the entire trip. Sounds great on paper, but if nothing on a certain menu interests you; your choice of rooms has been reduced by 25%. The longest we had to wait was 5 minutes and never used reservations. 6 out of 7 nights we were given our own table and we shared a table for four on the other night. But then this was Alaska and for whatever reason, the older passengers stayed away from the dinning rooms by the hundreds.

 

 

Fast forward to the present and PC has mutated into a monster. The “themed” menus have been scrapped and you now have four smaller rooms using the same menu. If you walk up with a party of four, you have to wait for a four party table to become available. Forget about those empty tables of 6 or 8, they have to be left empty for all those large parties walking in. I can only assume they want their restaurants to have some kind of attitude towards their own customers. I just don’t understand why they make people wait with empty tables. Just a guess, but the next time either of these ships are put in for retrofitting, the four room idea will be redone to two larger rooms.