Crown Grill disappointing ?

[XBGuy]

cOP, you definitely have to try it for yourself.

 

Over our Princess cruising experience we have probably visited Crown Grill a couple dozen times.  There have been hits and there have been misses.  I would characterize the misses as "disappointments," not "rubbish."  I really don't think the steaks I have had at Crown Grill are better than steaks I buy at the local store and grill in my backyard.  My biggest problem is getting beef (or lamb) prepared to my specification.  I like it rare.  It often comes to me pink.  I have learned that when the server asks how I would like my steak prepared, I first noticeably pause, and look him/her in the eye.  When I feel that I have his/her complete attention, I'll respond, "Rare.  Blood rare."  This technique seems to work better.

 

A couple of the previous posters have mentioned the Sea Bass.  I am inclined to agree with them that this is a very reliable choice.  My wife loves the Mussel Pot.  (I have never seen any comment here on Cruise Critic about that dish, but, happily, it stays on the menu.)  That is usually her choice on our first Crown Grill visit on any given cruise.

[Daisyloo]

14 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I have never had a bad meal at the Crown Grill. If a selection is not up to par, speak to the the Assistant Manager while still in the restaurant and he will correct the issue.  Service is excellent.  
 

My recommendations would be the lamb chops and sea bass.  The filet is extremely tender.  The rib steak is not consistently good, but it was recommended that I have it cooked to a medium rare.  
 

If the first night is not acceptable, you may cancel your other two evenings.  Is there a reason why you are avoiding the MDR?  

Our recent experience in the Crown Grill on the Regal was very disappointing.  I had the lamb chops and they were as tough as an old boot.  My husbands steak was okay.  The sides were all so salty!  (And we use salt at home so it's not like we eat low sodium and are complaining about a little too much salt.)  This food was salty!!

We also found the service to be sub standard, and we felt that it was because they were understaffed, and therefore overworked. 

We enjoyed all our meals in the MDR (Club Class).  Good food and excellent service. Much better than Crown Grill in our opinion. 

[jwattle]

58 minutes ago, Dreamer333 said:

 

Isn't this the purpose of reading reviews and ask for recommendations?? Odd response.

 

With that being said, to the OP, we eat at the Crown Grill every cruise we go on and it has NEVER disappointed. I already have reservations on my cruise next month! Enjoy!

OP  had read ONE review at that point, thus my answer. Not an odd response. 

I've been on here for a hot minute, so I do try to give answers some thought. 😃

[memoak]

1 hour ago, XBGuy said:

cOP, you definitely have to try it for yourself.

 

Over our Princess cruising experience we have probably visited Crown Grill a couple dozen times.  There have been hits and there have been misses.  I would characterize the misses as "disappointments," not "rubbish."  I really don't think the steaks I have had at Crown Grill are better than steaks I buy at the local store and grill in my backyard.  My biggest problem is getting beef (or lamb) prepared to my specification.  I like it rare.  It often comes to me pink.  I have learned that when the server asks how I would like my steak prepared, I first noticeably pause, and look him/her in the eye.  When I feel that I have his/her complete attention, I'll respond, "Rare.  Blood rare."  This technique seems to work better.

 

A couple of the previous posters have mentioned the Sea Bass.  I am inclined to agree with them that this is a very reliable choice.  My wife loves the Mussel Pot.  (I have never seen any comment here on Cruise Critic about that dish, but, happily, it stays on the menu.)  That is usually her choice on our first Crown Grill visit on any given cruise.

I use the term “Blue” and usually get it super rare. I do have to say the dishes at Crown over the last 12 months have not been as good as before and often no better than the meals in the MDR

[cr8tiv1]

It would be safe to say that food and service in the Crown Grill, Sabatini's, MDR, or any other food venue may fluctuate depending on which ship you were on and in which area of the world you are sailing.

 

My recent experiences have all been on the Grand Princess in the United States. 

 

29 minutes ago, Daisyloo said:

Our recent experience in the Crown Grill on the Regal was very disappointing.  I had the lamb chops and they were as tough as an old boot.  My husbands steak was okay.  The sides were all so salty!  (And we use salt at home so it's not like we eat low sodium and are complaining about a little too much salt.)  This food was salty!!

We also found the service to be sub standard, and we felt that it was because they were understaffed, and therefore overworked. 

We enjoyed all our meals in the MDR (Club Class).  Good food and excellent service. Much better than Crown Grill in our opinion. 

 

[Buckeye10640]

18 hours ago, hammo said:

Having just read a terrible review of Crown Grill from someone  currently onboard " steaks were rubbish " - Im a tad concerned about our 3 reservations now .Perhaps my expectations are set too high , but I really am hoping for excellent steak which is why we were going 3 times instead of the MDR . Perhaps if the first night is "rubbish" then is cancelling the following 2 allowed ? Maybe Ill stick with the ocean offerings - havent heard anything terrible about those yet .😅

I have eaten at Crown Grill 3 times in the last year, on Enchanted and Majestic. Each time my filet mignon was excellent. 

[Bazandgiz]

We ate in the Crown Grill for the first time on our Christmas cruise on the Grand. We're quite small eaters, so these kind of meals are generally wasted on us, but we had a free voucher so we thought we might as well give it a go.

 

I had the filet mignon, and it was nice but not amazing - to be honest the one I had in the main dining room on NYE was nicer. My travel companion had the lamb chops and also said they were good, but not amazing. We ran out of room for dessert, so they packaged up a couple for us in a takeway container which was nice. I took a bite out of each but didn't love them. This is the trouble with food, it's all so subjective. All I really need to keep me happy on my Princess cruises is their oatmeal cookies, I love those things.

[bjkTX]

We have gone to the steakhouse on every Princess cruise - most recently on the Emerald in October and the Ruby last month.  I don't think we've ever had bad service or bad food.  I realized a long time ago that the steaks don't taste like I'm used to back home and I accept that because sometimes I just want a slab of beef and they provide one 🙂  I did make a mistake last month when I tried to add some flavor with the smokey salt.  I took a pinch of it and used just a tad bit of that but the smell was over powering.  My wife does not like the smell of smoked meat - and just the smell of the salt got to her from across the table 🙂  But next cruise - we'll be back!

[tiggertom]

We visited the Crown Grill twice on our recent Regal cruise. Whilst the food was good, the service was poor. The servers had little time to explain the menu, they were rushing around and it was not an enjoyable ambience. Sabatini’s was far superior in service and the Symphony restaurant was excellent. I was so disappointed in the Crown Grill as they asked if each visit was for a special occasion and I told them it was for our birthdays. There was no mention of our birthdays at each visit. I think they were just too busy which I is a shame so I won’t be visiting there again. 

[justafem]

We normally crown at least 2 times a cruise and sabatini's the same.  I prefer sabatini's, while hubs prefers crown, so we compromise.  Every other night, one or the other.  

 

We are discussing onboard credit for our next cruise.  We have a LOT.  Like specialty dining every night and still have leftover.  I can't specialty dine every night.  I can't.  I'd live in the bathroom (beef is bad for my tummy) and outgrow my underware.  

 

 

[rideev]

On 1/9/2023 at 10:13 PM, bjkTX said:

We have gone to the steakhouse on every Princess cruise - most recently on the Emerald in October and the Ruby last month.  I don't think we've ever had bad service or bad food.  I realized a long time ago that the steaks don't taste like I'm used to back home and I accept that because sometimes I just want a slab of beef and they provide one 🙂  I did make a mistake last month when I tried to add some flavor with the smokey salt.  I took a pinch of it and used just a tad bit of that but the smell was over powering.  My wife does not like the smell of smoked meat - and just the smell of the salt got to her from across the table 🙂  But next cruise - we'll be back!

I am just the opposite.  The smoked salt was the highlight of my meal on the Emerald last month.

[bjkTX]

11 minutes ago, rideev said:

I am just the opposite.  The smoked salt was the highlight of my meal on the Emerald last month.

That's one of the things we love about cruising - all the choices!!! 🙂

[FritzG]

1 hour ago, rideev said:

I am just the opposite.  The smoked salt was the highlight of my meal on the Emerald last month.

I agree; smoked salt is a highlight of the meal. In fact, we liked the smoked salt so much that we bought some when we got home. 

[Thrak]

The only real problem we have ever had with Crown Grill is ordering the Filet medium rare. The outer edges are medium rare and the majority of the steak is extremely rare. We had this happen several times. I griped about it on here one time and someone said to just have them butterfly the thing before cooking. D'Oh! Excellent advice and no idea why I didn't think of it. The next time I ordered the filet I asked them to butterfly it and cook it medium rare. It was perfect!

 

The other problem I have with Crown Grill is that I hate to waste food and I simply can't eat what I want to order. I love the Black and Blue soup but, if I eat it I'm already full. I love Ribeye steaks but they are waaaaaaaay too big for me. When I was younger I could scarf a 22 oz. Ribeye and think nothing of it while also eating whatever else came with my dinner. These days I have a large belly but can't eat very much. The last two times we ate at Crown Grill I had the shrimp. Very good and not as filling but I really would prefer beef.

[trvlwrld]

Normally LOVE the Crown Grill and was so looking forward to it on our Royal Hawaii cruise last week since the dining room and buffet food was sub-par…really disappointed-thin cut of meat and tasteless…really noticing the quality of food since restart is suffering…thank goodness the crew attitude is trying to make up for it…they were great!

[Orange Yuzu]

We had 1 dining experience at Crown Grill at Regal this past October because we got a free voucher and found the steak not as well prepared (much more overcooked) as the main dining rooms. We also paid extra to have the sea bass and that was decent.

[cruisequeen4ever]

We have always loved Crown Grill so we pre-booked Crown Grill twice for our Royal Hawaii cruise. Both times were so good, we went back a third time. We covered the filet mignon x4, New York x1, and Lamb Chops x1. All were cooked perfectly and of superb quality. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

1 hour ago, trvlwrld said:

Normally LOVE the Crown Grill and was so looking forward to it on our Royal Hawaii cruise last week since the dining room and buffet food was sub-par…really disappointed-thin cut of meat and tasteless…really noticing the quality of food since restart is suffering…thank goodness the crew attitude is trying to make up for it…they were great!

That’s too bad your NY was thin. My husband’s was thicker than any we’ve ever gotten at Crown Grill in the past. We do agree with you that the general food quality has declined onboard, unfortunately. Some were still hits but others were noticeably different. 

[KYBOB]

Just off the Enchanted Princess and we ate twice in the Crown Grille, I had the Ribeye and DW had the fillet. Her was burnt on the bottom as in like shoe leather consistency, the inside was medium and the top nicely cooked. But the meat was kind of tough. My ribeye had a lot of gristle and very fatty so for 22 oz 8 or 9 oz was fat or gristle. The second night we both had the shrimp which was good but not what I would really say was “speciality dining”. What was a real contrast for us on this cruise was one night we ate at the Crown Grill then the next day for lunch had a Chef’s Table tasting meal on our excursion that served a fillet and it was hands down better than the Crown Grill to the point my wife really noticed and she is not a big beef eater. She will just about eat anything and not complain, but she really remarked about the difference. To us it seems the quality of the beef has gone down since before COVID on the ships. Our local steak houses do not seem to have and issue with getting good meat (Jeff Rubies, Tony’s, Ruth Chris) where the fillets are like cutting into butter so soft and tender. On our up coming cruises we will probably skip the Crown Grille for one of the other specialty dining restaurants. 

[Shelly97060]

On 1/11/2023 at 5:29 PM, rideev said:

I am just the opposite.  The smoked salt was the highlight of my meal on the Emerald last month.

Me too! I always have to have that salt at Crown Grill.  I like it so much that now I keep a supply on hand at home.  It is fantastic when added to rub for BBQ ribs! YUM! 

[cr8tiv1]

13 hours ago, Orange Yuzu said:

We had 1 dining experience at Crown Grill at Regal this past October because we got a free voucher and found the steak not as well prepared (much more overcooked) as the main dining rooms. We also paid extra to have the sea bass and that was decent.

 

We had the sea bass at the Crown Grill in October.  When did they start charging more for Sea Bass?

[justafem]

4 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

We had the sea bass at the Crown Grill in October.  When did they start charging more for Sea Bass?

I'm assuming it was charged as a second entrée as they stated they'd both gotten steaks also.  

[Orange Yuzu]

On 1/13/2023 at 1:23 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

We had the sea bass at the Crown Grill in October.  When did they start charging more for Sea Bass?

 

On 1/13/2023 at 6:23 AM, justafem said:

I'm assuming it was charged as a second entrée as they stated they'd both gotten steaks also.  

Yup this. We got gluttony and ordered 2 entries each.  😉

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

We just went to Crown Grill, on the Regal Princess.   I think maybe it can depend on the ship and the port it is sailing form?  I heard people post here about different suppliers.  But, we went to Crown Grill on the first night.  ( The prime rib menu is on the last night now, I think)   We decided that my husband would try the bone in chop, and I was looking forward to the sea bass.  The chop was not as big or thick cut as I had thought.  It was a medium or thin cut.  And it had a ton of fat marbled thru it.  A lot of fat.   We can't recommend it at all.  The sea bass was a beautiful, large, cut of the flaky white fish!  But, honestly, I thought the sauce was way to heavy for this nice fish.   The filet we saw on the next table looked larger and much much better than I have seen.  So, you just never know which steak might be good.  After already waiting so long, we definitely were not going to have them replace that steak with a filet.

 

We also waited a long time, even finally catching our waiter and hoping our meals would come out soon.  He didn't apologize, only offered an excuse,  while we waited as others we served and finished theirs.   So, service wasn't that great either.

 

Gold Strings was supposed to be in the bar,  but they were never really there.   They did one piece...  talked for a few minutes, like maybe what should they do next.  Then they were gone.  So, no background music or vibe at all.   Entertainment at the Crown Grill area was really lacking on this cruise.

 

It was nice to get the warm bread roll, instead of the cold rolls on the ship.

But, having eaten our meals, and having been there so long, it was getting late, so we skipped dessert.   If it wasn't a special souffle or something, then we didn't know we wanted to indulge.

 

Now, the souffle the next night on Italian night in the dining room was, like, OMG to die for!  The best ever!

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by PRINCESS Sweet Pea

[jwattle]

40 minutes ago, PRINCESS Sweet Pea said:

We just went to Crown Grill, on the Regal Princess.   I think maybe it can depend on the ship and the port it is sailing form?  I heard people post here about different suppliers.  But, we went to Crown Grill on the first night.  ( The prime rib menu is on the last night now, I think)   We decided that my husband would try the bone in chop, and I was looking forward to the sea bass.  The chop was not as big or thick cut as I had thought.  It was a medium or thin cut.  And it had a ton of fat marbled thru it.  A lot of fat.   We can't recommend it at all.  The sea bass was a beautiful, large, cut of the flaky white fish!  But, honestly, I thought the sauce was way to heavy for this nice fish.   The filet we saw on the next table looked larger and much much better than I have seen.  So, you just never know which steak might be good.  After already waiting so long, we definitely were not going to have them replace that steak with a filet.

 

We also waited a long time, even finally catching our waiter and hoping our meals would come out soon.  He didn't apologize, only offered an excuse,  while we waited as others we served and finished theirs.   So, service wasn't that great either.

 

Gold Strings was supposed to be in the bar,  but they were never really there.   They did one piece...  talked for a few minutes, like maybe what should they do next.  Then they were gone.  So, no background music or vibe at all.   Entertainment at the Crown Grill area was really lacking on this cruise.

 

It was nice to get the warm bread roll, instead of the cold rolls on the ship.

But, having eaten our meals, and having been there so long, it was getting late, so we skipped dessert.   If it wasn't a special souffle or something, then we didn't know we wanted to indulge.

 

Now, the souffle the next night on Italian night in the dining room was, like, OMG to die for!  The best ever!

 

How did he order the chop? Rare, Medium rare, well, etc.?