Sapphire Princess Sabatinis

[sweetsly]

We will be on Sapphire Princess next month and thought we would try Sabatinis. Has anyone tried it and if so, what did you think and which night would you recommend ?

[ladysheri]

We did Sabbatini's on the Sapphire in Sept. 2005. I had read on these boards to expect a lot of food and it was a lot of food! Skip lunch and pace yourself. We skipped the salad and had dessert sent to our cabin (to be consumed much later.) We were both VERY full. We celebrated our anniversary there so we picked it more on the date than on which night of the cruise it was. The service and the food were both very good, worth the cover charge. The meal took 3 hours but was very relaxing and enjoyable. If you can book it for the evening of the day you are in College Fjord, you won't have to be rushing back from a port nor will you miss any of the fabulous scenery in Glacier Bay.

Happy Cruising!

[sweetsly]

Thanks for your reply!

Very helpful!

[PAJ2007]

How much extra did Sabatini's cost for a meal for two plus tip?

 

I paid $50-$80 on Disney's specialty Palo restauant for $15PP fee, bottle of wine, and tip. It was a great meal, but certainly not "free" as was implied.

 

Did you have to make reservation in advance?

 

Does Sabitini's allow children or is it strictly 18+, as was Disney specialty restaurant.

 

 

-Paul

[jadejay2]

We were on the Sapphire Princess last week and went to the Sabatini's on the Italian Night.

 

They brought out a lot of appetizers which I think was the highlight of the meal. You can try all of them or just choose the ones you like. I found their pasta appetizers to be very fresh and tasty. The main entries were good to very good (the scallops were cooked just right with a sweet taste), but nothing exceptional. The desserts were just OK - I had better Tiramisu in many other restaurants.

 

It did take a long time to finish the dinner (2 and half hour for us). But it was mainly due to the slow service. There were some long waits between appetizers . . . I guess we were still not quite in the relax vacationing mode yet. Quality of service varies depends on the waiter/waitress.

 

For us the overall experience was comparable to a decent restaurant we find at home. We enjoyed the experience mainly because it allowed us to have a quiet (and long) dinner away from our daughter (who was eating with the grandparents). I have no regret of trying it out out but probably won't do it again.

 

The surcharge was $20/person and there were plenty of tables available on the night we went.

[Green4me]

We always do Sabatinis every time we sail on a Princess ship. Children are very welcome but recognize they need to be patient. As noted above it is a 3 or more hour long event more than just a meal. Our kids love it but the food is not your mac and cheese type fare. if they like to try new things I'd say go for it.

[MercedMike]

We love Sabatini's!

 

Here is the extensive menu:

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/menus.html

 

But the first thing the waiter says is that you only need to pick your entree -- they are going to serve you EVERYTHING else on the menu! Essentially it is a tasting menu and they bring appetizer size portions of everything. It is a lot of fun.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[LarryF]

I've been posting a daily review about our cruise on the Sapphire Princess and our land trip over the last two weeks. Here's what I wrote about Sabatini's, "We had 7:00 dinner reservations at Sabatini’s. We had been to Sabatini’s 4 previous times on Princess Cruises and obviously liked it so much we had to dine there on the Sapphire. While the dinner was quite good, the experience was just not as good as it was the 4 previous times. The dinner lasted three hours which we were expecting. The waiter (Edgar) and his assistant were both efficient, but they really did not interact with us at all. They never smiled or chatted with us at all which was 180 degrees different from our past experiences. Even the Maitre de made no effort to speak with us, ask how our dinner was and always seemed to have serious look on his face. We were seated at a table for two, but had a nice couple from New Zealand on one side of us and a delightful older couple from Texas on the other side. We enjoyed meeting them and the conversations we had with them during dinner. The dinner was very good as always. They have changed the appetizers from our last time, but they were very good. We were served 6 antipastos, a seafood soup and a salad as well as the entrée and dessert. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to eat everything single selection they brought me as I had done in the past and was able to eat my dinner and dessert without feeling like I was going to explode! I had the Lobster for dinner and while it was prepared in a non-traditional way with some type of brown sauce, it was delicious and I enjoyed it very much. Amy had the Prawns for dinner and said they were great. She raved about her dessert which as a crème brulee made with mocha chocolate. I tasted it and it was really good! I of course had Ice Cream which was delicious!"

 

I know I sounded a little negative, but Sabbatini's is really good and it just might have been an off night for the waiter. Do expect to be there for two and a half to three hours. It appears the service may be a little slow, but they purposely pase the evening out to try to allow you time to digest 6 antipastos, soup, salad, entree and dessert!

 

I would recommend that you request to sit with other people if you're not already with other people and the conversation will make the down time more enjoyalble.

 

Larry

[SweetTooth]

What is the attire for Sabantini's?

 

thanks!

Julie

[PAJ2007]

The surcharge was $20/person and there were plenty of tables available on the night we went.

 

Yep, that's about what I expected. The surcharge, wine and tip will add up to about $100.00.

 

Still, it might be a nice treat while DD 9 is aways at the kids club.

 

 

-Paul