Caribbean Princess Sabatini's..good food BUT....

[remydiva]

Just off the Caribbean Princess where we had a wonderful time eating, relaxing, sailing, dancing...you name it...we did it.

 

We chose to celebrate my birthday on the last night in Sabatini's instead of our usual Anytime Dining. Our reservations at Sabatini's were for the first time slot at 6pm and we were sat close to the window so things started off great.

 

Our waiter was Bernardo, an older Italian gent who appeared to be running the entire restaurant as he barked out orders to his two rather flustered assistants. Where my 'complaint' lies is that he never introduced himself, never made eye contact, at no time even attempted to be friendly or engage in any conversation. I ordered a glass of wine (wonderful Chianti) but when I finished it before the main entree, he nor his two assistants never paused long enough to ask if I wanted another glass.

 

We noted that the other two waiters and their assistants appeared to take the time to chat and share a laugh with their guest. The maitre d' was only seen at the door to initially greet us and then seemed to disappear.

 

At the end of the meal, he slapped our cruise card down on the table and impatiently waited for the bill to be signed then quickly turned and as he walked away muttered 'hopeyourenjoyedyourmeal' in one word without stopping for us to answer yes or no.

 

This was so unfortunate as the chefs prepared a grand meal that was presented beautifully and tasted delicious. I made mention of the impersonal, unprofessional service on my signed comment card you fill out at the end of the cruise with the hopes that if this is how he usually conducts himself that someone may chat with him to give him service tips. Or, on the chance he was having a bad day, that he is able to see how it affected us and our experience.

 

I didn't even bother using my dessert coupon as I figured I'd only get one line of 'happy birthday to you' sung before my chocolate cake was flung down in front of me!

 

Has any one had a similar experience? I would love to try Sabatini's again but wonder if this rushed service is usual?

[Colo Cruiser]

I keep hearing this over and over for Sabitinis and the Crown Grill lately. :eek:

 

You would think with all the bad comments about service that Princess would pick up on this sooner or later.:rolleyes:

 

I really don't understand how they can have these great alternative restaraunts on these new ships and staff it so terribly.:confused:

 

Luckily our 4 times in the Crown Grill was good. :)

[newmexicoNita]

our experience with Sabatines on the Golden was similar but we had a your head wait person and still poor service. Yes, the food was outstanding. Actually we didn't find the service in the main dining room anything special either. The wait people all seemed to be in such a hurry.

 

Nita

[ssantow]

Did you fill out a comment card?

 

Whenever we all run into these kind of problems it is essential to let them know right away and please follow up with an email or letter. If they don't know they can't fix it.

[Texalana]

I made mention of the impersonal, unprofessional service on my signed comment card you fill out at the end of the cruise...

 

That's the best thing to do. They actually read those comment cards and take action when they deem it necessary. BTW, we had terrible service in Sabatini's on the Grand Princess last year. The service and the food in Sterling's was excellent, though.

 

Texalana :)

[mrrobby]

In October we were on the CB and went to Sabatini't twice.The service and everything was fantastic.I don't know if we hit it lucky but my wife and I had a great table both nights and the service was first class.Maybe it was a different crew, but we were more than satisfied.

 

Rob

[zacc]

We have eaten 4 times in Sabatinis in the past 16 months.....maybe we have been lucky but each evening was fantastic start to finish. All 4 x's were on the Crown Princess.

[2357]

went to both Sabbattini's and Crown on the Emerald 2/24-3/5. The service in the Crown was outstanding. Ask for Greg. Sabbattini's was good but didn't compare to the service at the Crown. Whether it was the cliental on the ship, (a little older) or something else both restaurants were empty the 4 times we went on this trip.

[harrodsfan]

We had a waiter at Sabatinis in Januaryon the CB that was careless and ran into another waiter and caused the other waiter to drop a plate of food.

We liked Sterling Steak House a lot better. I don't care for lots of bits of different things. And we got no desert...:(

Would have rather had a regular menu with choices...

[SmokinActuary]

Our major complaint with Sabatini's (Crown 2/23 cruise) was that the service seemed very rushed. The time between courses was minimal.

[NewPennCruiser]

We recently cruised on the Sapphire Princess in January and had dinner at Sabatini's one evening. The entire staff was very friendly and we never felt rushed. I think we had a 6:00 reservation and we were there for at least 2 and a half hours.

 

As everyone else has stated, the food was exceptional. It's hard to tell but service can certainly vary from night to night and from ship to ship. At least in our case, the service was exceptional as well and it was a wonderful dinner from start to finish.

 

Dave

[Pam in CA]

We recently cruised on the Sapphire Princess in January and had dinner at Sabatini's one evening. The entire staff was very friendly and we never felt rushed. I think we had a 6:00 reservation and we were there for at least 2 and a half hours.

 

As everyone else has stated, the food was exceptional. It's hard to tell but service can certainly vary from night to night and from ship to ship. At least in our case, the service was exceptional as well and it was a wonderful dinner from start to finish.

Glad to hear this as we plan to go to Sabatini's at least one, maybe twice, on our Sapphire cruise.

 

If you have received indifferent or poor service, the Comment Card is your best friend. Explain exactly what happened and name names. If they don't know it wasn't excellent (which you're paying the extra fee for), they can't fix it.

[We-B-Cruisin]

On our recent CB cruise we dined at Sabatini's and had a great time. In fact our waiter was also Bernardo. He was very friendly, attentive to our needs and didn't rush us at all.

[marthas harbour]

sorry to hear you had a bad experience. we are hoping to book when we our on our first cruise in a few weeks, hope to get better service.

 

can i ask a couple of questions, what is the dessert coupon? and how much does it cost per head to eat in the speciality restaurants?

[NotWthOutablcony]

Did you fill out a comment card?

 

Whenever we all run into these kind of problems it is essential to let them know right away and please follow up with an email or letter. If they don't know they can't fix it.

 

Your absolutely right. I have worked in the hotel industry for many years now, Corporate and now non-Corporate resorts. Fill out those cards! We too take them very seriously, if there is one negative word on there, of any outlett, it reflects on all outlett's, they never will know unless you tell them. Even if you have nothing to say in general, take a second and fill it out, for how hard the hospitality industry works, its always VERY nice for them to hear a good word. I'm sorry your experience at Sabatinis was bad:( I have yet to make the leap and dine there myself, but this next cruise we will, I have heard too many good things about the experience.

[ErinD92]

I was on the CB in January and only had one dinner where I would say the service was nice. It was slow - but we were not in a hurry.

 

One night towards the end of the trip, during dinner, our party of 13 was actually reprimanded for asking the waiter for drinks.....We didn't remember who was who and asked the wrong person. We raised his voice and lectured to us about paying attention at the beginning of the meal...

 

Not one time did we have service that I would have called great.

 

I was/still am very disappointed..

[xznwfd]

I was on the CB in January, and Bernardo was our waiter as well. He was just wonderful, charming and very friendly, even kissing my hand and spoon feeding me my desert when he didn't think I had eaten enough! The whole Sabatini's experience was perfect - we never felt rushed at all, and everything was delicious. I'm guessing he just had a bad night - which everyone does from time to time. I hope that experience won't keep anyone from trying Sabatini's - I thought it was a wonderful meal and well worth the price - actually liked it much better than Sterlings.

 

Cathy

[remydiva]

sorry to hear you had a bad experience. we are hoping to book when we our on our first cruise in a few weeks, hope to get better service.

 

can i ask a couple of questions, what is the dessert coupon? and how much does it cost per head to eat in the speciality restaurants?

 

the dessert coupon was my free dessert as it was my birthday. sabatini's cost $20 pp and Sterling Steakhouse I think is $10 or $15 pp.

[Ethel5]

I had a less than wonderful experience at Sabatini's on the Island last year. There were 4 of us and the other three were splitting a bottle of wine. I'm not a wine drinker so I asked for iced tea and the server literally yelled at me that it was an Italian restaurant and I would either drink wine or water. No Joke. I had to ask again for iced tea and he grumbled that he would have to go upstairs to get it. By this time I didn't care where he had to go for iced tea and I had a place he could go in mind. Our service was rushed and the place was nearly empty. I wouldn't waste my time again let alone the service fee.

[andy and amanda]

the dessert coupon was my free dessert as it was my birthday. sabatini's cost $20 pp and Sterling Steakhouse I think is $10 or $15 pp.

 

Dessert isn't included in the price per person upcharge? Are you kidding me?

[Ethel5]

Dessert isn't included in the price per person upcharge? Are you kidding me?

 

Nope!

[SmokinActuary]

Then you got hosed, because desert was included when I went to Sabatini's

[Ethel5]

Then you got hosed, because desert was included when I went to Sabatini's

 

As I said-it was less than a stellar experience!

[remydiva]

Dessert isn't included in the price per person upcharge? Are you kidding me?

 

To clarify...yes dessert from the menu IS included and you have a choice of about 4...we had the white chocolate mousse which was excellent.

 

But, when it's your birthday you get this decadent chocolate mousse thing with wings of chocolate on the top and they bring it and sing happy birthday. As I said, I didn't bother as grumpy Bernardo probably wouldn't have bothered!

 

And to those that suggested the comment card, I DID fill in the comment card and would hope that Princess might respond.

 

Has anyone EVER had a response from Princess? I won't hold my breath but heh, I did what I could.

[emmak8]

We ate at Sabatini's on the Golden Princess in November. We were not impressed with the food or the service. We immediately cancelled our reservation in the steakhouse. Why pay more for nothing special?