Crown MDR Tips and Advice...?

Hello! I will be sailing Crown for 4 nights next week. As this is my first Princess cruise, I have some questions about her MDRs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Looking at the Princess website, it seems that there are three MDRs on Crown. Are they essentially similar? Also, it looks like the Botticelli Dining Room is reserved for traditional set-time dining and the Michelangelo and Da Vinci Dining Rooms are set up for Anytime dining. Is that correct? If so, we chose Anytime dining and so I guess I'm primarily interested in the latter two. Do folks have a preference between Michelangelo and Da Vinci? Are the menus different? Do the opening times tend to vary?

Are there any dishes I should look for? Someone on the roll call mentioned the first night of the cruise is typically prime rib night. Is that so?

Thanks again for any help. I'm looking forward to the Princess experience very much. Cheers. :)

I recently sailed a 3 day cruise on the Crown and you're correct about the dining rooms & they have the same menu but open times do not vary. The only difference is that Da Vinci is also traditional for the 1st seating & is open for AT dining from 7:30-9:30.

There was no formal night but on the 2nd evening it was "dress to impress" which maybe is a way for those who like to dress formally to all do it on the same night. On that night they had their 50th Anniversary dinner but the Crown Grill appealed to us more. Here's a link to that menu & in addition the "always available" options are offered (salmon, beef, chicken).

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/50th-anniversary/50th-Anniversary-Menu.pdf

The menus, decor, etc. is the same in all the dining rooms. One of the ATD rooms will have an early seating of TD to handle the overflow, but I don't know which one. Your best bet is to get there early so you don't have a wait.

The menus, decor, etc. is the same in all the dining rooms. One of the ATD rooms will have an early seating of TD to handle the overflow, but I don't know which one. Your best bet is to get there early so you don't have a wait.

You had the prime rib tip, no? Cheers! :)

I recently sailed a 3 day cruise on the Crown and you're correct about the dining rooms & they have the same menu but open times do not vary. The only difference is that Da Vinci is also traditional for the 1st seating & is open for AT dining from 7:30-9:30.

 

There was no formal night but on the 2nd evening it was "dress to impress" which maybe is a way for those who like to dress formally to all do it on the same night. On that night they had their 50th Anniversary dinner but the Crown Grill appealed to us more. Here's a link to that menu & in addition the "always available" options are offered (salmon, beef, chicken).

 

http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/50th-anniversary/50th-Anniversary-Menu.pdf

Thanks for the link. We have a free dinner at a specialty restaurant. It seems like the most advice I got was to choose Crown Grill, so that's where we're going. I will ask, when I book CG, what night they will be offering the anniversary menu. Cheers. :)

You had the prime rib tip, no? Cheers! :)

Yes. I'm not 100% sure I'm right, but I think I always have prime rib on my first night. It comes with a cute little corn on the cob (about a third of a cob) and baked potato. On my last cruise, one of our dining partners wanted hers rare, and they sent her a medium twice. It was pink in the middle and she wanted red. The third time they came back with a really rare, red as can be, slice that was bigger than the rest of ours. She loved it. It looked to me as if there were a bunch of roasts sort of precooked, and she seemed to have a piece off a new roast that had been just cooked for her. I always ask for meat done medium, and I usually get just that.

Hello! I will be sailing Crown for 4 nights next week. As this is my first Princess cruise, I have some questions about her MDRs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Looking at the Princess website, it seems that there are three MDRs on Crown. Are they essentially similar? Also, it looks like the Botticelli Dining Room is reserved for traditional set-time dining and the Michelangelo and Da Vinci Dining Rooms are set up for Anytime dining. Is that correct?

Almost, There is normally a larger demand for traditional fixed early seating and the DaVinci DR, deck 6, is used from 5:30 to 7:30 for that purpose. It normally opens for ATD at 7:30. The Michelangelo DR is open from 5:30 onwards for ATD. If you wish to dine 7:30 or later you can show up at either DR.

If so, we chose Anytime dining and so I guess I'm primarily interested in the latter two. Do folks have a preference between Michelangelo and Da Vinci? Are the menus different? All DR's have the same menu and the same dress every night.

Do the opening times tend to vary? No, they are the same every evening. You can call the DINE line in the morning and make a reservation for ATD if you wish. In ATD tables to share may be easier to get than tables for two, however tables for two are definitely available.

 

Are there any dishes I should look for? Someone on the roll call mentioned the first night of the cruise is typically prime rib night. Is that so?

 

Thanks again for any help. I'm looking forward to the Princess experience very much. Cheers. :)

See above. Also your title mentions tips, do you mean gratuity? If so the waiters gratuities are part of the hotel charge (auto-tip) which is charged to your on board account each evening.

Thanks for the link. We have a free dinner at a specialty restaurant. It seems like the most advice I got was to choose Crown Grill, so that's where we're going. I will ask, when I book CG, what night they will be offering the anniversary menu. Cheers. :)

I will also recommend the Crown Grill. It is impossible to predict when they will do the 50th menu, but it's not worth hanging around to find out (IMO). ;)

Thanks for the link. We have a free dinner at a specialty restaurant. It seems like the most advice I got was to choose Crown Grill, so that's where we're going. I will ask, when I book CG, what night they will be offering the anniversary menu. Cheers. :)

If only choosing one specialty restaurant the CG is our 1st choice. To me Sabatini's entrees are not as good but enjoy their other courses. In the CG we get a filet mignon & lobster tails and instead of the 1st courses my wife who enjoys mussels has that entree also. Our favorite dessert is the sampler with smaller portions of each dessert.

On the "dress to impress" evening (2nd night of our 3 day cruise) the production show was "Blame it on the Boogie" which I believe is the disco themed show which we've attended previously but didn't go this time.

When making your reservation you can ask which night is the anniversary dinner. We've been able to learn which menu was used on each night to help us plan our meals.

We always use Anytime Dining and there really isn't any difference between the 2. My favorite thing in the Anytime Dining Room is the dessert - The Love Boat Dream!!! Mmmmmm. Can't wait to have one!

We always eat the the Crown Grill on our last night and we love it. Our first time we did it, we ate a lot of the breads/rolls and then ordered appetizers, soups and salads. We were full before our food came! From now on, only one piece of bread and easy on the appetizers! I usually order surf and turf - filet and lobster. Yummo!

I tend to steer clear of beef in MDR. If I want beef I want good beef and get it at Crown Grill. The everyday "medallions" of beef are fine but I had the absolute worst Prime Rib I've ever had in MDR on one cruise. I sent it back and the replacement was just as bad. I didn't eat it. (It was our first cruise and I didn't just order something else after the second bad piece of beef. I would do that now if I had the same experience.)

I tend to steer clear of beef in MDR. If I want beef I want good beef and get it at Crown Grill.

Gee, I had one of the worst porterhouse steaks I have ever had

in Crown Grill.

The fillet was fine, the rest was a mess. I could barely cut it,

and couldn't even chew it. I kept cutting, looking for some part

that I coud eat.

I told them to take it away. The plate was still completely full of meat.

After they took it, some head waiter brought it back, and asked me

what was wrong, and did I want something else.

I asked him to stop showing it to me. Once you clear the plate,

I really don't need to see it again.

And, I couldn't really order something else, as everyone I was with

was ready for dessert.

When they brought the check, they had taken off one $25 charge

and several drinks -- and I didn't even ask.

All I really wanted was for them to take it away.

I guess it is fair that I didn't have to pay for it, but all-in-all, I would

have rather just skipped the experience.

This was on Ruby. On carribbean in september, I was disappointed

that they had run out of applewood smoked salt. Geeze -- if they look

on the Artisan web-site, they can order by the pallet.

Lamb chops. Delicious. Also the creamed spinach.

Thanks for the link. We have a free dinner at a specialty restaurant. It seems like the most advice I got was to choose Crown Grill, so that's where we're going. I will ask, when I book CG, what night they will be offering the anniversary menu. Cheers. :)

We love the CG, always been excellent for us. ;)

Lamb chops. Delicious. Also the creamed spinach.

I love lamb chops. I may have to think about the spinach. ;-)

Lamb chops. Delicious. Also the creamed spinach.

Yes! Very good. :)

Just disembarked the Crown this morning from a 4-day cruise. I'll post my observations later but in response to this thread, we were shocked that the Crown Grill was 100% booked for the entire cruise by 3pm embarkation day. Haven't seen that before. My recommendation is to book as soon as you board.

The embarkation day Patter said that we would have a formal night our third night, at sea, on our way to Ensenada. In reality, there was a "dress to impress" the 2nd night along with the 50th Anniversary menu. The third night was smart casual. We never had a formal night in spite of what the Patter said.

Just disembarked the Crown this morning from a 4-day cruise. I'll post my observations later but in response to this thread, we were shocked that the Crown Grill was 100% booked for the entire cruise by 3pm embarkation day. Haven't seen that before. My recommendation is to book as soon as you board.

 

That may be due to the special promotion sale with the specialty restaurant and the bottle of wine.

Gee, I had one of the worst porterhouse steaks I have ever had

in Crown Grill.

 

The fillet was fine, the rest was a mess. I could barely cut it,

and couldn't even chew it. I kept cutting, looking for some part

that I coud eat.

 

I told them to take it away. The plate was still completely full of meat.

 

After they took it, some head waiter brought it back, and asked me

what was wrong, and did I want something else.

 

I asked him to stop showing it to me. Once you clear the plate,

I really don't need to see it again.

 

And, I couldn't really order something else, as everyone I was with

was ready for dessert.

 

When they brought the check, they had taken off one $25 charge

and several drinks -- and I didn't even ask.

 

All I really wanted was for them to take it away.

 

I guess it is fair that I didn't have to pay for it, but all-in-all, I would

have rather just skipped the experience.

 

This was on Ruby. On carribbean in september, I was disappointed

that they had run out of applewood smoked salt. Geeze -- if they look

on the Artisan web-site, they can order by the pallet.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like the Crown Grill!

i love lamb chops. I may have to think about the spinach. ;-)

+1.

...we were shocked that the Crown Grill was 100% booked for the entire cruise by 3pm embarkation day. Haven't seen that before. My recommendation is to book as soon as you board.

That may be due to the special promotion sale with the specialty restaurant and the bottle of wine.

That was my concern (plus suite passengers) when boarding a 3 day earlier this month on the Crown & why we called the DINE line immediately upon boarding. We went to Sabatini's on the 1st evening which was nearly empty; the next night at the Crown Grill it was full & they were turning away passengers without reservations who didn't plan ahead.

If only choosing one specialty restaurant the CG is our 1st choice. To me Sabatini's entrees are not as good but enjoy their other courses. In the CG we get a filet mignon & lobster tails and instead of the 1st courses my wife who enjoys mussels has that entree also. Our favorite dessert is the sampler with smaller portions of each dessert.

 

On the "dress to impress" evening (2nd night of our 3 day cruise) the production show was "Blame it on the Boogie" which I believe is the disco themed show which we've attended previously but didn't go this time.

 

When making your reservation you can ask which night is the anniversary dinner. We've been able to learn which menu was used on each night to help us plan our meals.

I will be thinking about filet mignon and lobster tail for the rest of the week. Dad loves mussels, so I will offer your suggestion. Thanks!

We always use Anytime Dining and there really isn't any difference between the 2. My favorite thing in the Anytime Dining Room is the dessert - The Love Boat Dream!!! Mmmmmm. Can't wait to have one!

 

We always eat the the Crown Grill on our last night and we love it. Our first time we did it, we ate a lot of the breads/rolls and then ordered appetizers, soups and salads. We were full before our food came! From now on, only one piece of bread and easy on the appetizers! I usually order surf and turf - filet and lobster. Yummo!

What is in a Love Boat Dream? I think I will have to have one regardless. The Love Boat theme is the ringtone on my phone. :o

Just disembarked the Crown this morning from a 4-day cruise. I'll post my observations later but in response to this thread, we were shocked that the Crown Grill was 100% booked for the entire cruise by 3pm embarkation day. Haven't seen that before. My recommendation is to book as soon as you board.

 

The embarkation day Patter said that we would have a formal night our third night, at sea, on our way to Ensenada. In reality, there was a "dress to impress" the 2nd night along with the 50th Anniversary menu. The third night was smart casual. We never had a formal night in spite of what the Patter said.

Thanks for the advice, Pam. Be sure I will follow it. I will likely try to book CG on embarkation evening, as I would like to get the heavy eating out of the way early. And the bottle of champagne will go well with the filet mignon and lobster tail. Although I won't be packing a jacket or tie, I will do my best to impress every evening! :p

If you recall, what day was the pub lunch in the Wheelhouse? Thanks for any response you might have. Cheers! :)

What is in a Love Boat Dream? I think I will have to have one regardless. The Love Boat theme is the ringtone on my phone. :o

It's a heart-shaped chocolate dessert available in the dining rooms.