UBD on Sapphire -- a disappointment:(

[azseas]

We just returned from the coastal 5 day on the sapphire -- agree with all the other comments about the cruise. We enjoyed it greatly. HOWEVER, every cruise we have the UBD on formal nite. It is always WONDERFUL! We have the two lobster tails and they are always so huge and individually made -- truely wonderful -- nothing like the tails served in the dining room -- that is UNTIL we had the UBD on the sapphire! The two photos are a comparison -- its hard to see the difference at first glance -- but try to put it to scale -- the first photo are the tails on the sapphire -- note that they are only slightly larger than the fingerling potatoes. Also -- the waiter brought out a 3rd plate during our UBD and said would - you like more tails -- (had the same side veggies, etc.) - so I am pretty positive all they did was grab three of the Dining room plates and serve them to us! The 2nd photo are the tails we had in jan on the caribbean princess -- these were HUGE -- look at them in comparison to the carrots on the plate! How sad it was to pay $100 to have the waiters serve us the equivalent of the dining room small tails!! Plus the waiter -- for the first time ever -- was so annoying -- kept saying "thank you" to everything -- he would set down a fork and say "thank you" then a spoon and say "thank you" - he stood behind us after the course was served and as we would take our first bite would say -- "how is it?? Everything wonderful?" -- The overall food was OK, but when I pay $100 for the dinner -- want more than "ok". How sad -- think about it before you invest in the $$ for such a dinner on the Sapphire!

 

Oh I forgot to add that we had been gifted the ultimate balcony breakfast from Princess. WOW -- what a disappointment -- the quiche was supposed to be alaskan king crab -- it was a ham and mushroom really tiny tartlet that they served the next day in the buffet line LOL LOL LOL !!! and they provided one small slice of ham (instead of salmon -- we don't eat salmon). Plus only ONE serving/plate of fruit -- a half a cantalope with only some berrys in it and instead a carafe of orange juice -- we were given one small juice glass each!!! Glad we did not pay for this -- so also do not waste your money on this -- not worth it!!! (And they would not substitute anything as others on here have reported being done on other ships -- I had to fight to get the slice of ham instead of the salmon -- absolutely would NOT provide eggs instead when I asked).

 

Sapphire Dining/Room Service -- you should be ashamed!

[RMLincoln]

Sorry you didn't enjoy these special meal events. They do cost a lot more and should be extra special. Thanks for letting us know about your experience. I guess times are changing....

m--

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for sharing your experiences which were disappointing in comparison to your previous UBD. Did you share your feelings about both meals with the room service manager or maitre d'? It would be helpful to have their response to know if this was caused by an inexperienced waiter or if this is this new norm for the UBD. Your description of the waiters service makes me wonder if they didn't know what is expected during a UBD. If you didn't contact anyone onboard, I don't know if this was caused by one waiter on the Sapphire or if it's what to expect fleetwide. :confused:

[Toto2Kansas]

Now that is a real shame if they have gone to just serving part of the meal from the dining room offerings. I don't think they are going to get too many booking fpr $100 per couple if this is the case. I am hoping they just had a problem with the lobster delivery or got a batch of small ones on that cruise.

[azseas]

Good points Astro -- we did not raise any service issues as the waiter was quite intense and we did not want any hassles. Practically every bite, he was there asking if it was okay. We got done in less than two hours which has never happened before. I was not as concerned about the service as I was the change in the quality of the lobsters-- to serve us the small tails from the main dining room would not have been the waiter's decision. When he brought the plate out I said "Wow these are the smallest tails we have ever had on a UBD, this is disappointing" - it was then he pulled out the third entree plate and said I brought you more -- do you want another one? (again -- the same exact plate -- so our UBD was not cooked especially for us).

 

I certainly hope this is not the standard -- we will try in January 12 again. Our last cruise in Jan 11 it certainly was not and we got great tails on the CB. I also think it is just the decisions being made on that ship. The UBBreakfast was to come with king crab quiche (per the card we received) -- it did not - it came with something else (not anywhere near that!) and it was served on the buffet the next day. That, to me is menu planning and it is someone attempting to control costs despite being given the standard (per the card).

 

Other than that -- everything was great and the general food was good -- I will be interested to hear anyone else on the sapphire that does the UBD to see if we were just a "bad nite". For now, I would not be willing to spend another $100 on the sapphire to find out.

[TracieABD]

Thanks for letting us know this. I am sorry that this was so disappointing. You certainly have some evidence to show Princess (your pictures), should you choose to contact them. I hope that your next UBD is extra special!:)

[highheel girl]

Thanks for sharing your experiences which were disappointing in comparison to your previous UBD. Did you share your feelings about both meals with the room service manager or maitre d'? It would be helpful to have their response to know if this was caused by an inexperienced waiter or if this is this new norm for the UBD. Your description of the waiters service makes me wonder if they didn't know what is expected during a UBD. If you didn't contact anyone onboard, I don't know if this was caused by one waiter on the Sapphire or if it's what to expect fleetwide. :confused:

 

I agree. Much better to let them know onboard.

[Astro Flyer]

Good points Astro -- we did not raise any service issues as the waiter was quite intense and we did not want any hassles. Practically every bite, he was there asking if it was okay. We got done in less than two hours which has never happened before. I was not as concerned about the service as I was the change in the quality of the lobsters-- to serve us the small tails from the main dining room would not have been the waiter's decision. When he brought the plate out I said "Wow these are the smallest tails we have ever had on a UBD, this is disappointing" - it was then he pulled out the third entree plate and said I brought you more -- do you want another one? (again -- the same exact plate -- so our UBD was not cooked especially for us).

 

I certainly hope this is not the standard -- we will try in January 12 again. Our last cruise in Jan 11 it certainly was not and we got great tails on the CB. I also think it is just the decisions being made on that ship. The UBBreakfast was to come with king crab quiche (per the card we received) -- it did not - it came with something else (not anywhere near that!) and it was served on the buffet the next day. That, to me is menu planning and it is someone attempting to control costs despite being given the standard (per the card).

 

Other than that -- everything was great and the general food was good -- I will be interested to hear anyone else on the sapphire that does the UBD to see if we were just a "bad nite". For now, I would not be willing to spend another $100 on the sapphire to find out.

 

If this is going to be the norm, then not as many may want to do an UBD. It's suppose to be better than the MDR & if not, it will loose it's popularity. Hopefully it was a problem with the size of all lobsters available for your cruise because that would be very disappointing.

 

Since you didn't tell them onboard, maybe you'll consider emailing customer relations to express your feelings. Maybe they'll respond positively so you can enjoy a better UBD in January. ;)

 

I agree. Much better to let them know onboard.

I've found them to be very responsive when expressing a concern while onboard but nothing can be done to increase the enjoyment of a cruise after it. On the Sapphire in May there was a problem with the embarkation MDR lunch & I informed them. I wasn't seeking any compensation but when the Maitre d' called he was very apologetic about his inexperienced employee creating this problem. He bought us dinner at Sabatini's with a bottle of wine & reading posts for cruises after us it was no longer a problem. :D

 

I informed them of a problem, they corrected it for future cruises...I wasn't seeking any sort of thanks...just to follow Princess policy. :D

[lovevacadays]

Sorry to hear about your experience. From your pictures it does look like the lobster tails from the dining room and what a difference in size from your other cruise. I hope your next UBD is much better.

[srpilo]

I hope you'll pass on your negative experience on your post cruise survey. Just glad that you enjoyed the rest of your cruise.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing the photos that so dramaticly show the difference between the two UBD's

Srpilo

[azseas]

Good points all. We did pass on the feedback to the waiter about the size and he made a big deal about pulling out the third plate, saying " I want to make this extra special for you". He also showed us our bottle of wine and told us he specifically picked it out to complement the lobster (told us that five times - each time he poured it) (uhmmmm -- it was my wine selection -- we have it every UBD). So not comfy making an issue with this person.....

 

If I had complained on the ship afterwards -- there was really nothing to resolve. We deserved to pay since we ate the food:). I did not want $$ back. In reality, there is no promise that the food served in the UBD or UBB will NOT be served in the main venues (it just has always been better than that in the past). The waiter addressed the size concern when he brought an extra tail each and we ate them. They tasted fine - just like the ones in the main dining room..... Afterwards, what am I to say -- the tails were too small -- "well we brought you more ma'm. You nodded your head the 500 times the waiter asked you if everything was good...." :) Again -- I don't think it was the wait staff -- I firmly believe someone is making bad decisions about the in room speciality dining on this ship -- and I do not think it is fleetwide. However, I did note the concern in the post cruise survey regarding the poor menu planning and use of main room food for this. Hopefully that fixes the issue. Sorry for being a chicken! Just wanted others to be aware if ordering these items on the Sapphire.

[StillPooh]

He also showed us our bottle of wine and told us he specifically picked it out to complement the lobster (told us that five times - each time he poured it) (uhmmmm -- it was my wine selection -- we have it every UBD). So not comfy making an issue with this person.....

I've never been on Princess before, so please pardon my ignorance. If you order the UBD, the waiter remains in your cabin during the entire meal? They don't just serve it and leave?

[Dena]

There is a huge difference in those lobster tails. Also, if you look at photos available on the Internet of Princess food from around 2005 vs recent photos the difference is also obvious. Note that older photos of Princess food have flowers on the rims of the plates in case the date is not given.

 

We were considering trying the UBD since the balconies will now be smoke free, but we still had reservations because we book mini suites and most of those are uncovered so we had some concerns about just how romantic a dinner would be when your neighbors may be looking at you. These pictures have convinced us not to bother. Cost cutting on the MDR food is one thing. But charging extra and still providing lesser quality? I imagine the changes at Sabatini's are also saving Princess some money.

[Toddy709]

I've never been on Princess before, so please pardon my ignorance. If you order the UBD, the waiter remains in your cabin during the entire meal? They don't just serve it and leave?

 

From the OP's post it sounded like the waiter remained in the room -- how awkward!!

 

With our UBD the wait staff would serve one course, return miraculously at just the right time to serve the next course.

 

For the $50 pp price tag, I doubt Princess has made any drastic changes to the UBD. It just sounds as though something went terribly wrong with the OP's experience on the Sapphire and hopefully it was just a fluke. If this is a new change across the board, I doubt Princess will have many people willing to pay extra for that experience!

[Rockymountainsparky]

The wait staff remains outside your cabin, in the corridor. They seem to appear out of nowhere at just the right time.

[BalconyGal]

That sounds awful. Thanks for sharing.

[ONT-CA]

Like so many other passengers we have always wanted to do the UBD or the breakfast but never got around to it. The reviews were always so inviting. With each passing cruise we would say, well next time we must do this but sadly we never did.

 

He who hesitates is lost as they say for now from what we are reading it looks as if this too, like so many other conditions aboard Princess, is to be part of a bygone era and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

[azseas]

Like so many other passengers we have always wanted to do the UBD or the breakfast but never got around to it. The reviews were always so inviting. With each passing cruise we would say, well next time we must do this but sadly we never did.

 

He who hesitates is lost as they say for now from what we are reading it looks as if this too, like so many other conditions aboard Princess, is to be part of a bygone era and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

 

I would say if you have not done it -- do it! (on any ship but the sapphire!) We will do it again -- but not on the sapphire -- I truly think this was limited to this ship. All other times (and we have done it 4 times) have been fantastic.

 

Regarding the waiter -- he stood just inside our sliding glass door and watched during several courses -- trying to make sure everything was perfect (I guess) -- only time I have ever had that happen -- rest of the time -- the waiter goes outside the room to get the next course, etc.

[shofer]

DH & I did the UBB and paid $32 for it when it was supposed to be $26 but did not dispute it. However, the breakfast was a big disappointment. We don't like lox so we asked for eggs benedict instead of the quiche and it was so dried out it was inedible. DH loves breakfast and we eat it out at least 1x/week, so we have plenty of comparison.

 

We have only tried the MDR for breakfast once and it was not only chaotic but we had to sit w/some very odd strangers. Our orders were mixed up and we never received our coffee and rolls. So we go to the buffet and try to get some fresh eggs there.

[JWJs]

Now that is a real shame if they have gone to just serving part of the meal from the dining room offerings. I don't think they are going to get too many booking fpr $100 per couple if this is the case. I am hoping they just had a problem with the lobster delivery or got a batch of small ones on that cruise.

 

I'm with you Toto!

I believe I would have been asking for a refund or price adjustment of some kind.