Sabatini's Price Increase

[Coral]

The missing logic is having the specialty restaurants handle 3200 passengers each evening.

 

Or they could charged a tad more (as stated above - $175) and upgrade the food in the dining room to match a speciality restaurant. I would pay $25 per day more to have better food.

[D&L Thomas]

We were quite underwhelmed with both Crown and Sabatini' s last week on the Caribbean Princess.

 

Lessons learned.

 

Sabatini's: slow service, way less attentive than MDR and the buffet. Careless errors (served coffee with obviously soured cream x2, and the third try was lukewarm coffee and a third pitcher of curdled milk).

 

Bill was signed for at $40, then AFTER our signature was changed to $50. Not good. After an unpleasant discussion with the maitre'd he removed the charge entirely from our folio-- and told us the waitress would have to pay for it.

 

Bad form.

 

Crown was just okay. The steak and lamb were good, side dishes and desserts just average and not at all special.

 

Never again, for us.

[Coral]

 

Crown was just okay. The steak and lamb were good, side dishes and desserts just average and not at all special.

 

Never again, for us.

 

When we did the Crown Grill on the Crown, they tried to overwhelm us with side dishes. They brought out enough mushrooms for 12 for our party of 2 and similar for other side dishes. None of the side dishes impressed me on the Crown either.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I was on the CB last week as well and did the Crown Grill.

 

My ribeye was delicious and i had the asparagus as a side dish as did my wife.

 

They didn't give us much and was overcoooked and limp.

 

I thought they forgot one of our orders of asparagus since there wasn't much there but they said it was all together family style.

 

We were going to do Sabatinis also but after looking at the menu nothing wowed us so we passed. The cost was $25 for Sabatini's last week as well.

 

Bill

[caviargal]

You could have paid in advance and locked in the price on Princess if you had wished.Just would have had to schedule once on board.

 

How is that done? There is nowhere on Personalizer or on their website to do this and there was a recent thread that asked this question and all of the responses stated it was not possible.

 

I specifically asked the question of Princess directly and was told no, that the only thing I could do was prepay an OBC in the amount and book when we board. That would not have locked in the rate as it was not specific to the restaurant.

 

From many comments on this thread, it seems like most are not impressed with either of the specialty dining venues. This is disappointing as we generally opt for these smaller restaurants most every night on other lines and quite enjoy our meals.

[caribill]

How is that done? There is nowhere on Personalizer or on their website to do this and there was a recent thread that asked this question and all of the responses stated it was not possible.

 

I specifically asked the question of Princess directly and was told no, that the only thing I could do was prepay an OBC in the amount and book when we board. That would not have locked in the rate as it was not specific to the restaurant.

 

 

Couldn't find it either.

 

There have been multiple posters who said they paid in advance and there was a card in their cabin to call to select a time and date. Certainly travel agents can do it as we have had a card from a TA that was good only for a specialty restaurant.

[Husky61]

If the $5 increase made that much of a difference to me, I would question myself whether or not I should even cruise. I don't even mind the $25 charge for either restaurant. :)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

If the $5 increase made that much of a difference to me, I would question myself whether or not I should even cruise. I don't even mind the $25 charge for either restaurant. :)

 

people aren't saying they can't afford the extra $5. It's about the value and quality of the $25 meal.

 

I have read post where people didn't think it was worth it for $20 so when they added the $5.00 people that were on the fence about eating there didn't see the value.

 

Bill

[Loonbeam]

YOU would (and so would I), but the pricing models continually show this is not true for the majority of cruisers...

 

Or they could charged a tad more (as stated above - $175) and upgrade the food in the dining room to match a speciality restaurant. I would pay $25 per day more to have better food.

[Minoushka]

On the grandit was great . On the Crown it was the worst ...I got violently ill

i do not think I will try it ever. Again

[IECalCruiser]

If the $5 increase made that much of a difference to me, I would question myself whether or not I should even cruise. I don't even mind the $25 charge for either restaurant. :)

For us it is not a question of cost, but rather do we get $25 worth of value versus eating in the Dining Room or is the $25 better spent at the steakhouse. After eating at Sabatini's with the new menu on two different ships within the last year, the answer is a resounding NO for us.

[Husky61]

The good news is that if you don't think the extra $5 is a good value, you don't have to eat in any of the specialty restaurants. Eat in the MDR.:rolleyes:

[wannabealaskabound]

people aren't saying they can't afford the extra $5. It's about the value and quality of the $25 meal.

 

I have read post where people didn't think it was worth it for $20 so when they added the $5.00 people that were on the fence about eating there didn't see the value.

 

Bill

 

actually, you're not really talking about a $20 meal or an increase to a $25 meal, but $25 in ADDITION to what you've in essence ALREADY paid for a meal in the main dining room.

 

I'm new to Princess if we book them to Alaska in 2014. Is a 14 year old allowed in the specialty dining areas?

 

Thank you.

[caribill]

I'm new to Princess if we book them to Alaska in 2014. Is a 14 year old allowed in the specialty dining areas?

 

 

Yes.

[psyfi]

We thoroughly enjoyed Sabatini's the old way, where they served all the appetizers and you selected the main course and dessert, we found it perfectly paced, and excellent service, but that was years ago. The new menu does not make me interested in the up charge. I want something unique, like Sabatini's was, or Q-Sine on the Celebrity S class ships. We won't be doing it next cruise.

[lovevacadays]

I'm not surprised the price went up. The Crown Gill is $25.00. While I prefer the Crown Grill over Sabatini's I've seen many posts of people who like Sabatini's better.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm not surprised the price went up. The Crown Gill is $25.00. While I prefer the Crown Grill over Sabatini's I've seen many posts of people who like Sabatini's better.

 

was that after they changed the menu in Sabatini's?

 

Bill

[hubofhockey]

The price was 25$ on the 12/1 and 12/8 sailing of the CB

 

Service was slow to non existant

Brought wrong drink

DW said her food OK

Mine a lot less than OK

 

As far as we are concerned Sabatinis is history

 

Similar experience for us this summer on the Caribbean Princess. Some items were brought out cold and service was slow. Head waiter told us that it was our fault for asking for a different table than one originally assigned (first table near the door). I couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. We reported this to the maitre d, who apologized. Next time, we'll go to Crown Grill two or three times and just order different things. Sabatinis is now off of our to do list. We also enjoyed the old menu and style of service. It differentiated Sabatinis as an experience. Now, for us, it's a place to avoid. Princess struck out on this one.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

When we did Sabatinis on the Crown a few weeks ago had not been for a few cruises,

 

what we found was service was good but not special, food was very good but not a lot of it, but I think this was more my fault for what I selected,

 

the speed of service was fine, for the setting as we wanted a quite relaxing meal,

 

we also tried the Crown Grill as to speed of service as we were joined by crew members, so the meal was served around their needs to attend to their dutties, a lot more food than Sabatinis,

no complaints about the quality,

enjoyed the Crown Grill more than Sabatinis,

 

for me just now the Crown Grill is the better of the two, however on a longer cruise I would still go to Sabatinis, but only after being at the Crown Grill

 

 

yours Shogun

[brian1]

hi,we were in sabatinis on diamond in october,wasnt impressed with food or service mdr lot better.i think that they think they are better than all the others.at the end they brought cake and sang happy birthday,as i was 60 that day.that sort of made up for it,but i still wouldnt go there again,cheers brian.

[waverider117]

Just returned from the Crown Princess and we went to Club Fusion pretty near every evening maybe 24 out of 32 nights.

On our way we passed the Crown Grill and it never had more than half a dozen people in there-- clearly it was because of the $25 charge.

 

Don't know about Sabitini's because it was located up on the 15th or something and we never went there.

 

This is a no brainer --they should bump the cruise price up $50.

This would give passengers the opportunity to visit each restaurant once during their cruise -- this will make some money for princess and will expose their restaurant to everyone and if it truly is an outstanding dining experience and the food is much better than the MDR people will return.

Seems simple

My 2 cents worth on this

[Coral]

Just returned from the Crown Princess and we went to Club Fusion pretty near every evening maybe 24 out of 32 nights.

On our way we passed the Crown Grill and it never had more than half a dozen people in there-- clearly it was because of the $25 charge.

 

 

We were on the Crown Princess for a 17 or 18 night cruise a few years ago. We encountered the same thing. We even felt sorry for them and stopped one night and ate there as we felt bad they were empty. At most, we probably saw 5-6 people max and we walked by there every night as our cabin was midship and we would take the elevator down to 7 and walk across to the traditional dining room.

 

The night we ate there, our service was slow and our food was mediocre. They tried to wow us with quantity vs quality. We had enough mushrooms to feed an army when there was just 2 of us. Same with all of the other items.

 

We asked why they were so quiet. They said often during the repo cruises (which ours was) people will eat there will only eat there once during the cruise. As opposed to 7 night cruises where people will also eat there once but there are 3 cruises in the same time frame as our cruise, thus they get more traffic. No clue if this is correct or not.

[caribill]

This is a no brainer --they should bump the cruise price up $50.

This would give passengers the opportunity to visit each restaurant once during their cruise -- this will make some money for princess and will expose their restaurant to everyone and if it truly is an outstanding dining experience and the food is much better than the MDR people will return.

his

 

 

For a ship with 3100 passengers on a 7 day cruise, that would mean 6200 meals in the specialty restaurants with 885 people going each evening.

 

What a reservation nightmare that would be.

 

Or do you propose that the first 885 people who line up each evening be able to dine in a specialty restaurant?

 

Remember that both specialty restaurants offer leisurely dining, often taking 2-3 hours to complete a relaxed meal. This could mean a long wait for someone waiting on a line.

 

Of course, all this assumes that serving 885 people each evening would not cause any decline in food or service.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Just returned from the Crown Princess and we went to Club Fusion pretty near every evening maybe 24 out of 32 nights.

On our way we passed the Crown Grill and it never had more than half a dozen people in there-- clearly it was because of the $25 charge.

 

Don't know about Sabitini's because it was located up on the 15th or something and we never went there.

 

This is a no brainer --they should bump the cruise price up $50.

This would give passengers the opportunity to visit each restaurant once during their cruise -- this will make some money for princess and will expose their restaurant to everyone and if it truly is an outstanding dining experience and the food is much better than the MDR people will return.

Seems simple

My 2 cents worth on this

 

And if not , now you are paying an extra $50 for restaurants you don't want to eat in.

 

Bill

[dtb55]

We were on the Ruby in September and ate at Sabbatini's twice. We had excellent service both times and the food was very good. I will eat there again even with the price increase.

 

 

Denise

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