Crown Princess - Outdoor Eating Area

[MrsS471]

Does anyone know whether or not there is an area outside of the Horizon Court where we can eat outside in the fresh air? Table and chairs??

Also, does anyone know if the ice cream/frozen yogurt is served 24/7??

Thanks. :confused:

[10X]

I think this ship is scheduled to begin sailing in May 2006, so it might be difficult to answer your questions at this time.

[Crazsea]

There will be tables around the pool as usual outside the Horizon Court and there will be tables just outside the Cafe Caribe that is located behind the Horizon Court.

 

Hours of the ice cream availability are not clear, but I can guarantee you it will not be 24/7...sorry!

[PreciousPetal]

That is great news...love to eat outside too! Does anyone know what that "ice cream bar" on the new Crown deck plans mean? Is it soft/hard ice cream? Pay/free?:confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

This might help it was posted by Susy Cruisy:

 

 

Princess Expands Dining Options

Princess reports they'll take the alternative dining concept to a

whole different level when the Crown Princess begins sailing in

Spring 2006.

 

"The Crown Princess is going to be indicative of where we're

taking the alternative dining concept," reports Rai Caluori,

Princess' senior vp fleet operations.

 

He adds that a specific focus will be on changing the atrium into

a dining option. "The atriums are fantastic locations--they are to

some extent the hub of the vessel--and yet at night they are a bit

of a barren land, particularly the lower level [the Deck 5 level on

the Grand-class ships]," says Caluori. "Deck 7 is very busy with

the Grand-class ships. But if you look down below everybody

comes out of the dining room and disappears."

 

So Crown will have alternative dining venues on deck 5,

including a wine and seafood bar and a café. "Guests will have

the option to have breakfast in the atrium from the International

Café; a light lunch, and pre-dinner cocktails and snacks (tapas,

for example)," says Caluori.

 

The goal is to turn the atrium, which will have a water feature in

the center, into much more of an activity center. "We're thinking

of supplementing it with numerous entertainment features, such

as strolling musicians and accordianists," says Caluori. "If on one

evening you don't want to go into the dining room, buffet, or

alternative restaurants, you could go and sit in the middle of the

piazza, have some smoked salmon, a glass of champagne,

maybe a special dessert from the International Café."

 

Guests sitting down in the piazza will be approached by waitstaff

and offered something from the International Café and/or

seafood bar. "If you're familiar with the square area at the

Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, where they have multiple

restaurants and the lighting effects in the ceiling, that concept

was in our minds when we came up with this piazza idea," says

Caluori.

 

In order to make space for the eateries, there will be less soft

furnishings than are currently on Deck 5. "It's quite a large wine

and seafood bar, because that's going to take up the area that

was previously occupied by the library, the secondary passenger

services desk, and the shore excursions desk," notes Caluori.

Alternative Dining Venues

There will be other new places to have meals on the Crown,

starting off with the Wheelhouse Bar (also on Deck 5), which will

be offering pub fare--shepherd's pie, fish and chips, and so on.

"The Wheelhouse is an iconic room for Princess," says Caluori.

"We're going to take it to another level and offer a light menu."

 

Moving aft on Deck 7 past the atrium and past the Explorer's

Lounge, Princess is creating a 160-seat Steak and Seafood

House, consolidating the space that is Sabatini's and the

Wheelhouse on the Caribbean Princess. "This is going to be an

alternative restaurant with a charge, offering a brand new menu,"

says Caluori. "It will be a very traditional Steakhouse experience,

with lots of booth seating, rich leather seats, wine display

cabinets, an open air kitchen. There's also a lounge area."

 

Sabatini's will also see changes. "Aft on Deck 15, which on

Caribbean and Star is a children's center, we're going to be

taking the Sabatini's concept to another level," reports Caluori.

"It's going to be quite large, but also it's going to be a very

intimate, very comfortable, fantastically located restaurant on the

aft end of the ship, so you're overlooking the wake of the ship."

 

Adjacent to it on the starboard side is going to be a small bar

called Adagio. "The idea is when you're making a reservation for

Sabatini's, you're offered to come up a little early have a drink at

the Adagio lounge where there will be a pianist," says Caluori. "I

liken it to a five-star restaurant at the top of a five-star hotel in a

big metropolis, where you have this fantastic vista and low

lighting."

 

The Crown will also have the Caribe Café, as is now on the

Caribbean Princess. "What has been very successful for us on

the Caribbean is the Caribe Café at the aft end of the Lido, which

is where we offer a seafood extravaganza on the two formal

nights," says Caluori. "Part of that is to draw a percentage of

passengers away from the dining room as well, and it has the

desired effect."

Looking Ahead to Room Service Changes

Another dining concept Princess is considering adjusting is room

service. The success of their balcony dining option on Grand-

class ships is the catalyst.

 

Explaining the balcony dining concept, Caluori notes: "We took

our Glacier Bay Champagne Breakfast concept, a fantastic

champagne breakfast costing $25 for two persons, and decided,

'Why not do that for dinner as well?' We have to limit the

numbers on it because you get dedicated waiter, dedicated

assistant waiter, a four-course meal, and, weather permitting,

your balcony is dressed up. All this sort of stuff does take up

resources, but it has been enormously successful. We're

constantly turning down requests.

 

"If you book it, you're invited to go to one of the bars where you

get a complimentary cocktail for 45 minutes. When you return,

the table on your balcony has been addressed appropriately,

with a candle, a photographer, flowers, and so on. It doesn't

come cheap: $50 per person, but it's an event."

 

The popularity of the balcony dining led Princess to consider

whether to expand room service options. "We haven't made any

changes to it yet, but one of the things we're looking at is two

levels of room service," remarks Caluori. We're not taking

complimentary room service away, but perhaps we will extend

it."

 

For instance, Princess may offer a full hot breakfast menu,

presently available in mini suites and suites, to the standard

cabins for a small fee.

 

Caluori expects that with the proper introduction, passengers

won't balk at an extra fee: "People's expectations for room

service on a ship are exactly the same as they are at a hotel.

The difference is they're not paying for it. It's a resource issue as

well, because with this number of cabins on this size ship, if you

get multiple orders at the same time you have a problem. The

only way to build in an inherent guard against that is to build in a

fee while still offering our existing product." "