Sabatini's on the Grand

[Blackrobe]

My wife and I have previously dined at Sabatini's and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We looked forward to a similar experience on our Easter cruise aboard the Grand Princess. We were very disappointed. We made reservations when we boarded because of the popularity of the restaurant.

 

Surprisingly, the restaurant was half empty during our dinner. Seating increased to about two-thirds full by the time our dinner ended.

The first problem was the telephone. The maitre d's area has a phone which rang continually during dinner. The ringer was set loud enough so that it could be heard to the ends of the restaurant. Our table was relatively close to the area and the ringing was really annoying. There has to a better way to deal with incoming calls such as cell phones, set to vibrate, which the staff were carrying everywhere on the ship.

 

If you haven't been to Sabatini's it is a labor intensive, lengthy, paced dinner. To have proper service there must be sufficient personnel to perform all of the steps necessary to the dinner. The second problem was that there were insufficient personnel present. This directly led to a poorly paced, aggravatingly slow dinner that was an obscene caricature of what we had previously experienced.

 

Normally several appetizers are served in several flights or servings with each flight having its own plating. On this occasion several appetizers were served and the next flight came before anything was consumed. The same thing occurred with the third flight of appetizers. In essence each group of appetizers was dumped on the former group of appetizers on the same plate. It felt as if we were being served as quickly as possible to turn the table over. The rush was anything but relaxing and it certainly was not the elegant presentation touted by Princess. The appetizers were delicious. After the appetizers were completed the soup and salad were served then the whole pace completely changed.

 

We sat for nearly 30 minutes with nothing happening. It was beyond my understanding why the appetizers were rushed in the fashion that they were so we could sit for 30 minutes waiting for the next course. The next course was the pasta which was only okay. Then there was another 30 minute wait. We were expecting a nicely paced, leisurely dinner. What we received was a train wreck - rushed, stopped, started, stopped again and then crashed. It was frustrating because there was no apparent reason for such a delay other than the lack of personnel to keep things moving.

 

As I previously said, the restaurant was never more than two-thirds full.

I had asked the waiter to recommend an entree. When it finally arrived, the lobster was so over broiled that it had become rubbery. I complained to the maitre d' and he offered to replace it or provide another entree. I told him that I had waited for 30 minutes; my wife had almost finished her entree; and I did not care to wait another 30 minutes. He shrugged and left. We were served dessert, which was very good, and coffee completing the dinner.

 

For this we payed forty dollars. I asked myself WHY? The service was bad and the food was worse. At least in the Horizon Court we wouldn't have had to pay. Any question why the restaurant was so empty was answered by the time we left.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

Thats too bad, ill be on the Grand in January. I wont be going to sabatini's, thanks for the heads up.

[VegasGreen]

B40, a lot of people love Sabatini's -- you'll find a whole slew of wildly different opinions the more reviews you read. I'd check out the menu, learn about how the meal is served, and make the call then.

 

Plus, remember that by the time you sail, there will be an ENTIRELY different staff in the restaurant. The OP's experience is obviously not the norm -- they had even loved Sabatini's themselves on a previous occasion -- and they were very unlucky in getting stuck with bad service on an off night. Odds are, you won't have the same luck.

 

If there ARE any lingering problems with staff or service that extend beyond the OP's unfortunate night, you can bet they'll be dealt with and/or corrected by your cruise, well before it in fact.

[be1498]

We dined in Sabatini's on the Grand last month...the restaurant was not even half full. We assumed that it was because our reservation wasn't until 8:30.

 

We had nothing like the experience you related! I'm sure your dinner was very disappointing, but with all the raves about Sabatini's I'm not sure that it wasn't an isolated event.

 

Better luck next time if you decided to try again on another cruise! There are pics in a recent thread on Sapphire that are totally different than what we saw on the Grand, so maybe you'd be willing to try again on another ship...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=538371

[Trigger69]

My DW, DS, and I were on the Grand in March. We all loved Sabatinis. We had excellent food and service. We had our dinner there on the first night. There were only a handful of tables being used, so service was not an issue. I'm sorry to OP didn't have a good meal, but I have also read many glowing reviews on these threads as well. The meals there are time consuming, so you should be prepared for that.