How has Sabatinis changed?

[nschille04]

Hello all,

 

My husband and I are going on a cruise for our five year anniversary! We soaked princess five years ago for our honeymoon. At that time, we were blown away by Sabatinis. I remember fretting over what to order and the waiter telling me not to worry about it. I just had to order an entree. He would just bring everything else out. We were there forever and it was a romantic and memorable experience. My understanding is that Sabatinis had changed quite a bit since then. Has it been a change for the better? I wonder if we should do the crown grille instead. I know things are never quite as magical as you remember them so some big terrible change might be a disappointment. If appreciate any insight or advice.

 

Best

NicP

 

 

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[ggprincess2004]

I cannot remember precisely how many years ago they stopped serving a bite of 7 or 8 cold appetizers and 7 or 8 warm appetizers, followed by soup and/or salad, then pasta (and Pizza if you wanted some) and then the entrée. You also had to select a dessert...decisions, decisions.

 

Now you select your appetizer from a nice array of cold and warm dishes. I am sure you could have as many as you would like, but I do recommend the artichoke soufflé. The calamari is very nice as well, but you can get that elsewhere. They have salads and soups if you would like. Choose your entrée. Based on the selections, I am down to choosing the chicken when we dine there if I have an entrée at all. And dessert - none of them really move me anymore, but they are good. I had the artichoke soufflé for an appetizer, the - I forget if they call it cannelloni or manicotti - it was neither - it was a roulade - but it was incredibly good - for my pasta course and then a salad for my entrée.

 

I now honestly prefer the menu at Crown Grill. There are so many more options, and everything we have had there was very tasty. DH and I, too, have a sentimental attachment to Sabatini's as we were married on the Grand and had our celebration dinner afterward at Sabatini's. I think it might be the reason we still go there.....DH loves the Sea Bass at Crown Grill, I am lamb chop fan, we love their appetizer selection, and if you ask, you can get just the little molten chocolate cake - the size that comes with the Crown Dependence dessert. It is delicious, but a regular size one after all that other food is just too much.

 

Happy Anniversary and enjoy!

Edited September 3, 2014 by ggprincess2004

[Shogun]

Hi There

Sabatini has changed so much last week we left hungry never had that problem before

 

Even Crown grill has changed there was no large sea bass

 

However lobster had got better ship was the Ruby

 

Yours Shogun

 

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[luvseaside]

We have done Sabatini's for our anniversary dinner the last three years, and have always enjoyed it! Sounds like they have tweaked the menu since you went last time, but in the last 3 years, I have not had anything I did not like. And I can be a fussy eater. But for some reason, when I get there, everything looks & tastes delicious! Maybe its the occasion! :D Princess's website has a sample menu and it's pretty close to what I have seen at the restaurant.

 

That being said, Crown Grill also certainly gives you bang for your buck with their steaks, if that's what you are in the mood for. We had for the first time last year, and enjoyed it as well.

Edited September 3, 2014 by luvseaside

[ggprincess2004]

Hi There

Sabatini has changed so much last week we left hungry never had that problem before

 

Even Crown grill has changed there was no large sea bass

 

However lobster had got better ship was the Ruby

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

 

Just had the Sea Bass at Crown Grill in mid-August....is it gone now?

[Shogun]

Hi There

Hope not l had fish can not recall what, but l used to like the Sea Bass served in the bag, but our experience at the Crown Grill was not good but will give it a try again next month, hope there were just out of supplies

 

Yours Shogun

 

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[ggprincess2004]

It wasn't presented en papillote, but it was beautifully prepared, and a most generous portion - tasted DH's - as he was raving about how perfect it was. It was indeed perfectly cooked. But then, Klaus was in charge of the specialty restaurants' kitchens on the CB, and so it would be perfect.

[Shogun]

Hi There

Not sure how many times l have eaten in Crown Grill may be 30 or 40 times but this time service was so bad we got a full refund and a sorry from hotel manager,

 

Yours Shogun

 

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[nschille04]

I think we will have to try the crowne grille. Why did they change Sabatinis? Was it a cost issue or do people prefer to just pick what they want? We loved the mix of hot and cold appetizers... But I guess all good things must come to an end

 

 

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[long cruiser]

We just ate in the crown grill on the royal and found the food very adequate.I have at least 5 lobster tails and could have asked for more.It was well worth the price.

long cruiser

[mellon1]

We were just on the month of February on the Emerald. We did Crown Grill 3 times and Sabatini's once. If you are looking for a romantic dinner and great atmosphere, along with service, Sabatini's is for you. DH got the sea bass which he said was excellent and I got the chicken marsala on skewers, it was excellent. We got to know the people in their from having breakfast and really enjoyed our time there. Now Crown Grill is great if you have a hearty appetite and enjoy meat and potato type food. Service was also excellent there, just, in my opinion not as romantic. Also, you way way way over eat when you go there.

 

Also, somewhere on this site there are the new updated menus for Sabatini's and Crown Grill.

Edited September 3, 2014 by mellon1
added

[IECalCruiser]

We may be in the minority, but we ate at Sabatini's twice with the old menu and were underwhelmed. The first time the service was atrocious. That was our first experience with a specialty restaurant and we should have complained but didn't. We would let the head waiter know while still at dinner if we ever had such poor service again. The second time the service was fine but the array of hot and cold appetizers were less than satisfying. We don't miss the old Sabatini's. There are nice additions to the new menu (which has been recently revised a bit) but not enough to go there more than once every two or three cruises.

[Astro Flyer]

Here's a link to Princess' most recent menu change (PDF files) so you can compare it to your previous experience.

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/onboard/food_dining/specialty_restaurants/sabatinis/

 

We always go to the Princess steakhouses (Crown Grill, Sterling's or Bayou Cafe) however not always to Sabatini's. To me the complete experience was good but the entrees are not great. Taste is so subjective & if you truly want to experience Sabatini's again then do it. :)

[Sunviking]

We also didn't like the original Sabatini's concept. After the first time we went there and even before the menu and format were changed, we would tell our server that we only wanted those things we specified, not a little of everything. They always seemed to have a hard time understanding that. We were happy when the format was changed.

 

As for the Crown Grill, over the years we think the quality of the food there has diminished. The steaks are not as good cuts as they used to be in our opinion. One of the highlights IMHO has always been the black & blue onion soup. On my cruise on the Emerald in June I ordered it and couldn't eat it. At the table next to us someone had ordered it as well and also found it inedible. I don't know what the problem was, but we were less than impressed.[ I know that food is subjective and I also know that the chef has a lot to do with it, but I also think the quality in general has gone down.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Sunviking

[marazad16]

We ate at sabatini's 3 times on the Ruby with the new menu. the Burrata as an appetizer was outstanding! I had the branzino one night and also the lobster 3 ways - excellent. One night after eating there my husband requested a meal not on the menu and they were happy to have it for him the next time we ate there. ZI truly enjoyed our meals here. At the end bought 2 bottes of their oil olive to take home and @ $10 each was a great bargain. We were encouraged to order what we liked and as much of it. Very satisfied.

[bigenna]

Sunviking, interesting to read your comments on the black and blue onion soup.

We had our first dinner at Crown Grill last year and due to hearing the rave reviews here, really looked forward to it.

I was so underwhelmed, at best I would say it was ordinary, if even that.

Thought it was just me so glad to have it confirmed that it is not always so great.

 

We haven't been back but going to try it again on our upcoming cruise as I really love good French onion soup.

sabatini's menu does not appeal to us so hope crown grill is good on the Grand.

[KruzeKrazy!]

We have dined at both Sabatini's and Crown Grill multiple times and on different ships. We loved the food, the atmosphere (agree with earlier posters Sabatini's is more romantic and CG more steakhouse-y but both nice for their own reasons), and the service every time. In fact, one eve at CG on the CB my DW and I couldn't decide what to order so the mgr came over and told our servers to bring us one of everything which they did and, boy, were we full! :- )

 

Yes, perhaps the quality has declined over the years but so has the general market's expectations gotten more informal and mainstream. Case in point is how casual some passengers have gotten in the MDR - even on formal nights. And land-based fine dining restaurants see diners in jeans and many who want more volume of food than quality. Not agreeing it's "right" but rather a sign of the times.

 

So we temper our expectations and enjoy the "better" experience Sabatini's and Crown Grill offer. And we're looking forward to our first Sterling's when we take our first "R" class cruise to French Polynesia.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

DW says black and blue soup had changed just not as tasty as before.

 

Yours Shogun

 

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[helenb]

We are very disappointed with the changes in Sabbatini's. We always loved the canape selection, as well as the pizzas and pastas. All of that is gone now, in favor of pre-set appetizers. We ate at Sabbatini's for free earlier this year (we were in a suite, so we chose to eat there on the first night) and were very disappointed with the new menu.

 

We ate at the original Sabbatini's on the Grand Princess (when the Grand Princess was new, in its first year of sailing) on our honeymoon and truly loved it. The revamp of Sabbatini's to the tasting menu was an improvement, and we loved that too. But this new menu is a real step backward for a place that used to be one of our favorite restaurants at sea.

 

If Crown Grill is available (and if you like seafood and steak) then go there. You won't be sorry. With the 'sharing' sides, it's closer to what Sabbatini's used to be, and you can taste everything.

[Sincity]

Our very first experience at Sabitini's 4 years ago was great. And the next one was terrible (service was VERY bad) and a follow-up one was mediocre. Service wasn't attentive as the first-time experience. We find that Crown Grill offers us the best experience.

[OCruisers]

We still like Sabatini's! :)

LuLu

[msmoger]

We still like Sabatini's! :)

LuLu

 

Totally Agree!! :D:D

[5:00_Somewhere]

Hello all,

 

My husband and I are going on a cruise for our five year anniversary! We soaked princess five years ago for our honeymoon. At that time, we were blown away by Sabatinis. I remember fretting over what to order and the waiter telling me not to worry about it. I just had to order an entree. He would just bring everything else out. We were there forever and it was a romantic and memorable experience. My understanding is that Sabatinis had changed quite a bit since then. Has it been a change for the better? I wonder if we should do the crown grille instead. I know things are never quite as magical as you remember them so some big terrible change might be a disappointment. If appreciate any insight or advice.

 

Best

NicP

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Like you, we LOVED the original concept for Sabatini's. We dined there on every cruise on every ship, and never failed to have a memorable experience. But, unfortunately, they have now made it just like any other restaurant and utterly removed the unique dining experience it used to be, in addition to removing some of our favorite elements from the menu (mostly the early courses). We almost never eat at Sabatini's on cruises anymore. The experience just isn't special to us anymore.

 

If you have time to do both, for the very reasons you mentioned, I might recommend trying the Crown Grill first, and then the "new" Sabatini's second. You might find some menu choices you remember fondly, and perhaps that way you wouldn't be quite so disappointed in the change in the service style. Just a thought.

 

Either way, I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Edited September 10, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[KruzeKrazy!]

And remember dining experiences and food items/preparation/presentation are subjective (other than the universal bad experience, of course) so I'd encourage you to do both with an open mind each time.

 

We personally love each Princess dining experience in their own right (HC for convenience, MDR for classic cruise dining, Crown Grill for traditional steakhouse, etc.).

 

If we had to pick 3 favorites they would be CG, Sabatini's (even the current rendition), and Sabatini's for breakfast (offered to Suite guests).

 

So relax, enjoy, and remember cruising should be like a glass of wine - focus on the half-full part and you'll enjoy it more!

[kenmerloo]

Is a jacket required to eat at the speciality restaurants ?