Extreme disappointment with Crown Grill

[greenie082756]

I agree. Not always easy. Easier said than done. In my case' date=' I had waited and waited for water, waited and waited to place the orders, waited and waited for the salad, waited and waited for the entree, waited and waited for dessert. After an inordinate amount of time, and waiting, a supervisor checked with us to see how things were. By then, it was way too late to set thing right.[/quote']

 

We have eaten in the Crown Grill twice. First time, was excellent, service to food. Second time, felt a little lacking in service.

Did we say anything? Nope. We were pleased with the food and we probably will try Sabatini's on our next cruise.

 

I have many years in the restaurant business. In land base restaurants, I have sent back steaks that did not meet my requests (too well done) and made my family not to pleased with having to wait for me to finish my meal. Oh well.

 

As someone who has held many positions from hostess, server to head cashier, you MUST say something at the time of service. I think that after waiting for so long just to get the salad part I would of requested to speak with the manager ( or whomever was in charge). Need to speak up! I would have definitely if I was experiencing bad service and bad food.:D

[Coral]

That's easier said then done when the bad thing is your entrée. To make it right would take an additional 15 minutes. By that time your other table mates have finished there entrée and your sides get cold in the meantime.

 

It is best to be done at the time of the meal! If your complaint is with the entree, that is the only way to do it. And they will provide fresh sides.

 

Yes - I have been the one eating my steak (HAL) when everyone else is eating dessert but there is no way around it.

 

Complaining after you have left the restaurant will not give them an opportunity to fix the issue.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Coral

[geoherb]

I agree. Not always easy. Easier said than done. In my case' date=' I had waited and waited for water....[/quote']DH has a habit of not waiting too long for water. He'll get up and try to find it. That usually brings a rush of wait staff.

[Shogun]

Hi

 

A few cruises back we had a bad meal at the Crown Grill I reported it to HGM,

 

saying that the whole experience was below standard, fees were refunded,

 

we received a card inviting us back for a free meal with a free bottle of wine,

 

service and food was much better on our return.

 

That said my meal at Crown Grill last week was OK not special or table guests

 

trying for the first time did not think it was any better than the MDR just a better

 

setting and service. Cut backs showing.

 

yours Shogun

[iceleven]

We try either Sabatini's or CG each time we cruise and not once have we had a good-to-great steak in CG. I hear over and over again how much others enjoy their steaks but we've never had any luck even trying a different cut each time. Some have even had to be returned because they were too difficult to even chew or were too grisly and fatty. We've discovered their seafood and fish dishes are consistently "better" so that is now what we chose for our entree. Funny that a steak house does their fish/seafood dishes better. Just my experience and I am more than happy to read that others have consistently better experiences.

[satxdiver]

We usually go to Sabatini's but once decide to go to CG to see what everyone is talking about. I will not eat red meat so I had the fish and it was good. My partner who does on occasion eat red meat pronounced her steak as chewy. Now one time at the CG is not a good sample so it may have just not been a bad night. Interesting to read the comments about the CG after reading such glowing reports. We were on the CB this spring and noticed a line for the CG while Sabatini's was not even full. Good for us and bad for the pax wanting to eat at the CG.

[keithm]

We try either Sabatini's or CG each time we cruise and not once have we had a good-to-great steak in CG. I hear over and over again how much others enjoy their steaks but we've never had any luck even trying a different cut each time. Some have even had to be returned because they were too difficult to even chew or were too grisly and fatty. We've discovered their seafood and fish dishes are consistently "better" so that is now what we chose for our entree. Funny that a steak house does their fish/seafood dishes better. Just my experience and I am more than happy to read that others have consistently better experiences.

We found the same issues with both Sabatini's & CG. The steaks were obviously "Select" or below. Being in the food industry & buying several hundred K in food supplies yearly,I KNOW meat qualities. Select can be pretty good, but NO match for "Choice" or certainly "Prime". The steaks were never inedible, just not what I would normally order in a rest. The fish, however was at times outstanding. The Chilean Sea bass(Patagonia Tooth fish for the novices out there)was among the best I ever had..Go figure! Still the ambience of both places was nice(The Regal Feb. 7-21)

[Coral]

We found the same issues with both Sabatini's & CG. The steaks were obviously "Select" or below. Being in the food industry & buying several hundred K in food supplies yearly,I KNOW meat qualities. Select can be pretty good, but NO match for "Choice" or certainly "Prime". The steaks were never inedible, just not what I would normally order in a rest. The fish, however was at times outstanding. The Chilean Sea bass(Patagonia Tooth fish for the novices out there)was among the best I ever had..Go figure! Still the ambience of both places was nice(The Regal Feb. 7-21)

 

When Princess first introduced the steakhouses, they were USDA Choice. You could pick out your piece of meat and the marbeling was definitely better than Select.

 

What they serve now, I am not sure.

[Coral]

From their menu - they are using Sterling Silver corn fed beef (brand). According to Sterling Silver's website, they only have Choice and Prime. We definitely know they are not serving Prime......

 

I have not eaten there recently to tell if the beef has declined or not. I have also had mixed meals at Chops.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Coral

[Lucky TGO]

I agree. Not always easy. Easier said than done. In my case' date=' I had waited and waited for water, waited and waited to place the orders, waited and waited for the salad, waited and waited for the entree, waited and waited for dessert. After an inordinate amount of time, and waiting, a supervisor checked with us to see how things were. By then, it was way too late to set thing right.[/quote']

 

That happen to eight of us it took us 4hrs. to get out we complain at the service desk and no one was charged. My wife and I went again on the next cruise we were on a B2B and the service was good the food was just OK.

Tony

[Coveguy4]

Wondering why you say your steaks were over salted when they arrived. Every steak I have ordered at the CG came unsalted. This is because you are given the option to salt your own steak with 3 specialty salts; Hawaiian Black, Himalayan Mountain Pink and Smoked Apple Wood.

 

EXACTLY ! I was going to post this but you beat me to it. The specialty salt they give you is stronger than table salt. Perhaps the OP oversalted their own steaks?

[Sunviking]

The last time we ate in Crown Grill the food had significantly declined (in our opinion) from our earlier experiences. We ordered the black and blue onion soup (one of our favorites in the past) and it was horrible and inedible. A couple at the next table had the same reaction at the same time. The filets we ordered, while cooked to the desired doneness, were inferior in quality. On our last several Princess cruises we rarely ate in the dining room because we thought the food there had declined from earlier cruises. Since we sailed transatlantic cruises that meant we ate most nights in either Sabatinis or Crown Grill. We enjoyed Sabatinis but didn't have the same experience in the Crown Grill. I understand controlling costs but I think we would prefer paying a little more for superior quality. Food is very subjective so others no doubt won't agree. We have voted with our feet and after many Princess cruises have moved on to another line which better meets our needs.

[pris993]

Next time, order the lamb chops. :D That's my reason for going to the CG.

 

Will try the lamb next time, I love the veal chop too, and sea bass.

b

[Colo Cruiser]

The CG is nothing like it was when it debuted in 2006 on the Crown.

 

I miss the live Maine lobsters, the 12oz rock/Australian lobster tails and the incredible steaks. :(

[Sillyjilly]

Just got off the Grand Princess 10 day journey to Alaska. Cruise was good. I look so forward to going to the Crown Grill on each and every cruise and sometimes twice on one cruise.

 

This experience was the worse. Took sometime for someone to approach our table and give us water. When they did we got the menu as well. I ordered the scallop appetizer and my friend ordered the shrimp appetizer as well as the lobster cake. My scallops weren't even luke warm, just cold. I told the waitress and she got me a fresh, hot batch. We ordered 1 bowl of soup to share as having an entire bowl would have filled us up. Our came 1 bowl with 1 spoon. We straightened that out as well.

 

Then both of our filet mignon's arrived. COMPLETELY inedible as someone put so much salt on them you could not taste the meat. We ate the veggies. A gentleman approached to clear the table and ask about dessert. We said we were full (as we just wanted out of there). Paid the "new" tab of $29. each.

 

Also, other things happened by the staff that were completely unprofessional. The next day I filled out a card at front desk and in the evening got a call from some maitreD on the ship. I explained everything. Only response was that he apologized several times (completely meaningless), he wished I had complained about the filet but I explained that at that point I was tired of complaining, and he told me that they would use this to help train the staff (I am now in the training business) and that next time I go to the Crown Grill it would be wonderful. I could only respond that "if I ever go to the Crown Grill again".

 

I didn't ask for anything, but now that I am home I wish he offered to at least remove the $29. charge. It eats away at me that it was such an awful night at the Crown Grill. Most people I spoke to on the ship had a wonderful experience, but there were a few other tables the same night who had similar complaints but did nothing about them.

 

So, my suggestion is to definitely complain about anything and everything wrong at the Crown Grill, because that's what they want.

 

Same thing happened to us on the Grand. The food and service were terrible. That was the first and last time I will eat at the Crown Grill.

[chsalas]

out of the 8 cruises we've been on , we've eaten at the CG at least 5 times, and everytime a home run!

[BruceMuzz]

Just got off the Grand Princess 10 day journey to Alaska. Cruise was good. I look so forward to going to the Crown Grill on each and every cruise and sometimes twice on one cruise.

 

This experience was the worse. Took sometime for someone to approach our table and give us water. When they did we got the menu as well. I ordered the scallop appetizer and my friend ordered the shrimp appetizer as well as the lobster cake. My scallops weren't even luke warm, just cold. I told the waitress and she got me a fresh, hot batch. We ordered 1 bowl of soup to share as having an entire bowl would have filled us up. Our came 1 bowl with 1 spoon. We straightened that out as well.

 

Then both of our filet mignon's arrived. COMPLETELY inedible as someone put so much salt on them you could not taste the meat. We ate the veggies. A gentleman approached to clear the table and ask about dessert. We said we were full (as we just wanted out of there). Paid the "new" tab of $29. each.

 

Also, other things happened by the staff that were completely unprofessional. The next day I filled out a card at front desk and in the evening got a call from some maitreD on the ship. I explained everything. Only response was that he apologized several times (completely meaningless), he wished I had complained about the filet but I explained that at that point I was tired of complaining, and he told me that they would use this to help train the staff (I am now in the training business) and that next time I go to the Crown Grill it would be wonderful. I could only respond that "if I ever go to the Crown Grill again".

 

I didn't ask for anything, but now that I am home I wish he offered to at least remove the $29. charge. It eats away at me that it was such an awful night at the Crown Grill. Most people I spoke to on the ship had a wonderful experience, but there were a few other tables the same night who had similar complaints but did nothing about them.

 

So, my suggestion is to definitely complain about anything and everything wrong at the Crown Grill, because that's what they want.

 

We all know that Mass Market lines like Princess are reducing services and quality in order to keep your fares low and their profits high.

That's a given - unfortunately.

 

Considering that, it is hardly surprising that you had a less than stellar experience.

 

BUT what really surprises me is the fact that you are in the training business - but were unable to identify the best way to resolve the problem.

What is it that you train?

It is quite obvious that it is NOT hospitality or service.

[keithm]

When Princess first introduced the steakhouses, they were USDA Choice. You could pick out your piece of meat and the marbeling was definitely better than Select.

 

What they serve now, I am not sure.

It's either select or even lower quality. Doesn't mean it's garbage, just not as good as it could be. I had Filet Mignon 3 times & all 3 times it was rather chewy. That should never be!

[chloe45]

The CG is nothing like it was when it debuted in 2006 on the Crown.

 

I miss the live Maine lobsters, the 12oz rock/Australian lobster tails and the incredible steaks. :(

 

I miss the au gratin potatoes.

[Cruiserkenn]

We all know that Mass Market lines like Princess are reducing services and quality in order to keep your fares low and their profits high.

That's a given - unfortunately.

 

Considering that, it is hardly surprising that you had a less than stellar experience.

 

BUT what really surprises me is the fact that you are in the training business - but were unable to identify the best way to resolve the problem.

What is it that you train?

It is quite obvious that it is NOT hospitality or service.

 

Golly. Really? This is a friendly discussion, and, let's remember, cruising is supposed to be fun.

 

Let's lighten up, a bit? OK?

[Shogun]

Hi All

The Cobbler, sweet corn, the fish steamed in a bag,

 

Yours Shogun

[Lucky TGO]

out of the 8 cruises we've been on , we've eaten at the CG at least 5 times, and everytime a home run!

 

Just lucky :eek:

Tony

[Happy2cruise]

I miss the au gratin potatoes.

Me too:(

[spyro1952]

Actually the last great meals I had in the CG were on the Grand in 2014. I was cruising solo so I ate there at least 3 nights or more.

We were on the Regal in Feb/March of this year and had 3 specialty restaurant visits. We went twice to the CG and once to Sabitini's. CG was ok but not wonderful. Steaks were like the ones I find in the back of my freezer and decide to throw on the grill. I like the sides and appetizers. I am not overly crazy about the current Sabitini menu, so unless I get a free specialty restaurant meal, I'll just take my chances in the MDR

[elliair]

So, my suggestion is to definitely complain about anything and everything wrong at the Crown Grill, because that's what they want.

 

Why didn't you just get up and leave? Go to guest services and tell them that you got up and left due to the service and the food wasn't to your liking? Why go home after a nice cruise and be bitter about the meal? The squeaky wheel gets the grease.