Carribean Princess - Sterling or Sabatini's?

[GOBOLTS]

WOW! Confused on which one to pick. We are cruising in July and are celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary and want it to be memorable. We all like Italian and steaks. Wonder which would have the better service and setting?

 

John

 

Millenium 11/03

Caribbean Princess 

[azsunshine]

I vote Sabatinis...hands down!!

 

Carol and John

NORDIC PRINCE-Mexico 2/1994

RYNDAM-Southern Caribbean1/97

ENCHANTMENT 1/98 Eastern Caribbean -VEENDAM 6/98-Eastern Caribbean

SEA PRINCESS 3/99-Western Caribbean

RHAPSODY 1/2000-Mexico

GRAND PRINCESS 11/00-Eastern caribbean VOYAGER 11/00-Western Caribbean

LEGEND 3/02 Hawaii

CARIBBEAN PRINCESS 5/04

Future:

STAR PRINCESS 11/04

 

 

[NewCruiser10]

Anyone who has just returned have an opinion?

 

UNTIL WE SAIL - PRIDE 8/13/03

 

[GandGinSoCalif]

We were on the C/P on 5/29, and did both Sterling's and Sabatini's. We celebrated our 25th on formal night in Sabatini's, and had a great evening! Sterling was good, but had neither the variety nor the presentation of Sabatini's. My vote goes to Sabatini's, with gusto!!

[Suncat]

Where's the thread with the Sabatini's Menu?

 

I saw it once and cannot find it - please help!

 

Thanks!;)

[NewCruiser10]

Anyone hwo ust returned remember the menus?

[crusdiva]

Hold on help is on the way.

 

Sharon

[CruiseKing]

Hi NewCruiser10,

I hope you enjoy your upcoming CP cruise. My wife and I were on May 1 CP Eastern. Here is a link to the Sabatini menu and our cruise pictures.

 

http://photos.yahoo.com/cpebmw

[crusdiva]

Newcruiser,

 

My DH and I ate at Sterling and Sabatini (twice - dinner and brunch) on our 5/1 CP cruise. Loved both. Totally different experiences however. If I were celebrating with friends I'd opt for Sabatini. You only have to pick the main course and they will bring you a taste of EVERYTHING else on the menu. At the same time they don't EXPECT you to eat everything. Seems perfect for celebrating with family and friends. I wouldn't suggest it for small children - I think for the most part Sterling would be better given that you could spend about 2 1/2 hours at Sabatini. Just my opinion. Either way you win.

 

Sharon

[monk888]

NewCruiser10,

 

I just got back from the June 26 sailing on the Caribbean Princess. We ate at Sabatini's. The food there is tremendous. The ambience is absolutely lovely. When you walk into Sabatini's, it has Roman type columns all around a sort of semi-circular wall. Each column visually separates a space for a table. On the wall are murals of scenes of Italy or classic Roman type art. The restaurant is very upscale. It has an open kitchen as the centerpiece. It is made for special evenings. The dinner there lasts 2 hours at least. They bring you a tiny bit of each type of antipasto. You choose your soup, Minestrone or Cioppino, which is a seafood soup that was out of this World. You then have your choice of entre's or you can choose a seafood combination of Chilean Sea Bass, Scallops, Langostino's and Lobster tail. The meal we had there was outstanding and very memorable.

 

I did not eat at Sterling's, but I can tell you somthing about it that I did not like. On the Carbibbean Princess, Sterling's is out in the open in a high traffic area. In order to get to it, you walk through the Atrium on Deck 7, through large doors and there it is. To the right of it's front "entrance" is a boutique. In order to get to the Princess Theatre, each guest on the ship must walk past one side or the other of Sterling. The Internet Cafe is just to the left of Sterling, so all of those folks are coming and going. If you are dining in there, you are in plain view of everyone. There is no real privacy to speak of while you are trying to eat. I could not deal with that. From what I have heard, their Filet Mignon is superlative, but I have heard mixed reviews on other cuts.

 

Bottom line-For a superlative, memorable evening in a private setting with super service and top notch food, my vote is for Sabatini's, hands down. Just my two cents.

[dgebhart]

Our travel agent has returned from her trip on CP and she says without doubt that Sterlings is the best choice. Said the food was fabulous and so was the service.

[Coral]

Just a few comments - the Sterling dining room on the Diamond/Sapphire is DIFFERENT then the Sterling Streakhouse on the Sun/Dawn Princess.

 

On the Diamond and Sapphire - it is a very limited menu and free.

 

I have yet to be on the Caribbean Princess or a Grand class since they switched the Southwestern Restaurant over to the Steakhouse so I can't comment on those.

 

CHOPs on RCCL is a different experience then Sterling Steakhouse on Princess. I thought CHOPS was more formal. When we went to Sterling Steakhouse on the Sun Princess - it was excellent. I come from beef country (Nebraska) and was impressed with the quality of the steak on Sterling's.

[cruisinsuz]

I was on the same cruise as Monk and ate at both restaurants. While both restaurants were outstanding, each had a completely different experience to offer. My vote goes to Sterlings only because the food was too much for my taste at Sabatini's (maybe I need to just control myself!!). Sterlings offerered just the right amount of choices and I have been to many 4 and 5-star steakhouses, in my opinion. Their filet was awesome and you have to try their corn casserole! The experience was much more sedate, but the service was attentive, but no where near Sabatini's.

Sabatini's wait staff was over the top and so much fun! They were the friendliest and most attentive I have seen in a long time and the food is wonderful. My husband and I opted not to take our 8 and 11-year olds and never regretted it. They did, however, enjoy Sterlings very much.

Again, different strokes!

[NewCruiser10]

Thanks all, for sharing your experiences and opinions. It sounds as if either choice would be a good decision. After all, its the company you are with that creates a memorable evening.