Crown Grill or Sabatini’s?

[redflag216]

So I’m home, sick (🤞 not Covid), and doing a deep dive into my upcoming cruise on the Royal Princess. Reading about/researching cruises always makes me feel better. Anyway, I am looking to book specialty dining for embarkation night. My party and I like what both have to offer - in terms of menu selection - and it was left up to me to decide! Any ‘must have’s’ that could potentially sway my decision? I haven’t dined at either, so will be a new experience for me either way. What are your thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! 

[voljeep]

Outback or Olive Garden?

[LACruiser88]

This depends on your personal tastes.  We prefer Sabatini's over the Crown Grill.

[Loucat]

Did you find the two menus on the Princess site or Internet? That would help to narrow your preferences.

We sailed on Regal in February. We had 3 lovely dinners in Sabatini's, but stuck to the seafood parcel and the linguine with clams and shrimp. Both very good. Appetizers we enjoyed included the calamari.

Loved the salad of arugula and pears. Service exceptional!

We had 2 dinners at Crown Grill. One night we had tasty lobster tails and great service. The last night of the cruise we returned to CG again. Filet was a cheap grainy cut of meat with a lot of fat. Disorganized service with multiple waitstaff coming to the table repeating what another just said or did. We left without eating as it would have taken forever to have new dinners served. 

Just because they are termed "specialty" does not make them special all of the time.

[Cruise Raider]

My taste buds lead me towards the Crown Grill but the atmosphere and service in Sabatini’s is incredible.  Both serve way too much food.  All in all, I’d still choose the Crown Grill and I don’t even  eat red meat. 

[wowzz]

We like the Crown Grill. Just ignore all the pretentious rubbish about the various types of salt !

[Moondogy]

I love sea food, DW loves steak. So it's no contest for us. Crown grill.

[Waynetor]

On our recent Caribbean P cruise we did 3 diners in each.  Service was excellent in both restaurants and meal quality was excellent.   Check out the menus and make your choice based on your preferences.

[Loucat]

I am getting further away from meat over time. I did not find Regal's beef of any quality and never even  mentioned our MDR experience! 

I prefer seafood, chicken or other options.

Waynetor- I agree and posted to check the menus and narrow choices.

You must have had good experiences on your Caribbean Princess cruises! Good to hear.

We had the one weeks comparison from Regal for Sabatini's and CG and not here to share anything but our own experiences.

[Genessa]

I would choose Crown Grill over Sabatini's, but I have so many reasonably priced delicious Italian restaurants at home that that influences me.

 

If you do go to Crown Grill, a must have - drool worthy even just thinking about it - is the Black and Blue Onion Soup.  

[jeanandjim]

8 hours ago, voljeep said:

Outback or Olive Garden?

How stupid can you get??  Outback isnt nearly a steak joint and Olive garden no way nearly Italian. You are talking 1 1/2 stars vs 3 stars.

Jim😎

[HleeCruiser]

23 hours ago, Loucat said:

Did you find the two menus on the Princess site or Internet? That would help to narrow your preferences.

We sailed on Regal in February. We had 3 lovely dinners in Sabatini's, but stuck to the seafood parcel and the linguine with clams and shrimp. Both very good. Appetizers we enjoyed included the calamari.

Loved the salad of arugula and pears. Service exceptional!

We had 2 dinners at Crown Grill. One night we had tasty lobster tails and great service. The last night of the cruise we returned to CG again. Filet was a cheap grainy cut of meat with a lot of fat. Disorganized service with multiple waitstaff coming to the table repeating what another just said or did. We left without eating as it would have taken forever to have new dinners served. 

Just because they are termed "specialty" does not make them special all of the time.

My last two meals in CG were disappointing. Filet was tough.

[roomba920]

We prefer Crown Grill.

[minnesotasisu]

Crown Grill for sure!

[JimmyVWine]

On 3/23/2022 at 4:11 PM, LACruiser88 said:

This depends on your personal tastes.  We prefer Sabatini's over the Crown Grill.

Same here.  Last couple of times at CG, our steaks were so thin they only had one side. Ba-dum-dum.  Food was tasty, service was great. They took great care with the bottle of wine we brought, properly decanting and serving.  But when push comes to shove, we came for a great steak and got a very tasty, but thin cut of beef.  Questionable value given the price.  The menu options are more varied at Sabatini's and when we order and share different things from the menu in places where we have choices, we wind up with a wider and more enjoyable dining experience 

[fabby50]

I prefer Sabatini's, the menu is more varied and it seems more relaxed.

[Tak8]

I like CG over Sabatini's.  I miss the old Sabatini's menu.

[1965]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

We like the Crown Grill. Just ignore all the pretentious rubbish about the various types of salt !

The salt offerings totally threw me. I had no idea what, why, how to use. I am a rube, & freely admit it. So I am genuinely asking for guidance. What are we supposed to do with the special salt? We have free specialty dinners on our next 3 cruises, & DH will want steak. I'd love to no longer seem quite so rubeish. 🙂

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, 1965 said:

The salt offerings totally threw me. I had no idea what, why, how to use. I am a rube, & freely admit it. So I am genuinely asking for guidance. What are we supposed to do with the special salt? We have free specialty dinners on our next 3 cruises, & DH will want steak. I'd love to no longer seem quite so rubeish. 🙂

Basically you use the salt in the same way as you would use common or garden salt. It is just pure pretentiousness,  and even the waiters seem a bit embarrassed by the whole rigmarole. 

Personally I dislike the practice of adding salt to a steak anyway - just seems to destroy the flavour of the meat, imho.

[Cruise Raider]

Unlike others, I love the salt menu.  I use different salts in different dishes at home and the flavor of the salt does make a difference.  I don't eat red meat so use it on all the other options.  Some like it, some don't ... put me in the former.  I have never seen the waiters embarrassed by asking if you would like the different salts.  

[1965]

48 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Basically you use the salt in the same way as you would use common or garden salt. It is just pure pretentiousness,  and even the waiters seem a bit embarrassed by the whole rigmarole. 

Personally I dislike the practice of adding salt to a steak anyway - just seems to destroy the flavour of the meat, imho.

Thank you. 🙂

[brisalta]

2 hours ago, 1965 said:

The salt offerings totally threw me. I had no idea what, why, how to use. I am a rube, & freely admit it. So I am genuinely asking for guidance. What are we supposed to do with the special salt? We have free specialty dinners on our next 3 cruises, & DH will want steak. I'd love to no longer seem quite so rubeish. 🙂

 

You are supposed to rub the various salts in the wounds caused by all the cut backs. 😉

 

 

[Lucky TGO]

On 3/23/2022 at 4:11 PM, LACruiser88 said:

This depends on your personal tastes.  We prefer Sabatini's over the Crown Grill.

I totally agree with you. This is just my opinion I don’t think the Quality of the steak is that good.

Tony

[Thrak]

If you dine in Crown Grill and are tempted by the filet... When we have ordered the filet and asked for it to be prepared "medium rare" it has come with the outer edges perfectly cooked and the bulk of the steak exceedingly rare. Bleh. I finally realized I have to ask to have it butterflied. That way the entire thing is medium rare.

 

We will dine in the "specialty" restaurants only when it is included in the fare. We don't really care much for them because it's simply too much food and we can't possibly eat that much. The last time we ate at CG they were clearly unhappy with us and seemed insulted that we not only couldn't finish the main meal but declined dessert. We like the fact that the servings in MDR are smaller. We can have an appetizer, main course, and dessert and walk away feeling comfortably fed and not bloated. For those who want more it's not a problem to get more. For those of us who simply can't eat a lot of food it's easy to not have a bunch of waste.

 

I'm sure that, looking at my waistline, people probably think I must eat a lot but I don't. Today I made us tacos at about 1:00 PM and I had two tacos. That was the first thing we ate today and will cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We "may" have a small snack later but probably not. We both love good food but hate to be served more than we can eat and have it go to waste. If I eat at CG and start with a salad and the Black and Blue Onion Soup I am essentially stuffed at that point.

 

Edit: I agree with others here that the quality of the meat used in CG is nothing to get excited about. I get better meat at Costco.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Thrak

[CU64]

4 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Same here.  Last couple of times at CG, our steaks were so thin they only had one side. Ba-dum-dum.  Food was tasty, service was great. They took great care with the bottle of wine we brought, properly decanting and serving.  But when push comes to shove, we came for a great steak and got a very tasty, but thin cut of beef.  Questionable value given the price.  The menu options are more varied at Sabatini's and when we order and share different things from the menu in places where we have choices, we wind up with a wider and more enjoyable dining experience 

I have started ordering lamb chops as my ribeye has been disappointing and not a good cut.