Favorite Specialty Restaurant?

[Dr. Peds]

We rarely eat at the Specialty Restaurants unless we have received a credit that covers the service charge.  We have been very happy with the MDR and the buffet as well.  What is your favorite specialty restaurant on Princess (especially on the Royal Class ships)?  Sabatini's? Crown Grill? Catch by Rudi?  Why do you like your chosen restaurant?

[Steelers36]

It was always CG.  I am a huge steak and beef in general fan.  But with disappointment in beef quality last Fall, I am not so sure.  Things may be better now, but I'd be heading to Catch if it was on my ship because it is new, some new food to try and it has good reviews so far.

[walkingsoon]

Sabatini's - better location and menu variety.

 

My last few Crown Grill  meals left me unimpressed.

 

My opinion,

walkingsoon

[gvre]

27 minutes ago, Dr. Peds said:

We rarely eat at the Specialty Restaurants unless we have received a credit that covers the service charge.  We have been very happy with the MDR and the buffet as well.  What is your favorite specialty restaurant on Princess (especially on the Royal Class ships)?  Sabatini's? Crown Grill? Catch by Rudi?  Why do you like your chosen restaurant?

tried them all..it's hit and miss some great and some fair varies by ship..but last time on Discovery CR and Sabatini's were great and really enjoyed the 360 experience

Edited September 1, 2023 by gvre

[leck57]

Crown Grill for me. Tried them all but the Grill is my favourite. 

[Oscar13]

Another vote for the CG here.  Haven't had a bad meal there.  Only "complaint" is sometimes there is too much food.  🙂

 

Karen

[JStar]

Until a month ago I would have said crown grill. I am a fan and been there many times. Last month on majestic they had the new catch by Rudi so we tried it. We thought it was excellent in food, service and ambiance. Small sample size for sure, it could be my new favorite.

[vakamalua]

Don't find any of them worth the uncharge; especially had several underwhelming meals with poor service at the CG.

[Auntiejo]

Sabatini for me - my husband would say Crown Grill - he's a steak guy - but we both agreed that Crown Grill on Discovery a few months ago wasn't as good as it used to be. We have not tried Catch by Rudi yet (will do so in Dec in Enchanted) and we are eager to see how it compares. I was one of the few people that really liked Bistro Sur la Mer - my husband thought it was just OK. Food opinions are so subjective....kind of depends on your taste I think.

[Dr. Peds]

Thanks for all the replies so far.  We at at the Crown Grill on the Enchanted in January.  It was, at best, OK.  We got a specialty dinner as part of our package on that cruise so we did not have to pay extra.  The service was absolutely terrible, though it is not clear as to whether it was the server or that they were understaffed.  My dad and I had surf and turf ($10 upcharge from surf OR turf).  The was OK, but not in any way special.  The filet and lobster were considerably better later in the cruise in the MDR (though, during our July cruise on the Sky, the MDR did not seem to be able to cook beef and the filet was not a good experience.  The lobster was a bit better than tolerable, but once again nothing special).  That said, the filet in the Crown Grill was a bit larger, and the inclusion of the specialty salts was a very nice upscale touch.  Not sure when we will try another specialty restaurant, but I think Catch by Rudi might be the next place we look.  My parents said that they had a decent meal at Sabatinis, but that was a number of years ago.

[Yehootu]

Chilean Sea Bass at the CG. BUT, took one bite of my wifes Rib Eye and ended up with a broken tooth. Sticking with the Sea Bass next time, wife says pass.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

19 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

Chilean Sea Bass at the CG. BUT, took one bite of my wifes Rib Eye and ended up with a broken tooth. Sticking with the Sea Bass next time, wife says pass.

How did you break your tooth on a steak? 

[Wink87]

36 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

How did you break your tooth on a steak? 

Honestly, teeth can break on mashed potatoes. Sometimes when they are ready to go, they go. 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

CG every time for me... Bistro sur la Mer for my other half. I am not a big fan of French cuisine.

 

Been many times to CG, never had a bad one and always come away feeling I got my money's worth.

 

We both like Sabatini's too.

[Jilliebean28]

We used to be huge CG fans but after our last 2 cruises with very disappointing meals there we have given up on CG. The steaks were not of a higher quality and the waiter could not have been more disinterested in what he was doing.

Sabatini's, on the other hand, started off iffy for us but we now love it!  The food has  been consistently good to excellent and the service is wonderful!

[voljeep]

our favorite will be the one we can use OBC when we get on board to book.  but looking forward to trying Catch on the Sun P in 2024

 

CGrill - she gets lobster, I get the lamb chops - smaller portion than a steak - We always state we tend to eat slow and only partial amounts of each course as to not offend the chef(s)

[Yehootu]

14 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

How did you break your tooth on a steak? 

Grissle in the Rib Eye. Cut of meat wasn't up to past standards.

[Napagirl]

We enjoy Sabatini's for the extra level of service, food a little more upgraded, lovely room and less people. Just feels a bit more special and romantic. We always go at least once. 

[XBGuy]

We dine in the specialty restaurants quite regularly.  We prefer the menu at Sabatini's, but we visit both on every cruise.  My observation is that there is no consistency in them, and, so, my conclusion is that it depends on the room's management--both front of the house and back of the house.  There have been cruises where we thought Crown Grill was excellent, but the on the next cruise, Crown Grill is disappointing.  We have had the same experience with Sabatini's.

 

My observation is if you do not see the headwaiter hustling in the dining room--chatting with diners, directing the servers, helping out when needed clearing tables or helping with service--the staff figures out pretty quickly that if he doesn't care, then they don't have to care.  I have had this experience in both Sabatini's and Crown Grill.

 

Similarly, if the head chef in the galley doesn't care, the line cooks don't care, either.  This is most notable in Crown Grill where most people make a specific request as to how they want their red meat prepared.  I always try to emphasize to the server that I would like me steak prepared "blood rare."  Sometimes I get it, and sometimes I don't.  There was one occasion in which the server asked me to check my steak after he set it in front of me.  Normally, I slice it and declare it fine regardless of what I see.  However, on this occasion, the chef was standing right behind the server.  I sliced my steak and did not say anything, but, obviously, the chef saw my face.  He elbowed the server aside, and swept away my plate.  My wife ordered the Mussel Pot, her Crown Grill favorite, and I asked her to go ahead and start.  Take two came out a few minutes later and that one was truly fine.

 

Here is the thing.  The management changes regularly on cruise ships.  So, you can't just generalize and say that the Crown Grill on the Royal Princess is outstanding or that Sabatini's on the Crown Princess is inferior.  One team can move off at the end of any given cruise, and another team replaces it for the next cruise.  There is only one way for the diner to find out.

 

I have to say, that we always had an excellent experience at SHARE, which, of course, is long gone.  SHARE was not terribly popular with the Princess demographic.  I don't think I ever saw the room more than half full.  We always found that the service was attentive and professional.  The headwaiter was consistently working in the room making sure the diners' expectations were exceeded.  

 

I have not had the opportunity to try The Catch by Rudi, but I am excited by the initial reports that I have read.

[Robkat]

We really feel that the specialty restaurant quality/service/experience can be quite different from ship to ship.

On our most recent cruise on Caribbean P, we thought Sabatini's was excellent ... very good food and lovely service.

We went to CG for DH's BD and loved it so much, as we left, we reserved it again for the next week.  

Since there can easily be issues with how steaks come out, when eating at a steakhouse, we try to order something else we really like (unless we have a real hankering for beef).   

The first night, we had lamb chops (fantastic) and the next time, we had the veal chop (delectable), so we couldn't have been happier.

And both nights, the service was very good.

 

Next up in December, we're going to give Catch by Rudi a go, and have been impressed with most of the reviews so far.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

8 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Grissle in the Rib Eye. Cut of meat wasn't up to past standards.

Oh, my.  I hope you weren’t in any pain. I broke a tooth once on a rock hard piece of bacon. Not fun at all.

[IndyKid]

On 9/1/2023 at 12:17 AM, Steelers36 said:

It was always CG.  I am a huge steak and beef in general fan.  But with disappointment in beef quality last Fall, I am not so sure. 

Did your steak still have marks where the jockey was hitting it? 😆

[navywife3]

Sabattini’s for my husband and I, the food and presentation was excellent but what put it over the top for us was our waitress. She was phenomenal and just elevated the whole meal. I was less than impressed with CG especially after all the hype I’ve heard. The steak was decidedly underwhelming (to small and rather “chewy”). The lighting was turned up for some reason (no atmosphere), and our waiter clearly wanted to be elsewhere. This was on Discovery.

[tserface]

We love Sabatini's and Crown Grill.  On our cruise last fall Princess still had pretty good prices for specialty restaurants (about 2/3 of what other cruise lines charge) so it's still a reasonable deal.

[leck57]

4 hours ago, tserface said:

We love Sabatini's and Crown Grill.  On our cruise last fall Princess still had pretty good prices for specialty restaurants (about 2/3 of what other cruise lines charge) so it's still a reasonable deal.

 

I just booked Sabatini's last week for a cruise in Feb and it cost $47 per person. My last cruise 12 months ago it was $35 pp. I think the cost is starting to get beyond the value point.