Specialty Dining Lunch Options?

[Rungee]

I heard a news story on Cruise Radio on Aug 29 that Princess would begin having specialty dining lunch options (Crown Grill, Sabatinis, and the Catch) available fleet wide starting at the end of August.  Has anyone heard anymore about this, prices, etc?

[Cruise Raider]

48 minutes ago, Rungee said:

I heard a news story on Cruise Radio on Aug 29 that Princess would begin having specialty dining lunch options (Crown Grill, Sabatinis, and the Catch) available fleet wide starting at the end of August.  Has anyone heard anymore about this, prices, etc?

I am so happy they are offering this option.  We’ve seen it available on our last two cruises, as the cruises were filled to capacity and those lunch offerings were probably in their test phase.  
 

So, we were on the Emerald and the Ruby and so, those ships only had the Crown Grill and Sabatini’s.  They were each open on alternating dates on sea days.  They offered the same menu as in the evening and the same pricing.  If you had the premier fare package, you could use your allotted specialty dining in those venues.  BTW, they were crowded, at least the one in the Crown Grill was.  I never got up to see if Sabatini’s was also full.  
 

 

[startedwithamouse]

We do a 16/8 IF, so this would be a welcome addition and we would book many specialty dining reservations if they had the restaurants open during lunchtime. 

[phoebe2m]

Wow, this is the first I've heard of this. I would love this and have made the suggestion on my last few Princess surveys. We are not big eaters and prefer to eat our big meal at lunch. I hope this is available next month for us. Thanks for the info!

[voljeep]

we'll take it - but would have really liked a luncheon menu with luncheon portions and prices ...

[Pickels]

...and what's the guidelines on dress codes, if any?  Smart casual?

[dides]

Yes, I heard about this from a TA Youtube video and asked about it in the Dining thread about it a week ago. Someone on Island Princess just before the casual dining rollout was told Princess were stopping the complimentary Alfredo's pizza pop-up in Sabatini's so they could support these new lunchtime bookings. Still waiting to see what happens there as that leaves Island Princess without any casual dining at all so folks would lose out. 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by dides

[Oxo]

21 minutes ago, Pickels said:

...and what's the guidelines on dress codes, if any?  Smart casual?

We dress up, however, there is no longer a dress code on most of the cruise lines. Regardless, if a line has Formal, Dress your best, or work in the yard, clothes.

Anything goes!

SMH

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, Oxo said:

We dress up, however, there is no longer a dress code on most of the cruise lines. Regardless, if a line has Formal, Dress your best, or work in the yard, clothes.

Anything goes!

SMH

I can assure you if we go to lunch - I will be wearing shorts and maybe a hat - that I will take off if requested

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Pickels said:

...and what's the guidelines on dress codes, if any?  Smart casual?

All SD locations have been Smart Casual all the time since they launched.

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

we'll take it - but would have really liked a luncheon menu with luncheon portions and prices ...

I think this is a great option for guests - especially with more guests getting freebees in the SD locations.  Ideally, I too would love to see some "lighter" lunch options at say $25 price point, along with the regular dinner-time choices. 

[Oxo]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I think this is a great option for guests - especially with more guests getting freebees in the SD locations.  Ideally, I too would love to see some "lighter" lunch options at say $25 price point, along with the regular dinner-time choices. 

I know this doesn't help on Princess, but other cruise lines do have a lunch menu with reduced cost. 

[Coral]

Princess used to have this with the Desert Rose/Painted Desert on the Grand Class ships. It was a reduced amount and a different menu.

[CanadianCruiser21]

This would be great! I wish they opened Salty Dog for lunch too though. 

[ghgeckos]

A long time ago they used to do a brunch for a fee in Sabatini’s. It was a lower fee.

[Rungee]

Thanks everyone for all the responses to my original post. Based on most responses it sounds like there would be a lot of interest if Princess offered this.  Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like we have any real confirmation that this is really going to happen, except for the Cruise Radio news story I mentioned. Was surprised that I couldn’t find anything on the Princess website or other cruise sites.   Guess we will all just see what happens when we are on our next cruises….   Thanks again.  

[Steelers36]

44 minutes ago, Rungee said:

Thanks everyone for all the responses to my original post. Based on most responses it sounds like there would be a lot of interest if Princess offered this.  Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like we have any real confirmation that this is really going to happen, except for the Cruise Radio news story I mentioned. Was surprised that I couldn’t find anything on the Princess website or other cruise sites.   Guess we will all just see what happens when we are on our next cruises….   Thanks again.  

I am not sure why you are putting it the way you did.  It is quite clear that SD locations like CG and Sabi's are opening up for lunch in many situations (albeit one per day) to accommodate spillover from evening demands.  But it is the same menu as at dinner time. 

[Cruise Raider]

On 9/6/2023 at 9:18 PM, CanadianCruiser21 said:

This would be great! I wish they opened Salty Dog for lunch too though. 

I would love that, too.  But, it really all depends on available staffing.  

[Cruise Raider]

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I am not sure why you are putting it the way you did.  It is quite clear that SD locations like CG and Sabi's are opening up for lunch in many situations (albeit one per day) to accommodate spillover from evening demands.  But it is the same menu as at dinner time. 

On our last two cruises, it was listed in the Patter which SD restaurant was open for lunch. It wasn’t just in the little section that lists bar and restaurant hours, it was in the main portion of the daily activities.  

[Cruise Raider]

On 9/6/2023 at 12:40 PM, Steelers36 said:

I think this is a great option for guests - especially with more guests getting freebees in the SD locations.  Ideally, I too would love to see some "lighter" lunch options at say $25 price point, along with the regular dinner-time choices. 

We used to get lunch offerings on Celebrity way back when for $30 pp.  I think it’s doubled since then and now adds an 18% gratuity on top of that.  
Heck, the dinner menu pricing on Princess is still better than the lunch menu prices on Celebrity.  

[voljeep]

51 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

I would love that, too.  But, it really all depends on available staffing.  

Salty Dog should be a lunch time venue anyway with their menu offerings

[Cruise Raider]

40 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Salty Dog should be a lunch time venue anyway with their menu offerings

I agree 100%!  Maybe they will have more staffing available since they won’t need quite as many servers for Alfredo’s?  Maybe that’s wishful thinking! 

[CanadianCruiser21]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

Salty Dog should be a lunch time venue anyway with their menu offerings

Exactly!!!

Burgers and other pub style food are more suited for lunch.