Golden Princess Sabatini's or Sterling Steakhouse???

[travelintrio]

Hi,

If you had to choose between Sabatini's or Sterling Steakhouse on the Golden Princess which one would you choose and why?? I'd love to hear your experiences good and bad. My husband, daughter and I will be doing the coastal cruise on May 3rd and we'd like to try one of the speciality restaurants we just can't decide. Thanks! I look forward to your comments.

[Captain Funtime]

Tough choice ! We were on Ocean Princess the cruise they rolled out the original Sterling Steakhouse. I say something the first day (and still can't remember where) that mentioned Sterling's. It took asking serveral times to finally get an answer and more importantly a reservation. This is before they had a dedicated room...they transformed one of the outside bars...a deck above and overlooking the pool into an outdoor, white tablecloth dining venue. The meals were prepared by Chefs right there. We liked it so much we ate at Sterling's every night on that seven night cruise. Then on Grand they moved it inside (not nearly as neat IMO) to its own room and began Sabatini's. We tried both. Sabatini's is a multi course meal that is excellent but more an even than a meal. That is not saying the food is not excellent. My heart is still with Sterling's. If I could only do one...you know what I would pick...I am a steak guy. Let me know what you tried and what you thought.

[newmexicoNita]

We choose Sabatinis on the Golden, but some loved the steak house. Some said the steaks were great, service not so, others said the opposite. We thought Sabitinis was wonderful because it is so different, but we didn't care for the service. In fact our main wait person and we had about 3 or 4 boardered on being rude.

 

Nita

[travelintrio]

Rude waiters huh? I hadn't heard about that about Sabatinis. Thanks.

[CL-JW]

We've sailed the Golden twice last year and both times did the Desert Rose (Golden's version of the Sterling).

 

Both times we had very good food and very good service. We would do this again.

 

We've not done Sabatinis though so can't compare.

[jmw2323]

Was at Sterling on CB just over a week ago. Thought the steaks were tasteless. Rediculous "Morton's" like presentation. Worst pecan pie I have ever had. Waste of $30

[travelintrio]

We've sailed the Golden twice last year and both times did the Desert Rose (Golden's version of the Sterling).

 

Both times we had very good food and very good service. We would do this again.

 

We've not done Sabatinis though so can't compare.

 

The Steakhouse is the Desert Rose. Thanks

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Did they serve ribeye steak?

[jmw2323]

The Steakhouse is the Desert Rose. Thanks

 

Glad you enjoyed it. Did they serve ribeye steak?

 

We had ribeyes in Sterling. For the most flavorful cut, these were tasteless.

[travelintrio]

We had ribeyes in Sterling. For the most flavorful cut, these were tasteless.

 

That's too bad it's my husbands favorite.

[harrodsfan]

Was at Sterling on CB just over a week ago. Thought the steaks were tasteless. Rediculous "Morton's" like presentation. Worst pecan pie I have ever had. Waste of $30

 

We ate at Sterling steak house when we were on the CB in January. Wonderful Shrimp cocktail,,,the steaks were perfect and the chocolate pecan pie was to die for. Yummy. Best $30 we spent...

 

We also ate at SAbatinis...too much food and our waiter was odd...not rude but very odd....Suggest sterlings...:)

[mike35]

We've eaten in both several times. They're totally different - in cuisine, style, and quantity. Our experience with Sterling has been somewhat spotty - excellent steak to so tough we sent it back. Sabatini's is a multi-course extravaganza - more like a chef's tasting menu. We prefer it, but then again, many folks prefer steak over Italian cuisine. Why not splurge and try both - since no one on this board can experience what OP's personal tastes are?

[minniemom]

I am starting to worry, I don't hear much at all about the Star. I hear so much about the Carribean, the Golden, and so many others, I am hoping I made a good choice to Alaska on the Star? Has anyone tried her specialty restaurant. What is it called?

[prarie cruiser]

Enjoy them both! However, if I have to choose just one, I would choose Sabatini's. It is an experience to have all those foods presented to you a few bites at a time. It is a great amount of food, some of which I had not previously eaten, but loved. Just let the waiter take total control, and you will not regret it.

 

Sterlings is also good, but you can get a good steak at your local home restaurants in most towns. Also, you can order a steak (but not a premium cut) off the normal dinner menu every night on Princess ships.

[islandermg]

We did the Sterling only because our TA gave us a coupon. Soup was cold, baked potato cold and we were in a wind tunnel. Steak was very good and service very good but I would never go back. It is only the buffet area cordoned off. This was on Sapphire and Diamond.

islander

[larie]

Was on the Golden last week. Our party of 10 tried both the Desert Rose (steak house) and Sabatinis. I was with 9 steak lovers. I have steak about once a year. They loved it and I thought it was very good. More steak than you can ever eat, and you can order several meals if you desire. Our service was great. This was my second time at Satatinis. Went there on another cruise and loved it. The service was great this time but the food was average. We all thought the lobster was very bland - tasteless. Garlic would have been a good thing here. I would vote steak over Italian this time and I am a huge Italian fan.

[travelintrio]

Was on the Golden last week. Our party of 10 tried both the Desert Rose (steak house) and Sabatinis. I was with 9 steak lovers. I have steak about once a year. They loved it and I thought it was very good. More steak than you can ever eat, and you can order several meals if you desire. Our service was great. This was my second time at Satatinis. Went there on another cruise and loved it. The service was great this time but the food was average. We all thought the lobster was very bland - tasteless. Garlic would have been a good thing here. I would vote steak over Italian this time and I am a huge Italian fan.

 

Thanks we love Italian we also really enjoy steak. You can get average food in the dining room why would I pay extra??

[5:00_Somewhere]

I have to agree with the posts above. If you have to pick only one, I'd go with Sabatini's, primarily because it's the more unique dining experience of the two.

 

We were just on the Golden the week of 2/16 and dined at both. We've had some so-so experiences at the steak house restaurants on other Princess ships, but thought the experience at the Desert Rose on the Golden was just fine. However, most people can find an equivalent steak house experience near their homes on land. The Sabatini's experience, though, is something very uniquie. I've rarely found anything like it off ship. I highly recommend it (and we found the service on the Golden excellent.

 

One word of caution, though: eat very little the day before a Sabatini's reservation. The food is wonderful, but there is just a LOT of it!

 

Whichever you choose, I have no doubt you'll enjoy yourselves!

 

Happy cruising! :D

[dforeigner]

If I had to chose one, I would pick Sabatini's because of the different experience. You are introduced to a different type of Italian cuisine that most Americans are not familiar with. The steak house is about average. You can have a better tasting steak back at home. My vote is for Sabatini's.

[kcsb1113]

we tried both restaurants on the Caribbean Princess and probably liked Sabatinis better. the steakhouse food was only so-so and the service was even worse. it took them about 20 or so minutes for anyone to show up (after we had been seated) to acknowledge us or ask about drinks! the lobster tail at Sabatinis was fantastic!! i only wish i hadn't eaten so much from the previous 10 or so plates :) just be prepared to sit for a looong dinner. its worth it

[newmexicoNita]

I have to agree with the posts above. If you have to pick only one, I'd go with Sabatini's, primarily because it's the more unique dining experience of the two.

 

We were just on the Golden the week of 2/16 and dined at both. We've had some so-so experiences at the steak house restaurants on other Princess ships, but thought the experience at the Desert Rose on the Golden was just fine. However, most people can find an equivalent steak house experience near their homes on land. The Sabatini's experience, though, is something very uniquie. I've rarely found anything like it off ship. I highly recommend it (and we found the service on the Golden excellent.

 

One word of caution, though: eat very little the day before a Sabatini's reservation. The food is wonderful, but there is just a LOT of it!

 

Whichever you choose, I have no doubt you'll enjoy yourselves!

 

Happy cruising! :D

unique dining experience is a great way to put it. Yes, we would agree. A steak place is exactly that, a steak house (which is fine) but Sabatinis is an experience.

 

Nita

[travelintrio]

unique dining experience is a great way to put it. Yes, we would agree. A steak place is exactly that, a steak house (which is fine) but Sabatinis is an experience.

 

Nita

 

Thank you so much for all your opinions I really appreciate them!

[pvmkmyer]

We were on the Golden in December and ate at both Sabatini's and Desert Rose. We thought Sabatini's was a great dining experience. The weakest part of the dinner was the main course, but it really didn't matter that much because everything else was so good. The small portions of several different pastas they serve are excellent.

 

The Desert Rose was good, but nothing you can't get on land -- although they have a really wonderful peach dessert, which is essentially a sweet dough filled with a peach filling, then deep fried like a donut and served with a vanilla sauce. Absolute heaven! My wife's steak was not very flavorful (but it was filet, which is not a naturally flavorful cut). My New York was very good, tender and cooked exactly to medium rare, the way I ordered it.

[cruiser02]

We had dinner several times at Sterlings while doing the transaltantic on the Star We enjoyed the dinners No crowds ... which can be a welcome after many nights in the large dining rooms. Great sevice. Delicious steaks.

Give it a try.

Sebatinis is a nice experience but done once - that is enough. We have repeated the experience but wondered why afterwards.

[dog]

Just off the Golden a week ago.

 

Found Desert Rose good for steak. If you order fish or chicken you may not feel it is worth the extra$15. like our tablemates.

Sabatini's was good, but this was our second time and we think we will skip it next cruise. There's a lot of food which I found salty. I had scallops and they were great though.

 

Found a change in the quality of the dining room food this cruise compared to the last 4 cruises.

We were very disappointed in the lobster night. These were not the same as other lobsters we've had in the past in the dining room.

They also show baked Alaska in some of the photos and I did not see any of it on the last two cruises.

[larie]

Dog,

 

We returned from the Golden on 3/1. Party of 20. We had the same thoughts. Lobster was very disappointing, especially in Sabatini's. I am a big Italian fan, but preferred the Steak house over Sabatini's this time around.