HOW TO DINE WITH A PRINCESS – Part Two of my Princess Experience

Well if you have been on a Princess cruise you will already know that the standard of food is excellent.  During my Trip I ate in the main dining room on the first night. There was a good choice on the menu and the service was excellent.  The restaurant was well laid out and did not feel like you were all on top of each other. I am sure you know what I mean. I hate it when the tables are so close you don’t feel like you can breathe or like everyone is listening to all your conversation. Here was my dessert from the first evening.. Yum!

So what about during the day?  Well the main restaurant serves a lovely breakfast and don’t worry if what you want is not on the menu they will tailor it to your requirements.  If you want a more casual breakfast head down to the buffet where the cheerful staff will bring you a drink while you peruse the buffet.

For lunch you can head back to the buffet or why not have a burger or hotdog at the gourmet burger stand or try what princess proudly claim to be the ‘Best Pizza at Sea’.  They serve regular margarita and pepperoni as well as a special which changes daily.

Topped off with a visit to the ice-cream stand for dessert what more can you want.

I tried them all and all were very tasty.

Or if you prefer you could just pop down to the cafe in the Atrium and have yourself a lovely coffee and Pastry

We also had to sample Afternoon tea. It was all very civilized and very popular with the guests on board. The white gloved waiters kept a steady flow of Sandwiches, scones and other sweet delights coming as well as the tea of course.  I was a little disappointed not to get the tiered stand on the table to help yourself but having given it due consideration I can see that it saves on wastage.

Then of course there are the cocktails. My Colleagues and I did not want to have to try any but were forced into it…

Including the Norman Love Chocolate Collection Cocktails

All this you would probably expect on a Princess Ship but the real purpose of this blog is the Speciality Dining. I know we get people saying why would they pay to eat in one of these restaurants when the other food is included but let me tell you for the small cover charge of $29 which is around £21 it is most definitely worth it.  I would expect to pay £40-£50 in a good restaurant for this same standard.

I often stay in hotels on half board when I am away but this does not stop me going out and trying the local establishments on a night or two. This is no different to that and much better value for the standard.

On Caribbean princess there are two specialty establishments. Sabatini’s Italian and the Crown Grill.

Plus of course we dressed for the occasion

The menu at Sabatini’s is superb.

My recommendation is the Burrata starter. It was delicious.

All the food was stylishly served, tasted beautiful. The staff were very knowledgeable and will make recommendations if you are not sure what you would like. They will also help with the wine choices for your meal.

I had the Lobster as my main course which was delicious.

My recommendation for dessert has to be the tiramisu. Not only because it is a traditional Italian dessert but because it is one of the Signature Norman Love Chocolate experience dishes. It was the best I have tasted anywhere and that includes when I have been in Italy.

The Crown Grill was also excellent.

The starter I had was the pan seared scallops which were delicious and well-cooked and presented.

Colleagues had the Onion and Blue cheese soup which comes highly recommended as well.

For Main as we were in a grill restaurant it had to be steak. I chose the Filet Mignon. I would not go as far as to say that it was the best steak I had ever had but it was cooked Rare as ordered and was very tender. It certainly rated up there with the best.

This time I tried the Crown Dependence which is a sample of each of the desserts in miniature.

I know you are still going to say that you don’t want to pay extra but let’s put this into perspective. I went to TGI Fridays with my son a few weeks ago and we each had a starter and a main with no dessert and a drinks each.  The total bill was £46. This is £4 more than the speciality dining and let’s face it with no offence to TGI’s as we love eating there there is no comparison in the standard.

So next time you are on-board a princess Ship give it a try and you might me surprised.

Part three will be my behind the scenes Tour…