Since the sale we booked under offered its own included night of specialty dining, we chose to devote this opportunity to dining at Sabatini's, Princess' Italian Trattoria restaurant onboard. Sabatini costs the least (not counting Salty Dog GastroPub) at $25 per person. We've dined at Sabatini often enough over the years to have seen three incarnations of the menu. The first was when you got one big plate and the waiter just kept bringing you a couple bites of everything piled on this one plate. We miss that option, especially since some of those menu choices don't exist at all anymore. Only downside was that it also meant stronger smelling items or items with a lot of sauce/juice had their components blend into nearby items.
The second menu was more traditional with having you choose one dish from each course to be served on its own plate in typical restaurant dining fashion. The Tris d' Aragosta - lobster tail, lobster orzotto, and lobster bisque sauce - was a favorite of mine that didn't make the cut to menu #3. I've heard some Princess ships still use this second menu.
This third menu which was the option on our sailing, seems to be more focused on having the most variety. For example, instead of a few seafood options, almost every main course is a different protein entirely. The menu states to choose one from each course with a notation at the bottom that any extra pasta or main will cost $10 extra.
On a side note: One of the wonderful perks of having a Suite Experience Manager like April is that when she surprises you in such a way that your already made plans have to change with a day or two notice, she took care of that as well. We had originally planned to spend our Halifax night dining in Sabatini but we learned a few days into the cruise that we would be spending that night elsewhere. Especially if we'd been sailing at full capacity, I'm not sure it would have been so easy to switch our reservation to tonight without this adorable soul taking care of it. Certainly not without phone calls or standing in line at Guest Services.
Upon arrival for our reservation at Sabatini, it was evident that the restaurant was the popular choice for passengers. We had a small line to wait in before checking in but it was made to feel even longer with how long it took to get each group checked in. Part of the issue was that a different hostess was at the podium than we'd gotten to know at breakfast and this crew member was having a hard time keeping up. Once we were finally at the head of the line, the hostess walked away from the podium without a word. She started visiting tables and chatting with passengers all while the line of passengers behind us waiting to check in continued to grow. There were plenty of tables available and the longer she ignored the line, the more I was tempted to seat myself. Silvio, Director of Restaurant Operations, happened to walk in when my patience had started growing thin. When he stopped to ask how things are going, I couldn't help but speak up. Silvio immediately rushed to get a hostess to check us in who turned out to be Alice that we'd gotten to know during breakfast. As he and Alice were rushing back to the podium, the first hostess came rushing back suddenly ready to seat all of us, now so large a crowd that a bottleneck had formed in the entrance. Disappointed that it took the first hostess seeing Silvio to get her to come back to the podium.
Those first moments should have been a sign of how our dining experience was going to go. Once seated, we were ignored by any wait staff for a while. Gave me the impression that no one had told a waiter that they had another table assigned. We placed an order for soda and water and just that took another 20 minutes. Once we were on someone's radar, we got individual plates delivered of the Stuzzichino Della Casa - Appetizer of the House described as warm rustic whole-wheat loaf tuscan zonzelle filled with roasted tomato and bell pepper passata, prosciutto crudo, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This is the little dish they added to Dad's portion of the Ultimate Balcony Dinner.
When we finally got to order food, I asked if I could order more than one appetizer and the waiter said it was okay. Our appetizer delivery also took a while. By this point, we were rethinking our evening plans because there was no way we'd be done with dinner within an hour or two. We both ordered the Grilled Lamb Skewers - marinated with oregano and extra virgin olive oil, served with artichoke and black olive relish atop arugula leaves. This was my choice of a new food to try as I'd never had lamb before.
However, as I worked to cut up the pieces, I realized that about 2/3rds of the skewer was undercooked. I think it was simply either a rush to get the food out too quickly or having to cook so many at once issue because Dad's skewer was barely pink. Mine, pictured below, varied from light pink to a very bright vivid pinkish red. I mentioned the issue when our waiter returned and he unfortunately did not seem to care. He did offer to get me another appetizer but I declined. I had also ordered the calamari so that I could have something in case I hated the taste of the lamb. Just would have been nice to get offered an apology versus giving off the impression like we were bothering him or ruining his day by "making him" offer another appetizer.
The calamari was great!
Our slow service pace continued as we moved on to the pasta course. Dad went with his go to of Spaghetti Pomodoro - with meatballs. It's nice to see that the menu lists them as house-made beef and pork meatballs. I remember a past cruise when I ordered spaghetti and meatballs in the MDR and was surprised to find that the meatball was pink inside. That waiter was highly concerned and rushed to check with the chef. The chef came out to our table and explained that the meatballs were made of a meat mixture and that's why it looked so pink inside. I shared my concern with the lack of information on the menu explaining that not knowing it wasn't all beef could be either a religious or allergy issue. The chef agreed and the waiter kindly offered to grab me a new dish without meatballs. Good to see this small change was made for future cruisers.
After having watched several videos of other cruisers enjoying the new menu at Sabatini's, I had already decided to forgo my usual carbonara (Gasp! I know, I know) in order to try the Trattoria Oven-Baked Trio - traditional lasagne bolognese, chicken parmesan, and 3 cheese ziti (ricotta, mozzarella, & pecorino romano.) It looked so good and many cruisers remarked that the large bowls taking up the entirety of the platter could have served as the entree. This is why I was quite surprised when my order arrived and the three bowls were more like the size of little tea cups. The folded over white napkin to make it seem like the bowls didn't look like they were drowning in the size of the platter was a clever addition.
I tried all three and the 3 cheese ziti (far left) was the only one I cared to have more than two bites worth. It was at this point that we finally flagged down our waiter to ask for drink refills. Unfortunately, the niceties of having someone routinely refilling or even checking routinely on our table wasn't in the cards for us tonight. Just as I was beginning to think that our waiter had gone all the way back to Canada to retrieve the water and soda, he breezes by our table dropping a single glass at the end of the table without a word and rushes off. Dad and I may look alike but I'm pretty sure that we're two separate people that both asked for a drink refill.
At this point, the bubbly host we'd gotten to know at breakfast, Alice, stopped by our table to ask why I didn't like the lamb. I'd really be surprised if our waiter had bothered to report the issue. I explained how it was undercooked and Alice was super apologetic and too offered to get me another dish. I declined so she asked how I was enjoying the pasta. I told her that I tried them all but only liked the ziti. She offered to get me another bowl of ziti but I declined that as well. This is the kind of service I normally appreciate from Princess. We chatted a little bit more and I politely and calmly shared how frustrating our experience had been thus far. You don't need to rant and rave to anyone when something isn't going right. Not everything is going to be wine and roses all the time but you're much more likely to reach an amicable resolution if you keep your cool. Yes, it's evident that the crew is short staffed and having to work extra hard but a little understanding can go a long way. Alice was very apologetic and pronounced that she would immediately be taking over our table service for the rest of the meal. Alice sent someone off to retrieve the rest of our drinks. She and I talked extensively about the homemade pasta made on board fresh every day and she insisted on bringing me a bowl of carbonara. This was the same carbonara provided during our Ultimate Balcony Dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
For the main entree, we both went with the Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Tenderloin - stuffed with parmesan and fresh sage, served with crispy roasted rosemary potatoes. This was definitely a different presentation than I was expecting. I pictured a whole tenderloin that had been stuffed, wrapped, cooked, and then sliced. These were three little 2 inch columns arranged in the middle of the plate. That tan looking macaroon in the front was supposed to be the crispy roasted rosemary potatoes. I would have liked more sauce so that the potatoes got some flavor too but it looked like the tenderloin pieces were draped in sauce and then added to the plate. Admittedly, this was more of a "well I got to pick something" choice so after eating a couple bites of each part, I didn't want anymore. Wish that having a full sized serving of some of the pasta choices was a main entree option as well.
For dessert, April highly recommended the Chocolate Journeys Rocher - A blend of chocolate, praline, and hazelnut ice cream, sealed in milk chocolate, surrounded with crushed candied hazelnuts. This was Dad's choice and he loved it. It was great to get a whole backstory on Princess Cruises' working relationship with Norman Love and how they'd bought the recipes from him so he can't make these dishes for anyone else.
I chose to try everything and ordered the Chef's Specialty - a platter with small versions of all of the dessert choices. From left to right - Chocolate Journey's Rocher, Tiramisu, Zabaglione Marsala, and the Vanilla Panna Cotta. I'd say the Zabaglione Marsala was my favorite of the group.
A huge thank you to Alice for saving our dinner and turning our service from the Mad Hatter to an experience in Wonderland. We thanked her for saving the night then and again monetarily before we left on the last night. I shared my praise in our end of cruise survey as well. It is important to recognize those who need improvement and those who excel in any job.
Our 6:30pm reservation had us finished just before the 9PM Liars Club game show. Definitely a moment where we wished our Sky Suite reserved seating included in the lounges as well. A kind gentleman sitting in the back row called us over to sit with him. Even though there was a couple words routinely reused from previous sailings (I will forever know what Erecterine and Chubble mean), the stories, jokes, and the personalities each cruise staff bring to the game have us laughing through the whole game.
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