One aspect of cruising that cruise lines put a lot of thought, effort and investment into is the culinary experience. The largest ships carry thousands of passengers, and menus must appeal to global palates and address dietary and cultural restrictions. In efforts to draw in a good share of the cruising population, cruise lines design unique dining spaces, hire celebrity chefs to headline specialty restaurants on board, and follow the latest trends regarding issues such as sustainable seafood and farm-to-table supply chains. On our winter cruise on Princess Cruises‘ Royal Princess to New Zealand, we used the benefits of our Princess Premier package to partake of several meals at the ship’s specialty dining restaurants, in addition to the main dining rooms, included in the standard cruise fare, and some of the “casual” eateries.

On three different occasions we dined at the Crown Grill,  the ship’s classic steakhouse restaurant. The food was always excellent, as was the service, starting with the genuinely warm greeting we received as we arrived. I also appreciated the clean, classy décor featuring glossy dark woods, pale upholstery and etched and frosted glass.   Just outside the restaurant stands the Wheelhouse Bar, boasting an intimate, clubby atmosphere where we occasionally stopped for before- or after-dinner drinks.

Dinner at the Crown Grill always started with a basket of warm bread and rolls. One could choose from three or four varieties, and I loved every one of them, always having to remind myself to hold back to leave room for dinner! Appetizers included a trio of seafood options as well as beef tartare. I tried the Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes, which struck me as rather bland, but I really loved the Jumbo Butter-seared Scallops with Salmon Caviar. Harry always samples a restaurant’s French onion soup, and he really raved about the Crown Grill’s Black and Blue French Onion Soup . . . I think the Roquefort crust and splash of Jack Daniel’s might have had something to do with it. Meanwhile, I found the Seafood Bisque with chunks of lobster and prawns (and aged cognac) to be satisfyingly rich and creamy. I also tried the Blue Iceberg salad, and each time we dined we mixed it up on some shared side dishes including grilled asparagus, sautéed wild mushrooms and a variety of potato dishes. These accompanied a range of standard steakhouse cuts and chops, along with a few seafood entrées. This will come as no surprise to anyone who’s read many of my blogs, but I invariably had to sample from the dessert menu every time we ate at the Grill, and I was never disappointed with any aspect of these delectable creations. (No) big surprise: chocolate was a major element in each one. The Triple Chocolate Treasure featured layers of dark chocolate mousse, orange crèmeux, hazelnut filling and a blonde brownie crust, topped off with two little golden chocolate macarons.  Offering up fair competition was the Warm Chocolate Mousse Trifle, mousse layered with cinnamon sponge cake, spiked cream, cookie crumbles and vanilla gelato, cleverly presented in a glass canning jar.  So much decadence! On the evening we celebrated husband Harry’s birthday, the staff brought him a special complimentary dessert, which he generously shared with me.

What really stands out in our memories of our experiences at the Crown Grill were our interactions with Leniency (“Len”) from Zimbabwe, our gracious, charming and knowledgeable sommelier.  We enjoyed chatting and consulting with him about the wines on offer. On the evening we brought one of our special bottles from home to celebrate Harry’s birthday, we were pleased to share some with him, and he was delighted to try something from a region he was not very familiar with. Those kinds of interactions always make a meal, trip or experience more personal and special.

The other specialty restaurant we visited more than once was Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, featuring, among other things, a host of house-made (ship-made?) pastas. Its large dining room featured several windows offering a view of the water from its Deck 5 location, and this proved especially interesting as we crossed the Tasman Sea one evening when we had gale-force winds and rockin’ seas virtually up to the windows. I liked the design of the simple olive-branched dinnerware which nicely offset the food presented on them.  The multicourse meals began with a soup or salad course followed by a selection of antipasti, a primi piatti (pasta) course and a secundi piatti (entrée) course. And, of course, dessert! We had the opportunity to try a hearty Tuscan soup, Ribollita;   shared some Venetian-style light and crispy fried prawns and calamari with grilled polenta and a spicy marinara;  and I enjoyed something lighter with the Burrata Caprese Salad.    The pastas were uniformly delicious and boasted the perfect texture, from Harry’s Spaghetti Polpette with a giant savory beef and pork meatball  to my pesto rotini with generous shavings of Parm. By the time we got to the secundi piatti, we usually opted for a lighter (it was all relative at that point) entrée such as the Scaloppine di Pollo with lemon and rosemary.   Even so, intrepid (gluttonous?) diner that I am, I always saved room for dessert. I couldn’t pass up on the heavenly Rocher, a blend of chocolate, pralines and hazelnut ice cream sealed up in milk chocolate and surrounded by candied hazelnuts.    I mean, could you pass on something like that??!! One night we also tried this slightly lighter confection, a chef’s special which satisfied my every taste bud.

As you can see, we did not deny ourselves when it came to dining on board Royal Princess, and we certainly got our money’s worth with the Princess Premium package. I am also happy to report that, with all the walking aboard ship and the sightseeing on land, I came home a few pounds lighter!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor