Sky Princess Dining Guide
Sky Princess is the first in the larger generation of Princess cruises Royal class ships and, as such has retained many of the features and dining options known to regular Princess passengers, albeit these have been somewhat re-imagined and modernised. In addition to the firm favourites they have added a few new dining options giving their passengers even more choice when it comes to deciding where to eat. In this guide we will go through every dining venue, be they formal or casual, included or speciality, and give our review of each of them in turn.
International cafe:
There’s no better place to start this dining guide than in the ever popular International Cafe, located in the main Plaza on deck 5. This is the only dining venue that is open 24 hours a day for passengers to get a drink and snack whenever they get the munchies. Whilst the drinks here have a small surcharge, all of the food on offer is free of charge, including the fabulous cookies, a temptation at any time of the day.
First thing in the morning the International Cafe offers lighter breakfast options to accompany the necessary caffeine refuel. It’s a really nice spot for breakfast, generally being quieter than other options, with a range of speciality coffees available at an extra cost. To accompany the coffee there is a large selection of pastries, donuts and cakes on display as well as yoghurt parfait pots, muesli pots, breakfast muffins and burritos available on request.
As a self-professed sandwich addict the International Cafe is one of my favourite places to go for lunch, with a range of sandwiches and panini’s on offer, as well as some lovely little salad pots, and individual quiches and pies heated to order. After a savoury start there are of course the usual sweet treats available in the display cabinet, which are frequently changed depending on the time of day.
World Fresh marketplace and Horizon Bistro:
Another of the informal dining options is the self-service restaurant, the World Fresh Marketplace and Horizon Bistro located on the Lido deck, deck 16. This is open most of the day, segwaying from one meal to another from early morning continental breakfast all the way through to late night snacks. The food on offer is varied and plentiful. We love the inclusion of the ‘pastry section’ which also houses a barista coffee station for passengers to get their speciality coffee fix (this is at additional charge).
There is plenty of seating so that even in busy times you can easily find somewhere to eat your meal, with all of the tables made up with cutlery, so no sitting down and remembering that you’ve forgotten to pick up a knife and fork. We were most delighted to see that Princess must have seen our review of the Crown Princess because on the Sky Princess they have replaced the plastic plates used in the buffet restaurant with proper china plates. Well done Princess, it really does make a massive difference and enhances the dining experience beyond belief.
However one of the gripes we do have about this venue is that there are only two self service drinks stations, which for the number of people on board can mean a bit of a wait to even get a glass of water. And while the food on offer is varied, plentiful and good quality, the layout of the buffet can make it hard to find that dish you saw earlier that you liked the look of. We never really did get the hang of where the Worldplace Market ended and the Horizon Bistro started and to us it felt like there was no rhyme or reason to the food stations and what was on offer where. However, the food on offer was amazing, with so much choice it was hard to make a decision.
Alfredo’s:
Alfredo’s is an inclusive pizza restaurant which is a firm favourite for Princess regulars. Located centrally in the main atrium on deck 7 it has plenty of indoor seating as well as a small al fresco balcony dining area perfect for enjoying a pizza in warmer climes. Open from 11am until 10pm it serves freshly prepared pizzas cooked in large pizza ovens, as well as a few pasta dishes and a couple of desserts to finish. This was the first venue we ate in on our voyage, heading straight there for lunch as soon as we had embarked. Rich chose the Sky Princess signature pizza with a prosciutto and mushroom topping and I chose the calzone and though we generally enjoy the pizzas in any of the Princess ships Alfredo’s restaurants, these were a cut above the rest and it was a delight to be able to eat them on the balcony terrace. Though the outside seating is a great addition, the inside seating is just as nice and would be a wonderful place to enjoy an informal evening meal while taking in the atrium buzz.
Salty Dog, Slices & Swirls:
If Alfredo’s whets your appetite for alfresco pizza, Slices is the perfect option for those days when you can’t be bothered to get changed from your pool attire. Located on deck 16 at one end of the main pool, with Slices on one side and the Salty Dog Grill on the other. Both are open from 11am until 11pm with Salty Dog serving burgers (including the additional charge Ernesto burger), hot dogs, street tacos and loaded fries, and Slices serving freshly cooked pizza slices as well as some amazing pizza variations, such as the meatball focaccia, the stromboli pizza roll and the open sandwich toasts, my favourite being the delicious Cali-avocado toast.
As we were on the Sky Princess inaugural cruise Swirls ice cream bar wasn’t fully up and running but when it did eventually open it was extremely popular with a large queue forming within a few seconds. Unlike other Princess ships, Swirls is a separate small booth dedicated to simply serving the complimentary poolside ice-cream. Like other Princess ships the soft serve ice-cream is delicious and the queue constant.
Gelato bar:
The Gelato cafe can be found on deck five opposite the International Cafe. It offers a wide variety of gelato and sorbet, all of which are made on board, available at a small additional cost. Though the soft swirl available round the pool is a good ice-cream fix, the homemade gelato here is a must for real ice-cream connoisseurs.
Main Dining Rooms - Soleil, Estralla & Cielo
As on other Princess ships there are three main dining rooms, two for any time dining and one for set dining. Located on deck six at the aft of the ship is Cielo which is the dining room allocated to set time dining and Estrella which is open seating for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and evening meal. This is decorated in a traditional style and also contains a separated little section for concierge class guests. The last dining room is Soleil which is located on deck five and is open in the evening only for any time dining and is decorated in dark woods and blues and has a generally quite modern and sultry feel to it. We were pleased to see plenty of tables for two in all of the restaurants and every time we ate in one of the main dining rooms we were never kept waiting, always being shown almost immediately to our own table for two.
Breakfast in the main dining room is generally more leisurely than the self-service restaurant with a menu offering the usual hot and cold plates. The menu is largely the same every day with the exception of two special dishes each day, one hot and one cold. We like taking breakfast in the MDR, it is just a much more relaxed and less rushed affair and we find it’s always nice to be served our food rather than having to self serve. And there’s a constant stream of coffee, an absolute must for us first thing in the morning.
Lunch is served daily in the Estralla dining room and offers a delicious array of hot and cold plates and desserts, with table service as standard. This is also the venue for a formal afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, scones and cakes on offer, all served table side by white gloved waiters. Although afternoon tea is also available at the World place market the experience in the dining room is not to be missed.
Dinner here is a relaxed affair with a varied menu which changes every night but also offers some traditional Princess favourites if nothing on the menu that evening takes your fancy. There are usually a choice of four starters, then a choice from a couple of soups and a couple of salads, followed by half a dozen or so main courses. Alongside this are three or four of the Princess special dishes, including, of course, the infamous fettuccine Alfredo which I could eat every night! The dessert menu usually consists of four or five choices, one of which is usually a chocolate journey dish, as well as three or four of the Princess favourite desserts. The main dining room offers a varied and extensive variety of dishes with the quality of the food generally delicious with friendly and efficient service and a relaxed atmosphere. If you were to eat here every night you would be more than satisfied, there really is no need to dine in the speciality restaurants unless you fancy a change or wish to celebrate a special occasion.
Room service:
All of the Princess ships are now fitted with the Ocean Medallion technology making it possible to order room service using the on board app. However, there is still the option to put out a breakfast card the night before or simply pickup the phone to place a room service order. We decided to order our breakfast using the app, which still has to be done the night before with the exact same menu as the one you hang on the door. You chose a half hour time slot for delivery and then chose how many of each of the food options on offer you would like. We plumped for some fruit, muesli and yoghurt, some pastries and croissants and the only hot option, a breakfast muffin, all served with a large pot of coffee and hot milk. It arrived within the allocated time slot and was all presented nicely. We took ours out on to our balcony and enjoyed our leisurely breakfast.
Ordering dinner works in much the same way and is where the medallion comes into its own. We ordered a burger and fries on our app and within 15 minutes there was a knock on the door and the food was delivered. I had high expectations for this burger and it did not disappoint. We were told to leave our tray outside when we had finished, which we did, and it quickly disappeared.
Bistro Sur La Mer:
One of the ‘new’ venues introduced to the Sky Princess is Bistro Sur La Mer and is situated on deck seven in the main atrium and is a very open venue unlike Sabatinis and Crown Grill restaurants. This is both a positive and a negative, it gives it a very lively atmosphere, soaking up the vitality of the atrium, but also making it very noisy and a bit of a thoroughfare, not ideal for enjoying a romantic meal for two! As we were on one of the first of Sky Princess’ voyages and this was a completely new venue we got the feeling that it was still trying to find its feet.
On our voyage La Mer was open from 7-11am offering coffee and pastries in a more formal waitress style venue. The pastries were complimentary but the coffee was chargeable. We visited on the fifth day of our voyage and already they were pairing back the service due to lack of use. The problem seemed to be that the food on offer was no different to, and much less varied, than that on offer in the International Cafe. In our opinion they really need to be a bit more imaginative if they want to offer a breakfast service here. It’s a great location and a really nice idea for offering a quieter, more sophisticated breakfast which could continue the French bistro theme and maybe become a creperie in the morning or offer an alternative healthy breakfast and smoothie bar.
As a brand new venue featuring on the Sky Princess we were very excited to try Bistro Sur La Mer for dinner. At $29 each, it is, along with Crown Grill, the more expensive of all the speciality restaurants. It also offers alfresco seating on the outside terrace balcony if the weather is obliging. Since it was too cold for us to eat outside on our voyage, and as we have already said, it is a bit of a corridor, we asked for a table away from the atrium nearer the windows looking out onto the alfresco terrace. The French bistro theme is reflected in the menu with offerings such as escargot, veal, scallops and lobster. As a pre-starter all guests are presented with some goats cheese olives and polenta chips served with guacamole and tomato salsa, for me this was one of the best aspects of dinner here.
The menu offers a few dishes from either land or sea for both starters and main courses. For starters we chose the duck pate and the tuna tartare served with home cooked vegetable crisps. For mains I chose the scallop dish, on the recommendation of the waitress, and Rich chose the veal dish, also recommended to us. They were presented in bowls and for the first time on this cruise the portions were not huge, which actually made a nice change.
For dessert I chose a meringue dish served with a lemon and lime disc on top and a generous jug of egg custard to go soak up the meringue. Rich being a chocoholic, chose the chocolate dessert served with a coffee anglaise sauce. Overall, we were a little disappointed with this venue, maybe because we had high expectations for it. Whilst the service was attentive we just felt it was a little rushed and being an ‘open’ restaurant it just didn’t really feel special enough. The food was good but not exceptional and for the cover charge we didn’t feel it was particularly good value, preferring either Crown Grill or Sabatinis, both of which feel a little more ‘special’.
Crown Grill:
Crown Grill is the speciality steak and seafood restaurant located next to the Crown Grill bar on deck 5. At a supplement of $29 each it is one of the more expensive dining options on board. It is open every evening from 5.30-10pm but reservation is recommended. The restaurant has a very contemporary vibe to it, especially when compared to the Crown Grill’s on the other Princess ships. It is a much more open space with open partitions between the bar and the restaurant, enabling dining guests the chance to enjoy the piano music from the bar. The decor is still largely dark wood but it is much more contemporary than the other ships, being offset with lovely green and gold hues. The tables are reasonably well spaced apart and the kitchen area is open to the restaurant to allow guests a glimpse of their dinner being prepared.
Crown Grill is one of our favourite Princess restaurants so we chose to eat here early on in our voyage. Although we had an early evening reservation we had a small wait to be shown to our table. Once seated we were offered the menu and wine list as our waiter filled our water glasses and left us to peruse the menu. The food was as good as we had experienced on previous visits to Crown Grill restaurants and mirrored that from a high end steak house, a real treat for meat lovers. We chose the scallop and lobster cake starters, followed by a lobster bisque and the black and blue onion soup, my favourite dish of the night.
The main course was a firm favourite of ours, a filet mignon which was cooked perfectly, melt in the mouth succulent. To accompany this we chose a side of mushrooms and the garlic chips, which we would thoroughly recommend, crispy french fries coated in a delicious, very garlicky garlic butter.
Rich finished his meal with the chocolate trio pudding, a slice of very chocolatey chocolate cake covered in a shimmering chocolate ganache, topped with two chocolate macaroons and accompanied with a white chocolate cream. I chose the creme brûlée cheesecake which was divine, a thin biscuit base with a layer of gooey salty cheesecake with a crispy sugar brûlée topping. To finish this plate of perfection it was topped with a shiver of honeycomb, decorated with a salted caramel drizzle and sprinkled with delicious nut crumb. So good I still dream about it!
Overall, we enjoyed our evening and the food was very good. It is not fine dining but for steak lovers it’s a must and a cut above the included restaurant options.
Sabatini’s:
Sabatini’s is the least costly of the three speciality dining venues on board, at $25 each, and in our opinion, the best. If you only visit one speciality restaurant (unless you really can’t resist the lure of a large steak) we would recommend this one. The food is delicious, authentic and plentiful. We love the redesign of the venue with a more contemporary feel to it and tables generously spaced out so it doesn’t feel busy or rushed. The service, as always, is excellent and there are some magnificent Italian Tuscan wines to choose from to accompany your meal.
On our visit we largely stuck to the waitresses suggestions which were all spot on. We started the meal with an appetiser plate, served to all guests, consisting of Italian fried bread served with a freshly made tomato sauce served with a few slices of prosciutto ham. Rich then chose the lamb skewer starter and I had the burrata and tomato salad served with the balsamic reduction. We then moved into the pasta dish, with Rich going for a classic mushroom risotto while I chose the spaghetti carbonara, both of which were delicious.
For our main course Rich chose the chicken dish served with creamy mash and asparagus and I had the lightly breaded sole served with polenta. For dessert we both opted for the assiette pots giving us a taster of all four of the main desserts, a berry panna cotta, a tiramisu, a zabaglione and a chocolate Rocher. The perfect sweet ending to a delicious cheesy, creamy, buttery, chocolaty Italian meal. I could eat here every night!
Ocean Terrace Sushi bar:
Ocean Terrace Sushi bar is a one of the new concept dining venues which has been added to the Sky Princess. It is centrally located on deck 7 in the main atrium with seating arranged around the preparation bar and also overlooking the main atrium. It is open at lunchtime on sea days and every evening, with diners choosing from an a la carte menu offering an array of seafood and vegetarian sushi and sashimi.
Getting a table at this small venue was quite difficult on sea day lunchtimes so we decided to visit one evening. We started our evening in Vines bar, enjoying some of the tapas on offer there before heading up to the Ocean Terrace where we chose to sit at the bar so that we could see our food being prepared. The service was excellent with advice on hand to help you order. The food was freshly prepared, came as it was ready and delicious to enjoy with a nice cold glass of fizz.
Chef’s Table Lumiere:
Having put our names on the waiting list for the Chef’s Table within a few hours of boarding we were absolutely delighted to receive an invitation to this very special evening, which started in the Good Spirits bar where we joined the other 10 diners we would be sharing it with. We were greeted by the maitre’d who escorted us to Estrella restaurant where we were all alighted of any jackets we were wearing and adorned with oversized lab coats.
Walking through the dining room like a bunch of mad scientists we entered the galley at the other end of the dining room and were introduced to the Head Chef. Upon entering we were asked to thoroughly wash our hands before taking a quick galley tour and making our way through to the end of the galley where a table which had been set out for us to enjoy our pre-dinner appetisers.
As we got to know each other and chatted with the Sky Princess Head Chef and Maitre’d, canapés miraculously appeared, one arriving after the other with champagne flowing throughout. There were caviar crisps, a delicious olive tatare, escargot vol-au-vents and scallops served with a delicious pea purée.
Having enjoyed our canapés we headed out of the galley back to the Estrella restaurant to take our seats at the exclusive Chefs Table Lumiere, a large and ornate table encased in luminous drapes that at the push of a button, encase the twelve guests in a glittery circle of deliciousness. The dinner ahead of us consisted of four courses each accompanied by wines chosen by the maitre’d.
We started the dinner with a bone marrow custard, served with a brioche crisp, accompanied by a Californian white wine. This was followed by a palate cleansing, rose granite sorbet dowsed with Belvedere vodka. The main course was a smorgasbord of dishes on one plate, the meat offering being a delicious pork tenderloin, the fish dish a delicate seared sea bass, both accompanied by a mushroom baklava. All were served with their own perfectly matching sauce and washed down with a Californian red wine. My favourite course of all was the wonderful cheese course which was an unusual roasted brie en croute served with a rose berry jam. Just when we thought we could eat no more we were presented with a gorgeous looking chocolate dessert, a chocolate hazelnut cream served with a chocolate cake encased in crispy hazelnut tuile and served with a raspberry creme, frangelico jelly and lemon ice cream, perfectly matched with a delicious New Zealand dessert wine.
And even though we couldn’t finish the dessert, the evening wasn’t over yet, next up was a little plate of petit fours to enjoy with our after dinner coffees. Three individual little sweet delights to completely finish us all off. Although at $115 each this is not a cheap evening, the food and drink on offer make it good value for money and a wonderful evening of food, drink and good company, and one we would thoroughly recommend trying at least once.
We sailed on Sky Princess’ inaugural cruise so were some of the first people to eat in most of these venues, some being completely new concepts. However, the food lived up to, and often exceeded our already high expectations of dining on any Princess cruise ship. The inclusive dining is, as always, excellent. For an extra special evening, we really enjoyed our evening at the Chef’s table Lumiere, but if you want something a little less pricey Bistro Sur La Mer, Crown Grill and Sabatini’s offer a nice alternative to the main dining room Personally of all of these, we love Sabatini’s and could eat here most nights. Generally Sky Princess offers a wide variety of food and dining options, always of good quality and always served with a smile, what more can you ask for?
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