Hello my lovely readers!

I sailed on the beautiful Sapphire Princess just after its refurbishment was completed back in 2018 and I cannot believe how long it took me to get this post out!

But it is finally here. There are plenty of public areas, restaurants, pools and more on the Sapphire Princess that I want to highlight and talk about. Therefore, I am breaking up the ship tour into several posts, starting with the eating venues and restaurants to give you an idea of where to eat.

Please be aware though that the prices and opening times are based on the cruise I took back in October 2018. Therefore they may be subject to change.

Let’s dive right in and start with the dining options that are included in your cruise fare, free of charge to you.

DINING OPTIONS INCLUDED IN CRUISE FARE

Anytime Dining

On the Sapphire Princess anytime dining is offered between 5:30 pm and 9.30 pm everyday in four different dining venues. This means guests have the freedom to eat between that set time whenever they want in one of those venues and with whom they want. These four venues are:

The Vivaldi Dining Room

The Savoy Dining Room

The Pacific Moon Dining Room

The Santa Fe Dining Room

I really liked the idea of having different dining venues to chose from. They are all unique and differently themed. If one was a bit more popular than another one and you did not want to queue up, you could just go to one of the other three venues. The dinner menu is the same in all four restaurants.

• Location: Vivaldi & Savoy Dining Rooms are on deck 5 – Plaza, Midship and Pacific Moon & Santa Fe Dining Rooms are on deck 6 – Fiesta, Midship
• Opening Time: 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

International Dining Room

The other evening dining option, apart from eating in the Horizon Court Buffet, is traditional dining, better known as fixed time dining. This means that everyday you are going to eat in the same venue, at the same time, with the same people and get served by the same waitstaff. There are two seatings, one early and one late for dinner.

You can also enjoy breakfast and lunch in the International Dining Room, which you will need to order and that will be served to your table. This option is available to all guests. The International Dining Room is basically a restaurant with table service for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I wish I had pictures of this venue, but unfortunately I do not. The room was closed when I went around the ship on the last day to take pictures of all the venues, spaces, pools and so on.

• Location: Deck 6 – Fiesta, Aft
• Opening Time: Breakfast 7 am to 9 am, Lunch 12 pm to 1:30 pm, Dinner 5:45 pm and 8:15 pm (1st and 2nd Seating)

Alfredo’s Pizzeria

Next up we have Alfredo’s Pizzeria, where I personally ate a few times. This is like a little pizza restaurant next to the atrium and a really nice setting. The pizzas are freshly prepared every single day and if you fancy you can even watch the chef preparing and making your pizza due to the open kitchen design.

• Location: Deck 5 – Plaza, Midship
• Opening Time: 11 am to 10 pm

International Café

If you fancy a little nibble or are peckish between meals, you can come to the International Café on deck 5 – Plaza, which is open 24/7. Depending on the time of the day, different nibbles, snacks, soups, treats and desserts are served.

In the morning you will find a continental breakfast selection, for lunch you can expect to find a variety of sandwiches, quiches, salads and even soup and at night you can indulge in some of the super tasty desserts Princess Cruises offers.

• Location: Deck 5 – Plaza, Midship
• Opening Time: 24 Hours

Horizon Court

Horizon Court is the main eating venue and is setup as a buffet throughout the day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In between meals guests can also find a selection of sandwiches, cookies and tasty desserts.

On some days, lunch can have a theme. For example, during my sailing we had a German themed lunch with Sauerkraut, Leberkaese and so on. On another day “Sushi” was prepared as part of the buffet selection.

The buffet was a bit smaller than on other ships of its size that I have been on, but nonetheless there was still enough choice and a variety of selection.

• Location: Deck 14 – Lido, Aft
• Opening Times: Continental Breakfast 5 am to 6 am, Breakfast 6 am to 11.30 am, Lunch 11.30 am to 3 pm, Light Snack 3 pm to 5.30 pm, Dinner 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Prego Pizzeria, Trident Grill and Swirls

Also on deck 14 – Lido, there are three more eateries around the Neptune’s Reef and Pool to grab a quick and more fast food style bite.

At Prego Pizzeria you can grab a few pizza slices such as Pizza Margherita or Pepperoni, something very simple. If you fancy a more special pizza with a few more toppings, you really need to go to Alfredo’s Pizzeria.

The Trident Grill is on the other side of Prego Pizzeria and offers burgers, fries and hot dogs. Both venues are really great if you fancy a quick bite, are too lazy to go to the buffet and have kids.

Also, on the same deck is Swirls. Here you can get some ice cream, prefect during those hot weather sailings. I went there often after coming back from land to cool down, while enjoying a tasty treat at the same time. At an additional cost, people can also order sundaes from Swirls if they prefer something more indulgent.

• Location: Deck 14 Lido, Midship
• Opening Times: 11 am to 10:30 pm (weather permitting)

Room Service

And last but not least we have room service, which is 24/7 and complimentary. You can enjoy breakfast in bed or perhaps you missed dinner and really need something to eat late at night.

Room service is a great way to enjoy a meal while staying in, in the comfort of your cabin. It can be a life saver when you really need to grab a bite to eat and it allows you to order that chocolate cake that you had for dinner, but just cannot forget about and want some more of. Hey, you are on vacation after all!

Culinary Collaborations

I would also like to point out that Princess Cruises collaborates with a few award-winning chefs to serve dishes and creations to its guests that are something special.

Chef Curtis Stone and master chocolatier Norman Love designed specific dishes and desserts exclusively for Princess Cruises that can be enjoyed in the Main Dining Rooms. The super tasty and so pretty to look at chocolate creations can also be savoured at Horizon Court. The specific dishes and desserts are marked on the evening menus so you know about them.

I had this chocolate heart from the Chocolate Journey’s programme and it was one of the nicest desserts I had during my sailing. It was so pretty to look at, creamy, chocolatey and just a joy to eat. It was gone in no time!

SPECIALITY DINING AT AN ADDITIONAL COST

I personally have not been to any of the speciality restaurants on board the Sapphire Princess. To be honest with you, I never eat in one at sea.

The food that is already included in the cruise fare is great and there is so much to choose from that I do not feel the need to spend extra money on a restaurant visit. Moreover, you can find elaborated and unique dishes in the normal restaurants as well such as lobster tail, a nice steak or even escargot.

I understand why people like to spend that extra money, for example to celebrate an anniversary or birthday or perhaps the restaurant offers a unique or premium meat cut. But that is not for me.

Still, here are the speciality dining options offered on board the Sapphire Princess.

Sabatini’s

I passed this restaurant a few times and I really love the interior. I am an old school girl and love those old settings with paintings, wood finishing and pillars. Sabatini’s is the Italian speciality restaurant offering Italian wines, different pasta dishes, desserts and more celebrating all things Italian.

• Location: Deck 7 – Promenade, Aft
• Opening Time: 5:30 pm to 10 pm
• Cover Charge: $29 per person

Sterling Steakhouse

Another speciality restaurant on board is the Sterling Steakhouse and of course as the name suggests, plenty of steak options are on the menu. Here you can find premium steak cuts including New York strip steak, Porterhouse and Filet Mignon. However, the Sterling Steakhouse also offers a seafood selection including tiger prawns and sea bass. Therefore, this might appeal to the meat and fish lovers among you.

Again, I do apologise for the missing pictures. I am learning from my mistakes and I promise to do better next time and really get pictures from all the venues. Spoiler, I do not have pictures of the rest of the speciality restaurants either! Sorry.

• Location: Deck 14 – Lido, Aft
• Opening Time: 5:30 pm to 10 pm
• Cover Charge: $29 per person

Crab Shack

Crab Shack is a popup speciality restaurant, at least that is what I am going to call it. The Sterling Steakhouse venue was not just used as a Steakhouse, but also served as the Crab Shack venue. I can only assume that this was something like a two in one restaurant and that guests could eat seafood or a steak.

• Location: Deck 14 – Lido, Aft
• Opening Time: 5:30 pm to 10 pm
• Cover Charge: $29 per person

Chef’s Table

A very exclusive and different dining option is the Chef’s Table Experience. This special dining option offers guests the opportunity to take part in a tour of the ship’s galley. They get a behind the scenes glimpse of what is going on in the kitchen during the busy dinner time.

Guests get to enjoy pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the galley while observing how dishes are created. Next, the executive chef will explain the special dinner menu created for those guests participating in the Chef’s Table Experience before they get escorted to a designated table where they will enjoy the main course. Each couple will also receive a copy of the Princess’ best-selling cookbook “Courses, A Culinary Journey”, a handwritten copy of their special dinner menu as well as a picture of the night.

This seems to be a very popular experience as this is only open to up to 10 guests on selected nights during sailings and can only be booked onboard.

• Cover Charge: $95 per person

Balcony Dining

Fancy a luxurious breakfast or romantic dinner with a view from your own private balcony for just the two of you? No problem, Princess Cruises offers a Balcony Dining Experience.

The dinner experience seems to be rather nice and includes one cocktail per person with hors d’oeuvres, one flower bouquet, four course menu as well as one picture 8×10 and half a bottle of Champagne per couple.

• Location: Selected Balcony Cabins
• Opening Time: Breakfast 7 am to 11 am, Dinner 5:30 pm to 10 pm
• Cover Charge: Deluxe Breakfast $45 per couple, Four Course Dinner $100 per couple

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You want to be casual and eat whenever you want to? Go to the Horizon Court Buffet. At night you prefer to dress up and get ready, but want to eat whenever you want to? Go for Anytime Dining. Or are you celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary and want to celebrate the occasion? Book a table in one of the speciality restaurants.

Overall, there are plenty of different dining options and eating venues on board the Sapphire Princess. There is simply something for everyone.

Dining Options Included In Cruise Fare:

• Anytime Dining (Santa Fe, Savoy, Pacific Moon or Vivaldi Dining Room)
• International Dining Room
• Alfredo’s Pizzeria
• International Café
• Horizon Court
• Prego Pizzeria
• Trident Grill
• Swirls
• Room Service

Speciality Dining At An Additional Cost:

• Sabatini’s
• Sterling Steakhouse
• Crab Shack
• Chef’s Table
• Balcony Dining