Big-ship cruises, with their thousands of passengers, double-digit deck plans, and mazes of corridors, aren’t for everyone. But with all that space comes a whole lot of dining options. I spent the last week of May onboard the brand new Princess Cruises ship the Sun Princess, a 21-deck cruise ship that can accommodate 4,300 guests and is billed as “The Greatest Foodie Destination at Sea.” During my seven-day Mediterranean sailing, I tried every specialty restaurant on the ship but one (The Catch by Rudi, a restaurant devoted to seafood), as well as some of the more casual food venues. Here is my ranking of the six (out of seven) specialty restaurants I tried, my reviews of the other dining venues, and everything you need to know before you sit down for a meal at any of them.
I Tried Nearly Every Cruise Ship Restaurant on 'The Greatest Foodie Destination at Sea'
Specialty restaurants on the Sun Princess
1. The Butcher’s Block by Dario
Dario Cecchini, an Italian butcher from Tuscany often referred to as the world’s most famous butcher — especially since an entire episode of Netflix’ s Chef Table was dedicated to his work in 2019 — partnered with Princess Cruises to open The Butcher’s Block by Dario on the Sun Princess. Despite the fact that The Butcher’s Block by Dario is dedicated to all things beef, it is the best restaurant for vegetarians on board the Sun Princess. I have been a vegetarian for nearly two decades, but my partner is a meat eater and it was a real pleasure for both of us to eat delicious, fresh food that we love without anyone having to make any compromise. While my partner enjoyed the fixed menu that consisted of seemingly endless servings of tender and flavorful beef tartar, rump roast carpaccio, ribeye and T-bone steaks, I dined on amazing crostone with vegetable toppings, tomato stew, chickpea tart, and more. The food and the wine are simple, no frills, yet delicious, much like the venue’s atmosphere, which is relaxed and fun. There’s only one choice for dessert: an olive-oil coffee cake and a glass of strong grappa that will set you right after this abundant food experience.
Menu: Here
Price: $45 per person with meat, and $35 per person for the vegetarian/vegan menu.
Dress code: Casual
2. Love by Britto
Love by Britto is a collaboration between world-famous Brazilian artist Romero Britto and Princess Cruises to offer guests a dining experience that’s centered around the theme of love. Located at the very aft of the ship on deck 17, this restaurant is the perfect setting for a romantic meal: It feels secluded and private, and offers the best sea views found anywhere on the Sun Princess thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows all around. The decor, including the menu, the dinnerware, and the cutlery, bear a multitude of hearts. The menu is fixed and includes oysters, tuna tartare, beef tenderloin, and more, but delicious accommodations are easily made for vegetarians. The sommelier is always on hand for a flute of Prosecco flavored with fresh strawberries, a glass of rosé, or a top-up of Argentinian malbec, but there’s also a large variety of amorously named cocktails if that’s what you prefer. The granita of pink Champagne and rose petals and the chocolate lava cake with fresh berries and raspberry cream are the highlights of this fantastic dining experience.
Menu: Here
Price: $79 per person
Dress code: Dressing up is recommended
3. Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria
Sabatini’s is a traditional upscale Italian restaurant found on several Princess ships. The atmosphere is romantic and chic, with dim lights, white tablecloths, and a refined decor that will transport you straight to Tuscany. The menu, which includes a variety of vegetarian dishes, lists Italian staples such as arancini, risotto, pasta dishes, tiramisù, and more. Come hungry and choose one item among the soup and salad offerings (zuppe e insalata), one antipasto, one first entree (primi platti), one second entree (secondi platti), and a dessert. The wine list is long and the staff is more than happy to help you make a selection that will pair well with your choices. I opted for a hearty Tuscan soup called Robollita, followed by a dish of creamy burrata and fresh olives and tomatoes, and an entree of primavera pasta before ending the meal with a chocolate hazelnut tart and a decaf espresso. I was very glad I passed on the second entree to keep room for dessert — the servings are very generous. My partner went for the full four courses before his tiramisù and the wobble back to our stateroom after dinner was very slow.
Menu: Here
Price: $45 per person
Dress code: Elegant clothing is recommended
4. Crown Grill
While Crown Grill is a steak and seafood restaurant, the chef is relatively accommodating to vegetarians accompanying meat eaters. Once again, come hungry because the servings are far from stingy. I had the black and blue onion soup (made with beef broth, unfortunately), and a lovely made-just-for-me grilled eggplant and tomato concoction before tucking into the jaw-dropping crème brulée cheesecake. My partner started with the Caesar salad, followed by a gigantic and tender 20-ounce porterhouse accompanied by asparagus, and a traditional baked Alaska to finish. The staff served a selection of three salts from around the world (Hawaiian black salt, smoked applewood salt from Japan, and Himalayan pink salt) to enhance his entree, which made for a new culinary experience and a delectable meal. The Crown Grill kitchen is open to the dining room so you can observe your copious dishes being prepared with care by the excellent team at this chic dining venue. The waiting staff at Crown Grill is perhaps the most attentive and friendly of all the restaurants I tried on board.
Menu: Here
Price: $39 per person
Dress code: Smart casual
5. Makoto Ocean
Makoto Ocean is a collaboration between famed chef Makoto Okuwa and Princess Cruises to bring the best of Edomae-style sushi to Sun Princess passengers. The excellent Omakase menu consists of nine generous courses, including edamame; miso soup; tuna tartare; a variety of nigiri, sushi, and temaki; and mochi ice cream — all of which are some of the freshest and most flavorful dishes my partner ever had. While the menu is focused on raw fish, as it should, vegetarians are still able to find suitable items from the menu, including charred edamame and garden, avocado, and cucumber rolls. The fine food, however, is hard to enjoy considering the restaurant’s regrettable location. While the views from the sphere are particularly beautiful, Makoto Ocean is entirely open to the piazza, which, unfortunately, is the heart of the ship and the loudest and busiest part of the Sun Princess. We dined at Makoto Ocean on the night of the Captain’s Welcome Aboard speech and could barely hold a conversation for all the noise around us. Pick an early time for your dinner, or choose a quiet night if you can.
Price: $45 per person for the fixed Omakase menu. The rest of the menu is a la carte.
Dress code: Dressing up is recommended
6. Umai Teppanyaki/Hot Pot
Umai is primarily focused on two things: teppanyaki (where the chef cooks and entertains behind a griddle surrounded by a handful of guests) and hot pot. In order to experience the famous theatricality of it for the first time, I opted for the teppanyaki experience, which provided not only an abundance of food, but also great options for my vegetarian diet. With fried rice, tofu with udon noodles, and mochi ice cream, there was more than enough tasty food for me to be satisfied. That said, despite being fun, the concept lacks originality and creativity. Hearing the chef at the next metal griddle making the exact same jokes as the chef in our section just 30 seconds later was a bit of a disappointment.
Menu: Here
Price: $45 per person
Dress code: Casual
Other food venues on board the Sun Princess
Alfredo’s Pizzeria
Alfredo’s Pizzeria is a bright and simple-yet-stylish venue with a mouth-watering menu of Italian specialties, including antipasti and freshly made pizzas and calzones. The pizzas and calzones are made in the open pizza station so you can see them cooking. The pizza menu has enough variety to suit every taste and diet, including those opting for a meat-free meal. During our lunch at Alfredo’s Pizzeria, I opted for a vegetarian pizza bianca, which was very cheesy but flavorful, accompanied by a delicious and refreshing Roma cocktail (gin, elderflower, limoncello, and fresh raspberries). My other half ordered an antipasto platter followed by the signature Princess Pizza with Parma ham. We both ended the meal with an excellent chocolate and pistachio cannolo.
Price: $14.99 for a starter, a pizza or calzone, and a dessert.
Dress code: Casual
Horizons Dining Room
The Horizons Dining Room is the main breakfast, lunch, and dining venue for all Sun Princess passengers. Instead of feeling like a gigantic and noisy canteen like cruise ship dining rooms often do, this one has a cozy and private atmosphere — even though it’s spread over three floors. This small-restaurant vibe is mostly due to the smart partition of the space into smaller areas, but also to the choice of wooden Mid-Century-inspired furniture and refined-yet-simple light fixtures. While the extensive breakfast menu remains the same every day with offerings of waffles, eggs, bacon, pancakes and pastries galore, the dining menu changes to offer guests a variety of dishes that match the ship’s location.
Price: Included
Dress code: Anything you like, from casual to formal, it’s up to you
Americana Diner
The Americana Diner is located within the main dining room on deck eight, with the same beautiful and intimate decor you’ll find in the Horizons Dining Room. What makes the Americana Diner unique on the Sun Princess is its menu of no-frills, rich, and copious diner specialties, including milk shakes, soda floats, saucy ribs, nachos, fish and chips, omelettes, etc. My partner and I went twice for late lunches and both times we thoroughly indulged in the excellent food served and came out incredibly full and satisfied. The Americana Diner is open for brunch, from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM, and for dinner from 6:00 PM to 10 PM, so you can have breakfast for supper.
Price: Included
Dress code: Casual
The Eatery
The Eatery is the buffet section of the Sun Princess. It offers a huge selection of food spread over several stations, including an Asian station where you’ll find the likes of spring rolls and ramen noodles, a carving station for meats, a salad bar, an Italian bar, a dessert station, and more. The Eatery is open throughout the day from 6 AM to 10 PM. It’s where we ate upon embarking the ship, as well as once more for a quick breakfast, but because it gets very crowded, we mostly stayed away from it after that, even though there’s plenty of good food to be had.
Price: Included
Dress code: Casual
The International Café
Photo: Jesse Adams
The International Café is a great spot for a quick breakfast or a treat. There’s a large selection of cake slices, cookies, muffins, and doughnuts, as well as savory items such as quiches, bagels, and sandwiches. But the best part is the specialty coffees on offer. I tried the tiramisù cappuccino and the Nutella cappuccino, and both were as flavorful and indulgent as expected. I wish I had the time to try the pink latte (made with dragon fruit) and the mocha caramel Latte, but there’s only so much I can ingest in the space of seven days. Note that the International Café is located around the Piazza on deck nine and can get quite busy and loud, with very few seats available. Taking your order to go and finding a more quiet space is a good idea if you want a more tranquil experience.
Price: A la carte
Dress code: Casual
Gelateria
Affogato and fior di latte gelato. Photo: Jesse Adams
For the Gelateria, the people at Princess Cruises went all out and sent some of their crew members to be traditionally trained in Italy so that they could produce authentic gelato for their guests. And it shows. The Gelateria is the best place for ice cream on the ship, and the best spot for affogato if, like me, you want coffee with every meal and snack. The servings are generous and, surprisingly, the venue was rarely busy.
Price: A la carte
Dress code: Casual
Coffee and Cones
The Leaning Tower Premium Dessert, and blue granita from Coffee and Cones. Photo: Jesse Adams
Coffee and Cones is an outdoor venue close to the main pools where, as the name indicates, you’ll find a small selection of coffees, granitas, vanilla soft-serve ice cream, and what Princess Cruises call premium desserts. I tried a couple of granitas (blue raspberry and strawberry) and both were deliciously sweet and refreshing, but my real reason for visiting Coffee and Cones was to try out one of the gigantic premium desserts. The premium desserts are concoctions of ice cream mixed with sweet sauces (chocolate, caramel, and the like), candy toppings, cookies, and more. I tried the beautifully presented leaning tower premium dessert, which was immense, heavy, and overflowing with goodies, but not as sweet and certainly not as flavorful as expected.
Price: A la carte. Premium dessert are $12, granitas are $8, soft serve vanilla ice cream is $4, and the coffee selection ranges from $2.50 to $4.
Dress code: Casual
Lido
Lido consists of five venues that are located near each other by the main pools on deck 17. The five venues consist of Lido Bar for drinks only; Lido Greens for salads; Lido Grill for hot dogs, burgers, and fries; Lido Tacos for tacos and burritos; and Lido Slice for pizzas. My partner tried the Lido Grill for a hot dog with fries, while I tried Lido Tacos where there are vegetarian options. At both venues the service was extremely fast, the servings were large, and the food lovely.
Price: Included
Dress code: Casual 