Caribbean Princess Dining Guide: Restaurants, Costs, and Best Choices

Caribbean Princess combines three included main dining rooms, a large buffet, pool-deck counters, specialty restaurants, dinner pop-ups and delivery.

Build the week around Coral, Island, Palm and World Fresh Marketplace, then pay only for a specific Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, Planks or Steamers experience.

Crown Grill currently costs $55 per adult plus a 20% service charge on a U.S.-priced Caribbean sailing, giving a $66 base total before optional extras; children ages 3-11 have a $27.50 cover before service. Buy it for a steakhouse evening the group wants rather than assuming a paid dinner is necessary for good food.

Caribbean Princess dining at a glance

At Sabatini’s, look for the ricotta tortello or truffle fettuccine when pasta is the reason for booking, then choose branzino or ossobuco for a fuller dinner. Save room for tiramisu rather than adding an extra pasta course simply because the restaurant feels like an occasion.

• Main dining: Coral and Palm are on Deck 6, while Island is on Deck 5.
• Included casual food: World Fresh Marketplace, International Café, Slice, Salty Dog Grill and basic Coffee & Cones choices fill different roles.
• Specialty dining: Crown Grill and Sabatini’s are permanent reservation restaurants.
• Pop-ups: Planks BBQ and Steamers Seafood are scheduled dining concepts, not extra always-open rooms.
• Delivery: OceanNow and room service are services with separate fees and package waivers.

Included main dining and casual venues

Coral, Island and Palm provide the included waiter-served meals, while World Fresh Marketplace and the casual counters make eating around a busy port day easy. The deck layout is worth learning because Palm has a separate aft entrance.

Coral, Island and Palm Dining Rooms

The three rooms use Princess’s main-dining program rather than three unrelated cuisines. Coral sits midship on Deck 6, Island is midship on Deck 5, and Palm is aft on Deck 6, so location should influence the reservation.

Check your dining assignment and available reservations in the Princess app. For Palm, walk aft on Deck 7 and take the aft stairs or elevator down to Deck 6; you cannot walk straight through from Coral.

World Fresh Marketplace

World Fresh Marketplace is the Deck 15 buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with changing stations and regional choices. It shares the larger Lido-area space with spaces used for Planks and Steamers, but that does not make the paid dinner pop-ups included all day.

Walk both sides before choosing food and check which stations remain open late. The buffet is the best schedule buffer on port days, while exact selections and station hours change during the voyage.

International Café

International Café is the Deck 5 Piazza counter for sandwiches, salads, pastries, small bites and desserts, with 24-hour service advertised by Princess. The food case and specialty beverages follow different pricing, so an included pastry does not make every crafted coffee free.

This is the best late or early fallback when a full buffet trip is unnecessary. Pair it with Piazza activities and confirm any drink charge before ordering.

Slice, Salty Dog Grill and Coffee & Cones

Slice and Salty Dog Grill are separate Deck 15 counters for pizza and grilled food, while Coffee & Cones handles frozen treats and crafted coffee. Their narrower hours and outdoor location make them casual stops rather than all-day restaurants.

Basic chocolate, vanilla and swirl soft serve are complimentary at Coffee & Cones. Specialty coffees, frappés and ice cream sandwiches can cost extra, so read the menu before ordering.

Crown Grill, Sabatini’s and special experiences

Crown Grill and Sabatini’s

Crown Grill on Deck 6 and Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria on Deck 7 are the two permanent specialty restaurants. Both take dinner reservations and are covered by eligible Princess Premier dining benefits.

At Crown Grill, my starting order is the blue-cheese onion soup followed by filet mignon; choose the shellfish bisque if you want seafood from the first course. The sample menu charges extra for dry-aged cuts and surf and turf, so compare that supplement with a regular steak before ordering.

Choose Crown Grill for steak and seafood or Sabatini’s for handmade pasta and a longer Italian dinner. Both list a $55 adult cover and $27.50 for children ages 3-11, plus a 20% service charge, subject to the sailing’s menu and package terms.

Chef’s Table and Ultimate Balcony Dining

Chef’s Table is a limited-capacity hosted, multi-course meal, while Ultimate Balcony Dining brings a special meal to an eligible private balcony. Ask about availability, the full price and any package exclusions before reserving either experience.

Choose Chef’s Table when the hosted meal is the evening’s main event, or balcony dining when private service is the point of the splurge. Confirm the full price before deciding between either experience and a specialty restaurant.

Vines

Vines on Deck 5 is a wine bar with a casual food menu, such as small plates or a prix-fixe selection. Check the food charge separately from your wine, since beverage coverage and casual-dining benefits are different.

Beverage packages and dining entitlements use different rules. Check the displayed food price and the specific beverage coverage instead of assuming a wine package includes every plate.

Planks BBQ and Steamers Seafood are pop-ups

Planks BBQ and Steamers Seafood use the aft Deck 15 buffet space for scheduled paid dining. Check the operating nights before booking: seeing their names on the deck plan does not mean the dinner menus run every evening.

Planks lists a $14.99 adult prix-fixe meal and $7.49 for ages 3-11, plus a 20% service charge, with à la carte options where offered. Steamers also has a $14.99 adult prix-fixe option; confirm child pricing, supplements and the total on its onboard menu.

Choose Planks for barbecue meats and sides or Steamers for mussels, clams and fried seafood. Eligible Plus casual-meal allowances or Premier benefits can cover these meals, but premium supplements and drinks need a separate check.

Book only one unless the party strongly wants both barbecue and seafood. Their pop-up schedule may be more limited than Crown Grill or Sabatini’s, so verify operating nights before building the entire week around them.

OceanNow, room service and package math

OceanNow access costs $14.99 per guest per voyage without a qualifying package, and room-service orders placed by phone carry a $5 delivery fee per order. Eligible Plus and Premier packages waive those fees, while chargeable food and drinks remain separate.

OceanNow can bring an order to your cabin or another eligible onboard location through the app. If you order by cabin phone instead, check the room-service delivery charge before placing the order.

For package math, list only the casual and specialty meals the party already plans to buy. Compare their current booking prices with the exact Plus or Premier offer, then account separately for beverages, Wi-Fi and delivery benefits that the travelers will actually use.

The newer Plus offer includes four casual meals per guest per voyage, while Premier includes unlimited casual and specialty dining. Check the terms attached to your booking, especially if you bought an earlier package version.

A sensible reservation order

• First: secure Chef’s Table or Ultimate Balcony Dining only when that limited format is essential.
• Second: reserve Crown Grill or Sabatini’s for the preferred cuisine and evening.
• Third: fit Planks or Steamers around the nights the pop-up actually operates.
• Flexible meals: use your assigned or reserved main dining room and use World Fresh or International Café around port times.
• Pool time: use Slice, Salty Dog Grill or the complimentary soft serve according to posted hours.

Deck 5 groups Island, International Café and Vines around the Piazza, while Deck 6 contains Coral, Palm and Crown Grill. Sabatini’s is on Deck 7, and the buffet, pool counters and pop-up space are high on Deck 15.

On embarkation day, verify the first main-room reservation before buying another meal and use International Café or World Fresh Marketplace if the cabin is not ready. On a sea day, compare the posted main-room lunch, pop-up schedule and afternoon tea before committing a specialty credit.

Port days favor the buffet, Piazza counter and pool grills because their service can fit a moving schedule. Keep the final evening flexible until the disembarkation instructions and restaurant hours appear, since late packing and an early departure can change the value of a long paid dinner.

Dietary needs and family meals

Tell Princess about a serious dietary need before sailing and repeat it with the dining team onboard. Main dining offers the strongest continuity, while buffets, shared pop-up spaces and delivery require a specific cross-contact conversation.

Families can combine main dining, buffet food, pizza, burgers, café bites and basic soft serve without buying every meal. Child pricing at a paid venue does not guarantee that its pacing or menu suits every child.

• Check the nightly main-dining menu before paying for another restaurant.
• Match reservation times to the show and your longest shore day.
• Read the total with service charges, drinks and supplements included.
• Check the casual-meal allowance attached to your package.
• Discuss allergies and cross-contact with the dining team directly.

Browse the Restaurants & Dining guides if you are comparing ships. For Caribbean Princess, choose the meals first and buy a package only when it makes those plans cheaper.

The meals worth saving time for

Caribbean Princess has a strong included plan through three main rooms, World Fresh Marketplace, International Café and the pool counters. Add Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, Planks or Steamers only when its cuisine and service format justify replacing an included meal.

Keep some evenings flexible for a late port return, a good show or a main-dining menu you like. The best dining plan leaves room to change your mind without wasting a paid reservation.

Continue planning with the pros and cons and deck guide for Caribbean Princess.