High Tea?

[Medsi]

I've seen a few mentions of high tea on the Princess lines. I'll be cruising on the Caribbean Princess May 26, and I *adore* high tea. Can anyone tell me how to go about arranging for it? Is there an additional cost?

 

Thank you so much :)

[cruiserdru]

Princess ships offer afternoon tea, usually from 3:00-4:00 or 3:30-4:30. Afternoon tea includes tea, finger sandwiches, scones and cakes and there is no charge. The time varies by the evening dining times. If you are in a full suite, you may have afternoon tea served in your suite, also without charge. You can just walk in as it is a daily event.

 

On the Royal & Regal Princess they offer Royal Afternoon Tea that has a surcharge of $10, or $20 with champagne.

 

On the Majestic & Sapphire Princess they offer English Afternoon Tea with the same charges.

 

High tea is usually more like a meal with at least one hot dish and tea. As far as I know, Princess does not offer this. (Incidentally, Cunard offers two kinds of afternoon teas but also did not offer High Tea on my recent B2B TA last year,)

[fishywood]

 

On the Royal & Regal Princess they offer Royal Afternoon Tea that has a surcharge of $10, or $20 with champagne.

 

On the Majestic & Sapphire Princess they offer English Afternoon Tea with the same charges.

 

 

To be clear: on Royal and Regal the complimentary Afternoon Tea is still offered daily (except turnaround day) in the MDR. The upcharge Royal Afternoon Tea is an additional offering on sea days, held in the Piazza.

 

And the English Afternoon Tea (not offered daily) is a substitute for the complimentary Afternoon Tea when certain ships are in Asia. I would expect Sapphire to offer daily Afternoon Tea during her summer deployments out of Southampton.

[Medsi]

Wow that is amazing info. Thank you both so much! I guess in this case it's the 'afternoon tea' I'm after.

 

Thanks again!

[moki'smommy]

Every Princess cruise I've been on has featured the afternoon tea at 3pm in one of the dining rooms at no charge. This is NOT a British "High Tea." It is also far less fancy than I've experienced on other lines. However, there is no charge while those other lines had a charge for their fancier offering. The scones, clotted cream, and jam are good!

 

I've never experienced the more upscale tea that is offered on some Princess ships for an extra charge--sorry.

[JF - retired RRT]

The afternoon tea is pleasant. Usually quieter than meals in the MDR.

As posted above it's nothing like "high tea".

The waiters walk around and offer trays with various items: finger sandwiches, cookies, scones with the ship version of clotted cream (more like whipped cream) & jam, pots of tea. Coffee can be requested. Different flavored tea can be requested. The standard tea is plain ol' Lipton. I've asked for and received Earl Grey.

The drawback for me is, it's too soon after lunch and right before dinner (unless you do late dinner). We'll go maybe once on a short cruise and choose sparingly from the food offerings.

[Medsi]

Thanks for that info as well, JF. That is what I saw in a video someone posted, but from another Princess ship, so I wasn't certain. I appreciate the info.

[Akaicb]

Also to let you know, if you happen to have the Sanctuary booked for the day or an afternoon, the stewards in that area come around with a version of the afternoon tea. They will have tea, finger sandwiches and sweets. I don't believe they have the scones and jam/cream available.

 

The tea is free but there is a charge to go to the Sanctuary.

[Medsi]

Is the Sanctuary worth the up-charge?

[capriccio]

. They will have tea, finger sandwiches and sweets. I don't believe they have the scones and jam/cream available.

 

 

We haven't used the Sanctuary since October 2015 and then (and on previous visits) they offered the scones with jam and/or cream. That's a shame if scones are no longer available. They were my favorite!

[Akaicb]

Is the Sanctuary worth the up-charge?

 

For my husband and I we really enjoy it, we like the extra thick cushions on the loungers, being able to have a reserved space each day and the quiet. We love that they bring the afternoon tea straight to your lounger. But the quiet is one thing we really love, but it is really pricey

 

We try to book for the whole week so it's $60 a day for both of us, unless the price has gone up recently.

 

We are only lucky to cruise every couple of years so this is one thing we treat ourselves to while we cruise.

 

Our next cruise is Alaska, so I'm going to miss our time there because I hear it's a real waste to book for that type of cruise.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Akaicb
spelling

[Medsi]

I like the quiet too, which is why I considered it. Though from watching YouTube videos, there seems to be a decent amount of spots on the ship to curl up with a good book. The cruise has had so many unexpected expenses however, I'm not sure I can justify more money as much as I like the idea.

[IECalCruiser]

Is the Sanctuary worth the up-charge?

That’s a personal matter. We booked the Sanctuary once when we were cruising in an Oceanview cabin. It was a full transit Panama Canal cruise with 8 sea days and we spent most of those days in the Sanctuary. This was when the cost was $10/half day, $20/full day, or $15/day if booked for the whole cruise. At the lower cost it was cheaper to book an Oceanview cabin and the Sanctuary than to book a balcony cabin. This was on the Island and attendants have access to a coffee brewer for fresh brewed coffee. The attendants would bring fresh brewed coffee and pastries to start the day, ice water and cold wet cloths during the day and afternoon tea later in the day. For that cruise it was definitely worth it for us. Since then the cost has doubled to $20/half day, $40/full day, or $30/day if booked for the whole cruise. We have opted for balcony or better cabins since then and for me, at the increased cost, it is not worth it.

 

 

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[suzk2275a]

To arrange for the royal tea (aka high tea) go to the bar in the piazza area. They will add your name to the list and scan your card. On our last cruise on the Regal it was offered one time during the 7 day cruise. The day before the high tea princess should call your cabin to confirm the reservation. I think it is $10 per person without champagne-$20 if you want to include champagne.

 

There is also a daily free tea in one of the main dining rooms.

 

 

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[fouroctaves]

Does anyone know if the normal daily tea time have live music? Perhaps a string trio or a pianist?

[Lucky TGO]

Does anyone know if the normal daily tea time have live music? Perhaps a string trio or a pianist?

 

My wife just told me there’s no live music sorry. Welcome to Cruise Critic!!!

Tony

[moki'smommy]

4 cruises, never had live music at tea. It isn't that fancy an event.

[floridalover5623]

Does anyone know if the scones were available at the buffet in the afternoon? :confused:

My wife would just like to take coffee & scones back to the balcony to eat in without having to go to a sit down tea.

[tillys mom]

On the Grand in March, the scones with jam and cream were available in the buffet every afternoon.:D

[moki'smommy]

On Diamond and Caribbean, scones were available at the buffet.

[IECalCruiser]

Does anyone know if the normal daily tea time have live music? Perhaps a string trio or a pianist?

One time we had a piano player but we haven’t been in a number of years.

 

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[keithm]

Princess ships offer afternoon tea, usually from 3:00-4:00 or 3:30-4:30. Afternoon tea includes tea, finger sandwiches, scones and cakes and there is no charge. The time varies by the evening dining times. If you are in a full suite, you may have afternoon tea served in your suite, also without charge. You can just walk in as it is a daily event.

 

On the Royal & Regal Princess they offer Royal Afternoon Tea that has a surcharge of $10, or $20 with champagne.

 

On the Majestic & Sapphire Princess they offer English Afternoon Tea with the same charges.

 

High tea is usually more like a meal with at least one hot dish and tea. As far as I know, Princess does not offer this. (Incidentally, Cunard offers two kinds of afternoon teas but also did not offer High Tea on my recent B2B TA last year,)

You should try the tea service on Oceania. It's part of the fare. You have a string quartet playing. There's a great choice of savories & sweets to be had. Only on the Queens Grill lounge was the tea service this grand.

[bobby3334]

As a US Citizen I have just finished low or high tea, eaten too many goodies, and it is time for dinner at 6 or 7. I avoid it like the plague except perhaps a cup of tea. I know other countries have other customs eg Spain with dinner at 930 or 1000

 

 

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[suzyed]

I've seen a few mentions of high tea on the Princess lines. I'll be cruising on the Caribbean Princess May 26, and I *adore* high tea. Can anyone tell me how to go about arranging for it? Is there an additional cost?

 

Thank you so much :)

My daughter and I are on that cruise too!

 

The tea is served in one of the dining rooms and is very nice! Scones with cream and jam, little sandwiches, little pastries and of course Tea!! Very nice and everything was very tasty!! Check the Patter for the time.

 

Susan and Amanda

[Medsi]

My daughter and I are on that cruise too!

 

The tea is served in one of the dining rooms and is very nice! Scones with cream and jam, little sandwiches, little pastries and of course Tea!! Very nice and everything was very tasty!! Check the Patter for the time.

 

Susan and Amanda

 

 

Thanks very much! Maybe see you there lol.