Complimentary special dining

[Jadn13]

14 minutes ago, dickinson said:

 

Crown Grill is a Seafood and Steak place.  Just google Princess Crown Grill menu and you will see it. If you don't eat fish then you might have a problem.

Googled, Thank You! 
if we get stuck with it, I could work around it with extra salad and sides. 

[skynight]

27 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

Googled, Thank You! 
if we get stuck with it, I could work around it with extra salad and sides. 

On Boarding day afternoon call the dining line and request a different specialty restaurant or even better visit the restaurant of your choice on boarding day to make the reservation. 

[skynight]

1 hour ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Based on what I am reading above, it sounds like the special dining perk, like from the current Best Sale Ever package cannot be scheduled in advance? Like when you make your final payment? You really have to wait until boarding to find out where/when Princess scheduled you? Seem odd.......

 

Doug

Yes. But there is some flexibility. We found that the best way to handle is to visit the restaurant of your choice on boarding day afternoon if you wish to change. With so many passengers getting specialty dining reservation times can be tight.

[skynight]

3 hours ago, Sprocket said:

We also have the specialty dining perk on our cruise.  We board on the 20th and our Anniversary is the 23rd will we have any problems using it at the Crown Grill that night?  If so I will just book and pay for it early.  What about NYE do they take advance reservations for that night?   I haven't tried to book it just wanted to see if they could/would bump us we are in a mini suite so not sure if full suites would get priority.

Sounds like you board the Enchanted on Dec 20th for 20 days.  If you really want a certain evening in a specialty restaurant then you would have to book. If you can get the free dining time you wish you may be able to cancel the pre-paid reservation. I don't know what the cancellation policy is for specialty dining. Can't locate it. New Year's Eve is probably in high demand. It seems that you are on a b2b. You may be able to make reservations during the first 10 days. If you booked as a single cruise you will receive one specialty ding. If you booked as two cruises you will receive two. No priority for mini suites. 

[Sprocket]

3 minutes ago, skynight said:

Sounds like you board the Enchanted on Dec 20th for 20 days.  If you really want a certain evening in a specialty restaurant then you would have to book. If you can get the free dining time you wish you may be able to cancel the pre-paid reservation. I don't know what the cancellation policy is for specialty dining. Can't locate it. New Year's Eve is probably in high demand. It seems that you are on a b2b. You may be able to make reservations during the first 10 days. If you booked as a single cruise you will receive one specialty ding. If you booked as two cruises you will receive two. No priority for mini suites. 

We're actually on the Grand doing 5 night Cabo then 15 nights to Hawaii.  I'll prebook the nights we want I was more worried that full suites could bump us out of a prepaid reservation, but maybe that's a non issue.  

[PaperSniper4]

55 minutes ago, skynight said:

Yes. But there is some flexibility. We found that the best way to handle is to visit the restaurant of your choice on boarding day afternoon if you wish to change. With so many passengers getting specialty dining reservation times can be tight.

Seems like an inefficient  way to do things. If they would permit us going online, starting some time before boarding, things would be much less hectic on boarding day. But Princess doesn't tell me when to take my nap, so I won't tell them how to run a cruise line. 😉

 

Doug

[caribill]

11 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

I’m a vegetarian, has anyone listed vegetarian in their profile and then was still assigned The Crown Grill?

I’m not a huge fan of steak houses for obvious reasons.  

 

One of us is a vegetarian. When going to the Crown Grill, we go up the day before and speak with the headwaiter to work up a special vegetarian dinner. So when we do dine there one of us is happy being a carnivore and the other is happy with the special vegetarian meal.

 

Of course if we were paying for the meal, it would be overpriced for a vegetarian meal. But if the meal is a perk, that does not matter.

 

However if you are assigned to the Crown Grill, you can call and get the reservation changed to the other specialty restaurant.

[skynight]

14 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Seems like an inefficient  way to do things. If they would permit us going online, starting some time before boarding, things would be much less hectic on boarding day. But Princess doesn't tell me when to take my nap, so I won't tell them how to run a cruise line. 😉

 

Doug

In all our cruises we have not experienced difficulty in obtaining a specialty restaurant reservation once on board even at the Crown Grill which is the most popular. When we tried SHARE we were the only ones in the DR. Sabatini's isn't as popular as the Crown Grill and fairly easy to reserve. Since specialty dining was added as a pre-boarding option we have never used this feature. Even when we pay we wait until we are on board so we can use up OBC.

The dining line is busy on boarding day which is why we normally visit the restaurant. We are also only two, large parties may have some difficulty. The Crown Grill and others have limited tables for large parties. Now that specialty dining is part of the current promo through March 2nd there could be additional problems with reservation times. If bookings are higher than the ability to provide the dining Princess will exclude from future promos. Post covid protocols may also make it more difficult. 

[PaperSniper4]

11 minutes ago, skynight said:

In all our cruises we have not experienced difficulty in obtaining a specialty restaurant reservation once on board even at the Crown Grill which is the most popular. When we tried SHARE we were the only ones in the DR. Sabatini's isn't as popular as the Crown Grill and fairly easy to reserve. Since specialty dining was added as a pre-boarding option we have never used this feature. Even when we pay we wait until we are on board so we can use up OBC.

The dining line is busy on boarding day which is why we normally visit the restaurant. We are also only two, large parties may have some difficulty. The Crown Grill and others have limited tables for large parties. Now that specialty dining is part of the current promo through March 2nd there could be additional problems with reservation times. If bookings are higher than the ability to provide the dining Princess will exclude from future promos. Post covid protocols may also make it more difficult. 

That is all true, but it seems that permitting passengers to make specialty dining reservation online would solve a lot of passenger and cruise line passenger problems. I generally have other things I need to do upon boarding, like getting a good table for two in the MDR, making sure we have the necessarily "health" items in our cabin, checking our cabin/TV/plumbing is functional, etc. Those  take priority over making a specialty dining reservation that first afternoon. I'm sure Princess has some reason for not permitting us making reservations early, but I don't understand their logic. But as I said before, this isn't one of my major concerns when I cruise. 😎

[Treasure Hunter]

16 hours ago, Sprocket said:

We're actually on the Grand doing 5 night Cabo then 15 nights to Hawaii.  I'll prebook the nights we want I was more worried that full suites could bump us out of a prepaid reservation, but maybe that's a non issue.  

We did that exact cruise B2B but on the Emerald. You will have a wonderful time. The  Hawaiian dancers brought onboard are just great. Prebook whatever you really want. It's easier to cancel than try to get something that's full. Go directly to the dining room that you are interested in. You will have an easier time with the Hawaii trip. We loved the excursions we took especially the one on Oahu to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's a little cheesy but we had a very funny guide and it was a very enjoyable day. Try to see the Whales in Cabo, it's a much better chance.

[dog]

Specialty dinner for Canadian dollars is $39.15 each.