Prebooking Balcony Breakfasts and Balcony Dinners is back!

[tanyaewa]

Gosh thanks for sharing this. This is the sort of thing I love about this message board - the little intel details. I booked the breakfast for our Sept 10. What a fun surprise for my hubby.  

[SpareBrew]

I can see it my Enchanted cruise.  We have 3 in our cabin.  How would it work with a third person since it says it’s a dinner for two? TIA

[JF - retired RRT]

17 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Also there for our OCT 2022 voyages (but we are not in a Balcony then).

Don't NEED to be in a balcony for the "balcony breakfast". We've done it in an inside cabin.

[PacnGoNow]

13 hours ago, ghgeckos said:

Has anyone had experience ordering a Gluten Free Balcony Dinner or Breakfast?

They will ask if anyone has a special diet or allergies.  You should tell them when you reserve your time. 

 

[alibabacruisers]

This showed up for our cruise next month and being from Australia, the prices were:  DBB for two is AUD 60.75 and UBD for two is AUD 135.  I doubt we will do either of them though.

[smilesonfaces]

Booked today for the balcony breakfast for a September cruise. I am UK and it was £32 (approx US $38) so a little cheaper than I was expecting. Could book the day but not the time of delivery. I actually hope I can change the day once onboard because I mistakenly booked for a port day and I wanted it on the first sea day. I’m sure it won’t be a problem. 

[PacnGoNow]

16 minutes ago, smilesonfaces said:

Booked today for the balcony breakfast for a September cruise. I am UK and it was £32 (approx US $38) so a little cheaper than I was expecting. Could book the day but not the time of delivery. I actually hope I can change the day once onboard because I mistakenly booked for a port day and I wanted it on the first sea day. I’m sure it won’t be a problem. 

No problem. You will get a slip of paper on embarkation day and just call them with your day and preferred time.

 

Sea days are sometimes windy or cold.  I like the port day early or the UBD is great if there is a late departure at a port or an overnight. JMO

[rheathslc]

On 8/19/2022 at 12:31 PM, canadarocks said:

Just checked our cruise on the Sky Princess next February and under Onboard Services -> Food & Beverage Experiences, the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast and Ultimate Balcony Dinner are available to pre-book. They weren't there a few days ago. 👍

Thank you for the heads up! I had been checking pretty regularly but with our embarkation date in just 2 weeks I've been preoccupied with other prep and stopped checking.

[rheathslc]

On 8/19/2022 at 2:37 PM, SomewhereGirl said:

Available to book next week on Emerald.  Is there a discount if sailing solo with no balcony?  Just kidding.

I booked the breakfast when I sailed solo last October (RIGHT before they removed it from the cruise personalizer and discontinued it altogether for a while). I paid the full $45 but they brought two servings of everything. It was way too much food for one. I asked for a side of bacon. They brought me a heaping full plate. Haha!

Maybe make friends with another solo cruiser on the first day and invite them to share your breakfast. That's not weird right? 🙂 

[luckyinpa]

ive had the dinner inside a mini suite and full suite. been a while since ive had the mini suite (forget how big the balcony is)  but if i did want it on the mini suite balcony, its pretty tight isnt it?  

 

was also curious opinions on doing it on the sea day returning from canada to NYC. avg high temps seem to be 70 mid sept. up that way. unsure if wind would bother us even if temps dont. curious your experiences doing the dinner while under way. 

Edited August 21, 2022 by luckyinpa

[Happiest when cruising]

It is available to pre book for our Sept. 25th cruise.  I was hoping to use some OBC, which it won’t let me use now, unlike excursions…so I guess I’ll wait until we board. The cost for the pre booking is 125.00 CAD. for the UBD.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Happiest when cruising

[texasgirl29]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I have wanted to do the UBD for a long time but put it out of my mind since they were no longer offering it. I was able to book for my upcoming September 2 TA. 
 

Next question: what is the appropriate tip for the servers? 

[rheathslc]

4 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

ive had the dinner inside a mini suite and full suite. been a while since ive had the mini suite (forget how big the balcony is)  but if i did want it on the mini suite balcony, its pretty tight isnt it?  

 

was also curious opinions on doing it on the sea day returning from canada to NYC. avg high temps seem to be 70 mid sept. up that way. unsure if wind would bother us even if temps dont. curious your experiences doing the dinner while under way. 

The size of the mini suite balconies depends on which ship you're on and which cabin you're in. Since you're doing Canada to NYC I'm guessing you're on the Caribbean Princess so you should have enough room. On the Grand, Crown, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, and Caribbean all of the minis are going to have plenty of space on the balconies. On the Island and Coral MOST of the minis have larger balconies with a few exceptions (notably some of the club class minis which seems strange to me). On the Royal class ships it depends on which specific mini suite you're in. The ones that are midship with the angled balconies will mostly have enough space. I had the balcony breakfast in B414 on the Majestic last October. There was plenty of space. The forward minis on Marina and Lido will be large enough. Many of the others will be so small as to make it pretty tough to have the meal actually served on the balcony. Unless you stay seated the whole time and the servers serve you through the open door. I honestly don't know what Princess was thinking making all those balconies so small. They tout the fact that the Royal class ships have such a high percentage of balcony cabins yet most (even on a lot of the suites) are too shallow to even sit on. It's silly.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, texasgirl29 said:

Next question: what is the appropriate tip for the servers? 

 

The servers are in the tipping pool that you already contribute to.

 

That said, if you wish, you can tip them more. No special amount, just what you feel is appropriate for the service you receive.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, Happiest when cruising said:

It is available to pre book for our Sept. 25th cruise.  I was hoping to use some OBC, which it won’t let me use now, unlike excursions…so I guess I’ll wait until we board. The cost for the pre booking is 125.00 CAD. for the UBD.

 

Pre-cruise, OBC can only be used for shore excursions. You can use your OBC if you book on board.

 

Some people have a dining credit which can be used pre-cruise. For example, those in a full suite who automatically get a "free" specialty dining experience the first evening of a cruise.

[luckyinpa]

lido deck on enchanted

[Happiest when cruising]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Pre-cruise, OBC can only be used for shore excursions. You can use your OBC if you book on board.

 

Some people have a dining credit which can be used pre-cruise. For example, those in a full suite who automatically get a "free" specialty dining experience the first evening of a cruise.

Yes, as I mentioned, that is why I am waiting until we board now. 

[sonomaphil]

Now bring back pre ordering flowers for our cabin and I'll be a happy camper. 

[rheathslc]

6 minutes ago, sonomaphil said:

Now bring back pre ordering flowers for our cabin and I'll be a happy camper. 

Exactly! I very unexpectedly got a dozen roses delivered to my cabin on my solo 7-day Alaska cruise in May. The card said it was from the housekeeping staff. I found that so weird. If they have access to flowers let us order them!

[PacnGoNow]

37 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

Exactly! I very unexpectedly got a dozen roses delivered to my cabin on my solo 7-day Alaska cruise in May. The card said it was from the housekeeping staff. I found that so weird. If they have access to flowers let us order them!

That’s very nice.  You buy them once OB.

[Notalotofinfo]

58 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

Exactly! I very unexpectedly got a dozen roses delivered to my cabin on my solo 7-day Alaska cruise in May. The card said it was from the housekeeping staff. I found that so weird. If they have access to flowers let us order them!

I read somewhere that you can order flowers from guest service when you board. Sounds strange to me but I am going to try it.