Ultimate Balcony Dinner

[nlsgmk]

Would love to do the ultimate balcony dinner.  Cruising on Discovery in early May and worried it will be too cold.  Any thoughts?

[PacnGoNow]

7 minutes ago, nlsgmk said:

Would love to do the ultimate balcony dinner.  Cruising on Discovery in early May and worried it will be too cold.  Any thoughts?

Is it Alaska?  Could be chilly.  
You can check the weather once OB and move the date around. 
 

Or, they can set it up just inside the balcony door also for you.

 

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Can you have the UBD inside if the weather is bad/cold?

 

I am of course assuming you have space. We had several meals at the small table in our standard balcony cabin on a previous cruise. It was tight though 🙂 

[Sunwanabe]

We did it the UBD 2 years ago on the Discovery going to Alaska. Cool outside so it was prepared in our cabin. Absolutely fantastic service and food. Zero complaints and would do it again.

[Bgwest]

Having done the UBD three times I have but one suggestion. 
Skip lunch and snacks on your chosen day. 

OMG it’s a lot of food. 🤢

[XBGuy]

This is going to repeat some previous advice, but I love encouraging people to try the Ultimate Balcony Dinner.  Without doubt it is the best dining experience that Princess offers.

 

We have enjoyed the UBD four times.  The first three of them were inside our cabin.  We felt it was much too windy to enjoy dinner on our port/starboard balcony.  The servers set up the table just inside the slider, and we had a terrific experience--all three times.  On our fourth UBD, we had an aft-facing balcony.  So, that was wind protected, and the dinner was, of course, excellent.

[HotRoot]

Who do you talk to to set this up?  Cabin Steward; Head Waiter; Guest Services?

[Bgwest]

19 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

Who do you talk to to set this up?  Cabin Steward; Head Waiter; Guest Services?

Room Service

 

add: they will go over with you the different options you have to decide upon to complete your dinner. Such things as wine selection, entree selection, day and time of your UBD, allergies, preparation, etc. 

 

They may still be offering Ultimate Balcony Breakfast. Not sure that was brought back at the same time as the UBD. Can’t comment on that one as we’ve never tried it. 
 

 

 

Edited February 3 by Bgwest

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

This is going to repeat some previous advice, but I love encouraging people to try the Ultimate Balcony Dinner.  Without doubt it is the best dining experience that Princess offers.

 

We have enjoyed the UBD four times.  The first three of them were inside our cabin.  We felt it was much too windy to enjoy dinner on our port/starboard balcony.  The servers set up the table just inside the slider, and we had a terrific experience--all three times.  On our fourth UBD, we had an aft-facing balcony.  So, that was wind protected, and the dinner was, of course, excellent.

To avoid the wind, we schedule it

for a port day, near sailaway time.

 

So, you have a great backdrop and not much wind.  It’s nice if you’re in the port till 6 or 7.  We schedule it about 530, but we eat early.
 

 

[PacnGoNow]

25 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

Who do you talk to to set this up?  Cabin Steward; Head Waiter; Guest Services?

You can reserve it ahead of time. In the note area, put port and date, if you wish.  

 

Cruise personalizer>Food and beverage experiences>ultimate balcony dinner. 

 

You can change it, once OB, either call RS or they will check in with you to take your order.  We check the weather to make sure there’s no rain.  You can also book it once OB too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

Has anyone booked the UBD for 2026?  I don’t see it on the cruise personalizer. 🤔 

[tulok]

CC just talked me into surprising my husband with a UBD as we are leaving St Kitts. Thank you @PacnGoNow for the idea of a port evening as we leave at 6p so I will schedule at 530. We are just taking the train tour that day so it will be nice to relax and sit on the balcony. It let me schedule the day but not the time so I guess we do that once on board.

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, tulok said:

CC just talked me into surprising my husband with a UBD as we are leaving St Kitts. Thank you @PacnGoNow for the idea of a port evening as we leave at 6p so I will schedule at 530. We are just taking the train tour that day so it will be nice to relax and sit on the balcony. It let me schedule the day but not the time so I guess we do that once on board.

St Kitts backdrop will be cute. Nice for the photo included in the UBD.  Enjoy!

[Wishing on a star]

We are looking at a cruise that will be in St.Thomas until late.

Seem to be the only ship in Port.

That sounds like a really nice opportunity???

Book at Sunset, and then all of the lights from the shore and boats on the harbor...

Can anyone who has been there after dark recommend?

 

To the OP, and anyone else who is not familiar...

I understand that there is staff for only a given number of these each night.

If there is a specific night, like while in Port, a special occasion, then it might be a good idea to go ahead and book, and let them know which night you want to plan.

Once onboard, then you might want to confirm all of the arrangements right away.

 

Alaska, in May...  We traveled late May... yes, it was very chilly, and rainy along the coastal route.

Note that at the Glacier Viewing sites, the temp will be cooler there, of course.

Edited February 3 by Wishing on a star

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

We are looking at a cruise that will be in St.Thomas until late.

Seem to be the only ship in Port.

That sounds like a really nice opportunity???

Book at Sunset, and then all of the lights from the shore and boats on the harbor...

Can anyone who has been there after dark recommend?

 

To the OP, and anyone else who is not familiar...

I understand that there is staff for only a given number of these each night.

If there is a specific night, like while in Port, a special occasion, then it might be a good idea to go ahead and book, and let them know which night you want to plan.

Once onboard, then you might want to confirm all of the arrangements right away.

 

Alaska, in May...  We traveled late May... yes, it was very chilly, and rainy along the coastal route.

Note that at the Glacier Viewing sites, the temp will be cooler there, of course.

Yes!  St Thomas is one of the

most  picturesque ports in the Caribbean. IMO

I would schedule it for sure.  Photo op, before dark. Great idea!

 

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

We are looking at a cruise that will be in St.Thomas until late.

Seem to be the only ship in Port.

That sounds like a really nice opportunity???

Book at Sunset, and then all of the lights from the shore and boats on the harbor...

Can anyone who has been there after dark recommend?

 

To the OP, and anyone else who is not familiar...

I understand that there is staff for only a given number of these each night.

If there is a specific night, like while in Port, a special occasion, then it might be a good idea to go ahead and book, and let them know which night you want to plan.

Once onboard, then you might want to confirm all of the arrangements right away.

 

Alaska, in May...  We traveled late May... yes, it was very chilly, and rainy along the coastal route.

Note that at the Glacier Viewing sites, the temp will be cooler there, of course.

IMO it will be GREAT if you are on the side of the ship facing the harbor (I think ships tend to head-in at the WI dock.  It will be rather MUNDANE for view if your cabin is on the dock side, but maybe you will like the hustle-bustle.  BTW, sunset will be at least in the scope of view on the harbor side, but not the land side.

[Wishing on a star]

Port Side  (correct when heading in not backing in)   extended balcony Dolphin Deck...

Sounds like an excellent set-up.

Thanks!

 

We've been there once, early timing... Have the most gorgeous photo off that side, double rainbow as the sun was coming up over the harbor, yachts, etc!!

[57eric]

5 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

You can reserve it ahead of time. In the note area, put port and date, if you wish.  

 

Cruise personalizer>Food and beverage experiences>ultimate balcony dinner. 

 

You can change it, once OB, either call RS or they will check in with you to take your order.  We check the weather to make sure there’s no rain.  You can also book it once OB too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see it under Cruise personalizer>Extras>Food and beverage experiences>ultimate balcony dinner. 

[IndyKid]

You are in for a real treat, I surprised the wife with the UBD this past December aboard the Caribbean. Absolutely loved it. And I will definitely second what @Bgwest said, it's a LOT of food, we didn't even eat our dessert and saved it for the next day. We each received a filet and TWO lobster tails, I guess because they were a bit small? Anyway, it was the best $110 I spent that week. 

[PacnGoNow]

7 hours ago, 57eric said:

I see it under Cruise personalizer>Extras>Food and beverage experiences>ultimate balcony dinner. 

Are you looking at a 2026 sailing?

Could be just the Island, it’s missing. IDK.

I reported it, so we’ll see.

[57eric]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Are you looking at a 2026 sailing?

Could be just the Island, it’s missing. IDK.

I reported it, so we’ll see.

2024.

[XBGuy]

18 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

 

I understand that there is staff for only a given number of these each night.

If there is a specific night, like while in Port, a special occasion, then it might be a good idea to go ahead and book, and let them know which night you want to plan.

Once onboard, then you might want to confirm all of the arrangements right away.

 

 

Yes, I think they do four UBDs per night. If you take the responses in this tread as a poll. you can guess that port days are quite popular.

 

The first time we pre-booked before the cruise was on a California Coastal cruise--in fact it was our 40th anniversary celebration.  On that occasion the Room Service Manager actually came to our cabin on embarkation day to work out the details.  The very last question was time and date,  After asking he audibly mumbled, "Please, not San Francisco."  That is when I first realized that having the UBD in port was so popular,  We wanted it on our anniversary date (the evening before our San Francisco port stop), and, so, he was quite happy to accommodate us

[tulok]

On 2/4/2024 at 12:21 PM, XBGuy said:

The very last question was time and date, 

When I reserved and paid for it, it asked for date. Is that date not guaranteed?  It didn’t ask time. 

[PacnGoNow]

21 minutes ago, tulok said:

When I reserved and paid for it, it asked for date. Is that date not guaranteed?  It didn’t ask time. 

I’ve never had a problem with a date I put on the reservation.  You may want to change it due to weather, or various reasons.  So, that is why they call and check with you to see if you still want that date.

 

There is a note area, you can put the time.  NP.  They call and ask you the time you prefer.

 

 

[Bgwest]

Realizing that things change, if you do need to vary from the date you booked, you would be well served to contact room service just as soon as you possibly can once you board. 
Otherwise you new date may very well be fully booked.