Specialty Dining questions

[WonderMan3]

So with the Premier package I see that it includes 2 specialty dining visits pp. On the Princess website it says that is based on a 7 night cruise though. So do longer cruises get more specialty dining included? I have booked a 14 night cruise so wondering how many I would get?

 

Do suite guests get a complimentary specialty dining on embarkation day? If you are on a 14 night cruise that is two 7 nights put together do you get a complimentary specialty then on each embarkation day? Or would you have had to have booked them as two separate 7 night cruises?

 

At specialty restaurants (or actually at MDR as well) are you allowed to order more than one appetizer, or say an appetizer plus a soup/salad, or more than one entree or dessert? Or do they charge you for extra? Haven’t sailed with Princess since 2011 so I know some rules have changed. Is there a difference with this if you have Premier?

 

 

[Torfamm]

2 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

So with the Premier package I see that it includes 2 specialty dining visits pp. On the Princess website it says that is based on a 7 night cruise though. So do longer cruises get more specialty dining included? I have booked a 14 night cruise so wondering how many I would get?

 

Do suite guests get a complimentary specialty dining on embarkation day? If you are on a 14 night cruise that is two 7 nights put together do you get a complimentary specialty then on each embarkation day? Or would you have had to have booked them as two separate 7 night cruises?

 

At specialty restaurants (or actually at MDR as well) are you allowed to order more than one appetizer, or say an appetizer plus a soup/salad, or more than one entree or dessert? Or do they charge you for extra? Haven’t sailed with Princess since 2011 so I know some rules have changed. Is there a difference with this if you have Premier?

 

 

The 2 specialty dining credits are per cruise, no matter what the length. It’s apparently as true for the world cruise as a 4 night. If you booked a 14 day also sold as two 7 night cruises, you still only get two.

 

Only one main course is included but it is possible to order an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, multiple sides, and dessert. An extra entree can be purchased. It’s $10 at the Crowne Grill

 

 

[WonderMan3]

2 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

 

 

Only one main course is included but it is possible to order an appetizer, soup, salad, entree, multiple sides, and dessert. An extra entree can be purchased. It’s $10 at the Crowne Grill

 

 

That’s what I was afraid of. Hate that nickel and diming. Not used to that having been with Celebrity mainly for years in the suite restaurant Luminae where they basically will do whatever you want (within reason); a second entree was never an issue or a cost and was sometimes encouraged if you were torn between choices. I don’t generally order two entrees but once in awhile there’s a night where it’s hard to choose and I want to try more than one. That was what was always great about cruising in the past. 

[Torfamm]

4 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

That’s what I was afraid of. Hate that nickel and diming. Not used to that having been with Celebrity mainly for years in the suite restaurant Luminae where they basically will do whatever you want (within reason); a second entree was never an issue or a cost and was sometimes encouraged if you were torn between choices. I don’t generally order two entrees but once in awhile there’s a night where it’s hard to choose and I want to try more than one. That was what was always great about cruising in the past. 

I believe it’s still possible to order multiple main courses in the MDR with the exception of lobster although I’ve never done it.

[HotRoot]

If you are on a cruise sold as 2 seven night cruises, the menu will probably repeat the second week so you can order something different each time.

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

So with the Premier package I see that it includes 2 specialty dining visits pp. On the Princess website it says that is based on a 7 night cruise though. So do longer cruises get more specialty dining included? I have booked a 14 night cruise so wondering how many I would get?

 

Do suite guests get a complimentary specialty dining on embarkation day? If you are on a 14 night cruise that is two 7 nights put together do you get a complimentary specialty then on each embarkation day? Or would you have had to have booked them as two separate 7 night cruises?

 

At specialty restaurants (or actually at MDR as well) are you allowed to order more than one appetizer, or say an appetizer plus a soup/salad, or more than one entree or dessert? Or do they charge you for extra? Haven’t sailed with Princess since 2011 so I know some rules have changed. Is there a difference with this if you have Premier?

 

 

I know that everyone does not agree, but it has been my experience that a 14 day cruise that is bookable as two 7 day segments will receive the Premier benefits, suite benefits, and Elite benefits (if applicable) as if it was two seven day cruises.

 

i suggest you log into your account on Princess.com, click on luggage tags/travel summary.  Click on travel summary and scroll down to the bottom to see what is included with your booking.  You can also print it.

Look at the $ value for the speciality restaurants.  This does not include the first night free speciality for the suite.  If you booked prior to December 1 it will show two 360 experiences.

[memoak]

37 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

I know that everyone does not agree, but it has been my experience that a 14 day cruise that is bookable as two 7 day segments will receive the Premier benefits, suite benefits, and Elite benefits (if applicable) as if it was two seven day cruises.

 

i suggest you log into your account on Princess.com, click on luggage tags/travel summary.  Click on travel summary and scroll down to the bottom to see what is included with your booking.  You can also print it.

Look at the $ value for the speciality restaurants.  This does not include the first night free speciality for the suite.  If you booked prior to December 1 it will show two 360 experiences.

The 360 dinner is only available on 2 ships I do not see which ship the OP is booked on. Whenever a 14 day cruise can be booked as 2 7 day cruises all benefits like mini bars etc. have always been per segment regardless of how it was booked

[WonderMan3]

22 minutes ago, memoak said:

The 360 dinner is only available on 2 ships I do not see which ship the OP is booked on. Whenever a 14 day cruise can be booked as 2 7 day cruises all benefits like mini bars etc. have always been per segment regardless of how it was booked

I'll be on the Star. It's a January 2026 cruise.

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

I know that everyone does not agree, but it has been my experience that a 14 day cruise that is bookable as two 7 day segments will receive the Premier benefits, suite benefits, and Elite benefits (if applicable) as if it was two seven day cruises.

 

i suggest you log into your account on Princess.com, click on luggage tags/travel summary.  Click on travel summary and scroll down to the bottom to see what is included with your booking.  You can also print it.

Look at the $ value for the speciality restaurants.  This does not include the first night free speciality for the suite.  If you booked prior to December 1 it will show two 360 experiences.

It says Specialty Dining 2 nights - quantity 1 - $117.60 for each of us. Specialties are $45 I believe so that looks like it's 2 per person for the whole cruise.

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

It says Specialty Dining 2 nights - quantity 1 - $117.60 for each of us. Specialties are $45 I believe so that looks like it's 2 per person for the whole cruise.

I have a seven day cruise with the Premier that says Speciality Dining 2 nights-quantity 1-$58.80 for each of us.  I assumed the Specialities were $29.40 per visit per person.

the $117.60 is exactly twice of the dollar amount shown.

 

Obviously I cannot say for certain.  I did not even notice until I chickened out and cancelled the 14 day cruise and booked a B2B.

 

Did you book prior to December 1.  I guess we will know for sure next January 2026.  

[Mud_Shark]

We are also booked for a 14 day (booked as a single voyage but bookable as 2 7 days).  Our summary also says specialty dining two nights $117.60.  I thought dining was $39 per night plus 18%, but that figure does not fit in as a factor of 2 or 4 into $117.60

 

We sail in April, so if someone has not provided the first hand experience definitive answer by then, I will let you know how it turned out for us.

Edited March 13 by Mud_Shark

[WonderMan3]

13 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I have a seven day cruise with the Premier that says Speciality Dining 2 nights-quantity 1-$58.80 for each of us.  I assumed the Specialities were $29.40 per visit per person.

the $117.60 is exactly twice of the dollar amount shown.

 

Obviously I cannot say for certain.  I did not even notice until I chickened out and cancelled the 14 day cruise and booked a B2B.

 

Did you book prior to December 1.  I guess we will know for sure next January 2026.  

Interesting. So it looks like you were right from your earlier comment and we will have 4 specialty dining experiences included since the value is double what you show on your 7 nighter. Plus the bonus embarkation night if we take advantage of it. That’s great. 

[WonderMan3]

12 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

We are also booked for a 14 day (booked as a single voyage but bookable as 2 7 days).  Our summary also says specialty dining two nights $117.60.  I thought dining was $39 per night plus 18%, but that figure does not fit in as a factor of 2 or 4 into $117.60

 

We sail in April, so if someone has not provided the first hand experience definitive answer by then, I will let you know how it turned out for us.

Thanks!

[suekel]

On 3/13/2024 at 9:32 AM, Torfamm said:

I believe it’s still possible to order multiple main courses in the MDR with the exception of lobster although I’ve never done it.

It is.  My husband often orders 2.  The joy of being 6' 7".  

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, suekel said:

It is.  My husband often orders 2.  The joy of being 6' 7".  

This is good to know. Thanks.

[Mud_Shark]

Just to answer one of the questions of this thread.  We are currently on Enchanted on our second week of a 14 day cruise.  We booked it as one cruise with premier package, though it was also bookable as 2 seven day cruises.  We only got 2 specialty dinners each for the entire 14 day cruise. 

We booked a 3rd night of specialty dining just to see if it would be charged, (we were prepared to pay if charged) and yes it was charged to our account.

[galensgrl]

2 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Just to answer one of the questions of this thread.  We are currently on Enchanted on our second week of a 14 day cruise.  We booked it as one cruise with premier package, though it was also bookable as 2 seven day cruises.  We only got 2 specialty dinners each for the entire 14 day cruise. 

We booked a 3rd night of specialty dining just to see if it would be charged, (we were prepared to pay if charged) and yes it was charged to our account.

It makes no sense that a 14 day cruise only gets 2 Specialty Restaurant meals when a 7 day cruise also gets 2 Specialty dinners. I think it should be 2 Specialty meals for each 7 day segment of the cruise. It doesn't seem fair and equitable the way it's set up. 

[t&atravel]

2 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Just to answer one of the questions of this thread.  We are currently on Enchanted on our second week of a 14 day cruise.  We booked it as one cruise with premier package, though it was also bookable as 2 seven day cruises.  We only got 2 specialty dinners each for the entire 14 day cruise. 

We booked a 3rd night of specialty dining just to see if it would be charged, (we were prepared to pay if charged) and yes it was charged to our account.

@Mud_Shark  Just curious….did you book and dine for the third night during the second 7 day leg?

[Mud_Shark]

Yes.  Should have mentioned that we booked the 3rd night on day 9 of 14.