Re Dining on Sapphire. Is the Premiere package worth it?

[MudderBear]

Just got off the Princess Sun.  OMG what a ship.  We had the plus program and looking back, we wish we had upgraded to premiere.

 

That being said, we are supposed to be on Sapphire next year in Alaska.  As far as dining, is it worth it to get Premiere Vs. Plus?  It seems as though there are only two specialty restaurants, Sabatinos and the Brazilian One.  Am I missing any?  Also, I can't figure out what, besides Alfredo's, would be considered Casual on Sapphire.

 

By the way, we also had reserve dining on The Sun. We have a regular balcony room on Sapphire.

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Edited May 25 by MudderBear

[JF - retired RRT]

You seem to have nailed it. Save your money.

[memoak]

Be advised the Brazilian restaurant is located in a portion of the buffet. We love Sabatini’s but is only $35 per person. We only take plus packages since we drink mostly normal cocktails and buy bottles of wine with 25% discount 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Everybody has their own reasons for going with Premier. Dining benefits are not the only draw that are considered, at least for us. Yes, the "casual dining" bit is not very well defined on some of the older ships. We like the premium wines & drinks, reserved show seating and *occasionally* one of the special desserts. 

[beltsbear]

2 hours ago, MudderBear said:

Just got off the Princess Sun.  OMG what a ship.  We had the plus program and looking back, we wish we had upgraded to premiere.

 

That being said, we are supposed to be on Sapphire next year in Alaska.  As far as dining, is it worth it to get Premiere Vs. Plus?  It seems as though there are only two specialty restaurants, Sabatinos and the Brazilian One.  Am I missing any?  Also, I can't figure out what, besides Alfredo's, would be considered Casual on Sapphire.

 

By the way, we also had reserve dining on The Sun. We have a regular balcony room on Sapphire.

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Premier gives you more internet devices and higher end drinks.  For us, that helps make it worth it. Plus we go to Alfredo’s or sushi for lunch about four times on a 12-14 day cruise. 

[MudderBear]

Thanks....but my cruise is only 7 days, and I am really wondering about the lack of "restaurants" on Sapphire.  There were a ton of places on The Sun.  I usually just drink wine, and hubby a burbon manhatten, so we're really not fussy about our drinks.  Plus we don't vlog or blog, so one wifi device each is enough for us.

[Auntiejo]

We had the same dilemma for our Sapphire cruise coming up in 2 weeks. We usually do Premiere because we do almost all casual and specialty dining. With Sapphire’s limited dining we debated if it would be worth it for us. In the end we went for it because we knew we would do Sabatini and the Brazilian once each, so by the time we deducted those costs from the equation along with WiFi , we felt that extra $$ spent would make up for the premium cocktails and wine we enjoy.
 

At the end of the day we probably will more than break even but likely not by a lot -  but we love ordering whatever we want without worrying about the cost and nickel and diming ourselves. And a zero balance at the end of the trip is the best feeling! If premium drinks and WiFi don’t matter much to you and you’re not interested in those 2 speciality dining options, it’s probably not worth it. 

 

 

 

Edited May 25 by Auntiejo

[memoak]

The extra $20 per day per person on a 2 week cruise adds an awful lot of money. 2 specialty dinners don’t really make enough difference to me. We don’t do show and flaring mostly drinks included with plus. We each have a connection for WiFi and that works for me. We live on phones no computers 

[no1racefan1]

7 hours ago, MudderBear said:

Just got off the Princess Sun.  OMG what a ship.  We had the plus program and looking back, we wish we had upgraded to premiere.

 

That being said, we are supposed to be on Sapphire next year in Alaska.  As far as dining, is it worth it to get Premiere Vs. Plus?  It seems as though there are only two specialty restaurants, Sabatinos and the Brazilian One.  Am I missing any?  Also, I can't figure out what, besides Alfredo's, would be considered Casual on Sapphire.

 

By the way, we also had reserve dining on The Sun. We have a regular balcony room on Sapphire.

 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Yes, you covered it. If you're only considering specialty dining, it wouldn't be worth it on Sapphire.

 

FWIW, we just got off Sapphire today and ate nearly every meal in the main dining rooms. The food was excellent!

 

[startedwithamouse]

Unlimited casual dining wouldn't be worth it on Sapphire. The sushi, and alfredros are limited menu and mediocre at best. We had Plus for 32 days, and after 2 trips to casual dining, didn't miss multiple trips at all. Specialty was lacking too at Sterling Steakhouse. Food meh, service excellent, but we can get that in the MDR. 

[wallyj]

@MudderBear, Sapphire has Vines, limited Alfredo’s and Ocean Terrace on Sea days for your casual dining options. Unfortunately, the Sushi set menu is the only option, as it is not made to order in front of you, like on the Royal class ships.

 

As you seem to not need drinks over $15, then Premier does not seem worth it for you. 
 

Princess Prizes is a wild card, as currently I believe one cruise is won every cruise, but who knows what prizes will be offered next year.

[MudderBear]

Thanks all for the input!