First Night Complimentary Specialty Dining

Curious.....given what I imagine will be a rush to book this perk on embarkation evening, where/when should I go to make the reservation?

I'm assuming that this wants to be one of the very first things we do upon boarding. But where?

The restaurant itself? The Passenger Services Desk? The room steward? By phone? In person?

Hate to be such a bundle of questions but we've never been lucky enough to score a suite so this is all quite new to me.

Thanks!

Curious.....given what I imagine will be a rush to book this perk on embarkation evening, where/when should I go to make the reservation?

 

 

 

I'm assuming that this wants to be one of the very first things we do upon boarding. But where?

 

 

 

The restaurant itself? The Passenger Services Desk? The room steward? By phone? In person?

 

 

 

Hate to be such a bundle of questions but we've never been lucky enough to score a suite so this is all quite new to me.

 

 

 

Thanks!

Stewart has nothing to do with it.

We go to the restaurant and book.

If there is nobody there go to the other one. There is usually someone there on embarkation day.

We find trying to call the DINE line from the cabin that first day that they never answer.

You can also tell the HW in Club Class if you go there for lunch. He has the power!! [emoji41][emoji41]

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Curious.....given what I imagine will be a rush to book this perk on embarkation evening, where/when should I go to make the reservation?

 

I'm assuming that this wants to be one of the very first things we do upon boarding. But where?

 

The restaurant itself? The Passenger Services Desk? The room steward? By phone? In person?

 

Hate to be such a bundle of questions but we've never been lucky enough to score a suite so this is all quite new to me.

 

Thanks!

There I'd not a rush to book this. There's not enough suites/Suite passengers to constitute a rush by any means. And your space is already reserved, ine either specialty restaurant, you just have to tell them which one and what time, and you're set (and the other restaurant space being held is then freed up)

Very simple, once onboard, after you drop off your carry-on, either call the DINE line or head to the specialty restaurant of your choice and make your reservation. If there's no maitre'd there to take your reservation at that moment, either pop over to the other one, or use the house phone there to call the DINE line..

If you're on Royal class ships, you could also check with the concierge in the Suite lounge to make it for you - often a long wait to see then though as other suite guests are doing the same.

Enjoy.

Only full suite passengers get complimentary 1st night specialty dining - there are not enough suite passengers to make a difference

We had a specialty dinner included in a booking last year and used the phone to make our reservation. We decided we wanted to eat on another night, and there was no problem getting the night and restaurant we wanted.

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On a related note...

We will have two of those TA-supplied Coupon Books waiting for us when we board, and one of the freebies is a 2 for 1 in a Speciality Restaurant on embarkation day. We already have three Specialiity Restaurant reservations in the Personalizer including the first (embarkation) evening, booked and paid for in advance. When we show up for our reservation on sailaway evening and show them the coupon, can I assume they will credit us back, as OBC, the one free meal which we had already paid for?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the slight hijack :)

On a related note...

 

 

We will have two of those TA-supplied Coupon Books waiting for us when we board, and one of the freebies is a 2 for 1 in a Speciality Restaurant on embarkation day. We already have three Specialiity Restaurant reservations in the Personalizer including the first (embarkation) evening, booked and paid for in advance. When we show up for our reservation on sailaway evening and show them the coupon, can I assume they will credit us back, as OBC, the one free meal which we had already paid for?

 

Thanks in advance and sorry for the slight hijack :)

You can ask. Doesn't hurt to ask. They likely will say no, but then again - maybe they'll say yes. So, ask. If they say no, give away the coupons to someone else who may be booking for the first night. Would be a nice gesture..

We had a specialty dinner included in a booking last year and used the phone to make our reservation. We decided we wanted to eat on another night, and there was no problem getting the night and restaurant we wanted.

OP is asking about the free specialty dining included with the suite.

Has to be use the first night.

The DINE line has never answered on embarkation day when we have tried.

They are busy with other tasks on turnaround day.

Not worth the hassle.

I just told the HW in CC and he had the res made within 5 minutes.

On a related note...

 

 

We will have two of those TA-supplied Coupon Books waiting for us when we board, and one of the freebies is a 2 for 1 in a Speciality Restaurant on embarkation day. We already have three Specialiity Restaurant reservations in the Personalizer including the first (embarkation) evening, booked and paid for in advance. When we show up for our reservation on sailaway evening and show them the coupon, can I assume they will credit us back, as OBC, the one free meal which we had already paid for?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance and sorry for the slight hijack :)

Why would you pay for the free meal? :confused:

Ours said embarkation day with a time, but we had no trouble changing on the phone.

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We've had cruises where the DINE line never answered and cruises where they answered on the first ring on embarkation day. No, there isn't a mad rush, and the specialty locations are not crowded on the first night. Try the DINE line...then try doing to the restaurant. If that doesn't work, go to passenger services desk. They have a "back number" and will be able to call and get you a time or choice of times.

On a related note...

 

We will have two of those TA-supplied Coupon Books waiting for us when we board, and one of the freebies is a 2 for 1 in a Speciality Restaurant on embarkation day. We already have three Specialiity Restaurant reservations in the Personalizer including the first (embarkation) evening, booked and paid for in advance. When we show up for our reservation on sailaway evening and show them the coupon, can I assume they will credit us back, as OBC, the one free meal which we had already paid for?

I would not make that assumption. Why not change it to a reservation for one now and get your money back for the second person now for sure? That way you could keep your reservation time and show up with a second person along with the coupon.

Why would you pay for the free meal? :confused:

Because we didn't know we would be getting the coupon, so I had pre-paid for the reservation on the web site. Now I will probably go back to the Personalizer and cancel the reservation and get our money back, then re-book when we board so we can use the coupon.

We've had cruises where the DINE line never answered and cruises where they answered on the first ring on embarkation day. No' date=' there isn't a mad rush, and the specialty locations are not crowded on the first night. Try the DINE line...then try doing to the restaurant. If that doesn't work, go to passenger services desk. They have a "back number" and will be able to call and get you a time or choice of times.[/quote']

 

That has been our experience as well, sometimes they answer, sometimes they don't. Problem is, a few times in recent years, though not often, when we've gone to the restaurant right at embarkation to try and book by talking directly to the person at the front desk, they have told us "Sorry, we can't take in-person reservations, you have to call the DINE line and book through them" We then call and sometimes can't connect right away.

Because we didn't know we would be getting the coupon, so I had pre-paid for the reservation on the web site. Now I will probably go back to the Personalizer and cancel the reservation and get our money back, then re-book when we board so we can use the coupon.

(y)(y)(y)

Only full suite passengers get complimentary 1st night specialty dining - there are not enough suite passengers to make a difference

so why dont us 5 niters get the free dinner? :(

Only full suite passengers get complimentary 1st night specialty dining - there are not enough suite passengers to make a difference

so why dont us 5 niters get the free dinner? :(

"Full Suite" guests may get free 1st night dining, but so do lots of folks with the TA coupon books. We have the coupon books on our next four booked trips. The free meal is only a 2 for 1 though, not free for two persons.

"Full Suite" guests may get free 1st night dining, but so do lots of folks with the TA coupon books. We have the coupon books on our next four booked trips. The free meal is only a 2 for 1 though, not free for two persons.

The complimentary specialty dinner on embarkation night only applies to full suites on cruises 6 days or longer - check the fine print in the suite perks

The complimentary specialty dinner on embarkation night only applies to full suites on cruises 6 days or longer - check the fine print in the suite perks

Sorry, we must have been hallucinating then, when we handed the coupon over to the Maitre'd at Sabatini's on one cruise, Share on another, and CG on yet another, and received one free meal on embarkation night, this while only sailing in a lowly balcony cabin. While I have no doubt that all suite guests get free meals in speciality restaurants on embarkation day, I was simply pointing out that they aren't the ONLY ones who do. Again, our free meal was only for one person, not all occupants in our room. Not sure how I can be clearer.

I was answering the question on "why don't 5 day cruises in a full suite get the free meal

I was answering the question on "why don't 5 day cruises in a full suite get the free meal

Exactly. The thread veered off the rails quickly.

The complimentary specialty dinner on embarkation night only applies to full suites on cruises 6 days or longer - check the fine print in the suite perks

I was answering the question on "why don't 5 day cruises in a full suite get the free meal

That did not really answer the question which is why did Princess limit it to cruises of 6 days or longer. The fine print states the fact, but does not give the logic behind it.

I suspect there are several possible reasons:

a) This perk was added as a replacement to the free Internet for suite passengers. Princess may feel that the removal of free Internet for short voyages did not justify the perk.

b) On short voyages more paying passengers may want to dine in a specialty restaurant in the few days vs. spreading out the demand on longer voyages. Why give away a free meal to a suite passenger which might keep a paying passenger from dining there. The perk is only good for embarkation evening when otherwise there would be little demand for specialty dining. On a short cruise, the demand for that first evening may be there.