afternoon tea on princess?

[adventurenerd]

Dear afternoon tea lover's;

 

I am taking 14days Panama cruise on coral princess on Dec 1.

Hoping to enjoy some afternoon tea on board especially on sea days.

 

This is our first princess cruise and am wondering if princess offer afternoon tea. If they do, do they have it everyday? Where do they have it? Is it formal or self serving?

 

Thank you for your reply in advance.:)

[walker1887]

Dear afternoon tea lover's;

 

I am taking 14days Panama cruise on coral princess on Dec 1.

Hoping to enjoy some afternoon tea on board especially on sea days.

 

This is our first princess cruise and am wondering if princess offer afternoon tea. If they do, do they have it everyday? Where do they have it? Is it formal or self serving?

 

Thank you for your reply in advance.:)

 

I took this cruise last January. Yes, they do have afternoon tea in the dining room. It is very nice, it is formal with white glove service, served to you. Relaxing and enjoyable. I only went a few times, always on sea days, so I'm not sure if they have it on port days.

 

Also, it's not quite afternoon tea, but there is a cart that brings the tea and goodies to you at the pool area. Very nice:)

[GingerCandy]

I'm sure others will post better and more detailed replies, but I'll start off the converstaion. We did the tea on Princess one time and enjoyed it. It is only served on sea days in one of the diningrooms. It is usually at 4 p.m., I believe. You are waited on, not self-service. You do not have to dress up in formal attire, but resort casual would be appropriate. As I recall, we had scones with clotted cream and jam, mini tea sandwiches, and a selection of teas. If you prefer coffee, you can bring that into the dining room with you. Hope this helps. Better replies to follow. :)

[caribill]

I'm sure others will post better and more detailed replies, but I'll start off the converstaion. We did the tea on Princess one time and enjoyed it. It is only served on sea days in one of the diningrooms. It is usually at 4 p.m., I believe. You are waited on, not self-service. You do not have to dress up in formal attire, but resort casual would be appropriate. As I recall, we had scones with clotted cream and jam, mini tea sandwiches, and a selection of teas. If you prefer coffee, you can bring that into the dining room with you. Hope this helps. Better replies to follow. :)

 

It is available every day except embarkation day including port days. It is usually 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM in the dining room that is usually used for breakfast and lunch.

 

You can request coffee or a glass of milk. However, it make take a few minutes for them to get it.

 

As you pointed out, the tea and service is formal, not the dress code for the passengers.

[adventurenerd]

Oh, thank you for some quick reply walker1887, ginger candy, caribill.

 

You all must love afternoon tea as I do.

 

Princess afternoon tea sounds like the one on Holland America. I am sooooo excited to have some afternoon tea time on board. One thing I have to remember is not to eat too much at afternoon tea as I always make that mistake.

 

Thanks again!

[lv2cruiseanywhere]

Oh, thank you for some quick reply walker1887, ginger candy, caribill.

 

You all must love afternoon tea as I do.

 

Princess afternoon tea sounds like the one on Holland America. I am sooooo excited to have some afternoon tea time on board. One thing I have to remember is not to eat too much at afternoon tea as I always make that mistake.

 

Thanks again!

 

As stated Afternoon Tea is offered every day at 3:30 in the dining room. This is the reason we have late Traditional Dining. (Perfect timing between lunch and late dinner.) My DH loves the scones! They also have great little sandwiches if you return late from being on shore, since the Coral Princess does not have an International Cafe. We were on the Coral earlier this year and loved the Panama Canal cruise.

[Beryl]

The tea is much better on Princess than it is on Holland America! It is poured from proper teapots....unlike on HAL where they throw you a tea bag to dip into the lukewarm water that is in your cup! I'm sure that you will enjoy afternoon tea aboard your Panama cruise on the Coral Princess.

 

Happy sails!

[capriccio]

If you are lucky enought to be in a full suite you can order it from room service. Just be forewarned you probably won't be hungry for dinner - there is enough food for at least 4 people!

[gotta cruise again]

I rarely miss afternoon tea!! Though in 'regular' life, I don't do caffeine after about 11 AM, a couple of cups of tea are just the pick-me-up I need. We also have late, traditional seating for dinner and tea with scones (and jam and cream) are perfect. I skip the cookies and sandwiches.

 

We enjoy getting seated at large tables for tea and meeting new people. Once we've had the number of scones and cups of tea we desire, we aren't afraid to excuse ourselves. There is no need to wait until everyone is done unless you are having a wonderful time and wish to linger!

 

We also tend to arrive close to the 3:30 time since this seems to be the ship-wide snacking hour!! (At least that's what we call it;) ) After tea, we take the stairs all the way up to the top of the ship to try and catch the milk and cookies and/or have an ice cream cone (or 2 :eek: ).

 

Go to tea and enjoy!

[RNGALNG]

I have attended the teas on a couple of ships. I was on the same cruise you are going on lat February. You will love it.

 

You can wear your 'play clothes' to tea, just not swimsuits. . .The servers wear gloves that are way too big for their hands (just look at them!) They wear vests and are just too cute. Everyone just rushes in and finds seats on their own.

 

TEA: My DH would even ask for Earl Gray instead of what was served in the pots and they would get it for him. I enjoyed whatever it was they served. There is sugar and cream on the tables to 'season' to your tastes.

 

GOODIES: They first come around with the scones, clotted cream and jelly. They are small, maybe three to four bites big. Then come the small sandwiches, cucumber, ham, turkey, chicken, all served on a variety of small rolls of different breads. Again, about three or four bites big. Last are the tea cakes and cookies. Again, very small so you can get samples of all.

 

All the goodies change from day to day. There are always 4-5 sandwich varieties and that many sweet choices as well.

 

The whole event lasts for about 45 minutes. So you need to be there when they open the doors.

 

We found that going to tea on some days, it would serve as our lunch. We had plenty to eat then and as we eat anytime dining, we could go till later for our dinner.

 

Enjoy your cruise. It will be so much fun! :)

[Putterdude]

We have always enjoyed when we have gone....but I really don't need those extra calories.:(

[Chelseaprincess]

I love Princess afternoon tea! I try to do it at least once every cruise. The descriptions by others were pretty accurate.

The only thing I can add is that they also bring a cart with tea and some goodies to the Promenade deck around 4 pm. I discovered that on my last cruise on the Coral when I went for a walk on a sea day.

I look forward to my next one on the Ocean and would like to see if it’s any different on a small ship.

Chelsea

[peanutter]

This sounds wonderful and just when I thought there couldn't be more to look forward to on my first Princess cruise! Thank you all for the detail descriptions.

[GoochDSA]

If you are lucky enought to be in a full suite you can order it from room service. Just be forewarned you probably won't be hungry for dinner - there is enough food for at least 4 people!

 

Out of curiosity, what do they bring you for afternoon tea when you order it from room service (we are in a suite next year)? I know I have asked this before but I can't seem to remember.

[OnVacation11]

Out of curiosity, what do they bring you for afternoon tea when you order it from room service (we are in a suite next year)? I know I have asked this before but I can't seem to remember.

 

We are Elite so we also can and do order afternoon tea in our cabin. You can order the whole enchilada: tea, scones, sandwiches, pastries and cookies or just the select items you like. We usually stick to sandwiches and scones as the pastries and cookies are just OK and not worth the extra calories to us.

[HappyAmma]

Is there an additional charge for Afternoon Tea in the dining room?

Edited November 15, 2012 by HappyAmma
didn't finish

[wizard-of-roz]

 

Everyone just rushes in and finds seats on their own. :)

 

You are actually shown to a table by a server or a Matre d'. There is music playing. They used to have a harpist or pianist and it was quite lovely. I wish they'd go back to doing this, it made the whole experience really enjoyable.

Since most of the Princess fleet has added the Piazza, with all the yummie treats......there's just not enough room in one human body to consume it all! ;)

[Nan_Sea]

We were shown to a seat and had a lovely time. The scones are wonderful. No charge.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Scclbc

[RMLincoln]

Is there an additional charge for Afternoon Tea in the dining room?

 

Do they offer any caffine free teas, herb teas?

 

Thanks, n--

[wizard-of-roz]

They did not have caffeine free......I'm allergic to caffeine and do enjoy a spot of tea in the afternoon so, I brought some decaf tea bags from home onboard with me and asked for a carafe of hot water......waahlah! My very own tea. And, the tea bags fit right into my handbag or pocket. Who says you can't have YOUR cruise YOUR WAY!!!! ;) :)

[Mom33]

Do they offer any caffine free teas, herb teas?

 

Thanks, n--

 

Yes they do.:)

[wizard-of-roz]

Yes they do.:)

 

This is good to know......they didn't when we were onboard in October, maybe they ran out......I'll bring my own anyway, just in case.

[Cruisin' Chick]

On my last cruise, I ran into my teen one day and she asked to see my copy of the Patters as she wanted to try afternoon tea. I'm guessing on my next cruise, she'll be headed there on many afternoons as she's grown fond of tea. Fortunately, she could use the calories from the treats.

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm sure others will post better and more detailed replies, but I'll start off the converstaion. We did the tea on Princess one time and enjoyed it. It is only served on sea days in one of the diningrooms. It is usually at 4 p.m., I believe. You are waited on, not self-service. You do not have to dress up in formal attire, but resort casual would be appropriate. As I recall, we had scones with clotted cream and jam, mini tea sandwiches, and a selection of teas. If you prefer coffee, you can bring that into the dining room with you. Hope this helps. Better replies to follow. :)

 

 

I read about the selection of teas, before our trip as well. What do you need to do to choose your tea flavor? We were only offered a very weak tea they seemed to be pouring for everyone. By adding cream & Equal, I made it pretty good. It would have been nice to have been given a choice of teas though. I would have preferred something stronger. I'd love to know how to get something different, if we cruise with Princess again. As it was, the scones were the only thing we would return for. They were great! Everything else appeared to be offered in the buffet at some point in the cruise.

[adventurenerd]

Wow!!!! Thank you for dropping all these good infos and comments.

 

Well, one important question is........ if the clotted cream is real one or just whipped cream. I was disappointed on the Celebrity cruise when they just had whipped cream.

 

Hope they will have real clotted cream:)