Regal - afternoon no fee tea in MDR

[waltd]

The warm cookies and milk have been on Princess ships for years. Usually around 3:30ish. I've seen them up on deck and always in the Atrium walking around with a cart. They also make a couple of trips around the area. I have never seen it listed in the Patter.

Edited January 9, 2016 by waltd

[Thrak]

Love the cookies and milk. We would be unhappy to see afternoon tea disappear. It seems like such a nice tradition and is one of the things that help to make cruising special.

[GUT2407]

No disrespect to the OP intended...but it's amazing how many times you hear about people not bothering to read the back page of the Patter where the dining info is. Even if on fixed seating dinner one never knows what they might be missing.

 

But if I was so confident as to be able to anticipate the schedule I would have just shown up at the Deck 6 midship MDR at 3:30 one afternoon on a whim. ;)

 

 

Patter is your best friend.

 

My regular bed time reading on a Princess Cruise.

[satxdiver]

Patter is your best friend.

 

My regular bed time reading on a Princess Cruise.

 

I do love reading the next day patter at bed time. I would be lost if I could not do it. I also love the warm cookies in the afternoon - another plus for Princess.

[GUT2407]

I do love reading the next day patter at bed time. I would be lost if I could not do it. I also love the warm cookies in the afternoon - another plus for Princess.

 

 

A bit disappointed last cruise with how late it was arriving some nights not till around mid night.

 

Used to be there when we got back from diner, and we'd sit and plan the next day.

[Aus Traveller]

A bit disappointed last cruise with how late it was arriving some nights not till around mid night.

 

Used to be there when we got back from diner, and we'd sit and plan the next day.

It varies depending on the print shop. Usually the Patter is delivered around 8pm or a bit later, but on one recent cruise the print shop was having difficulties with their printing machine. The patter was not available available much later. This made extra work for the room steward because they had to wait around until it was available to deliver.

[timetravler]

Don't forget that Elite members can get High tea delivered to their cabin if they wish. I have done this several times inviting a few people to my cabin. The tea includes several choices of tea, plus scones, jam and cream along with cookies, cake, and several choices of little sandwiches. I always order less food for the amount of people coming as what they bring is a huge amount.

[timetravler]

Don't forget that Elite members can get High tea delivered to their cabin if they wish. I have done this several times inviting a few people to my cabin. The tea includes several choices of tea, plus scones, jam and cream along with cookies, cake, and several choices of little sandwiches. I always order less food for the amount of people coming as what they bring is a huge amount. ps, there is no charge for this service for Elites.

[FritzG]

It was available daily on the Royal 27 day Aug. 20th British Isles/TA. We also saw the extra fee tea, and it looked wonderful. It was on a raised area in the Piazza, there was a string quartet playing, there was a good number of staff people serving, and it seemed very elegant. We wished we had taken advantage of it.

Edited January 9, 2016 by FritzG

[Cruzin-K]

Still kicking myself for ignoring the back page! All the more reason to book another Regal cruise :D:D

 

Not sure you should be kicking yourself. I was just looking at the patters posted here

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=48758130

 

and I didn't see any mention of the regular no-fee afternoon tea. Please someone tell me if I'm just blind :confused: :o

 

NEVER MIND. I found it - buried in the Concerto Dining room times. They sure don't make it easy to see :(

Edited February 2, 2016 by Cruzin-K

[IECalCruiser]

Not sure you should be kicking yourself. I was just looking at the patters posted here

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=48758130

 

and I didn't see any mention of the regular no-fee afternoon tea. Please someone tell me if I'm just blind :confused: :o

 

NEVER MIND. I found it - buried in the Concerto Dining room times. They sure don't make it easy to see :(

The Dining Guide on the back page is your friend, read it [emoji6]

[Cruzin-K]

The Dining Guide on the back page is your friend, read it [emoji6]

 

Perhaps you missed my last sentence ;) I was originally looking for a separate entry for the tea - didn't expect it to be "hidden" :o

 

They don't advertise it, and they bury the info in with the times for regular meals. It does seem like they don't really want people to attend the free afternoon tea, but rather pay the upcharge for the one in the piazza (naturally). I wonder how the attendance is at the free tea :confused: I'd be interested to hear from people who have done this recently.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Cruzin-K

[h-sar]

All good! Just booked a 10 day on the Regal for next New Yrs. Should give me plenty of opportunities to get my fill of warm scones, clotted cream, and real steeped tea instead of 'tepid water and a limp teabag on the side.' Sorry, just saw "Second Best Marigold Hotel" on Netflix. My Indian blood (as in the subcontinent, not First Nations :D) makes me wince every time I'm handed warm water, a tea bag, and cold milk when ordering tea in a restaurant.

Edited February 2, 2016 by h-sar

[fishywood]

Perhaps you missed my last sentence ;) I was originally looking for a separate entry for the tea - didn't expect it to be "hidden" :o

 

They don't advertise it, and they bury the info in with the times for regular meals. It does seem like they don't really want people to attend the free afternoon tea, but rather pay the upcharge for the one in the piazza (naturally). I wonder how the attendance is at the free tea :confused: I'd be interested to hear from people who have done this recently.

 

Yes it is true that Afternoon Tea used to be listed in the running schedule of daily activities in the Patter. But now it is listed only under dining. Which is the function of Afternoon Tea. I am as naturally suspicious of ulterior motives as the next guy but in this case I don't find it fair to accuse Princess of indirectly discouraging attendance.

 

And I would also think that an experienced Princess cruiser (with, say, four cruises in a 34 month span under their belts) finding themselves craving Afternoon Tea would just show up at 3:30 at the Deck 6 midship MDR, Patter be damned.

[Astro Flyer]

All good! Just booked a 10 day on the Regal for next New Yrs. Should give me plenty of opportunities to get my fill of warm scones, clotted cream, and real steeped tea instead of 'tepid water and a limp teabag on the side.' Sorry, just saw "Second Best Marigold Hotel" on Netflix. My Indian blood (as in the subcontinent, not First Nations :D) makes me wince every time I'm handed warm water, a tea bag, and cold milk when ordering tea in a restaurant.

When my wife doesn't want to sit down at the Afternoon Tea she goes to the HC buffet which begins serving light snacks at 3:30 including scones & finger sandwiches. Once we had the afternoon tea delivered to our cabin (an elite level benefit) and there was so much food we decided to eat a very late dinner. ;)

[IECalCruiser]

Post deleted.

Edited February 2, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[IECalCruiser]

Perhaps you missed my last sentence ;) I was originally looking for a separate entry for the tea - didn't expect it to be "hidden" :o

 

They don't advertise it, and they bury the info in with the times for regular meals. It does seem like they don't really want people to attend the free afternoon tea, but rather pay the upcharge for the one in the piazza (naturally). I wonder how the attendance is at the free tea :confused: I'd be interested to hear from people who have done this recently.

I checked Patters from a number of cruises dating back to January of 2013. On the five cruises of 10 days or more, which included the Regal, afternoon tea was listed in the main section of the Patter as well as the Dining Guide while on the two 4 day coastals it was only in the Dining Guide.

 

I mentioned the Dining Guide because in addition to afternoon tea, themed dinners in the Horizon Court, days when a DR is open for lunch and days when there is open seating for dinner on late port days are shown.

Edited February 2, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[satxdiver]

We are on the Regal as I type this. Tomorrow is our first sea day and Royal Afternoon Tea is on the schedule for 3:30 PM. It is in the Patter in the list of daily activities. Today was our mandatory visit to Princess Cays and so no afternoon tea or lunch in the MDR.

Edited February 2, 2016 by satxdiver

[fishywood]

We are on the Regal as I type this. Tomorrow is our first sea day and Royal Afternoon Tea is on the schedule for 3:30 PM. It is in the Patter in the list of daily activities. Today was our mandatory visit to Princess Cays and so no afternoon tea or lunch in the MDR.

 

"Royal Afternoon Tea" is the upcharge version, yes?

Every Princess cruise I have even been on has has the regular Afternoon Tea in the dining room on the days they called at Princess Cays. And every single other port day other than turnaround day, ever. The whole point of this discussion is whether some ships are (so-called) "burying" the listing for the included Afternoon Tea on the back page of the Patter in the dining room times section.

Edited February 2, 2016 by fishywood

[smilz]

A bit disappointed last cruise with how late it was arriving some nights not till around mid night.

 

Used to be there when we got back from diner, and we'd sit and plan the next day.

 

Just curious...If you download their APP on your cell phone, is the Patter or equivalent available earlier than he printed version?

[IECalCruiser]

Just curious...If you download their APP on your cell phone, is the Patter or equivalent available earlier than he printed version?

There is only one day's "Patter" on the APP at a time. On our cruise on the Pacific in December we typically had the hard copy delivered before 10:00PM and I don't believe the next day's info on the APP was available until after midnight.

[Beach Lover 64]

 

Does anyone know if Regal has done away with this entirely in favour of the for-fee tea in the Piazza? I looked for it in the Patters everyday during our New Year's cruise and only saw the Piazza tea.

 

thnks

 

We sailed on the Regal January 3 and the Tea in the MDR was 3:30 everyday. It is listed on the back of the Patters. The for-fee Tea I paid for because I did not read the back of my Patter. It was good because it is a little bit more detailed with three different kinds of tea served and I believe you get a bit more food. The only reason I realized this is because My server worked the tea in the MDR in the afternoon before she worked the MDR in the evening. One day we were discussing that I was not very hungry because we had been to tea that afternoon and she said she didn't see us. That was when I realized that I would not have had to pay for it. Oh well it was worth the experience. But to answer your question they do still have it in the MDR just check the back of the Patter in the Dining section.

[rockdoctor]

What is the world coming too. Without Afternoon Tea, I'd just....sleep till dinner.

[ellie1145]

All good! Just booked a 10 day on the Regal for next New Yrs. Should give me plenty of opportunities to get my fill of warm scones, clotted cream, and real steeped tea instead of 'tepid water and a limp teabag on the side.' Sorry, just saw "Second Best Marigold Hotel" on Netflix. My Indian blood (as in the subcontinent, not First Nations :D) makes me wince every time I'm handed warm water, a tea bag, and cold milk when ordering tea in a restaurant.

 

I don't think the cream is clotted. It certainly is not what we Brits would regard as clotted cream. This has a layer of yellow buttery cream on the top and is usually thick.

 

We love afternoon tea on Princess, especially when it's delivered to our cabin. Hope they don't stop doing it any time soon. The staff always seem very polite and helpful and its a lovely gentile way of passing an hour.

[Pmorton3360]

I don't know the difference. I know it's all good though.