Balcony Breakfast on Crown, yes/no? Couple of other ?s for those who’ve sailed CR

[jacpansea]

We will be sailing Princess for our first time in a couple of weeks. I was wondering if you might share if having breakfast on the balcony is worth it? I’m not a huge steak eater and so I don’t think dinner would be worth it. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

Also, I’m a complete nerd. I’ve already packed my clothes. Normally I’m packing with just hours to spare, I am beyond excited for this trip! We’re in our 30s and have sailed three times on Carnival, once on Costa, and once on Norweigan. Costa and Norweigan were both Europe cruises. We weirdly found Carnival had the best food of the lot we’ve tried. We live in Seattle and are foodies, too. I think it’s because our expectations were so low, we were very surprised and satisfied. Do you enjoy the food on Princess? Any must tries?

 

Last, any fun places to scope out on ship? What’s your favorite place on the Crown?

[skynight]

12 minutes ago, jacpansea said:

We will be sailing Princess for our first time in a couple of weeks. I was wondering if you might share if having breakfast on the balcony is worth it? I’m not a huge steak eater and so I don’t think dinner would be worth it. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

Also, I’m a complete nerd. I’ve already packed my clothes. Normally I’m packing with just hours to spare, I am beyond excited for this trip! We’re in our 30s and have sailed three times on Carnival, once on Costa, and once on Norweigan. Costa and Norweigan were both Europe cruises. We weirdly found Carnival had the best food of the lot we’ve tried. We live in Seattle and are foodies, too. I think it’s because our expectations were so low, we were very surprised and satisfied. Do you enjoy the food on Princess? Any must tries?

 

Last, any fun places to scope out on ship? What’s your favorite place on the Crown?

I can't comment on the ultimate balcony breakfast, except to mention that another option is room service and there is no charge. If you are in a full suite you can order off the full menu, otherwise the breakfast menu is limited. A tip is normal. You might want to try either the Crown Grill,  or Sabatini's (Italian) $29/pp for each.

Made to order omelettes are available every day in the buffet area. Believe the omelette station is in the aft or Cafe Caribe section, but you can ask on board. It's nice to eat breakfast on the Horizon Terrace. Order your omelette, take your order slip, gather your other breakfast items, find a table, give the slip to the waiter and your omelette will be delivered to you. There is no charge for any food in the buffet which is open from 5am until late evening every day, never closes during that time.

Take a look at the Crab Shack, $29/pp, held some evenings in the buffet area, and the Salty Dog, $12/pp I think, in the Wheelhouse Bar. A no charge Pub Lunch is held on some sea days. Check the Patter for day and location, probably the Wheelhouse Bar. If you want the Chef's Table dining experience sign up on boarding day. The cost is around $95/pp. The numbers are limited and there is no pre-sign up.

The International Cafe is open 24/7. No charge for food. There is a charge for espresso drinks at the Espresso bar next to the I.C.

DR's are open every day for Breakfast and dinner and for lunch on sea days. The back page of the Princess Patter has all the times.

Quiet comfortable daytime reserved lounging your thing? Check out The Sanctuary all the way forward on deck 17, $20/half day, $40 full day, $30/day if reserved for the entire cruise. Go immediately after boarding, fills quickly on tropical cruises.

The Terrace Pool deck 14 aft and the Lotus Spa Pool are for adults. They are popular. Neptune's Reef Pool is movie free, the Calypso Reef pool has movies and other screen events going all day, with recent movies in the evening.

Check out the Adagio Lounge, deck 16 aft and Skywalker's deck 18 aft. Quiet places to sit and read. Skywalker's is a nightclub starting around 9pm. Great views from Skywalker's.

Arrive at least 30 minutes early for theater shows, maybe even earlier for production shows.

Any specific questions just ask, someone knows the scoop.

[flamomo]

I spent 25 days on the Crown Princess very recently.  IMO, she's a lovely ship with a great crew, and I never had a problem finding something on the dinner menus that I could enjoy.

I have done the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast several times over the 14 years I have been cruising with Princess, and felt it was worth the price. Plenty of food, in fact too much to eat  all of what was served. We've tended to eat the fresh fruit and the hot foods, and save most of the breakfast breads for the following day, which we would supplement with items from the room service menu.

I have also done the UBDinner once, and loved it. The service was excellent, with dedicated wait staff, lovely table set-up with fresh flowers, pre-dinner beverage (we chose margaritas),  and we chose to substitute a bottle of wine for the champagne, and we were able to choose our entrees …. I opted for just the lobster instead of surf & turf. As an occasional treat, I felt it was definitely worth the cost.

[Colo Cruiser]

If you like fish for breakfast then the UBB is for you.

Not for me so I was able to get the $45 obc for it credited back to my account through room service.

IMO.......Its way too much food. You would be better off ordering a few things from room service and doing it yourself.

I think the ultimate balcony dinner is a must do at least once. You can change up the main course when you speak with the RS manager before setup.

[Astro Flyer]

I agree with Colo Cruiser & the dinner is a much better experience & can be modified to individual tastes.

 

Breakfast dumps stacks of plates of food to serve yourself;  dinner has tuxedoed waiters who provide a great dining experience.  The UBD provides nearly $100 of benefits (cocktails, champagne which we’ve exchanged for wine, photo, specialty coffee) and is a much better experience which we do whenever we have a balcony.

[reedprincess]

6 hours ago, jacpansea said:

We will be sailing Princess for our first time in a couple of weeks. I was wondering if you might share if having breakfast on the balcony is worth it? I’m not a huge steak eater and so I don’t think dinner would be worth it. Any feedback is appreciated!

 

Also, I’m a complete nerd. I’ve already packed my clothes. Normally I’m packing with just hours to spare, I am beyond excited for this trip! We’re in our 30s and have sailed three times on Carnival, once on Costa, and once on Norweigan. Costa and Norweigan were both Europe cruises. We weirdly found Carnival had the best food of the lot we’ve tried. We live in Seattle and are foodies, too. I think it’s because our expectations were so low, we were very surprised and satisfied. Do you enjoy the food on Princess? Any must tries?

 

Last, any fun places to scope out on ship? What’s your favorite place on the Crown?

I think you may have the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast and Ultimate Balcony Dinner mixed up.

The breakfast is pastries, quiche, smoked salmon, etc. Breakfast stuff. Served all at once.

The dinner is 4 course, served course by course and the main ie - generally - filet, lobster or filet + lobster. You can make substitutions - within reason - to the UBD. My friend doesn't eat beef, she had two lobster tails. Another doesn't eat beef or lobster, and enjoyed a lovely special prepared chicken breast. We always order a ribeye instead of the filet or lobster, no problem.  You do meet with the room service manager to go over time, menu, cocktail choice, etc. 

 

As for food - I agree, Carnival has some surprisingly good food. We still talk about a couple items from out last Carnival cruise - some of the best we've had on any ship.

 

Princess has very good to great food also. There's plenty of choice in the main dining room menus.  Buffet has some surprisingly good options along the way.  Salty Dog is a definite try - the burger is outstanding, as is the poutine.. The "spicy" short ribs were very good, but most definitely not spicy, so be forewarned. Well well worth the $12 upcharge.  Not a fan of Crab Shack ourselves, others really enjoy it.   The soups in the MDR are quite good, particularly the chilled ones - unique flavors, well worth a try. And the sorbets are outstanding..  The Trident Grill adds BBQ favorites after 6, many people aren't aware. Some options include grilled orange chicken, pulled pork,  wings, chili, brisket, etc. Definitely worth a try - the pulled pork is surprisingly nice. Great for a casual dinner, while watching Movies Under the Stars or such.. 

 

Have a great time. Try not to compare, although it's hard. Princess does lots of things really well, enjoy..

[fishin' musician]

I've done both the UBB and UBD.  UBD was a spectacular dining experience!  UBB, OK, but not very "special".

[tensixmom]

Not to hijack the post, but for those of you who have done balcony dining (of any sort)-  can anyone comment on how windy (or not) having dinner on an aft balcony would be?  I want to do a dinner but my husband is concerned that if the ship is moving we will have wind blowing on us and our food.

[MJSailors]

We celebrated our 25th anniversary on theCrown ten years ago.

Friends arranged the Ultimate Balcny Breakfast as a surprise gift for us.

I agree with other posters,a good amount of food was delivered. I do not remember hot items though.

It seems that there was fruit,pastries and a small bottle of sparkling wine.

We did enjoy this gift,but we put some of the food aside for later snacking.

For most of our cruises, we have ordered room service for breakfast.

We find it to be a pleasant start to the day.

[reedprincess]

9 hours ago, tensixmom said:

Not to hijack the post, but for those of you who have done balcony dining (of any sort)-  can anyone comment on how windy (or not) having dinner on an aft balcony would be?  I want to do a dinner but my husband is concerned that if the ship is moving we will have wind blowing on us and our food.

Aft balconies rarely have much wind, as the ship itself is blocking most of it. Of course, occasionally it is blowing across the deck, so you  may have a cross breeze.

Honestly though,  the balcony itself is fairly protected, so minimal winds most times, and if it's too windy, you could set up right inside the door and leave the balcony door open for the fresh air instead.. 

[fishin' musician]

On 12/4/2018 at 2:37 AM, tensixmom said:

Not to hijack the post, but for those of you who have done balcony dining (of any sort)-  can anyone comment on how windy (or not) having dinner on an aft balcony would be?  I want to do a dinner but my husband is concerned that if the ship is moving we will have wind blowing on us and our food.

 

Aft balconies are far less susceptible to wind than side or front facing balconies.

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by fishin' musician

[Baystate]

On 12/4/2018 at 2:37 AM, tensixmom said:

Not to hijack the post, but for those of you who have done balcony dining (of any sort)-  can anyone comment on how windy (or not) having dinner on an aft balcony would be?  I want to do a dinner but my husband is concerned that if the ship is moving we will have wind blowing on us and our food.

My husband and I have done the UBD on a midship bump out on the Regal.  Wind was not an issue at all, and I was told that if the weather was going to be an issue they could do it inside of the cabin.

[Astro Flyer]

7 minutes ago, Baystate said:

My husband and I have done the UBD on a midship bump out on the Regal.  Wind was not an issue at all, and I was told that if the weather was going to be an issue they could do it inside of the cabin.

We’ve scheduled our UBDs during evenings in port or during sailaway in an effort to have the best weather conditions.  That’s worked well every time except for once when inclement weather sailing from Santorini resulted in having it inside our cabin.  We still enjoyed it while looking through the balcony’s sliding glass doors.

 

Good to know that you had a good experience midship on the Regal where our cabin on the Royal will be located for our next UBD. 😃

[Baystate]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

We’ve scheduled our UBDs during evenings in port or during sailaway in an effort to have the best weather conditions.  That’s worked well every time except for once when inclement weather sailing from Santorini resulted in having it inside our cabin.  We still enjoyed it while looking through the balcony’s sliding glass doors.

 

Good to know that you had a good experience midship on the Regal where our cabin on the Royal will be located for our next UBD. 😃

Yes, plenty of room.  🙂

[Kunjaqueen]

Olympia here, you on the Holiday cruise too?

[jacpansea]

5 hours ago, Kunjaqueen said:

Olympia here, you on the Holiday cruise too?

Hi there! Yes, we are! So excited! Are you? What day are you flying in?

[Kunjaqueen]

We're flying out of SEA on Sunday, 16 December red eye to FLL (Alaska).  Coming back late on the 27th!

Shuttle is scheduled to pick us up around 3:30 I believe.  

I'm super excited as are the kids.  They've got a cruise countdown going on instead of an Advent calendar 😄. 

We're actually in Lacey, just over the Thurston County line - what about you?

 

[jacpansea]

3 hours ago, Kunjaqueen said:

We're flying out of SEA on Sunday, 16 December red eye to FLL (Alaska).  Coming back late on the 27th!

Shuttle is scheduled to pick us up around 3:30 I believe.  

I'm super excited as are the kids.  They've got a cruise countdown going on instead of an Advent calendar 😄. 

We're actually in Lacey, just over the Thurston County line - what about you?

 

We are in Maple Valley but have a little cabin somewhat close to you on the Hood Canal. We are taking Alaska out on Saturday and come back on New Years. I hope to see you on the ship! I am beyond excited!