Princess High Tea

[HoneymoonCruiser5]

I heard that Princess does High Tea on board their ships. We're sailing on the Star in May. Has anyone done High Tea on their cruise before? How was it? Is it included or an additional cost?

[d9704011]

The Princess ships we were on had ‘High Tea’ in the Piazza at an additional charge.  We went to ‘Afternoon Tea’ in one of the dining rooms at no additional charge and it was very good.

[pathi]

Also available for no extra charge in the Sanctuary. If you book a lounger there. Very Nice.

[skynight]

2 hours ago, HoneymoonCruiser5 said:

I heard that Princess does High Tea on board their ships. We're sailing on the Star in May. Has anyone done High Tea on their cruise before? How was it? Is it included or an additional cost?

No special high tea on the Star. Free tea every afternoon in one of the DR's.

Royal Class ships have a special Royal tea in the Piazza usually on formal nights. You sign up for it. There was a change.

[AAAAmerican]

Having any Tea is great , I do appreciate a nice Earl Grey and similar to the Carnivals Cunard Line too.

 

Live Music is a wonderful way they do provide.. as was on all passenger cruise ships.. alas a normalcy that us paying the fare , taxes, and fees can and do appreciate and tell others about it.. oh no good publicity and getting morte people to cruise..

 

Holland America Line which now is Cunards and Priuncess's Parent does it wondewrfully well.

 

Princess has done it so very well too.

 

These Teas please say hi to your table mates near by as this is a great social event each day.

[JF - retired RRT]

When you go to Afternoon Tea the waiters walk around with pre-brewed Lipton (plain, black tea) in a large tea pot.

If you like special flavors (English Breakfast, Earl Grey - the stuff that's available in the buffet), you'll have to ask for it. It takes a little longer, since they have to get a small pot just for you. 

If you want the really special flavors available in the International Cafe, bring your own and ask for a pot of water.

Coffee is also available for those who drink it.

Scones, cookies, finger sandwiches will be brought around. You choose what you want.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

No special high tea on the Star. Free tea every afternoon in one of the DR's.

Royal Class ships have a special Royal tea in the Piazza usually on formal nights. You sign up for it. There was a change.

The charge is something like $10...more if you want champagne.

[Dani24]

As others have mentioned, Princess offers an Afternoon Tea in one of the MDRs on most days (generally not on port days). High Tea is traditionally tea served with a light meal (e.g. there may be meat or egg dishes, along with the pastries). Afternoon tea is tea served with pastries, finger sandwiches, petite fours, etc. 

 

The Afternoon Tea on Princess is really nice, and we love doing it at least a couple of times on every cruise. We've always been seated at a table with others (though I imagine you could request a table alone). They come around with tea, and trays of small pastries, sandwiches and desserts. Here's a picture that will give you an idea of what the food looks like: http://oolongowl.com/princess-cruise-afternoon-tea-oolong-owl/

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

The charge is something like $10...more if you want champagne.

 

The Royal Tea is worth the $10 charge!  More than just a "tea", it's an event.  Hosted with narration about the teas being served, it's educational as well.

[fishywood]

OP is on Star Princess. The discussion of the Royal Afternoon Tea is irrelevant to them at it is only offered on the Royal-class ships.

 

(And Dani24 beat me to it this time: there is no High Tea on Princess ships, only Afternoon Tea. High Tea requires a hot savory dish such as soup or quiche; even the upcharge Tea [which again the OP will not be offered] only adds fresh berries and sticky pudding to the standard Afternoon Tea lineup of sandwiches, sweets and scones)

[AAAAmerican]

On 4/19/2019 at 1:35 PM, Dani24 said:

As others have mentioned, Princess offers an Afternoon Tea in one of the MDRs on most days (generally not on port days). High Tea is traditionally tea served with a light meal (e.g. there may be meat or egg dishes, along with the pastries). Afternoon tea is tea served with pastries, finger sandwiches, petite fours, etc. 

 

The Afternoon Tea on Princess is really nice, and we love doing it at least a couple of times on every cruise. We've always been seated at a table with others (though I imagine you could request a table alone). They come around with tea, and trays of small pastries, sandwiches and desserts. Here's a picture that will give you an idea of what the food looks like: http://oolongowl.com/princess-cruise-afternoon-tea-oolong-owl/

Dear Dani24,

 

Having Tea in the US and/or UK is a Social Event , so yes a wonderful way to enjoy a good Cup-A and as well having ship-mates to see etc.. even the Professional Musicians on some lines is wonderful.

 

We do bring gifts for them at tyhe Teas. QM2 even the Kennel Masters..

[cubfan63]

On my Royal Princess Cruise that sailed 4/13/2019, although they also had the special Royal tea in the Piazza one day ($10 w/o champagne, $20 with champagne), they had the “no extra charge” afternoon tea every day (both port and sea, except for Embarkation day) in the Concerto dining room (deck 6) from 3:30 pm to 4:15 pm. 

[meatloafsfan]

After our experience with tea on the CB, I can't say it's something that we will ever do again. It wasn't worth the time.

 

The pastries and cookies (including the scones) were terrible. The scones tasted like baking soda and the other desserts were nothing more than coloured gelatin/cream with no taste and weird textures. The sandwiches weren't good either (and really - how do you mess up a  tea sandwich?).

 

We didn't finish anything and didn't bother to go back a second time.

 

Frankly, I'd rather use my coffee package at the international café and enjoy one of their good teas along with a sandwich and pastry/cookie for afternoon tea.

[LB_NJ]

My wife did the free afternoon tea on Crown and enjoyed it more than on the QM2.  The QM2 was just too crowded.

 

At the free tea they had tea of course and small deserts.  There was also live music.  Very nice.

[Cruisers from MA]

Just off Crown TA. 

 

Afternoon Tea was featured most (all?) days in an MDR from 3:00-4:00PM, and was complimentary. The tea being poured was Twining’s English Breakfast, which surprised us (we had had Lipton at Tea on a previous Princess cruise). Also, for info, Twining’s was available in the buffet and when we asked for English Breakfast tea after MDR dinner. In fact, the only Lipton we encountered was the first Room Service breakfast (where we requested “hot tea”); other Room Service orders we requested “English Breakfast Tea” and got the Twining’s.

 

At Afternoon Tea, servers circulated with -

• Scones (and served jam and cream)
• Tea sandwiches, several types to choose from
• Cakes (some amazing frosting colors, not seen in nature)
• Brownies/ cookies/ biscuits

 

We enjoyed it. Hope this is helpful. 

 

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Itisi said:

Have never cruised, but considering.

Is there a dress code for high tea?

Can you take some back on a plate to your room to eat at a later time?

Thanks

 

For the Tea described by the poster you quoted, there is no official dress code.  Casual clothes would be OK, i.e. shorts, polo shirts, etc.  Swimwear would not be appropriate. 

 

For the Royal Tea offered on the Royal Class vessels once during a 7 day cruise, casual attire is still OK, but for the gentleman, long pants and appropriate shirt would be expected.  The Royal Tea is more formal in presentation than is the regular afternoon Tea.

[Aus Traveller]

12 hours ago, Itisi said:

Have never cruised, but considering.

Is there a dress code for high tea?

Can you take some back on a plate to your room to eat at a later time?

Thanks

I wouldn't plan on taking food from the MDR afternoon tea back to your cabin. When you enter the dining room you will be seated then food brought around on trays over a period of time. The atmosphere is a bit on the 'elegant' side.

 

If you want to take food to your cabin it would be much more convenient to get some from the buffet. Afternoon tea is available there with a wide range of options and no-one would look twice at you taking a plate away. Staff will often give you a serviette (napkin) to place over the food while you carry it. I know someone who takes a couple of Tupperware containers with her on a cruise. She goes to the buffet for 'nibbles' - cheese, cold meats etc and has them in the frig in the room to have with a drink. She also picks up a few sweet items to have as a snack.

[JF - retired RRT]

19 hours ago, Itisi said:

Can you take some back on a plate to your room to eat at a later time?

You'd have to bring your own plate... 

The dining rooms won't allow their dishes to be removed by passengers.

As others suggested, go to the buffet and get what you want...those plates travel all over the ship.

[bostonfred]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:48 PM, fishywood said:

OP is on Star Princess. The discussion of the Royal Afternoon Tea is irrelevant to them at it is only offered on the Royal-class ships.

 

(And Dani24 beat me to it this time: there is no High Tea on Princess ships, only Afternoon Tea. High Tea requires a hot savory dish such as soup or quiche; even the upcharge Tea [which again the OP will not be offered] only adds fresh berries and sticky pudding to the standard Afternoon Tea lineup of sandwiches, sweets and scones)

Hi...just to confirm...we are on Star in October...they do not offer the afternoon tea?...only our third cruise with Princess out of 30, so not really up to speed on Princess ins and outs, but previous two sailings were enjoyable, nice to experience different lines, and Princess has varied itineraries....😎😎

[skynight]

9 minutes ago, bostonfred said:

Hi...just to confirm...we are on Star in October...they do not offer the afternoon tea?...only our third cruise with Princess out of 30, so not really up to speed on Princess ins and outs, but previous two sailings were enjoyable, nice to experience different lines, and Princess has varied itineraries....😎😎

A one hour tea is offered every day, sea and port, in one of the DR's, around 3:00pm. Exact time and location is on the back page of the Princess Patter. The Star will have it.

[Coffeeluvr05]

The afternoon tea, as it is called on Princess, is free and in the MDR.  If you are a full suite passenger, you can have delivered to your suite.  We did that once and it was nice.  

[fishywood]

7 hours ago, bostonfred said:

Hi...just to confirm...we are on Star in October...they do not offer the afternoon tea?...only our third cruise with Princess out of 30, so not really up to speed on Princess ins and outs, but previous two sailings were enjoyable, nice to experience different lines, and Princess has varied itineraries....😎😎

To recap the gist of this thread (which admittedly contains lots of noise applicable to various different ships even though the OP only asked about Star Princess):

 

Afternoon Tea is held each day (except embarkation day) in one of the MDRs on all Princess ships. Most commonly 3:00-4:00 but check the Patter (in the dining times grid on p. 4) as some port days may be 3:30-4:30.

Royal Afternoon Tea (again, for some inexplicable reason was the subject of the first response on this thread) is an additional offering only on the Royal-class ships. Held in the Piazza on certain sea days; cost $20 with champagne, $10 without.

There is no High Tea on any Princess ship. (Why some people choose not to read the entire thread before repeating misinformation is the bane of Cruise Critic in my book).

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, fishywood said:

(Why some people choose not to read the entire thread before repeating misinformation is the bane of Cruise Critic in my book).