Suite Dining Question

[LDVinNC]

We'll be on the Island Princess in a few weeks.  We have chosen a suite this time.  I understand that we are eligible for Club Class dining, but in our cruise personalizer it shows that we have chosen early traditional dining.  I see no option on the screen for club class.  Do we simply show up at the club class locale and tell them our stateroom number and they will seat us?  Thanks.

[AF-1]

Just show up at the club class area of the selected dining room.  The hostess will look at your medallion or key card; they will see you are in a suite and check it against their list.  After that the same hostess will seat you every day.  No worries.  As for traditional dining;  go into your personalizer and change it to anytime dining.  Your travel agent or Princess agent can do that.  We've stayed in suites our last two cruises and have never had a issue

Edited November 6, 2019 by AF-1

[BitburgBoy]

Yes, AF-1 is correct. Also, we had a Suite last year and we able to eat breakfast in The Crown Grill for “ made to order, quite meals.so if that is still available it is a great option.

[voljeep]

and the full mdr menu is available for room service during regular dining hours ...

[Talisi]

Also do not pass on the specialty dining you will get on embarkation day. You can ask for it to be changed and that request is normally granted. And the breakfast might be the best perk you get for being in a suite, just be sure to check the hours as they are different on port and sea days.

[pms4104]

If you do not change your preference pre-cruise from traditional to anytime dining, please do so enbarkation day ... otherwise there will be your unused traditional seats not available to others

Edited November 6, 2019 by pms4104

[LDVinNC]

Thanks for all the tips!

[john_galt]

I love ordering from the MDR menu for delivery to the room. Ask the room steward to bring you the menus. Spent a week in a Vista suite and never at in the MDR. 

[PoohUnderstands]

Go to your Personalizer; then click on "My Account."  Then "Home"; Then click on cruise in question, "Manage This Booking";

then click on "Guest Check-in";  scroll down to "Onboard Preferences."  "Select" "Dining Preferences";  Then a pop-up window will appear and you can choose cc dining or sometimes anytime dining(which means CC once on board.)  This frees up your traditional spot for someone on the waiting list.

 

Pooh

[LDVinNC]

I went into the personalizer and changed traditional dining to anytime and, magically, it now says club class.  So we are all set.  Thanks.

[jondfk]

Don't be too surprised though if the dining choice in the personalizer or on other paperwork you might print snaps back to traditional, it's happened to us many times.  Doesn't matter though, whatever your paperwork might say, go to Club Class and you'll be taken care of from there.  The dining selection seems a bit glitchy in my experience.

 

I've also had good success moving the comped specialty dining night from the first night to another.  This is usually done with nothing more than a simple ask.  We've always received whatever night we wanted from Crown Grill, a bit less flexible with Sabatini's. 

 

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy suite breakfast wherever it's served, Sabatini's I think on Island.  It is perhaps (IMHO) the best suite perk of all.

[Paula_MacFan]

On 11/6/2019 at 8:33 AM, john_galt said:

I love ordering from the MDR menu for delivery to the room. Ask the room steward to bring you the menus. Spent a week in a Vista suite and never at in the MDR. 

This!  When we had a full suite we NEVER ate in the MDR.  Every night we ordered everything we wanted from the MDR menu and had it delivered to our stateroom where we ate on our balcony.  One of the best suite perks IMO!

[PoohUnderstands]

17 hours ago, Paula_MacFan said:

This!  When we had a full suite we NEVER ate in the MDR.  Every night we ordered everything we wanted from the MDR menu and had it delivered to our stateroom where we ate on our balcony.  One of the best suite perks IMO!

One question.  I am very picky about temperatures for my foods, very picky.  So I need my soups, VERY hot, and my main courses hot, and my desserts cold (or warm).  I have ordered breakfast room service and the coffee is never really hot (not just oh, this is hot enuf, but HOT) and food always lukewarm.  That is why I have shied away from doing dinners.  So how was your experience in this area.  Thanks for any input.

 

Pooh

[Paula_MacFan]

Just now, PoohUnderstands said:

One question.  I am very picky about temperatures for my foods, very picky.  So I need my soups, VERY hot, and my main courses hot, and my desserts cold (or warm).  I have ordered breakfast room service and the coffee is never really hot (not just oh, this is hot enuf, but HOT) and food always lukewarm.  That is why I have shied away from doing dinners.  So how was your experience in this area.  Thanks for any input.

 

Pooh

We found the food to be at proper temperatures.  I was more focused on the beautiful views/sunsets than critiquing the food.  Other than we just thought it was amazing to have so many great dishes sent to our room every night!  

 

Can't speak to the soup or coffee temperature as we aren't soup people and we don't drink coffee.  Here's just a sample of the items we enjoyed on our large balcony with dining table.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, PoohUnderstands said:

One question.  I am very picky about temperatures for my foods, very picky.  So I need my soups, VERY hot, and my main courses hot, and my desserts cold (or warm).  I have ordered breakfast room service and the coffee is never really hot (not just oh, this is hot enuf, but HOT) and food always lukewarm.  That is why I have shied away from doing dinners.  So how was your experience in this area.  Thanks for any input.

 

Pooh

My issue is that all courses arrive together so by the time I have finished my app the main course is lukewarm. My other issue is that if you don’t preorder there can be quite a delay to get your food

[XBGuy]

1 hour ago, PoohUnderstands said:

One question.  I am very picky about temperatures for my foods, very picky.  So I need my soups, VERY hot, and my main courses hot, and my desserts cold (or warm).  I have ordered breakfast room service and the coffee is never really hot (not just oh, this is hot enuf, but HOT) and food always lukewarm.  That is why I have shied away from doing dinners.  So how was your experience in this area.  Thanks for any input.

 

Pooh

  

I would not be optimistic, Pooh.

 

Consider that in the dining room galleys, the dishes are plated and stacked for the servers to come and pick up as needed.  I can see were, even in the dining room, a dish presented to a diner might not be terribly hot.  Don't get me wrong, 99% of the plates will will be fine for 99% of the dinners.

 

Consider now the case of ordering off the dining room menu for a suite dinner.  A room service server goes to the dining room galley and picks the the pre-plated dishes--for a dinner for two, for example, he may make multiple passes to pick up two different appetizers, one soup, one tossed salad, two different entrees, and two different desserts--stacks them on a cart and pushes that cart from the galley to the suite.  Obviously, that walk is longer than stepping from the galley right into the dining room.  Also, it is highly likely that the destination suite is not on the same deck as the galley.  Since a cart is involved, then the server must call an elevator.

 

As the previous poster said while I was in composition mode, everything is brought to the suite at once.  So, if, by fortune, your soup is appropriately hot enough for you when it is delivered, you'd better have it first.   Then, go ahead and have your salad.  Unfortunately, by the time you get to your Cornish Game Hen, it is going to be pretty close to room temperature.

 

I have read at least one poster here on Cruise Critic who works around this bulk delivery issue by ordering every course separately.  I suppose that can work, but I would be a bit surprised if very many people thought that was a good strategy.

 

All my negativism aside, Mrs. XBGuy and I love ordering off the dining room menu when we are in a suite--especially, if the weather and the seas are accommodating and we can be out on the balcony.

[Near PDX]

We also order room service breakfast on disembarkation day which is also a great suite benefit. 

[jondfk]

6 hours ago, PoohUnderstands said:

One question.  I am very picky about temperatures for my foods, very picky.  So I need my soups, VERY hot, and my main courses hot, and my desserts cold (or warm).  I have ordered breakfast room service and the coffee is never really hot (not just oh, this is hot enuf, but HOT) and food always lukewarm.  That is why I have shied away from doing dinners.  So how was your experience in this area.  Thanks for any input.

 

Pooh

Hi Pooh:

 

Sorry to say, I can't be more positive than others who have commented on temperatures.  I'm not very sensitive on this point, still, the logistics make it more or less impossible to have anything at the 'right' temperature let alone EVERYTHING.

 

One thing we have enjoyed though is asking for something simple - like a LARGE version of a caesar salad, or a salad of the day that looks appealing.  Plus a large portion rolls or breadsticks and desert and having a 'simple' dinner absent any hot dishes.  We wouldn't consider this strange at home and find it a nice change at sea.  

 

Just an idea.

 

[azbirdmom]

Several cruises ago we decided to skip formal nights.  Our last few cruises have been in suites and we've simply ordered from the MDR menu on formal night.  It's great to be totally relaxed eating nice food on our balcony.  We don't mind that the food is lukewarm, it's still a very nice way to enjoy all that your suite has to offer!

Edited November 12, 2019 by azbirdmom

[JimmyVWine]

9 hours ago, XBGuy said:

So, if, by fortune, your soup is appropriately hot enough for you when it is delivered, you'd better have it first.   Then, go ahead and have your salad. 

So if you order ice cream for dessert, it becomes your appetizer? 😎

[SDWalt]

Question about the full menu for room service in the suite.  Are we allowed to invite friends that aren't booked in suites to dine with us in our cabin and allow them to order from the full menu as well?  On our upcoming cruise we have an aft penthouse while our friends have a balcony cabin.  So we thought it would be nice to have them over for a meal.  We are also considering an UBD with them as well.  Are the tables on the balcony big enough to accommodate 4 people?  They look awfully small in all the photos.  This is our first cruise on a Royal Class ship.

Thanks!

[memoak]

52 minutes ago, SDWalt said:

Question about the full menu for room service in the suite.  Are we allowed to invite friends that aren't booked in suites to dine with us in our cabin and allow them to order from the full menu as well?  On our upcoming cruise we have an aft penthouse while our friends have a balcony cabin.  So we thought it would be nice to have them over for a meal.  We are also considering an UBD with them as well.  Are the tables on the balcony big enough to accommodate 4 people?  They look awfully small in all the photos.  This is our first cruise on a Royal Class ship.

Thanks!

If you have the room yes you can do it

[PoohUnderstands]

17 hours ago, jondfk said:

Hi Pooh:

 

Sorry to say, I can't be more positive than others who have commented on temperatures.  I'm not very sensitive on this point, still, the logistics make it more or less impossible to have anything at the 'right' temperature let alone EVERYTHING.

 

One thing we have enjoyed though is asking for something simple - like a LARGE version of a caesar salad, or a salad of the day that looks appealing.  Plus a large portion rolls or breadsticks and desert and having a 'simple' dinner absent any hot dishes.  We wouldn't consider this strange at home and find it a nice change at sea.  

 

Just an idea.

 

So obvious, I haven't thought of that!  There are some evenings when the thought of a big dinner is not appealing.  I definitely will have to keep this in mind!!!  Regular meals though.....Nope.

 

Pooh

[azbirdmom]

12 hours ago, SDWalt said:

Question about the full menu for room service in the suite.  Are we allowed to invite friends that aren't booked in suites to dine with us in our cabin and allow them to order from the full menu as well?  On our upcoming cruise we have an aft penthouse while our friends have a balcony cabin.  So we thought it would be nice to have them over for a meal.  We are also considering an UBD with them as well.  Are the tables on the balcony big enough to accommodate 4 people?  They look awfully small in all the photos.  This is our first cruise on a Royal Class ship.

Thanks!

 

What deck are you on?  If you have one of the wider aft decks you should have a table with 4 chairs on the balcony.  Some like Caribe or Aloha will only have two chairs at the balcony table because that's all that will fit.  And no problem with Room Service for 4 people.  Just remember that a tip is a nice gesture, especially when they are having to retrieve meals for 4.  Your room steward will bring the MDR menus to your cabin daily on request - they usually don't do this unless you ask for it.

[voljeep]

12 hours ago, SDWalt said:

Question about the full menu for room service in the suite.  Are we allowed to invite friends that aren't booked in suites to dine with us in our cabin and allow them to order from the full menu as well?  On our upcoming cruise we have an aft penthouse while our friends have a balcony cabin.  So we thought it would be nice to have them over for a meal.  We are also considering an UBD with them as well.  Are the tables on the balcony big enough to accommodate 4 people?  They look awfully small in all the photos.  This is our first cruise on a Royal Class ship.

Thanks!

UBD is a paid dining experience available to anyone on the ship, yep, even inside cabins

 

Full menu room service is for suite OCCUPANTS , but will Princess deliver for 4 for a suite occupied by 2 - prolly..

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