First Time on Princess March 2021

[emerald3582]

On the Princess website, it says the PBP gets a large bottle of still or sparkling water in the specialty restaurants. Does it get you drinks too? or just the water?

 

And it looks like they changed the Coffee & Soda package which I got for my teens. No bottled water included anymore. On Disney, I was able to bring a small carry-on full of bottled water. Or I can stockpile bottled water from my PBP.

Edited June 6, 2020 by emerald3582

[Daniel A]

15 minutes ago, emerald3582 said:

On the Princess website, it says the PBP gets a large bottle of still or sparkling water in the specialty restaurants. Does it get you drinks too? or just the water?

 

And it looks like they changed the Coffee & Soda package which I got for my teens. No bottled water included anymore. On Disney, I was able to bring a small carry-on full of bottled water which doesn't seem to be allowed on Princess.

I don't think there's any prohibition against bringing on your own case(s) of your favorite bottled water.  The Coffee & Soda package gives a 25% discount on non alcoholic bottled and canned beverages. 

[BarbinMich]

23 hours ago, jennybenny said:

. . .

I don't like buffets. People taste things, put food back, lick their fingers, cough on food, I try to avoid them. I find food often gets cold by the time I find a seat. We enjoy specialty dining and the MDR.

We have been on 30 cruises on Princess and have never seen that kind of behavior in the Horizon Court, where we eat most of our meals.  However, my main complaint with the Royal (assume it's the same on Regal) is that the food is more out in the open than on the older ships, so to speak, and the "hot" food always is lukewarm at best.

[jennybenny]

9 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

We have been on 30 cruises on Princess and have never seen that kind of behavior in the Horizon Court, where we eat most of our meals.  However, my main complaint with the Royal (assume it's the same on Regal) is that the food is more out in the open than on the older ships, so to speak, and the "hot" food always is lukewarm at best.

Then you’ve been lucky. Worst part is that these are adults doing this, not necessarily children. We cruise mostly out of San Francisco and Los Angeles, over holidays, so maybe we are cruising from different embarkation ports. I’ve certainly seen it on our cruises. Even my 12 year old, who loves buffets has said he will no longer eat at them if they are self serve.

 

Definitely agree with your assessment of the layout and lukewarm food.

[Daniel A]

On 6/5/2020 at 2:06 PM, jennybenny said:

I don't like buffets. People taste things, put food back, lick their fingers, cough on food, I try to avoid them. 

I've never seen this behavior either on board a ship or in a buffet style restaurant.  Where I have seen it with frequency is the open salad bars in grocery stores.  I see shoppers putting their cart next to the salad bar and junior is reaching over playing with the salad items.  Also shoppers not watching older children near the salad bars.  While I have no issue eating food from a buffet, I won't go near the supermarket salad bars.  I can understand your reluctance to eat from the buffet and you should do what makes you most comfortable.

[emerald3582]

Do the sell wine BTG in Sabatini's and Crown? If so, is it covered by my PBP?

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, emerald3582 said:

Do the sell wine BTG in Sabatini's and Crown? If so, is it covered by my PBP?

yes - up to and including wines that cost $ 12 per glass

 

if your ship has a Vines - that is the wine bar with better selections, and the PBP also works in there

[Thrak]

7 hours ago, Daniel A said:

The beverage package does not include beer buckets anywhere on the ship and does not cover any drinks from room service.  You are free to get beverages from a bar and take them to your room/balcony.  If I have the PBP, I will usually stop at a bar on my way back to my cabin and get an unopened bottle of beer and put it in the cabin refrigerator.  After a day or two, I  generally have a nice supply of cold beer in the cabin.  😃 

 

In the past I would snag one of the little splits of champagne and take it back to the cabin. I'd end up with 4 or so in the refrigerator. They were great for making Mimosas while waiting in the disembarkation lounge. 😎 I've heard that the splits of champagne are no longer available. That would be a bummer. Having stuff for mimosas in the cabin and in the disembarkation lounge was great. In the lounge they have OJ available. For the cabin I either just snagged OJ from the buffet, ordered it from room service, or even got it from the bar when picking up the champagne. Sailing 28 days on Emerald the staff all knew we both had the beverage package so the bartender in Club Fusion would just give me two splits of champagne and two glasses of OJ with plastic wrap over the top to take to the cabin.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Thrak

[jondfk]

We were on Royal for 12 days in October, also to Mexico.  Most of your questions have been answered but I'll add my opinions.

 

Drink package.  As others have noted, the package works everywhere on the ship, service in the MDR can be hit or miss.  We generally have a drink or two before dinner and carry at least part of one into the dining room.  Order a next one early in the meal to avoid disappointment.  Do note that not every bar has every wine, or can make every cocktail, another reason to bring your favorite with you.

 

Sanctuary.  We are HUGE sanctuary fans.  Having said this, we had mixed feelings about the Sanctuary on Royal.  Yes, it's lovely. Yes, service was top notch.  However, there is zero, no, none shade in the Sanctuary on Royal.  The entire front is a wall of glass which blocked any breeze and seemed to magnify the intense Mexico sun during our cruise which averaged temps in the mid 90's.  A better option might be the free Retreat area just outside the sanctuary.  There is some shade near the sides of the ship and a nice breeze often flows across the deck.  

 

I'm not a fan of Princess buffets but Royal very nearly changed my mind.  It's a huge space with something for nearly everyone.  I normally might use the buffet once for lunch on a cruise of 12 days.  On this trip we used it 4 times.  It was that good.  I still won't skip a served meal to go to the buffet but if there is no MDR option (port days for lunch for example) this is far better than burgers or pizza.

 

Finally, what you describe will be just fine for the MDR for dinner.  

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

In the past I would snag one of the little splits of champagne and take it back to the cabin. I'd end up with 4 or so in the refrigerator. They were great for making Mimosas while waiting in the disembarkation lounge. 😎 I've heard that the splits of champagne are no longer available. That would be a bummer. Having stuff for mimosas in the cabin and in the disembarkation lounge was great. In the lounge they have OJ available. 

I remembered you posting this once before and I liked the idea so much, I brought 4 splits onboard my last cruise in February and our party enjoyed our Mimosas in the disembarkation lounge.  I gave you full credit to our little group.  👍 👍 👍 🥂 

[Thrak]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I remembered you posting this once before and I liked the idea so much, I brought 4 splits onboard my last cruise in February and our party enjoyed our Mimosas in the disembarkation lounge.  I gave you full credit to our little group.  👍 👍 👍 🥂 

 

Very cool. Glad you remembered to give it a try. I definitely have gotten a few looks from some other folks who seem to wonder how I "rate" to be having mimosas while waiting in the disembarkation lounge. It definitely makes the wait a bit nicer. 😎

[AF-1]

I have not been on a royal class ship; From reading this thread and others;  the buffet area seems to be laid out well.   the main complaint for the buffet is the hot food is not that hot.  Does this sound about right?

[lx200gps]

13 hours ago, jondfk said:

We were on Royal for 12 days in October, also to Mexico.  Most of your questions have been answered but I'll add my opinions.

 

Drink package.  As others have noted, the package works everywhere on the ship, service in the MDR can be hit or miss.  We generally have a drink or two before dinner and carry at least part of one into the dining room.  Order a next one early in the meal to avoid disappointment.  Do note that not every bar has every wine, or can make every cocktail, another reason to bring your favorite with you.

 

Sanctuary.  We are HUGE sanctuary fans.  Having said this, we had mixed feelings about the Sanctuary on Royal.  Yes, it's lovely. Yes, service was top notch.  However, there is zero, no, none shade in the Sanctuary on Royal.  The entire front is a wall of glass which blocked any breeze and seemed to magnify the intense Mexico sun during our cruise which averaged temps in the mid 90's.  A better option might be the free Retreat area just outside the sanctuary.  There is some shade near the sides of the ship and a nice breeze often flows across the deck.  

 

I'm not a fan of Princess buffets but Royal very nearly changed my mind.  It's a huge space with something for nearly everyone.  I normally might use the buffet once for lunch on a cruise of 12 days.  On this trip we used it 4 times.  It was that good.  I still won't skip a served meal to go to the buffet but if there is no MDR option (port days for lunch for example) this is far better than burgers or pizza.

 

Finally, what you describe will be just fine for the MDR for dinner.  

We love the Sanctuary as well and spend all sea days there. Yes, there is less shade in terms of overall percentage in the Sanctuary on the big ships than on the smaller ones and they clearly designed the area to offer more full sun loungers than on the smaller ships. Technically, there is plenty of shade in the forward area in the Sanctuary on the big ships, it's just clearly NOT full shade. Those overhead canopies provide partial/filtered shade and you or the staff can move your lounger around to get out of any full sun you encounter if you're up front. There's also the sofa area under the gazebo which provides  full shade and I usually spend a lot of time on those sofas as I prefer to stay out of the sun myself.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

I have not been on a royal class ship; From reading this thread and others;  the buffet area seems to be laid out well.   the main complaint for the buffet is the hot food is not that hot.  Does this sound about right?

I've been on Regal a few times and have taken every meal in the Horizon Court.  I don't recall ever having something that wasn't hot.  I will say however that I have seen people put hot food on their plate and continue to window shop around the selections while filling up their plate with breads and salads.  I tend to look at all of the selections first, get my bread,  then I get the hot food and proceed directly to my table.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I've been on Regal a few times and have taken every meal in the Horizon Court.  I don't recall ever having something that wasn't hot.  I will say however that I have seen people put hot food on their plate and continue to window shop around the selections while filling up their plate with breads and salads.  I tend to look at all of the selections first, get my bread,  then I get the hot food and proceed directly to my table.

We've never had any complaints about the food temp on either the Royal or Regal buffets either. I once complained to the sous chef about an item being to salty & he tasted it & had it removed from the line immediately. 

They do listen to the people & react accordingly.

It also pays to complement them on items which were outstanding. 

I really hope when they're back in business the buffets are still in service. 

[AF-1]

Danial A and MissP22;   thank you very much for your feedback.  Have a great day.

[skynight]

On 6/6/2020 at 12:40 PM, emerald3582 said:

On the Princess website, it says the PBP gets a large bottle of still or sparkling water in the specialty restaurants. Does it get you drinks too? or just the water?

 

And it looks like they changed the Coffee & Soda package which I got for my teens. No bottled water included anymore. On Disney, I was able to bring a small carry-on full of bottled water. Or I can stockpile bottled water from my PBP.

Yes. If you have the PBP in a specialty restaurant you can order any drink menu priced $12 and under and there is no additional charge. This includes glasses of wine that are $12 and under. Bottles of wine are excluded, but can be purchased at a discount, 25%.

"The package may be used on our private islands, all food and beverage venues, and other areas such as the theater or public spaces that offer beverage service. Selections and service are limited to each venue’s menu offerings and operating hours."

[caribill]

19 hours ago, skynight said:

Yes. If you have the PBP in a specialty restaurant you can order any drink menu priced $12 and under and there is no additional charge. This includes glasses of wine that are $12 and under. Bottles of wine are excluded, but can be purchased at a discount, 25%.

"The package may be used on our private islands, all food and beverage venues, and other areas such as the theater or public spaces that offer beverage service. Selections and service are limited to each venue’s menu offerings and operating hours."

 

As I remember it, the PBP does not include soda in cans. On Princess Cays the only soda they offer is in cans, so soda would not be covered by the PBP there.

[AF-1]

caribill;  you are correct about Premier Beverage Package;  fountain sodas only.  

[Daniel A]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

 

As I remember it, the PBP does not include soda in cans. On Princess Cays the only soda they offer is in cans, so soda would not be covered by the PBP there.

As I mentioned in Post #27, The Coffee & Soda package gives a 25% discount on non alcoholic bottled and canned beverages. 

[Treasure Hunter]

Very good iced tea and lemonade are available for free in main dining room and Princess Cays. In a suite we get an alcohol set up included ( we don’t drink alcohol any more) that we exchange for water and soda. In addition we get two free bottles of water a day. In February on the Regal I pre paid for a dozen bottles of water for very little money $18 ? Between all of those we had bottled water coming out of our ears. We always tip our stateroom attendant extra on the first day and I think he was adding extra to the stash. You can bring soda cans from your room to Princess Cays and just get a cup of ice at the bar.

[voljeep]

18 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

You can bring soda cans from your room to Princess Cays and just get a cup of ice at the bar.

you  'can' but why ? - you have to pay for those cans on Princess Cay, just like on the ship

[Treasure Hunter]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

you  'can' but why ? - you have to pay for those cans on Princess Cay, just like on the ship

Yes you are right.  But I meant if you already had them in your room. We had a ton left over from the alcohol  exchange. We ended up giving them away.

[andimark]

Thanks for all the helpful info - but one question: does the PBP include the lattes & cappuccinos on the dessert menu after dinner?

[Treasure Hunter]

I don’t know. All I can say is we were never charged in club class dining for either ( or espresso).