Can I use onboard credit to reserve Sabatinis before boarding?

[pocka]

We will be getting onboard credit in our upcoming cruise.  Can I make reservations now for specialty dinning and have it applied to my onboard credit?  I'm afraid if I wait until boarding all the openings at reasonable times will be taken. If I use a credit card now can I get the payment removed once on board?  Also, can recent cruisers recommend Sabatinis on Discovery?  There seems to be a real variation of quality from ship to ship. One ship is great, another disappointing.

[Cruise Raider]

Unless you have the premier package, you really can’t book specialty restaurants without paying for them ahead of time.  

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Unless you have the premier package, you really can’t book specialty restaurants without paying for them ahead of time.  

We have the Premier Package and do not see any option to book the specialty restaurants without inputting a credit card.  In fact, we have been meaning to give Princess a call and ask about this issue.

 

Hank

[avonlady6390]

When it comes to using obc before your cruise the only thing you can prepuchase is shore excursions.

[Cruise Raider]

22 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We have the Premier Package and do not see any option to book the specialty restaurants without inputting a credit card.  In fact, we have been meaning to give Princess a call and ask about this issue.

 

Hank

I’ve had luck n the past before when I’ve booked the premier package ahead of time.  
I haven’t tried it lately because we usually check n the availability of decent wines before we upgrade,  

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:

I’ve had luck n the past before when I’ve booked the premier package ahead of time.  
I haven’t tried it lately because we usually check n the availability of decent wines before we upgrade,  

So here is our tale of woe!  A few months ago we decided to book a simple 2 week Caribbean cruise (we often do not even bother to get off a ship in those waters).  Because of a promotion, the Plus package did make sense.  We than discovered that we could get a free upgrade to Premiere because of my Veterans status (another Princess promotion).  So now we have all those Premiere perks (most of which we will not likely use) plus a hefty amount of OBC (thanks to our cruise agent, shareholder credit, veterans credit, etc).  Such a burden :).

 

Since our package does include two alternative dinners, we decided to go online and try to book those meals.  But we do not see any option to use the included free meals.  As to decent wines, that is a rarity on Princess (and even some of the luxury lines that we cruise).  When we cruise on mass market lines (like Princess) we have learned to settle for wines that are "drinkable."  Even that can be a challenge if ordering by the glass.  And when we have tried to order "decent wines off the wine list we are often told "we do not have that wine."

 

A few years ago I posted a theory that some mass market lines print very nice wine lists and include a smattering of decent bottles at higher prices.  Most folks do not order those good wines but they do look impressive on the wine list :).  We were recently on a different cruise line and tried to order a decent bottle of Puligny Montrachet.  We were soon visited by the wine steward who informed us that they had not had that wine on the ship for the past year...although it was still on the wine list.  At the time we were trying to use up a chunk of non-refundable OBC.  I later ordered a decent glass of cognac only to be told, "we haven't had that wine since the COVID shutdown!"  One might ask why it was on the booze list?  Perhaps it is there just to fill the page and impress cruisers.

 

Hank

[Cruise Raider]

16 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So here is our tale of woe!  A few months ago we decided to book a simple 2 week Caribbean cruise (we often do not even bother to get off a ship in those waters).  Because of a promotion, the Plus package did make sense.  We than discovered that we could get a free upgrade to Premiere because of my Veterans status (another Princess promotion).  So now we have all those Premiere perks (most of which we will not likely use) plus a hefty amount of OBC (thanks to our cruise agent, shareholder credit, veterans credit, etc).  Such a burden :).

 

Since our package does include two alternative dinners, we decided to go online and try to book those meals.  But we do not see any option to use the included free meals.  As to decent wines, that is a rarity on Princess (and even some of the luxury lines that we cruise).  When we cruise on mass market lines (like Princess) we have learned to settle for wines that are "drinkable."  Even that can be a challenge if ordering by the glass.  And when we have tried to order "decent wines off the wine list we are often told "we do not have that wine."

 

A few years ago I posted a theory that some mass market lines print very nice wine lists and include a smattering of decent bottles at higher prices.  Most folks do not order those good wines but they do look impressive on the wine list :).  We were recently on a different cruise line and tried to order a decent bottle of Puligny Montrachet.  We were soon visited by the wine steward who informed us that they had not had that wine on the ship for the past year...although it was still on the wine list.  At the time we were trying to use up a chunk of non-refundable OBC.  I later ordered a decent glass of cognac only to be told, "we haven't had that wine since the COVID shutdown!"  One might ask why it was on the booze list?  Perhaps it is there just to fill the page and impress cruisers.

 

Hank

Hank, the Emerald Princess had excellent wines onboard on our last cruise on the Emerald earlier this month.  We enjoyed two dinners in the Crown Grill, as well as some photos.  It was well worth the upgrade price for the wines alone.  
By excellent wines, I am talking about Rombauer Chardonnay and Seghesio Zinfandel and some Hartford Chardonnay and Substance cab.   The Grigich Hills Merlot and Camus Cab were a definitely plus.  Even though the Caymus cab was over the limit, it was well worth the extra charge for a special occasion.  There were also some very nice sparkling wines and champagne.  
I just love California wines!  I live in the right area for that but it’s still great to get great wines on a cruise.  


 

[capriccio]

I wanted to use OBC when making a reservation 3 months in advance on our recently completed Caribbean Princess cruise and asked on Chat if that was possible.  The answer was a quick "no" immediately followed by "when you board go to guest services and ask them to refund (via refundable OBC) your credit card charge while keeping the reservation."  I was skeptical but the guest services staffer said "no problem." It took less than 3 minutes.  I was warned that the the refundable OBC might take a day or two to show up on my folio.  The change was made on Saturday evening and appeared on my folio by Monday morning.  The dinner charge appeared on my folio the morning after we dined at the Crown Grill and liquidated the non-refundable OBC.

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, capriccio said:

I wanted to use OBC when making a reservation 3 months in advance on our recently completed Caribbean Princess cruise and asked on Chat if that was possible.  The answer was a quick "no" immediately followed by "when you board go to guest services and ask them to refund (via refundable OBC) your credit card charge while keeping the reservation."  I was skeptical but the guest services staffer said "no problem." It took less than 3 minutes.  I was warned that the the refundable OBC might take a day or two to show up on my folio.  The change was made on Saturday evening and appeared on my folio by Monday morning.  The dinner charge appeared on my folio the morning after we dined at the Crown Grill and liquidated the non-refundable OBC.

IOW, nothing was accomplished.

[capriccio]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

IOW, nothing was accomplished.

No.  My non-refundable OBC was fully liquidated and my credit card refund is being returned to me as refundable OBC.  I would have preferred to have it directly refunded to my credit card but that wasn't possible.  So I do have to wait 4 - 6 weeks but at least I will get it back and didn't 'waste' any of my non-refundable OBC.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

No.  My non-refundable OBC was fully liquidated and my credit card refund is being returned to me as refundable OBC.  I would have preferred to have it directly refunded to my credit card but that wasn't possible.  So I do have to wait 4 - 6 weeks but at least I will get it back and didn't 'waste' any of my non-refundable OBC.

I guess I should have read it again.  Gotcha.