New today - Extra Stuff in Princess Plus & Premier

[sewgood]

17 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

They have no casual dining

I thought they had Alfredo's but I checked the deck plan and it isn't there.

You're right they don't have any casual dining so too bad for the passengers looking to have their two included casual dining experiences on the plus plan and even worst for those who paid for the more expensive package.

[arxcards]

23 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, it would really suck on the Coral, They have no casual dining.

What food does vines do? I never went in there on the Grand as it was just a tiny bar area.

It does some sort of nibbles, a charcuterie board pairing for your wines and some truffles. I can't recall if that is an option on Grand as it was for Majestic, but will check. 

[arxcards]

14 minutes ago, sewgood said:

I thought they had Alfredo's but I checked the deck plan and it isn't there.

You're right they don't have any casual dining so too bad for the passengers looking to have their two included casual dining experiences on the plus plan and even worst for those who paid for the more expensive package.

They have a pop-up lunch with Alfredo's menu in Sabatini's. That is the only "casual dining" available on Coral.

[arxcards]

38 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, it would really suck on the Coral, They have no casual dining.

What food does vines do? I never went in there on the Grand as it was just a tiny bar area.

Yes, Alfredo's and Vines are the options on Grand, price is the $US version.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, it would really suck on the Coral, They have no casual dining.

What food does vines do? I never went in there on the Grand as it was just a tiny bar area.

Coral has an Alfredos pop-up for pizza, held in Sabatinis, on some sea days. It used to be free for everyone.

 

Also I think they held the Crab Shack a couple of times when we were on Coral last year but I may be wrong. That was always extra cost pop-up dining, usually held in part of the Horizon Court. 

[yes!yes!yes!]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

They have a pop-up lunch with Alfredo's menu in Sabatini's. That is the only "casual dining" available on Coral.

Yes, they did that once in 4 cruises back to back last August. A choice of 8 pizzas, nothing else.

Maybe they will do "Alfredos in Sabatinis" more often now.

[yes!yes!yes!]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, Alfredo's and Vines are the options on Grand, price is the $US version.

 

So the Crudites and charcuterie are available in the lunch buffet and elite/platinum  lounge every day.

I don't see extra value in this for a chocolate.

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, they did that once in 4 cruises back to back last August. A choice of 8 pizzas, nothing else.

Maybe they will do "Alfredos in Sabatinis" more often now.

We were on the Coral for 28 days in April.  I think it was offered once a week.  We went twice and enjoyed it.  It wasn't publicized other than in the daily event listing under Sabatinis so I'm sure many people didn't even know it was being offered but the turnout was very good (full but no waiting line that I could see) the times we went.

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, they did that once in 4 cruises back to back last August. A choice of 8 pizzas, nothing else.

Maybe they will do "Alfredos in Sabatinis" more often now.

For anyone with the premier package, unlimited would be disappointing at 1 per week, or even just sea day lunch each day. Other ships with dedicated Alfredo's are open early to late and a genuine option.

 

On the Coral Princess page on their website, it mentions that Crab Shack will be coming back for their Alaskan voyages, so that isn't a solution either. Surely, they will have to add something else.

[arxcards]

Some of what I have been reading is that they can drop a pop-up menu into a section of the buffet or dining room on any given day - could be Planks one day, sushi another, Salty Dog another. This could be a solution for ships like Coral & Island.

[yes!yes!yes!]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Some of what I have been reading is that they can drop a pop-up menu into a section of the buffet or dining room on any given day - could be Planks one day, sushi another, Salty Dog another. This could be a solution for ships like Coral & Island.

Fair enough if they inform people booking the Coral that are choosing the extra payment option. Still sucks tho that they get a restricted benefit and everyone misses out on the previously free pizza on other ships.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

Yes, they did that once in 4 cruises back to back last August. A choice of 8 pizzas, nothing else.

Maybe they will do "Alfredos in Sabatinis" more often now.

They did it several times on the Round Australia cruise last year but that probably had more sea days. Plus they had it on at least one of the shorter cruises we did but those had very few sea days. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

So the Crudites and charcuterie are available in the lunch buffet and elite/platinum  lounge every day.

I don't see extra value in this for a chocolate.

Mmmm but dark chocolate goes so well with many red wines ...

 

Next time you're on Princess, and if you decide to have the Love Boat Dream dessert one night, try a glass of the merlot with it. It's a perfect match! 

[yes!yes!yes!]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

They did it several times on the Round Australia cruise last year but that probably had more sea days. Plus they had it on at least one of the shorter cruises we did but those had very few sea days. 

It was still mask wearing early covid days then. That might have been the difference.

[yes!yes!yes!]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Mmmm but dark chocolate goes so well with many red wines ...

 

Next time you're on Princess, and if you decide to have the Love Boat Dream dessert one night, try a glass of the merlot with it. It's a perfect match! 

My mum likes that dessert. I'm not a chocolate fan. I might eat one of the free chocolates or chocolate coated strawberries that the casino keep sending to her.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

For anyone with the premier package, unlimited would be disappointing at 1 per week, or even just sea day lunch each day. Other ships with dedicated Alfredo's are open early to late and a genuine option.

 

On the Coral Princess page on their website, it mentions that Crab Shack will be coming back for their Alaskan voyages, so that isn't a solution either. Surely, they will have to add something else.

Given that Coral doesn't have a dedicated Alfredos, and Sabatinis is open every night, I think the idea of having a pop-up Alfredos in that space during some sea day lunchtimes is a fair compromise. Perhaps they could also offer Salty Dog pub lunches in the Bayou restaurant.

 

It would be nice if they'd have those pop-ups on some port days as well since the MDR isn't open for lunches on port days. 

[arxcards]

16 hours ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

So the Crudites and charcuterie are available in the lunch buffet and elite/platinum  lounge every day.

I don't see extra value in this for a chocolate.

I see the $3 chocolate truffles, which might be nice with an afternoon tipple.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Given that Coral doesn't have a dedicated Alfredos, and Sabatinis is open every night, I think the idea of having a pop-up Alfredos in that space during some sea day lunchtimes is a fair compromise. Perhaps they could also offer Salty Dog pub lunches in the Bayou restaurant.

 

It would be nice if they'd have those pop-ups on some port days as well since the MDR isn't open for lunches on port days. 

Indeed. If it is part of a premier package, it needs to be an option every day and not just lunches. If it comes to it, prix fixe menus could be made available to order via International Café.

[OzKiwiJJ]

34 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Indeed. If it is part of a premier package, it needs to be an option every day and not just lunches. If it comes to it, prix fixe menus could be made available to order via International Café.

Well let's face it, Coral and Island are the smallest ships in the Princess fleet now and are probably low priority as far as ensuring they fit the new package options. I don't think Princess gives a damn whether they actually fulfil their promises. They've been promising 25 wines by the glass under the Plus package since it's concept but still haven't provided more than 9.

[Cc cruisers]

On 8/6/2023 at 12:48 PM, arxcards said:

Something for those that are carrying the old packages to check.

 

I asked our T/A about paying (grrrr) the $10pp per day upgrade, and he said it won't let him. On the following page where you can upgrade your package, it lists us having the $95 version and upgrading isn't possible. 

https://book.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer/onboard/cruisePackages.page (or click the package upgrade link within your personaliser).

 

I don't know if I upset someone, or if these have been quietly grandfathered for premier or both premier & plus. On other tabs such as "onboard services" it still lists the contents of the old package, but I have to think if they wont let me to access the upgrade it must be taken care of already.

Geoff, we are also on the old package for our cruise in November. Our cruise personalised also says we have new version but when I look at travel summary it say the old one ($50 Plus for us). Princess told me I would need to ring to upgrade and pay the difference if I wanted the new ‘upgrades’. We wouldn’t use  enough of the changes to justify paying $400 extra. 
donna

[arxcards]

23 minutes ago, Cc cruisers said:

Geoff, we are also on the old package for our cruise in November. Our cruise personalised also says we have new version but when I look at travel summary it say the old one ($50 Plus for us). Princess told me I would need to ring to upgrade and pay the difference if I wanted the new ‘upgrades’. We wouldn’t use  enough of the changes to justify paying $400 extra. 
donna

That makes sense Donna. $15per day each definitely adds up more than it does for our $10 x 2 on a 3 nighter. Even then, we need Alfredo's and the service charge each just to break even, and I would likely just try a smoothie for the sake of it. I think we will just avoid ordering with the app and skip Alfredo's for embarkation lunch and keep our $60 anyway.

 

It is so confusing, that some of the bigger T/A's are only just starting to come to grips with the changes. Ours saw the page that showed us as already upgraded, unaware that it was a false lead. Then they were other pages saying that suites have complimentary room service, knowing that this had also been changed. They have now removed most references to the word complimentary, but there is no mention of a charge either.

[Cc cruisers]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

That makes sense Donna. $15per day each definitely adds up more than it does for our $10 x 2 on a 3 nighter. Even then, we need Alfredo's and the service charge each just to break even, and I would likely just try a smoothie for the sake of it. I think we will just avoid ordering with the app and skip Alfredo's for embarkation lunch and keep our $60 anyway.

 

It is so confusing, that some of the bigger T/A's are only just starting to come to grips with the changes. Ours saw the page that showed us as already upgraded, unaware that it was a false lead. Then they were other pages saying that suites have complimentary room service, knowing that this had also been changed. They have now removed most references to the word complimentary, but there is no mention of a charge either.

Yes our cruise is 13 days. We don’t usually use room service, fitness classes or want premium dessert so not worth the extra. We will just use waiter service instead of app, which often didn’t work on our last cruise. We are planning on a couple of specialty dining anyway. Enjoy your cruise. 

[arxcards]

I don't know if it an accidental error or a clever pun, but I have been seeing the new Prix Fixe menu being referred to as the new Price Fix menu. 😂

[LittleFish1976]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

I don't know if it an accidental error or a clever pun, but I have been seeing the new Prix Fixe menu being referred to as the new Price Fix menu. 😂

 

Next in the marketing:

 

new in deck games! 'Substitution Racket'.

 

new in crafts! Sewing circle; 'The Stitch Up'.

 

[shipshape241]

We are going on a 21 day cruise in October .

So adding the Plus package  would cost us an extra US$ 2520 , or AUD $3757 at today's exchange rate. !!!

We've done three cruises with Princess previously , but think that this will be the final one .