Casual Dining - Fixed Price Menus and A La Carte Charges

[rosevew]

This is all so badly thought out. Can't eat in Alfredo's for free but can order a free pizza on the app and have it delivered to me anywhere on the ship! Surely it would be cheaper/easier to serve me in Alfredo's?

[dickinson]

13 minutes ago, rosevew said:

This is all so badly thought out. Can't eat in Alfredo's for free but can order a free pizza on the app and have it delivered to me anywhere on the ship! Surely it would be cheaper/easier to serve me in Alfredo's?

That free pizza probably doesn't come from Alfredo's.

[rosevew]

9 minutes ago, dickinson said:

That free pizza probably doesn't come from Alfredo's.

No. But it is still a pizza that has to be cooked and then delivered. Wasn't blown away by the pizza from Alfredo's last year.

[dickinson]

2 hours ago, rosevew said:

No. But it is still a pizza that has to be cooked and then delivered. Wasn't blown away by the pizza from Alfredo's last year.

Yes, but it is not the same pizza.  I have never had room service pizza and like Alfredo's vegetarian pizza much much better than what you get out on Lido deck.  

[jwattle]

A huge thank you to @dides for all of the work on this!! 😍

[memoak]

57 minutes ago, dickinson said:

Yes, but it is not the same pizza.  I have never had room service pizza and like Alfredo's vegetarian pizza much much better than what you get out on Lido deck.  

Room service pizza is in my opinion garbage. I ordered it once and threw it away 

[Hawkeye78]

On 7/31/2023 at 6:27 PM, ravenjls said:

Another question - for anyone who has gotten the charcuterie board at vines, is it large enough to share or more of a personal plate? 

Our last couple cruises we always got the Plus package and one of our favorites places onboard was stopping at Vines for a nice glass (or two 😀) of wine before dinner. As long as as you got a drink there they would always serve you a plate of light appetizers (e.g., cheese, crackers, etc.) at no charge - it was the only thing, to my knowledge, you could even get to eat there. Now it looks like they will be charging for anything you eat there (regardless of buying a drink or not).

 

I never considered Vines as a "casual dining option" before so I I'd be very interested to hear from anyone on a current cruise if that's the case, or do they still give you the "free" light appetizers if you get a drink first?

 

[canadarocks]

We spent two weeks on the Sky this year and had pre-dinner drinks at Vines almost every night. Never saw food of any kind. Hopefully that will change with this new scenario. 

[canadarocks]

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Were they ever nightly offerings?

Actually I’m not sure. But I sure hope they will be moving forward.  With 2 free meals with Plus and unlimited with Premiere, I can just imagine the gridlocks on the older ships without Alfredo’s etc. if they are only open on a night or two. 

[memoak]

28 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

Actually I’m not sure. But I sure hope they will be moving forward.  With 2 free meals with Plus and unlimited with Premiere, I can just imagine the gridlocks on the older ships without Alfredo’s etc. if they are only open on a night or two. 

You can anticipate hour long waits

[canadarocks]

Unless they introduce reserving ahead of time…. Wishful thinking that they’ve thought this through I know.

[rosevew]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

Room service pizza is in my opinion garbage. I ordered it once and threw it away 

That's as maybe but my point is that people will order it if they want pizza and there is a cost involved which will far outweigh the savings of stopping them eating in Alfredo's.

[rosevew]

5 hours ago, Hawkeye78 said:

Our last couple cruises we always got the Plus package and one of our favorites places onboard was stopping at Vines for a nice glass (or two 😀) of wine before dinner. As long as as you got a drink there they would always serve you a plate of light appetizers (e.g., cheese, crackers, etc.) at no charge - it was the only thing, to my knowledge, you could even get to eat there. Now it looks like they will be charging for anything you eat there (regardless of buying a drink or not).

 

I never considered Vines as a "casual dining option" before so I I'd be very interested to hear from anyone on a current cruise if that's the case, or do they still give you the "free" light appetizers if you get a drink first?

 

They haven't served any food in Vines since Covid on either Sky or Regal. The offerings now only seem to be crudites, charcuterie board and a dessert, not exactly a meal.

[ExploringTheGlobe]

15 hours ago, Hawkeye78 said:

Our last couple cruises we always got the Plus package and one of our favorites places onboard was stopping at Vines for a nice glass (or two 😀) of wine before dinner. As long as as you got a drink there they would always serve you a plate of light appetizers (e.g., cheese, crackers, etc.) at no charge - it was the only thing, to my knowledge, you could even get to eat there. Now it looks like they will be charging for anything you eat there (regardless of buying a drink or not).

 

I never considered Vines as a "casual dining option" before so I I'd be very interested to hear from anyone on a current cruise if that's the case, or do they still give you the "free" light appetizers if you get a drink first?

 

Pre-covid, Vines had tapas each evening and sushi on ships without Ocean Terrace.  Post-covid, it was slower returning but I was able to get both on the Ruby both times I sailed on her this last year. 

[Cruise Starter]

3 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

Pre-covid, Vines had tapas each evening and sushi on ships without Ocean Terrace.  Post-covid, it was slower returning but I was able to get both on the Ruby both times I sailed on her this last year. 

When asked about Tapas included with a wine purchase at Vines on our Alaska cruise (that just ended July 25 this year), I was told they were only available 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM.  Since we had dinner booked for 5:40 PM each evening this did not work for us.  
 

These inclusions just seem to either be very limited or are now have an additional cost unless you purchase the Plus/Premium package.

[Cruise Starter]

A photo of the additional inclusions in the Plus package and the terms and conditions for the package.

 

 

[ExploringTheGlobe]

9 minutes ago, Cruise Starter said:

When asked about Tapas included with a wine purchase at Vines on our Alaska cruise (that just ended July 25 this year), I was told they were only available 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM.  Since we had dinner booked for 5:40 PM each evening this did not work for us.  
 

These inclusions just seem to either be very limited or are now have an additional cost unless you purchase the Plus/Premium package.

Yes, they have always been only in the evening.  They also were a very small snack.  What I see on the upcoming menu looks to be a more substantial snack.  does it looks $15 worthy, no.  I usually book the premier fare so I will definitely give it a try. And I hope the serving hours are expanded.

[hinterlandboyz2]

Hello cruisers. This will be our first time cruising on the Royal Princess, cruising April 2024. Of course we are aware of the MDR being Complimentary and OceanNow having a particular App charge if one is wanting to use this service however we would appreciate knowing of all the Complimentary only eateries on board this ship now that Princess has knocked out some of the previous Complimentary eateries. 

[memoak]

19 minutes ago, hinterlandboyz2 said:

Hello cruisers. This will be our first time cruising on the Royal Princess, cruising April 2024. Of course we are aware of the MDR being Complimentary and OceanNow having a particular App charge if one is wanting to use this service however we would appreciate knowing of all the Complimentary only eateries on board this ship now that Princess has knocked out some of the previous Complimentary eateries. 

The only place really knocked out is Alfredo’s. MDR, IC, Buffet, Lifo deck burger and pizza by the slice all complimentary 

[Astro Flyer]

38 minutes ago, hinterlandboyz2 said:

we would appreciate knowing of all the Complimentary only eateries on board this ship now that Princess has knocked out some of the previous Complimentary eateries. 

 

Eats That Are Included

You have so many options (that don’t cost extra!)

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/whats-included/

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

Eats That Are Included

You have so many options (that don’t cost extra!)

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/whats-included/

 

Thanks. You saved me from typing all that jive out and risking missing something.

[Insomniacs]

We are booked on the Majestic Princess for September.  We have the Plus package.  If we go into Alfredo's for a snack and order just one pizza to share will that count against one person's casual dining limit or will it count for both of us since we are both in the dining area sharing a pizza?  Or will they just not let the other person sit at the table?

[Wanderers2]

3 hours ago, Insomniacs said:

We are booked on the Majestic Princess for September.  We have the Plus package.  If we go into Alfredo's for a snack and order just one pizza to share will that count against one person's casual dining limit or will it count for both of us since we are both in the dining area sharing a pizza?  Or will they just not let the other person sit at the table?

We have a similar sort of question. We would normally order 1 salad & 1 Pizza & share it. 
Could we now just order 1 x 3 course meal & share that 🤔🤔🤔

[dides]

41 minutes ago, Wanderers2 said:

We have a similar sort of question. We would normally order 1 salad & 1 Pizza & share it. 
Could we now just order 1 x 3 course meal & share that 🤔🤔🤔

I don't think anyone has the answers yet - we will have to see how it works in practice. It's supposed to being rolled out on Sapphire Princess this week so would be interesting to hear any updates, albeit they have the reduced Alfredo's menu.

 

[leck57]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:35 AM, Hawkeye78 said:

Our last couple cruises we always got the Plus package and one of our favorites places onboard was stopping at Vines for a nice glass (or two 😀) of wine before dinner. As long as as you got a drink there they would always serve you a plate of light appetizers (e.g., cheese, crackers, etc.) at no charge - it was the only thing, to my knowledge, you could even get to eat there. Now it looks like they will be charging for anything you eat there (regardless of buying a drink or not).

 

I never considered Vines as a "casual dining option" before so I I'd be very interested to hear from anyone on a current cruise if that's the case, or do they still give you the "free" light appetizers if you get a drink first?

 

 

Agree with you. I stop by Vines quite a few times on every cruise we have done but I was surprised to read you could get food there. I mustn't be very observant but I've only ever seen people drinking or ordering wine there and if eating, it has been a snack brought over from the International Cafe. 

For me, that's way I'll keep it.