Complimentary Specialty Dining Dinner on embarkation evening?

[rhblake]

This is our first time staying in a suite. One of the suite benefits is “Complimentary Specialty Dining Dinner on embarkation evening.” How is this handled? Do we need to make a reservation, does Princess make the reservation for us, or do we just show up at the restaurant we want to eat at?

[david63]

15 minutes ago, rhblake said:

Do we need to make a reservation

Earlier this year I just booked it through the app, but some have found that the app tried to charge for it - so that may, or may not, work for you.

 

Others have said book as soon as you get onboard.

 

17 minutes ago, rhblake said:

does Princess make the reservation for us

No

 

17 minutes ago, rhblake said:

or do we just show up at the restaurant we want to eat at?

Some say that there will always be some tables available for suite guests, but personally I would not risk it.

 

My advice would be try the app and if that does not work make a booking, either at the restaurant that you want to dine at or by phone, when onboard.

[Ken the cruiser]

We just got off the Caribbean Princess where we had a B2B in a suite. We just went to the Crown Grill on embarkation day on each leg and made reservations for that evening. There we no issues on either occasion when it came to getting the time we wanted.

[startedwithamouse]

We went and made reservations in person for the first night.

 

We were in a suite on our most recent cruise.

[memoak]

We have sailed in suites 8 times since the restart and it is not an issue. The specialty restaurants do set tables aside on embarkation night. We either go to the venue when we embark or call the dine line never had a problem. In fact once we were called by the dine line while we were unpacking to set a venue and time

[reedprincess]

6 hours ago, rhblake said:

This is our first time staying in a suite. One of the suite benefits is “Complimentary Specialty Dining Dinner on embarkation evening.” How is this handled? Do we need to make a reservation, does Princess make the reservation for us, or do we just show up at the restaurant we want to eat at?

Tables are held for suite guests in embarkation night..

They're well aware of how many suite guests are aboard, well aware of the perk, etc 

It's a non-issue.

Once aboard, either go make your reservation at the specialty venue of choice for time of choice or have the concierge do it (on ships with concierge lounge), or call DINE line and do it that way.

In countless suite stays, including upgrades on embarkation day, we've never once made prior reservations for embarkation night specialty dinner. 

 

You can, if course, opt to make them in advance of you want, and pay for them at time of booking, and then get it refunded as OBC once aboard. Personally, I wouldn't but it's an option.. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by reedprincess

[rhblake]

Thank you for your quick responses. We cruise in 3 weeks, and this is one less thing we need to be concerned with.

[Upper Bob]

When we had sailed in a suite previously on the Enchanted, the complimentary speciality restaurant reservation was already assigned for the first night. We went to the concierge lounge and the concierge said we could move it to any night (and any of the three venues) we wanted. This is an option if you don't want to "specialty" dine on the first night.

[rhblake]

I tried reserving the specialty restaurant but could not complete the reservation without having my credit card charged. Will wait until onboard. Again, thank you all for your responses.

[ggprincess2004]

Just call the dine line and make the reservation when you board. Should not be a problem. We are cruising in a suite now b2b and have done that, and on prior cruises as well. 

Before the pause, we would get a reservation card in our suite, with the restaurant and time noted, we could call dine line and change it if we wished, we usually did. So they might still be doing that on some of the ships.

One minor little first world problem pet peeve - things are not done uniformly on each and every ship in the fleet. But really, don't sweat the small stuff like specialty restaurant on first evening. If you ask, most of the time they will extend that perk to the second night as well, if you don't want to use it the first night. Ask, they will probably. say yes. 

[dolls123]

Thanks for the info. This will be my first time sailing on Princess in a suite. 

[J13C85]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:36 AM, dolls123 said:

Thanks for the info. This will be my first time sailing on Princess in a suite. 

We sailed in a full suite on Sky w/ the Premier package. We booked (and paid for) our Embarkation Night dinner and our other 2 specialty dining dinners. On embarkation day, we went to the Suite Concierge Lounge and they took care of getting us credited for what we paid (I took it as an OBC and used that to buy DW earrings, lol). By booking ahead we were able to lock in the times we wanted.

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, J13C85 said:

We sailed in a full suite on Sky w/ the Premier package. We booked (and paid for) our Embarkation Night dinner and our other 2 specialty dining dinners. On embarkation day, we went to the Suite Concierge Lounge and they took care of getting us credited for what we paid (I took it as an OBC and used that to buy DW earrings, lol). By booking ahead we were able to lock in the times we wanted.

We always want to eat at 7:45 or later. Never a problem booking on board