The downside to packages

[Womble99]

Listening to quite a few people on Grand this trip and it seems one of the downsides to the packages is the inability to use the benefits. 

 

This being a 6 day leg there is no vacancies for any of the specialty restaurants leaving plenty unable to use their 2 included booking with thier package. Lucky we are doing 20 days so no dramas for us.

[Cbtours]

That’s a fair enough point!

[Jean C]

That's wrong of Princess, I guess they don't want to limit the number of packages they sell as they make money out of them. On a recent cruise where we were standard but a specialty restaurant was included in the promo, we were automatically assigned a Sabatinis booking. 

[arxcards]

This issue has been apparent since premier was announced, and we have seen it close at hand on 3 and 4 night cruises. Until a few months ago it was even worse for some, as the vouchers could be used to pre-book before boarding via the app, and the specialty restaurants were sold-out well before embarkation. We found on Majestic in November that there were plenty of bookings available on a 3-nighter until lunch time on the 2nd day, so anyone who took care of it soon after boarding was accommodated. Mind you, at the other end of the scale, there were people walking-up to Crown Grill on the last night expecting a table without a booking who were vocal about not being accommodated.

 

People, like myself, quite like Premier packages on short cruises, as you get much more value from them than the longer ones. I do believe though, that cruises up to 5 nights should only have one specialty dining voucher, with 2 x reserved for longer cruises. However, the premier package must be  working for Princess, as the specialty restaurants were very much under-used before it existed.

 

If you have a premier package on short cruise, get it booked in ASAP after boarding to get the best option for time/date/restaurant. The same applies to suite bookings that get a included specialty dinner on night one. If you don't like what you have been allocated, you can get it changed if you are quick.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It seems to me that Princess comes up with ideas to "enhance" the packages without thinking about how those ideas can be implemented on all ships and for all journey lengths.

[MicCanberra]

They need to sort it out if they don't want too many complaints 

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

They need to sort it out if they don't want too many complaints 

Or even worse - passengers defecting to other cruise lines.

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Or even worse - passengers defecting to other cruise lines.

Or even worse - passengers not cruising at all.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Or even worse - passengers not cruising at all.

That would be silly! 🤣

[MicCanberra]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That would be silly! 🤣

Yes, but the world is full of silly people 

[ceeceeDee]

4 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, but the world is full of silly people 

Amen, Mic🙄

[arxcards]

Just for those not aware, those that missed snagging a specialty restaurant don't miss out completely. They can use the specialty dining credit to order Crown Grill/Bayou steak - lobster - surf & turf in the MDR. Not the same ambience for sure, but the ambiance in an overbooked steakhouse isn't great either.

 

Front of queue is still to pre-purchase your preferred time/date/restaurant via the app with credit card, and you can reconcile that with your dining credit once aboard. On a short cruise, if you want to wait for a dining credit or OBC to pay, it needs to be your #1 mission after boarding.

[Bubbeh]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Or even worse - passengers defecting to other cruise lines.

Hush yer mouth!!!!

[OzKiwiJJ]

14 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

Hush yer mouth!!!!

Why? Hopefully Princess will read it and get a reality check.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Why? Hopefully Princess will read it and get a reality check.

Yeah, jump on one of their main competitors for a dinner in their steakhouse any night you want and dine with the crickets. Oh, with conversion it is over $100pp and the food is not as good (IMHO).

 

They get plenty of feedback via the surveys, pursers desk and Circle Host. We had our 30th anniversary dinner in Bayou cancelled without notice in October 2022, bumped to the previous night in Sabatini's. It is nothing new - the ships still hate having to jigsaw their bookings, yet head office will continue to sell an excessive number of packages.

 

I am not sure people will walk away from Princess, but will walk away from packages. On short cruises, demand also outstrips supply for specialty dining on P&O and Carnival. Although there are no promises from a dining credit in a package, there is still the disappointment of not being able to secure a special occasion booking.

[JVes]

We got into Crown Grill by booking the very earliest time: 5pm. Neither of us minded the early dinner, and the restaurant was nearly empty. Our waiter only had one other table!

[MMDown Under]

I'll let you know how it works on Virgin Voyages with its 21 restaurants.  All are free but some need to be booked.  Mine is a 11 day cruise, so no problem.  However, it may be a problem booking particular popular restaurants on very short cruises.

[onlyslightlymad]

4 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I'll let you know how it works on Virgin Voyages with its 21 restaurants.  All are free but some need to be booked.  Mine is a 11 day cruise, so no problem.  However, it may be a problem booking particular popular restaurants on very short cruises.

I have been told that it's very important to book both restaurants and particularly shows as soon as you can.  I have been told with shows that it's best to book them on the app as soon as you get on board.