What if I have Premier but all the speciality restaurants are full?

[PMGS247]

11 minutes ago, colsky said:

Thanks for the useful reply. I agree with you about the YouTubers. This was a well known reviewer, who was giving a helpful tips video, after being on a Sun Princess cruise. It must be because the Sun Princess is new and unknown, but I don't think I've ever watched so many videos and read so many reviews before a holiday!! I have to stop, or they'll be no surprise element left!

 

I sometimes imagine a cruise ship being just full of YouTubers walking around filming, with no "normal" other guests!!

 

The good news is if you spend enough time here on CC and watching YT videos you'll probably walk onto the ship expecting your vacation to be a full blown catastrophe and the bar will be set very low.  Reality will not even come close to living up to all the CC and YT drama and you'll have a great time.

 

As for dining reservations having read a lot on the topic and dealt with a few issues in person, for the most part people seem to have significantly better luck booking on board than finding available times on the app in the weeks before sailing.  I'm pretty well convinced they keep a significant portion of the total time slots from ever being offered on the app.  Call the dining line or go to the restaurant after boarding and in all likelihood you will have much better luck and a fairly wide selection of times to choose from.

 

Semi-related note, just last week on the Enchanted I switched from Plus to Premier on board.  I had pre-paid for 3 specialty dining reservations prior to sailing.  The crew member who upgraded me insisted I didn't need to do anything, that I would be credited for the 2 specialty dining to which I was entitled.  I kept an eye on my folio and nothing had happened by day 5, after we'd eaten 2 of the meals and had 1 to go, so I went down to Guest services when they weren't busy and they applied a credit to my on board account no problem.

[Cruise Raider]

23 hours ago, FancyPants21 said:

The difference is that with the items you mention not using them is my choice... it is a case of use it or lose it and that is fair enough. But if the speciality restaurants are full that is not my choice... it is the fault of Princess... charging me for something that I was not able to get.

Here are my experiences  ..

Back when there were specials at the time of booking that included a specialty dinner for two, the specialty restaurants would be completely filled.  At first, we went to guest services and asked what could be done and they said there was no compensation.  That turned around quickly and they placed the cost of the meal for compensation as refundable OBC on our folio.  
Since that time, I have not seen the free specialty dinner as a booking offer ever again.  
Then, I see you can now order some of the specialty meal items through your app or in the MDR and adjustments have been made that you can use your specialty meal credits for these items (steak or lobster).  The atmosphere isn’t the same, but it’s taken some of the guessing out of whether or not you can use your specialty dining credits while onboard.  
Lastly, ever since they have been pushing the packages, I seem to have noticed that they don’t make all reservations available online ahead of time and we’ve had no problem getting a reservation in a specialty restaurant once onboard.  This makes the most sense as, it appears they hold enough reservations open for those with the premier packages to fulfill their obligations promised and sell few others for those wanting to just pay for their meal.  They’ve even raised the prices for those with the standard fare to keep the demand lower than the supply.  This is all just my assumption but it does make sense based on my experience.  
We were just on a very busy sailing and seemed everybody wanted to splurge on the specialty restaurants. We had no problems getting reservations having the premier package whereas others with the standard package said they couldn’t get a reservation at any time.

 

 

[memoak]

On the Ruby now. Walked past Crown Grille at 7:45 and it was nearly empty

[FancyPants21]

2 hours ago, Mark_K said:

I don’t think you’re going to have any luck getting a refund if the reason is that none of the available times were when we wanted to eat.

I agree... I wouldn't expect it unless there were no times at all available 🙂

[rideev]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

On the Ruby now. Walked past Crown Grille at 7:45 and it was nearly empty

How full is the ship?

[kywildcatfanone]

23 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Unlike other "perks" included in the Premier package these have fairly significant values on them.

A bit I guess, but Princess doesn't value them as they do the face value of the venue.  It's sort of like the plus package, it's clear that Princess values each alcoholic drink at less than $2.  I suspect they only value the specialty dining at a few dollars as well.  Were you to get compensated, I suspect it might be $5-10 total.  I always find the math interesting when you really think about how they price things. 

[FancyPants21]

Just now, kywildcatfanone said:

A bit I guess, but Princess doesn't value them as they do the face value of the venue.  It's sort of like the plus package, it's clear that Princess values each alcoholic drink at less than $2.  I suspect they only value the specialty dining at a few dollars as well.  Were you to get compensated, I suspect it might be $5-10 total.  I always find the math interesting when you really think about how they price things. 

To be honest... I wouldn't expect the full "retail" cost to be refunded... but there should be something to recognise their error and by way of apology.

[memoak]

Just now, rideev said:

How full is the ship?

Sold out over a month ago. Every other venue like theatre, Explorers, Piazza etc are jammed. Take  longer cruises and no problems getting in. I am willing to bet the issues only exist a on short cruises

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, memoak said:

On the Ruby now. Walked past Crown Grille at 7:45 and it was nearly empty

Casino cruise?

Suite?

Length of cruise?

[memoak]

Just now, voljeep said:

Casino cruise?

Suite?

Length of cruise?

16 day cruise. We don’t take anything under 10 days. I am willing to bet most of the people having issues are on short trips on the larger ships. Eating later also helps. Most of there’s folks seem to want to eat at 5:00 sharp. Obviously they cannot all be accommodated. We never eat before 7:30

[Arizona Wildcat]

34 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

 

The good news is if you spend enough time here on CC and watching YT videos you'll probably walk onto the ship expecting your vacation to be a full blown catastrophe and the bar will be set very low.  Reality will not even come close to living up to all the CC and YT drama and you'll have a great time.

 

As for dining reservations having read a lot on the topic and dealt with a few issues in person, for the most part people seem to have significantly better luck booking on board than finding available times on the app in the weeks before sailing.  I'm pretty well convinced they keep a significant portion of the total time slots from ever being offered on the app.  Call the dining line or go to the restaurant after boarding and in all likelihood you will have much better luck and a fairly wide selection of times to choose from.

 

Semi-related note, just last week on the Enchanted I switched from Plus to Premier on board.  I had pre-paid for 3 specialty dining reservations prior to sailing.  The crew member who upgraded me insisted I didn't need to do anything, that I would be credited for the 2 specialty dining to which I was entitled.  I kept an eye on my folio and nothing had happened by day 5, after we'd eaten 2 of the meals and had 1 to go, so I went down to Guest services when they weren't busy and they applied a credit to my on board account no problem.

Absolutely true. If I believed the all the negative things from social media I would take an extra suitcase with my own life raft and emergency rations.

Saw Crown Grille was almost always empty after 8pm.  Even on short or holiday cruises.

Edited April 17 by Arizona Wildcat

[azbirdmom]

4 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

A bit I guess, but Princess doesn't value them as they do the face value of the venue.  It's sort of like the plus package, it's clear that Princess values each alcoholic drink at less than $2.  I suspect they only value the specialty dining at a few dollars as well.  Were you to get compensated, I suspect it might be $5-10 total.  I always find the math interesting when you really think about how they price things. 

 

Well they did put these theoretical values on the different items in the Premier package per the screenshot from the Travel Summary for our upcoming cruise so that would be a starting point.  I have to laugh at the price they've put on the Premium Desserts - more than Specialty Dining?  And this is per person?  I have yet to have one of those but that's my choice and I won't be asking for a refund LOL.

 

[rideev]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

Sold out over a month ago. Every other venue like theatre, Explorers, Piazza etc are jammed. Take  longer cruises and no problems getting in. I am willing to bet the issues only exist a on short cruises

Thanks.  That makes it interesting.  Yes, the longer cruises are a completely different clientele from the short cruises.  Our next cruise is a 29 night Trans Pacific.  Then we will be on a 7 night holiday Western Caribbean .  Those will be two completely different passenger groups.  Also, the specialty restaurants will be staffed and visited differently. 

 

Our 29 night will be our longest cruise.  Very curious to see how the group dynamics happen on that cruise.

[memoak]

Just now, voljeep said:

Casino cruise?

Suite?

Length of cruise?

I don’t understand why a casino cruise or suites have anything to do with judging walking into Sabatini’s at 8:00 and being seated. They don’t know our cabin assignment until we are asked to pay

[Arizona Wildcat]

8 minutes ago, memoak said:

16 day cruise. We don’t take anything under 10 days. I am willing to bet most of the people having issues are on short trips on the larger ships. Eating later also helps. Most of there’s folks seem to want to eat at 5:00 sharp. Obviously they cannot all be accommodated. We never eat before 7:30

We have not seen any issue for seating Sabatinis at 8pm on anything from a Christmas cruise when there were 800 children and 100% booked to a 14 day transatlantic to a 7 day Caribbean.

Early dining has been VERY crowded on every cruise Except those from the Med.  They tend to eat VERY VERY late. 

As for a person's status, the maitre d knows your level and cabin from your medallion.   Do not think they look or care.

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, memoak said:

I don’t understand why a casino cruise or suites have anything to do with judging walking into Sabatini’s at 8:00 and being seated. They don’t know our cabin assignment until we are asked to pay

walkin v reservation?

 

"do you know who I am?"

 

thanks for your honest responses. Unique situations for different people.  I just know 'exactly' what happened to us ... and want to post that for reference, as you do yours

 

all good - have a great cruise!!

[Host CJSKIDS]

On my December Sky sailing, people were frustrated on line the first day because many of the reservations were already taken.  It could be because there was a large group on board and they were taking over some areas of the restaurant but I went to change a reservation upon boarding and couldn't change the time or date of it at all and I went the first afternoon. 

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

We have not seen any issue for seating Sabatinis at 8pm on anything from a Christmas cruise when there were 800 children and 100% booked to a 14 day transatlantic to a 7 day Caribbean.

Early dining has been VERY crowded on every cruise Except those from the Med.  They tend to eat VERY VERY late. 

As for a person's status, the maitre d knows your level and cabin from your medallion.   Do not think they look or care.

There's early and there's early. It's been our experience for many years, even immediately post-Pandemic, that getting a reservation for the opening sitting in an SD, usually 5PM,  is not a problem. We prefer to eat very early in the SDs, as the places are quietest, the wait staff and kitchens are relatively fresh on shift, and the crowds are only slowly filling up to peak in the 6-7PM range. Between 5 and 6PM, the SD restaurants are still nice and peaceful. Eating early also allows us to easily get to the early theater show. In the age of the Premier package we will still book our two freebies ahead of time, but have never had an issue getting our desired dining time in any of the SDs (CG, Sabatini's, La Mer, The Catch etc) when we book on board.  As always, head straight to the restaurant, or call the DINE line immediately upon boarding.

Edited April 17 by lx200gps

[Arizona Wildcat]

13 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

There's early and there's early. It's been our experience for many years, even immediately post-Pandemic, that getting a reservation for the opening sitting in an SD, usually 5PM,  is not a problem. We prefer to eat very early in the SDs, as the places are quietest, the wait staff and kitchens are relatively fresh on shift, and the crowds are only slowly filling up to peak in the 6-7PM range. Between 5 and 6PM, the SD restaurants are still nice and peaceful. Eating early also allows us to easily get to the early theater show. In the age of the Premier package we will still book our two freebies ahead of time, but have never had an issue getting our desired dining time in any of the SDs (CG, Sabatini's, La Mer, The Catch etc) when we book on board.  As always, head straight to the restaurant, or call the DINE line immediately upon boarding.

Obviously I spent too long in Spain and Italy.  At 5 or 6pm I get a glass of wine or a drink.  Maybe a tapa at the bar.  Then maybe some music followed by dinner around 8pm.  

You have it figured out.

The hypotheticals about not being able to book recruiters and thus owed a refund are a bit silly.  Like yourself we have always found an acceptable time after boarding.

With the shortage of experienced staff on board and at home shouldn't we be a bit more flexible?  Had a table mate who repeatedly complained on hoard about MDR service.  The rest of us changed tables.  Things today are different and sometimes challenging,  thus travelers can chose to accept the situation today, be frustrated or stay home.  

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

The hypotheticals about not being able to book recruiters and thus owed a refund are a bit silly.

not a single thing "hypothetical"  ... wait - what is able to book "recruiters"? - we tried to book a table in a ... nevermind, of course it didn't happen, sorry

[lx200gps]

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Obviously I spent too long in Spain and Italy.  At 5 or 6pm I get a glass of wine or a drink.  Maybe a tapa at the bar.  Then maybe some music followed by dinner around 8pm.  

You have it figured out.

The hypotheticals about not being able to book recruiters and thus owed a refund are a bit silly.  Like yourself we have always found an acceptable time after boarding.

With the shortage of experienced staff on board and at home shouldn't we be a bit more flexible?  Had a table mate who repeatedly complained on hoard about MDR service.  The rest of us changed tables.  Things today are different and sometimes challenging,  thus travelers can chose to accept the situation today, be frustrated or stay home.  

SWMBO spent time in Greece a lifetime ago, and even today she's still stuck on this idea of eating VERY late. We only eat early on a cruise ship to enjoy the benefits of a quiet and peaceful experience. And you're dead right that we should all be a lot more understanding and flexible. The staff on these ships are amazing, and not  appreciated the way they should be.

[kywildcatfanone]

That just lets you know it's all completely made up. 

[FancyPants21]

2 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

That just lets you know it's all completely made up. 

What is made up?

 

The scenario I proposed in the OP certainly isn't... it looks like it could happen so it is worth discussing IMO. 🙂 

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, FancyPants21 said:

What is made up?

 

The scenario I proposed in the OP certainly isn't... it looks like it could happen so it is worth discussing IMO. 🙂 

Look at post 62. Most of those numbers they claim the value of make no sense. 

[FancyPants21]

6 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Look at post 62. Most of those numbers they claim the value of make no sense. 

Ah got it! Thanks 🙂