Plus package vs Premier package

[grimace95120]

40 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Memoak - here is a pager - we will let you know which venue and time becomes available.

You will have 10 minutes before that availability will be passed to the next person on the waitlist for tonight.

Feel like tongue was planted firmly in cheek on that one 🙂 

It may come to be the next iteration though , mimicking many land based all inclusive practices of handing out pagers on a first come first served waitlist. I hope not, but will be very interesting to see how this actually plays out after the first rollout on Aug 31. 

[dog]

Is there unlimited casual dining included.

[grimace95120]

Just now, dog said:

Is there unlimited casual dining included.

on Premier, yes there is , but no reservation system, so you wont know until you actually go there if there's space available at the time of choosing  

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, grimace95120 said:

Feel like tongue was planted firmly in cheek on that one 🙂 

It may come to be the next iteration though , mimicking many land based all inclusive practices of handing out pagers on a first come first served waitlist. I hope not, but will be very interesting to see how this actually plays out after the first rollout on Aug 31. 

yep - kinda - not at all 

 

Unlimited Specialty Dining meals: It is recommended that guests make  Specialty Dining reservations pre-cruise using the Princess® App. Princess Cruises reserves the right to pre-assign Specialty Dining times and location. The Specialty Dining included in a Package is for restaurant cover changes only and does not include menu items subject to supplementary charges. Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

[Miss-Lizzie]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

yep - kinda - not at all 

 

Unlimited Specialty Dining meals: It is recommended that guests make  Specialty Dining reservations pre-cruise using the Princess® App. Princess Cruises reserves the right to pre-assign Specialty Dining times and location. The Specialty Dining included in a Package is for restaurant cover changes only and does not include menu items subject to supplementary charges. Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

Question on the app. When I go to make specialty restaurant reservations it asks for my credit card. I have not completed the transaction because I didn't know if it charges my card now. My cruise is a few months out and I don't want my card charged. Does it charge now to my card?

[grimace95120]

1 minute ago, Miss-Lizzie said:

Question on the app. When I go to make specialty restaurant reservations it asks for my credit card. I have not completed the transaction because I didn't know if it charges my card now. My cruise is a few months out and I don't want my card charged. Does it charge now to my card?

i believe that depends on your package ( if you have one)or are just booking. I know that before I upgraded to unlimited premier , yes the payment was expected at time of booking. I understand why they want a payment in advance, but it still stings a bit, especially if you are booking for a cruise that's a ways out . 

[555]

1 hour ago, cruisinsince75 said:

Upgraded to Unlimited Premier and was able to choose our preferred dining times in both the Crown Grill and Sabatini's for our November cruise.  I imagine if I had we waited, the time slots would have started to disappear.  

We're on in Nov also and I can't even make reservation dining time for the regular restaurant, no less a Specialty restaurant.

 

 

1 hour ago, memoak said:

So if the times disappear what is Princess going to do when they are advertising “unlimited specialty dining”. Are the going to open venues at 3 for dinner and keep them open to midnight ?  I am betting if they don’t limit this package to “X” amount of passengers how much are the willing to refund to people they cannot accommodate ?

I think a full refund of the normal dining price would be fair, for each evening that they can't accommodate you. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

servers and cooking capacities , not necessarily table space

They could always put the overflow in the corridor that could expand their dining area.  

[grimace95120]

I think a full refund of the normal dining price would be fair, for each evening that they can't accommodate you. 

 

the "get out of jail free card" 

Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

 

Im sure the lawyers on retainer have gone over every permutation and combination to come up with a ironclad negate of any compensation due to lack of availability 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

27 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Unlimited Specialty Dining meals: It is recommended that guests make  Specialty Dining reservations pre-cruise using the Princess® App. Princess Cruises reserves the right to pre-assign Specialty Dining times and location. The Specialty Dining included in a Package is for restaurant cover changes only and does not include menu items subject to supplementary charges. Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

It sounds like if we wait until we board to use our OBC that we won’t be able to make any reservations for the venues or times that we want. We don’t eat sushi and I’m allergic to dairy so this will limit our choice of venues. We have enough OBC to cover the cost of upgrading. @voljeep did you copy this from the Princess website? 

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

yep - kinda - not at all 

 

Unlimited Specialty Dining meals: It is recommended that guests make  Specialty Dining reservations pre-cruise using the Princess® App. Princess Cruises reserves the right to pre-assign Specialty Dining times and location. The Specialty Dining included in a Package is for restaurant cover changes only and does not include menu items subject to supplementary charges. Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

All this tells me is to keep my Plus package. I was hoping with everyone buying the Premium package that the MDR food included restaurants would be less crowded.

[Thrak]

7 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

All this tells me is to keep my Plus package. I was hoping with everyone buying the Premium package that the MDR food included restaurants would be less crowded.

 

We very rarely eat in the Specialty Dining venues as it's just too dang much food for us so there's no compelling reason to pay for stuff that goes to waste. When we did 63 days on Grand Princess last year we used our Casual Dining perk once (yep, just one time in 63 days) and, at that time, they didn't allow us to share so we had way too much food at Alfredo's. (We saw a number of people turn away from that venue when they found it was no longer included and I don't think we ever saw more than two couples in the venue at any time.) I'm glad to read that people are being allowed to share now but I'm guessing it will depend on the particular staff on the ship. We'll find out next March on Ruby, and next September/October on Regal and Emerald. I realize it's a foolish hope but I do wish they would be consistent so we could know how things will be handled.

[Iamcruzin]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

We very rarely eat in the Specialty Dining venues as it's just too dang much food for us so there's no compelling reason to pay for stuff that goes to waste. When we did 63 days on Grand Princess last year we used our Casual Dining perk once (yep, just one time in 63 days) and, at that time, they didn't allow us to share so we had way too much food at Alfredo's. (We saw a number of people turn away from that venue when they found it was no longer included and I don't think we ever saw more than two couples in the venue at any time.) I'm glad to read that people are being allowed to share now but I'm guessing it will depend on the particular staff on the ship. We'll find out next March on Ruby, and next September/October on Regal and Emerald. I realize it's a foolish hope but I do wish they would be consistent so we could know how things will be handled.

They have a long track record of consistently being inconsistent.

[cruisinsince75]

1 hour ago, Miss-Lizzie said:

Question on the app. When I go to make specialty restaurant reservations it asks for my credit card. I have not completed the transaction because I didn't know if it charges my card now. My cruise is a few months out and I don't want my card charged. Does it charge now to my card?

It shows the charge, but then shows $0 for the total and card is not charged.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

Unlimited Specialty Dining meals: It is recommended that guests make  Specialty Dining reservations pre-cruise using the Princess® App. Princess Cruises reserves the right to pre-assign Specialty Dining times and location. The Specialty Dining included in a Package is for restaurant cover changes only and does not include menu items subject to supplementary charges. Availability of Specialty Dining reservations may be limited on certain cruises. P

So according to this unlimited is not unlimited. I can’t wait for the screaming to begin

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, memoak said:

So according to this unlimited is not unlimited. I can’t wait for the screaming to begin

 

One has to wonder about the vast majority of cruisers who don't read these forums and will be surprised when they can't get dinner reservations.

[memoak]

Just now, Thrak said:

 

One has to wonder about the vast majority of cruisers who don't read these forums and will be surprised when they can't get dinner reservations.

Not only surprised but angry. Of course we book plus and our CVP on a call with us today did not ever try to upsell us or even bring up the offer

[Ellipooh]

Is anyone else being driven nuts by P’s typo of “changes” instead of “charges,” in the repeatedly quoted section?

 

I know, it’s the least of the problems at issue. But still.

[Cpamomma]

We have an upcoming cruise for 10 days on the Grand.  We were thinking about the Premier over the Plus until they raised the price.  For the two of us for 10 days, it will cost us $600 more for the Premier package.  It also seems like it would be a major headache to get reservations at the specialty restaurants and the other perks are not that important to us.  I think their change made our decision for us. We will get the Plus package and just pay extra if we want upgraded drinks.  I do like good wine so we will bring two bottles of good wine onboard with us to have with dinner.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Ellipooh said:

Is anyone else being driven nuts by P’s typo of “changes” instead of “charges,” in the repeatedly quoted section?

 

I know, it’s the least of the problems at issue. But still.

I figured I was probably the only one who actually cared but... Yes, I find it idiotic. Our local newspaper really drives me crazy.

 

Here's a classic Princess blunder:

 

[Josie201]

2 hours ago, cruisinsince75 said:

It shows the charge, but then shows $0 for the total and card is not charged.

Not in my case.  It wants to charge me now. 

[NMTraveller]

So when you select Premier do they charge you for it right away or at final payment?

 

How far in advance can you book a specialty restaurant if you have Premier?

Edited August 22 by NMTraveller

[Thrak]

7 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

So when you select Premier do they charge you for it right away or at final payment?

 

How far in advance can you book a specialty restaurant if you have Premier?

 

When I added the Plus package to an existing booking it wasn't just added onto the fare to be paid at the time of final payment. They charged me immediately.

[canadarocks]

I upgraded from Plus to the new Premier today. Our final payment is not until November, and I was not charged for the upgraded package. 

[NMTraveller]

5 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

I upgraded from Plus to the new Premier today. Our final payment is not until November, and I was not charged for the upgraded package. 

How did you do the upgrade?  Online?  Through a TA?  Through Princess chat/phone?

[cheetosrevil]

My recent experience: I have PP for an upcoming 2025 cruise and was able to make specialty dining resos without being charged.

 

That aside, when shopping rates for my existing cruises I am not offered PP only P+. Anyone else experiencing this? And, the offers for OBC result in higher P+ rates shown than the current rate.