Ultimate Balcony Dining Menus

[tammigirl]

I'm not following you. You can order the Ultimate Balcony Dinner (or breakfast) via the website, right on your cruise personalizer.

What do you mean?

 

I can order the experience - without having any idea what the experience entails. What do we eat? Doesn't say. Do we have choices or is it a set menu? Doesn't say. Etc.

 

If not for these boards first timers would have no idea what they are getting other than "Ultimate Balcony Dining"

[tammigirl]

I guess I wasn't clear. That happens. I know what I meant. ;)

 

I know where to order it, but when looking at that section there's no explanation of the UBD or breakfast.

[Eggfrmr]

If you order it online do you have to put it on a credit card or can you use obc?

Unfortunately you have to use a cc, no OBC. You can wait to book once on board but there are only 4 blacony dinners served per night, so you run the risk of missing out on the night you want.

 

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[SewMuch]

Unfortunately you have to use a cc, no OBC. You can wait to book once on board but there are only 4 blacony dinners served per night, so you run the risk of missing out on the night you want.

 

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Thank you. We have $500 in obc that we won't be spending on drinks (thank you sip and sail!) so we thought we would treat ourselves to the UBD. I guess I will have to weigh our options. Although I'm thinking that since this would be for an Alaskan cruise, the UBD won't be as popular. So maybe we can wait to book it.

[reedprincess]

I can order the experience - without having any idea what the experience entails. What do we eat? Doesn't say. Do we have choices or is it a set menu? Doesn't say. Etc.

 

If not for these boards first timers would have no idea what they are getting other than "Ultimate Balcony Dining"

From the website:

"Enjoy an intimate, romantic dining experience with breathtaking views and a special meal served by your own dedicated waitstaff on your stateroom balcony. Ultimate Balcony Dining features a hosted cocktail party, fresh flowers, champagne and a deluxe four-course meal featuring delicate sweet lobster tail or juicy steak among many available delicacies."

Gives a pretty decent description. No, it doesn't tell every single detail, but rarely will you find that on any cruise line website.

Glad you've found the info you wanted - we had no clue the first time we ordered it, hadn't even known about CruiseCritic, etc. Went with the description from the website, back then you could only order once onboard, had to go from place to place to figure out where to order it, and so on. The anticipation and surprise factor really contributed to the experience. Turned out amazing ..

Happy sails...

[Eggfrmr]

Thank you. We have $500 in obc that we won't be spending on drinks (thank you sip and sail!) so we thought we would treat ourselves to the UBD. I guess I will have to weigh our options. Although I'm thinking that since this would be for an Alaskan cruise, the UBD won't be as popular. So maybe we can wait to book it.

Im sure you will be fine waiting, but call and book it as soon as you get to your cabin.

 

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[Astro Flyer]

Im sure you will be fine waiting, but call and book it as soon as you get to your cabin.

 

Room service supervisors have said it's extremely rare to have all 4 daily UBDs booked on every day of the cruise. By calling the DINE line during embarkation we've got our first choice each time. That was before it was possible to pay by chargecard in advance to book a date but we'll still wait to pay for it with OBC.

 

To hopefully improve our odds of good weather conditions, we've had our UBDs during evening sailaway or a late evening in port. Once inclement weather forced us inside our balcony cabin & it was still a great experience while viewing the outside through the sliding glass door.

[Astro Flyer]

Here's a post with the menu & additional information.

 

Menu from our UBD on the Crown Princess a few years ago:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple comments:

 

• We've done the UBD three times, and we've, pretty much, stuck with the menu. However, I've read, here on Cruise Critic, that they are very flexible in accommodating dietary restrictions and, even, whims. If you would rather have, say, Lamb Chops instead of beef, I've heard that they will try to accommodate your wishes.
  
• I am not a dessert person, and, if I have dessert, I will rarely order chocolate. I have to say, however, that the chocolate mousse dessert is AWESOME.
  
• At the end, you are pretty full, but there is still a plate of petit fours. Actually, we once were served three plates. You'll be eating petit fours for days.
  
• The flowers on the table will also keep for four or five days in your room.
  
• Thankfully, the photographer is in and out pretty quickly.
  
• The coolest part is that you have two servers dedicated to you. Talk about decadent.
  
• Our alcohol of choice is wine. So, we chose glasses of wine for our cocktails. You can ask about Patron shots. I really don't know.
  
• We also bring bottles of our own wine for our cabin. So, after drinking the Champagne and the glasses of wine from off the menu, we open our own--red for me and white for my wife. Heck, we're not driving. ;p
  

I don't know if anybody else will find this interesting, but this is the worksheet that the Room Service manager completed for our UBD on this cruise:

 

 

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

is it possible to do UBD for lunch?

[Astro Flyer]

is it possible to do UBD for lunch?

No...the Ultimate Balcony Dinner is only available for dinner.

 

They have a breakfast but it's a much different experience....room service delivers all of the plates of food & you serve yourself. We only did it once but have done the UBD four times which is a great dining experience.

 

Deluxe Balcony Breakfast For Two $45.00

 

A four-course gourmet breakfast and a half bottle of chilled sparkling wine – plus breathtaking views – from the comfort of a stateroom balcony.

[Onthewater54]

Here's a post with the menu & additional information.

 

Thanks for your post. Highly informative.

[luckyinpa]

ty for the menu. i'm one of those freaks that doesnt like lobster so id like my surf/turf to be filet and crab and wonder if they would do that?

[reedprincess]

ty for the menu. i'm one of those freaks that doesnt like lobster so id like my surf/turf to be filet and crab and wonder if they would do that?

If crab were available, they may do so. More likely it'd be filet and shrimp/prawns..

We both get ribeyes as we like them better rehab filets, and skip the turf all together. They're flexible, within reason.

[dverzic]

I just booked the UBD for my cruise to Hawaii in November! So excited!

 

 

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[Astro Flyer]

I just booked the UBD for my cruise to Hawaii in November! So excited!

We enjoyed a sunset UBD from our portside (even number) balcony cabin during the late evening in Honolulu. :cool:

[Woobstr112G]

That has changed in the past couple of months & through the Cruise Personalizer (Onboard Reservations; Culinary Delights; Ultimate Balcony Dinner or Breakfast) it's now possible to reserve a date by pre-paying for either of them & then selecting the time when boarding the ship.

 

Very true. We were able to book the date when we prepaid prior to sailing on the PP back in May......:):):)

Bob

[dverzic]

I'm doing it during one of our sea days, as we get closer to Hawaii. Hopefully the weather will be good. Haven't told my hubby about it et though. Thinking I might just wait and surprise him!

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

I'm doing it during one of our sea days, as we get closer to Hawaii. Hopefully the weather will be good. Haven't told my hubby about it et though. Thinking I might just wait and surprise him!

 

 

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Very cool surprise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[polmcs]

I'm doing it during one of our sea days, as we get closer to Hawaii. Hopefully the weather will be good. Haven't told my hubby about it et though. Thinking I might just wait and surprise him!

 

 

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We did ours in Honolulu. The ship doesn't leave port till late in the evening and though the MDR is open, it's usually open seating that night, so we knew we weren't going to miss our table guests.

 

We had a Caribe balcony at the front of the ship on the Starboard side and had some pretty nice views of downtown Honolulu. The Caribe balcony overhang came in handy when it started to rain as we simply shuffled the tables and chairs under cover. We saw some pretty spectacular lightning during dinner.

[jwattle]

I just booked the UBD for my cruise to Hawaii in November! So excited!

 

 

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We're doing it in Honolulu in November. With the aft balcony (C753) we thought it would be nice to enjoy the late port evening

[Astro Flyer]

We're doing it in Honolulu in November. With the aft balcony (C753) we thought it would be nice to enjoy the late port evening

That should be great & if you have it for sunset you could attend the folkloric show. The Halau Hula Olana performance in the Princess Theater has always been a fun time on each late evening in Honolulu. Keiki (children) perform Hula accompanied by adult musicians and in January there were 2 performances...7:00 & 8:45.

[Colo Cruiser]

Love the UBD! :cool:

[jwattle]

That should be great & if you have it for sunset you could attend the folkloric show. The Halau Hula Olana performance in the Princess Theater has always been a fun time on each late evening in Honolulu. Keiki (children) perform Hula accompanied by adult musicians and in January there were 2 performances...7:00 & 8:45.

a

Perfect plan, thank you!!!

[dverzic]

What about the breakfast? Anyone done that? I've already reserved our dinner, but I really love a good breakfast, so I'm wondering what that's like too.

 

 

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[Astro Flyer]

What about the breakfast? Anyone done that? I've already reserved our dinner, but I really love a good breakfast, so I'm wondering what that's like too.

Here's the description from the Princess website:

 

"For those who want to start the day with a romantic meal, opt for a breakfast which includes specialty pastries, fresh fruits, quiche, smoked salmon and other special treats served with a half bottle of chilled sparkling wine. This item may be ordered onboard by contacting room service or pre-purchased as a special service item (item #3009)".

 

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/specialty-restaurants/ultimatebalconydining.html

We did the balcony breakfast ($45) one time & it was much different than at dinner ($100). There was a lot of food & room service places all of the covered plates on your desk to serve yourself.