Dine My Way & all new Dining questions since cruising restart!!

[memoak]

30 minutes ago, Expo67 said:

Good question. My guess would be Princess would prefer anyone selecting traditional dining to have that dining option for the entire cruise. That being said under the new system you can perhaps make a separate reservation onboard on a few nights or in worst case go to the dining room with the walk up dining option. Personally over the decades of our cruising starting out with only traditional and progressing to where we are at now I am wondering when will the cruiselines realize that no matter how many options for dining are available there are always going to people that want something different. I am not sure how they can top traditional, anytime reservations, walk up with no reservations, specialty dining, buffet dining, room service dining, as well as the international cafe offerings, and other casual dining options like pizza and grill items. However I am sure they will come up with something like doubling the number of special dessert offerings or charging for items from the international cafe or including it free as part of the plus or premier packages. As my wife said many years ago … rest assured there will be a day when the only non charge dining will be the buffet and all other dining will come with a price attached. 

I think that is a very pessimistic attitude when you say nothing will be included in cruise fare there is no basis for it. Except for now charging for the sit down pizza venue what is costing money that was free before ?  MDR free, lido deck pizza and burgers free, IC food free, soft serve ice cream free. What has really changed

Edited June 20 by memoak

[Thrak]

On 6/18/2024 at 4:47 PM, Lorenky said:

I haven’t gotten any emails or notifications regarding this for my cruise booked in January. Are they only sending notifications to people whose dining reservations were canceled?

 

We got email about the new date for dining and our next booked cruise isn't until September, 2025.

[Expo67]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

I think that is a very pessimistic attitude when you say nothing will be included in cruise fare there is no basis for it. Except for now charging for the sit down pizza venue what is costing money that was free before ?  MDR free, lido deck pizza and burgers free, IC food free, soft serve ice cream free. What has really changed

I beg to differ as the bar has been set and will continue to be extended imo. I prefer to think of it as reality more so than being pessimistic. You want room service now it comes at a cost whether it be the plus or premium package or a $5 delivery charge with the standard fare, Wish to use Ocean Now On Demand Delivery package then either purchase the plus or premium package or pay the one time $14.99 per person with the standard fare. And as you mentioned the up charges for prix fixe dining of $14.99 unless you opt for the plus or premium packages. I for one am not against the package pricing and in fact we do purchase it even though we are Elite simply for the ease and enjoyment of the cruise experience.
 

My only point is that for those that want to continue to cruise on the standard fare they are now getting charged for items that use to be included in the standard fare. Will there be more items taken away from the standard fare. It is guaranteed Princess is eyeing the results of the latest pricing changes to see their success and whether more items should or should not be added. Time will determine whether they do or do not continue experimenting with shifting additional no charge amenities to a charged amenity for standard fare with inclusion in the plus and premium packages.
 

Info below is taken directly from the Princess site.

 

Access the Princess Exclusive OceanNow Service

Princess sets the bar in service with its revolutionary OceanNow on-demand, location-based delivery service. To activate this industry exclusive service, there will be a nominal one-time activation fee of $14.99 per guest, per voyage. However, the access fee is waived for all guests sailing on Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages.

Complimentary Room Service Delivery

Princess staterooms are a sanctuary for guests and views from industry leading large balconies are epic. To maximize the stateroom experience, Princess Plus and Princess Premier participants will have the standard $5 per delivery room service charge waived. That means no extra charges for the ease and luxury of on-demand service anywhere, anyplace or anytime on a Princess ship for Plus and Premier Guests.

“We take great pride in pampering our guests with friendly service and exceeding their expectations. By offering the OceanNow Service and Room Service without any additional fees to Princess Plus and Princess Premier guests, we aim to elevate their journey to an unparalleled level of comfort, indulgence and value,” said Sami Kohen, Princess vice president of food and beverage.

Casual Prix Fixe Dining Charges

For voyages embarking August 12 and beyond, guests on Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages will enjoy savory prix fixe dining options in the ship's casual restaurants, including Vines, Salty Dog Pub, O’Malleys, Ocean Terrace, Planks, Steamers, Alfredo’s, and GiGi’s. The addition of new three-course, pre-fixed menus gives Plus and Premier guests more food options than ever before without any extra charges. For those who prefer sailing on Princess Standard, the casual prix fixe dining will be $14.99 and individual selections will continue with a la carte pricing.

 

 

Princess Plus

For just $60 per person per day, Princess Plus now includes the following at more than 70% off retail value if components are purchased separately, saving guests up to $668 on a 7-Day cruise:

• Plus Beverage Package (covering drinks up to $15, specialty coffees, smoothies and bottled water, as well as 25 percent off bottles of wine)
• NEW! Unlimited MedallionNet 2.0 with Fleetwide Starlink and 5G for single device
• Daily crew appreciation (e.g., gratuities)
• NEW! Two prix fixe meals at any casual dining location per voyage
• NEW! Free OceanNow Delivery Service Activation
• NEW! Complimentary Room Service
• NEW! “Green Lane” Express Boarding (Free Medallion device delivery included)
• Two boutique fitness classes per voyage (e.g., Pure Barre, YogaSix, StretchLab)
• Two premium crafted desserts per day
• Unlimited premium fresh juices

Princess Premier

For just $80 per person per day, Princess Premier maximize inclusions and enjoy a more than 75% savings on the following inclusions:

• Premier Beverage Package (covering drinks up to $20, champagne by the glass, specialty coffees, smoothies and bottled water, as well as 25 percent off bottles of wine)
• NEW! Unlimited MedallionNet 2.0 with Fleetwide Starlink and 5G for up to 4 devices
• Daily crew appreciation (e.g., gratuities)
• Two nights of specialty dining
• NEW! Unlimited prix fixe meals at any casual dining location
• NEW! Free OceanNow Delivery Service Activation
• NEW! Complimentary Room Service
• NEW! “Green Lane” Express Boarding (Free Medallion device delivery included)
• Reserved seating in the Princess Theater
• Unlimited boutique fitness classes per voyage (e.g., Pure Barre, YogaSix, StretchLab)
• Unlimited premium crafted desserts
• Unlimited premium fresh juices
• Unlimited Digital Photo package / Princess Prizes
• Complimentary Medallion accessory

[Dbld777]

5 hours ago, Expo67 said:

I beg to differ as the bar has been set and will continue to be extended imo. I prefer to think of it as reality more so than being pessimistic. You want room service now it comes at a cost whether it be the plus or premium package or a $5 delivery charge with the standard fare, Wish to use Ocean Now On Demand Delivery package then either purchase the plus or premium package or pay the one time $14.99 per person with the standard fare. And as you mentioned the up charges for prix fixe dining of $14.99 unless you opt for the plus or premium packages. I for one am not against the package pricing and in fact we do purchase it even though we are Elite simply for the ease and enjoyment of the cruise experience.
 

My only point is that for those that want to continue to cruise on the standard fare they are now getting charged for items that use to be included in the standard fare. Will there be more items taken away from the standard fare. It is guaranteed Princess is eyeing the results of the latest pricing changes to see their success and whether more items should or should not be added. Time will determine whether they do or do not continue experimenting with shifting additional no charge amenities to a charged amenity for standard fare with inclusion in the plus and premium packages.

Most service businesses are moving to a layered/level/tier business model based on consumer demand driven by maybe a younger demographic that wants to choose the items they value and have a bare bones option for those on a tighter budget. Look at Cable TV moving to streaming services, pay per view, individual streaming apps for specific content. Or the airline industry moving to a lower base fare offering with add-ons as desired. Even the economy class cabin is now being divided up into several price points for the desired seating. You can look at it as taking away what was once all included or moving to a layered option offering that is in demand by the consumers and allows them to compete by advertising the base offering price. They just won't be able to compete with other mainstream brands if they offer all that they used to at the base pricing. There will always be upscale or luxury brands who offer everything for one price, but their customer base doesn't shop on price.

[MyriamS]

I kinda agree and disagree with both of you. One one hand, it makes sense to have multi-tier experiences: as a non-drinker, any cruise line that always includes alcoholic beverage (like most premium/luxury cruise lines and river cruise lines) will be less attractive to me because they cost more but I'm not getting my money's worth.

 

On the hand, cruising is not exactly cheap at the moment so, if the base experience is degraded too much, then it will become non-competitive compared to other types of holiday. Flying economy is certainly not a barrel of fun but you can get good prices and your discomfort will last for 12 hours max, much less if you're flying short haul. Spending a week on a cruise with nothing but the buffet being included? No, thanks. 

 

I think cruising is extremely popular at the moment so cruise lines can get away with charging a lot while offering less. But eventually the craze will die down so they will have to lower their base prices or start including more again to convince people that they are better than land-based holidays.

Edited June 20 by MyriamS

[Expo67]

38 minutes ago, MyriamS said:

I kinda agree and disagree with both of you. One one hand, it makes sense to have multi-tier experiences: as a non-drinker, any cruise line that always includes alcoholic beverage (like most premium/luxury cruise lines and river cruise lines) will be less attractive to me because they cost more but I'm not getting my money's worth.

 

On the hand, cruising is not exactly cheap at the moment so, if the base experience is degraded too much, then it will become non-competitive compared to other types of holiday. Flying economy is certainly not a barrel of fun but you can get good prices and your discomfort will last for 12 hours max, much less if you're flying short haul. Spending a week on a cruise with nothing but the buffet being included? No, thanks. 

 

I think cruising is extremely popular at the moment so cruise lines can get away with charging a lot while offering less. But eventually the craze will die down so they will have to lower their base prices or start including more again to convince people that they are better than land-based holidays.

Very valid points and I hope you are correct. The cruise industry as a whole is thriving right now because of all the built of excitement from the isolation of the Covid period as well as the baby boomers retiring. That will change to a certain degree one would think. Catering to younger clientele is also something the cruise lines are pushing. Another one of the lines we cruise with is minimizing the number of longer cruise options to make more shorter ones available that appeal to the younger generation. Your thoughts on pricing are also spot on as the multiple cruises we have booked through the end of 25 are now in some cases double the price of our original booking prices. So as we have all mentioning the pricing/offerings experimentation will continue until the supply out numbers the the demand.

[Sea Hag]

13 hours ago, Expo67 said:

As my wife said many years ago … rest assured there will be a day when the only non charge dining will be the buffet and all other dining will come with a price attached. 

I've also thought this for years. 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

I've also thought this for years. 

It comes down to wants and needs. I  don’t use room service, I don’t use Ocean Now, I don’t take gym classes, I don’t eat the ridiculous desserts, I don’t have pictures taken. I rarely use casual dining venues. If all of these things were part of the standard cruise fare the cruise fare would be higher. The way things are now you can decide what you need and what you are willing to pay for

[Sea Hag]

9 minutes ago, memoak said:

It comes down to wants and needs. I  don’t use room service, I don’t use Ocean Now, I don’t take gym classes, I don’t eat the ridiculous desserts, I don’t have pictures taken. I rarely use casual dining venues. If all of these things were part of the standard cruise fare the cruise fare would be higher. The way things are now you can decide what you need and what you are willing to pay for

I agree with that, and that's exactly what I do. But I can't see what this has to do with my, admittedly paranoid, thinking that eventually only the buffet will be included in the base cruise price. That won't necessarily mean that we'll stop cruising, since I don't really cruise for the food. It may, on the other hand, be a hard sell for my hubby.

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

I agree with that, and that's exactly what I do. But I can't see what this has to do with my, admittedly paranoid, thinking that eventually only the buffet will be included in the base cruise price. That won't necessarily mean that we'll stop cruising, since I don't really cruise for the food. It may, on the other hand, be a hard sell for my hubby.

It is just like when they made the pizza restaurants a pay for venue. People freaked out and thought it was the end of the world   I had been on the Discovery right before that announcement and it was a 2 hour wait to get into the venue just for a pizza. 

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

It is just like when they made the pizza restaurants a pay for venue. People freaked out and thought it was the end of the world   I had been on the Discovery right before that announcement and it was a 2 hour wait to get into the venue just for a pizza. 

Yeah, I complained about that pizza thing at the time, but it doesn't really impact us. I have a pizza stone and make really good pizzas, so pizza on a cruise isn't that big a deal. Also, in all the years we've cruised, I could count on the fingers of one hand all the times we've had room service. So, the fact that there's a charge for that, either on a one-time basis or the entire cruise except for the breakfast order tag, also doesn't impact us. These two items do, however, make me wonder what's next. 

[Kay S]

5 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

I've also thought this for years. 

Princess is very good at figuring out where to wrangle the next nickel or dime.  

[latebuyer]

If you want to share a table is it better just to show up or should you  make a reservation?

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, latebuyer said:

If you want to share a table is it better just to show up or should you  make a reservation?

 

No idea how the "new" Princess dining will shake out but, in the past, one could show up and say they were willing to share and could also book in advance and select "shared table". Either way worked for us.

[profesionalstudent]

Hi

We are completely new to Princess Cruises.  Will be on the Sky Princess in February.  I'm trying to figure out how dining will work with this newish system.  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Will they still offer a early and late seating?  Will you pick one of the three dining rooms (Estrella, Soleil and Cielo) and arrive at a certain time for dinner unless you have opted for a specialty restaurant on any given night?  If you're just a standard cruiser, are your breakfast and lunch options the buffet?  TIA  

[memoak]

49 minutes ago, profesionalstudent said:

Hi

We are completely new to Princess Cruises.  Will be on the Sky Princess in February.  I'm trying to figure out how dining will work with this newish system.  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Will they still offer an early and late seating?  Will you pick one of the three dining rooms (Estrella, Soleil and Cielo) and arrive at a certain time for dinner unless you have opted for a specialty restaurant on any given night?  If you're just a standard cruiser, are your breakfast and lunch options the buffet?  TIA  

Breakfast is served every day. Lunch only in sea days. 

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, profesionalstudent said:

 

We are completely new to Princess Cruises.  Will be on the Sky Princess in February.  I'm trying to figure out how dining will work with this newish system.  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Will they still offer a early and late seating?  Will you pick one of the three dining rooms (Estrella, Soleil and Cielo) and arrive at a certain time for dinner unless you have opted for a specialty restaurant on any given night?  I

As I understand it, each of the three dining rooms will be given over to one of the dining schemes. Fixed, reservations and walk-up.  You will go to the dining room assigned to your dining preference.  You can't pick and choose; that is, you can't choose fixed dining and then show up to the reservations dining room and ask for a fixed seating table.  If you do choose fixed, there will be both an early and a late seating in one specific dining room and that becomes your dining room for the cruise.  However, who knows what will change between now and then.

[Thrak]

My only question (so far) regarding the change in dining reservations is, "What time is Early Dining?" In the past one could choose early dining and it was a bit of a crapshoot as to what time it would actually be. Sometimes it was 5:00. Sometimes one was assigned 5:20 or 5:30. I would opt for old style early dining if it was at a time that suited me. The way things have been with the current system I chose the same time and dining room every night and it worked out well. With the  (sort of) new system I may just end up doing the same if early dining isn't a "known" thing. We don't book late dining as it tends to interfere with all of the evening activities.

[suzyed]

16 hours ago, profesionalstudent said:

Hi

We are completely new to Princess Cruises.  Will be on the Sky Princess in February.  I'm trying to figure out how dining will work with this newish system.  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Will they still offer a early and late seating?  Will you pick one of the three dining rooms (Estrella, Soleil and Cielo) and arrive at a certain time for dinner unless you have opted for a specialty restaurant on any given night?  If you're just a standard cruiser, are your breakfast and lunch options the buffet?  TIA  

All meals will be offered in the Buffet each day.  Breakfast and Lunch are offered in the MDR (main dining room) on Sea days.  Just Dinner in the MDR on Port Days.

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

All meals will be offered in the Buffet each day.  Breakfast and Lunch are offered in the MDR (main dining room) on Sea days.  Just Dinner in the MDR on Port Days.

Incorrect   Breakfast is served in MDR every day

[memoak]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

My only question (so far) regarding the change in dining reservations is, "What time is Early Dining?" In the past one could choose early dining and it was a bit of a crapshoot as to what time it would actually be. Sometimes it was 5:00. Sometimes one was assigned 5:20 or 5:30. I would opt for old style early dining if it was at a time that suited me. The way things have been with the current system I chose the same time and dining room every night and it worked out well. With the  (sort of) new system I may just end up doing the same if early dining isn't a "known" thing. We don't book late dining as it tends to interfere with all of the evening activities.

We couldn’t eat before 7:30 ever even at home

[Thrak]

56 minutes ago, memoak said:

We couldn’t eat before 7:30 ever even at home

 

At home we eat at various times. It's 1:37 PM here and I haven't eaten yet today. Once Golf is over we'll make a huge taco salad and that will be "food for the day". (I'll eat maybe half of the salad I build and have the rest tomorrow.) On our cruises since the restart we have booked 5;30 PM dining and it has worked out well. We don't "eat big" during the day and the early dinner time lets us make the early show in the theater if we like. It also leaves all the evening entertainment options on the table.

 

When we were first cruising the idea of dinner that early was not in the cards for us as it seemed way too early. These days my wife tends to fade out earlier than she used to and hits the cabin by 9:30 or 10:00.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Incorrect   Breakfast is served in MDR every day

Some days I like to eat breakfast in the MDR and take my time lingering over coffee.  I know people whose only MDR meal is breakfast.  BTW, I assume there will be open seating in one dining room for breakfast, as it has been, and no reservations or fixed dining involved.

[memoak]

35 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Some days I like to eat breakfast in the MDR and take my time lingering over coffee.  I know people whose only MDR meal is breakfast.  BTW, I assume there will be open seating in one dining room for breakfast, as it has been, and no reservations or fixed dining involved.

That is correct. Only dinner can have reservations 

Edited Sunday at 09:39 PM by memoak

[BamaVol]

21 hours ago, profesionalstudent said:

Hi

We are completely new to Princess Cruises.  Will be on the Sky Princess in February.  I'm trying to figure out how dining will work with this newish system.  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Will they still offer an early and late seating?  Will you pick one of the three dining rooms (Estrella, Soleil and Cielo) and arrive at a certain time for dinner unless you have opted for a specialty restaurant on any given night?  If you're just a standard cruiser, are your breakfast and lunch options the buffet?  TIA  

You have plenty of time to ask this question again before your cruise and after the new method begins.  Right now all you will get is speculation. Ask again in October and you will be able to benefit from the experience of others.