Is Ultimate Balcony Dining booking still honoured ?

[Sn0cruiser]

I booked and paid for Ultimate Balcony Dining (UBD) on my Nov 2021 cruise in March of this year (husband’s BD gift) and it still shows up on my Travel Summary.  Recently, I was thinking of cancelling but now cannot find a way to order or to cancel UBD in the medallion app or on the website.  I phoned Princess and the rep hummed and hawed and said I was grandfathered.

 

Has anyone actually had UBD on recent cruises ?  Or received OBC once on board if it was cancelled ?

[CineGraphic]

9 minutes ago, Sn0cruiser said:

I booked and paid for Ultimate Balcony Dining (UBD) on my Nov 2021 cruise in March of this year (husband’s BD gift) and it still shows up on my Travel Summary.  Recently, I was thinking of cancelling but now cannot find a way to order or to cancel UBD in the medallion app or on the website.  I phoned Princess and the rep hummed and hawed and said I was grandfathered.

 

Has anyone actually had UBD on recent cruises ?  Or received OBC once on board if it was cancelled ?

 

According to folks on recent Alaskan sailings, the Ultimate Balcony Dinner was NOT available.

They were giving those like yourself who pre-paid, full refunds and a free specialty dinner.

[Sn0cruiser]

Thank you !  

[Rubynic]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

 

According to folks on recent Alaskan sailings, the Ultimate Balcony Dinner was NOT available.

They were giving those like yourself who pre-paid, full refunds and a free specialty dinner.

 
We had pre-booked the UBD on our Regal Princess UK seacation in August. It was cancelled onboard & the payment credited to our on board account. This left us with a credit balance when we disembarked - 5 weeks later we’re still waiting for this to be repaid. And there was no offer of a free specialty dinner instead. Maybe this is just the process in the UK but I would cancel & get the money refunded to your credit card.

[downsmead]

3 hours ago, Rubynic said:

 
We had pre-booked the UBD on our Regal Princess UK seacation in August. It was cancelled onboard & the payment credited to our on board account. This left us with a credit balance when we disembarked - 5 weeks later we’re still waiting for this to be repaid. And there was no offer of a free specialty dinner instead. Maybe this is just the process in the UK but I would cancel & get the money refunded to your credit card.

In the past U.K. customers have had to contact Princess to ‘claim’ any credits due to them, they are not automatically refunded like USA customers. 

[martinitime1]

That is unfortunate, UBD is one of the best deals on the planet for the amount of and quality of food and drink. Hopefully they bring it back.

[mina]

We had prebookedfor the sept 5 majestic Alaska cruise.  It was not honored.  However, we were given a free specialty night dining and a refund of the 100 on our account.  The ship said that home office knows the ships are not honoring due to covid as the crew can not be in a cabin for longer than 15 mins when a guest is in the room.  However, they keep selling the prebooking and leave the ship to deal with it.

[Rubynic]

8 hours ago, downsmead said:

In the past U.K. customers have had to contact Princess to ‘claim’ any credits due to them, they are not automatically refunded like USA customers. 

I’ve had to contact them myself previously to get credit balances refunded. I thought I’d wait the 2-6 weeks advised just in case things had improved.  Also getting through to anyone on the phone or by email at the moment is a nightmare anyway. I just don’t understand why they didn’t refund to the original payment method.

[Nashna]

I just booked this on our January 29th sailing.  We have totally enjoyed the UBD on a previous cruise.  It was the highlight of the cruise.  On our 10-night cruise, there is only one night where we are at port until 8:00pm.  We made sure to book it early to secure one of the limited spaces.  I hope it can happen.  

[montgomeryfamily]

How did you book it?  On the app or did you call someone at Princess?

[hockey-man]

On 9/26/2021 at 3:41 PM, martinitime1 said:

That is unfortunate, UBD is one of the best deals on the planet for the amount of and quality of food and drink. Hopefully they bring it back.

I agree. The UBD was a terrific meal. Fingers crossed that it’ll come back after covid. It was not offered on our 9/12 Alaska cruise but we did get the champagne balcony breakfast. Maybe because it is so much quicker to set up than the dinner? It was fun to try but not nearly as good as the dinner! 

[Nashna]

8 hours ago, montgomeryfamily said:

How did you book it?  On the app or did you call someone at Princess?

I booked it online before we switched to the Medallion a week ago.  

[montgomeryfamily]

13 hours ago, Nashna said:

I booked it online before we switched to the Medallion a week ago.  

Was it on the Cruise Personalized?  I can't find it.

[Nashna]

When I just checked my sailing, the only offering is breakfast.  The dinner option is no longer being offered.  However, my reservation still shows the following:

 

 

Culinary Delights

Item Type	Delivery Date	Price	Package Purchased By	Cancel
Ultimate Balcony Dinner For Two Message: "WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL CRUISE!"	Feb 04, 2022	$100.00	WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL CRUISE! for:	Cancel   Paid

Cancellation Policy: You may cancel 72 hours before your cruise for full refund.

Specialty Dining

[emerald777]

The last time we did the UBD, the main waiter brought his assistant waiter and asked if we would like him to sing for us.  He was a participant in the crew talent show and was really good!  So said sure!  So while we ate a wonderful meal under the stars we were personally serenaded by a super singer!  Such a great memory!  

Edited September 30, 2021 by emerald777

[Nashna]

That is truly memorable.  We were in the Club Mini Suite with the huge corner balcony over the bridge on Princess four years ago.  We had a late departure from St. Thomas and were able to have the entire meal on the balcony with the twinkling lights of the port all around us.  It was magical.  We are in the same stateroom for our January 2022 sailing.  We have confirmed reservations for the UBD.  I hope it happens.

[Shelly97060]

I just checked my 3 current bookings and the Ultimate Balcony Dinner as well as the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast are no longer showing as options to purchase.  We have the breakfast booked for our cruise this month, it will be interesting to see if they honor it.
 

Hopefully they will bring these option back in the future! 

[Daniel A]

On 9/26/2021 at 12:35 PM, CineGraphic said:

 

According to folks on recent Alaskan sailings, the Ultimate Balcony Dinner was NOT available.

They were giving those like yourself who pre-paid, full refunds and a free specialty dinner.

Do you know if the free specialty dinner was being offered for the same night as the 'confirmed' UBD?  We have one booked on a four day cruise and the UBD is still showing for us on our first full sea day.  When do they let you know they won't be delivering the UBD?  Trying to book the specialty or even a decent time in a MDR could be next to impossible if one is trying to book it for the now empty dining slot which would have been the UBD.

 

This would be a great disappointment for DW considering we paid more for a cabin with a large balcony to accommodate a non-cramped dining experience.

[CruisinChris]

As of Christmas (gosh knows things are changing minute by minute) Princess was not doing balcony dinners.  They said this is due to COVID restrictions - it may have as much to do with staffing as anything else.  Probably a combo.

 

I understand that they only make half of potential specialty dining reservations available online pre-cruise holding the rest for onboard reservations.

 

I recommend that you be proactive once onboard and call the dine line right away to confirm they're not doing balcony dining and to make an alternative reservation.  I'm sure they will take care of the $ part.

 

I also love the balcony dinners and really miss them.  Looking forward to their return.

[CineGraphic]

Capacity and restrictions affect everything. With only 900 on board, reservations are not needed at all.