Princess "Best Sale Ever" with Specialty Dining Surcharge, Premier Drinks, Gratuities, etc. Included

[ToughCookie]

Hi! My husband and I are celebrating our 25th this March with a Princess Caribbean cruise. We have the "best sale ever" deal, but since this is my first cruise, the dining situation still doesn't completely makes sense to me. 

1) If the specialty dining surcharge is covered by the sale, does that mean that we can eat for free in the specialty restaurants?

2) On the list of free services provided (when I access our cruise online), it says that the surcharge covered would normally be $29. That seems like maybe for one restaurant one time?

3) If the sale is going on and so lots of people on the cruise will be on the same upgraded plan, should I make sure to make specialty reservations now?

4) Below is a screenshot of the complementary services with this sale, if that helps! 

 

 

I would appreciate any and all advice! Thanks so much!

Edited January 13, 2022 by ToughCookie
typo

[brwneyedgirl72]

For the specialty restaurants, you essentially have a credit for one dinner of your choice.  I believe that reservation has to be made once onboard.  If you make the reservation in advance on the app, your credit card will be charged - at least that has been my experience.  Hope this helps!

[Mud_Shark]

With the current promotion (and historically other similar promotions), yes, it is only for one meal per person for the duration of the cruise.

 

Unfortunately, at this time, you cannot reserve ahead of your cruise departure.  If you do, it will charge you the fee and assume you are reserving an additional meal at your own expense.

 

When you board, you can make reservations for the location and the date/time that you prefer, but you should not wait long as the desirable times do fill up fast.  We got on it to make a reservation a couple hours after we boarded on our November cruise and ended up dining a little later than we would have preferred but still enjoyed a marvelous meal.

 

Don

[Coveguy4]

This gives you one specialty dinner only.  You can book on board without any issues I have found in the past

[skynight]

It is 1 dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. Looks like you are on a 5 day Regal Princess cruise. Your choice would be Crown Grill, steak & seafood, or Sabatinis, Italian. Since this is only 5 days and since many passengers will have the same promo reservations could get tight. I have read that you can pre book comp specialty dining in the dine my way app. When it gets to the payment part the app recognizes the promo and assigns the credit. Give it a try. For other evening meals select you choice in the dine my way app. If you enjoy pizza be sure to try Alfredo's open from 11am for lunch & dinner. Waiter served, no charge. Good lunch selection on boarding day. 

Menus can be found by searching on line. Hope this is useful. If you are unable to pre book the specialty restaurant then visit them on boarding day.

[memoak]

Also be advised that since all full suites get a free specialty meal on embarkation night you might want to try a different night. 

[JF - retired RRT]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!! 🎉

To be sure you get the date/time you want for the specialty restaurant, find the restaurant that is staffed (i.e. someone standing at the podium) as soon as you board. If no one is there, wait a bit & try again.

 

For lunch on boarding day (along with Alfredo's), you can go to the mid-ship dining room (MDR) that is open from 11 until about 1. If you don't get on soon enough, Alfredo's is a good option.

 

Since this is your first cruise...if either of you are veteran's, retired or active military (US & Canada), send in your documentation (you can find it with a Google search) and get refundable OBC ($50-$250).

If you can afford it and think you'll cruise again, buy 100 shares and get OBC, as above, but not refundable.

[seastheday]

We have the same promotion, and I booked our specialty meal a couple of days ago through the app (sailing next week). It showed the charge, but also showed a credit of $58 for the 2 of us, thus canceled itself out and no cc charges.

[Buckeye10640]

2 hours ago, seastheday said:

We have the same promotion, and I booked our specialty meal a couple of days ago through the app (sailing next week). It showed the charge, but also showed a credit of $58 for the 2 of us, thus canceled itself out and no cc charges.

Yes I was able to book specialty dining in the app as well for my cruise last month and it deducted the amount at payment. leaving a 0 balance. Now I am trying the same for my May cruise....not woking.  No idea why....

[ToughCookie]

I can't thank you all enough for the help! XOXO

[Moondogy]

@ToughCookieWelcome to Cruise Critic.....and welcome to the addiction of cruising 🤣