RESERVED THEATRE SEATING WITH THE NEW PACKAGES

[CRUISE4TWO]

Hi there,

Does anyone know how the new "reserved seating " which you can take advantage of if you are on one of the new Premium packages.

When you enter the Princess Theatre,

 

Will your medallion be checked to see what package you are on.

Can you select either of the 2 shows to visit or will you be told which one is your show.

Where will these "Reserved seats" be located and what percentage of the seats will be reserved?

 

I am thinking that if I am not on the packages, I will be at a disadvantage to get a seat and may have to stand at the back.

Interested in hearing from Princess on how it's actually going to work, from passengers who have experienced visiting the Princess Theatre or your general thoughts.

Regards

Marty

London

  

  

 

[GottaLuvCruising]

I expect this to be a real bugaboo.  We prefer theater seats "on the shelf" as do many others.  We ALWAYS get to the theater early to secure the unobstructed view.  

Princess is totally messing with me here.  (Not paying for Princess premier.)

[dog]

More information to come.  Says this in email I got.

[skynight]

Does not begin until February 20th. No first hand experience. Princess is moving to a classed system. Not to my liking even though I have never been a lowest cat. passenger. Another way of implementing the phrase of "nickel and diming" taken to a higher level.

[phabric]

They may have a certain area roped off in the theater for the Premier Premier for each show..  RCI ropes off certain areas in theater/shows for the top priced cabins.

[4x4bob]

4 hours ago, CRUISE4TWO said:

Hi there,

Does anyone know how the new "reserved seating " which you can take advantage of if you are on one of the new Premium packages.

When you enter the Princess Theatre,

 

Will your medallion be checked to see what package you are on.

Can you select either of the 2 shows to visit or will you be told which one is your show.

Where will these "Reserved seats" be located and what percentage of the seats will be reserved?

 

I am thinking that if I am not on the packages, I will be at a disadvantage to get a seat and may have to stand at the back.

Interested in hearing from Princess on how it's actually going to work, from passengers who have experienced visiting the Princess Theatre or your general thoughts.

Regards

Marty

London

  

  

 

My first thought when I first read about this new "procedure" on reserving seats in the theatre were.   As I stand in the back looking down over the reserved section, how many will be empty because they were automatically reserved, yet the people did not come. 

Bob

[riffatsea]

We always sit up top in the back so don't care about reserving anything

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Does not begin until February 20th. No first hand experience. Princess is moving to a classed system. Not to my liking even though I have never been a lowest cat. passenger. Another way of implementing the phrase of "nickel and diming" taken to a higher level.

More a matter of adopting changes their competition have already made. Celebrity and Royal have implemented theater reservations for suite passengers for years. Difference with Princes is that any passenger can choose to buy the packages and get the benefits, not just a specific passenger class. At least not yet. Might change with the Sun Princess.

Edited December 6, 2022 by ldtr

[Doug R.]

47 minutes ago, 4x4bob said:

My first thought when I first read about this new "procedure" on reserving seats in the theatre were.   As I stand in the back looking down over the reserved section, how many will be empty because they were automatically reserved, yet the people did not come. 

Bob

Norwegian uses a reserved seat (available to all) policy for their theater shows. Ten minutes or so before showtime the seats open to all without reservations. Maybe Princess will do similar and release the seats shortly before showtime. By the way, Norwegian's reservation does not guarantee a specific seat.

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Doug R.

[c-boy]

26 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

We always sit up top in the back so don't care about reserving anything

😄    okay,    I'm afraid we might get pummeled with items from the salad bar,  if we take a seat in the reserved area.  So we might join you up there. 

[startedwithamouse]

Sounds like a reserved section with the best seats. 

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, phabric said:

They may have a certain area roped off in the theater for the Premier Premier for each show..  RCI ropes off certain areas in theater/shows for the top priced cabins.

Except that Princess might have considerably more reserved seats than RCI. 

[Guest ldtr]

27 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Except that Princess might have considerably more reserved seats than RCI. 

They also might not. It all comes down to implementation. They might just rope off a section, as Celebrity does. Or they might have people call in to get reservation for each shoe and then adjust the section size. We do not know, could be ok or could be horrid for either those getting reservations or those without or both.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, ldtr said:

".......... might have people call in to get reservation for each shoe and then....".

Ed Sullivan fan?  😉

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Steelers36

[Honolulu Blue]

I don't think anyone but the top PCL executives know how this is going to work.  They could do it in several different ways:

 

• Block off a section of the theater based on the # of premium packages sold on that cruise
• Some days before the cruise, announce the shows, ask if the premium guests are interested in attending, and offer them a chance to reserve seats.  The reservation could be app-only, or tickets/vouchers to be distributed through the cabin stewards
• Ask the premiums if they want to attend, but don't offer them particular seats
• The premiums could come down to the theater and pick their seats and the theater would be closed to everyone else.  The rest of the unwashed masses can get what's left.
• Ticket/seat reservation system for everyone, but with premium plan holders getting priority

 

They could do something different than I described above; that's all I could think of in the few minutes I have to spare.  It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

[SargassoPirate]

Wonder why they can't figure out a way to use the medallion to eliminate chair hogs on the Melanoma Deck? 

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

They also might not. It all comes down to implementation. They might just rope off a section, as Celebrity does. Or they might have people call in to get reservation for each shoe and then adjust the section size. We do not know, could be ok or could be horrid for either those getting reservations or those without or both.

I think I'll just continue to get there early with my tablet & wait for my husband.

[DavidsNana]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Ed Sullivan fan?  😉

 

I burst out laughing when I read this.  Totally showing my age since I had no trouble getting this!!  Too funny.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Ed Sullivan fan?  😉

 

The last of great tv

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The last of great tv

I was pretty young when he was in his prime.  I always liked Dean myself.  And I was just a kid.

[bjkTX]

I wonder if it will be possible, assuming you had the appropriate package, to stop by the theater early and leave a beach towel on a chair to reserve it???

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

As someone said, I assume it will work like Celebrity. When in a suite we let someone know if we are attending the show and they reserve seats. But you have to let them know ahead of time. You can’t just show up and expect seats. 

[MissP22]

7 hours ago, bjkTX said:

I wonder if it will be possible, assuming you had the appropriate package, to stop by the theater early and leave a beach towel on a chair to reserve it???

Not a beach towel but different sort of carry bags for regular seating while the people were getting a drink or using the bathroom. Hopefully the normal bar service is now back in action.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I don't think anyone but the top PCL executives know how this is going to work.  They could do it in several different ways:

 

• Block off a section of the theater based on the # of premium packages sold on that cruise
• Some days before the cruise, announce the shows, ask if the premium guests are interested in attending, and offer them a chance to reserve seats.  The reservation could be app-only, or tickets/vouchers to be distributed through the cabin stewards
• Ask the premiums if they want to attend, but don't offer them particular seats
• The premiums could come down to the theater and pick their seats and the theater would be closed to everyone else.  The rest of the unwashed masses can get what's left.
• Ticket/seat reservation system for everyone, but with premium plan holders getting priority

 

They could do something different than I described above; that's all I could think of in the few minutes I have to spare.  It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

 

At least before these announced changes Princess said they expect about 25% of passengers to book the Premier package.

 

So on a Royal class ship that would mean about 890 people.

 

Either quite a few seats will need to be reserved for those with the package or a number of package people will be disappointed that they do not actually get to use this perk.

[Jeter02]

Nothing for nothing plenty of people come late to a show I would love to see what happens if they actually do this reserved seating and if it's up in the front try doing that during a comedian's act. You work literally going to be the butt of the joke as anyone is who shows up late to a comedian's act 🤦‍♀️

 

But in all seriousness, I find it quite laughable about reservable seats as being a perk considering the shows are not always ever filled and there's plenty of seats to choose from. For myself I'm one who walks in likes to check out what's going on usually from the top and then kind of walk out as needed I'm on who likes to kind of meander around. Therefore I don't really find the reserve theater seats much of a park at all as they're just looking for something to give away "free".