Sky Princess speciality dining.

[JeremyK1956]

Hi, I am cruising on the May 6th cruise on Sky Princes, I was led to believe that I could go ahead and book the "speciality restaurants" once the balance had been paid, (which it has), but the app is not allowing me to do so. I am not overly impressed with the app anyway as it seems to have connection issues far too regularly, but, of course, this could well be something that I am doing wrong. My credit card is registered for the cruise. I believe that I can only book the complimentary speciality restaurant meal, (that you get if you are in a suite), once you are on board, but I am not sure when you can book the two speciality meals that come with the "premier" package. I was hoping to secure/pay for bookings as soon as possible as the cruise is to celebrate a special occasion.  Any guidance or advice would be appreciated.

Jeremy Kingsbury

[jeromep]

I don't think you are doing anything wrong.  You have about 4 months until your cruise.  I think the systems aren't going to let you do those kinds of reservations that far ahead.  Maybe try in another month when you are 90 days out.

 

My last cruise where we had the 1st night complimentary specialty restaurant meal due to being booked in a suite, we just called the dine line when we got on board and got a reservation for the Crown Grill.  When we arrived at dinner, the restaurant was mostly empty.  I think there were maybe 3 other couples dining.

 

I've never encountered specialty dining venues which were jam packed on embarkation day.  That all depends on the cruise and the cruisers.

 

I'd keep trying to do your reservation about once a month until you get close to your cruise, but I'd not be concerned about not being able to use your complimentary dining.  The reason that the suite dining benefit is offered on embarkation night is because the specialty venues are in less demand embarkation evening than on the rest of the cruise.

[JeremyK1956]

On 1/9/2023 at 12:36 AM, jeromep said:

I don't think you are doing anything wrong.  You have about 4 months until your cruise.  I think the systems aren't going to let you do those kinds of reservations that far ahead.  Maybe try in another month when you are 90 days out.

 

My last cruise where we had the 1st night complimentary specialty restaurant meal due to being booked in a suite, we just called the dine line when we got on board and got a reservation for the Crown Grill.  When we arrived at dinner, the restaurant was mostly empty.  I think there were maybe 3 other couples dining.

 

I've never encountered specialty dining venues which were jam packed on embarkation day.  That all depends on the cruise and the cruisers.

 

I'd keep trying to do your reservation about once a month until you get close to your cruise, but I'd not be concerned about not being able to use your complimentary dining.  The reason that the suite dining benefit is offered on embarkation night is because the specialty venues are in less demand embarkation evening than on the rest of the cruise.

Thanks for the reply. I was following advice from other forums suggesting the restaurants could be booked once the balance is paid, which is obviously not accurate. I will wait and keep an eye on it. As mentioned, I was not expecting to book the complimentary meal until I got on board, the speciality dining that comes with the Premier package is a different issue, with the number of people who have probably opted for this I can see potential problems. It will be interesting to see what Princess do if they are unable to accommodate you with a booking.

[strobellayjam]

2 hours ago, JeremyK1956 said:

Thanks for the reply. I was following advice from other forums suggesting the restaurants could be booked once the balance is paid, which is obviously not accurate. I will wait and keep an eye on it. As mentioned, I was not expecting to book the complimentary meal until I got on board, the speciality dining that comes with the Premier package is a different issue, with the number of people who have probably opted for this I can see potential problems. It will be interesting to see what Princess do if they are unable to accommodate you with a booking.

I experienced the same issues as you (and honestly for much of the duration of my cruise with bookings via the app). It was incredibly frustrating. 

I called the Dining Line once on board and they sorted it out for me. Incidentally Princess had automatically booked my party and I into a speciality dining venue for our complimentary first night already. We had no issues changing the venue or time to our preference. The specialty dining restaurants were pretty quiet on embarkation night. 

 

[CATGUY7]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:36 PM, jeromep said:

I don't think you are doing anything wrong.  You have about 4 months until your cruise.  I think the systems aren't going to let you do those kinds of reservations that far ahead.  Maybe try in another month when you are 90 days out.

 

My last cruise where we had the 1st night complimentary specialty restaurant meal due to being booked in a suite, we just called the dine line when we got on board and got a reservation for the Crown Grill.  When we arrived at dinner, the restaurant was mostly empty.  I think there were maybe 3 other couples dining.

 

I've never encountered specialty dining venues which were jam packed on embarkation day.  That all depends on the cruise and the cruisers.

 

I'd keep trying to do your reservation about once a month until you get close to your cruise, but I'd not be concerned about not being able to use your complimentary dining.  The reason that the suite dining benefit is offered on embarkation night is because the specialty venues are in less demand embarkation evening than on the rest of the cruise.

Agree with everything, but I have been able to reserve at both Crown Grill and Sabatini's for a 2024 cruise.  Don't ask why I needed to go ahead and reserve that far out, but let's just say I'm a planner...🤪

[strobellayjam]

40 minutes ago, CATGUY7 said:

Agree with everything, but I have been able to reserve at both Crown Grill and Sabatini's for a 2024 cruise.  Don't ask why I needed to go ahead and reserve that far out, but let's just say I'm a planner...🤪

Love this!  I’m a planner too so it really irked me the app didn’t allow me to do any bookings. It caused me undue stress which is quite the opposite effect you want when going on vacation. 

[wowzz]

I'm not sure that being unable to book a restaurant over a year in advance counts as "undue stress" !

Edited January 10, 2023 by wowzz

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, strobellayjam said:

Love this!  I’m a planner too so it really irked me the app didn’t allow me to do any bookings. It caused me undue stress which is quite the opposite effect you want when going on vacation. 

Many changes could happen in a year.

I’d be more flexible. 🙃

[wowzz]

For what it's worth, I am able to reserve speciality dining on our July 8th cruise, (Sky) with no problems at all.

[strobellayjam]

36 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Many changes could happen in a year.

I’d be more flexible. 🙃

For sure!  COVID sure taught us that one.  

[strobellayjam]

46 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm not sure that being unable to book a restaurant over a year in advance counts as "undue stress" !

I knew someone would call me out on it.  The light hearted tone seems to lose its messaging in text.  Of course, it was meant in jest only.  Vacations are all about fun.

[wowzz]

15 minutes ago, strobellayjam said:

I knew someone would call me out on it.  The light hearted tone seems to lose its messaging in text.  Of course, it was meant in jest only.  Vacations are all about fun.

Sorry that I didn't pick up your tone !

[strobellayjam]

Just now, wowzz said:

Sorry that I didn't pick up your tone !

No worries! 😃