Yeah! We got THE call…. 360 Experience, here we come!

[WAvoyager]

I’ve written before about the wonderful dinner we had on our previous Mexico cruise.  My daughter declared it the “Best Dinner Ever”, and my wife and I were pretty close to agreeing (although we have a much bigger pool of dinners competing with it).

 

on our upcoming Alaska cruise, I was hoping we’d get an invite - especially since my 89 YO Mom is coming on this sailing with us.  I figured no chance though - no mini-suite this time, and with two cabins, what are the chances both cabins would get invited? 
 

Well, just got a call from a number in Santa Clarita.  No need to screen this call!  Jumped on immediately, and both cabins were invited!  YES!!!

 

Reservations made (7:30 dinner on embarkation day on the Discovery), we’re finally all ready for Sunday!

 

Sorry - had to share that with somebody.  😁
 

If anyone receives a call from a Santa Clarita caller, 5-6 days before your voyage on the Discovery, please answer the call and say “yes”!  It truly is a wonderful experience.

Edited August 21, 2023 by WAvoyager

[palolake]

So happy for you. Do you remember if it said Santa Clarita on the screen?  I can just see me not taking the call!

[memoak]

13 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

I’ve written before about the wonderful dinner we had on our previous Mexico cruise.  My daughter declared it the “Best Dinner Ever”, and my wife and I were pretty close to agreeing (although we have a much bigger pool of dinners competing with it).

 

on our upcoming Alaska cruise, I was hoping we’d get an invite - especially since my 89 YO Mom is coming on this sailing with us.  I figured no chance though - no mini-suite this time, and with two cabins, what are the chances both cabins would get invited? 
 

Well, just got a call from a number in Santa Clarita.  No need to screen this call!  Jumped on immediately, and both cabins were invited!  YES!!!

 

Reservations made (7:30 dinner on embarkation day on the Discovery), we’re finally all ready for Sunday!

 

Sorry - had to share that with somebody.  😁
 

If anyone receives a call from a Santa Clarita caller, 5-6 days before your voyage on the Discovery, please answer the call and say “yes”!  It truly is a wonderful experience.

The embarkation night is usually the one that non suites get invited to since all full suites get free specialty dinners on that night

[cr8tiv1]

This will never happen to me since I won't be on a Royal Class ship anytime soon.  But...Is it still complimentary?  So happy for you.  Congratulations.

[Notalotofinfo]

Just received the call also. It is complimentary. 

[WAvoyager]

14 minutes ago, palolake said:

So happy for you. Do you remember if it said Santa Clarita on the screen?  I can just see me not taking the call!

Yes, the Caller ID info showed “Santa Clarita” both times we’ve gotten the call. The call was from 661-753-2050, which is one of the Princess Corporate HQ numbers.

[palolake]

7 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

Yes, the Caller ID info showed “Santa Clarita” both times we’ve gotten the call. The call was from 661-753-2050, which is one of the Princess Corporate HQ numbers.

Thanks so much. 

[WAvoyager]

35 minutes ago, memoak said:

The embarkation night is usually the one that non suites get invited to since all full suites get free specialty dinners on that night

We were given the choice of nights both times.  I think it mainly depends on when you’re called.  

Last time we were pretty low on the pecking order so there were only two time slots available.  This trip they said we could choose from any night.   
 

I guess all of the time spent in the casino last trip may have gotten me something (besides a big billing statement) after all!  🤣

[WAvoyager]

11 minutes ago, Notalotofinfo said:

Just received the call also. It is complimentary. 

Earlier I was wishing they were ready to start charging for this, so I could just make reservations and take my Mom.  This is definitely a nice surprise.  Hopefully it offsets her having to tender twice to go on excursions with us.  (She understandably dislikes tender disembarkations)

[DiRonT]

We got the call 6 or 8 weeks before our cruise date.  Had our pick if days and times.  It was fabulous.  Would do it again in a heartbeat- complimentary or not.  Are you in Discovery?  If so, Rafa should be your host and he is EXCELLENT.  Looking forward to our next 2 cruises so we can do this again.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, WAvoyager said:

I’ve written before about the wonderful dinner we had on our previous Mexico cruise.  My daughter declared it the “Best Dinner Ever”, and my wife and I were pretty close to agreeing (although we have a much bigger pool of dinners competing with it).

 

on our upcoming Alaska cruise, I was hoping we’d get an invite - especially since my 89 YO Mom is coming on this sailing with us.  I figured no chance though - no mini-suite this time, and with two cabins, what are the chances both cabins would get invited? 
 

Well, just got a call from a number in Santa Clarita.  No need to screen this call!  Jumped on immediately, and both cabins were invited!  YES!!!

 

Reservations made (7:30 dinner on embarkation day on the Discovery), we’re finally all ready for Sunday!

 

Sorry - had to share that with somebody.  😁
 

If anyone receives a call from a Santa Clarita caller, 5-6 days before your voyage on the Discovery, please answer the call and say “yes”!  It truly is a wonderful experience.

Congrats! A great treat for your Mom too.  We really enjoyed it on the Enchanted! Awesome.

[azgrandmax3]

First I have heard of this surprise call!!  Is it only regarding certain ships?  Is it tied to passengers who are on casino offers?

Thanks for info

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, DiRonT said:

We got the call 6 or 8 weeks before our cruise date.  Had our pick if days and times.  It was fabulous.  Would do it again in a heartbeat- complimentary or not.  Are you in Discovery?  If so, Rafa should be your host and he is EXCELLENT.  Looking forward to our next 2 cruises so we can do this again.

Yes, on the Discovery.  Last trip Rafa away from the ship, so a young lady was the hostess.  I’m horrible with names, so I’m probably wrong but I think it was Val(something)?  She did a great job.

 

I’ve not heard of them making the calls that far in advance.  I would think it’s more difficult doing it that early in case of last minute changes in people’s travel plans, but maybe that’s not a big issue.

 

Im definite going to get spoiled by this.  If/when they start charging, the only thing that will save my retirement fund is that they probably won’t change the program/menu for quite a while, so maybe it’ll be less enticing after the second or third time.

Edited August 21, 2023 by WAvoyager

[bigbenboys]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

The embarkation night is usually the one that non suites get invited to since all full suites get free specialty dinners on that night

When do the suites get informed of their night? On Discovery in Feb.

Edited August 21, 2023 by bigbenboys
added info

[WAvoyager]

10 minutes ago, azgrandmax3 said:

First I have heard of this surprise call!!  Is it only regarding certain ships?  Is it tied to passengers who are on casino offers?

Thanks for info

Right now I believe it’s only on the Enchanted and the Discovery.  Princess has indicated they plan on extending it to other ships.  It’s supposedly a big investment for technology, so  I can only think that they’ll take a while to figure out how to monetize it, and will have to schedule the updates in dry dock.

 

The common understanding is that they invite suite cabins, and casino guests to fill in empty seatings, but no official word on the details from PCL.

[WAvoyager]

15 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

When do the suites get informed of their night? On Discovery in Feb.

I’ve always heard/experienced the call coming the week before the cruise.  But DiRonT got his call a couple of months before.

 

You usually will be allowed to choose any night that there’s availability- so if you’re called early, you’ll have lots of options.  This trip we could choose any night of the cruise, the first night only one seating had space, the last night had both seatings available.  Last trip there was only one night available.  We got called on Monday for a Sunday sailing this time.  (Wednesday for a Saturday sailing last time)

Edited August 21, 2023 by WAvoyager

[minniegidget]

So this is not on the Sky yet. Congrats on the call.

[westcoastBC]

1 hour ago, bigbenboys said:

When do the suites get informed of their night? On Discovery in Feb.

We were called July 16 for our Oct 1 sailing on Discovery. We had the choice of nights. In a suite and not connected to the casino.

[bigbenboys]

1 hour ago, minniegidget said:

So this is not on the Sky yet. Congrats on the call.

360: An Extraordinary Experience is here. Surprise your taste buds with a fusion of master storytelling, world-class cuisine and visual entertainment available now on Discovery Princess® and Enchanted Princess®.

[startedwithamouse]

Our family loved it!  

 

They even have special drinks for the kids, who obviously don't drink alcohol. 

[TravelandLeisure85]

Do mini suites get an automatic invite, or is it just those in full suites?

[Thrak]

We're booked for the April Total Eclipse cruise. Our middle kid is booked with his wife and daughter for their first cruise ever. Hoping they get selected for this as they would love it. If we are selected and they are not we will try to have it switched to them as it's simply waaaaaaay too much food for us. It would be great for our son's family to score as first time cruisers. They are actually a good target demographic for the 360 Experience.

[trbarton]

I'm also on the April Total Eclipse cruise in April.  I have a group for the chef's table so perhaps we will get assigned to this.  It would be a great experience from what I have seen.

 

Tom

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

Our family loved it!  

 

They even have special drinks for the kids, who obviously don't drink alcohol. 

My daughter (6yo) took a sip of each drink, and immediately said “this is even better than the last one!”.  I was impressed that they did indeed have a curated non-alcoholic drink with each course.  I got to try each one and they were pretty well paired with the food progression.

 

Full disclosure - none of us were overwhelmed by the starting cocktails / mocktail at the waiting area, so it was easy for them to get better at that point!  😆

[WAvoyager]

31 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We're booked for the April Total Eclipse cruise. Our middle kid is booked with his wife and daughter for their first cruise ever. Hoping they get selected for this as they would love it. If we are selected and they are not we will try to have it switched to them as it's simply waaaaaaay too much food for us. It would be great for our son's family to score as first time cruisers. They are actually a good target demographic for the 360 Experience.

 

9 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I'm also on the April Total Eclipse cruise in April.  I have a group for the chef's table so perhaps we will get assigned to this.  It would be a great experience from what I have seen.

 

Tom

Im totally jealous! We already had too many vacations planned during the school year.  Couldn’t even consider the Eclipse Cruises.  I would’ve loved to have been signed up.