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Ultimate Balcony Dinner Questions

IndyKid

By IndyKid,
in Princess Cruises

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IndyKid

IndyKid

Posted
Posted

I had hoped to surprise my wife with an upgrade to a Club Class Mini-Suite but we're less than 48 hours from embarkation and I've not heard anything from Princess, it still says pending so I'm guessing I won't be getting it.

 

As a consolation prize so to speak, I'm thinking of ordering the Special Balcony Dinner. My understanding is that it's typically steak and lobster? Are there other options available? My wife is not a big lobster fan, and I've read a few comments recently concerning the lobster not being very good, is this still the case?

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has done this recently. And if you gave the servers a tip how much?

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reedprincess

reedprincess

Posted
Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, IndyKid said:

I had hoped to surprise my wife with an upgrade to a Club Class Mini-Suite but we're less than 48 hours from embarkation and I've not heard anything from Princess, it still says pending so I'm guessing I won't be getting it.

 

As a consolation prize so to speak, I'm thinking of ordering the Special Balcony Dinner. My understanding is that it's typically steak and lobster? Are there other options available? My wife is not a big lobster fan, and I've read a few comments recently concerning the lobster not being very good, is this still the case?

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has done this recently. And if you gave the servers a tip how much?

You can make substitutions, within reason.

You can change steak type, not have lobster, have 2 tails and no steak, trade for some type of chicken or salmon (probably).  I get a ribeye instead of filet, for instance - and hubs does a porterhouse and no lobster.. 

The lobster is the larger tails from Crown Grill. 

To be fair, the "free" lobster on my recent Caribbean Princess cruise was much larger and better than the same dish on Regal spring 2023.    And those my friends ordered from CG were substantial, to say the least.. 

 

It's an amazing meal and experience, enjoy!! 

Edited by reedprincess
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luvseaside "Live from...." Rare

luvseaside

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Did the UBD this summer (off the coast of Santorini) and it’s worth the $ and more.  I don’t eat shellfish so just got a filet.  Enjoyed the meal.  When you book, they’ll go over details of what you like (drinks) don’t like (won’t eat).  It’s worth it!

 

  Also, the personal service is amazing- we actually spent most of the meal talking to our server about his family/home.  But I’m sure he’d have left us alone had we let him! 😆 

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, IndyKid said:

I had hoped to surprise my wife with an upgrade to a Club Class Mini-Suite but we're less than 48 hours from embarkation and I've not heard anything from Princess, it still says pending so I'm guessing I won't be getting it.

 

As a consolation prize so to speak, I'm thinking of ordering the Special Balcony Dinner. My understanding is that it's typically steak and lobster? Are there other options available? My wife is not a big lobster fan, and I've read a few comments recently concerning the lobster not being very good, is this still the case?

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has done this recently. And if you gave the servers a tip how much?

We did it last fall and it was wonderful!  The lobster was delish! We ordered the combo of Lobster and Steak.  DH prefers the steak and I prefer the lobster....so we just switched. I had all lobster and he had both steaks.  As far as I know those are the only options. 
Yes, we did tip the servers. DH and I enjoyed it so much and they did an excellent job that he tipped each of the servers $40 each. 

Edited by suzyed
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IndyKid

IndyKid

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38 minutes ago, PurpleHays said:

We did it last week and you got either lobster or steak, not both. Otherwise, it was as it was before. It has gone up to $110.

We did it last evening here on the Caribbean Princess, it was AWESOME. We barely got through it all, saved the dessert for tonight. We each received 2 lobster tails plus a filet. $110 dollars as stated. 

IMG_20231215_181323.jpg

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Guest Snaxmuppet

Guest Snaxmuppet

Posted
Posted
On 12/9/2023 at 3:32 AM, suzyed said:

We did it last fall and it was wonderful!  The lobster was delish! We ordered the combo of Lobster and Steak.  DH prefers the steak and I prefer the lobster....so we just switched. I had all lobster and he had both steaks.  As far as I know those are the only options. 
Yes, we did tip the servers. DH and I enjoyed it so much and they did an excellent job that he tipped each of the servers $40 each. 

WOW! I wish we could tip like that. Not a criticism in any way. I am glad you felt it was worth such a sum.

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Guest Snaxmuppet

Guest Snaxmuppet

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1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Totally over the top. 

How much would you tip...? I am thinking $10 each. It is quite a personal service but already it is quite pricey IMO.

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MissP22

MissP22

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13 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

How much would you tip...? I am thinking $10 each. It is quite a personal service but already it is quite pricey IMO.

To me that sounds about what I would tip. 

I wonder if there's a 18% tip is already built in?

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Cruise Raider Great Review Rare

Cruise Raider

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, gratuity has been built into all these prices.  But could be added on top going forward with yet another price increase.


I believe an18% service charge might be added above the amount for any meals purchased outright as of a few weeks ago. Someone may give us confirmation on that. 


 

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IndyKid

IndyKid

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1 minute ago, Cruise Raider said:


I believe an18% service charge might be added above the amount for any meals purchased outright as of a few weeks ago. Someone may give us confirmation on that. 


 

I paid $110 this week. No gratuity was added.

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2MellowCruisers

2MellowCruisers

Posted
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We are taking our first cruise to Hawaii next month and after reading this thread, we want to add another first since the dinner sounds so wonderful.  I paid for the UBD online but I couldn't figure out how to pick a time.  I was hoping to have the dinner while in Kona since we don't have anything scheduled for this day and I was thinking it might be too cold while at sea.  Is the time something they assign once you are on the ship?

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IndyKid

IndyKid

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6 hours ago, 2MellowCruisers said:

We are taking our first cruise to Hawaii next month and after reading this thread, we want to add another first since the dinner sounds so wonderful.  I paid for the UBD online but I couldn't figure out how to pick a time.  I was hoping to have the dinner while in Kona since we don't have anything scheduled for this day and I was thinking it might be too cold while at sea.  Is the time something they assign once you are on the ship?

When you get aboard call room service, that's who I arranged it through. 

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