Speciality desserts on Princess Plus - any substitutions?

[lorri111]

The pics I have seen of the speciality desserts look a bit much - are you able to substitute anything else for them? I seem to recall someone mentioned gelato- is this true of all ships and where is the gelato bar (Royal specifically).

[beltsbear]

The desserts are a bit much.  This varies ship by ship but on the royal princess they would not just give me the gelato I wanted which was cheaper and easier.  So first time I ordered the big Sundae which is free for me with the gelato flavor I wanted.  The second time I ordered the big sundae without two of its features, no brownies and no coating the glass in chocolate.  They made it as asked. The third time i deleted everything but the gelato but they still put brownies and whipped cream in.  I was on princess premier.  The next time (in two months) , I will further experiment with the Jack Nickelson method of just getting gelato. 

[negn]

Got one recently.  I removed the cookie, mini cupcake and large lollipop.  Ended up with just an average sundae.  One line for the sundaes and cones.  People wanting just a cone were irritated that they had to wait while my special dessert was assembled

[555]

1 minute ago, negn said:

Got one recently.  I removed the cookie, mini cupcake and large lollipop.  Ended up with just an average sundae.  One line for the sundaes and cones.  People wanting just a cone were irritated that they had to wait while my special dessert was assembled

Can you blame them?

[cynbar]

Did I read somewhere that slices of fancy cakes are included? Were they at the International Cafe? Or is this just something I imagined (or hoped for, since one of those elaborate sundaes would probably be enough for the whole cruise) ?

[skynight]

6 minutes ago, cynbar said:

Did I read somewhere that slices of fancy cakes are included? Were they at the International Cafe? Or is this just something I imagined (or hoped for, since one of those elaborate sundaes would probably be enough for the whole cruise) ?

On the Ruby I saw displays at the International Cafe. There were maybe 3 different cakes. You ordered from the I.C. attendant. The cake was delivered from what appeared to be the MDR  kitchen by another waiter. I don't know if you can order elsewhere. Maybe via Ocean Now?   

[Essex Racer]

There are 3 lovely 6 tier sponge cakes available at IC which are included in plus and premier - one portion easily feeds 2 people

[Eno]

Great idea, I'll order one and ask them to hold the candy, hold the brownie, hold the whipped cream, hold the sprinkles ..... and get gelato.  

[555]

5 minutes ago, Eno said:

Great idea, I'll order one and ask them to hold the candy, hold the brownie, hold the whipped cream, hold the sprinkles ..... and get gelato.  

Without all the fluff, they should give people a discount. 😄

[jean-lynd]

6 hours ago, cynbar said:

Did I read somewhere that slices of fancy cakes are included? Were they at the International Cafe? Or is this just something I imagined (or hoped for, since one of those elaborate sundaes would probably be enough for the whole cruise) ?

 

[DallasGuy75219]

7 hours ago, 555 said:

Can you blame them?

They should be irritated with Princess, not OP, on the ships where they make you order the full dessert instead of just gelato or a simple sundae if you have the Plus or Premium package.  Princess is just wasting time, money, and food making a monstrosity of a dessert that most people apparently don't want, when they'll ultimately throw away all the 'extra' ingredients.

[2MellowCruisers]

On the Discovery last year we could substitute one of the other menu items for the specialty but this month on the Discovery they did not allow it.  I tried a specialty desert for the first time and just asked them to hold off on all the candy on the version I ordered.  They had no problem with that.  My DH does enjoy these specialty deserts and may get one or two a cruise but he was disappointed in how they made his on the Discovery vs how it was made on the Crown.  I would say that you can ask and see if they will substitute as it seems that this can vary from ship to ship or even cruise to cruise.

 

On the Discovery the gelato was on Deck 5 and I believe it is the same on the Royal.

[lorri111]

4 hours ago, jean-lynd said:

 

 

Yum! Does anyone know if this speciality cake option at IC is available on all ships?

[Cdude]

On Sun, we had to go all the way up to the outdoor pool deck for the premo sundae and it was not such a nice ambiance or experience on a cool night sailing the Med in March. We made it a point to try it once. Totally overrated IMHO. BTW, had I not researched it prior, I would have had no idea where and what was included as a “premium” dessert in our package. Princess doesn’t do a good job communicating, or is that by design?

 

As an aside, I still have erroneous charges to contend with and my cruise ended on 3/19. I guess when I have “free” time this will be a project for me. Never sailing Princess again.

[Thrak]

8 minutes ago, Cdude said:

As an aside, I still have erroneous charges to contend with and my cruise ended on 3/19. I guess when I have “free” time this will be a project for me. Never sailing Princess again

 

One should keep track of their account while onboard. It's extremely easy to do with the app. I check every day and it takes almost no time at all. Getting an erroneous charge fixed while onboard is simple. Doing it once one has disembarked could be problematic.

[Cdude]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

One should keep track of their account while onboard. It's extremely easy to do with the app. I check every day and it takes almost no time at all. Getting an erroneous charge fixed while onboard is simple. Doing it once one has disembarked could be problematic.

Yeah, I know. I had multiple chats via the app where I was assured it would be resolved and then I went and spoke to someone at Guest Services the day prior to disembarkation. Then on disembarkation day I started getting charged for drinks even though I had the package and it was good until 10 AM after I left the ship. The nice service member at IC knew me and was confused why I was being charged but assured me it would be taken care of. Then, I never received my folio which was supposed to be emailed to me and after you leave the app doesn’t let you see your bill. Based on what my credit card was charged, I know there are still errors. Anyone sailing Princess better watch their folio closely, but I did and I still have an issue on my hands so…

[smithmlmx]

I asked for the "fancy cakes" a few times on the Enchanted in Feb as desert in the MD. Waiter in MD did not know what I wanted. Maitre d"t came over and arranged it. Had Black Forest cake one night and Red velvet cake. 

[Cdude]

Just to clarify, we had pre booked the drink package and on embarkation day we started getting charged on drink one. We had it fixed but racked up a bunch of drinks already and they never took them off after updating our account to reflect the drink package. This is why I had made multiple attempts throughout my cruise to get it fixed. Honestly, it was annoying and felt like a job while trying to vacation. After the cruise, I recalled having folio issues on all four prior sailings with Princess and that had been one of the reasons I stopped sailing with them over 15 years ago. It all came back to me. I have sailed with NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and never had one accounting issue with them. Suffice it to say, my next sailing is booked on RCCL SOTS and the one after that on Celebrity Apex.

[NavyVeteran]

1 hour ago, lorri111 said:

 

Yum! Does anyone know if this speciality cake option at IC is available on all ships?

It was available last October on the Caribbean Princess. The Black Forest Cake was delicious, but I can't imagine eating more than two per day - even with the Premier package.

[lorri111]

1 hour ago, NavyVeteran said:

It was available last October on the Caribbean Princess. The Black Forest Cake was delicious, but I can't imagine eating more than two per day - even with the Premier package.

No, but one will do very nicely, thank you 🙂

 

[Knickearth]

On 3/30/2024 at 7:00 PM, beltsbear said:

The desserts are a bit much.  This varies ship by ship but on the royal princess they would not just give me the gelato I wanted which was cheaper and easier.  So first time I ordered the big Sundae which is free for me with the gelato flavor I wanted.  The second time I ordered the big sundae without two of its features, no brownies and no coating the glass in chocolate.  They made it as asked. The third time i deleted everything but the gelato but they still put brownies and whipped cream in.  I was on princess premier.  The next time (in two months) , I will further experiment with the Jack Nickelson method of just getting gelato. 

I get a kick explaining that if I was 8 years old they would look irresistible.  Otherwise as an adult they do nothing for me.

[Retired-N-Happy]

3 hours ago, Cdude said:

 

As an aside, I still have erroneous charges to contend with and my cruise ended on 3/19. I guess when I have “free” time this will be a project for me. Never sailing Princess again.

Should have handled the problem while still on board.  Good luck getting it resolved now that the cruise is in your rear view mirror just like your future Princess sailings.

[Retired-N-Happy]

15 minutes ago, Knickearth said:

I get a kick explaining that if I was 8 years old they would look irresistible.  Otherwise as an adult they do nothing for me.

I would like to have an Affagato instead.  A nice scoop of vanilla or tiramisu gelato floating in a shot of espresso.

[PATRLR]

20 hours ago, negn said:

I removed the cookie, mini cupcake and large lollipop.  Ended up with just an average sundae.  One line for the sundaes and cones.   People wanting just a cone were irritated that they had to wait while my special dessert was assembled

20 hours ago, 555 said:

Can you blame them?

I don't understand.  Does it take more time for them to add fewer items to the dessert?  What am I missing?  (Please don't tell me these sundaes are pre-made)

[Cdude]

5 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Should have handled the problem while still on board.  Good luck getting it resolved now that the cruise is in your rear view mirror just like your future Princess sailings.

As I said, multiple attempts while ON board and they didn’t fix as promised each time. Then they started charging me within minutes of kicking me off. Good luck to you on your Princess sailing. I hope you don’t get the Princess regal treatment.