Price of Speciality Dining?

[FancyPants21]

I have read and read so many threads about speciality dining and yet I am still confused... clearly it doesn't take much in my case 🙂

 

My confusion is over how much it costs and whether the 18% is added if you have a package.

 

It used to be $39 with no added service charge but now I am not so certain.

 

I have seen posts that say a meal in CG is $39 no added service charge if you have a cruise package. I have seen $39 with added service charge and I have seen other prices too. Can someone help me out and say with certainty how much a meal in say, Crown Grill, is now please. I need to be put out of my misery!

[Shelly97060]

I just returned from Discovery Princess yesterday so my info is current. Prior to sailing I made reservations for Crown Grill and The Catch by Rudi. The cost was $39 per person, paid in advance, for each venue. We also made reservations for Sabatini which was $35 pp. The day after we dined in each of the venues the 18% gratuity was added to our folio (listed as cover charge). The 360 was booked on the ship at $149 pp and it included the gratuity. 
 

We had the Plus package. Plus covers 2 casual meals and associated gratuity at places like Alfredo’s and Salty Dog Gastropub but does not include any specialty dining so if you have Plus or Standard you will be charged the 18% gratuity.  The Premier package includes 2 Specialty dining meals. If you have Premier you would not be charged the 18% for the 2 included meals.
 

Hopefully this helps answer your question.

Edited April 15 by Shelly97060
Spelling correction

[Cruise Raider]

25 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

I just returned from Discovery Princess yesterday so my info is current. Prior to sailing I made reservations for Crown Grill and The Catch by Rudi. The cost was $39 per person, paid in advance, for each venue. We also made reservations for Sabatini which was $35 pp. The day after we dined in each of the venues the 18% gratuity was added to our folio (listed as cover charge). The 360 was booked on the ship at $149 pp and it included the gratuity. 
 

We had the Plus package. Plus covers 2 casual meals and associated gratuity at places like Alfredo’s and Salty Dog Gastropub but does not include any specialty dining so if you have Plus or Standard you will be charged the 18% gratuity.  The Premier package includes 2 Specialty dining meals. If you have Premier you would not be charged the 18% for the 2 included meals.
 

Hopefully this helps answer your question.

We were just on the Discovery, too and your information is exactly how it works.  

[FancyPants21]

That helps a lot... thank you 🙂 

[artvlay]

We are steady Royal Caribbean passengers and there are quite a number of times that staff offer discounts on dining. We are going on Island Princess next month and I'm wondering if princess also discounts if they have excess room.

[Iamcruzin]

22 minutes ago, artvlay said:

We are steady Royal Caribbean passengers and there are quite a number of times that staff offer discounts on dining. We are going on Island Princess next month and I'm wondering if princess also discounts if they have excess room.

I have never known Princess to discount specialty restaurants in the past and I started sailing with them in 1991 when Alfredo's was the only pay for venue. I have sailed on Royal Caribbean as well and know what you are referring to. They scope you out while you are shopping around and offer you a special price.It's usually for a slow booking night. I took them up on an offer for Jamies. They were offering 25% off and before the cruise I didn't hear great things about it but I was pleasantly surprised when we ate there. Service was great since we were the only table in the restaurant.  They offered us 50% for the last night sailing but we declined. No discount for Wonderland or the Steakhouse venue on that sailing but I bet those fill up. Wonderland was more about presentation and not about the food. That is a one and done place for us.

[artvlay]

20 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I have never known Princess to discount specialty restaurants in the past and I started sailing with them in 1991 when Alfredo's was the only pay for venue. I have sailed on Royal Caribbean as well and know what you are referring to. They scope you out while you are shopping around and offer you a special price.It's usually for a slow booking night. I took them up on an offer for Jamies. They were offering 25% off and before the cruise I didn't hear great things about it but I was pleasantly surprised when we ate there. Service was great since we were the only table in the restaurant.  They offered us 50% for the last night sailing but we declined. No discount for Wonderland or the Steakhouse venue on that sailing but I bet those fill up. Wonderland was more about presentation and not about the food. That is a one and done place for us.

Thanks for the good information. We didn't like Wonderland at all.  Yes it was unique in the presentation but that was it. We have met people who rave about Wonderland and go back numerous times. We don't get it.

[JimmyVWine]

The App shows for Sun Princess that ALL of the Specialty Dining locations are $45. 

• Butcher's Block by Dario
• Kai Sushi
• Crown Grill
• Sabatini's
• Umai Teppanyaki
• Umai Hot Pot
• The Catch By Rudi

And Spellbound will be $149.

[FancyPants21]

41 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

The App shows for Sun Princess that ALL of the Specialty Dining locations are $45. 

• Butcher's Block by Dario
• Kai Sushi
• Crown Grill
• Sabatini's
• Umai Teppanyaki
• Umai Hot Pot
• The Catch By Rudi

And Spellbound will be $149.

Is that plus 18% ?

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, FancyPants21 said:

Is that plus 18% ?

That is exclusive of tip.  18% would be added to that amount if you are paying out of pocket.

[MacMadame]

5 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

if you have Plus or Standard you will be charged the 18% gratuity.  The Premier package includes 2 Specialty dining meals. If you have Premier you would not be charged the 18% for the 2 included meals.

Are you not charged the 18% or is it covered? I had assumed it was covered by the package but would appear on the folio.

[hpeabody]

I am seeing this adding 18% to specialty dining as just another sneaky way Princess is trying to get more of our money   If the 18% was previously covered in the charge, then what they have done now is essentially raised the price without saying they are raising the price IMO / YMMV

Edited April 15 by hpeabody

[Shelly97060]

23 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

Are you not charged the 18% or is it covered? I had assumed it was covered by the package but would appear on the folio.

I haven’t had Premier ( only Plus) but given that the cover charges and associated gratuities for casual meals or speciality desserts covered by Plus don’t show on your folio as debits and credits I would imagine that Premier meals covered similarly wouldn’t show up in the folio.  
 

As a side note you can look in the app under packages and see what you have used. 

[artvlay]

40 minutes ago, hpeabody said:

I am seeing this adding 18% to specialty dining as just another sneaky way Princess is trying to get more of our money   If the 18% was previously covered in the charge, then what they have done now is essentially raised the price without saying they are raising the price IMO / YMMV

Let me ask all of you a question. When they take my daily tip money doesn't that cover my wait staff for dinner? If I eat in the MDR, the buffet or a specialty dining venue shouldn't that be covered?

Why then am I being forced to give an additional 18%?

It's **** that you get much better service!

[Mud_Shark]

Just to confirm, with premier there is no charge for spec dining.  Your folio does not even list the event so you do not have to pay out of pocket for the gratuity for your first 2 meals.

 

After that, you pay the same as everyone else.  We added a 3rd night, sabbatinis, and our folio was charged $41.30 per person, so it is the list price plus 18 percent.

[gerig]

7 hours ago, Shelly97060 said:

I just returned from Discovery Princess yesterday so my info is current. Prior to sailing I made reservations for Crown Grill and The Catch by Rudi. The cost was $39 per person, paid in advance, for each venue. We also made reservations for Sabatini which was $35 pp. The day after we dined in each of the venues the 18% gratuity was added to our folio (listed as cover charge). The 360 was booked on the ship at $149 pp and it included the gratuity. 
 

We had the Plus package. Plus covers 2 casual meals and associated gratuity at places like Alfredo’s and Salty Dog Gastropub but does not include any specialty dining so if you have Plus or Standard you will be charged the 18% gratuity.  The Premier package includes 2 Specialty dining meals. If you have Premier you would not be charged the 18% for the 2 included meals.
 

Hopefully this helps answer your question.

i normally tip cash but if they add it to my folio i will not

[Shelly97060]

26 minutes ago, gerig said:

i normally tip cash but if they add it to my folio i will not

The tip is automatically added to the folio so you would only give cash if you wanted to tip over the 18%.

Edited April 16 by Shelly97060

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We were just on the Discovery, too and your information is exactly how it works.  

I hope I don’t start anything but…. Do we still tip or does the 18% cover the tip? 🤦🏻‍♀️

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

That is exclusive of tip.  18% would be added to that amount if you are paying out of pocket.

So it now costs a total of $53.10 to go to the Crown Grill? Am I reading that right?

Edited April 16 by MsSoCalCruiser

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

So it now costs a total of $53.10 to go to the Crown Grill? Am I reading that right?

All I can tell you is what the app is showing for my booking options on Sun Princess. The fee for each venue is $45 and a gratuity is automatically added on top of that if you book. I was surprised to see Sabatini’s priced the same as Crown Grill. On all other ships there is a price difference between the two. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

20 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

All I can tell you is what the app is showing for my booking options on Sun Princess. The fee for each venue is $45 and a gratuity is automatically added on top of that if you book. I was surprised to see Sabatini’s priced the same as Crown Grill. On all other ships there is a price difference between the two. 

Thank you. I used to go once or twice each cruise but that may end soon. 

[FancyPants21]

4 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I hope I don’t start anything but…. Do we still tip or does the 18% cover the tip? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Tipping extra is always optional. Now they are adding 18% I will not be adding any extra unless the service was truly exceptional.

[Cruise Raider]

12 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I hope I don’t start anything but…. Do we still tip or does the 18% cover the tip? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I would not tip extra on top of the 18%, as I believe that is sufficient.  I also don’t tip extra in the spa when they have added the 18% onto my bill.  

[Cruise Raider]

11 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

So it now costs a total of $53.10 to go to the Crown Grill? Am I reading that right?

It should come to $46 pp total if the base price, which is what I’ve seen, is $39.  Although, if they raise the price to $45, which it seems they have done on the Sun Princess, then yes, it is $53 pp.  
 

[FancyPants21]

46 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

It should come to $46 pp total if the base price, which is what I’ve seen, is $39.  Although, if they raise the price to $45, which it seems they have done on the Sun Princess, then yes, it is $53 pp.  
 

At $53 instead of what it was at $39 I won't be having speciality dining at all. Another nail in the coffin for Princess IMO.