Help me - I am so mad - Carribbean Princess

[Cruise Raider]

On 10/10/2024 at 7:25 PM, newcruiserny said:

Is there any possibility that I will go on the ship and never eat any specialty dining?  I would be crushed as that is the only reason I purchased Princess Premier

Just of note, we were just on a cruise a couple of days ago where there was very little availability on the app ahead of time and we ate at a specialty restaurant very night except for the one time we chose not to because we went out for a big lunch with some friends in port.  If we wished to eat on the ship, we could have.  Most of the times, we didn’t even make a reservation but just walked in and were seated without any problem. 
Don’t be mad about something that is not under your control.  

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, 1KBAP said:

I see how many reserved seats there are in the theater.  If 50% of the passengers had a Premier Package, they would have to set aside half the theater as reserved seating.  It's maybe 10% from my last three cruises--if that.

I don’t think they reserve a seat at each show for every passenger with a premier package. I don’t believe that’s how it works.

[1KBAP]

9 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I don’t think they reserve a seat at each show for every passenger with a premier package. I don’t believe that’s how it works.

They seem to hold more seats then there are Premier Package holders.  I have zero problems getting a seat 10-15 minutes before showtime.  5-minutes before, they release the leftover seats to everyone and they fill them.

 

I have yet to see anyone on a Premier Package unable to get a seat before the turnover time.

 

It is not conceivable that 50% buy a Premier Package. 

[cr8tiv1]

It’s late and I am on my iPad….but for the sake of argument…

 

You are on a Grand Class ship with 3400 passengers.  If the numbers are correct, that would mean that 1700 passengers held Princess Premier beverage packages.

 

The theater has a capacity of about 1000 passengers ((twice a night).  Princess would need to place blue reserve covers on at least 500 seats per show to cover 2/3s of those with packages that would want to see a production show.  
 

I have never seen more than 6 rows in one section reserved.  My guesstimate  would be reserve seating for maybe 200 seats.  And of those 200 seats, there are always 20% (40 seats) available 5 minutes before show time.  
 

I am taking in to account that some package holders may not do the theater.  It is also my guess that the majority of holders are not elite passengers.  

 

[Retired-N-Happy]

7 hours ago, 1KBAP said:

 

I have yet to see anyone on a Premier Package unable to get a seat before the turnover time.

For us, the question is whether or not there are any HC seats available in the Premier section or not.  My DW is in a scooter and from what I saw on a YouTube video there are substantially less HC seats in general compared to the Royal Class ships we've been on.

[555]

On 10/10/2024 at 10:25 PM, newcruiserny said:

Is there any possibility that I will go on the ship and never eat any specialty dining?  I would be crushed as that is the only reason I purchased Princess Premier

We had Premier at on time in anticipation of dining on the Sun during our next cruise but we weren't able to get one reservation for specialty dining. Like yourself, we only bought in because of the dining feature and I'm not willing to risk waiting until we on the ship & told nothing is available. We cancelled. 

[memoak]

52 minutes ago, 555 said:

We had Premier at on time in anticipation of dining on the Sun during our next cruise but we weren't able to get one reservation for specialty dining. Like yourself, we only bought in because of the dining feature and I'm not willing to risk waiting until we on the ship & told nothing is available. We cancelled. 

Just off the Majestic   Did not book anything in advance yet we we able to eat 4 out of 11 days in specialty venues everyone booked the morning of the evening we wanted to eat 

[1KBAP]

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

For us, the question is whether or not there are any HC seats available in the Premier section or not.  My DW is in a scooter and from what I saw on a YouTube video there are substantially less HC seats in general compared to the Royal Class ships we've been on.

That has nothing to do with the Premier Package or reserved seating.

[Retired-N-Happy]

34 minutes ago, 1KBAP said:

That has nothing to do with the Premier Package or reserved seating.

What are you talking about?  We will be purchasing Premier once we get onboard and applying some OBC towards it.  One of the inclusions of the Premier package is a reserved section.  I was wondering whether or not there were any HC seats in this reserved section or not.  If there aren't, it's just a blatant omission on the part of the powers that be and it would just add to the litany of mistakes made on the Sun.

Edited October 13 by Retired-N-Happy

[Cruise Raider]

10 hours ago, 1KBAP said:

They seem to hold more seats then there are Premier Package holders.  I have zero problems getting a seat 10-15 minutes before showtime.  5-minutes before, they release the leftover seats to everyone and they fill them.

 

I have yet to see anyone on a Premier Package unable to get a seat before the turnover time.

 

It is not conceivable that 50% buy a Premier Package. 

Spot on!  It’s not even close to 50% on most cruises, especially if the cruise is 10 days or over.  On cruises out of San Francisco, we’ve heard crew members mention that they would be lucky to get 30% of the passengers get any package, much less the premier package.  

[Cruise Raider]

11 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

What are you talking about?  We will be purchasing Premier once we get onboard and applying some OBC towards it.  One of the inclusions of the Premier package is a reserved section.  I was wondering whether or not there were any HC seats in this reserved section or not.  If there aren't, it's just a blatant omission on the part of the powers that be and it would just add to the litany of mistakes made on the Sun.

There are quite a few accessible seats in the theater, both in the reserved section and some just adjacent to it.  The reserved seats for premier are on the bottom level  somewhere between rows 8-10 on the port side, if my memory serves me right.  There are accessible seats on the center aisle right next to the reserved seats along with more in the adjacent seats at the ends of each aisle with room to park a wheelchair or scooter.  I’ve never ever seen the accessible seats filled, even when it seems like there are a lot of mobility challenged people on our cruises.  
However, I’ve not yet sailed on the Sun but this is not an issue that I’ve ever seen Princess dismiss.  
 

[1KBAP]

28 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

What are you talking about?  We will be purchasing Premier once we get onboard and applying some OBC towards it.  One of the inclusions of the Premier package is a reserved section.  I was wondering whether or not there were any HC seats in this reserved section or not.  If there aren't, it's just a blatant omission on the part of the powers that be and it would just add to the litany of mistakes made on the Sun.

HC?  High capacity? 

 

Do you assume that everyone knows every little abbreviation you want to use?

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, 1KBAP said:

HC?  High capacity? 

 

Do you assume that everyone knows every little abbreviation you want to use?

I figure it means handicap, but I can understand your point.

Edited October 13 by d9704011

[Iamcruzin]

There was an entire thread on this topic so I'm not surprised of the out come booking restaurants. What I am surprised about is the amount of people willing to pay $90 a day extra for lack luster restaurants especially on the Grand Class ships.  $60 a day is perfect for us with just the drink package, wifi and gratuity. I won't even use the other fluff items that come with it.

[memoak]

29 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

There was an entire thread on this topic so I'm not surprised of the out come booking restaurants. What I am surprised about is the amount of people willing to pay $90 a day extra for lack luster restaurants especially on the Grand Class ships.  $60 a day is perfect for us with just the drink package, wifi and gratuity. I won't even use the other fluff items that come with it.

Sabatini’s and Crown Grill are our 2 favorite specialty venues. Our meal 2 weeks ago in the Catch was so bad they refunded our cover charge. That being said we only use these venues 2 times a week so we are better off saving $30 per day per person and keeping the plus package and pay for 1 or 2 extras

Edited October 13 by memoak

[Retired-N-Happy]

51 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

There are quite a few accessible seats in the theater, both in the reserved section and some just adjacent to it. 

👍👍👍

[Retired-N-Happy]

50 minutes ago, 1KBAP said:

HC?  High capacity? 

 

Do you assume that everyone knows every little abbreviation you want to use?

LOL. (Laugh out loud) Hopefully you or your SO (significant other) will never have to sit in the HC section.  

 

The only abbreviation that people could be confused with would be TA, since it could be travel agent or trans Atlantic.  But HC is a standard abbreviation that most posters should know stands for handicapped.

[Retired-N-Happy]

52 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

There was an entire thread on this topic so I'm not surprised of the out come booking restaurants. What I am surprised about is the amount of people willing to pay $90 a day extra for lack luster restaurants especially on the Grand Class ships.  $60 a day is perfect for us with just the drink package, wifi and gratuity. I won't even use the other fluff items that come with it.

Part of the appeal of the Premier package on the Sphere Class ships would be the various wines and mixed drinks that are between 16-20 that would be covered with Premier and cost extra with Plus.

[1KBAP]

10 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

LOL. (Laugh out loud) Hopefully you or your SO (significant other) will never have to sit in the HC section.  

 

The only abbreviation that people could be confused with would be TA, since it could be travel agent or trans Atlantic.  But HC is a standard abbreviation that most posters should know stands for handicapped.

I write in the English language and don't assume that others will know the meaning of non-standard abbreviations.  "HC" is not a standard abbreviation in common usage in the English language.

[1KBAP]

9 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Part of the appeal of the Premier package on the Sphere Class ships would be the various wines and mixed drinks that are between 16-20 that would be covered with Premier and cost extra with Plus.

I agree.  The wines on the Plus Package are a no-name swill.  The Premier Package wines are actually pretty good.  I no longer have to buy a bottle of wine with dinner.  That alone makes the package worthwhile to me.

[555]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

Just off the Majestic   Did not book anything in advance yet we we able to eat 4 out of 11 days in specialty venues everyone booked the morning of the evening we wanted to eat 

That's great, but I want a guarantee that if I book the Premier package I'll be assured I would be eating in a Specialty restaurant every night. 

Otherwise, I just don't see any advantage of the Premier package at all. ie- unlimited alcohol, desserts & reserved seating are all a big waste for us.

[JamieLogical]

6 minutes ago, 555 said:

That's great, but I want a guarantee that if I book the Premier package I'll be assured I would be eating in a Specialty restaurant every night. 

Otherwise, I just don't see any advantage of the Premier package at all. ie- unlimited alcohol, desserts & reserved seating are all a big waste for us.

 

Well, if you book Premier far enough in advance, then that shouldn't be an issue, but if the unlimited specialty dining is your only reason for booking Premier and you book close to sailing, then I wouldn't bother with Premier if I were you.

 

My husband and I are booked on the Enchanted Princess with Premier for a 14-day in December, 2025. We could have booked specialty dinners for every single night, but that seems like it would be pretty repetitive. We ended up booking specialty dining for 9 nights. That leaves us some room for MDR and casual dining venues. With the new Premier, if you book in advance online, there is a $10/person charge if you cancel less than 24 hours before your reservation, so I didn't want to book too many dinners and risk getting charged if we end up wanting to do something different.

[555]

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Well, if you book Premier far enough in advance, then that shouldn't be an issue, but if the unlimited specialty dining is your only reason for booking Premier and you book close to sailing, then I wouldn't bother with Premier if I were you.

 

My husband and I are booked on the Enchanted Princess with Premier for a 14-day in December, 2025. We could have booked specialty dinners for every single night, but that seems like it would be pretty repetitive. We ended up booking specialty dining for 9 nights. That leaves us some room for MDR and casual dining venues. With the new Premier, if you book in advance online, there is a $10/person charge if you cancel less than 24 hours before your reservation, so I didn't want to book too many dinners and risk getting charged if we end up wanting to do something different.

I have been patiently trying to book even the regular restaurants since late Feb on the Sun without any success. When the announced the new Premier package I though that would solve my booking problem, but no luck. The only restaurant they were willing to reserve for me was the Hot Pot. 

I don't think anyone wants it.

I still can't reserve a regular restaurant for any night.

(nor can they)

[Iamcruzin]

On 10/11/2024 at 11:33 AM, Hlitner said:

Many here do not want to admit the problem, but yes, it is possible that you will not be able to get a reservation, once aboard.   If you expand your horizons and are willing to dine late (near closing) it does help.  We have talked about this on other posts.  HAL has been including more and more alternative dining in their packages.  With the Premiere Package now having no limits, most folks who book that package will be seeking lots of alternative dining reservations.  Princess keeps expanding the potential bookers but does not expand the dining venues.  

 

In December of 2023, we spent 2 weeks on the Sky Princess. where we had the Premiere Package.  This was still at a time when there was a 2 free meal limit, but we also had over $1000 of non-refundable OBC.  During those two weeks, it was very difficult to get any reservation in Rudi's and the Crown Grill (Sabatini's was less of a problem).  One evening, while having a drink at the bar just outside the Crown Grill, the Maitre'd chatted with us while we were enjoying a drink.  We complained that it had been impossible to get a reservation (at any time).  He told us to stick around until late, and he would squeeze us in.  This finally happened around 8:50 and we were not finished with dinner until around 10:30!  

 

I mention this, because "walk-ups" are possible in any of the venues.  It never hurts to go to the host/hostess and ask if there is any chance of getting a table.  At worst they will say no (this happened to us many times) but sometimes you can get lucky.  

 

As much as we enjoy Princess (we have literally spent years on their ships) we do think there are some major issues with dining and the main show room.  Princess makes money by allotting more space to cabins, and less to public rooms.  The main theaters are too small for the number of passengers (this seems to be an even bigger problem on the new Sun Princess) and the alternative restaurants were planned at a time when Princess could exercise some control (over bookings) by how they priced the venues.  But now, with the Premium package and unlimited dining privileges, the only real control is the number of available reservations.  

 

Princess does have a nasty habit of enticing folks with packages and venues, but not wanting to talk about availability,   Consider the Sanctuary where one has to be lucky to get reservations.  If you do not have some kind of priority boarding, you are likely to find the Sanctuary "sold out."  On the new Sun Princess they are selling several hundred "Sanctuary" cabins which get folks access to the larger Sanctuary.  But there are obvously not enough loungers for everyone, so apparently it will be first come-first serve on a daily basis.  I can just imagine folks rushing up there an hour before opening (to wait in line), getting assigned loungers, and then going ashore for the day (while their reserved lounger is empty).  Meanwhile, others who are still aboard and slept-in until 9, will be out of luck!  Every day!  Folks will have paid thousands of extra dollars for those Sanctuary cabins, but then they will have to fight to get a seat!  

 

There is a reason why many of us call lines like Princess "mass market."  They cater to the "masses" but many of the spaces do not have sufficient size for those same "masses."

 

Hank

This is spot on.

[Iamcruzin]

On 10/11/2024 at 12:09 PM, newcruiserny said:

 

Princess Premier package was literally more then what I paid for my cruise fare.

Well that was a big red flag.