Waitlist Dining Question on Golden

[mtjlr]

I am sure this has been discussed before, but hope someone can give me information on any experience with dining waitlists and the success of moving up on the waitlist to traditional. We are going on the Golden 1/14/06 with our adult children. A couple of them booked some time after we did, and so half our our group is confirmed for early seating and the other half waitlisted. As of today they are about 50 and 60 on the waitlist. How good is their chance to move up? To be together, we will go with Personal Choice dining if we have to, but would really like to be together for traditional.

 

Any experiences or input on this would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[Phaedra_11]

I have two stories to tell about being on the Golden waitlists.

Our last cruise we booked 3.5 weeks before and were placed at waitlist #105. We did not get traditional seating.

 

This cruise, we booked about 8 months ago, and we were at waitlist 240 when we booked. About one week after final payment, we got traditional seating.

You most likely will get traditional :)

Have a great cruise!

[Coral]

Make sure your travel agent has everyone's bookings linked together.

 

I think the waitlisted people will clear. We were #450 when we booked a cruise at final payment time. We moved up 200 spots before we sailed last week (but didn't clear).

 

If you do not clear - go see the Matride/head waiter on the frist day of the cruise - the time will be in the Princess Patter. They usually have a table setup for dining inquiries the first afternoon.

[mtjlr]

Thanks for both replies. Our TA does have our bookings linked together, so I am hoping this may help.

 

It seems as though many cruisers still prefer traditional to PC.

 

Coral, were you able to make a change when you got on board in the 250s on the waitlist, or did you stay with PC? If so, how did it work out for you?

 

Thanks again.

 

Mary

[Coral]

 

Coral, were you able to make a change when you got on board in the 250s on the waitlist, or did you stay with PC? If so, how did it work out for you?

 

Thanks again.

 

Mary

 

Hi Mary,

 

Complicated answer. I asked to be put on the waitlist on Saturday (first day of cruise) and they indicated my number was high and put me on the list and told me to do PC dining the first night and I would get something from the Matride the following day. I did get a table and what they did was put me in the PC dining room at the same time with the same table and same people every night. Unforunatley, one of the couples at our table got really drunk right in front of us during the 1.5 hour dinner....So, the following morning, I said something to the head waiter in the dining room after breakfast. He told me to show up at Traditional dining that night and "he would take care of me". And he did. We got a great table in Traditional dining for the rest of the cruise.

 

On another cruise last December - I also had a high number and didn't clear. I stood in line and was immediately switched to Traditional dining and my high number didn't seem to matter.

 

All I can say is give it a try. The day we showed up at Traditional dining, we were sat with 2 other couples who were also "PC drop outs" and it was a great table.

 

Personally, I think service is better in Traditional - just my opinion...

 

Theresa

[imacruizer]

Mary, we had a similar situation on a recent cruise on the Diamond. We were traveling with three other couples. We and two of the couples booked the cruise early and were confirmed late traditional dining. The other couple only booked one week before the cruise. Of course, they were waitlisted. However, when we all got our dining assignments as we boarded, the last couple was assigned to our table. So perhaps it helps if some of the group are confirmed for traditional dining. The other very important key is to make sure all the booking numbers are linked together. Best of luck with your family group. Have a wonderful cruise.

[Cessna140]

My sister and I had our cruise in February booked by the same travel agent on the same day. We are waitlisted at #22 and she is confirmed for first seating. Go figure!!

[mtjlr]

Thanks for all the replies. The same thing with the waitlist happened to 2 of our kids. They booked at aboutthe same time and they are about 20 spots apart on the wait list. We are hopeful this will all work out in the end. We do like traditional dining for a lot of reasons, so are hoping they will move up in the next couple of months. I told them to keep checking to keep track of it. Thanks for the advice about seeing the maitre de on boarding if they don't clear before then.

 

Thanks again!!

 

Mary