Dine My Way - new MedallionClass enhancement

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

In the past, as an ATD, one was allocated a specific dining room for the duration of the cruise.

As it stands now, if I just want to take pot luck, and turn up without a reservation, can I just go to whichever dining room takes my fancy?

I would check the PATTER.   They will want walk-ups at one location (I should think) and then send over-flow to another DR if situation warrants.  It isn't clear what is happening going forward since DMW seems ot be randomly assigning DR/tables and many cruises are missing a DR.  But, used to be that Deck 5 mid-ship was AT all night and Deck 6 mid-ship was AT after Early TD (or could take some early AT if not filled with Early TD.  It was/is easy to send over-flow up/downstairs if space available.  By using one location, it makes it fair to handle first-come-first-served.  But that is my thinking and may not be the MD's thinking and the MD manages all this on board.  Therefore, experiences may vary to some degree.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Steelers36
Patter - not Personalizer. DOH!

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

I would check the PATTER.   They will want walk-ups at one location (I should think) and then send over-flow to another DR if situation warrants.  It isn't clear what is happening going forward since DMW seems ot be randomly assigning DR/tables and many cruises are missing a DR.  But, used to be that Deck 5 mid-ship was AT all night and Deck 6 mid-ship was AT after Early TD (or could take some early AT if not filled with Early TD.  It was/is easy to send over-flow up/downstairs if space available.  By using one location, it makes it fair to handle first-come-first-served.  But that is my thinking and may not be the MD's thinking and the MD manages all this on board.  Therefore, experiences may vary to some degree.

Thanks for your reply.

I have modified my original post, as I re-read the faq's, which made it clear that "walk ins"  were possible, but the actual process of how they would be handled was not made clear. Your idea seems eminently sensible.

The more I read about DMW,  the less benefits I see for the vast majority of passengers.  Princess are moving from a system that was simple, and worked pretty well, to one that is inherently complicated,  with the only advantages being for Princess. 

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for your reply.

I have modified my original post, as I re-read the faq's, which made it clear that "walk ins"  were possible, but the actual process of how they would be handled was not made clear. Your idea seems eminently sensible.

The more I read about DMW,  the less benefits I see for the vast majority of passengers.  Princess are moving from a system that was simple, and worked pretty well, to one that is inherently complicated,  with the only advantages being for Princess. 

I am not seeing any great advantages for Princess.  I would like to ask a couple of MD's I know casually what they think of this new DMW and if it makes their jobs harder or easier.  (I don't imagine they could answer me today if I could talk to a MD right now as they have not dealt with it yet).

 

I cannot say I disagree with less benefit for passengers.  I know I am a broken record, but one of the worst failings of DMW is not allowing passengers to select desired table-size, along with dining party before seeing available times and DR/table combos.

[MissP22]

17 hours ago, skynight said:

Seems to me you try to reserve another time for that day from what would probably be a reduced amount of selections. You could also just be a no show and go to the buffet, order something in the app while you sit by one of the poolside tables, or grab one of the other options. According to the video you could also just show up and ask to be seated. While just show up looks good on the video, probability exist that limited if any tables would be available. 

So as I see it, nothing has really changed all that much except the ability to utilize the app for making reservations. 

If we can use our newer cell phones, (old ones never worked for anything) I'll be happy.

[skynight]

9 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Maybe the DMW "improvements" are a way to get more people to book Club Class.

Club class capacity is fixed by the number of cabins assigned to club class. Princess could expand the cabin count if they wish and water down the experience.

Edited July 2, 2021 by skynight

[skynight]

7 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

The more I read about DMW,  the less benefits I see for the vast majority of passengers.  Princess are moving from a system that was simple, and worked pretty well, to one that is inherently complicated,  with the only advantages being for Princess. 

Mostly agree. I do think the maitre'd will be struggling with the system, disadvantage to both Princess and the customer. I don't think the ability to order meals delivered anywhere on the ship will have a big impact on evening DR demand. There could be more impact during daytime meals.

[Steelers36]

34 minutes ago, skynight said:

ability to order meals delivered anywhere on the ship

I think we shall have to see if this is another sky-high promise that will crash to the ground.  It isn't clear that entire dinner menu will be available.  Could be simple casual meal type items.

[skynight]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I think we shall have to see if this is another sky-high promise that will crash to the ground.  It isn't clear that entire dinner menu will be available.  Could be simple casual meal type items.

I remember reading that it will be some select menu items. My guess, just a guess, is that there will be some items available in the app that will have a cost. Items such as those from the grill could be popular delivered items during the day. Whatever is delivered Princess has the problem of used plates with partially consumed food all over the deck. 

[capriccio]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

In the past, as an ATD, one was allocated a specific dining room for the duration of the cruise.

As it stands now, it appears that if I want to just turn up, I'll have to make a tour of all the MDRs on the ship, to find which one has any availability. 

That isn't how I remember it.  I actually have an old cruise card sitting around and checked.  On the card in the bottom left hand corner are two lines:

 

Dining Room:  Anytime Dining

Time:  Anytime        Table:  Any

 

So you were lucky on your cruises if you never had to find which one had availability or, more usual, the shortest line.

[wowzz]

20 minutes ago, capriccio said:

That isn't how I remember it.  I actually have an old cruise card sitting around and checked.  On the card in the bottom left hand corner are two lines:

 

Dining Room:  Anytime Dining

Time:  Anytime        Table:  Any

 

So you were lucky on your cruises if you never had to find which one had availability or, more usual, the shortest line.

You may well be right. Our last Princess Cruise was back in 2016, so my memory may be letting me down [more than likely!]. I seem to recall that we normally used the same MDR every night, but that may well have been because of a personal preference, rather than official guidance.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

So as I see it, nothing has really changed all that much except the ability to utilize the app for making reservations. 

If we can use our newer cell phones, (old ones never worked for anything) I'll be happy.

The big change, as I see it, is that Princess are really pushing the reservation process, and trying as much as possible to dissuade people from just turning up when they want to.

We will see how ATD works once cruising is up and running again.

[capriccio]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

You may well be right. Our last Princess Cruise was back in 2016, so my memory may be letting me down [more than likely!].

Totally understandable. Our last Princess cruise was June 2019 and I still had to go check the cruise card to confirm what I thought I remembered!

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Totally understandable. Our last Princess cruise was June 2019 and I still had to go check the cruise card to confirm what I thought I remembered!

Thanks for being understanding!!!

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Maybe the DMW "improvements" are a way to get more people to book Club Class.

There's a limited # of CC cabins...when they're gone, they're gone (& usually hit capacity soon after bookings open).

[memoak]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

There's a limited # of CC cabins...when they're gone, they're gone (& usually hit capacity soon after bookings open).

The only people in club class are full suites and those mini suites that are designated as club class.  I rarely see any of these not booked.  If there were any left shortly before a cruise I would expect up sell offers to be sent out

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

You may well be right. Our last Princess Cruise was back in 2016, so my memory may be letting me down [more than likely!]. I seem to recall that we normally used the same MDR every night, but that may well have been because of a personal preference, rather than official guidance.

Well of three DR one was fixed Traditional and the other was Traditional first sitting, so there was just one DR for Anytime until second DR converted at about 7:00 

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

The big change, as I see it, is that Princess are really pushing the reservation process, and trying as much as possible to dissuade people from just turning up when they want to.

We will see how ATD works once cruising is up and running again.

I disagree. Previously there were a lot of complaints about long lines for early AT before DR opened; lots of people wanting to make reservations in AT; complaints about TD turning up at AT and causing more congestion. We specifically like to be seated at 7:00 - 7:15, that requires me to go to DR at 6:30 and line up for a Buzzer, or maybe 6:30 is too early, so go at 6:45 - long wait. line up again with Buzzer at 7:15 and be escorted up to the next deck because there was room there, to be seated at 7:30 and dine at 7:45 or 8:00.

 

Only those who turned up at AT at 7:30 or so, truly had an AT experience.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Well of three DR one was fixed Traditional and the other was Traditional first sitting, so there was just one DR for Anytime until second DR converted at about 7:00 

We would never eat before 19:00, so I guess we had a choice of two.

[Tedferg]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

We would never eat before 19:00, so I guess we had a choice of two.

Right and I suppose you were able to be seated right away, so really saw a benefit in AT and now see reservations as a chore, makes sense. I do believe that once DMW settles down you will be able to turn up at 7:00, sorry 19:00 🙂 without reservation and be seated quickly

[HleeCruiser]

We were originally confirmed for late traditional dining.  Recently requested a confirmation and it had no dining information.  No confirmed time.  I went to the Medallion App and sought out the dining reservation portal.  The only choices are "How do you prefer to dine"  and the options were "Slow", "Relaxed" or "Fast".  The  next choice was " Do you want to dine in same DR. each day?"  There was no place to select a Dining Room or Time.   This does not meet the advertised Dine My Way promises!  BTW our cruise is still 6 months away.  Surely all the availability of dining times aren't taken.  

 

Has anyone been able to select your dining reservations on the Medallion App?

 

Thank you.

 

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Right and I suppose you were able to be seated right away, so really saw a benefit in AT and now see reservations as a chore, makes sense. I do believe that once DMW settles down you will be able to turn up at 7:00, sorry 19:00 🙂 without reservation and be seated quickly

Actually, we would normally eat about 8 (20:00!), so never a problem as 90% of the pax were Americans. Different proposition if there were more Europeans on board.

[Gettingwarmer]

13 minutes ago, HleeCruiser said:

We were originally confirmed for late traditional dining.  Recently requested a confirmation and it had no dining information.  No confirmed time.  I went to the Medallion App and sought out the dining reservation portal.  The only choices are "How do you prefer to dine"  and the options were "Slow", "Relaxed" or "Fast".  The  next choice was " Do you want to dine in same DR. each day?"  There was no place to select a Dining Room or Time.   This does not meet the advertised Dine My Way promises!  BTW our cruise is still 6 months away.  Surely all the availability of dining times aren't taken.  

 

Has anyone been able to select your dining reservations on the Medallion App?

 

Thank you.

 

You seem to be in “My Preferences”. You need to go to “Dine my way” it is further down. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Gettingwarmer

[PROCRUISE]

12 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

You seem to be in “My Preferences”. You need to go to “Dine my way” it is further down. 

Of course, even in "Dine My Way" it still says, for our 8/8 cruise, " sorry, we could not find any reservations at this time." 

[tring]

We have been trying to get into the app today, but it does not seem to be working at all, though, with difficulty, we got some response from it yesterday.

 

I was about to ask if anyone else had been able to access it today, so would be interested if anyone has.  We are in the UK, if it makes a difference.

[Gettingwarmer]

16 minutes ago, tring said:

We have been trying to get into the app today, but it does not seem to be working at all, though, with difficulty, we got some response from it yesterday.

 

I was about to ask if anyone else had been able to access it today, so would be interested if anyone has.  We are in the UK, if it makes a difference.

Yes I can get into the app, use iphone. Not able to book arrival time though.