Dine My Way & all new Dining questions since cruising restart!!

[PacnGoNow]

11 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I certainly would be getting a refund if they reneged on my purchase.  Since I will not have MDR dinner reservations due to their possible cancellation then what - Prego or Trident?  I know we all need to be flexible, but if they sold me something they don't plan on delivering and don't have the common decency to let me know in advance so I may make alternative dining arrangements...well it's a hell of a way to run an airline.

Or cruiseline…  lol

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 1/12/2022 at 11:09 AM, wineglass said:

Finally, I was able to re-book a private table for each night of our Discovery Princess cruise. Of course, we will see what we actually get when we arrive at the MDR door. You have got to be flexible during theses times right now

Have they named the dining rooms yet? I like the center ship dining room but have no idea which one it is.

[raharris200]

When we booked our cruise, we selected the "Best Deal Ever" or whatever they called it then promotion which included Specialty Dining.  I noticed today that the DMW app showed the ability to make a reservation which I attempted to due.  But the only way to do this was via a credit card payment.  Are you not allowed to make a reservation before boarding using the perk included in the Best Deal Ever promotion?

[Roberto256]

On 11/7/2021 at 11:05 PM, suzyed said:

Just a little tip...the Ambien CR has fewer side effects....works a bit different but it was better me, anyway.  Don't take any of it any longer but it helped at the time.

 

Thank you and your mom for the tip.   I got my doctor to add the CR to my prescription, and so far, no more side effects.

 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, raharris200 said:

When we booked our cruise, we selected the "Best Deal Ever" or whatever they called it then promotion which included Specialty Dining.  I noticed today that the DMW app showed the ability to make a reservation which I attempted to due.  But the only way to do this was via a credit card payment.  Are you not allowed to make a reservation before boarding using the perk included in the Best Deal Ever promotion?

 

This is a very touchy subject with me today because I spent almost 2 hours yesterday on Princess Chat about this very issue.  Back in September (or thereabouts) I had absolutely no problem making reservations using our specialty restaurant promos in Sabatinis for a group of 8 on our upcoming July cruise. When I submitted the request the amount due for 6 adults and 2 children was noted but then the full amount was credited so $0 was due and, obviously no payment made.

 

I should have left it at that but this week, in a moment of total insanity, I decided to change the night of the dinner and cancelled the original reservation.  ANYONE WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY MADE RESERVATIONS USING THE PROMO, DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE YOUR RESERVATIONS!

 

When I went to make the new reservation, I had to pay the amount owed which should have been $0 but the system couldn't even make the correct calculations.

 

Crown Grill:

• Private table for 8.  
• the order summary was a Cover Charge for 6 adults (correct) and 1 child (incorrect; there are 2) for a total of $188.50 with a dining credit of $159.50 and amount owed $29.  It should be $174 + $29 = $203 owed and all credited.

Sabatinis:

• the reservation is noted as 'party split across multiple tables' regardless of the reservation time even though the original reservation was a private table for 8.
• the math was similarly wrong.  The order summary was a Cover Charge for 6 adults (correct) and 1 child (incorrect; there are 2) for a total of $162.50 with a dining credit of $137.50 and amount owed of $25.  It should be $150 + $25 = $175 owed and all credited.

In the almost 2 hours I was on the Chat line the customer service rep with me walking her through each step, supposedly in consultation with the tech team at least 3 times during the chat, came up with these (among others) suggestions:

• "you should get your reimbursement from the cancellation in a week or 10 days."  This is after I started off the discussion saying that the App had correctly processed the original reservation.
• "just go ahead and pay the amount and you'll get an OBC."  Okay, make the reservation for Crown Grill because we must have a table for 8.
• "oops, that didn't work."
• "tech team knows there is an issue" - this was after  1 1/2 hours; why didn't she start with that comment?
• try again (and I am not making this up) "closer to the cruise, in a month or two.  Or just wait until you get on."

Thank goodness our next cruise we don't have the dining promo and I doubt we will go to a specialty restaurant.

 

Thank you for letting me vent! 

 

 

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

This is a very touchy subject with me today because I spent almost 2 hours yesterday on Princess Chat about this very issue.  Back in September (or thereabouts) I had absolutely no problem making reservations using our specialty restaurant promos in Sabatinis for a group of 8 on our upcoming July cruise. When I submitted the request the amount due for 6 adults and 2 children was noted but then the full amount was credited so $0 was due and, obviously no payment made.

 

I should have left it at that but this week, in a moment of total insanity, I decided to change the night of the dinner and cancelled the original reservation.  ANYONE WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY MADE RESERVATIONS USING THE PROMO, DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE YOUR RESERVATIONS!

 

When I went to make the new reservation, I had to pay the amount owed which should have been $0 but the system couldn't even make the correct calculations.

 

Crown Grill:

• Private table for 8.  
• the order summary was a Cover Charge for 6 adults (correct) and 1 child (incorrect; there are 2) for a total of $188.50 with a dining credit of $159.50 and amount owed $29.  It should be $174 + $29 = $203 owed and all credited.

 

Sabatinis:

• the reservation is noted as 'party split across multiple tables' regardless of the reservation time even though the original reservation was a private table for 8.
• the math was similarly wrong.  The order summary was a Cover Charge for 6 adults (correct) and 1 child (incorrect; there are 2) for a total of $162.50 with a dining credit of $137.50 and amount owed of $25.  It should be $150 + $25 = $175 owed and all credited.

In the almost 2 hours I was on the Chat line the customer service rep with me walking her through each step, supposedly in consultation with the tech team at least 3 times during the chat, came up with these (among others) suggestions:

• "you should get your reimbursement from the cancellation in a week or 10 days."  This is after I started off the discussion saying that the App had correctly processed the original reservation.
• "just go ahead and pay the amount and you'll get an OBC."  Okay, make the reservation for Crown Grill because we must have a table for 8.
• "oops, that didn't work."
• "tech team knows there is an issue" - this was after  1 1/2 hours; why didn't she start with that comment?
• try again (and I am not making this up) "closer to the cruise, in a month or two.  Or just wait until you get on."

Thank goodness our next cruise we don't have the dining promo and I doubt we will go to a specialty restaurant.

 

Thank you for letting me vent! 

 

 

Appreciate your post and the details of trying to resolve with Princess.  I have not bothered to try and call and get someone to review this with.  I too noticed back in the Fall around same time as you, that I could do a mock booking for SD in Crown Grill and it would recognized we had dining credits and apply them.  There was an exception to the ones on the first leg of our B2B2B on Regal and I think that may have been because the SD credit was added by a Princess employee.  Not sure.

 

Anyway, since the NOV software update (I think it was then??), DMW is not recognizing us - in some ways.  If I go to book wife and I, nope.  If I go to book us plus our Travel Companion friends as a dining party of 4, it seems to recognize all credits and apply 4 x $29 bringing net cost to $0.  If I try and book just our friends, they get a $0 balance.  I then started mixing and matching myself and/or wife with one of them, and got differing results.

 

I did write my testing scenarios and results in an email and sent it in, but have not heard back.

 

I am not too concerned as we have never had an issue booking SD on board when we want it (I always take care of it on Day 1, but have made reservations later in a cruise on a whim).  DMW is much like the situation was in Cruise Personalizer - they only make a certain about of table space available for the advance bookings and at fixed time periods.  Much more flexible to do it on board.  I see that you wanted to get a large party in, and there is no reason it shouldn't work.  Creates a hassle to go and chase for refundable OBC if you had to pay ahead of time.

 

IMO - the "help" you got was no help at all.  It's like the people handling the issues don't care what the guest wants to do and love to tell us "Your cruise is months from now.  Lots of time to get your dining arranged".

 

[grak]

I’ve been trying for weeks to arrange dining times, etc. I’ve paid in full but still no luck. Ant thoughts on how to get this part done?

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, grak said:

I’ve been trying for weeks to arrange dining times, etc. I’ve paid in full but still no luck. Ant thoughts on how to get this part done?

Ship and sailing date.  What happens when you launch DMW?  Do you get the initial page where you choose between booking full voyage or individual nights?  Have you tapped on individual nights to confirm nothing is setup?  Do you have a Dining Party to define, or just you and cabinmate?  If you got past the first step, what happens in the next step?

[grak]

I’ve got through all the steps…I’m in the green lane. When I go to DMW it says not available. Try later. Ruby on April 16. I was able to get on and sign up for my choices on a cruise I hadn’t paid for but ended up cancelled.  I expected this to go as smooth but no luck.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, grak said:

I’ve got through all the steps…I’m in the green lane. When I go to DMW it says not available. Try later. Ruby on April 16. I was able to get on and sign up for my choices on a cruise I hadn’t paid for but ended up cancelled.  I expected this to go as smooth but no luck.

It is a real PITA when time and time again, so many customers run into roadblocks with the MC App.

We get little to no info on what they are working on, what the design solution direction is, what they consider bugs versus what the customer considers bugs. 

[FlaMariner]

Princess newbie here.....

 

Went into Medallion and selected "reserve the same time everyday" for table for two.  Cicero (or something like that) dining room.....

 

Did I successfully choose fixed dining, same table, same waiters?  

 

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, FlaMariner said:

Princess newbie here.....

 

Went into Medallion and selected "reserve the same time everyday" for table for two.  Cicero (or something like that) dining room.....

 

Did I successfully choose fixed dining, same table, same waiters?  

 

Who knows?  You did all you can do before arriving on the ship.  Supposedly, such a booking is for same table, same wait staff for full voyage.  Many have reported being moved to random tables each night and others not.  It may be necessary to speak with DR mgmt on first night to make sure you can have same location for rest of the voyage.  Right now, it seems only two DR's are operating due to lower passenger loads.  

 

Did you select private table or sharing?  If sharing, you may not have same table-mates each night unless everyone at the table requests to keep that one throughout the voyage. 

 

It's just not working like it used to despite Princess.com promises about TD.  Good luck with it.  I do hope one day they can get this working better for all concerned.

 

[FlaMariner]

Thanks Steelers....Princess needs to put you on their payroll!

 

I did select private table. 

 

When you board, is there a dining kiosk somewhere where you can speak to a human about your dining situation and see what is in store for you?  

 

And if we are confirmed for what we want (fixed seating, table for two, 5:20pm, same waiters) and we know our table number, can we just go there and avoid the line when entering the MDR?

[Dbld777]

3 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Thanks Steelers....Princess needs to put you on their payroll!

 

I did select private table. 

 

When you board, is there a dining kiosk somewhere where you can speak to a human about your dining situation and see what is in store for you?  

 

And if we are confirmed for what we want (fixed seating, table for two, 5:20pm, same waiters) and we know our table number, can we just go there and avoid the line when entering the MDR?

Some ships, some dining rooms still have numbered tables, some do not. The process varies even between dining rooms on the same ship according to recent reports here. What ship are you going to be on?

[FlaMariner]

7 minutes ago, Dbld777 said:

Some ships, some dining rooms still have numbered tables, some do not. The process varies even between dining rooms on the same ship according to recent reports here. What ship are you going to be on?

 

Sky

[Dbld777]

6 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Sky

We were on the Regal in December, in the Concerto dining room. Apparently it was easier in the Allegro DR to get the same table all cruise long according to others on the Regal. Best of luck to you in getting the same table and wait staff. I think the closer to 5:00 PM that you go, the better chance of getting the same table/WS or dine at 7:30 or later. Between 5:30 and 7:00 they were basically trying to fill up the available tables( based on our experience).

[FlaMariner]

Does the dining room I picked impact my chances of getting the set table/waiter thing?

 

And speaking of dining rooms, what's the difference between all these names? 

 

Thanks

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

Thanks Steelers....Princess needs to put you on their payroll!

 

I did select private table. 

 

When you board, is there a dining kiosk somewhere where you can speak to a human about your dining situation and see what is in store for you?  

 

And if we are confirmed for what we want (fixed seating, table for two, 5:20pm, same waiters) and we know our table number, can we just go there and avoid the line when entering the MDR?

Yes, at the entrance door to each DR there is a kiosk and sr staff.  Once you know the table location and that it is yours every night, you can just go there.

 

31 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Does the dining room I picked impact my chances of getting the set table/waiter thing?

 

And speaking of dining rooms, what's the difference between all these names? 

 

Thanks

Well, it seems at least on a ship or two, they seem to be putting that setup in the Aft DR (Deck 6 Aft).  This DR used to be 100% Traditional Dining (TD) up until the Covid-19 Pause.  The DR on Deck 6 mid-ship was TD for early dining and then changed over to Anytime (AT) as tables cleared.  The Deck 5 mid-ship was 100% AT.  This allowed flexibility between the demand for TD & AT with Deck 6 one being flexible.

 

These days with ships sailing thus far under full capacity, they are typically using the two Deck 6 DR's for passengers. 

 

Now, my experience with our REGAL bookings is, the only DR offered in the MC App Dine My Way (DMW) is the Deck 6 Mid-Ship - which is also where the Club Class section is located.  IDK why they only loaded up one DR for the far-out cruises.  I felt it was likely due to shaking down the DMW before over-loading it.  But it has been over six months now and still no more space.  This makes it difficult for guests to get what they really want with only one DR offered as reservations build. 

 

If you have the choice of more than one DR for your ship/voyage, then it could be advisable to select the Deck 6 Aft DR if offered. 

 

As for the names, if you check the Deck Plans on Princess.com for the fleet, you can see where each DR is and its name.  Names do vary from ship-to-ship, but the location is the same on all the newer ships.  It's easier to think of Deck 5 or 6 and Mid or Aft.  Note that the two on Deck 6 share a galley in between them.

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

select the Deck 6 Aft DR if offered. 

 

Just looked it up...It's called Cielo and it is Level 6 aft....got it...purely by mistake or perhaps that was my only choice.  I do not recall how they were presented on medallion and I'm not about to go back in and mess things up!

 

Thanks again....great help.

 

[CruisinGrandpa]

9 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Just looked it up...It's called Cielo and it is Level 6 aft....got it...purely by mistake or perhaps that was my only choice.  I do not recall how they were presented on medallion and I'm not about to go back in and mess things up!

 

Thanks again....great help.

 

Our experience in Nov on regal was they filled rabies as diners

arrived. There was no guarantee that you would have sa e table 

And wait staff each night. 
we managed to get the same table because we were a group of

7 and reserved as a group. Just depends on the ship and

Circumstances 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, CruisinGrandpa said:

Our experience in Nov on regal was they filled tables as diners

arrived. There was no guarantee that you would have same table 

And wait staff each night. 
we managed to get the same table because we were a group of

7 and reserved as a group. Just depends on the ship and

Circumstances 

Without knowing individual circumstances, it could be the folks you saw just being guided to fill tables were either walk-ups or had individual evening reservations.  Only DMW option to book for full voyage has any chance to be same table and wait staff each night.

[FlaMariner]

Sorry but dumb question time again....

 

I am hearing that balcony dining may not be available?  Is that the same thing as ordering room service breakfast?

 

On another cruise line, we can fill out a card and order breakfast to be delivered the next morning....we check off the delivery time, put it on our door the night before and magically the tray of breakfast food arrives at our door...and we enjoy it on our balcony....and there is no surcharge. Simple. 

 

Can I do that on Princess?

[FlaMariner]

9 hours ago, CruisinGrandpa said:

Our experience in Nov on regal was they filled rabies as diners

arrived. There was no guarantee that you would have sa e table 

And wait staff each night. 

 

If that is the case then that would not meet my definition of "DineMyWay"....and that would end one of the most enjoyable daily experiences we have cruising.  And probably would be our first and last cruise on Princess. 

 

My plan is to punch buttons on the medallion app to reserve same time and table preference every night in the MDR (done) and visit the kiosk upon arrival and express our one request:  "Same table, same time, same waiters".  That cannot be difficult. 

 

Looking forward to a great cruise and great experience in the MDR!

[capriccio]

7 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Sorry but dumb question time again....

 

I am hearing that balcony dining may not be available?  Is that the same thing as ordering room service breakfast?

 

On another cruise line, we can fill out a card and order breakfast to be delivered the next morning....we check off the delivery time, put it on our door the night before and magically the tray of breakfast food arrives at our door...and we enjoy it on our balcony....and there is no surcharge. Simple. 

 

Can I do that on Princess?

The Ultimate Balcony Breakfast and Dinner (https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2365) have not been available since cruising resumed last year.

 

You can order breakfast (actually any meal, snacks, and drinks) with the medallion app or thru the TV.  If there is a surcharge (there are only a handful of food items that have a surcharge) it will be noted.

[FlaMariner]

3 minutes ago, capriccio said:

The Ultimate Balcony Breakfast and Dinner (https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2365) have not been available since cruising resumed last year.

 

You can order breakfast (actually any meal, snacks, and drinks) with the medallion app or thru the TV.  If there is a surcharge (there are only a handful of food items that have a surcharge) it will be noted.

 

Perfect!  Thanks!