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

[Thrak]

12 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Print out the online reservation and take it with you!!!

May not help but can't hurt.

 

No way to print a "list" but was able to select each day on the web version and then take a "snip" of the listing and put it into a word document. It took 16 separate "snips" but I did end up with a doc showing each day's reservation. I doubt it will be of any value if my reservations are indeed gone - especially if they vanished because Princess closed that dining room. I don't know why the close the most convenient dining room but that's what they did on our May cruise. We were moved from the one on deck 5 to the one on deck 6 all the way aft. You know, the one that confuses some people because of a sort of "you can't get there from here" thing where you have to go up a deck and then go aft and go down again to get to the dining room. I have nothing against that dining room but it certainly isn't real convenient and is definitely not convenient as far as getting wine from Vines.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

We board Ruby Princess on December 2nd. I made dining reservations for the same time each night in Michelangelo Dining Room. (That's the one on Plaza and close to Vines.) I've checked frequently to be sure my reservations were in place. They have always been just as I made them until today. Today, the one night I'm booked in Crown Grill is in place but the other 15 days of reservations are gone. GAH!!!

 

I went to put the reservations back as I had them and no longer see Michelangelo as an option. I am waaaaaaaaaaaay not happy.

 

Edit: Okay, now I'm confused. I checked the online version and it shows all of my reservations - in Michelangelo - are intact. Do I trust the online version or the one on my phone? I don't want to make "new" reservations on the phone app that will cancel out the ones I made previously that only show in the online version. I don't know which version of the danged thing to trust.

It is likely an App glitch.  That said, the Web version should be accessing the same database as the phone App.  Perhaps they will re-appear in a day or so (have seen this and read it before).

 

Cannot say if this is the case for Ruby, but Deck 5 DR seems to be the new home for Club Class - at least for some ships - and that DR may be kept from DMW pre-cruise.  I have seen this happen and then the idea is they can fill the non-CC area with walk-ups or on-board table requests.  I just don't see consistency across the ships anymore with DMW in place.  Some DR mgmt are going out of way to help guests who want TD-like experience with same table and waiters and some are resisting helping out and defer to the DMW system.  I do have a sense (cannot say for sure as have only been live just now on two ships) from my experience and reading a LOT of other experiences, that the DR mgmt in general is trying to accommodate same table/same waiters requests even though the App cannot deliver it.  Hats off to them for sure.

 

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

We board Ruby Princess on December 2nd. I made dining reservations for the same time each night in Michelangelo Dining Room. (That's the one on Plaza and close to Vines.) I've checked frequently to be sure my reservations were in place. They have always been just as I made them until today. Today, the one night I'm booked in Crown Grill is in place but the other 15 days of reservations are gone. GAH!!!

 

I went to put the reservations back as I had them and no longer see Michelangelo as an option. I am waaaaaaaaaaaay not happy.

 

Edit: Okay, now I'm confused. I checked the online version and it shows all of my reservations - in Michelangelo - are intact. Do I trust the online version or the one on my phone? I don't want to make "new" reservations on the phone app that will cancel out the ones I made previously that only show in the online version. I don't know which version of the danged thing to trust.

Same thing happened to us on our October cruise.  They all went "poof"!  I called Princess and a nice young lady helped me get them all back with a few changes but they never showed up again on the app but were on the web version and stayed there.  
Yes, you can trust the online version.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

Print out the online reservation and take it with you!!!

May not help but can't hurt.

 

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

Print out the online reservation and take it with you!!!

May not help but can't hurt.

It's not that easy to print since it will only show a day at a time.  I just wrote it all down.

[Flyinby]

9 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Pre-Cruise Suggestions

1. Appoint two primary guests in your party.
2. Using Booking Numbers, add everyone as Travel Companions.
3. Each Primary Guest creates a DR reservation.  Try the option to book for entire voyage and use the preferred time you want. 
4. Each Primary Guest will add either 5 or 6 Travel Companions to their reservation request.  So, each guest will have a total of either 6 or 7 guests to book.
5. Each Primary Guest books the same DR and same time for a PRIVATE table space.
6. You should end up with one group at a 6-top and one at a 8-top.  There is NO WAY pre-cruise to know, nor to get those tables in proximity.  However, by selecting same time and DR, you can work with the DR staff on board to get nearby each other.

 

Embarkation Suggestions

Please advise which ship in case I can be more specific.

 

See a DR Manager either at Embarkation Lunch time or immediately upon DR open for Dinner.  Make your request and they will most likely figure it out.  You can all be seated in proximity and even have same waiters since many waiter sections will contain a 6-top and a 8-top.  You all can decide to mix-up the seating each night as well - no need to stay in same seat for duration of the voyage.  Note that is is harder for them to accommodate a TD-style request if you are after a time "in-between" an earlier session and a late session.  If you are after later dining, this will not be a problem at all.

 

It will be harder I expect to be handled if you don't manage the Pre-Cruise steps and if all three DR's are open in the App to book.  Sometimes, one DR is being held out of the App and is then available on board.  This seems to normally be the DR with Club Class dining (which only takes a portion of the space).

 

 

Thanks for the tips.  While it's a bit of a convoluted way, at least there's hope.  I did notice in the online app that if I lessen the number to 10 or less, it will let me proceed, where with thirteen everything is greyed out.  Several previous trips on Carnival/Princess had 13-14 and it was no problem...we were seated at tables together, same place/waiters every night.  We'll see how they do with this.  The ship is the Royal Princess and shows two dining rooms...no idea which to pick.  But a bigger issue is if I have a group of 6, the earliest time it shows is 7PM.  If I cut it to fewer, it shows availability beginning at 5.  We were planning on 6:30, so I may try 3 separate bookings to see if that will work with 6:30, and head to the dining room after boarding to let them know we need to have the tables together.  If they can't provide that, we'll survive, but it will be our final Princess/Carnival/etc. cruise as there's no excuse to not be able to provide family groups seating together at dinner. I assume they'll work it out.

 

This was never an issue before they "improved" to Medallion.  Perhaps I'll give the cruise planner a call and see if she can manage it without all these workarounds.

 

I don't know what time the shows are, but if the first one is 8, then 7 is probably too late for dining, hence the 6:30 preference.  We don't particularly want the later shows, which again, was never a problem before.

 

Thanks again for the info, it's very helpful.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

Print out the online reservation and take it with you!!!

May not help but can't hurt.

Not that easy to do since it only shows a day at a time.  So I wrote it all down just so WE remembered the times.  When we showed our Medallion at the dining room they were able to see the reservations.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

No way to print a "list" but was able to select each day on the web version and then take a "snip" of the listing and put it into a word document. It took 16 separate "snips" but I did end up with a doc showing each day's reservation. I doubt it will be of any value if my reservations are indeed gone - especially if they vanished because Princess closed that dining room. I don't know why the close the most convenient dining room but that's what they did on our May cruise. We were moved from the one on deck 5 to the one on deck 6 all the way aft. You know, the one that confuses some people because of a sort of "you can't get there from here" thing where you have to go up a deck and then go aft and go down again to get to the dining room. I have nothing against that dining room but it certainly isn't real convenient and is definitely not convenient as far as getting wine from Vines.

Again, we had a similar experience.  I booked all our dinners in the Island Dining room since it was closest to Vines and the IC.  The first day on board we went to the Coral dining room for lunch and the waiter told us the Island was to be closed during our cruise.  Sooo, I get on my phone and change all my dinners to the Coral dining room.    Wouldn't you know it but a day or two later they opened the Island!  They did it because the staff in the other two dining rooms were getting overwhelmed, so to spread out the crowds with the 3rd. dining room. 

[Steelers36]

35 minutes ago, Flyinby said:

Thanks for the tips.  While it's a bit of a convoluted way, at least there's hope.  I did notice in the online app that if I lessen the number to 10 or less, it will let me proceed, where with thirteen everything is greyed out.  Several previous trips on Carnival/Princess had 13-14 and it was no problem...we were seated at tables together, same place/waiters every night.  We'll see how they do with this.  The ship is the Royal Princess and shows two dining rooms...no idea which to pick.  But a bigger issue is if I have a group of 6, the earliest time it shows is 7PM.  If I cut it to fewer, it shows availability beginning at 5.  We were planning on 6:30, so I may try 3 separate bookings to see if that will work with 6:30, and head to the dining room after boarding to let them know we need to have the tables together.  If they can't provide that, we'll survive, but it will be our final Princess/Carnival/etc. cruise as there's no excuse to not be able to provide family groups seating together at dinner. I assume they'll work it out.

 

This was never an issue before they "improved" to Medallion.  Perhaps I'll give the cruise planner a call and see if she can manage it without all these workarounds.

 

I don't know what time the shows are, but if the first one is 8, then 7 is probably too late for dining, hence the 6:30 preference.  We don't particularly want the later shows, which again, was never a problem before.

 

Thanks again for the info, it's very helpful.

 

The two DR thing.  This is not uncommon.  The DR not in DMW is likely the one with Club Class section.  Presuming your cruise is going to be sold out or near full, that third DR will be open when you are on board.  Since no one could book it before the cruise begins, it affords an opportunity to get what you are after.  Just act as soon as convenient to get your request in with a DR Mgr or DR Host.  There is often a Host type person who can work the magic with their internal reservation app.

 

Your cruise planner (not sure if that is Princess or external TA) is not going to be able to arrange or do dining.  Sometimes an OCEAN Navigator specialist can help, but they really see what you see and are more there to help setup reservations in the system when a guest cannot or when a guest has system issues.  Use the Princess phone tree options to be directed to a DMW specialist if you want to call in.

 

On your dinner time.  The main showtimes can vary from ship to ship (I presume you mean the main theatre shows which we don't always attend any longer).  I saw primarily 8pm & 10pm and 7:30pm and 9:30pm pairings.  If you are dining at 6:30pm, not going to be ready to make it to a 7:30pm show.  Even for 8:00pm it is pushing it somewhat for two reasons.  It always takes longer for a larger table to complete dinner service.  Often, you need to be in the theatre ahead of showtime to get a decent seat if show is popular.  This is especially true for the early show, so something to factor in. 

 

Unless the DR Mgmt is being obtuse for some reason on your ship, I would say you have a very good chance on getting what you are after, notwithstanding what DMW is offering.

 

[Thrak]

58 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Some DR mgmt are going out of way to help guests who want TD-like experience with same table and waiters and some are resisting helping out and defer to the DMW system. 

 

In May we setup a couple who are friends from Canada as travel companions and I booked our dining for the 4 of us in advance. Onboard we found they had closed the dining room we were booked in and moved us to the rear dining room. After dinner the first night I asked if we could have the same table every night and got a kind of wishy washy answer that sounded a lot like NO. The next night we were escorted to a different table but, from then on, had the same table and staff for the rest of the cruise.

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

In May we setup a couple who are friends from Canada as travel companions and I booked our dining for the 4 of us in advance. Onboard we found they had closed the dining room we were booked in and moved us to the rear dining room. After dinner the first night I asked if we could have the same table every night and got a kind of wishy washy answer that sounded a lot like NO. The next night we were escorted to a different table but, from then on, had the same table and staff for the rest of the cruise.

I could say I had a similar initial response when I approached the DR Mgr for our DR on the Island.  Once he understood it was important to our group and I had mentioned the Princess promise, he accommodated us and a day or two later moved us again when we wanted a warmer location.  He was quite warm and helpful through the process.  IDK if they try to sway people off it due to HQ edict or just to save the work, but I would give him 4.8 stars for the interaction and accommodations after.  Funny trivia fact - we ended up at the very same table the four of us had for 60-nights around South America in 2018.

 

[VibeGuy]

I’d be very surprised if they moved the Ruby CC dining from Deck 6 mids to Deck 5 mids - I am quite certain they kept 6 open rather than 5 right after the restart specifically because of the Club Class branding elements on the starboard side of 6.  I’m much more inclined to blame an app display glitch. 

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, VibeGuy said:

I’d be very surprised if they moved the Ruby CC dining from Deck 6 mids to Deck 5 mids - I am quite certain they kept 6 open rather than 5 right after the restart specifically because of the Club Class branding elements on the starboard side of 6.  I’m much more inclined to blame an app display glitch. 

You could be right as not all ships are the same.  Both ships we were on this past month+ had CC dining in a new location.  Both on Deck 5.

[Tedferg]

23 hours ago, Thrak said:

Edit: Okay, now I'm confused. I checked the online version and it shows all of my reservations - in Michelangelo - are intact. Do I trust the online version or the one on my phone?

My recent Caribbean Princess experience. Online version showed my reservations in Island dining room, phone version had deleted them. When we boarded, we found Island DR was closed, so online version was incorrect.

[rwmiller]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:11 AM, Thrak said:

We board Ruby Princess on December 2nd. I made dining reservations for the same time each night in Michelangelo Dining Room. (That's the one on Plaza and close to Vines.) I've checked frequently to be sure my reservations were in place. They have always been just as I made them until today. Today, the one night I'm booked in Crown Grill is in place but the other 15 days of reservations are gone. GAH!!!

 

I went to put the reservations back as I had them and no longer see Michelangelo as an option. I am waaaaaaaaaaaay not happy.

 

Edit: Okay, now I'm confused. I checked the online version and it shows all of my reservations - in Michelangelo - are intact. Do I trust the online version or the one on my phone? I don't want to make "new" reservations on the phone app that will cancel out the ones I made previously that only show in the online version. I don't know which version of the danged thing to trust.

Just for info, we are on the Ruby Princess now and Michelangelo is closed due to staffing and number of passengers. I don’t know how full your cruise is but this dining room is the one cut first. 
 

Bob

[sabreline]

Had no problem making reservations for every night but the service is so bad, we have canceled every one except Crown Grill and Sabatinis.

[t&atravel]

9 hours ago, rwmiller said:

Just for info, we are on the Ruby Princess now and Michelangelo is closed due to staffing and number of passengers. I don’t know how full your cruise is but this dining room is the one cut first. 
 

Bob

We disembarked the Ruby on 11/7 which I assume is when you boarded.  Our CC waiter that morning said 100 crew members did not report in San Francisco. 

[suzyed]

On 11/16/2022 at 3:59 PM, Tedferg said:

My recent Caribbean Princess experience. Online version showed my reservations in Island dining room, phone version had deleted them. When we boarded, we found Island DR was closed, so online version was incorrect.

Island was supposed to be closed on ours and then about 2 days in they opened it to take some of the load off the servers in the other dining rooms.

 

[leck57]

My comments about dining room procedures for two cruises we have completed since May:

 

May UK cruise Emerald Princess - friends we travelled with had booked the same time and number of guests for every night. No issues in being seated and service good....but not the way we prefer to dine as we prefer flexibility with times. 

 

Majestic Princess - We were on Majestic last week and we prefer dining when we want and not book. We turned up to any of the three DR's and the staff take ages to find a table if you haven't booked. There were often 4 staff looking like stunned mullets pouring over a floor plan trying to work something out. Then when you go inside the DR there are empty tables everywhere and many were not occupied the entire time we were there and we take our time. I would prefer the old system where Anytime was an easy option and if nothing was available, then just take a pager and wait - not be made stand at the doorway while the staff fumble their way through this system that has been thrown at them. 

 

I recall reading many comments about this newer system that it would reduce the number of tables sitting empty as in the past people that had Traditional Dining times would not show up. Well, I'm seeing far more vacant tables with this new system. 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, leck57 said:

My comments about dining room procedures for two cruises we have completed since May:

 

May UK cruise Emerald Princess - friends we travelled with had booked the same time and number of guests for every night. No issues in being seated and service good....but not the way we prefer to dine as we prefer flexibility with times. 

 

Majestic Princess - We were on Majestic last week and we prefer dining when we want and not book. We turned up to any of the three DR's and the staff take ages to find a table if you haven't booked. There were often 4 staff looking like stunned mullets pouring over a floor plan trying to work something out. Then when you go inside the DR there are empty tables everywhere and many were not occupied the entire time we were there and we take our time. I would prefer the old system where Anytime was an easy option and if nothing was available, then just take a pager and wait - not be made stand at the doorway while the staff fumble their way through this system that has been thrown at them. 

 

I recall reading many comments about this newer system that it would reduce the number of tables sitting empty as in the past people that had Traditional Dining times would not show up. Well, I'm seeing far more vacant tables with this new system. 

Do you know how full your ship was?  What time did you go to dinner typically?  My observation is there are a few DR employees who are good with the reservation system and most are not users.

[NownZen]

3 hours ago, leck57 said:

My comments about dining room procedures for two cruises we have completed since May:

 

May UK cruise Emerald Princess - friends we travelled with had booked the same time and number of guests for every night. No issues in being seated and service good....but not the way we prefer to dine as we prefer flexibility with times. 

 

Majestic Princess - We were on Majestic last week and we prefer dining when we want and not book. We turned up to any of the three DR's and the staff take ages to find a table if you haven't booked. There were often 4 staff looking like stunned mullets pouring over a floor plan trying to work something out. Then when you go inside the DR there are empty tables everywhere and many were not occupied the entire time we were there and we take our time. I would prefer the old system where Anytime was an easy option and if nothing was available, then just take a pager and wait - not be made stand at the doorway while the staff fumble their way through this system that has been thrown at them. 

 

I recall reading many comments about this newer system that it would reduce the number of tables sitting empty as in the past people that had Traditional Dining times would not show up. Well, I'm seeing far more vacant tables with this new system. 

An issue with the flexible booking times is that it will generate a lot of empty tables that are unavailable at times. For instance a table booked for 6:30 will be unavailable from say 5:15 to 6:30 as there is not time to finish a meal. Tables booked for 7:00 will be unavailable after maybe 5:30. This leaves a large group of empty but unusable tables.

[leck57]

8 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Do you know how full your ship was?  What time did you go to dinner typically?  My observation is there are a few DR employees who are good with the reservation system and most are not users.

 

I think the ship was pretty full, probably about 80-90%. We went to dinner from around 6.30pm to 7.15pm. I am aware that this is the busy time but what my concern is, is that the staff on the whole had no idea how to manage the system. I have no issue with being given a  pager (like previous times), however on this latest trip we just stood around the entrance while 3-4 staff worked out whether there was a table. As I mentioned, once inside there were tables everywhere and not used during our time in the room.

Personally, I think one or two DR's should be walk up at all times and you just take your luck. At least this way all tables would be occupied. I thought one of the reasons that the Traditional Dining time system was removed was because there were be plenty of no shows and the tables sat empty. This current booking system doesn't seem to have changed that in any way.

[Dbld777]

And the crux of the problem remains that there is no real time management of table inventory in their "system". On our latest cruise, they were still using paper copies of the table layout in the DR along with what is described above, DR staff(not DR managers) trying to figure out where they have a staffed table available. Until they get a real table inventory and waitstaff management system, both passengers and staff will likely remain highly frustrated with this DMW offering. The technology is available.

[NownZen]

1 hour ago, Dbld777 said:

And the crux of the problem remains that there is no real time management of table inventory in their "system". On our latest cruise, they were still using paper copies of the table layout in the DR along with what is described above, DR staff(not DR managers) trying to figure out where they have a staffed table available. Until they get a real table inventory and waitstaff management system, both passengers and staff will likely remain highly frustrated with this DMW offering. The technology is available.

No, the problem is that the variable reservation time makes empty tables. Whether you look at them on a paper list or a computer, they are still unavailable.

[Steelers36]

In any restaurant, they have to allow a block of time for the first dinner res.  IMO, a smart manager would know that a table for two is going to be done and gone before a table for six or eight.  That aside, when the first party is done, the table is going to sit waiting for the second res blocked into that table.  No way to sit someone else and get them done in 15/20, even 30 minutes. 

 

If a party runs over-time, the next res has to wait for a table to open.  Of course, if another table of same size opens sooner, they could be seated there and someone else who comes along later maybe waits, but less.

 

DMW doesn't have this dynamism, so someone needs to know how to manage table allocation, plus know the software.

 

Couple that with something unique to the ships - many diners want to get the same table each night so they have same waiters.  That is not to say that a restaurant regular couldn't get their favorite table and waiter by request ahead of time at a land-based location.  These personal touches are overrides to a system - be it automated or manual.  DMW is not equipped to handle all scenarios - and I don't think any automated system could.

 

[NownZen]

18 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

In any restaurant, they have to allow a block of time for the first dinner res.  IMO, a smart manager would know that a table for two is going to be done and gone before a table for six or eight.  That aside, when the first party is done, the table is going to sit waiting for the second res blocked into that table.  No way to sit someone else and get them done in 15/20, even 30 minutes. 

 

If a party runs over-time, the next res has to wait for a table to open.  Of course, if another table of same size opens sooner, they could be seated there and someone else who comes along later maybe waits, but less.

 

DMW doesn't have this dynamism, so someone needs to know how to manage table allocation, plus know the software.

 

Couple that with something unique to the ships - many diners want to get the same table each night so they have same waiters.  That is not to say that a restaurant regular couldn't get their favorite table and waiter by request ahead of time at a land-based location.  These personal touches are overrides to a system - be it automated or manual.  DMW is not equipped to handle all scenarios - and I don't think any automated system could.

 

This is a very interesting mathematical optimization problem. The difficulty is deciding what to optimize. The traditional dining optimized the use of space by having just the two sittings. But that was hard on the staff as everyone needed to served at the same time. The staff requirements could be minimized by having a constant flow of people into the dining room so they would have a constant load of serving people. To do this, you would aim to have the dining room fill up two hours after opening at which time the flow of people would be balanced by the flow of people out. It would then stay full until about 4 hours after opening and then empty at 6 hours from opening. This helps the staffing but requires 6 hours for dining room staffing rather than the four hours for the traditional dining. This would work for getting the same tables at the same time but would not accommodate any time diners. Throwing in people without reservations into the reservation mix really does complicate things.

It would be interesting to see the details of the algorithm.