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

[doghog]

1 hour ago, Scotmay said:

I am wondering if a lot people will be happy to go back to just walking into dining ng room at ANY TIME and for this reason there might be long lines for Anytime Dining!  What do you think!

We like the option of reserving our time for DMW.

[BamaVol]

6 hours ago, doghog said:

We like the option of reserving our time for DMW.

Same here.  We were never fans of all aspects of traditional dining. We like having a reservation, and the same waitstaff is nice.  But table sharing has been less than ideal in the past.

[NavyVeteran]

7 hours ago, doghog said:

We like the option of reserving our time for DMW.

I hope Princess can make the new policy work - one dining room for those of you who like making reservations with DMW, one dining room for those who like traditional dining, and one dining room for those who want to walk in without advance reservations. Princess appears to have heard the complaints from people who miss traditional dining and the complaints from people who don't want to make reservations. If it works, then everyone should be happy. We'll see.

[upwarduk]

I need to go to the same dining room, as I am Lactose intolerant, so have filled in a Special Needs form.

[doghog]

14 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

I hope Princess can make the new policy work - one dining room for those of you who like making reservations with DMW, one dining room for those who like traditional dining, and one dining room for those who want to walk in without advance reservations. Princess appears to have heard the complaints from people who miss traditional dining and the complaints from people who don't want to make reservations. If it works, then everyone should be happy. We'll see.

I agree. I have a feeling that some will complain about the MDR they are assigned to according to their dining preference. 

[NavyVeteran]

5 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I need to go to the same dining room, as I am Lactose intolerant, so have filled in a Special Needs form.

Although it would be more convenient to always go to the same dining room, it is not necessary. You should be ordering dinner (and lunch on sea days) from the head waiter (dining room manager) the evening before. This information is put into the system and your pre-order will show at any main dining room. It is more convenient (but not necessary) to always go to the same dining room, so you are always dealing with the same head waiter. It is not necessary to always deal with the same waiters, since waiters do not handle orders for people with dietary restrictions.

[upwarduk]

Thank you for that information.

[Kay S]

9 hours ago, doghog said:

I agree. I have a feeling that some will complain about the MDR they are assigned to according to their dining preference. 

Someone will always be unhappy, but the three dining rooms on most of the ships are similar enough that decor, etc. should not be a valid problem.  The trek back to deck 6 for the aft dining rooms could put people off, but I's hoping those will be the TD dining rooms.

[BamaVol]

14 hours ago, Kay S said:

Someone will always be unhappy, but the three dining rooms on most of the ships are similar enough that decor, etc. should not be a valid problem.  The trek back to deck 6 for the aft dining rooms could put people off, but I's hoping those will be the TD dining rooms.

The aft MDRs are my favorites.  I’ve found them less crowded and chaotic at opening time because they are slightly less accessible.  I’m hoping they are reserved DMW.  But it’s very possible they will not be.

[julie3fan]

From my past experience, the aft DR had both early and late TD, and one of the midship DRs had early TD, then switched to anytime later on.  I'd suppose the aft DR will be assigned for the TD room.

[NavyVeteran]

1 hour ago, BamaVol said:

The aft MDRs are my favorites.  I’ve found them less crowded and chaotic at opening time because they are slightly less accessible.  I’m hoping they are reserved DMW.  But it’s very possible they will not be.

That's exactly the problem with the aft MDR. DW has mobility issues and the midship MDRs are a lot more convenient. However, we like traditional dining when we're not in a suite, so we may be stuck there.

[Kay S]

5 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

That's exactly the problem with the aft MDR. DW has mobility issues and the midship MDRs are a lot more convenient. However, we like traditional dining when we're not in a suite, so we may be stuck there.

Getting to the aft MDR is not especially easy, and waiting for an elevator can be a pain.  I can't do stairs, but a trick I have is to go up a few decks from somewhere else on the ship with a more available elevator.  Then I make my way to the back elevator and take it down to 6. Catching it at 7 is nearly always a big hassle.  Also, I like to tell people asking where the aft MDR is that "you can't get there from here." 🙂

[doghog]

We always did presupper drinks and a snack in the Vista Lounge on our recent Enchanted cruise. Aft elevators right there to head down to the Amalfi MDR. DMW. We found all the elevators on the Enchanted slow.  

[57eric]

Princess emailed me about an upcoming cruise, encouraging me to explore dining reservations.  There are no available time slots.  This is not surprising as the cruise isn't until 2026.  Thanks for the spam, I guess.

[Dee_Jay]

I'm hoping the walk-up dining room doesn't have a reduced menu, as is apparently the case on the Sun Princess.  I don't like having to make reservations months in advance, and then being unable to change to times that fit better with our schedule.

[terrierjohn]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:54 PM, NavyVeteran said:

With the new policy, you don't need to make reservations. If you don't choose traditional fixed dining and you don't make reservations, there will be one MDR available for walk-in only. This should provide better service to those without reservations than the current system.

I hope that a large enough number of passengers continue to make MDR reservations or choose fixed dining, and that the walk up MDR does not become the MDR of choice leading to long queues or lots of pagers.

[NavyVeteran]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I hope that a large enough number of passengers continue to make MDR reservations or choose fixed dining, and that the walk up MDR does not become the MDR of choice leading to long queues or lots of pagers.

I don't like long queues, but I don't mind the pagers in the midship dining rooms. Sitting in Vines while waiting for a pager to go off is not all bad.

[SBCruiser1]

Honestly ive experienced nothing but issues with the new Medallion app and the dining reservation booking for princess for my upcoming cruise.

 

I have a booking for myself and my guest, and my parents have a booking for themselves. Every time i try and book our dining reservation together, it gives an error on the app. I had dining reservations booked just for myself and my guest, and when I removed them to try and add my parents it crashed as well. Then trying to re-add the exact reservation i just canceled, it gave the same error again.

You contact customer service, and they basically say sorry we cant help you, you have to use the app. The same response was given to our travel agent.

Is anyone else having the same issues? Has anyone found a way to talk to someone at Princess who can actually help? Instead of just replying with scripted answers?

[julie3fan]

49 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I hope that a large enough number of passengers continue to make MDR reservations or choose fixed dining, and that the walk up MDR does not become the MDR of choice leading to long queues or lots of pagers.

 

I'd guess that if either TD or reservation dining rooms are under-utilized, that overflow walk up guests might be redirected to one of those dining rooms.

[memoak]

Just now, SBCruiser1 said:

Honestly ive experienced nothing but issues with the new Medallion app and the dining reservation booking for princess for my upcoming cruise.

 

I have a booking for myself and my guest, and my parents have a booking for themselves. Every time i try and book our dining reservation together, it gives an error on the app. I had dining reservations booked just for myself and my guest, and when I removed them to try and add my parents it crashed as well. Then trying to re-add the exact reservation i just canceled, it gave the same error again.

You contact customer service, and they basically say sorry we cant help you, you have to use the app. The same response was given to our travel agent.

Is anyone else having the same issues? Has anyone found a way to talk to someone at Princess who can actually help? Instead of just replying with scripted answers?

Have you linked the two bookings and designated them as cruise companions ?

[SBCruiser1]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

Have you linked the two bookings and designated them as cruise companions ?

Yes, i have them in my cruise companions. So i see them in the list to add it. I was able to for the first 3 days delete my existing reservations (just my guest and I) and rebook with my parents. But then suddenly on the 4th day it started throwing up the error codes and exceptions. And now i cant book anything else at all. Solo, with my guest, with them, anything.

thankfully i didnt delete all of the prior reservations or i would haven anything for the last 4 days of the cruise.

[memoak]

Just now, SBCruiser1 said:

Yes, i have them in my cruise companions. So i see them in the list to add it. I was able to for the first 3 days delete my existing reservations (just my guest and I) and rebook with my parents. But then suddenly on the 4th day it started throwing up the error codes and exceptions. And now i cant book anything else at all. Solo, with my guest, with them, anything.

thankfully i didnt delete all of the prior reservations or i would haven anything for the last 4 days of the cruise.

I would just see the restaurant manager pre first dinner and explain your situation 

[SBCruiser1]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

I would just see the restaurant manager pre first dinner and explain your situation 

Yeah, I think that is just what i am going to have to do. It is just frustrating as that was supposed to be the whole point of the app and booking, so that everything was good to go and you could relax on your cruise instead of having to try and fix issues.

 

Just seems like Princess has really dropped the ball recently when it comes to the "new" services. You tell them its broken, and they just point you back to the thing you told them was broken.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I hope that a large enough number of passengers continue to make MDR reservations or choose fixed dining, and that the walk up MDR does not become the MDR of choice leading to long queues or lots of pagers.

I'm guessing you will be among the walk-up diners?  This new system has everyone worried that their preferred way of dining will be a big mess.  I'm in the fixed dining camp, where enough of us complained about eliminating it that Princess gave in and restored it.  I suspect the DMW reservations people are worried about their new rules as well.  In the past, the overflow walk-in people would be redirected to any empty tables in the fixed MDR.  I saw it all the time.  In any case, I don't see how this new system could be any worse than the zoo of reservation people lined up with the walk-ups in queues that went on forever.  It was a nightmare and put us off Princess for the past year.  I'm waiting to see how it all shakes out, and I guess you are, too. 

[t&atravel]

54 minutes ago, SBCruiser1 said:

Yes, i have them in my cruise companions. So i see them in the list to add it. I was able to for the first 3 days delete my existing reservations (just my guest and I) and rebook with my parents. But then suddenly on the 4th day it started throwing up the error codes and exceptions. And now i cant book anything else at all. Solo, with my guest, with them, anything.

thankfully i didnt delete all of the prior reservations or i would haven anything for the last 4 days of the cruise.

When is your cruise?  If it’s after Sept 14th all dining reservations are going to be canceled anyway.  Rebooking starts in June.  I couldn’t see where you mentioned a date.  If your cruise is before then you shouldn’t be having problems, however when Princess starts messing with the app things don’t always go smoothly.