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

[billco]

4 minutes ago, Billish said:

To be fair, that is a table for a late afternoon tea, not dinner.  No wonder you got the same staff every  afternoon ! 

I never realised that evening (!) meals were available so early.

My mistake. Time was 6:00. We have 5:40 booked on our upcoming cruises in October and November. Pretty sure the time for TD was 5:30 when we first booked the cruise.

Edited September 29, 2021 by billco

[Billish]

2 minutes ago, billco said:

My mistake. Time was 6:00. We have 5:40 booked on our upcoming cruises in October and December. Pretty sure the time for TD was 5:30 when we first booked the cruise.

So, 18:00. So much easier with the 24 hour clock. 

Still early for us  Europeans,  but normal for Americans !

When I visited  the US for work , it was always nice when my US colleagues invited me for dinner when we finished work for the day. I assumed we would meet in a restaurant at 20:00, but no, we would go stright out to eat,  and at 19:00 I would be back in my hotel room ! 

[billco]

2 minutes ago, Billish said:

So, 18:00. So much easier with the 24 hour clock. 

Still early for us  Europeans,  but normal for Americans !

When I visited  the US for work , it was always nice when my US colleagues invited me for dinner when we finished work for the day. I assumed we would meet in a restaurant at 20:00, but no, we would go stright out to eat,  and at 19:00 I would be back in my hotel room ! 

It worked for us on the Regal, not so much on the Majestic. We have an aft cabin on the Dolphin Deck 9. At 4:30 is Elite/Platinum Happy Hour almost directly below us in the Vista Lounge on Promenade Deck 7. Below that on Fiesta Deck 6 is the Allegro Dining Room. Happy Hour on the Majestic was in the Conservatory, about as far away as one could get.

[Cuedon]

Is there any way to get the MDR menu outside of the MDR now, like via room service or takeout? Seems like a good way to decongest the room, though it'll be a logistical headache.

[skynight]

5 hours ago, Cuedon said:

Is there any way to get the MDR menu outside of the MDR now, like via room service or takeout? Seems like a good way to decongest the room, though it'll be a logistical headache.

Full Suite passengers can request items for cabin delivery from the full MDR menu. Others can request some entrees and other items from the Ocean Now selections. Only mini suites and full suites have an indoor table & seating for dining. Balcony cabins have a small table and chairs on the balcony.

[PaperSniper4]

On 8/12/2021 at 9:34 AM, castlebello said:

.... ... we booked all our reservations on the App before we went ... but it became apparent on our first trip to the MDR that that didnt make any difference what so ever - it was the same as all our visits on previous cruises under Any Time dining (or whatever they called it!)  We turned up, they asked up for our cabin number and what size table we wanted, and away we went......

Yes, I am concerned this will be the way it is. I booked our time and table size last week for our next cruise. It took me a couple of months to finally get the ap to "allow" me to make the  reservations. However, there is no way I can find to verify those reservations are actually made...and not just an exercise on the phone.  I may have not been happy with the time of the traditional early dining, but it's really starting to look good to me now!😎

 

Doug

[kd1irk]

Finished a cruise a week or so ago aboard the Majestic with Club Class. Cost us about $300/person for the cruise. We enjoyed the Club Class experience. We usually had the same wait staff and were seated at whatever table was available. Ate there for most of our meals and appreciated the expanded menu choices and excellent service. For us it was totally worth it. We usually hit the Specialty Restaurants once per cruise, especially if it's something new. Those were booked using the app or using the TV in the room that now has some Medallion capabilities. Seems like Crown Grill booked up full pretty early on the cruise. Harmony and Bistro Sur La Mer had openings throughout. Both were worth the visit.
We've done the Chef's Table a few times in the past so didn't bother this time.

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, kd1irk said:

Finished a cruise a week or so ago aboard the Majestic with Club Class. Cost us about $300/person for the cruise. We enjoyed the Club Class experience. We usually had the same wait staff and were seated at whatever table was available. Ate there for most of our meals and appreciated the expanded menu choices and excellent service. For us it was totally worth it. We usually hit the Specialty Restaurants once per cruise, especially if it's something new. Those were booked using the app or using the TV in the room that now has some Medallion capabilities. Seems like Crown Grill booked up full pretty early on the cruise. Harmony and Bistro Sur La Mer had openings throughout. Both were worth the visit.
We've done the Chef's Table a few times in the past so didn't bother this time.

If I was booking a "better" type Mini, I'd probably pay the extra too, but it would cost us a lot more than $300/pp to get into CC dining from an Inside cabin.

[wowzz]

15 hours ago, kd1irk said:

Cost us about $300/person for the cruise.

For that price you could have eaten in a speciality restaurant every night, and had change  ! 

[chamima]

On 9/28/2021 at 9:46 PM, tweezer said:

You were lucky.  We were on the Sept 12 Alaska cruise, on the Majestic, and they said we could not get the same table every night.  Because we are elite, we were able to reserve a table for 2, same dining room, same time for every night on the Medallion app well in advance.  But every night when we would get to the dining room, they seemed very confused about where to put us.  One night they even asked us if we wanted to share a table.  Each night we asked for a window, but only received it twice.  Each night a different waitstaff.  Which is not good when you have a special diet.  Every night I had to wait 20 minutes for the gluten free bread (which I had ordered the night before.)  Asked the waitstaff repeatedly if we could get the same table every night but was told "no" - "it's all in the computer, and we can't do anything..."  I tried calling "138" one night and asked for a particular table, but they told me the same thing: "it's all in the computer, we can't do anything..."  She did say she could put a special note in the computer for me, which would take affect two hours before our reservation.  But when we got to the dining room that night, they had no record of this "notice".  Back to a different table we went, and watched as the table we wanted sat empty for an hour.  This was our 19th cruise on Princess, and I don't know if we'll be doing any more if they don't fix this.  With traditional dining, the waitstaff know your names, they know you want, and they do so many special things for you; they really make the dining experience enjoyable.  The experience we just had on Princess was so disappointing, we didn't even go to the last formal night.

 

 

I agree. One of the things we most enjoy(ed) about cruising was not having to explain every single night about the special diet. We have always thought it was special having and getting to know our waitstaff. We are still in touch with many of them from over the years.

 

DMW might work for people who can just eat anything off the menu but ruins the dining experience for those of us who can't.

[c-boy]

21 hours ago, kd1irk said:

Finished a cruise a week or so ago aboard the Majestic with Club Class. Cost us about $300/person for the cruise. We enjoyed the Club Class experience. We usually had the same wait staff and were seated at whatever table was available. Ate there for most of our meals and appreciated the expanded menu choices and excellent service. For us it was totally worth it. We usually hit the Specialty Restaurants once per cruise, especially if it's something new. Those were booked using the app or using the TV in the room that now has some Medallion capabilities. Seems like Crown Grill booked up full pretty early on the cruise. Harmony and Bistro Sur La Mer had openings throughout. Both were worth the visit.
We've done the Chef's Table a few times in the past so didn't bother this time.

wonderful ! thank you for the hands on report 👍

[NavyVeteran]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

I agree. One of the things we most enjoy(ed) about cruising was not having to explain every single night about the special diet. We have always thought it was special having and getting to know our waitstaff. We are still in touch with many of them from over the years.

 

DMW might work for people who can just eat anything off the menu but ruins the dining experience for those of us who can't.

If you have a special diet, then you don't order from the waiter anyway. You order from the headwaiter the day before. If you go to the same dining room, you can order from the same headwaiter.

 

There is no reason you need to explain your special diet to the waiter. Just tell him you ordered yesterday from the headwaiter.

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

If you have a special diet, then you don't order from the waiter anyway. You order from the headwaiter the day before. If you go to the same dining room, you can order from the same headwaiter.

 

There is no reason you need to explain your special diet to the waiter. Just tell him you ordered yesterday from the headwaiter.

THERE are more than one HW per DR and they are assigned sections.  With random seating, no guarantee of even having the same HW.  Princess IT and DMW has destroyed TD experience and they don't seem to be solving the problem even though they promise to maintain the experience.

[Turk1]

Again, I totally understand how a lot of people like having Anytime dining options but we really enjoy the aspects of TD and would hope Princess see there is room for both types and returns at least ONE dining room to TD. Its the experience has Steelers36 said that we enjoy.

[memoak]

3 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

If you have a special diet, then you don't order from the waiter anyway. You order from the headwaiter the day before. If you go to the same dining room, you can order from the same headwaiter.

 

There is no reason you need to explain your special diet to the waiter. Just tell him you ordered yesterday from the headwaiter.

Since you don't have an assigned table how would they know where to find you ?

[NavyVeteran]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

Since you don't have an assigned table how would they know where to find you ?

Tell your waiter that you ordered from the headwaiter yesterday. It may also be useful to mention it when checking in at the front door to get your seat. You should always talk with a headwaiter - not a waiter - if you have food restrictions.

 

This works even if you are eating in a different dining room, although you may have to explain the restrictions to a different headwaiter when ordering for the next day.

[jwattle]

31 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

Tell your waiter that you ordered from the headwaiter yesterday. It may also be useful to mention it when checking in at the front door to get your seat. You should always talk with a headwaiter - not a waiter - if you have food restrictions.

 

This works even if you are eating in a different dining room, although you may have to explain the restrictions to a different headwaiter when ordering for the next day.

I believe it's the MD that they order from 🙂

[NavyVeteran]

3 hours ago, jwattle said:

I believe it's the MD that they order from 🙂

No, it's the headwaiter. There is only one maitre'd on the ship, and he's probably not in your dining room.

[Steelers36]

Yes, it's the HW for your section of whatever DR you are in.  

[chamima]

14 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Tell your waiter that you ordered from the headwaiter yesterday. It may also be useful to mention it when checking in at the front door to get your seat. You should always talk with a headwaiter - not a waiter - if you have food restrictions.

 

This works even if you are eating in a different dining room, although you may have to explain the restrictions to a different headwaiter when ordering for the next day.

 

 

This is exactly what we loved about cruising - NOT having to explain restrictions at every meal as we do in restaurants.

We love (d) establishing a relationship with our waiter and headwaiter. The banter and rapport was as much a part of the dinner experience as the food.

As I said before, we are still in touch with some of  our waitstaff from over the years.

This is one of the things that made cruising more special than land vacations.

We've had 35 cruises with Princess and really hope this is only a temporary glitch .

[Steelers36]

Latest mostly non-info from Princess CR contact.

 

They STILL have issues with DMW for multiple-linked voyages (what we all call B2B's).  I can say that just yesterday, I could finally get DMW responding to booking info for our B2B2B - which had all been lost when we re-fared.  DMW finally took a full-voyage booking (same time all nights and supposedly same table).  However, for B1 and B3, our dining party of four is supposedly split across tables.  Only for B2 of the B2B2B do we have a private table.  Whoever dreamed up the idea to split a dining party and that would be acceptable to guests is beyond my imagination.  (I got no response to that). 

 

Since I was not speaking to the source OCEAN people at that point, there was nothing I could discuss on how much inventory released and what was up with the splitting business. 

 

I tried to engage on the whole TD experience and not getting same tables and wait-staff and she told me same thing she did many weeks back after Majestic had done a couple of voyages and it was a mess.  She said, HQ had spoken with the DR staff about same table/same waiters.  But, I of course told her that isn't what I am reading - albeit I allowed IDK how many guests are not getting same table and wait-staff versus number who may be getting it via special requests, etc.  I told her it definitely is not working and I told her - again - that DR mgrs are telling at least some guests that nothing they can do as the computer controls the tables. 

 

I tried to engage on the whole idea of turning TD back to the ship as it will never be programmed to work, but she was out of her element in that one not being IT and such.  But I have to keep hammering away at TD when I can.

 

Clearly, there continues to be a disconnect between reality on the ship(s) and what some folks supposedly in the know at HQ actually know.  She will be on Majestic this coming week and promised she would be looking in to the dining situation.  I expect a follow-up.

 

Meanwhile, I think some more emails are in order to try and wake-up some sr mgmt that things are not all rosy.

 

[billco]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Latest mostly non-info from Princess CR contact.

 

They STILL have issues with DMW for multiple-linked voyages (what we all call B2B's).  I can say that just yesterday, I could finally get DMW responding to booking info for our B2B2B - which had all been lost when we re-fared.  DMW finally took a full-voyage booking (same time all nights and supposedly same table).  However, for B1 and B3, our dining party of four is supposedly split across tables.  Only for B2 of the B2B2B do we have a private table.  Whoever dreamed up the idea to split a dining party and that would be acceptable to guests is beyond my imagination.  (I got no response to that). 

 

Since I was not speaking to the source OCEAN people at that point, there was nothing I could discuss on how much inventory released and what was up with the splitting business. 

 

I tried to engage on the whole TD experience and not getting same tables and wait-staff and she told me same thing she did many weeks back after Majestic had done a couple of voyages and it was a mess.  She said, HQ had spoken with the DR staff about same table/same waiters.  But, I of course told her that isn't what I am reading - albeit I allowed IDK how many guests are not getting same table and wait-staff versus number who may be getting it via special requests, etc.  I told her it definitely is not working and I told her - again - that DR mgrs are telling at least some guests that nothing they can do as the computer controls the tables. 

 

I tried to engage on the whole idea of turning TD back to the ship as it will never be programmed to work, but she was out of her element in that one not being IT and such.  But I have to keep hammering away at TD when I can.

 

Clearly, there continues to be a disconnect between reality on the ship(s) and what some folks supposedly in the know at HQ actually know.  She will be on Majestic this coming week and promised she would be looking in to the dining situation.  I expect a follow-up.

 

Meanwhile, I think some more emails are in order to try and wake-up some sr mgmt that things are not all rosy.

 

You sure seem to spend a lot of time on these DMW issues. I wonder if your contacts at Princess think you are too high maintenance and are playing with you.

Edited October 9, 2021 by billco

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, billco said:

You sure seem to spend a lot of time on these DMW issues. I wonder if your contacts at Princess think you are too high maintenance and are playing with you.

I don't contact them very often at all about it.  I do monitor MC App and see if anything changed or working.  I was waiting with nothing happening lately until I refared bookings and dining was lost.  And then couldn't get it back as DMW not working.  I am probably a drop in the bucket among all the calls and contacts they get for MC App.  At least the rest of it works for me 

 

[skynight]

We have 4 voyages booked b2b2b2b for 2023. A few days ago I was able to reserve same time, same DR, table to share. We always enjoyed ATD where many evenings we would sit with different individuals. At the desk we would request tables no larger than 6 and most times they were provided. Will see what kind of flexibility the staff has once on board.

Automated systems are not able to provide for all the intricacies of customer's requests. That kind of hospitality service can only be accomplished by individuals. Princess is indeed in the hospitality service business. The service just happens to be at sea.

Was thinking. Our cruises are 4 separate booking numbers which show as a single voyage on the medallion app. The web site does show the 4 separate booking numbers. What would happen to the dining reservation if we decided to say cancel the 1st two bookings only? In the past nothing would happen to our ATD request. Now? 

Edited October 10, 2021 by skynight

[vadell]

We have a cruise booked for this week and it will not let me book any time for shared or individual tables in the main dining rooms on the dine my way app, it has let me book and pay for the Crown grill. 

 

Everything else comes up with a red exclamation mark saying error it is our first Princess cruise, I assume we will be able to just get a table when we board