Question about Island Princess dining rooms

[We_like_to_cruise]

Hello,

 

I know the Island Princess recently came back into service, but hoping perhaps someone on one of the past few voyages could assist.

 

Is there still "traditional" set dining times in the Provence Dining Room, or is it all ATD like in the Bordeaux Dining Room?

 

We are looking for a table for two earlier in the evening and wondered if one dining room would be preferred, or would be set up with more two tops.

 

The  #@?&@** (censored) Medallion App offers no assistance -  "Loading..................................................................................." ad infinitum

 

Thank you.

Edited May 16, 2022 by We_like_to_cruise
edit

[Cuedon]

I'm on anytime and finding the dining on the Island is messed up right now; a lot of people (myself included) are seeing long waits in line and getting told there is no availability for a private table, despite booking for the entire voyage pre-voyage. Or private tables aren't open yet, or you have a reservation but no table, or you don't have a reservation, or the system is bugging out... The reason, mostly from the same guy, kept changing.

 

I had better luck at Bordeaux, where they found seating for me in a few minutes (and apologized that they couldn't seat me at the same table as the other day, which I didn't expect anyways), as opposed to Provence, where I was told to come back in two hours. 

[Loveh2ofl]

On 5/16/2022 at 10:44 AM, Cuedon said:

I'm on anytime and finding the dining on the Island is messed up right now; a lot of people (myself included) are seeing long waits in line and getting told there is no availability for a private table, despite booking for the entire voyage pre-voyage. Or private tables aren't open yet, or you have a reservation but no table, or you don't have a reservation, or the system is bugging out... The reason, mostly from the same guy, kept changing.

 

I had better luck at Bordeaux, where they found seating for me in a few minutes (and apologized that they couldn't seat me at the same table as the other day, which I didn't expect anyways), as opposed to Provence, where I was told to come back in two hours. 

We just got of the 5/11-5/26 sailing.  Both MDRs were anytime dining.  I had reserved private tables prior to the cruise except for a couple of nights when not available.  I changed my seating time from 6:20 to 6 via the tv 'app' after the first two nights.  We ate in Provence every night since that was the only MDR where we found reservable tables for 2.  For 2nd half of cruise we requested a specific table every night and were able to get it expect for one night where we were seated at a different table for 2.  On dates where I couldn't reserve a table for 2 and had 'dine with others', I kept checking back and was able to reserve table for two on those dates.

[Cuedon]

On 5/30/2022 at 6:29 AM, Loveh2ofl said:

We just got of the 5/11-5/26 sailing.  Both MDRs were anytime dining.  I had reserved private tables prior to the cruise except for a couple of nights when not available.  I changed my seating time from 6:20 to 6 via the tv 'app' after the first two nights.  We ate in Provence every night since that was the only MDR where we found reservable tables for 2.  For 2nd half of cruise we requested a specific table every night and were able to get it expect for one night where we were seated at a different table for 2.  On dates where I couldn't reserve a table for 2 and had 'dine with others', I kept checking back and was able to reserve table for two on those dates.

I've been escalated to three different tiers of management to get a fixed time (not even a fixed table) before 7PM, as was promised by five different staff. 

 

I still can't get in without the staff doing seating at the door telling me it's my fault every day. 

[We_like_to_cruise]

On 5/16/2022 at 10:44 AM, Cuedon said:

I had better luck at Bordeaux, where they found seating for me in a few minutes (and apologized that they couldn't seat me at the same table as the other day, which I didn't expect anyways), as opposed to Provence, where I was told to come back in two hours. 

 

and

 

On 5/30/2022 at 9:29 AM, Loveh2ofl said:

We ate in Provence every night since that was the only MDR where we found reservable tables for 2.

 

Oh boy.  it doesn't sound like either MDR has their act together !

 

Thank you for your responses.

 

[We_like_to_cruise]

1 hour ago, Cuedon said:

I've been escalated to three different tiers of management to get a fixed time (not even a fixed table) before 7PM, as was promised by five different staff. 

 

I still can't get in without the staff doing seating at the door telling me it's my fault every day. 

 

Wow, that is not good !

[Loveh2ofl]

1 hour ago, Cuedon said:

I've been escalated to three different tiers of management to get a fixed time (not even a fixed table) before 7PM, as was promised by five different staff. 

 

I still can't get in without the staff doing seating at the door telling me it's my fault every day. 

I booked every day using the tv, individually, in advance.  Same time, same dining room, table for 2 in Provence, and would check every day to make sure it was still there that day.   Mine were for 6pm so that we could make the show;  we would arrive about 5:45 or 5:50 each day and were seated immediately.  (not counting the first day from LA which was entirely messed up but still got a table for 2 as reserved).  Perhaps it's the peak time of 7pm that is the issue...

[Cuedon]

3 hours ago, Loveh2ofl said:

Perhaps it's the peak time of 7pm that is the issue...

Unlikely, since I received a call at the end of my first leg about booking for the subsequent legs, and I said that any consistent time before 7PM was fine... And they called back confirming me for 5:20. Which is very much unconfirmed. 

[Loveh2ofl]

44 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

Unlikely, since I received a call at the end of my first leg about booking for the subsequent legs, and I said that any consistent time before 7PM was fine... And they called back confirming me for 5:20. Which is very much unconfirmed. 

And did you ever look on your tv dining reservations (don't need a smartphone) to check if it was correct? First thing the head waiter would do upon getting to the dining room would be to scan one of our medallions and the reservation would come right up.  Just curious.

[Cuedon]

3 hours ago, Loveh2ofl said:

And did you ever look on your tv dining reservations (don't need a smartphone) to check if it was correct? First thing the head waiter would do upon getting to the dining room would be to scan one of our medallions and the reservation would come right up.  Just curious.

Doesn't matter, according to multiple people in different departments; the backend for the reservation system is distinct from the display that's passenger-facing. Which is probably for the best, since, depending on the day, I have one to six of them showing, but whoever the service desk phones about it insists there's only one showing. 

[Loveh2ofl]

2 minutes ago, Cuedon said:

Doesn't matter, according to multiple people in different departments; the backend for the reservation system is distinct from the display that's passenger-facing. Which is probably for the best, since, depending on the day, I have one to six of them showing, but whoever the service desk phones about it insists there's only one showing. 

Well maybe we were just lucky - but what we did worked.  Hope it works again on the world cruise cause we booked for 1/2023

[NownZen]

We are on the Island now. the Provence DR is on deck 6 while Bordeaux is on 5. I think more people go to deck 6 so it may be more crowded. The DMW lowers the capacity because of the staggered times and it is a pain because of the  escort process. What you can do is to ask your waiter to be assigned to the same table and time each night. Then you can bypass the line, tell them you have a reserved table xx and go to it.

The flip side of this is that we decided we wanted to eat later and getting this stopped from the app (at least at a shared table is impossible).  Finally we decided to just eat at the buffet. The food is very good and you can eat at your time and on your schedule.

[Loveh2ofl]

9 minutes ago, NownZen said:

We are on the Island now. the Provence DR is on deck 6 while Bordeaux is on 5. I think more people go to deck 6 so it may be more crowded. The DMW lowers the capacity because of the staggered times and it is a pain because of the  escort process. What you can do is to ask your waiter to be assigned to the same table and time each night. Then you can bypass the line, tell them you have a reserved table xx and go to it.

The flip side of this is that we decided we wanted to eat later and getting this stopped from the app (at least at a shared table is impossible).  Finally we decided to just eat at the buffet. The food is very good and you can eat at your time and on your schedule.

Midway thru the cruise we said we wanted the same table # each night (Provence); we already had the same time each night reserved, and when we'd arrive I'd say 'xxx' and only once was it already taken (perhaps by someone still there from earlier).