Standing reservation for MDR

[Kay S]

All of this uncertainty is why we're in Club Class next month.  It seems a shame that what used to be the Princess experience, no lines, same wait staff, "better" food, now costs extra.  I really do feel "forced" into it.  However, since it's all FCC (good-will credit) we're doing it on Princess' dime.

(Doubtless some local "expert" will chime in and tell me I'm all wrong about this. 🤣)

[JimmyVWine]

16 minutes ago, Kay S said:

(Doubtless some local "expert" will chime in and tell me I'm all wrong about this. 🤣)

You aren't "wrong".  You are hedging against uncertainty.  Based on reports here (including my own first hand experience), it is possible to get the Princess experience without paying extra.  Same table each night. No waiting.  Walk straight to "your" table. No need to even tap in.  That was exactly our experience.  But other reports from other ships reveal that it is not always like that.  So you are paying extra to hedge against encountering the latter experience.  That is certainly not "wrong".  Bird in the hand, and all that.  Perhaps someday all ships will work as smoothly as Regal is now.  That is certainly Princess' goal, or so I assume.  

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

You aren't "wrong".  You are hedging against uncertainty.  Based on reports here (including my own first hand experience), it is possible to get the Princess experience without paying extra.  Same table each night. No waiting.  Walk straight to "your" table. No need to even tap in.  That was exactly our experience.  But other reports from other ships reveal that it is not always like that.  So you are paying extra to hedge against encountering the latter experience.  That is certainly not "wrong".  Bird in the hand, and all that.  Perhaps someday all ships will work as smoothly as Regal is now.  That is certainly Princess' goal, or so I assume.  

Yes, the Regal team has it right and I have to wonder if it wasn't the hand of Nicola Furlan af work.  It was just like the pre-Covid times for us and others.

 

[john watson]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

On the ships I have been on Grand, Ruby and Majestic they had two lines.  Reservations on the left, no reservations on the right.

 

The primary difference is that in the old days you could go directly to your table after the first night and not have to check in.  Now you do have to check in each night, both to confirm the table number (has always been the same for us), as well as to confirm that you are using the table.

 

I can see how same table same time each night could be managed by staff.  If you wanted to dine an hour later one night would they keep your table unoccupied?  That would be pretty inefficient. So some sort of checking in must be recorded by the staff to see that standard time was employed at that table  even if you never noticed it.  Alternatively did you advise time variation beforehand or was same table same time taken every day of the cruise?

 

Regards John

Edited October 28, 2022 by john watson

[Kay S]

7 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

 Perhaps someday all ships will work as smoothly as Regal is now.  That is certainly Princess' goal, or so I assume.  

I hope so.  Our experience on the Majestic (when all of this was new) was a nightmare of long lines, missing reservations and harried staff.  A lady collapsed waiting in line for such a long time.  The staff brought her a chair.  After some decades of a seamless dining experience, I was not happy about the fiasco.  Maybe Princess will eventually get the kinks worked out.  They have another chance with me in the summer when we burn through the last of the FCC.  

 

BTW, you are more expert than "so-called expert" around here, and yours is an opinion I respect.

[Guest ldtr]

11 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

I can see how same table same time each night could be managed by staff.  If you wanted to dine an hour later one night would they keep your table unoccupied?  That would be pretty inefficient. So some sort of checking in must be recorded by the staff to see that standard time was employed at that table  even if you never noticed it.  Alternatively did you advise time variation beforehand or was same table same time taken every day of the cruise?

 

Regards John

I suspect if you made appropriate arrangements with the staff for that one exception night you probably could do it.  What I have found is due to the estimated times for table turnover you can routinely get the same table booking each night for at least 30 minutes past opening and maybe as late as an hour depending upon what reservations there are later in the evening.  If you normally dine right when they open they might have another reservation booked for that table 2 hours later.  In which case you would probably not get that same table.  What I have found is if you want to arrange something talk to the staff at the door as you leave the dining room the night before and ask.  I have found that they are very willing to accommodate requests if possible.

 

We tend to dine early at the same time to be able to catch the various entertainment options.  If we need to delay it is either for a specialty dining or we just go to the buffet.  So have not tested it myself, but some friends on mine have, when they were going to be 30 minutes late due to an excursion and was able to make arrangements.

 

My recommendation is ask, if it is possible they will do it, if not they will let you know.

[uncleboo]

I don’t understand why you have to bother checking every night if you go to the same dining room at the same time that’s a real pain in the butt for the passenger and then the whole cruise experience supposed to be to make life easier for the passenger while they’re on vacation? Who wants to wait in line do you have the same table you just go there every night I don’t understand why I was checking it is needed constantly

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, uncleboo said:

I don’t understand why you have to bother checking every night if you go to the same dining room at the same time that’s a real pain in the butt for the passenger and then the whole cruise experience supposed to be to make life easier for the passenger while they’re on vacation? Who wants to wait in line do you have the same table you just go there every night I don’t understand why I was checking it is needed constantly

1. So the people managing the table know that you have arrived and mark the table as being in use and not cancel the reservation for a no show.

 

2. For many people that do not dine early or at the equivalent time to when the second seating used to start under the old traditional system they will not necessarily be seated at the same table so the check in is to get what table they are seated at for that evening

 

3. Even those that dine early they need to confirm with the staff at the desk that they will have the same table for the rest of the cruise.

 

In the days when the system first rolled out, and people generally did not understand the system there some delays (reservations vs no reservations, do I need reservations, etc.)  Now that it is been in use for a while it seems to be running much more smoothly on the ships I have been on. The lines for reservations are now mostly due to passengers lining up before the doors open and once the doors due open the lines is processed pretty quickly (at least on the 4 different ships I have been on).  Still a bit worse on the first night for passengers not familiar with it.

 

Lines for those without reservations are subject to more delays.

 

The system now is pretty much the same used for some land based dining venues dealing with table management, except compared to most land venues a larger scale.

[Musky Ike]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

Still by not canceling in advance  means a substantial delay before the table gets available.  Not much for the person canceling, but might have a substantial impact on someone without a reservation waiting for a table.

On this cruise it would not have been an issue. The ship may not yet have been at full capacity but we saw many empty tables and few at the entrance line. My memory is not the best, but I think there was a couple of nights where they saw us on their tablet as we approached and just waived us on through without actually having to hold the medallion up to the reader. They probably just needed to check off that we did in fact show up. I'm sure it's new to them also and a work in progress, but I like it.

[EllieinNJ]

I am the OP.  I just wanted to confirm what I thought was right about cancelling the standing reservation for the evening if I might go to another restaurant.  But on the other hand I would not presume to just walk in to the table I had the previous night without checking in with the hostess.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, uncleboo said:

I don’t understand why you have to bother checking every night if you go to the same dining room at the same time that’s a real pain in the butt for the passenger and then the whole cruise experience supposed to be to make life easier for the passenger while they’re on vacation? Who wants to wait in line do you have the same table you just go there every night I don’t understand why I was checking it is needed constantly

Mr Padgett (aka Mickey Mouse) is on tape stating that his whole philosophy behind Medallion Class is the make life easier for passenger when on vacation (remove barriers and all that sort of talk).

 

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I am the OP.  I just wanted to confirm what I thought was right about cancelling the standing reservation for the evening if I might go to another restaurant.  But on the other hand I would not presume to just walk in to the table I had the previous night without checking in with the hostess.

You CAN do that on some ships, but you would need to know they are working it that way and that the table is yours for the full voyage.  Besides, there is always someone there at the door and you greet each other on the way by and they know what's up.

[Torfamm]

13 hours ago, uncleboo said:

I don’t understand why you have to bother checking every night if you go to the same dining room at the same time that’s a real pain in the butt for the passenger and then the whole cruise experience supposed to be to make life easier for the passenger while they’re on vacation? Who wants to wait in line do you have the same table you just go there every night I don’t understand why I was checking it is needed constantly

One possibility is that the table might not be ready if the people dining before you took longer than expected.