dining questions?

[rescuemom]

Its been a few years since we sailed on princess and last time we had the choice of anytime dining or a 6pm or 8 seating with the same people. I just booked a cruise and am looking at the ap and it looks like that has changed. can someone explain it to me? Thank you.

[1965]

It's all open seating now at your choice of mdr. You can make reservations, request a dining time, an mdr, a table size. But you may not have the same dinner companions from night to night. Or you can simply show up at any of the dining rooms at any time. There may be a short wait, sometimes you're seated immediately. We never make reservations, so I don't know how that's done. We prefer eating when & where we feel like it.

[Kay S]

There is a pinned thread here in this forum with all information.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, rescuemom said:

Its been a few years since we sailed on princess and last time we had the choice of anytime dining or a 6pm or 8 seating with the same people. I just booked a cruise and am looking at the ap and it looks like that has changed. can someone explain it to me? Thank you.

Take a look at DineMyWay. There are two basic paths - one is to book the same DR and timeslot for the entire voyage in (hopefully) one step and the other is to book or change individual nights. 

 

Note that booking for the entire voyage does not guarantee you the same table each night.  You have to inquire with DR Mgr on board about that.  Also, contrary to above, you do not get to pick your table size.  You do get to setup your dining party which can be just you and cabinmate(s), or you can connect up with other friends on the same cruise by making them Travel Companions (another App feature).

 

Once you have entered on DMW path or the other, you select a desired timeslot (20-minute intervals) and you then elect either Private or Shared dining.  If electing Private, the table size should match the dining party size (except there are no tables seating odd numbers).  If you elect Sharing, you could be assigned to any size table it could be different each night and you won't know what you have until on the ship.

 

[reedprincess]

10 hours ago, rescuemom said:

Its been a few years since we sailed on princess and last time we had the choice of anytime dining or a 6pm or 8 seating with the same people. I just booked a cruise and am looking at the ap and it looks like that has changed. can someone explain it to me? Thank you.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2795666-dine-my-way-all-new-dining-questions-since-cruising-restart/

[Torfamm]

17 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Note that booking for the entire voyage does not guarantee you the same table each night.  You have to inquire with DR Mgr on board about that.  Also, contrary to above, you do not get to pick your table size.  You do get to setup your dining party which can be just you and cabinmate(s), or you can connect up with other friends on the same cruise by making them Travel Companions (another App feature).

Do you mean that you can’t request a size for shared tables if you want to book a shared table for every night? I’ve never booked a shared table, always private for my party.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Torfamm said:

Do you mean that you can’t request a size for shared tables if you want to book a shared table for every night? I’ve never booked a shared table, always private for my party.

Correct.  The only way to get the size you want is to request it on board.

[Torfamm]

27 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Correct.  The only way to get the size you want is to request it on board.

Thanks!  I haven't had a shared dining table in many years and never on Princess.  Was it an option on Princess to request the size of a shared table when they had traditional dining? 

 

I did it on Royal and Celebrity in the 90's and early 2000's and I think they just assigned you to a table. I don't remember having a choice about the size of the group. After on really bad experience I said "Never again" so my experience is pretty far out of date.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, Torfamm said:

Thanks!  I haven't had a shared dining table in many years and never on Princess.  Was it an option on Princess to request the size of a shared table when they had traditional dining? 

 

I did it on Royal and Celebrity in the 90's and early 2000's and I think they just assigned you to a table. I don't remember having a choice about the size of the group. After on really bad experience I said "Never again" so my experience is pretty far out of date.

Yes, it was an available selection option, but in truth it was a preference and not guaranteed.  A guest was guaranteed TD or AT, but not the table size.  (Of course, AT was all walk-up back then and the guest would then state preferred table size to greeters at the DR entrance).

[wrg]

So, is fixed dinning no longer available?

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, wrg said:

So, is fixed dinning no longer available?

Basically yes. But, you can select, via the app, the same time in the same MDR every night, but you may not be at the same table every night.

[wrg]

Wowzz, thanks. Half of our party has special dietary needs. Should we be concerned? Or do you think we'll be okay?

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, wrg said:

Wowzz, thanks. Half of our party has special dietary needs. Should we be concerned? Or do you think we'll be okay?

You should see the restaurant manager on the first night,  and discuss your needs. Normally they will show you the next night's menu, which you can then tweak as required.