Wasn't Cruising Easier Pre-Medallion?

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, Outerdog said:

Of the 18 posters who have expressed an opinion about the Medallion and the app:

 

Favor Medallion: 14 or 78%

Oppose Medallion 4 or 22%

 

About 3 or 4 other posters didn't make it quite clear what they thought.

 

Small sample, but statistically valid? You decide.

 

add me to the opposed.

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, DrSea said:

Embarkation is lightning fast on any all cruise lines after the pandemic regardless of the cruise line. The medallion doesn't affect this at all. 

I can confirm that it was lightning fast on the NCL Prima on 8/6.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, leck57 said:

 

I don't mind the Medallion and the App - could take it or leave it.

However I agree completely about the dining, even though that has nothing to do with the Medallion introduction. The dining changes are the result of some clown at Princess who had a bright idea. Like you, I don't want to decide in advance when I want to eat. I know that technically you don't have to book anything and can just turn up (remember anytime dining) but the last cruise I did that and the person at the reception desk in the dining room looks at you like you are the great unwashed when you tell them you haven't got a booking. They send on your way with a pager while you look over their shoulder at the massive number of unoccupied tables. More fool Princess - I just take my pager to the nearest bar, get another of my 15 allowed drinks and quaff away until my pager activates. I wouldn't have these pre dinner drinks if I went straight to a table so it costs them. Oh well.

You can no longer just show up for anytime dining? Wow, another reason to no longer even consider Princess!

[SargassoPirate]

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

You can no longer just show up for anytime dining? Wow, another reason to no longer even consider Princess!

Although I most often avoid the MDR for dinner, I haven't had any problem getting seated fairly quickly when I do just show up. I eat a lot of breakfasts and lunches in the MDR and the staff get to recognize me when I do show up for dinner and they can usually find me a spot

 

[PMGS247]

Despite its bugs I'm still a fan of the medallion. To me its the same as the cruise card, which is what was in operation when I started cruising so it hasn't changed much.  For the most part the new features added by the medallion, while they are buggy sometimes, they are also mostly optional.  I do feel like the medallion & app have sped up the check-in process.  Fairly nominal in terms of your actual time spent with the agent checking in...maybe 1-2 minutes on average, but that adds up and has resulted in significantly shorter and faster moving lines.  Depending on status and/or arrival time habits, this may not be a benefit that everyone experiences since they never had to fight lines, but there's no doubt the vast majority of passengers arriving experience a faster process from arrival to completing check-in.

[RNRcruisers]

I like the medallion and don't mind the app as I've never had issues with it. I'm with the OP on the dining though, nothing to do with the app, I just prefer traditional seatings.

 

Our first cruise was also in 1990 (I believe we actually had a key for our room! 😄). Many things were better then but a lot are better now. I did enjoy getting our tickets in the mail or from the travel agent - so exciting. And we would go through the excursion leaflet and pick out which ones we wanted to book when onboard. Our first cruise included airfare and they flew us there the day before and paid for the hotel. Those were some definite "better then"s however, check-in took hours. So there is that.

[Abercrombie2019]

Selecting excursions on a computer is a bit of a chore these days.  Constantly switching windows between ports, available excursions, individual excursions...

 

I remember receiving a printed excursion booklet that featured each available excursion for a Panama Canal Cruise in 2005.  (Each cruise had a cruise specific booklet.)  What an incredible waste of ink and paper (and an incredible expense for Princess) - but it was so convenient. 

 

It would be nice if the format for selecting excursions on the computer was a bit more like the excursion booklet (rather than endlessly opening and closing windows).

 

By 2010 we were able to select all of our excursions before our cruise, and we didn't have to pay for them until after they were completed.  Now, if I want to ensure that I can get an excursion I have to reserve and pay for it months in advance.  (And the excursion can still be cancelled for "operational reasons".)

 

It's the same problem with specialty dining.  You are pressured into making reservations months in advance because of the threat that your selected night/time might not be available if you wait.

 

Vacations are supposed to be relaxing.  Some of the innovations to cruising have been stress inducing.

 

Overall, I think that the medallion has been an improvement, but the app experience before the cruise has been responsible for a lot of needless anxiety.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

Selecting excursions on a computer is a bit of a chore these days.  Constantly switching windows between ports, available excursions, individual excursions...

 

I remember receiving a printed excursion booklet that featured each available excursion for a Panama Canal Cruise in 2005.  (Each cruise had a cruise specific booklet.)  What an incredible waste of ink and paper (and an incredible expense for Princess) - but it was so convenient. 

 

It would be nice if the format for selecting excursions on the computer was a bit more like the excursion booklet (rather than endlessly opening and closing windows).

 

By 2010 we were able to select all of our excursions before our cruise, and we didn't have to pay for them until after they were completed.  Now, if I want to ensure that I can get an excursion I have to reserve and pay for it months in advance.  (And the excursion can still be cancelled for "operational reasons".)

 

It's the same problem with specialty dining.  You are pressured into making reservations months in advance because of the threat that your selected night/time might not be available if you wait.

 

Vacations are supposed to be relaxing.  Some of the innovations to cruising have been stress inducing.

 

Overall, I think that the medallion has been an improvement, but the app experience before the cruise has been responsible for a lot of needless anxiety.

One of the reasons for the changes were people doing things like reserving tons of excursions and then canceling them later keeping others from reserving them. As far as specialty dining we never pre book and have never had a problem getting them after we board. They do not book all tables for all times prior to sailing 

[voljeep]

10 minutes ago, memoak said:

One of the reasons for the changes were people doing things like reserving tons of excursions and then canceling them later keeping others from reserving them. As far as specialty dining we never pre book and have never had a problem getting them after we board. They do not book all tables for all times prior to sailing 

correct - hold backs for casino deals and suite passengers ... others - maybe not so much

[PMGS247]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

correct - hold backs for casino deals and suite passengers ... others - maybe not so much

I'm curious what others say on this topic.  I feel like I've run into this before where the booking system showed nothing or minimal available specialty dining in the days leading up to sailing but then calling the reservations line once on board and had no problem getting a time slot.  But then I read this post and I know you're an experienced princess cruiser and I wonder how it'll go.

 

We're on the same sailing on Halloween (assuming you haven't changed).  Sets sail 7 weeks from tomorrow and currently there are only a couple time slots available per night (one night there are none available), only after 8pm, and only Crown Grill.  No Sabatini's reservations come up at all for any night, any time.  I'm definitely suspicious of how real this is.  For a party of 2.

[voljeep]

8 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

I'm curious what others say on this topic.  I feel like I've run into this before where the booking system showed nothing or minimal available specialty dining in the days leading up to sailing but then calling the reservations line once on board and had no problem getting a time slot.  But then I read this post and I know you're an experienced princess cruiser and I wonder how it'll go.

 

We're on the same sailing on Halloween (assuming you haven't changed).  Sets sail 7 weeks from tomorrow and currently there are only a couple time slots available per night (one night there are none available), only after 8pm, and only Crown Grill.  No Sabatini's reservations come up at all for any night, any time.  I'm definitely suspicious of how real this is.  For a party of 2.

from 'other posters' - never had a problem - we just board and 'they' always have a table for us... well, those 'other posters' don't happen to mention they are on a casino discount cruise and have upgraded to suites many times ... of course they can get a table.  Now, we are ordinary -  a couple of cruises past the highest captain's circle level - and have had exactly one suite - pre covid - that we purchased the upgrade prior to the bidding process .

 

On our Thanksgiving cruise on the CB - we were in our standard balcony - prolly in the 1st 3% of boarders - went straight to Crown Grill - nope - no availability all cruise - but you can book Sabatini's for tonight only - so we did.

 

We've got OBC on this upcoming cruise that we would like to use for dining.  We will try to board at the same earlier time as we did before and see what happens

 

It just seems to me - and maybe just me - when someone inquires about booking specialty dining pre-cruise - and posters state they have never had a problem booking onboard - well we have

[PMGS247]

9 minutes ago, voljeep said:

from 'other posters' - never had a problem - we just board and 'they' always have a table for us... well, those 'other posters' don't happen to mention they are on a casino discount cruise and have upgraded to suites many times ... of course they can get a table.  Now, we are ordinary -  a couple of cruises past the highest captain's circle level - and have had exactly one suite - pre covid - that we purchased the upgrade prior to the bidding process .

 

On our Thanksgiving cruise on the CB - we were in our standard balcony - prolly in the 1st 3% of boarders - went straight to Crown Grill - nope - no availability all cruise - but you can book Sabatini's for tonight only - so we did.

 

We've got OBC on this upcoming cruise that we would like to use for dining.  We will try to board at the same earlier time as we did before and see what happens

 

It just seems to me - and maybe just me - when someone inquires about booking specialty dining pre-cruise - and posters state they have never had a problem booking onboard - well we have

Good to know.  I'm one of those that has had success booking on board despite pre-cruise challenges, but it's a sample size of 1 so I can't really draw any conclusions. We'll see. My plan is to check the reservation system regularly between now and sailing to watch for cancellations, but will call the reservations line once on board as well.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

correct - hold backs for casino deals and suite passengers ... others - maybe not so much

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Good to know.  I'm one of those that has had success booking on board despite pre-cruise challenges, but it's a sample size of 1 so I can't really draw any conclusions. We'll see. My plan is to check the reservation system regularly between now and sailing to watch for cancellations, but will call the reservations line once on board as well.

we would book pre-cruise ... or not ... but that pesky OBC hanging over us to use or lose - and no, I am NOT going "there"

[memoak]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

correct - hold backs for casino deals and suite passengers ... others - maybe not so much

My casino deals do not come with any specialty dining and suites only are guaranteed first night specialty ding on embarkation night. I have always been able to go to the venues and get reservations once on board   It may help that we never eat any earlier than 7:30 and when we have been in those venues the have never been full at that time. Have you gone the the door and looked in late in the evening ?

Edited September 11, 2023 by memoak

[Abercrombie2019]

30 minutes ago, voljeep said:

It just seems to me - and maybe just me - when someone inquires about booking specialty dining pre-cruise - and posters state they have never had a problem booking onboard - well we have

Not just you - when we were on Discovery (Oct. 2022) the specialty dining venues were completely booked.  We had pre-booked Sabatini's, Crown Grill and Bistro Sur La Mer.  If we had not pre-booked them we would have been eating at MDR or Salty Dog Gastro Pub (which was never full).

 

Totally different situation on Regal (July 2023).  The specialty dining venues were never full.

[PMGS247]

1 minute ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

Not just you - when we were on Discovery (Oct. 2022) the specialty dining venues were completely booked.  We had pre-booked Sabatini's, Crown Grill and Bistro Sur La Mer.  If we had not pre-booked them we would have been eating at MDR or Salty Dog Gastro Pub (which was never full).

 

Totally different situation on Regal (July 2023).  The specialty dining venues were never full.

Interesting.  My experience where I was successful on board but not successful pre-cruise was on the Discovery in April.  I was able to book Crown Grill and Bistro before the cruise but Sabatini's was completely booked.  Called while on board (day 2 or 3) and had plenty of choices for days 4 & 5.  I didn't expect to, shot in the dark type of thing, but it definitely worked.  I'll find out again when I try again soon I suppose.

[voljeep]

20 minutes ago, memoak said:

My casino deals do not come with any specialty dining and suites only are guaranteed first night specialty ding on embarkation night. I have always been able to go to the venues and get reservations once on board   It may help that we never eat any earlier than 7:30 and when we have been in those venues the have never been full at that time. Have you gone the the door and looked in late in the evening ?

We've walked up at 7 or so to Crown Grill - empty tables - Can we get a table? sorry, we're booked for tonight - can we make a reservation for another night - sorry, we're booked ( for us commoners, I guess)

 

empty tables mean nothing. Could be lack of servers and cooks on a timely basis.

[Rick&Jeannie]

7 minutes ago, voljeep said:

We've walked up at 7 or so to Crown Grill - empty tables - Can we get a table? sorry, we're booked for tonight - can we make a reservation for another night - sorry, we're booked ( for us commoners, I guess)

Crazy!

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, ontheweb said:

You can no longer just show up for anytime dining? Wow, another reason to no longer even consider Princess!

Of course you can.  Don't listen to the naysayers.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

We've walked up at 7 or so to Crown Grill - empty tables - Can we get a table? sorry, we're booked for tonight - can we make a reservation for another night - sorry, we're booked ( for us commoners, I guess)

 

empty tables mean nothing. Could be lack of servers and cooks on a timely basis.

Book a table more in advance then you won't be disappointed. That is what everyone else did!

 

Empty tables means bookings where the customers haven't yet turned up.

 

I am really surprised to see this complaint. It is the same at any popular restaurant in my experience... no booking, no table.

[terrierjohn]

On 9/10/2023 at 5:02 PM, memoak said:

I can’t believe all the Luddites out there. I set the app up in 2022 and have not had to add anything to it since. Just use it to order the medallion. Everyone uses smart phones these days or are all of the complainers using a 20 year old computer ?

I have only cruised once with the app and a medallion, and I agree both have advantages, the app makes it easy to see your on board spend, and it can be handy to check things if you forget your patter, and the medallion must be great for families to check the whereabouts of everyone, and it's useful for wheelchair pushers to be able to take their time reversing into the cabin, especially as Princess has not yet joined the 21st century and installed automatic doors for accessible cabins.

However on our next cruise I am definitely not using the Dine My Way MDR booking, that is just too silly, we will turn up when we fancy at the MDR of our choice and request a sharing table, and hope we get interesting table companions, like we used to in the good old Anytime dining days.

[terrierjohn]

12 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Book a table more in advance then you won't be disappointed. That is what everyone else did!

 

Empty tables means bookings where the customers haven't yet turned up.

 

I am really surprised to see this complaint. It is the same at any popular restaurant in my experience... no booking, no table.

Where was the last local restaurant you visited that had the same number of covers that a cruise ship MDR has?

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Where was the last local restaurant you visited that had the same number of covers that a cruise ship MDR has?

No one was talking about the MDR... the post was about Crown Grill 🙂

[Z0nker]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:29 AM, StarAFire said:

This is my first time on Princess.  We normally do NCL and RCL and they also have apps.  Compared to them, this has been the worse one.  When the app doesn't work, we try and go to the website.  The website basically says, sorry, that feature is in the app, you need to use that. 

 

At the moment, I have checked in myself, and my 70+ year old parents via the app... I think?  It looks like everything has a blue check, and we are in blue lane because I choose to pick up medallions at the port.  However, if we log onto the Princess website, it says our check in status, is incomplete?.  I tried calling Princess, and they told me they weren't sure what might be missing.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

 

 

If it says you’re in the blue lane and everything is checked off, you should be fine. Bring your passport, print and attach your luggage tags to your bags. The medallion is your boarding pass and room key. You are allowed to bring aboard at no charge one bottle of wine per adult. Make sure those are in your carry on bag, NOT the checked bags you give to the porter. 
 

if you don’t drink wine, that’s ok, just drop it off in my stateroom after you board. 😀