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Princess dining options

mum and son
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mum and son

mum and son

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Hi all,

 

I'm being a little lazy and can't find the time to look into the night time dining options for my upcoming Princess cruise. I'm now travelling with a friend, and there is also a US family onboard who I met on a cruise in The Med in 2010. The US family have picked their dining for Michelangelo restaurant at 6pm every night. I hope to dine with them some nights but do our own thing some nights as well. 

 

Seeing as Princess have moved away from the set dining / anytime combo to Dine My Way, can I book some nights at the same time as my US friends and be seated at their table? We have linked ourselves in the app. Or will they have a set table every night with the same people because they've booked the same time every night?

 

I'm confused... 

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Jean C Holiday Sharing Rare

Jean C

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Hi, one or other of the parties will need to book a table for 4 on the nights you want to dine together and "invite" the other party via the app (having already linked them as friends (or whatever the terminology is)). You can also book whichever restaurant, whatever time, and whether a private table for 2 or shared etc, for the remaining days of your cruise, all via the app 🍲 

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arxcards "Live from...." Rare

arxcards

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14 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Anything is possible if you talk to the Maitre d once on board.

Correct, and comparatively easy.

 

Another option is to just show up for dinner together and ask to be seated.

 

In the grand class ships, Princess usually still has one of the 3 dining rooms as a fixed early/late option as well, just like the old days.

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mum and son

mum and son

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1 hour ago, Jean C said:

PS, if they've booked a shared table with randoms (for want of a better word), they can amend their booking for the specific days to invite you on their booking 🍽 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the bit I couldn't understand. I can see them all in my app and I can click on them for a reservation, but I was wondering if that would mess with their existing bookings. I'm completely flexible so I think I'll message her to invite us on certain nights so she has control of the bookings and I'll just fit in. As we're cruising over Xmas and New Year it would be nice to dine together at those times.

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mum and son

mum and son

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52 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Anything is possible if you talk to the Maitre d once on board.

Yes, will do. At last count I could see over 160 available cabins so I think there should be a bit of flexibility with dining as I don't think the ship will be chockers. 

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Jean C Holiday Sharing Rare

Jean C

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2 minutes ago, mum and son said:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the bit I couldn't understand. I can see them all in my app and I can click on them for a reservation, but I was wondering if that would mess with their existing bookings. I'm completely flexible so I think I'll message her to invite us on certain nights so she has control of the bookings and I'll just fit in. As we're cruising over Xmas and New Year it would be nice to dine together at those times.

Best of luck with it all.  Only downside of linking bookings with other people is that they can track where you are on board via their medallions and the screens around the ship - maybe a good thing, maybe not!!! 🤣 Very difficult to type, I'm mid-air between NZ and Aus, to spend some money in your country and board Coral with family, and we have turbulence, grrr. Air NZ have free wifi on board, how good is that!

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arxcards "Live from...." Rare

arxcards

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11 minutes ago, mum and son said:

Yes, will do. At last count I could see over 160 available cabins so I think there should be a bit of flexibility with dining as I don't think the ship will be chockers. 

You can't really gauge the 160 cabins, as 100+ of them could belong to unallocated guarantee bookings. That is why they do guarantees, as that way they have a widest choice available till the last available moment. The best guide for an undersold cruise is when you see the price take a dive.

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MMDown Under Holiday Sharing Rare

MMDown Under

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11 minutes ago, arxcards said:

You can't really gauge the 160 cabins, as 100+ of them could belong to unallocated guarantee bookings. That is why they do guarantees, as that way they have a widest choice available till the last available moment. The best guide for an undersold cruise is when you see the price take a dive.

The best cabin I ever had was a guarantee cabin which I got allocated on the wharf.  Big upgrade from an inside!

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arxcards "Live from...." Rare

arxcards

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18 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

The best cabin I ever had was a guarantee cabin which I got allocated on the wharf.  Big upgrade from an inside!

We have never had a complimentary upgrade on a ship. If we book a cheap guarantee cabin, we cruise in the same cheap guarantee cabin.

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mum and son

mum and son

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39 minutes ago, arxcards said:

We have never had a complimentary upgrade on a ship. If we book a cheap guarantee cabin, we cruise in the same cheap guarantee cabin.

I did get my cabin allocation yesterday. I booked an IF guarantee and was allocated an IB. I've put in a "strong" upgrade bid, for an obstructed oceanview because the price guide was really low. A bit of natural light would be nice and I'd prefer the configuration of the beds against the side wall, rather than under the window (if possible).

 

On my first ever Princess cruise I booked a super cheap obstructed oceanview and got a balcony. That was exciting!

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Jean C Holiday Sharing Rare

Jean C

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8 minutes ago, mum and son said:

I did get my cabin allocation yesterday. I booked an IF guarantee and was allocated an IB. I've put in a "strong" upgrade bid, for an obstructed oceanview because the price guide was really low. A bit of natural light would be nice and I'd prefer the configuration of the beds against the side wall, rather than under the window (if possible).

 

On my first ever Princess cruise I booked a super cheap obstructed oceanview and got a balcony. That was exciting!

Best of luck for a good upgrade 🤞

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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2 hours ago, Jean C said:

Best of luck with it all.  Only downside of linking bookings with other people is that they can track where you are on board via their medallions and the screens around the ship - maybe a good thing, maybe not!!! 🤣 Very difficult to type, I'm mid-air between NZ and Aus, to spend some money in your country and board Coral with family, and we have turbulence, grrr. Air NZ have free wifi on board, how good is that!

Only if you and them accept the tracking 

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sayaguru

sayaguru

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On my last Princess cruise on Coral (last November) I found booking to be a total waste of time. You turned up and were told to wait, same as whether people had booked or not. Hopefully they've sorted that by now. 

Carnival was much better with that. Booked then got a message when table was ready. 

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mum and son

mum and son

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7 hours ago, sayaguru said:

On my last Princess cruise on Coral (last November) I found booking to be a total waste of time. You turned up and were told to wait, same as whether people had booked or not. Hopefully they've sorted that by now. 

Carnival was much better with that. Booked then got a message when table was ready. 

Yes, I found the Carnival app and booking system to be excellent. Not sure why they can't use that app across all Carnival brands. The Medallion app is horrible.

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arxcards "Live from...." Rare

arxcards

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3 hours ago, mum and son said:

The Medallion app is horrible.

How so? I find it easy, and am happy to help. The staff at the Ocean Now counter are briefed to offer any assistance to help once aboard.

 

I don't know if it is good or bad news for you. My little birdy tells me the current app will be totally replaced for a new one - not just an upgrade, but a replacement. The new one is available from 1st December, and it is sure to be 100% free of bugs 🤣. The existing one will continue to work for a few months.

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resordanis

resordanis

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9 hours ago, arxcards said:

How so? I find it easy, and am happy to help. The staff at the Ocean Now counter are briefed to offer any assistance to help once aboard.

 

I don't know if it is good or bad news for you. My little birdy tells me the current app will be totally replaced for a new one - not just an upgrade, but a replacement. The new one is available from 1st December, and it is sure to be 100% free of bugs 🤣. The existing one will continue to work for a few months.

Geoff, I am just wondering whether the new upgrade might help me. On the current app, it has my husbands DOB wrong and no amount of times I have been onto Live Chat or PVP can correct it! Fortunately that cruise isn’t until April, BUT next cruise in February the App says  booking not available ! It has been getting very frustrating. Do you think it might be best to wait until after first December and try again? Also with the April cruise, do you think I will lose all the information currently stored and will I have to start again? The App and I are not friends at the moment, but last cruise season I had very few problems. Thanks

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