Dining reservations

[OceanoPair]

46 minutes ago, SmooshSmash said:

First dining room, nothing available, 2nd one, time slots every 20 minutes, 3rd one, time slots 5 and 7:30 PM,

The same with me, Nov 2024 Discovery. But the only dining room that was available every 20 mn was the one that is the most inconveniently located. The one you need to go up and down the stairs to get to, Ketchikan.

Skagway, nothing available and Juneau, only two time slots available 5 and 7:30. 

So I had to book Ketchikan because I like to eat around 6:30. 

There must be a reason for that identical setup but I really don't get that. Why make the dining room easiest to get to, hardest to reserve/or unavailable?

We like Ketchikan because of its location. Just a flight of stairs down from the Vista Lounge where we usually attend the nightly Platinum/Elite Happy Hour. We also like Ketchikan as it doesn't have the vibration like you find in the aft dining rooms on the Grand and Crown Class ships. You may have to try a few server teams to find a good one before you tell them you want the same area every night.

[OceanoPair]

11 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@SmooshSmash. So do I have this incorrect for your November 2024 voyage on Discovery Princess?
The reason why Skagway says unavailable is because it is the walk-in restaurant -no reservations will be made.

Please correct -so I may have exactly which dining room is the traditional one and which one is the reservable every 20 minute one, thank you so much for your help.

I don’t have a deck plan in front of me so I don’t know which dining room is in the middle ,which ones in the aft etc. If you can help me out, I have a thread started ship by ship that I will correct.

this is currently what I have listed.

 

Discovery Princess-2024 & 2025

Ketchikan-Traditional 5 pm & 7:30 pm

Juneau-reservable every 20 minute slots ( shared & private table up & including 6:20pm and private table only 6:30 pm on)

Skagway- walk in & Reserve collection dining 

 

This is what we have:

Discovery Princess-2024 & 2025

Juneau-Traditional 5 pm & 7:30 pm

Ketchikan-reservable every 20 minute slots ( shared & private table up & including 6:20pm and private table only 6:30 pm on)

Skagway- walk in & Reserve collection dining 

[arizonaperson]

@OceanoPair thank you .I have Juneau and Ketchikan mixed around. I will change it. Thank you for your help.

Edited July 9 by arizonaperson

[OceanoPair]

1 minute ago, arizonaperson said:

@OceanoPair thank you I have Juneau and Ketchikan mixed around. I will change it. Thank you for your help.

Keep it up. I'm sure many appreciate what you're doing.

[arizonaperson]

Just now, OceanoPair said:

Keep it up. I'm sure many appreciate what you're doing.

Aww, thank you so much. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up for !
Time will tell. 

[judydoc]

We cruise on the Sapphire 20th of July.  Have tried to book dining with no success. Kept getting error try again later.  Decided today to call and see if I could get through to Princess.  Got someone in Customer Service and waited for half an hour. Then to be told we were able to only book for 7 out of the 14 days for the time we wished and it would cost us $300 per person to have thoes reservations.  After saying that was unacceptable, he came back and said they would only charge for one person.  Since when do we have to pay for a reservation in regular dining.  I understand specialty dining.  We are Elite and have sailed with Princess almost 50 weeks.  Totally unaccceptable.  Did not take his good deal.  So frustrating.  Dining is part of what makes our cruise!!

[Z0nker]

26 minutes ago, judydoc said:

We cruise on the Sapphire 20th of July.  Have tried to book dining with no success. Kept getting error try again later.  Decided today to call and see if I could get through to Princess.  Got someone in Customer Service and waited for half an hour. Then to be told we were able to only book for 7 out of the 14 days for the time we wished and it would cost us $300 per person to have thoes reservations.  After saying that was unacceptable, he came back and said they would only charge for one person.  Since when do we have to pay for a reservation in regular dining.  I understand specialty dining.  We are Elite and have sailed with Princess almost 50 weeks.  Totally unaccceptable.  Did not take his good deal.  So frustrating.  Dining is part of what makes our cruise!!

I’m seeing something similar. Booked the first 7 days of an 11 day cruise. App won’t let me book the other days except for specialty. Might have to call in and see what story I get. 

[judydoc]

42 minutes ago, Z0nker said:

I’m seeing something similar. Booked the first 7 days of an 11 day cruise. App won’t let me book the other days except for specialty. Might have to call in and see what story I get. 

Good luck!  Report back please.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, judydoc said:

 Then to be told we were able to only book for 7 out of the 14 days for the time we wished and it would cost us $300 per person to have thoes reservations.  After saying that was unacceptable, he came back and said they would only charge for one person.  Since when do we have to pay for a reservation in regular dining.  

That is crazyy.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, Z0nker said:

I’m seeing something similar. Booked the first 7 days of an 11 day cruise. App won’t let me book the other days except for specialty. Might have to call in and see what story I get. 

Discussed over and over. Princess is releasing only about 50% of tables.

Calling will not help as reps have no idea what is happening. 

Stop stressing and simply go to a restaurant on boarding and get your reservations.   Except for say 6pm will not be an issue.

[Z0nker]

17 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Discussed over and over. Princess is releasing only about 50% of tables.

Calling will not help as reps have no idea what is happening. 

Stop stressing and simply go to a restaurant on boarding and get your reservations.   Except for say 6pm will not be an issue.

Do you have a source for that 50% stat? 

[judydoc]

22 minutes ago, Z0nker said:

Do you have a source for that 50% stat? 

 

22 minutes ago, Z0nker said:

Do you have a source for that 50% stat? 

So they started charging to make reservations???

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Discussed over and over. Princess is releasing only about 50% of tables.

 

Discussed where and by whom?

[Muffinz]

Well I found out yesterday that I can log into our cruise personalizer through our booking number on the princess site and I can make dining reservations for our December 14 Cruise on Crown Princess.... but if I try to do this on the app on my phone it says I can't do it because we've not yet paid in full for the cruise (words to that effect)

I don't know why the web version will let me but the app won't....

 

When I clicked on times 90% of the them on the web version said only said Botticelli dining room was available.... We are hoping for 1 of the other 2 closer dining rooms to be available at 7pm - reason being is my wife has a dodgy knee but may have had it operated on before December... either way we are near the front of the ship and don't know how good her knee will be for walking right to the back of the ship.

 

I can't understand why Michelangelos and Da Vinci are not available so far out from the cruise... even for a shared table which is what we are happy with.

 

Is it worth trying to live chat with Princess to ask them, or wait until we've paid in full (September) for the cruise then try the app?

 

 

[BarcoUK]

40 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

Well I found out yesterday that I can log into our cruise personalizer through our booking number on the princess site and I can make dining reservations for our December 14 Cruise on Crown Princess.... but if I try to do this on the app on my phone it says I can't do it because we've not yet paid in full for the cruise (words to that effect)

I don't know why the web version will let me but the app won't....

 

When I clicked on times 90% of the them on the web version said only said Botticelli dining room was available.... We are hoping for 1 of the other 2 closer dining rooms to be available at 7pm - reason being is my wife has a dodgy knee but may have had it operated on before December... either way we are near the front of the ship and don't know how good her knee will be for walking right to the back of the ship.

 

I can't understand why Michelangelos and Da Vinci are not available so far out from the cruise... even for a shared table which is what we are happy with.

 

Is it worth trying to live chat with Princess to ask them, or wait until we've paid in full (September) for the cruise then try the app?

 

 

 

Under Princess' new dining system:

Botticelli is the reservable anytime dining room.

Michelangelo is the traditional early/late dining room. If you are able to select the time 5pm or 7.30pm, you may find you can book a table in Michelangelo at these times as these appear to the be the early/late fixed dining times.

Da Vinci is the walk-up dining room, no reservations taken. 

[Muffinz]

28 minutes ago, BarcoUK said:

 

Under Princess' new dining system:

Botticelli is the reservable anytime dining room.

Michelangelo is the traditional early/late dining room. If you are able to select the time 5pm or 7.30pm, you may find you can book a table in Michelangelo at these times as these appear to the be the early/late fixed dining times.

Da Vinci is the walk-up dining room, no reservations taken. 

ok thanks - I did not know that

5pm is way too early for dinner for us and 7:30pm might be cutting it fine to see the 9:30pm  theatre show? I've heard that people often queue for seats in the theatre

 

so we could just walk up to Da Vinci dining room about 7pm each night and get a seat, or would there be queues of people waiting?

Edited July 10 by Muffinz
spelling

[Cruise till you drop]

9 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Discussed over and over. Princess is releasing only about 50% of tables.

Not true and don’t believe this.  Sounds like just another excuse.

 

If it were true, Princess would have announced this publicly

 

PS - don’t tell me not to stress about this as I like things like this buttoned up.  I prefer not to show up on the cruise and have a choice of 5pm or 9pm for dinner

[555]

3 hours ago, Muffinz said:

ok thanks - I did not know that

5pm is way too early for dinner for us and 7:30pm might be cutting it fine to see the 9:30pm  theatre show? I've heard that people often queue for seats in the theatre

 

so we could just walk up to Da Vinci dining room about 7pm each night and get a seat, or would there be queues of people waiting?

Unless you have Reserved seating they'll probably be a wait to be seated in the DR at that time.

You should opt for the Premier package and they'll hold you a seat in the theater up to 10 minutes before the start of production shows.

Some people do hold seats for others but they aren't supposed to. Supposedly the only way to reserve a seat is to pay the price of Premier.

[Retired-N-Happy]

6 hours ago, Muffinz said:

Well I found out yesterday that I can log into our cruise personalizer through our booking number on the princess site and I can make dining reservations for our December 14 Cruise on Crown Princess.... but if I try to do this on the app on my phone it says I can't do it because we've not yet paid in full for the cruise (words to that effect)

I don't know why the web version will let me but the app won't....

 

When I clicked on times 90% of the them on the web version said only said Botticelli dining room was available.... We are hoping for 1 of the other 2 closer dining rooms to be available at 7pm - reason being is my wife has a dodgy knee but may have had it operated on before December... either way we are near the front of the ship and don't know how good her knee will be for walking right to the back of the ship.

 

I can't understand why Michelangelos and Da Vinci are not available so far out from the cruise... even for a shared table which is what we are happy with.

 

Is it worth trying to live chat with Princess to ask them, or wait until we've paid in full (September) for the cruise then try the app?

 

 

I would infer that the Botticelli room is the 20 minute incremental location so that would be the only one that you could book a 700 reservation at.  The other two closer rooms that you want would be dedicated to traditional early/late dining as well as walk-ins without reservations.  If you're adamant about 700 at one of the closest ones, then you'll be relegated to walk-ins on a daily basis and of course at 700 being prime time for many, you'll have a wait.

[SmooshSmash]

17 hours ago, OceanoPair said:

This is what we have:

Discovery Princess-2024 & 2025

Juneau-Traditional 5 pm & 7:30 pm

Ketchikan-reservable every 20 minute slots ( shared & private table up & including 6:20pm and private table only 6:30 pm on)

Skagway- walk in & Reserve collection dining 

@arizonaperson, this is also what I have.

[SmooshSmash]

Could someone please explain what "Traditional Dining" means in a couple of sentences? I'm curious about how the 5 pm and 7:30 pm time slots work in practice. I understand it as regular dining where I sit down at either 5 pm or 7:30 pm, but the 2.5-hour window seems too long. This would reduce table turnover and limit the number of people served dramatically, compared to lets say, 4:45 pm & 6:30 pm & 8:15 pm slots, or some variations of it. Besides, from experience, time slots around 6-6:30 pm are much more popular than 5 or 7:30. I see that while I am waiting in line outside the restaurants all the time. Anyway, again, my question is what "Traditional Dining" means in a couple of sentences 🙂

[SmooshSmash]

16 minutes ago, SmooshSmash said:

Could someone please explain what "Traditional Dining" means in a couple of sentences? I'm curious about how the 5 pm and 7:30 pm time slots work in practice. I understand it as regular dining where I sit down at either 5 pm or 7:30 pm, but the 2.5-hour window seems too long. This would reduce table turnover and limit the number of people served dramatically, compared to lets say, 4:45 pm & 6:30 pm & 8:15 pm slots, or some variations of it. Besides, from experience, time slots around 6-6:30 pm are much more popular than 5 or 7:30. I see that while I am waiting in line outside the restaurants all the time. Anyway, again, my question is what "Traditional Dining" means in a couple of sentences 🙂

I guess I got my answer. Let me know if the below sounds about right. I never cruised where "Traditional Dining" was an option (been cruising for the last two years only), so this is based on research, not experience.

• Guests are assigned to a specific table & at the same time for the duration of the cruise, which they share with the same group of fellow passengers and are served by the same waitstaff.
• Traditional Dining often has a more formal atmosphere.
• Ideal for cruisers who enjoy routine and getting to know their fellow cruisers and waitstaff throughout the cruise.

 

[arizonaperson]

@SmooshSmash

From Princess website: choice when it comes to their dining experience by offering three table service options – Traditional, Reservable, or Walk-in Anytime - coupled with the brand’s industry exclusive OceanNow location-based “anywhere” service. Booked guests will be able to use the app ahead of their voyage to opt for traditional seating in a dedicated dining room with the same waiter, same table and same time each night, or flexible dining, allowing them to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of their choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. 
 

Princess has quite a few FAQ’s on their website. But with that being said, traditional dining is supposed to be two set times. Most of them are 530pm and 730pm with a few variations put in there.
With traditional dining You are supposed to get the same table every evening ,same dining room ,and the same wait staff and depending on your table size, they will get you out of there before the next seating .This only pertains to the early seating. They will get you out of there before the next wave of diners come in. If you have second seating, they are still going to try to get you out of there ,but again depending on your table size and many other variations you may be able to get out of there quick or it may be a two hour dinner.

So….with this new dining program if you choose traditional seating, I do not know what happens if you decide to go to the paid specialty dining or the paid casual, dining, etc. I don’t think anybody really knows if the rules will be enforced or not ,but yes, you should have a choice of dining traditionally and going to specialty if that’s what you wish and perhaps on the reservation system, you can do that.
used to be when they only had traditional dining and not so many choices. You would just tell your wait staff that you were going to specialty and your other table mates would not have wait for you to begin the service.

But since Covid has happened, there are many people that do not want to share a table with others and want a private table ,so probably not as big of a deal if you don’t show up for your traditional dining if you went to specialty ,but…

So many variations of dining choices in the evening.

 

no -traditional dining is not any more formal than the other dining rooms. And traditional dining is a shared table or a private table.

Edited July 10 by arizonaperson

[arizonaperson]

@SmooshSmash sorry that was way more than a few sentences and I apologize. But as you’re well aware, there is a new dining reservation system and the transition is Happening now. Since this new dining program is not in existence yet except for on the Sun Princess ,there are many variables and choices for passengers. 
If you want more choice in dining times other than Traditional,the reservable dining room is the way to go. You won’t necessarily get the same wait staff, but you will have the same dining room. All the dining rooms have the same menu ,maybe the decor is different ,but dress/code and we won’t even go there is the same in all the dining rooms .And you can even choose different times every night or do the walk-in restaurant and not be bound by any time slot at all .go when you’re hungry and of course just like a land base restaurant you may have to wait.
but because none of this is actually taking place on a Princess cruise ship yet ,the rules are subject to change and every ship will be different on how they handle things .

so pack your patience have a wonderful cruise .

 

I should correct- I meant to say most traditional dining times are 5 PM and 730 pm. I made a mistake and said 5:30 PM.

Edited July 10 by arizonaperson

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, SmooshSmash said:

I guess I got my answer. Let me know if the below sounds about right. I never cruised where "Traditional Dining" was an option (been cruising for the last two years only), so this is based on research, not experience.

• Guests are assigned to a specific table & at the same time for the duration of the cruise, which they share with the same group of fellow passengers and are served by the same waitstaff.
• Traditional Dining often has a more formal atmosphere.
• Ideal for cruisers who enjoy routine and getting to know their fellow cruisers and waitstaff throughout the cruise.

 

"Traditional" in this sense means "fixed seating."  The traditional dining room has the same dress code as the other dining rooms and is NOT more formal.  Yes, guests have the same table and wait staff every night.  That means there is no standing around waiting to be seated and thus, no queue.  It is possible to get a table for two for the duration of the cruise and that would mean no fellow passengers as tablemates every night.  This is not some new-fangled idea dreamed up by Princess: this is the way dining has been for decades on nearly all cruise lines.  (Hence the word "traditional.")  This new dining scheme makes it possible for cruisers who like fixed dining (and there are more of us than you might think) to get what they want by allowing other diners to be more flexible in their dining choices.  Princess is giving you a choice.  

 

For those of you who "disapprove" of the new approach, consider that all those people in traditional dining are not standing in the queue with you waiting for a table, nor are they grabbing all the desirable tables in the reservations dining room before you can get to them.  Win win.