Boiler Cruiser Posted July 6 #1 Share Posted July 6 First of all, for what it is worth, my wife and I are Platinum status. I went on the Princess website to use the on-line version of Dine-My-Way reservations for our cruise at the end of September, 2024. I was surprised to see, more than 2 months prior to boarding, that my options for dinner reservations appear so limited. 1) I could only get shared table for my wife and I. We prefer a 2-top. I tried all the dining times listed for each day, and only shared table came up. 2) In addition, only one dining room was listed, even for shared tables, at ALL dining times on all days. Shouldn't all the dining rooms be available, at least for some times? Is this one of the limitations of using the on-line version of the Dine-My-Way reservations? (I'm using it because my Princess App will not let me make dinner reservations) How do I get access to a choice of restaurants? Do I just have to wait until I am on the ship and get on the phone to the reservations line? Anyone else experiencing this trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonaperson Posted July 6 #2 Share Posted July 6 (edited) @Boiler Cruiser do you have a travel agent ? if you do have them try the Reservations for you. Or just wait until you get onboard and try to sort out the time that you wish to dine and the table size, go to walk in restaurant, or call dine line once onboard . Since your cruise is around the corner, September 2024 keep trying to book what you want,but perhaps all times are booked or Princess is holding back reservations so they can accommodate once onboard? Nobody seems to know all the rules. what ship are you sailing in September 2024? Caribbean Princess? The reservable (Flexible is Princesses new term) a.k.a. dine my way starts at 5 PM and there are slots available every 20 minutes. Traditional dining seems to be 5 PM and 7:30 PM with a few variations. Open seating AKA walk-in is just that. Caribbean Princess Island dining room is traditional 5 PM and 7:30 PM( choice of shared table or private table, but not sure if both are available for both of the times) Coral dining room is walk-in( enter on port side) & Reserve collection dining room- entrance on starboard Palm dining room-reservable starting at 5 pm every 20 minute reservations (choice of shared or private table after choosing the time-not sure if every timeslot this is available) Edited July 6 by arizonaperson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT1962 Posted July 6 #3 Share Posted July 6 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Boiler Cruiser said: First of all, for what it is worth, my wife and I are Platinum status. I went on the Princess website to use the on-line version of Dine-My-Way reservations for our cruise at the end of September, 2024. I was surprised to see, more than 2 months prior to boarding, that my options for dinner reservations appear so limited. 1) I could only get shared table for my wife and I. We prefer a 2-top. I tried all the dining times listed for each day, and only shared table came up. 2) In addition, only one dining room was listed, even for shared tables, at ALL dining times on all days. Shouldn't all the dining rooms be available, at least for some times? Is this one of the limitations of using the on-line version of the Dine-My-Way reservations? (I'm using it because my Princess App will not let me make dinner reservations) How do I get access to a choice of restaurants? Do I just have to wait until I am on the ship and get on the phone to the reservations line? Anyone else experiencing this trouble? If I understand the new plan correctly, there are three options, each usually in a separate dining room ( I’m not sure if these are the “Official” Princes terminology): 1. Traditional Early or Late Dining - No reservation needed since you will be assigned the same table / dining room each evening. 2. Anytime Dining - Just show up when you are ready to eat. No reservations allowed in that dining room / section. 3. Flexible Dining - You can make a reservation in advance for the time / table type you want, if available. So having only one dining room available for reservations outside of traditional dining sounds right. Based upon my recent experience on the Caribbean princess, the tables for two book up several months in advance for the preferred seating times. My cruise was not using the new dining plan, and even with 3 dining rooms available, most tables for 2 were only available prior to 5:30 or after 8:00 PM even when booking 3 months in advance. Edited July 6 by JT1962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonaperson Posted July 6 #4 Share Posted July 6 (edited) 9 minutes ago, JT1962 said: If I understand the new plan correctly, there are three options, each usually in a separate dining room ( I’m not sure if these are the “Official” Princes terminology): 1. Traditional Early or Late Dining - No reservation needed since you will be assigned the same table / dining room each evening. passengers need to make reservation 2. Anytime Dining - Just show up when you are ready to eat. No reservations allowed in that dining room / section. called walk in now,no reservation can be made 3. Flexible Dining - You can make a reservation in advance for the time / table type you want, if available. yes reserve every 20 minute slots Based upon my recent experience on the Caribbean princess, the tables for two book up several months in advance for the preferred seating times. My cruise was not using the new dining plan, and even with 3 dining rooms available, most tables for 2 were only available prior to 5:30 or after 8:00 PM even when booking 3 months in advance. Princess can always seat a party of 2 at a table meant for 4 and call it private. Edited July 6 by arizonaperson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boiler Cruiser Posted July 6 Author #5 Share Posted July 6 2 hours ago, arizonaperson said: Thanks, arizonaperson, for your comments/ descriptions. The categories are the same as before. I just was not prepared for there being so much less opportunity to get a reservation for a 2-top. I guess we can always check on momentary availability of a table for two when we arrive at the dining room with a reservation at a larger table, just in case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boiler Cruiser Posted July 7 Author #6 Share Posted July 7 On 7/6/2024 at 12:16 PM, arizonaperson said: By the way, it seemed very strange that when I used the on-line Dine-My-Way reservation page, it would not give me access to any other dining room except the Palm Dining Room. For the entire cruise, it will not let me make a dinner reservation for any time, on any day, in any other dining room, not the Island Dining Room or the Coral Dining Room. Is is possible that all times, at all tables in Island and Coral Dining Rooms for all 14 days be totally booked? That would seem strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emeraldlake Posted July 7 #7 Share Posted July 7 On each ship, Princess has designated one dining room for Traditional, one for reservations, and one for walk in. So depending on what you want, you have only one dining room to choose from 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torfamm Posted July 7 #8 Share Posted July 7 1 hour ago, Boiler Cruiser said: By the way, it seemed very strange that when I used the on-line Dine-My-Way reservation page, it would not give me access to any other dining room except the Palm Dining Room. For the entire cruise, it will not let me make a dinner reservation for any time, on any day, in any other dining room, not the Island Dining Room or the Coral Dining Room. Is is possible that all times, at all tables in Island and Coral Dining Rooms for all 14 days be totally booked? That would seem strange. One dining room is only for walk- ins so no reservations would be available. Another would be for traditional dining where you would book for the entire cruise at one of the two available times. The Palm sounds like the MDR that accepts daily reservations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davy jones Posted July 8 #9 Share Posted July 8 On 7/6/2024 at 3:17 PM, Boiler Cruiser said: Thanks, arizonaperson, for your comments/ descriptions. The categories are the same as before. I just was not prepared for there being so much less opportunity to get a reservation for a 2-top. I guess we can always check on momentary availability of a table for two when we arrive at the dining room with a reservation at a larger table, just in case. Keep trying. The first two days after the reservations opened were a mess, with lots of error messages. I then made each evening reservation separately for a 14 day itinerary and was unable to get a private two top on two evenings. I went back two days later and was able to successfully change those two evenings to a private two top. We got what we wanted, a private two top at the set time each night, but it was a lot more effort than it was in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depplep Posted July 8 #10 Share Posted July 8 We are on Diamond Princess in October and this is our first Princess cruise. Can we book traditional dining but also use Anytime if we choose? We have one or two excursions that wouldn't get us back at dinner time and we might need the flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 8 #11 Share Posted July 8 7 hours ago, depplep said: We are on Diamond Princess in October and this is our first Princess cruise. Can we book traditional dining but also use Anytime if we choose? We have one or two excursions that wouldn't get us back at dinner time and we might need the flexibility. You can book traditional and then try the walk up MDR if you're back late. I think. This thing is so confusing. BTW, you will love the Diamond, one of my favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depplep Posted July 8 #12 Share Posted July 8 Thank you, I'm a little nervous as this ship doesn't seem to have a lot of the "extras" that some ships we have been on. But we've also never been to Australia, so I don't see us hanging out on the ship much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonaperson Posted July 8 #13 Share Posted July 8 (edited) 7 hours ago, depplep said: We are on Diamond Princess in October and this is our first Princess cruise. Can we book traditional dining but also use Anytime if we choose? We have one or two excursions that wouldn't get us back at dinner time and we might need the flexibility. So for October 2024? You can book the reservable dining room,reservations every 20 minutes, traditional early or late, or just walk in. Subject to availability. Your first choice may not be available. But sure -try to book traditional each night that you want it and don’t book for the whole voyage,(there is a checkbox that asks if you want to book it the whole voyage. Just book it night by night for the evenings you want) traditional on the nights that you have late excursions. Honestly, just have to go into the app and or the Web version and try it. Everyone is having slightly different results. Here is what I have for your ship: Diamond Princess International dining room is traditional at 5:20 PM and 7:50 pm Savoy and Vivaldi are reservable,every 20 minute time slots Pacific Moon and Santa Fe are walk-in Edited July 8 by arizonaperson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depplep Posted July 8 #14 Share Posted July 8 (edited) Thank you SO MUCH! I thought I had read somewhere that Santa Fe was reserved for suites? I wanted to eat in there as I like the look of that restaurant. And yes, October 2024. Edited July 8 by depplep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arizonaperson Posted July 8 #15 Share Posted July 8 @depplepI do not have confirmation ,but a lot of the walk-in restaurants on other Princess ships are also for full suites and reserve collection mini suites. But it will just be an area in the dining room for those guests/passengers ( suites) not the entire dining room. But all of this is subject to change since it has not been implemented/started yet for this new dining program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depplep Posted July 8 #16 Share Posted July 8 Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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