Reserve Dining vs MDR?

[asctony]

What is the difference between: 

MDR

RESERVE

MENUS?

TIA

[Kay S]

11 minutes ago, asctony said:

What is the difference between: 

MDR

RESERVE

MENUS?

TIA

The menu is the same for each, with one exception.  In Reserve, there will be a special entree each night.  It will vary from pasta to salads to something else.  The advantage to Reserve is not so much the food but the service (which is second to none.)

[memoak]

Reserve dining is a separate area of the MDR (main dining room). This area is limited to full suites and reserve class mini suites. The menu is the same as the MDR but there is an extra pasta or entree for this dining area only. No waiting, no reservations and dedicated wait crew. 

[asctony]

Thank you both! I greatly appreciate your time and information! 

Happy Cruising!

[LACruiser88]

The experience in the Reserve Collection Dining Room is amazing!  Well worth the extra $$$! 

 

There are more servers and they are servers that have received high ratings.  The servers also have priority in the kitchen to pickup dishes, hence a faster service if that is what you are wanting.  We ask for a "slow" service to enjoy our wine and atmosphere.

[Lady Meer]

Just off Caribbean Princess. There were 15 tables in Reserve, with 3 tables having a waiter and assistant. Some pax asked for the same waiter every day but we didn’t and had excellent service from all.

 

We were a group of 4 but when there’s just 2 of us we tend not to book Reserve as we like to share but in Reserve we have found it’s not that easy.

[TAW1963]

We had the Reserve Collection Dining room in May on the Majestic.  I have to say that it exceeded our expectations considerably.   It was an excellent experience.  We now feel that it will be difficult to cruise on Princess without having at least a Reserve Collection Mini Suite so that we can enjoy the Reserve Collection Dining room. 

[asctony]

6 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

We had the Reserve Collection Dining room in May on the Majestic.  I have to say that it exceeded our expectations considerably.   It was an excellent experience.  We now feel that it will be difficult to cruise on Princess without having at least a Reserve Collection Mini Suite so that we can enjoy the Reserve Collection Dining room. 

Thank you for your input. 

How would you rate the Reserve vs Specialty Restaurants?

[TAW1963]

1 minute ago, asctony said:

Thank you for your input. 

How would you rate the Reserve vs Specialty Restaurants?

We not do speciality dining very often, but for the few times that we have, the food may be slightly better in the speciality restaurants, but not enough for us to pay the extra for.  The service has been equally excellent in both.

[JimmyVWine]

We had Reserve once, back when it was called Club Class. We got an upgrade offer for very, very little money to go from a regular Mini Suite to Club Class. While we enjoyed the dining experience and terrific severs, we decided that we would not pay for this class of service again at the price difference usually charged. While nice, it wasn’t that important to us. 

Edited August 18 by JimmyVWine

[asctony]

Thank you both very much for taking the time and providing your opinions. This helps us and others to make a decision on selecting the options for our next cruise. 

With all of you who have answered my questions on this posting, again, Thank You! 

It is people like you who make this forum very valuable! 

Happy Cruising!

[trbarton]

The reserve dining area is interesting as sometimes they have seated me in that section. Congratulations to anyone that qualifies for that dinning. Too bad that after 38 cruises on Princess I’m not rewarded to eat there. 
 

Tom😎

[Lady Arwen]

6 minutes ago, trbarton said:

The reserve dining area is interesting as sometimes they have seated me in that section. Congratulations to anyone that qualifies for that dinning. Too bad that after 38 cruises on Princess I’m not rewarded to eat there. 
 

Tom😎

Sorry, Tom, I’m a bit confused.  You said that on occasion you have been seated in Reserve Class dining, so you must have booked a Reserve Class cabin, right?   But, you also say that Princess has never rewarded you with Reserve dining, even after 38 cruises.  
 

To my knowledge the only guests who can enjoy this dining privilege are those who actually pay a lot more for their cabin.  Am I reading this wrong?  As one who has never eaten in the Reserve section, I’m genuinely interested as to how it all works.  Thank you!

[memoak]

3 hours ago, TAW1963 said:

We not do speciality dining very often, but for the few times that we have, the food may be slightly better in the speciality restaurants, but not enough for us to pay the extra for.  The service has been equally excellent in both.

Also the SD’s have a set menu over a 21 day cruise that could get very boring

[1025cruise]

3 hours ago, asctony said:

Thank you for your input. 

How would you rate the Reserve vs Specialty Restaurants?

This is comparing apples and oranges. Reserve is just a section of the MDR, serving the same MDR menu, plus a special entree. Specialty restaurants are a pay for experience with a set menu per restaurant.

[LACruiser88]

4 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

To my knowledge the only guests who can enjoy this dining privilege are those who actually pay a lot more for their cabin.  Am I reading this wrong?  As one who has never eaten in the Reserve section, I’m genuinely interested as to how it all works.  Thank you!

You are correct, to have access to the Reserve Collection Dining Room you must be in a Suite or Reserve Collection Mini-Suite.

[1025cruise]

5 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Sorry, Tom, I’m a bit confused.  You said that on occasion you have been seated in Reserve Class dining, so you must have booked a Reserve Class cabin, right?   But, you also say that Princess has never rewarded you with Reserve dining, even after 38 cruises.  
 

To my knowledge the only guests who can enjoy this dining privilege are those who actually pay a lot more for their cabin.  Am I reading this wrong?  As one who has never eaten in the Reserve section, I’m genuinely interested as to how it all works.  Thank you!

Reserve dining is reserved for those staying in full suites, and some mini suites. So I guess it is determined by those who pay more. I recently splurged for a full suite so enjoyed this area. While it was nice, I don't think I'd let the availability of being able to eat in this section determine if I should book the cruise.

[memoak]

21 minutes ago, trbarton said:

The reserve dining area is interesting as sometimes they have seated me in that section. Congratulations to anyone that qualifies for that dinning. Too bad that after 38 cruises on Princess I’m not rewarded to eat there. 
 

Tom😎

There is no reward you can get to have reserve class seating. You must be in a full suite or reserve class mini suite. It doesn’t matter if it is your 1st cruise or 80th cruise

[Lady Arwen]

18 minutes ago, memoak said:

There is no reward you can get to have reserve class seating. You must be in a full suite or reserve class mini suite. It doesn’t matter if it is your 1st cruise or 80th cruise

Thanks, Michael, that’s exactly what I thought, but things change on a dime, so you never know.  Appreciate the clarification.

[Lady Meer]

4 hours ago, asctony said:

Thank you for your input. 

How would you rate the Reserve vs Specialty Restaurants?

On a recent cruise, I ordered (and paid extra) for fillet steaks in Reserve. They were far tastier and cooked more to my liking (medium rare) than the one I had in Crown Grill. In fact, we cancelled our 2nd reservation in Crown Grill.

[cruising.mark.uk]

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

This is comparing apples and oranges. Reserve is just a section of the MDR, serving the same MDR menu, plus a special entree. Specialty restaurants are a pay for experience with a set menu per restaurant.

Actually, I think the question of SD vs Reserve is very relevant to this discussion given the new Premier package.

 

We very rarely now eat dinner in a MDR on any cruise line, because we like to eat decent food  at a time of our choosing (which will vary from day to day) and only on a table for two (and one that isn't so close to its neighbours that it is, in effect, a table for 4, 6 or 8).  On Princess, Reserve meets our dining requirements perfectly and the Plus package gives us excellent value on most of the other things we need.

 

However, the introduction of the new Premier package might change that calculus.  I don't know about pricing in Italy (where the OP comes from) or the US, but in the UK the difference in price between a standard mini suite and a reserve mini suite seems to have increased markedly.  The average on cruises we are looking at over the next couple of years seems to be £40 to £50 pppn and on some cruises it is as high as £94 (for some reason, the differential seems to be lowest on the Sun and Star).  That is a huge premium to pay just for the benefit of Reserve dining.

 

Assuming that the difference in cost between Plus and the new Premier will remain around £20 pppn, we will have to consider very hard whether we plump for a standard mini suite with the new Premier or a Reserve mini suite with Plus.  For many of our cruises, it will probably be a no brainer to go for the former, which will allow us to eat in a speciality or casual dining venue every night and enjoy the other enhanced perks of Premier for a much lower additional outlay than it costs merely to get reserve dining and the lower benefits of Plus.  To a certain extent, of course, that will rely on capacity being available for everyone who purchases the new Premier to access SD every night.  I guess Princess will assure this by limiting the number of new Premier packages they sell and / or increasing staffing a little in speciality restaurants so they can seat more covers per night.  No doubt, the reality will become clearer over the first few weeks of implementation.  If they get it right, for us (and, possibly for many others), the new Premier and a standard mini suite will on many cruises and most Princess ships deliver exactly what we want and at much lower cost than a Reserve mini suite and Plus.

Edited August 18 by cruising.mark.uk
minor corrections

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Lady Meer said:

On a recent cruise, I ordered (and paid extra) for fillet steaks in Reserve. They were far tastier and cooked more to my liking (medium rare) than the one I had in Crown Grill. In fact, we cancelled our 2nd reservation in Crown Grill.

In theory, that upcharge to get one of the CG steaks in the DR is supposedly the same meat. 

 

Now, one cut or meat sample can be better/worse than another.  I cannot say if they reach for a better cut when an order comes from Reserve DR section versus MDR.  Also, assuming they may carry two different beef tenderloin grades, I would expect they use the best they have - or think they have - when preparing for a WMD or CT (Wine Maker Dinner or Chef's Table).

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

In theory, that upcharge to get one of the CG steaks in the DR is supposedly the same meat. 

 

Now, one cut or meat sample can be better/worse than another.  I cannot say if they reach for a better cut when an order comes from Reserve DR section versus MDR.  Also, assuming they may carry two different beef tenderloin grades, I would expect they use the best they have - or think they have - when preparing for a WMD or CT (Wine Maker Dinner or Chef's Table).

with unlimited SD - does that have to actually be IN the specialty dining venue - or can I order a steak/lobster that is on the mdr menu or even to in cabin delivery thru the app?

[Steelers36]

Just now, voljeep said:

with unlimited SD - does that have to actually be IN the specialty dining venue - or can I order a steak/lobster that is on the mdr menu or even to in cabin delivery thru the app?

Who knows?  Good Q.  Logic would indicate it is for dine-in.  That said, if a guest wants to use a SD elsewhere where they don't get full experience and the retail value is less, why should PCL care?

[trbarton]

11 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Sorry, Tom, I’m a bit confused.  You said that on occasion you have been seated in Reserve Class dining, so you must have booked a Reserve Class cabin, right?   But, you also say that Princess has never rewarded you with Reserve dining, even after 38 cruises.  
 

To my knowledge the only guests who can enjoy this dining privilege are those who actually pay a lot more for their cabin.  Am I reading this wrong?  As one who has never eaten in the Reserve section, I’m genuinely interested as to how it all works.  Thank you!

I went in the regular entrance for regular dinners & for some reason I was seated in the section for the Reserve Class even tho I wasn’t in a Reserve Class Cabin. I’m not sure why I was seated there & of course I didn’t complain. 
 

I was just saying after 38 cruises with Princess maybe there should be some kind of reward for my loyalty. I’m aware that’s not their policy Just wishful thinking on my part. 
 

Tom😀