Astro Flyer

From my Princess April email: Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime

So much of the rollout of the Medallion Class system which began in late 2017 has been like passengers are their BETA testers. Passengers discover problems & some continue to experience problems over 6 years later. At the January 2017 CES then CCL CEO Arnold Donald unveiled the Medallion & stated “It’s all about the guest” Donald emphasizes. Really??? For some it is still a work in progress & it’s very disappointing & frustrating with their lack of customer service. State an implementation date 2 months in advance but don’t achieve it and there’s nothing but silence from Princess…how is that ”all about the guest”???

Unfortunately I think you got another of their inexperienced call center reps who provides misinformation. We’ve been at the Captain’s Circle elite level for many years & have never received any priority seating onboard. For our 50th wedding anniversary cruise the day before sailing all of our DMW reservations were there. Upon boarding all of them were changed to ones we didn’t want. They only said sorry…nothing is available for your preferred times. 🤨 And those reservations were made a year in advance for our special cruise! It’s not unusual for Princess to miss their stated deadlines so it’s not surprising to me. They should be providing an update about the implementation when they realized it wouldn’t be available on June 17.

Thanks @no fuss travel…Hope to have the same experience on Sirena in Fall. 🤞 Do you recall the latest flight time that would be acceptable for that tour’s option?

And even when able to make DMW reservations, it’s been my experience that all of them can suddenly disappear…poof! 🫥

That technique is likely taught in a basic Marketing 101 class…how to make prices appear to be a deal when in reality it’s actually no deal or even a net price increase…smoke & mirrors! I think such sales work on the uninformed infrequent cruiser who believes it’s a sale which likely is the majority of their passengers. As we know this tactic is used by all cruise lines so it’s buyer beware. I suspect that you’re correct about having a package discount…increase prices & then offer a discount on the higher price.

Thanks…was that available to book pre-cruise or onboard?

Thanks for sharing the accurate info. ☺️

MDR reservations for cruises beginning on September 14, 2024 and later are scheduled to be available on Monday, June 17. My experience with making reservations has been mostly good. However, even after booking them they can later disappear. So far I’ve been fortunate & have not experienced many of the problems others have had to deal with primarily because their Princess information has corrupted with no easy solution. As I recall, unless you are at the elite level of past passenger, then you cannot make MDR reservations until after making final payment.

While this thread isn’t about elite benefits, if they offered elites a package discount that might tip the scales to entice us to book a package. Currently for our style of cruising the packages are not cost-effective for us.

I feel badly for you & all of the other people whose account information is corrupted creating such issues. 😟

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences & suggestions…they are very helpful. 🙂

EZair has worked well for us & if there are any changes those are primarily made by the airlines. It's been my experience that domestic flights are about the same price as direct bookings & that international flights are generally much cheaper including for premium cabin seats. We're booked to NZ and the flight is half the price of a direct booking...and with Flexible you can make changes up until 45 days in advance. I see no advantage to paying early before final payment although some will do it for various reasons. I am proactive about checking for flight changes & regularly check them whether booking through EZair or directly. It's been my experience that direct airline bookings are worse about making notifications about flight & aircraft changes and that's why I check them regularly...buyer beware. Using the attached link you can read about the benefits of Flexible EZair...primarily for Flexible bookings. Princess EZair - Flights for Your Cruise - Princess Cruises

Before TD was canceled: early was about 5:15 to 6:00; late was about 7:30 to 8:15. These could vary slightly depending upon what the Maitre'd wanted to do & in conjunction with the CD's times for the Princess Theater's entertainment times.

That’s awful & I don’t have a solution however some have reported better success solving app problems by using this email address…good luck. askoceanmedallion@carnival.com

This is the email I received on 4/15/24 from Princess explaining their dining reservations changes. Dear Princess Guest: Princess Cruises recently announced it is making a significant enhancement to the main dining options found across its fleet, designed to give you the ultimate in flexibility and choice when it comes to your dining experience. Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your 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 you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. * Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

Received in email sent on 4/15/24: Dear Princess Guest: Princess Cruises recently announced it is making a significant enhancement to the main dining options found across its fleet, designed to give you the ultimate in flexibility and choice when it comes to your dining experience. Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your 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 you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. * Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

There was a video posted stating that eventually The Catch & Dario located at the aft end of the buffet would be moving to the Reserve & the other upper class dining rooms. Those will move to the aft location where the casual Americana restaurant is currently located with Americana moving to the aft end of the buffet where it should have always been located. No date was provided for these changes.

October 28 to November 18, 2025 in Singapore. When onboard Discovery in early April the swap of venues between The Catch & Sabatini’s was scheduled to begin that month.

Another update for the Apple version

You could try the app’s option to add a booking under Profile to see this option.

That was about the same amount of time before our April cruise.

DMW reservations for MDRs on cruises sailing on or after 9/14 are scheduled to be available on 6/17 when the 3 options will be Traditional, Reservable & Open. Dear Princess Guest: Princess Cruises recently announced it is making a significant enhancement to the main dining options found across its fleet, designed to give you the ultimate in flexibility and choice when it comes to your dining experience. Starting with voyages departing September 14, 2024, Princess will designate separate dining rooms aboard every ship in the fleet* to three table service options: Traditional dining offering an early and a late seating every evening Reservable dining times Open seating to support walk-ins anytime To support these changes and the transition to the new system, main dining reservations that you may have already made will be cancelled. This change does not affect anyone booked in specialty dining restaurants or suite or reserve collection accommodations, who enjoy a dedicated dining room on Princess ships, where no reservations are required. Starting June 17, you will be able to use the app ahead of your 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 you to enjoy dinner at any available time and table size of your choosing in either the Reservable or Open Seating dining rooms. * Reservable and Walk-in Anytime Dining will be combined into a single Main Dining Room location aboard Coral Princess and Island Princess.

View from the Sky Walk glass panels & of the blue lights at night which didn’t bother us on Emerald (8) deck midship & only illuminated the railing.

Thanks for sharing all of your experiences…we’ll definitely research each of these helpful suggestions.