Assigned Dining

[cd]

When on the Sapphire for 28 days in 2006 we had a set dining time . Our waiter told us about the 4 anytime dining rooms that had one different menu item each . He told us that it was possible to have any of those dishes in our dining venue and served them to us them when requested. Is this policy still on Princess or did we just have an exceptional waiter ?

 

next Princess cruise on the Diamond

 

Thanks

[Loonbeam]

It all comes from the same kitchen so there's no reason why that should not be possible on request...

 

When on the Sapphire for 28 days in 2006 we had a set dining time . Our waiter told us about the 4 anytime dining rooms that had one different menu item each . He told us that it was possible to have any of those dishes in our dining venue and served them to us them when requested. Is this policy still on Princess or did we just have an exceptional waiter ?

 

next Princess cruise on the Diamond

 

Thanks

[caribill]

Still the policy on the Sapphire and the Diamond.

[cattolica]

Was on the Sapphire in April and the answer was a big NO

 

Still the policy on the Sapphire and the Diamond.

[Princess Patches]

I was on the Sapphire last year and was also told no. The special menu item was only available in the dining room where it is offered on the menu.

[Pam in CA]

Was on the Sapphire in April and the answer was a big NO

I was on the Sapphire in January and the answer was "No." I tried but was turned down.

[caribill]

Was on the Sapphire in April and the answer was a big NO

 

It was a big "YES" on the Diamond in December.

[Loonbeam]

And as usual, the Princess Inconsistent Policy (hereafter referred to as PiP) rears its ugly head...

 

Princess Cruises - Our motto: Policy is subject to change...

[Stevesan]

Lawdy, let's give Princess a break.

Princess has fifteen ships sailing world wide, with tens of thousands of on-board and land based employees serving millions of passengers every year. Any responsible company of that size has to be policy flexible in order to satisfy customers needs.

 

I was happiy employed by a mutinational semiconductor company for 27 years. Our "Policies" were flexible. They had to be so we could provide the best possible product, while simultaneousy meeting the varying needs of our customers. Did every one of the thousands of our employees, yours truly included, always get it right? Absolutely not. I can't, in all good conscience, expect perfection from cruise line companies and their employee.

 

Previously I served 20+ years in the military. The "policies", aka, "regulations" were definitely not flexible.:p

 

The cruise line representatives and ship crews do their very best to provide customer satisfaction. They aren't perfect, but they do a darn good job.

[Loonbeam]

There's a difference between flexible and unguided. Here's an example. Right now, as far as I can tell, Princess has no official fleet wide policy on TD diners using anytime dining, a frequent complaint. So, each Maitre'D makes up their own policy totally, which makes it very hard to know what to expect on a given ship and plan accordingly. Instead, they should have a policy "TD Diners are not permitted to use the AD facilities without prior approval from the Maitre'D." That's a policy but still flexible. In the circumstances of the current question you could have - "Special offerings for a particular dining venue are generally limited to that venue only. If circumstances permit, the offering may be extended to additional venues by the MD. Both of these give crews the flexibility to deal with issues while still setting expectations of default behavior.

Lawdy, let's give Princess a break.

Princess has fifteen ships sailing world wide, with tens of thousands of on-board and land based employees serving millions of passengers every year. Any responsible company of that size has to be policy flexible in order to satisfy customers needs.

 

I was happiy employed by a mutinational semiconductor company for 27 years. Our "Policies" were flexible. They had to be so we could provide the best possible product, while simultaneousy meeting the varying needs of our customers. Did every one of the thousands of our employees, yours truly included, always get it right? Absolutely not. I can't, in all good conscience, expect perfection from cruise line companies and their employee.

 

Previously I served 20+ years in the military. The "policies", aka, "regulations" were definitely not flexible.:p

 

The cruise line representatives and ship crews do their very best to provide customer satisfaction. They aren't perfect, but they do a darn good job.

[cruiserus]

We were on the Diamond for 35 days early this year. Our waiter told us you could order one of the "specia"l meals from the various anytime dining rooms just by letting him know. We never did though, as we found enough variety on the menu we had in the traditional dining room.

[ldubs]

There's a difference between flexible and unguided. Here's an example. Right now, as far as I can tell, Princess has no official fleet wide policy on TD diners using anytime dining, a frequent complaint. So, each Maitre'D makes up their own policy totally, which makes it very hard to know what to expect on a given ship and plan accordingly. Instead, they should have a policy "TD Diners are not permitted to use the AD facilities without prior approval from the Maitre'D." That's a policy but still flexible. In the circumstances of the current question you could have - "Special offerings for a particular dining venue are generally limited to that venue only. If circumstances permit, the offering may be extended to additional venues by the MD. Both of these give crews the flexibility to deal with issues while still setting expectations of default behavior.

 

But what you propose is basically what happens now! They obviously have the flexibility now. My guess is that decisions are based on how well staffed and how busy things are.

 

Besides, if a policy on menus or dining rooms is implemented, then there will be about a million people waiting to pounce when some poor dining staffer deviates.

[Loonbeam]

It's not even close to what happens now..

 

Right now there is NO policy for TD diners in anytime. So on the sapphire it might be permitted as a general rule - just walk up, on the Ruby it might require permission, on the Emerald it might not be allowed at all. Before boarding those ships you have no idea what the policy will be.

 

If you know what the policy is across all ships (you have to ask the MD for a change) then not only when you have an issue, do you know who to talk to, the staff has something backing them up. If you are booked in TD and you walk up to AD the staff can say 'Have you spoken to the MD?' and point to posted rules. And the MD can have guidelines as to what are valid reasons.

 

Same thing for reservations. If I know what my options are for standing reservations prior to sailing I can plan accordingly, rather than hope for the best.

 

 

 

Just saying yes to every request is not a policy, nor is letting every staffer do what they think best, nor does that result in overall good customer service.

 

 

 

But what you propose is basically what happens now! They obviously have the flexibility now. My guess is that decisions are based on how well staffed and how busy things are.

 

Besides, if a policy on menus or dining rooms is implemented, then there will be about a million people waiting to pounce when some poor dining staffer deviates.

[Pam in CA]

There's a difference between flexible and unguided. Here's an example. Right now, as far as I can tell, Princess has no official fleet wide policy on TD diners using anytime dining, a frequent complaint. So, each Maitre'D makes up their own policy totally, which makes it very hard to know what to expect on a given ship and plan accordingly. Instead, they should have a policy "TD Diners are not permitted to use the AD facilities without prior approval from the Maitre'D." That's a policy but still flexible. In the circumstances of the current question you could have - "Special offerings for a particular dining venue are generally limited to that venue only. If circumstances permit, the offering may be extended to additional venues by the MD. Both of these give crews the flexibility to deal with issues while still setting expectations of default behavior.

Actually, they do have a policy which is, "Traditional diners will be accommodated in Anytime dining rooms." That's a direct quote. It's how the Maitre d' handles the Anytime dining volume is where the inconsistency comes in. Personally, I think Princess should have the same policy as HAL which is, if you have traditional (called Main on HAL) and wish to eat in the open seating, you must request prior permission and it must be granted before you can go to open seating. And, that change is permanent. You cannot go back to Main seating.

[ldubs]

Actually, they do have a policy which is, "Traditional diners will be accommodated in Anytime dining rooms." That's a direct quote. It's how the Maitre d' handles the Anytime dining volume is where the inconsistency comes in. Personally, I think Princess should have the same policy as HAL which is, if you have traditional (called Main on HAL) and wish to eat in the open seating, you must request prior permission and it must be granted before you can go to open seating. And, that change is permanent. You cannot go back to Main seating.

 

 

Then there you go!

[Loonbeam]

Except some associates just came back from a cruise on the Sapphire (I think) where they were told no TD could not eat in AD at all and cards were checked at the door one night. 2 nights later, no check.

 

A firm policy means its in writing somewhere and available to the public (the Cruise Answer Book would be a good start).

 

And I do like HALs policy except I think the MD should have the flexibility to make one night exceptions in the case of medical situations or late returning tours (past schedule), i.e. events beyond passenger control.

 

 

 

Actually, they do have a policy which is, "Traditional diners will be accommodated in Anytime dining rooms." That's a direct quote. It's how the Maitre d' handles the Anytime dining volume is where the inconsistency comes in. Personally, I think Princess should have the same policy as HAL which is, if you have traditional (called Main on HAL) and wish to eat in the open seating, you must request prior permission and it must be granted before you can go to open seating. And, that change is permanent. You cannot go back to Main seating.

[Pam in CA]

It's unfortunate that Princess CSR's and even TAs tell passengers with Traditional dining that they can go to Anytime whenever they want. The HAL system works pretty well, better than Princess. I've done their open seating several times on longer cruises (10+ days each) and have had to wait only once, and that was for 5 minutes. However, they have both Main and open seating in the same dining room and on the last night, when they do the chefs and waitstaff "recognition", they have open seating only at Main seating times. God forbid you miss cheering for the chefs and waitstaff.

[lovevacadays]

I was on the Sapphire last year and was also told no. The special menu item was only available in the dining room where it is offered on the menu.

 

This is correct. Have been on the Sapphire 5 times now and this seems to be the policy.