Waitlisted Dining

[MM n SS]

When and how does the waitlist for dining choice change? I am waiting for Early Dining but there are still many ahead of me although the numbers are fewer than originally. Do people change their mind, or cancel cruise, or what ???:confused:

[cherylandtk]

Yes to both of your guesses. The biggest changes seem to occur right around final payment due dates, about 75 days out. Folks that do not pay, but had a seating assignment come off the list, and everyone else bumps up. After that time, there are fewer changes, as there are fewer cancelations.

[MM n SS]

Now I understand why I moved up, but unfortunately not far enough because the final payment date was awhile ago--we sail in mid May. Thanks for info.

[cherylandtk]

Don't be too discouraged. I assume this means you have PC dining. If you want to eat early, you can still make reservations for the same time each night. The busiest times are around 6:30-7:30, but if you can dine earlier, you should have no trouble making a reservation. And if you meet some nice people, you can all sit at the same table, too. PC opens earlier than the traditional early seating, too.

[Annecj]

Don't be discouraged yet. We sail April 17 and we are still being moved up the list. Ten days ago we were #21 and now we are #10. I'm still hoping we make it before we leave otherwise we'll check as soon as we board.

 

Anne

[Cat-Nik]

When and how does the waitlist for dining choice change? I am waiting for Early Dining but there are still many ahead of me although the numbers are fewer than originally. Do people change their mind, or cancel cruise, or what ???:confused:

 

Help too?

 

We are waitlisted for early dining. How do you know that the list has gone down? Also, if we don't get this what do we automatically get moved to, PC or late?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Cat

[cherylandtk]

Your TA (or Princess, if you booked direct) will have your dining status and if waitlisted, where you are on the list. you can also find out your status, but not your position, on the Cruise Personalizer. Most changes occur about two months out, which is right after final payment is due. A few numbers will move after that, but usually not enough to get you on the list unless your number is already very low.

 

On Grand class ships, only one dining room is set aside for traditional dining with one early and one late seating. The other two dining rooms are set as PC. So about 2/3 of the ship passengers will have PC dining. Usually the traditional seatings fill up first, so if you are waitlisted, it is probable that you will be placed in PC if you do not get into your traditional choice.

[Readyto go]

Hi, I called Princess the other day as I was waitlisted for a while now,our number went down but not enough:rolleyes:.They told me if I didn't get early seating, we would be put in PC dining,I'm not crazy about that, I like having the same time and the same waiter, it's nice when they have your drink waiting for you:p. Well, I hope the list moves for us, but if not, I'm sure we will still have a great time! Happy cruising!

[debbue19511972]

We were on the Caribbean Princess last week. I always book early and am able to get early traditional dining. That's what we like. What is a shame is there was something like a 150 person waitlist. There were a number of tables that never showed up. Some were tables for 10. Princess should address this.

[Cat-Nik]

Well we didn't know whether PC would be best for us anyway.

 

How do you make what has been referred to as a "standing reservation"?

 

Also, if we want a table for just our family of 4 will they allow us to?

 

Thanks Cat

[cherylandtk]

Cat-You can make a standing reservation on most ships for the entire cruise, some only allow you to do 3 or 4 days in advance. Just call the Concierge service from your phone, or speak to the maitre d'. Many folks like try out different waitstaff teams and then request the particular table of the "best" ones. You can request a table for 4 (with or without a prior reservation), but if you walk up to PC dining without a reservation, special requests (location, table size) usually take longer to seat than "first available".

 

That said, our family cruise of 11 persons was waitlisted for early seating (6:15) and we all got PC. Went to Dining room when it first opened the first night (5:30), asked for a table for 10 with a highchair, had a terrific waitstaff, and asked for that table and time for the rest of the cruise and were readily accomodated. Dad was thrilled he got to eat even EARLIER than traditional dining. (sigh-I prefer late traditional- ;-)

 

BTW, many PC folks don't realize that there are two dining rooms, one above the other, on the Grand Class ships. The one on Fiest Deck 6, right by the Atrium is more likely to have a wait, but the one just below on Deck 5 is often more available. On the Sapphire and Diamond, the two big dining rooms are converted into 4 specialty PC dining rooms, so it works a little differently.

 

What ship are you on?

[Tess2mommies]

PC dining is great if you have a small party. We recently booked a 10 day cruise for December and we actually requested PC as opposed to traditional seating.

 

If you don't get off the list you can always make a reservation for PC at a set time.

 

Good luck and happy cruising.

[Cat-Nik]

Cat-You can make a standing reservation on most ships for the entire cruise, some only allow you to do 3 or 4 days in advance. Just call the Concierge service from your phone, or speak to the maitre d'. Many folks like try out different waitstaff teams and then request the particular table of the "best" ones. You can request a table for 4 (with or without a prior reservation), but if you walk up to PC dining without a reservation, special requests (location, table size) usually take longer to seat than "first available".

 

That said, our family cruise of 11 persons was waitlisted for early seating (6:15) and we all got PC. Went to Dining room when it first opened the first night (5:30), asked for a table for 10 with a highchair, had a terrific waitstaff, and asked for that table and time for the rest of the cruise and were readily accomodated. Dad was thrilled he got to eat even EARLIER than traditional dining. (sigh-I prefer late traditional- ;-)

 

BTW, many PC folks don't realize that there are two dining rooms, one above the other, on the Grand Class ships. The one on Fiest Deck 6, right by the Atrium is more likely to have a wait, but the one just below on Deck 5 is often more available. On the Sapphire and Diamond, the two big dining rooms are converted into 4 specialty PC dining rooms, so it works a little differently.

 

What ship are you on?

 

Hi

 

Cat's gone to bed - got me now!

 

We are on the Sea Princess 4 June Western Med from Southampton. There is one PC dining room. I just don't like uncertainty that's all. We have had some holidays in some great hotels where eating with the kids has been great, but we like eating late. I just get a sense that if we start to eat too late they will be shoving food down and rushing off to be with friends which will spoil it. We love getting to know good wait staff too.

 

We did book late traditional and decided to go on the waiting list for early and take our chances though.

 

We'll just take it as it comes now, eh.

 

Nick

[MM n SS]

Your TA (or Princess, if you booked direct) will have your dining status and if waitlisted, where you are on the list. you can also find out your status, but not your position, on the Cruise Personalizer. Most changes occur about two months out, which is right after final payment is due. A few numbers will move after that, but usually not enough to get you on the list unless your number is already very low.

 

FYI - I have checked my Cruise Personalizer and view not only my status, but my position. At least I think that's what I'm seeing but can't be sure as I'm still new to all of this. However, I saw on the Cruise Personalizer that I was initially waitlisted #294 and have moved up to #72 with 37 days before sailing. There has been no change to my status since the last payment due date--or thereabouts.:)

[cherylandtk]

FYI - I have checked my Cruise Personalizer and view not only my status, but my position.

Hey terrific! That must be something new in the update Princess did last weekend. My current cruise is not waitlisted, so I did not see anything like that, but I would bet that your numbers refer to your position. I was wondering what the "improvements" were that caused the system to be down for a whole day, and it looks like you have discovered at least one. (Either that or the changes were made months ago, and I just never had a waitlist number, but what the heck :-)

[Lynda90]

Princess has posted the waitlist # for quite some time on the cruise personalizer. We were waitlisted a year ago and it was posted. We did make it to traditional after final payment when many dropped out.

[bleuseas]

error

[cherylandtk]

Princess has posted the waitlist # for quite some time on the cruise personalizer.

I was hoping I had found an improved, changed CP or CC section on the website. Oh well, such is life. DO let us know if you find anything new or different about them, Lynda.

[bleuseas]

we would be put in PC dining,I'm not crazy about that, I like having the same time and the same waiter

 

 

When we sailed on the Diamond in March, we had PC Dining and really liked it. It seemed that they would check to see where you were seated on previous nights in each dining room and seat you at the same table with the same waiter when you returned. So you did get to know your waiter and vice versa if you chose to return to the same dining room.

 

You can also request your preferred table size and dine with whom you wish.

 

PC dining also gives you the freedom to choose a different dining room the next night if you don't happen to care for your waiter or the service.