Dine My Way - new MedallionClass enhancement

[Steelers36]

19 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I have 2 cruises booked, October 31 & December 7 & when I looked at my Medallion app today to check on my dinning times it showed that I didn’t have any reserved times. I had many months ago made reservations for 5 pm for both cruises. Now for the October 31 cruise I can only pick 6:40 pm. 
 

Anyone had any problems & if so what did you do?  My other option is to wait until I’m on the ship. 
 

Didn’t think I needed to save a copy of the page. 
 

Tom😀

Did you try login and look at it from cabinmate perspective?

 

I had sort of similar issue in that I was locked out of DMW for a B2B2B for which I had originally made reservations (albeit table size was not consistent throughout).  

 

When got access back, all prior res were gone - which was okay by me.  I then setup new and seemed to have lots of choice.  But it put my party of 4 (us + Travel Companions) at a 2-top for two of the three segments.  That isn't going to work.  So, I wrote Ocean Medallion team and see what happens.

 

If I can never get it fixed (over a year from now so not too worried), I will seek out the MD/DRO to fix things.

 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

My point was that while we want to be seated at 5:00 because of my wife's diabetes we don't want to have to be there at a set time reservations or not. 

Sorry, but that seems totally ambiguous.  You want to be seated at 5:00, but you don't want to be there at a set time.

I'm just confused.

[trbarton]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Did you try login and look at it from cabinmate perspective?

 

I had sort of similar issue in that I was locked out of DMW for a B2B2B for which I had originally made reservations (albeit table size was not consistent throughout).  

 

When got access back, all prior res were gone - which was okay by me.  I then setup new and seemed to have lots of choice.  But it put my party of 4 (us + Travel Companions) at a 2-top for two of the three segments.  That isn't going to work.  So, I wrote Ocean Medallion team and see what happens.

 

If I can never get it fixed (over a year from now so not too worried), I will seek out the MD/DRO to fix things.

 

What’s the address for reaching the Medallion team?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, trbarton said:

What’s the address for reaching the Medallion team?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

Www.wescrweedup.com

[trbarton]

Just now, wowzz said:

Www.wescrweedup.com

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Sorry, but that seems totally ambiguous.  You want to be seated at 5:00, but you don't want to be there at a set time.

I'm just confused.

Yes, I stopped responding after that.

[billco]

50 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Www.wescrweedup.com

i think you screwed that address up.

[trbarton]

4 minutes ago, billco said:

i think you screwed that address up.

I agree. That’s not a correct email address. 
 

Tom🤔

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I agree. That’s not a correct email address. 
 

Tom🤔

Sorry - correct address is: www.wehavenoidea.com 

[Blackduck59]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Sorry, but that seems totally ambiguous.  You want to be seated at 5:00, but you don't want to be there at a set time.

I'm just confused.

 

Sorry you are so easily confused, have a nice day

[skynight]

8 hours ago, OCruisers said:

What is the advantage if you already have Club Class Dining ... other than possibly being able to invite others to eat with you?

Only passengers that are in club class mini suites or full suites are allowed in the club class section of the DR. You could invite any of these passengers to sit with you, but passengers that are not in the mentioned cabins are not permitted as guests. 

[DuncanBlizzard]

On 7/13/2021 at 11:03 PM, NavyVeteran said:

The normal procedure in the main dining rooms for anyone with dietary restrictions is to order from the head waiter the night before - for dinner everyday and for lunch on sea days. The head waiters are trained to handle dietary restrictions - the waiters are not. <snip>  This level of attention from the head waiter is not an unusual level of attention. It is their job. It will be easier for them - and for you - if you let them do their job. The kitchens are set up to modify menus for dietary restrictions with the one-day advance notice. They are even set up to avoid cross-contamination with other dishes.

So many of you helped me, and I wanted to return and respond back.  All of you were right.  I had a rocky start -- entered the Concerto dining room for lunch on the first day only to have the waiter tell me he knew nothing about anything on the menu.  I didn't order anything.  When the food came, he started bugging me about why I wasn't eating.

 

I walked out of the dining room in frustration and came across an assistant entertainment director who saw my frustration and got me to the right people.  From then on, I had a fabulous maitre d who took my lunch and dinner order every night while the others at the table got their menus and ordered dinner.  He was helping others, too, so he bounced between tables, but I really didn't need him after he input the menu for me each night.

 

We got assigned the same nice window table every night with the same head waiter.  I mostly ordered components from the menus, and he told me which items were not what they seemed (had other ingredients which made them impossible for me to eat and couldn't be modified).  Lunch mostly went smoothly although a couple of waiters struggled to find the menu he put in for me.  My maitre d got worried he wasn't providing me varied desserts until I assured him I loved mixed berries for lunch and dinner every day (and I did and they were easy).

 

I used the buffet for breakfast which was tricky at times, but I learned to grab multiples of the things I could eat and stash them in my frig.  I never went hungry.  And they always had nuts which I could eat to snack on.

 

So food became a non-issue.  We did walk-in at Concerto for lunch and set time at Allegro for dinner.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, trbarton said:

What’s the address for reaching the Medallion team?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom😀

So, after all the funny ones, I am not sure if you found the real one.

 

AskOceanMedallion@carnival.com

 

[trbarton]

19 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

So, after all the funny ones, I am not sure if you found the real one.

 

AskOceanMedallion@carnival.com

 

Thank you very much. I’ll keep everyone posted. 
 

Tom😀

[KLM3164]

@DuncanBlizzardThanks for letting us know the dining situation worked out for you. In addition to the dining, did you enjoy the cruise overall? I believe you said this was your first cruise.

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

So, after all the funny ones, I am not sure if you found the real one.

 

AskOceanMedallion@carnival.com

 

There's also a phone #: (844) 525-0942

[memoak]

17 hours ago, skynight said:

Only passengers that are in club class mini suites or full suites are allowed in the club class section of the DR. You could invite any of these passengers to sit with you, but passengers that are not in the mentioned cabins are not permitted as guests. 

There is no reason to use the app for reservations if you have Cub Class dining - you just show up and will be shown to a table immediately or within a minute or two.

[AF-1]

14 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

@DuncanBlizzardThanks for letting us know the dining situation worked out for you. In addition to the dining, did you enjoy the cruise overall? I believe you said this was your first cruise.

Yes please let us know if the crew took care of you.  thanks and have a wonderful day

[Roberto256]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

There is no reason to use the app for reservations if you have Cub Class dining - you just show up and will be shown to a table immediately or within a minute or two.

 

Just growl, and show your teeth!  🙂

 

[DuncanBlizzard]

17 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

@DuncanBlizzardThanks for letting us know the dining situation worked out for you. In addition to the dining, did you enjoy the cruise overall? I believe you said this was your first cruise.

Yes.  I enjoyed the cruise overall.  I went more for the sights than the food which seems to be the opposite of many on here.  Once my food was taken care of, I could enjoy everything else.  I spent a lot of time wandering the ship.

 

Our three trips to shore went well.  We had numerous very good humpback whale sightings and had fun bear sightings in both the other ports.  We also had great bald eagle, otter, salmon, seal, sea lion, etc. sightings.  I obviously like wildlife and would have been ecstatic to see an orca -- perhaps another time or place.  The scenery was good too from White Pass to the meadows and forest around Dyea to the wild berries on the walking loop around Ward Lake.  I really liked the two national park rangers that came on for Glacier Bay and wished they had talked more.  I especially liked the Tom Franek show at night but also enjoyed the comedian and magician.  We missed the star gazing because it was full, but overall it went very well.

[tarheelz1995]

One rookie Princess cruiser's experience with "Dine My Way":

 

Our family knew before the cruise that we wanted flexibility in our evening dining times.  "Dine My Way" was the only option offered in our booking ("Traditional" was blocked out) so we were off to a good start.

 

For our August 1 cruise, we had zero luck reserving a dining time for the first evening until the app was updated in mid-July(?).  Once updated, we were able to book a room in Allegro for 7:00.  That evening we showed up and were seated immediately.  Great!  

 

On August 2, we tried to book a dining time on board but at final click we would receive an error message.  We had the same result using any of our phones or the stateroom TV.  Different error messages but never a successful booking.  Solution?  We dressed for formal night and walked down to Symphony.  We were seated immediately.

 

August 3, 4, and 6 were the same:  we tried to book, failed, and then just walked downstairs to a dining room as a walk-up.  While I could sometimes detect the maître-d was not entire thrilled, we were always seated with a smile within moments.

 

On August 5, we booked dinner at the Crown Grill.  This required regular refreshing of the app that day (as no times were available).  Luckily my wife got lucky once and a 5:20 time popped up.  We grabbed it.  (Oddly, that evening we noticed the Crown Grill had numerous empty tables during our meal.)

 

On the 7th, we just walked into Alfredo's!  😉

 

TL:DR.  For us, dining our way worked fine once we abandoned "Dine My Way."

[JF - retired RRT]

38 minutes ago, tarheelz1995 said:

On August 5, we booked dinner at the Crown Grill.  This required regular refreshing of the app that day (as no times were available).  Luckily my wife got lucky once and a 5:20 time popped up.  We grabbed it.  (Oddly, that evening we noticed the Crown Grill had numerous empty tables during our meal.)

Sometimes, those empty tables in CG are because they don't have enough waiters.

[Blackduck59]

2 hours ago, tarheelz1995 said:

One rookie Princess cruiser's experience with "Dine My Way":

 

Our family knew before the cruise that we wanted flexibility in our evening dining times.  "Dine My Way" was the only option offered in our booking ("Traditional" was blocked out) so we were off to a good start.

 

For our August 1 cruise, we had zero luck reserving a dining time for the first evening until the app was updated in mid-July(?).  Once updated, we were able to book a room in Allegro for 7:00.  That evening we showed up and were seated immediately.  Great!  

 

On August 2, we tried to book a dining time on board but at final click we would receive an error message.  We had the same result using any of our phones or the stateroom TV.  Different error messages but never a successful booking.  Solution?  We dressed for formal night and walked down to Symphony.  We were seated immediately.

 

August 3, 4, and 6 were the same:  we tried to book, failed, and then just walked downstairs to a dining room as a walk-up.  While I could sometimes detect the maître-d was not entire thrilled, we were always seated with a smile within moments.

 

On August 5, we booked dinner at the Crown Grill.  This required regular refreshing of the app that day (as no times were available).  Luckily my wife got lucky once and a 5:20 time popped up.  We grabbed it.  (Oddly, that evening we noticed the Crown Grill had numerous empty tables during our meal.)

 

On the 7th, we just walked into Alfredo's!  😉

 

TL:DR.  For us, dining our way worked fine once we abandoned "Dine My Way."

 

Thank you. I have been trying to express my personal reluctance with this whole app debacle. We are used to "anytime dining" a whole section of the main dining room is for anytime dining, no need for reservations first come first served. If you don't mind sharing suddenly you have the opportunity to meet new people. The whole making reservations months in advance is not an "enhancement". I don't want to be tied to a reservation. We try to have dinner at around 5:00 pm because my wife is diabetic. That being said we don't want to be tied to that time, maybe we are enjoying something else at 5 o'clock or an afternoon nap was longer than we thought. Then you show up for dinner at say 5:45 and find out the room is reserved and the next table may be available at 8:30.

I know that several people have tried to be helpful and I think maybe were exasperated by me, thank you for your help. I'm really not that picky, I just don't want to have to make reservations months in advance on some app that may or may not actually be made; then you find out that there are no tables available when you want.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Blackduck59

[getting older slowly]

18 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Thank you. I have been trying to express my personal reluctance with this whole app debacle. We are used to "anytime dining" a whole section of the main dining room is for anytime dining, no need for reservations first come first served. If you don't mind sharing suddenly you have the opportunity to meet new people. The whole making reservations months in advance is not an "enhancement". I don't want to be tied to a reservation. We try to have dinner at around 5:00 pm because my wife is diabetic. That being said we don't want to be tied to that time, maybe we are enjoying something else at 5 o'clock or an afternoon nap was longer than we thought. Then you show up for dinner at say 5:45 and find out the room is reserved and the next table may be available at 8:30.

I know that several people have tried to be helpful and I think maybe were exasperated by me, thank you for your help. I'm really not that picky, I just don't want to have to make reservations months in advance on some app that may or may not actually be made; then you find out that there are no tables available when you want.

Totally agreed

 

All our cruises have anytime dinning and have used the specialty restaurants, which had been booked a maximum a day in advance..   One like to be flexible .. as one is on holiday...

 

Maybe it is me.... but I do not get... making dinner reservations weeks , let alone months in advance...... if this is really the way cruising is heading...

 

What next all meals at sets time...going to bed and getting up at a set time

somehow I don't think so......   time to relax...

as there is no way anybody is going hungry on a cruise ship....

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, tarheelz1995 said:

One rookie Princess cruiser's experience with "Dine My Way":

 

Our family knew before the cruise that we wanted flexibility in our evening dining times.  "Dine My Way" was the only option offered in our booking ("Traditional" was blocked out) so we were off to a good start.

 

For our August 1 cruise, we had zero luck reserving a dining time for the first evening until the app was updated in mid-July(?).  Once updated, we were able to book a room in Allegro for 7:00.  That evening we showed up and were seated immediately.  Great!  

 

On August 2, we tried to book a dining time on board but at final click we would receive an error message.  We had the same result using any of our phones or the stateroom TV.  Different error messages but never a successful booking.  Solution?  We dressed for formal night and walked down to Symphony.  We were seated immediately.

 

August 3, 4, and 6 were the same:  we tried to book, failed, and then just walked downstairs to a dining room as a walk-up.  While I could sometimes detect the maître-d was not entire thrilled, we were always seated with a smile within moments.

 

On August 5, we booked dinner at the Crown Grill.  This required regular refreshing of the app that day (as no times were available).  Luckily my wife got lucky once and a 5:20 time popped up.  We grabbed it.  (Oddly, that evening we noticed the Crown Grill had numerous empty tables during our meal.)

 

On the 7th, we just walked into Alfredo's!  😉

 

TL:DR.  For us, dining our way worked fine once we abandoned "Dine My Way."

Thanks for recording your dining res experiences in detail.