If you could choose your dining room .......

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 

Actually, I do think they have a pretty standard template of activities as I see a lot of repeating patterns from cruise to cruise.  I do agree that showtimes and other special events can fluctuate in start times and that some things do seem to change on the fly.  That said, barring something like tossing seas, they know when they are going to schedule the theater shows on regular nights and formal nights, etc. 

 

 

 

 You are more optimistic than I am about when events are scheduled.

 

For example: Before traditional dining times were changed in 2019, there were events such as the Captain's welcome party and speech in the Atrium that was scheduled between the time the first seating was finished and second seating began. Also activities such as trivia and some entertainment were scheduled to end before the start of second seating. When the traditional times changed to be earlier, the times of the activities were not. Second seating passengers had to miss the Captain's speech. If they were playing trivia, they had to leave before the end of the game. Thus there was very little coordination in real-time, much less at the start of the cruise and definitely not months in advance. (One can debate the value of attending these activities, but the scheduling should allow it.)

 

One only has to look at how seldom the Traditional confirmed dining times in the Personalizer matched up with reality once on board. I once had a B2B where the 2nd seating was in the Personalizer for both as being at 8 PM. It turned out that on the first segment is was at 7:45 and on the send segment at 8:15. However, 8 PM was the average time.

 

I also doubt that months in advance they can properly schedule MUTS movies as they probably do not know much in advance what movies will be available for your cruise and thus their lengths.

 

My experience on Princess is that the CD and staff put together on one day what the next day's schedule would be. (On Royal Caribbean I was surprised to find they made the schedule two days in advance, not one day as Princess did.)

 

The Princess Personalizer often does not have the correct number of formal evenings. For example, a B2B of two one-week cruises with a single booking number will show 3 formal evenings when reality is that each segment will have two for a total of 4. If they cannot get that simple thing right in advance of a cruise, what hope is there for all events to be correctly listed in advance?

 

 

[Steelers36]

46 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

 You are more optimistic than I am about when events are scheduled.

 

For example: Before traditional dining times were changed in 2019, there were events such as the Captain's welcome party and speech in the Atrium that was scheduled between the time the first seating was finished and second seating began. Also activities such as trivia and some entertainment were scheduled to end before the start of second seating. When the traditional times changed to be earlier, the times of the activities were not. Second seating passengers had to miss the Captain's speech.

Yes, but they adjusted things and I don't believe that continues to be a problem.  Has not been my experience.  Yes, they should have been better prepared.  Most certainly, the Entertainment staff need to consider the major dining windows when scheduling evening activities - especially the major ones.

 

 

If they were playing trivia, they had to leave before the end of the game. Thus there was very little coordination in real-time, much less at the start of the cruise and definitely not months in advance. (One can debate the value of attending these activities, but the scheduling should allow it.)

 

One only has to look at how seldom the Traditional confirmed dining times in the Personalizer matched up with reality once on board. I once had a B2B where the 2nd seating was in the Personalizer for both as being at 8 PM. It turned out that on the first segment is was at 7:45 and on the send segment at 8:15. However, 8 PM was the average time. 

 

The Personalizer never had the exact TD times.  They were just place-holders and it depended on what the MD was doing on board.  I found often varied by 15 minutes even before the change.

 

I also doubt that months in advance they can properly schedule MUTS movies as they probably do not know much in advance what movies will be available for your cruise and thus their lengths.

 

My experience on Princess is that the CD and staff put together on one day what the next day's schedule would be. (On Royal Caribbean I was surprised to find they made the schedule two days in advance, not one day as Princess did.) 

 

Yes, but they have to have a basic template to work from.

 

The Princess Personalizer often does not have the correct number of formal evenings. For example, a B2B of two one-week cruises with a single booking number will show 3 formal evenings when reality is that each segment will have two for a total of 4. If they cannot get that simple thing right in advance of a cruise, what hope is there for all events to be correctly listed in advance?

 

True, but that is an IT issue and many things about Princess' HQ IT seem to be lacking where they could have built in some additional "smarts" in order to correct this.  At least experienced cruisers know the correct answer.  Seems pretty obvious that the Formal Night schedule is going to be driven by the individual cruises that can be booked as such.

 

 

See above.

[caribill]

39 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

See above.

 

I agree with everything you said.

 

My point is that if they could not do these relatively simple things accurately in the past, I have no confidence they can do much more complicated scheduling in the foreseeable future.

 

Just look at the other threads about how non-functioning the current version of the MedallionClass app is.

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

I agree with everything you said.

 

My point is that if they could not do these relatively simple things accurately in the past, I have no confidence they can do much more complicated scheduling in the foreseeable future.

 

Just look at the other threads about how non-functioning the current version of the MedallionClass app is.

 

Yes, they often put new software into production without sufficient testing to eliminate obvious bugs.  I consulted in HR/Pay/Benefits software my entire career and I mentioned the specific area because people expect perfection when it comes to payroll.  Even with careful testing, things get through, but at least I was never part of an implementation where the entire payroll was wrong.  

 

I don't have a lot of confidence in Princess IT team based on their track record.  I have no idea how much is in-house versus out-sourced, consultants, etc. 

 

[Tedferg]

Caribill - my impression, previously stated, is that the new My Time is a more efficient way to handle TD without the problems associated with various changes in TD time slots and My Time adds flexibility to AT. If it can be made to work it might be the best of several worlds.

 

Not to disagree with your points about scheduling but I think more efficient use of MDR has broader overall benefits.

[Ronnieslady]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Caribill - my impression, previously stated, is that the new My Time is a more efficient way to handle TD without the problems associated with various changes in TD time slots and My Time adds flexibility to AT. If it can be made to work it might be the best of several worlds.

 

Not to disagree with your points about scheduling but I think more efficient use of MDR has broader overall benefits.

Perhaps they are hoping this My Time way will help with the crowd of people that gather before TD even starts & the crowd of people in line for AT dining when that starts.  
We don’t even like when we have to wait 15 minutes or more for a table for 2 in Club Class depending on what time we get there.  Then the crowds start to form.  Whatever they can do to stop any of the crowding, I am for it. 

[susancruzs]

All this makes me smile, glad I don't deal with any of it.  Traditional early dining, could care less what dining room, if a line forms, oh, well, don't care. 

 

Life is too short to be remotely concerned about dining issues.  It's a vacation, I don't think Princess is stressful, the way patrons think they should or shouldn't operate seems to be self inflicted. 😄

[Cruzinnana47]

This new My Time dining feature seems too much like work.   We like to be able to "relax" while on a cruise and not have to deal with worrying about so many details.   In the past, we've always looked at the daily patter (or whatever the daily activity schedule is called on the particular cruiseline) and figured out basically what we wanted to do that day (or perhaps the following day) and go from there.  That's why we prefer AD, not being tied to a specific dining time and can adjust, based on what activities we want to participate in that evening.  Don't care about which specific dining room we're assigned to.  If we want, we can change things up by reserving an evening meal in one of the specialty dining venues, or eat casually in the buffet or even the IC.  It's vacation, after all.

[dave_k58]

On 5/17/2021 at 6:58 AM, skynight said:

Estrella, deck 6, mid ship

Thank you very much

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:41 AM, Cruzinnana47 said:

This new My Time dining feature seems too much like work.   We like to be able to "relax" while on a cruise and not have to deal with worrying about so many details.   In the past, we've always looked at the daily patter (or whatever the daily activity schedule is called on the particular cruiseline) and figured out basically what we wanted to do that day (or perhaps the following day) and go from there.  That's why we prefer AD, not being tied to a specific dining time and can adjust, based on what activities we want to participate in that evening.  Don't care about which specific dining room we're assigned to.  If we want, we can change things up by reserving an evening meal in one of the specialty dining venues, or eat casually in the buffet or even the IC.  It's vacation, after all.

And you will still be able to do PRECISELY this!  
 

Edited May 22, 2021 by AtlantaCruiser72

[Porky55]

On 5/17/2021 at 10:57 PM, Steelers36 said:

But, I do like the idea of potentially booking a set dining time and DR without visiting the MD in the afternoon of Day 1

Agree, this is the only real advantage I can see too.