Dine My Way & all new Dining questions since cruising restart!!

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, highloyo said:

We were aboard the Majestic 3/5-3/12. We had reservations made on the app for a party of 4 each night with a private table for either 6:20 or 6:40 in one or the other open dining rooms. We waited no more than a few minutes each night except 1 night we waited about 10 minutes. I felt the app worked well for reservations. One night spent at SD with pre cruise reservations also went without a problem. It’s possible that the passenger count is much higher but one dining room is still closed. I could see that causing a major problem.

You were booking individual evenings and that functionality appears to work okay.  Also, you would not necessarily have had same table & waiters each night.  The real problem with DMW is that it cannot replicate the TD experience and there is no to insufficient human intervention to create TD.

[cruisingram1]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

You were booking individual evenings and that functionality appears to work okay.  Also, you would not necessarily have had same table & waiters each night.  The real problem with DMW is that it cannot replicate the TD experience and there is no to insufficient human intervention to create TD.

To start - a separate toggle in the DMW section of app for TD so you can isolate those who want real TD. Right now the option to select same time each night does not really equal TD. As many of us have noted, 

[Tedferg]

4 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Holland America Line offers two choices....1). Anytime Dining. 2) Traditional Fixed seating dining.....You choose when you book the cruise (no app required!). 

 

 

Thanks for info. I wondered if TD is inherently inefficient and that other lines had discontinued it. We never considered TD because it was too early or too late for us and ATD with a pager and wait in Crooners worked well. Some nights it would have been nice to have a reservation to be sure of seeing the show, so DMW sounded good. I can see DMW designers thinking 'DMW, same party / same reservation, is equivalent to TD'. But it is not as simple as that. Maybe as DMW gets through teething problems pseudo-TD will work. Finally, same table /server / share with the same new passengers would seem to be impossible.

[lovescarborough]

5 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks for info. I wondered if TD is inherently inefficient and that other lines had discontinued it. We never considered TD because it was too early or too late for us and ATD with a pager and wait in Crooners worked well. Some nights it would have been nice to have a reservation to be sure of seeing the show, so DMW sounded good. I can see DMW designers thinking 'DMW, same party / same reservation, is equivalent to TD'. But it is not as simple as that. Maybe as DMW gets through teething problems pseudo-TD will work. Finally, same table /server / share with the same new passengers would seem to be impossible.

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have had traditional dining alongside anytime dining for many years. You can select your times for anytime dining on the website.  Cunard only has traditional dining in the main dining areas. We actually prefer anytime dining. Our next cruise will be our first on Princess so it will be very interesting to see if our dining reservations, made on the app, actually happen. 

[Tedferg]

6 minutes ago, lovescarborough said:

.....  so it will be very interesting to see if our dining reservations, made on the app, actually happen. 

We made reservations onboard and to be honest, were not too punctual, someone in our party was often late. We were at desk within 10 - 15 minutes of reservation and when they confirmed our reservation, we went in quickly. Only once did they say that two in our party were in a different dining room and all four of us went to that dining room.

[ImperialLady]

Hi to all, I started reading all the pages and found that I had was confused. So I have a question that I have no doubt has already been asked and answered numerous times. But, I am going to try it again. Do you have to make reservations for the main dining room or can you walk up and ask for a table? I know I have to make reservations for the speciality restaurants if we go. And do not have to make reservations for the buffet.....but it's difficult for medical reasons to know weeks in advance what time you want to eat and if your body will agree with that time. Thanks in advance for your replies                         

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, ImperialLady said:

Hi to all, I started reading all the pages and found that I had was confused. So I have a question that I have no doubt has already been asked and answered numerous times. But, I am going to try it again. Do you have to make reservations for the main dining room or can you walk up and ask for a table? I know I have to make reservations for the speciality restaurants if we go. And do not have to make reservations for the buffet.....but it's difficult for medical reasons to know weeks in advance what time you want to eat and if your body will agree with that time. Thanks in advance for your replies                         

Walk-ups are OK.

[ImperialLady]

6 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Walk-ups are OK.

Thats good news and thank you

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Finally, same table /server / share with the same new passengers would seem to be impossible.

Exactly.  Has to be done manually just before sail date.

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, lovescarborough said:

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have had traditional dining alongside anytime dining for many years. You can select your times for anytime dining on the website.

This.  DMW can handle AT reservations within a designated inventory of table space.  Other table space needs to be set aside for TD - which should be done manually as it was before after collecting TD requests from all guests via the registration/booking process.  They could also be smart and release any excess table space in the TD "bucket" after assigning all guests who requested it.  The excess space would then join the AT pool for bookings on/after sail date.

[Tedferg]

5 hours ago, ImperialLady said:

Hi to all, I started reading all the pages and found that I had was confused. So I have a question that I have no doubt has already been asked and answered numerous times. But, I am going to try it again. Do you have to make reservations for the main dining room or can you walk up and ask for a table? I know I have to make reservations for the speciality restaurants if we go. And do not have to make reservations for the buffet.....but it's difficult for medical reasons to know weeks in advance what time you want to eat and if your body will agree with that time. Thanks in advance for your replies                         

Walk ups are fine and you can make reservations onboard, when you might have better visibility of your schedule. If you can wait until 7:00 or so, most of the crowd has died down.

[GoDucksNation]

Part of the problem with traditional dining is that when guests miss their assigned time they end up at any time dining which makes it more crowded for those of us that originally selected anytime dining

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, GoDucksNation said:

Part of the problem with traditional dining is that when guests miss their assigned time they end up at any time dining which makes it more crowded for those of us that originally selected anytime dining

People could miss their DMW timeslot and no-show.  Anytime seats are not claimed on time, it creates a waiting period (grace period) and then the seats can be assigned to someone else waiting as a walk-up.  An active MDR mgmt team can get people in the seats vacated by no-shows.

[leck57]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

This.  DMW can handle AT reservations within a designated inventory of table space.  Other table space needs to be set aside for TD - which should be done manually as it was before after collecting TD requests from all guests via the registration/booking process.  They could also be smart and release any excess table space in the TD "bucket" after assigning all guests who requested it.  The excess space would then join the AT pool for bookings on/after sail date.

 

Not disputing what you say and you are 100% correct but having cruised under the "old" system it is a contradiction that "DMW can handle AT reservations". We are AT diners and the whole point of it was no reservations.

Why stuff around with something that wasn't broken. 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

Not disputing what you say and you are 100% correct but having cruised under the "old" system it is a contradiction that "DMW can handle AT reservations". We are AT diners and the whole point of it was no reservations.

Why stuff around with something that wasn't broken. 

Yes, it can handle AT reservations, but the guest is not obligated to use it.  They still support walk-ups, so you can carry on as before and ignore DMW if that is your preference.  So, IMO the "old" way for AT is still there, PLUS it has an enhancement (if it works as designed) for those who'd like to book a table and show up for it on their schedule.

 

What is completely broken from the "old" way is TD.  And it could be easily fixed.  I have no idea if Princess is just hoping it will die a lingering death as folks just throw in the towel attempting to get it - as opposed to "manning up" and advising customers that PCL is no longer going to have TD.

 

[minnesotasisu]

On our cruise on the Enchanted Princess in Feb/Mar my wife's MedallionClass app did not have the DMW icon (while mine did) so she was unable to make or change dinner reservations. Was that a glitch in the system or is only the primary guest have this option? 

[FlaMariner]

11 hours ago, GoDucksNation said:

Part of the problem with traditional dining is that when guests miss their assigned time they end up at any time dining which makes it more crowded for those of us that originally selected anytime dining

 

On HAL, when we've had Anytime Dining (which is rare and only because we booked late and Fixed was full), many times we were seated in the fixed seating level floor.  They open those up to AD if there is a TD no show. 

 

It's very efficient.  Rarely lines for AD folks...table for 2 at 6:30pm seems to be "rush hour" w/a possible wait.

 

Also, the TD folks just walk to their table after day 1.....No standing in line. 

 

(My theory is that Princess wants to destroy traditional fixed dining because if they break the bond between the guest and the no surcharge MDR waiters, then more folks will utilize the $$$ surcharge restaurants.....for us, we've decided to not cruise Princess but they may be fine with us bolting because we never utilize surcharge restaurants)

 

 

[Steelers36]

19 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

On HAL, when we've had Anytime Dining (which is rare and only because we booked late and Fixed was full), many times we were seated in the fixed seating level floor.  They open those up to AD if there is a TD no show. 

 

It's very efficient.  Rarely lines for AD folks...table for 2 at 6:30pm seems to be "rush hour" w/a possible wait.

 

Also, the TD folks just walk to their table after day 1.....No standing in line. 

 

(My theory is that Princess wants to destroy traditional fixed dining because if they break the bond between the guest and the no surcharge MDR waiters, then more folks will utilize the $$$ surcharge restaurants.....for us, we've decided to not cruise Princess but they may be fine with us bolting because we never utilize surcharge restaurants)

 

 

Any recent Princess cruise I was one saw empty seats being filled by walk-ups in the TD area (we normally used the Deck 6 Mid-Ship DR for Early dining and so it is easy there to fill seats as opposed to the Deck 6 Aft - but they sent people there as well at times). 

 

As for your theory - it is interesting, but doesn't make sense (sorry) as the SD's aren't big enough to handle a huge influx and the main ones (CG & Sabi's) seem to be busy a lot anyway.

 

ETA:  What might make sense as a theory is that if they had only ONE type of dining - say AT now - it would be a lot easier for the cruise line to manage.  In the old days, there was only one type - TD. 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Steelers36

[ImperialLady]

14 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Walk ups are fine and you can make reservations onboard, when you might have better visibility of your schedule. If you can wait until 7:00 or so, most of the crowd has died down.

Thanks we have no problem waiting til after 7. 

[JF - retired RRT]

55 minutes ago, minnesotasisu said:

On our cruise on the Enchanted Princess in Feb/Mar my wife's MedallionClass app did not have the DMW icon (while mine did) so she was unable to make or change dinner reservations. Was that a glitch in the system or is only the primary guest have this option? 

glitch

[Yukonjake]

What are the start times for after-dinner shows on Princess? (Obviously has a bearing on when we make reservations.)

[Nebr.cruiser]

10 minutes ago, Yukonjake said:

What are the start times for after-dinner shows on Princess? (Obviously has a bearing on when we make reservations.)

It varies, but on our recent Discovery cruise show times were 7:30 and 9:30.

 

Just walking up for a table works fine if you eat later--eating early the line was always long.  We prefer to eat after the first show anyway, so it works for us.

[clueless2]

19 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Exactly.  Has to be done manually just before sail date.

So how would one go about getting that done manually?

[Steelers36]

47 minutes ago, clueless2 said:

So how would one go about getting that done manually?

One - as in a guest cannot do this.  All you can do is make the request to DR mgmt and remind them Princess is promising TD experience.  What I was saying - combined with prior post(s) - was that Princess has to setup TD manually from guest requests - just like they did prior to DMW.  Only way it can work.

 

[ImperialLady]

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

One - as in a guest cannot do this.  All you can do is make the request to DR mgmt and remind them Princess is promising TD experience.  What I was saying - combined with prior post(s) - was that Princess has to setup TD manually from guest requests - just like they did prior to DMW.  Only way it can work.

 

Thanks for all the information you give out. I sincerely appreciate it. I have a request.

Would you please explain what all the abbreviations mean. I guess, but am never SURE. Thanks