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

[memoak]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Nothing like being prepared !

Yeah but there will still be lines

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, memoak said:

Yeah but there will still be lines

 

We sailed on Royal Princess in May and on Ruby Princess in December. Both times the dining room I had booked in advance - Michelangelo - was closed and we were moved to the aft dining room. We had no issue with lines for dinner. On Royal I booked the same time every night for a table for 4 and we were seated right away. On Ruby I booked the same time every night for sharing and, again, we were seated very quickly. There may have been one or two couples ahead of us but, as they were seated right away, we didn't really ever have to wait.

 

On past cruises I have seen some horrendous lines for dinner at the most popular times but haven't really had to deal with them. The couple of times we really did have to wait a while they gave us a buzzer and we went to get a drink. I don't like standing in a line and these days I really can't. Standing for any length of time becomes so painful that I simply must find somewhere to sit down.

[roadster08]

Does anyone who has cruised recently have any tips for MDR special requests? For example, can you request a side from a different menu item than the one you are ordering? Can you request a simplified  version of a menu item? For example, can you request simple grilled chicken instead of the specially prepared chicken menu item? Also, if you made a special request did it take an inordinately long time for your dinner to arrive?

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, roadster08 said:

Does anyone who has cruised recently have any tips for MDR special requests? For example, can you request a side from a different menu item than the one you are ordering? Can you request a simplified  version of a menu item? For example, can you request simple grilled chicken instead of the specially prepared chicken menu item? Also, if you made a special request did it take an inordinately long time for your dinner to arrive?

 

Yes - I do it all the time if I prefer a veggie garnish from another main dish.  Yes, you should be able to get some simple custom requests without advance notice, but best to ask the day ahead.

[Rudy888]

Just off the Enchanted. Precruise I booked 6:30 as it was the last time you could book to share. We were B2B and twice they moved us to another dining room with a minor change in time. Not a problem. At 6:30 most on the no reservation line were turned away. It did helf if you wanted to share a table 6 to 8.

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, Rudy888 said:

Just off the Enchanted. Precruise I booked 6:30 as it was the last time you could book to share. We were B2B and twice they moved us to another dining room with a minor change in time. Not a problem. At 6:30 most on the no reservation line were turned away. It did helf if you wanted to share a table 6 to 8.

Which MDR was the least crowded?

[Rudy888]

 

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Which MDR was the least crowded?

We were at the Capri. 

[wowzz]

Never had a problem mixing up side orders, or asking for double portions of veg.

Could be diffucult if you want, say,  duck a l'orange, without the orange  sauce, as all the duck is prepared with the sauce. I supppose the sauce coukd be scrapped off !

[Rudy888]

18 hours ago, Rudy888 said:

 

We were at the Capri. 

Probably the Capri but keep in mind at prime times 5:30 to 7:00 I would estimate less than 70% of the tables were being used. Just do not have enough servers for a full dining room. Empty tables but people were still turned away at 6:30 if they didn't have a reservation.

 

[wowzz]

17 hours ago, Rudy888 said:

Probably the Capri but keep in mind at prime times 5:30 to 7:00 I

Although worth hearing in mind that that is not prime time on European cruises.

[muggo11]

Thank goodness for this thread. . . Though we are Elite with Princess, Sky Princess to Norway in June is our first post-Covid Princess cruise.  I logged into Medallion and got a couple of specialty dining reservations with ease.  BUT, there are no shared table options in MDR past 6:20 pm.  We like late dining AND we like to eat with others (and like many others sad about the passing of fixed, late dining, shared tables).  Should we just take our chances and show up for dinner at 8 and hope for a shared table in one of the 3 MDRs?  For those of you who have cruised on Princess recently, how does this play out?  Or does it vary by ship?

 

thanks!  

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Although worth hearing in mind that that is not prime time on European cruises.

Yes and no.  We were on 4 voyages last Fall in the Med region.  Americans and Canadians outnumbered the European countries by a good margin.

[konatyme]

Thrak,

You always have such good info to share that I thought I'd direct this to you. (I tried looking back through a LOT of posts on this thread, but couldn't find exactly what I need.) We just booked a cruise to Hawaii on the Emerald with some friends. On a previous cruise, I was able to book dining times and a table for 2 for my husband and myself with no problems; however, now I need to book a table for 4 to include our friends, and I don't know how to do that.  I will probably pick the same time each night, assuming there are good times available. Can you possibly walk me through how to do this on the Medallion app? Thanks!

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, konatyme said:

Thrak,

You always have such good info to share that I thought I'd direct this to you. (I tried looking back through a LOT of posts on this thread, but couldn't find exactly what I need.) We just booked a cruise to Hawaii on the Emerald with some friends. On a previous cruise, I was able to book dining times and a table for 2 for my husband and myself with no problems; however, now I need to book a table for 4 to include our friends, and I don't know how to do that.  I will probably pick the same time each night, assuming there are good times available. Can you possibly walk me through how to do this on the Medallion app? Thanks!

If you want to ping another CC member, you need to do it this way:

1. Type the "@" symbol.

2. Immediately, start typing their handle name like this:  @Th..

3. As you do so, a list of matching CC handles pops up, and as you type, the list gets smaller.

4. Once you spot the one you want, it is important to click on it.  Critical step here.

5. When you do step 4 correctly, you will see this:  @Thrak.

6. Note that the member's handle is highlighted in blue.  You can now carry on typing normally other text.  When you have a CC member handle highlighted as above, they will receive an email notice that someone has tagged them.  Otherwise, the way you did it, it is just a random fluke if that member actually sees that you tagged them.

 

I will give you an answer to your question as well.  You first need to add your friends in the Princess App as Travel Companions.  (They can add you as well).  In order to do this, you need their Booking Confirmation (the 6-alphanumeric code).

 

Once they are Travel Companions, you can set them up as Dining Companions and now you have a party of 4.  Book dining the same way and include your friends in the reservation and you will be seeking space for 4 people and not 2.

 

[Solara]

On the Emerald Princess Grand Class which dining room do you prefer the Michelangelo deck 5 midship or the Botticelli 6 aft. Would one be less crowded than the other & which would have a better selection of tables for 2 people not on top if each other?

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Solara said:

On the Emerald Princess Grand Class which dining room do you prefer the Michelangelo deck 5 midship or the Botticelli 6 aft. Would one be less crowded than the other & which would have a better selection of tables for 2 people not on top if each other?

Just curious why you left out the other mid-ship DR (Deck 6)? 

 

I always prefer a mid-ship DR since we don't generally book aft cabins.

[Thrak]

4 minutes ago, Solara said:

On the Emerald Princess Grand Class which dining room do you prefer the Michelangelo deck 5 midship or the Botticelli 6 aft. Would one be less crowded than the other & which would have a better selection of tables for 2 people not on top if each other?

 

I prefer Michelangelo simply because it's near Vines and we like to hang out there before dinner and carry a glass of wine with us into the dining room.

[Solara]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Just curious why you left out the other mid-ship DR (Deck 6)? 

 

I always prefer a mid-ship DR since we don't generally book 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Solara

[Solara]

8 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Just curious why you left out the other mid-ship DR (Deck 6)? 

 

I always prefer a mid-ship DR since we don't generally book aft cabins.

I was wrong. I have choice of all 3.  Do you prefer the one on 5 or 6 midship?  Does one of those 2 have club class because then I’d pick the other one. 

[Steelers36]

4 minutes ago, Solara said:

I was wrong. I have choice of all 3.  Do you prefer the one on 5 or 6 midship?  Does one of those 2 have club class because then I’d pick the other one. 

IDK that particular ship these days and CC dining space has been moved on at least some of the ships.  It used to be you could say CC Dining is Deck 6 mid-ship period.  Wouldn't bother me to be in same DR as CC, nor does it matter much Deck 5 or 6.  They sit on top of one another and same thing.

 

A clue to identify CC dining location is if you can see a current Patter and look at which DR is open for lunch and breakfast.  That is the DR with CC dining.

 

[memoak]

25 minutes ago, Solara said:

I was wrong. I have choice of all 3.  Do you prefer the one on 5 or 6 midship?  Does one of those 2 have club class because then I’d pick the other one. 

CC dining is simply one area of a dining room not the entire room. That dining room will have 2 entrances. In 2022 cruises it was on deck 6 midship. 

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes and no.  We were on 4 voyages last Fall in the Med region.  Americans and Canadians outnumbered the European countries by a good margin.

Yes, I should have said that peak times are different when there are a large number of Europeans aboard.

[konatyme]

Steelers36, thank you for the info. I apologize for not knowing how to address a particular CC member. Next time I'll know! 🙂 (And I did get our companions added and got dining times set for the whole cruise. Success!)

[konatyme]

And I just realized I should have followed the instructions and "pinged" Steelers36 with my last message.😕 Mea culpa again!

[ecs66]

We haven't cruised since Feb. 2020, and the four of us always have arranged for traditional dining in a MDR, early seating, same table.  Is it still possible to do that?  If so, via Personalizer, or would our TA set that up for us?