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

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

We have 4 voyages booked b2b2b2b for 2023. A few days ago I was able to reserve same time, same DR, table to share. We always enjoyed ATD where many evenings we would sit with different individuals. At the desk we would request tables no larger than 6 and most times they were provided. Will see what kind of flexibility the staff has once on board.

They don't have much based on reading reports.  Perhaps they do more for AT than TD.

Another problem with the new version of DMW, is we guests have no idea what table size the System has assigned.  And since we don't see a table number, we have no idea if the System has placed us at the same table each evening.

 

2 hours ago, skynight said:

Automated systems are not able to provide for all the intricacies of customer's requests. That kind of hospitality service can only be accomplished by individuals. Princess is indeed in the hospitality service business. The service just happens to be at sea.

110% agreed.  Another issue is that guests are booking and changing dining requests in real time pre-cruise, whereas before all the final dining requests went to the MD just before the voyage and he did all the TD table assignments.

 

 

Was thinking. Our cruises are 4 separate booking numbers which show as a single voyage on the medallion app. The web site does show the 4 separate booking numbers. What would happen to the dining reservation if we decided to say cancel the 1st two bookings only? In the past nothing would happen to our ATD request. Now? 

I can relate based on our B2B2B.  The first leg was canceled/rebooked recently, whereas the second and third legs were just refared.  The dining res info was gone in the first case - as expected.  The res was still there for the final two legs.  However, I had to delete out each night and start over in order to have the same booking for all nights of voyage.  And that is where I ran into trouble until a couple of days ago because DMW would not work and show space for that option.

 

 

<This got posted before I was done typing>.  Please re-read.  Tag to notice update @skynight.

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Steelers36

[chubbypiggy]

We will be on a 28-night cruise next March, and we prefer not to have a set time for dinner every night.  Can we just show up at the dining room and wait to be seated or we must choose a time pre-cruise on the Med. app.?

  

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, chubbypiggy said:

We will be on a 28-night cruise next March, and we prefer not to have a set time for dinner every night.  Can we just show up at the dining room and wait to be seated or we must choose a time pre-cruise on the Med. app.?

  

You can show up like before.  Or you can book same day for that night, for example.

[chubbypiggy]

6 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

You can show up like before.  Or you can book same day for that night, for example.

Thank you.  

[suzyed]

On 8/16/2021 at 10:28 PM, Steelers36 said:

Apparently, there was some misunderstandings around TD on the first Majestic voyages (includes Regal I believe) and this has been clarified with the ships.  So, those who booked same time for full voyage length should be at same table with same waiters going forward.  

 

No updates on selection of table size.  Still an outstanding issue.  It's a minor update, but some new info I received from Princess.

Where do we stand on table size?  Are they seating only groups/familes together and the rest of us at tables for 2?

Edited October 10, 2021 by suzyed

[donswife]

21 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Where do we stand on table size?  Are they seating only groups/familes together and the rest of us at tables for 2?

I tried a mock booking for same time dining,  and it only offered shared tables, choice of 2 dining rooms.  That was for a 4 night on the Grand. I did not complete it, because we actually have Club Class dining. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

Where do we stand on table size?  Are they seating only groups/families together and the rest of us at tables for 2?

DMW is definitely allowing a shared table experience, but you don't know the size.  As for grouping Travel Companions for a single dining res - be prepared for the System to offer a split-table res instead of a private table for your party at times.

 

[Roberto256]

On 10/10/2021 at 7:08 PM, Steelers36 said:

 As for grouping Travel Companions for a single dining res - be prepared for the System to offer a split-table res instead of a private table for your party at times.

 

 

I don't often travel with people I don't want to sit with, but I can understand it!

Good to keep in mind for the future.

 

We once travelled with people who called the cabin so frequently, I unpluged the phone.

 

[candy4040]

How much in advance are you able to schedule on the app for Dine My Way?

[capriccio]

2 minutes ago, candy4040 said:

How much in advance are you able to schedule on the app for Dine My Way?

When I was finally able to access DMW after an update in August, I was able to make reservations for cruises in March and July 2022.  We are traveling with others on all those cruises and I was able to add our traveling companions to the dinner reservations.  For the March 2022 cruise I just made a standing reservation, same time, same dining room, same size table.  For the July 2022 cruise we all have a promo specialty dinner and I was able to reserve that too.  The other 6 nights we have a standing reservation, same time, same dining room, same size table. I haven't tried to set up the April 2023 reservations yet but it looks like I can do it now so this was a good reminder to get everyone else's booking numbers.

 

 

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, candy4040 said:

How much in advance are you able to schedule on the app for Dine My Way?

As soon as you have booked and paid a deposit - IF you are Platinum or Elite or you have booked a Suite or a Club Class Mini. 

 

Otherwise, you get access once you have fully paid for the cruise.

 

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, capriccio said:

When I was finally able to access DMW after an update in August, I was able to make reservations for cruises in March and July 2022.  We are traveling with others on all those cruises and I was able to add our traveling companions to the dinner reservations.  For the March 2022 cruise I just made a standing reservation, same time, same dining room, same size table.  For the July 2022 cruise we all have a promo specialty dinner and I was able to reserve that too.  The other 6 nights we have a standing reservation, same time, same dining room, same size table. I haven't tried to set up the April 2023 reservations yet but it looks like I can do it now so this was a good reminder to get everyone else's booking numbers.

 

 

Perhaps my memory timing is off, but DMW is no longer specifying table size and only indicates if Shared, Private or Split.  Also, the booking options do not indicate same table size - only "Same time each day".  It seems to me they have taken out info that wasn't working and it's rather obfuscated now.

 

Just curious how you know have same table size and what it is.  Thanks.

 

And I gather you are not on any B2B's?

[capriccio]

52 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Perhaps my memory timing is off, but DMW is no longer specifying table size and only indicates if Shared, Private or Split.  Also, the booking options do not indicate same table size - only "Same time each day".  It seems to me they have taken out info that wasn't working and it's rather obfuscated now.

 

Just curious how you know have same table size and what it is.  Thanks.

 

And I gather you are not on any B2B's?

Neither are B2Bs. 

 

The DMW reservations on the March 2022 cruise for our party of 6 on the Enchanted Princess reads:

 

Capri Dining Rom

Private Table

6:20 pm        2 (DH and I) + 4 (our traveling companions)

 

The DMW reservations for 6 of the nights on the July 2022 cruise for our party of 8 on the Caribbean Princess reads:

 

Island Dining Room

Private Table

5:40 pm        2 + 6

 

The DMW reservation for the promo Specialty Restaurant reads:

 

Sabatini Trattoria

Private Table

5:50 pm            2 + 6

 

 

 

 

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Neither are B2Bs. 

 

The DMW reservations on the March 2022 cruise for our party of 6 on the Enchanted Princess reads:

 

Capri Dining Rom

Private Table

6:20 pm        2 (DH and I) + 4 (our traveling companions)

 

The DMW reservations for 6 of the nights on the July 2022 cruise for our party of 8 on the Caribbean Princess reads:

 

Island Dining Room

Private Table

5:40 pm        2 + 6

 

The DMW reservation for the promo Specialty Restaurant reads:

 

Sabatini Trattoria

Private Table

5:50 pm            2 + 6

 

 

 

 

I think we might "assume" that table size for a private table equals party size, but I suppose in some cases it could be larger depending on guest demand.  

 

As you may be aware, guests with these type of bookings on summer/fall 2021 voyages have not always been reserved at the same table and needed to appeal to DR staff (HW's or MD) to get seated with same waiters if they wanted that.  Hopefully by the time you cruise, something will have been done to fix that.  I certainly hope so by next October. 

 

Thanks again for the detail info.  I have found similar success with our dining party for a future single voyage, but am one of the ones "suffering" with the system bugs with B2B situations.

 

[Ombud]

I finally managed to split out my cruise from the hotel reservation (both booked with FCC) and get dinner reservations at 6pm every night. Yes I know it was 'supposed to be' possible with 9-22-2021 update but it wasn't for me. Now the only thing I cannot get is an arrival time. But in that I'm doing the tourist thing in Fort Lauderdale anyway and their positivity rates are improving, I'm okay with embarking in the afternoon

[loge23]

We have three Princess cruises booked, with the first being this February on the Enchanted. We're long-time Princess cruisers, and I'm working my way through this thread to get a handle on this "Dine My Way" thing. Back in the bad 'ol days, we used to wonder why they couldn't go to a Anytime Dining, then they did. That policy was wrought with all kinds of problems as too many folks, like us, all showed up at around the same time. There were numerous issues with the gatekeepers, until I finally figured a way around that. Then, Princess changed the fixed late seating to 7:30pm and that worked just fine for us. Now, it's Dine Your Way - whatever.

But with this thought in mind I thought I would share my recent dining experience with Brand X, only our third with them. 

We recently traveled aboard the Celebrity Edge since Princess has been slow to resume Caribbean sailing. Also, we thought  7-day would be a good way to dip the toes back in cruising, plus it was a BIG Birthday!

I won't get into the quality of the food - suffice to say everything was excellent. I may get around to posting a bit more on the Celebrity threads.

It was the way that Celebrity handled dining that was quite interesting to us. 

On the Edge, their equivalent to what we know as a Mini-Suite is called the Sky Suite. It was a about the same size as the Mini, but this being a new vessel - the decor and layout was quite chic. Our bed faced the balcony, so water views were the first thing you saw each morning - nice. But the the reason I'm in this thread is that Celebrity considers the Sky Suite as a Suite class, which means you have a private Dining Room (for Suite passengers only), private sun deck, and private lounge. It's called Retreat Class. You may dine in any DR onboard and premium restaurants are available as well - just call your personal room attendant (formally known as the Butler) and he or she will handle the rest. You can also book pre-cruise through a very easy to navigate APP. Sorry Princess, but this blows your Club Class away. It also will probably drive some cruisers away since the treatment in Suite class, even for the lower priced Sky Suite, is far superior to anything on Princess.

Passengers booked in other accommodations onboard has their choice, no reservations required, of four Main Dining venues: Normandie (French accented entrees), Tuscan (Italian), Cosmopolitan (American bistro-like offerings), and Cyprus (a nod the lines Greek heritage featuring    Mediterranean accented dishes. All of these restaurants also featured a regular "always available" menu for the less culinary adventurous. We ate in the Normandie one evening and were surprised to see a Veal Chop on the menu - always an extra on Princess.

Nonetheless, we're looking forward to our upcoming Enchanted cruise to objectively get a read on the differences. We hope the long layoff and the relatively new Enchanted will bring some new life to the Princess experience and that Dine Your Way is as pleasant as what we experienced on X.

I don't mean to criticize Princess - it's still our main go-to - but things change. Perhaps their primary competitor, Celebrity, is taking things to a new level. 

 

 

 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, loge23 said:

It was the way that Celebrity handled dining that was quite interesting to us. 

On the Edge, their equivalent to what we know as a Mini-Suite is called the Sky Suite. It was a about the same size as the Mini, but this being a new vessel - the decor and layout was quite chic. Our bed faced the balcony, so water views were the first thing you saw each morning - nice. But the the reason I'm in this thread is that Celebrity considers the Sky Suite as a Suite class, which means you have a private Dining Room (for Suite passengers only), private sun deck, and private lounge. It's called Retreat Class. You may dine in any DR onboard and premium restaurants are available as well - just call your personal room attendant (formally known as the Butler) and he or she will handle the rest. You can also book pre-cruise through a very easy to navigate APP. Sorry Princess, but this blows your Club Class away. It also will probably drive some cruisers away since the treatment in Suite class, even for the lower priced Sky Suite, is far superior to anything on Princess.

Passengers booked in other accommodations onboard has their choice, no reservations required, of four Main Dining venues: Normandie (French accented entrees), Tuscan (Italian), Cosmopolitan (American bistro-like offerings), and Cyprus (a nod the lines Greek heritage featuring    Mediterranean accented dishes. All of these restaurants also featured a regular "always available" menu for the less culinary adventurous. We ate in the Normandie one evening and were surprised to see a Veal Chop on the menu - always an extra on Princess.

 

 

Thank you for your comparisons.  We haven't sailed on Celebrity (I investigated a cruise a few years ago but their website was such a disaster I never pursued it) so I have a questions to ponder.  I don't expect you to know the all the answers 😀.  As you can tell, I certainly don't.

 

• Number of cabins on the ship comparison:  how many Sky Suites are there on the Edge vs the number of mini-suites on a Royal Class ship?  I expect there are hundreds of mini-suites.  
• How many passengers on a given sailing could be entitled to Suite/Retreat class perks?  How many Princess passengers would be entitled to current suite perks if mini-suites were included?
• I just wonder what size a single dedicated restaurant, a private sun deck, and a private lounge would be required on Princess. 
• It sounds like a wonderful experience; are the fares similar?

Edited October 30, 2021 by capriccio

[nreeder]

We’ve been in a Celebrity Sky suite and numerous times in a mini suite on Princess.  Sky suites are priced like full suites on Princess, not mini suites. Certainly wonderful service and good food.  But you pay for that level of service on Celebrity.  There are far more mini suites on Princess (a whole deck) than Sky suites.  

Trivia—when Grand Princess was new on it’s first Mediterranean season, all mini suites had a butler.  That only lasted a year.  Then no more.  Now even full suites don’t have that service.  Norm

[loge23]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

Thank you for your comparisons.  We haven't sailed on Celebrity (I investigated a cruise a few years ago but their website was such a disaster I never pursued it) so I have a questions to ponder.  I don't expect you to know the all the answers 😀.  As you can tell, I certainly don't.

 

• Number of cabins on the ship comparison:  how many Sky Suites are there on the Edge vs the number of mini-suites on a Royal Class ship?  I expect there are hundreds of mini-suites.  
• How many passengers on a given sailing could be entitled to Suite/Retreat class perks?  How many Princess passengers would be entitled to current suite perks if mini-suites were included?
• I just wonder what size a single dedicated restaurant, a private sun deck, and a private lounge would be required on Princess. 
• It sounds like a wonderful experience; are the fares similar?

I agree with you re: the Celebrity website - drives my wife nuts!

Oddly, the on ship experience with their app and the tech onboard is flawless.

As to the # of mini's and suites - I really don't know. I suppose we could check out the ship layouts for a count or hunt around for the answer to that. For the count of passengers, well the Edge accommodates about 3,000 passengers but the current sailing are limited due to the plague. Our trip had about 1,300. All of the suite categories, anecdotally, were sold out but I suppose some of those rooms were vacant. I did notice that the Luminae Restaurant (the Retreat exclusive) was pretty full on some nights. To be clear, I thought this ship at full capacity would be quite crowded.

The fares are higher, no doubt. We paid about $3K ea. for 7 nights in Retreat class in a Sky Suite.

While onboard we priced out a few cruises for Feb. before settling on the Enchanted cruise. For a 7 nighter, in a mini-suite on Princess and a Sky Suite on Celebrity, the difference in fares was about $1K higher total for two on Celebrity. Perks like drink package, wifi, and tips similar as well. So sure, I'm paying extra for extra service.

I Princess had a similar setup for their Mini-Suites, I'd gladly pay more for it. But as I noted earlier, I am looking forward to the Enchanted cruise to see the new ship.

As noted above, this level of service isn't available to full Suite passengers on Princess, although I believe there's a lounge offered.   

  

[PaperSniper4]

17 hours ago, loge23 said:

We have three Princess cruises booked, with the first being this February on the Enchanted. We're long-time Princess cruisers, and I'm working my way through this thread to get a handle on this "Dine My Way" thing. Back in the bad 'ol days, we used to wonder why they couldn't go to a Anytime Dining, then they did. That policy was wrought with all kinds of problems as too many folks, like us, all showed up at around the same time. There were numerous issues with the gatekeepers, until I finally figured a way around that. Then, Princess changed the fixed late seating to 7:30pm and that worked just fine for us. Now, it's Dine Your Way - whatever.

But with this thought in mind I thought I would share my recent dining experience with Brand X, only our third with them. 

We recently traveled aboard the Celebrity Edge since Princess has been slow to resume Caribbean sailing. Also, we thought  7-day would be a good way to dip the toes back in cruising, plus it was a BIG Birthday!

I won't get into the quality of the food - suffice to say everything was excellent. I may get around to posting a bit more on the Celebrity threads.

It was the way that Celebrity handled dining that was quite interesting to us. 

On the Edge, their equivalent to what we know as a Mini-Suite is called the Sky Suite. It was a about the same size as the Mini, but this being a new vessel - the decor and layout was quite chic. Our bed faced the balcony, so water views were the first thing you saw each morning - nice. But the the reason I'm in this thread is that Celebrity considers the Sky Suite as a Suite class, which means you have a private Dining Room (for Suite passengers only), private sun deck, and private lounge. It's called Retreat Class. You may dine in any DR onboard and premium restaurants are available as well - just call your personal room attendant (formally known as the Butler) and he or she will handle the rest. You can also book pre-cruise through a very easy to navigate APP. Sorry Princess, but this blows your Club Class away. It also will probably drive some cruisers away since the treatment in Suite class, even for the lower priced Sky Suite, is far superior to anything on Princess.

Passengers booked in other accommodations onboard has their choice, no reservations required, of four Main Dining venues: Normandie (French accented entrees), Tuscan (Italian), Cosmopolitan (American bistro-like offerings), and Cyprus (a nod the lines Greek heritage featuring    Mediterranean accented dishes. All of these restaurants also featured a regular "always available" menu for the less culinary adventurous. We ate in the Normandie one evening and were surprised to see a Veal Chop on the menu - always an extra on Princess.

Nonetheless, we're looking forward to our upcoming Enchanted cruise to objectively get a read on the differences. We hope the long layoff and the relatively new Enchanted will bring some new life to the Princess experience and that Dine Your Way is as pleasant as what we experienced on X.

I don't mean to criticize Princess - it's still our main go-to - but things change. Perhaps their primary competitor, Celebrity, is taking things to a new level. 

 

 

 

We have done both, and I agree. However, the Celebrity will cost more than Princess. Whether that additional cost is worth it depends on what the cruiser wants. Like everything else in life, there ain't no free lunch, eh?😉

[c-boy]

 " Trivia—when Grand Princess was new on it’s first Mediterranean season, all mini suites had a butler.  That only lasted a year.  Then no more.  Now even full suites don’t have that service. " Norm

 

 

 that's why I bring mine with me.. 🤣

[Userclown]

On 8/11/2021 at 5:54 PM, HleeCruiser said:

Posted just now

I want to make a reservation and pay for it for a specialty restaurant for a friend.  I used to be able to do this at princess.com in the personalizer but that option is no longer available.  Does anyone know how this can be done so I can use my cc to pay for the dinner?  Thanks

Try calling Princess.

[PaperSniper4]

16 hours ago, Userclown said:

Try calling Princess.

.....and be prepared to be on hold for a while!😳

[LACruiser88]

4 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

...and be prepared to be on hold for a while!😳

We have been using the Live Chat option on the web site and it is a much faster and easier way to communicate with Princess.

[PaperSniper4]

3 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have been using the Live Chat option on the web site and it is a much faster and easier way to communicate with Princess.

I saw where someone else used Chat at Princess. I use it often with Amazon, but have never seen the Chat link when I'm logged onto Princess.com. I use Firefox as my browser. I just did a search for "chat" at Princess.com, and it appears that chat is only on the Medallion app; is that what you used? I have that on my phone, and have used it to do as much as I can pre-check in, but never noticed the chat link. If that's where the chat is, I will have to check for it more closely; I'd much prefer that to a lengthy phone call! To me it's irritating Princess (and others!) are going more and more to "things" we can only do on those blasted phones; but then I know I am not alone in that irritant!😉

 

Doug