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

[kamelia]

13 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O have introduced a web based on board booking system, and their MDR  booking procedure would be ideal, if operated totally on the on-line system. It's a virtual queue procedure which shows the number of passengers waiting for each MDR, and your phone buzzes you when your table is ready. Unfortunately because not everyone has, or wants to use their smart phone, they have allowed passengers to book tables in advance, which along with walk ups makes the virtual queue system worthless.

 But I am convinced this would work perfectly if everyone had to use the VQ system.

How about instead of my phone buzzing my Ocean Medallion vibrates instead? 🤣

[BamaVol]

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Only if they were cruise ship restaurant managers, I don't know of any land based restaurants of the same size.

I have been in restaurants that exceed any cruise ship MDR in size.  I have been in restaurants that only accept reservations and many that accept none.  Most appear to be a hybrid.  I’d just like an opinion from someone with experience in the business on which model provides the most efficient use of space and best customer satisfaction.

Edited February 22 by BamaVol

[WfO75080]

On 2/16/2024 at 3:01 PM, galensgrl said:

Hi everyone. My sisters and I are going to the Caribbean in August on the Enchanted Princess. We each get two specialty restaurant dinners with our premier packages. My sisters are foodies and want to try the specialty and the casual restaurants. My question here is, is it worth it to try all three specialty restaurants on the ship, specifically wondering if Sabatinis is a good place to eat? I live in New England and there are Italian restaurants all over the place. If we go for Italian food, I of course want it to be "Good" Italian food and not taste like frozen meatballs and Stouffers lasagna or what have you. If you've dined at Sabatinis, did you enjoy it? The two restaurants we are definitely trying are CG and Catch by Rudys, they seem popular and hopefully those two have fine beef and fish. Either way, it is highly unlikely we will go hungry. Thanks all. 

We are on the same ship leaving this Monday. Been on 5 Princess cruises but never on Enchanted. Been to Alaska 2x and it's our favorite to this day. Mediterranean in August might change that. We have almost always done the Premier package, and this cruise we booked specialty dining every night. The food is much better but so is the experience. We live in a very small town and have to travel 30 miles for anything beyond a Chili's or Applebees. Can't wait for the Crown Grill, Sabatini's and The Catch!

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O have introduced a web based on board booking system, and their MDR  booking procedure would be ideal, if operated totally on the on-line system. It's a virtual queue procedure which shows the number of passengers waiting for each MDR, and your phone buzzes you when your table is ready. Unfortunately because not everyone has, or wants to use their smart phone, they have allowed passengers to book tables in advance, which along with walk ups makes the virtual queue system worthless.

 But I am convinced this would work perfectly if everyone had to use the VQ system.

If there was going to be such a system, I would add self-service screens outside the DRs which would do the same thing as the phone App in terms of joining a queue.  An overhead screen could list names or initials of how the queue is progressing and who is next, etc.  You could potentially join a queue for a different DR and then walk there and wait.  If anyone called not there, they get 5 minutes or so leeway and then move to next on the list.

[kamelia]

7 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

If there was going to be such a system, I would add self-service screens outside the DRs which would do the same thing as the phone App in terms of joining a queue.  An overhead screen could list names or initials of how the queue is progressing and who is next, etc.  You could potentially join a queue for a different DR and then walk there and wait.  If anyone called not there, they get 5 minutes or so leeway and then move to next on the list.

Great idea - seems simple enough.

[dreaminofcruisin]

It is interesting how different each cruise can be related to being seated in the dining room. Just off the Sky and we NEVER even saw a dining room line. We were a party of 8, so had reservations each night between 5 and 6 (varied) and left sometime between 7 and 8:00 (pretty slow service most nights). Since we also had 2 little ones, even though our reservation was for 8, sometimes we were only 4 or 5. Still no problem. We were seated immediately at the appropriate sized table. The ship was sold out. I wonder if on some cruises, people are moving away from MDR dining?

[BamaVol]

4 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Only if they were cruise ship restaurant managers, I don't know of any land based restaurants of the same size.

Casa Bonita in Denver seats 1,100 and is 52,000 square feet (4,800 square meters?).  Back in the day they took reservations for large parties only. I’m not sure how it’s done today, but I’m curious if anyone has been since it reopened.

[TheMichael]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

If you think about it, having bookings must reduce the restaurant capacity very significantly, because you have tables ready laid but waiting for their customers to arrive, which will be at least 30 mins. 

If the restaurant operates totally on walk ups, then every table can be utilised.

That would be a brilliant idea, if reservations are actually handled by holding a specific table for each reservation. With very few exceptions, after the initial opening crowd, people who arrive for their reservations simply get a place in line before the walk-ups, that's all. 

[Dbld777]

1 hour ago, TheMichael said:

That would be a brilliant idea, if reservations are actually handled by holding a specific table for each reservation. With very few exceptions, after the initial opening crowd, people who arrive for their reservations simply get a place in line before the walk-ups, that's all. 

Yes, using the word "reservation" does seems to be a bit misleading to many of the DMW diners using the app. They just can't hold a table open for a 6:30 reservation. That's the only time we've seen some longer lines, the 6:30 to 7:00 timeframe.

[terrierjohn]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:31 PM, Steelers36 said:

If there was going to be such a system, I would add self-service screens outside the DRs which would do the same thing as the phone App in terms of joining a queue.  An overhead screen could list names or initials of how the queue is progressing and who is next, etc.  You could potentially join a queue for a different DR and then walk there and wait.  If anyone called not there, they get 5 minutes or so leeway and then move to next on the list.

I would be happy with that sort of a hybrid system, which would enable those without smart phones equal access to join a virtual queue. Anything that reduces the number of out of service tables, and maximises the efficient use of the MDR staff.

[LittleTinker]

On 2/22/2024 at 12:51 PM, BamaVol said:

I have been in restaurants that exceed any cruise ship MDR in size.  I have been in restaurants that only accept reservations and many that accept none.  Most appear to be a hybrid.  I’d just like an opinion from someone with experience in the business on which model provides the most efficient use of space and best customer satisfaction.

I am an ex hotelier and experienced hospitality restaurant manager and I can tell you that the definitive answer to this is.....it depends.

A very busy restaurant, for example, would lose money if it took bookings on a Saturday night. Being able to sit guests as soon as previous guests leave is far and away the best use of space.
However, this doesnt always work in hotel restaurants/high end restaurants and you have to take in to consideration whether not allowing bookings will put people off coming.
Therefore a mix is generally better in high end and hotel restaurants.

 

[Queenmom1947]

Have booked on Sapphire for October 10 day BUT tried to make dine room reservations for 2 and not possible!   Even person on chat gave wrong info!     Even our experiencedTA didn’t do it for us…..she knew better.

on Sky in January, we had to resort to using buffet and folks had to wait a long time to dine.    Took contact with guest relations to help and then MaitreD finally got us a continual reservation at same table, same staff!    Now:   

Tried using reservation number and, yes, can enter dietary needs , but no dine room?    I get the thought that Princess just wants to upswell cruisers for future voyage programs.    We still have time to cancel and might.

I am given to understand that cruise lines get a lot of late cancellations.  Princess, this could be why!    The Medallion App is baloney, difficult if you don’t use your cel phone to run your life!

Do you need to wait for dine room reservation until cruise is fully paid????

what is the  game going on?   

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, LittleTinker said:

I am an ex hotelier and experienced hospitality restaurant manager and I can tell you that the definitive answer to this is.....it depends.

A very busy restaurant, for example, would lose money if it took bookings on a Saturday night. Being able to sit guests as soon as previous guests leave is far and away the best use of space.
However, this doesnt always work in hotel restaurants/high end restaurants and you have to take in to consideration whether not allowing bookings will put people off coming.
Therefore a mix is generally better in high end and hotel restaurants.

 

Welcome to CC and the Princess forum!

[mamafun]

1 hour ago, Queenmom1947 said:

Do you need to wait for dine room reservation until cruise is fully paid????

 

I made reservations for our Nov 2 cruise already.  I used the web version because I prefer to look at that instead of my phone - easier on my old eyes!

[Saelicv]

4 minutes ago, schooner_Drinker said:

I just spent a while looking around the web version.

I couldn’t see anywhere to book any dining for any of our reservations.

 

Must confess, not a big web user, mainly App.

 

Please guide me where I can make dining reservations.

Is it hidden under a tab or something not so obvious 

 

Thanks

Nancy 

If you are on the app, there are cards just below the announcement of how many days until embarkation. The second card is "Book Dining". Tap there and you can book main dining room and the specialty restaurants. After you book them, to see your reservations, look under the Book Dining card again. In the upper right corner is a calendar with the heart in it tap on that to view your reservations.

[mamafun]

15 minutes ago, schooner_Drinker said:

Please guide me where I can make dining reservations.

 

@schooner_Drinker No problem - it took me a few tries to find it.

 

On the Princess home page, click on "Booked Guests"

 

On the drop down, on the left is "Get OceanReady Instructions"  Click that.

 

Underneath "Get Ready for Your Princess Cruise" to the right is "Dining Reservations."  It tells you it's available in the app, but it also says "Don't have a compatible device? Try our web version." and that is a link.  Click that.  

 

From there, you can sign in.  I had to use the Booking Number sign in (option is at bottom of screen) for some reason.  

 

Then you are on the Personal Information and Documents page.  Underneath the checklist of Required Information you will see "Suggested."  The last choice there is "Dine My Way."  Click that and it takes you to the reservation page.  You'll see your itinerary on the left side, click the day you want to make the reservation for and then go from there.

 

I hope this works for you!

[mamafun]

Just now, schooner_Drinker said:

Thank you so much 😊 You are a 🌟 

 

You are very welcome!  I'm glad it was easy to understand.  Enjoy your trip!

[axd]

As I understand, Ruby Princess offers three restaurants for the dining. I would like to make reservations for the entire cruise. However it’s not clear which one is for the “dine my way”.

Thanks in advance for recommendations.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, axd said:

As I understand, Ruby Princess offers three restaurants for the dining. I would like to make reservations for the entire cruise. However it’s not clear which one is for the “dine my way”.

Thanks in advance for recommendations.

All the same on that ship.

[mittenscat23]

For the casual restaurants such as the Pubs, can you make reservations?  We have 2 meals included with the plus package, but can't find a way to reserve them ahead of cruise?

 

[Steelers36]

38 minutes ago, mittenscat23 said:

For the casual restaurants such as the Pubs, can you make reservations?  We have 2 meals included with the plus package, but can't find a way to reserve them ahead of cruise?

 

No reservations for any of the standing CD locations.  I think they do take reservations for the pop-ups like Planks and Steamers?  (Check me on that someone)

[mittenscat23]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

No reservations for any of the standing CD locations.  I think they do take reservations for the pop-ups like Planks and Steamers?  (Check me on that someone)

Thank you.  Haven't been on Princess in a really long time and things have changed. Many options for dining are available now and the medallion use

will be a learning curve..

[HotRoot]

45 minutes ago, mittenscat23 said:

Thank you.  Haven't been on Princess in a really long time and things have changed. Many options for dining are available now and the medallion use

will be a learning curve..

Reservations for Planks and Steamers but you cannot make them until you board.

[terrierjohn]

22 hours ago, LittleTinker said:

I am an ex hotelier and experienced hospitality restaurant manager and I can tell you that the definitive answer to this is.....it depends.

A very busy restaurant, for example, would lose money if it took bookings on a Saturday night. Being able to sit guests as soon as previous guests leave is far and away the best use of space.
However, this doesnt always work in hotel restaurants/high end restaurants and you have to take in to consideration whether not allowing bookings will put people off coming.
Therefore a mix is generally better in high end and hotel restaurants.

 

However very few cruise ship MDRs could be considered "high end", and maximising throughput should be the aim.

So are we all agreed that bookings should be scapped and an orderly virtual queue is the best option.

[Steelers36]

21 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

However very few cruise ship MDRs could be considered "high end", and maximizing throughput should be the aim.

So are we all agreed that bookings should be scrapped and an orderly virtual queue is the best option.

Not so fast because many of us like to have the same wait team for the full voyage.