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

[Gunner 66]

Above I stated the exact same thing. Called Princess and was told they would show on phone app after I make the final payment. BUT I made a copy of the reservation and will take it along to show the Maître D the first night if I have to.

[suzyed]

On 7/19/2024 at 4:20 PM, suzyed said:

I wish I could...Our cruise is SE Asia sailing out of Singapore in October.  It's not like it's a sold out sailing, yet I tried again last night and nope, not gonna happen.  Oh well I feel like I gave it all I could with no luck.  So you don't have to hear about it any more unless something changes.

So, @Kay S, a new update!  I called the Princess number on Monday and talked to a very nice man and although he couldn't help me with the dining reservations (after looking at all I had booked up to that point), he "created a ticket" and was going to call me in 48 hours.  No call however.
Anyway, went onto the Princess website today and went to the dining and lo and behold, I was able to change all my "shared table" reservations to "private dining"!!  Most are at 7:30 with a few at 7:20.  It's a little later than I had originally wanted to book but we will make do.
I'm a happy camper!!

Edited July 27 by suzyed

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

So, @Kay S, a new update!  I called the Princess number on Monday and talked to a very nice man and although he couldn't help me with the dining reservations (after looking at all I had booked up to that point), he "created a ticket" and was going to call me in 48 hours.  No call however.
Anyway, went onto the Princess website today and went to the dining and lo and behold, I was able to change all my "shared table" reservations to "private dining"!!  Most are at 7:30 with a few at 7:20.  It's a little later than I had originally wanted to book but we will make do.
I'm a happy camper!!

Yay!  Now I have the opposite problem where I want to go from private to shared, but "not available."  😄  I think I'll wait to get on the ship to straighten it out since its about 10 months out.  But boy, is that good news for you!

[suzyed]

7 hours ago, Kay S said:

Yay!  Now I have the opposite problem where I want to go from private to shared, but "not available."  😄  I think I'll wait to get on the ship to straighten it out since its about 10 months out.  But boy, is that good news for you!

Thanks!  And wishing you good luck as well!  It seems you should have better luck switching from private to shared since there are typically more shared than private available.

Edited July 27 by suzyed

[Moxiefurball]

So we are booked on Regal for Apr 28, 2025 British Isles.  We just cruised last Aug 2023 and it was called anytime dining in each of the three dining area.  Now I see there are three dining rooms on Regal, one with what the app calls Traditional  with 2 dining times in symphony with a choice of private tables  but you get same waiter each night, then the open walk in dining no reservations in Allegro dining room, and Concerto  with more times similar to the anytime dining I am used to , make a reservation go at different times and get a different waiter each night. For those that have experienced the change in dining from a time to a choice of three different types what are your experiences.  We have for now chosen Symphony dining room  traditional with private table at same time each night as we like to dine at 7:30.  

[HotRoot]

1 hour ago, Moxiefurball said:

So we are booked on Regal for Apr 28, 2025 British Isles.  We just cruised last Aug 2023 and it was called anytime dining in each of the three dining area.  Now I see there are three dining rooms on Regal, one with what the app calls Traditional  with 2 dining times in symphony with a choice of private tables  but you get same waiter each night, then the open walk in dining no reservations in Allegro dining room, and Concerto  with more times similar to the anytime dining I am used to , make a reservation go at different times and get a different waiter each night. For those that have experienced the change in dining from a time to a choice of three different types what are your experiences.  We have for now chosen Symphony dining room  traditional with private table at same time each night as we like to dine at 7:30.  

The new dining starts mid September so no one has experienced it yet. 

[cbfb]

I have been one of the passengers complaining about dining reservations so I wanted to report back.
 

We just paid our cruise in full through our TA on Thursday. Friday the TA told us it was sent to princess but I still was unable to make reservations. I chatted with princess today and they told me it can take time to be processed and to keep checking.  I just now was able to make reservations for all 8 of us on our Sun cruise in November. One cabin has not paid in full but I had no issue including them. 

[rheathslc]

On 7/28/2024 at 9:19 AM, Moxiefurball said:

So we are booked on Regal for Apr 28, 2025 British Isles.  We just cruised last Aug 2023 and it was called anytime dining in each of the three dining area.  Now I see there are three dining rooms on Regal, one with what the app calls Traditional  with 2 dining times in symphony with a choice of private tables  but you get same waiter each night, then the open walk in dining no reservations in Allegro dining room, and Concerto  with more times similar to the anytime dining I am used to , make a reservation go at different times and get a different waiter each night. For those that have experienced the change in dining from a time to a choice of three different types what are your experiences.  We have for now chosen Symphony dining room  traditional with private table at same time each night as we like to dine at 7:30.  

While we won't know until mid-September how these changes actually affect the cruise experience and how well the crew are able to pull it all off I will say that I am very happy for the return of a Traditional Dining option. Having the same time, same table, and same staff every night is something I loved and was sad they did away with.

 

Now, with that said, that was back when all dining in the three separate dining rooms was Traditional. I'm curious to see how this new set up will work. I think it should be fine because, if I'm not mistaken, the MDR they designated for Traditional Dining on most ships is the one on deck 5 that has it's own galley and the MDRs for walk-in and normal reservations are the ones on deck 6 that share a galley. I would be more concerned if the traditional dining shared a galley with one of the others. 

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, cbfb said:

I have been one of the passengers complaining about dining reservations so I wanted to report back.
 

We just paid our cruise in full through our TA on Thursday. Friday the TA told us it was sent to princess but I still was unable to make reservations. I chatted with princess today and they told me it can take time to be processed and to keep checking.  I just now was able to make reservations for all 8 of us on our Sun cruise in November. One cabin has not paid in full but I had no issue including them. 

Are you Platinum or Elite?  Just wondering because DMW used to work right away for us as soon as deposit down and the rest of the folks were supposed to have to wait until FP made (but that was never 100% working either because ineligible cruisers reported here being able to make res).

[Steelers36]

While speed flipping pages to get to the end (current date), I ended up SMH noting that folks are still having issues with DMW bugs in the reservation process not finding what they are looking for, etc.  If this is rampant, looks like I have not missed much. 

 

In regards to September changes, I was all over in favor of that and had forgotten it was coming.  Seems like it was announced ages ago.  I would expect DMW to be working in the new way in terms of offerings.  Perhaps they cannot have it working under the old method and new method at the same time and DMW will be better in Sep??  Am I just reaching here due to being out of touch?

[cbfb]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Are you Platinum or Elite?  Just wondering because DMW used to work right away for us as soon as deposit down and the rest of the folks were supposed to have to wait until FP made (but that was never 100% working either because ineligible cruisers reported here being able to make res).

Neither. It’s my first cruise with princess. That’s why we had to wait until final payment to book. 

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Neither. It’s my first cruise with princess. That’s why we had to wait until final payment to book. 

Glad you got the res then.  Enjoy the experience.

[HotRoot]

12 hours ago, rheathslc said:

While we won't know until mid-September how these changes actually affect the cruise experience and how well the crew are able to pull it all off I will say that I am very happy for the return of a Traditional Dining option. Having the same time, same table, and same staff every night is something I loved and was sad they did away with.

 

Now, with that said, that was back when all dining in the three separate dining rooms was Traditional. I'm curious to see how this new set up will work. I think it should be fine because, if I'm not mistaken, the MDR they designated for Traditional Dining on most ships is the one on deck 5 that has it's own galley and the MDRs for walk-in and normal reservations are the ones on deck 6 that share a galley. I would be more concerned if the traditional dining shared a galley with one of the others. 

You could always eat at the same table with the same staff at the same time every night.  Just prebook the same dining room at the same time each night.  During the first lunch or dinner ask for the same table each night.  When you arrive each night, bypass the line and go directly to your table.  We always do this with a 6:20 pm dining reservation.  We will continue to do it this way as we do not want to eat at 5 pm nor 7:30 pm.

[rheathslc]

2 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

You could always eat at the same table with the same staff at the same time every night.  Just prebook the same dining room at the same time each night.  During the first lunch or dinner ask for the same table each night.  When you arrive each night, bypass the line and go directly to your table.  We always do this with a 6:20 pm dining reservation.  We will continue to do it this way as we do not want to eat at 5 pm nor 7:30 pm.

That's good to hear that you have been able to do that. I have not had that experience on the cruises I've done since they moved to the original DMW format. On the ones I've done that I didn't have Club/Reserve dining there have been times I was not even able to get the same section/server let alone the same table even after requesting it. What they've said to me is that they would try but could not guarantee I would get the same table or server each night. Perhaps I just wasn't firm enough in my request. Or maybe it's because I was sailing solo each of those times. 🤷‍♀️

[PacnGoNow]

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

While speed flipping pages to get to the end (current date), I ended up SMH noting that folks are still having issues with DMW bugs in the reservation process not finding what they are looking for, etc.  If this is rampant, looks like I have not missed much. 

 

In regards to September changes, I was all over in favor of that and had forgotten it was coming.  Seems like it was announced ages ago.  I would expect DMW to be working in the new way in terms of offerings.  Perhaps they cannot have it working under the old method and new method at the same time and DMW will be better in Sep??  Am I just reaching here due to being out of touch?

You haven’t missed much.  
Still bugs, delays, inconsistencies, etc.

 

The new Sep 14, 24 MDR:

 

TD 5 pm and 730 pm  (mostly)

 

Reservable (old DMW) 5 pm then every 20 mins.  (It’s flexible)

Not to be confused with Reserve dining. 😆 

 

Walk in Anytime (old Anytime) no reservations 

 

I’ve noticed differences on MDR used on ships, 2024 & 2025.  So, best advice, check your own sailing & ship.  It could vary.

 

Bugs?  What?  It was infested and now it’s just one patch over the last patch!  So, they come back, without a permanent solution.  Most of the time, it’s not major, but it should not be an ongoing bug from 2 years ago. SMH 

 

They did get rid of some of the old OM and now it’s Ocean Ready (OR) on the phone tree.  I had a trained agent, as have others, that was able to totally unscramble one of my 6 cruises on the App. 😳

 

 

 

Edited August 11 by PacnGoNow

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

You haven’t missed much.  
Still bugs, delays, inconsistencies, etc.

 

The new Sep 14, 24 MDR:

 

TD 5 pm and 730 pm  (mostly)

 

Reservable (old DMW) 5 pm then every 20 mins.  (It’s flexible)

Not to be confused with Reserve dining. 😆 

 

Walk in Anytime (old Anytime) no reservations 

 

I’ve noticed differences on MDR used on ships, 2024 & 2025.  So, best advice, check your own sailing & ship.  It could vary.

 

Bugs?  What?  It was infested and now it’s just one patch over the last patch!  So, they come back, without a permanent solution.  Most of the time, it’s not major, but it should not be an ongoing bug from 2 years ago. SMH 

 

They did get rid of some of the old OM and now it’s Ocean Ready (OR) on the phone tree.  I had a trained agent, as have others, that was able to totally unscramble one of my 6 cruises on the App. 😳

 

 

 

Those dining times are pretty much what I understood from the original announcement.  I will continue to book my own TD experience because 5pm is too early and 7:30pm is too late.

[PacnGoNow]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Those dining times are pretty much what I understood from the original announcement.  I will continue to book my own TD experience because 5pm is too early and 7:30pm is too late.

Yes, hence reservable!  Why not just call it flexible?  Or, we’ll just say reservable flexible. 😳

[Boku]

4 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Those dining times are pretty much what I understood from the original announcement.  I will continue to book my own TD experience because 5pm is too early and 7:30pm is too late.

I'm in the same position where TD is concerned, its just a shame that the flexible dining is at the back of the ship, on my recent cruise on Sky I found speed and quality of service was a bit better in Estrella which became my preferred MDR but now Estrella is the TD 🙁

[Dbld777]

10 hours ago, HotRoot said:

You could always eat at the same table with the same staff at the same time every night.  Just prebook the same dining room at the same time each night.  During the first lunch or dinner ask for the same table each night.  When you arrive each night, bypass the line and go directly to your table.  We always do this with a 6:20 pm dining reservation.  We will continue to do it this way as we do not want to eat at 5 pm nor 7:30 pm.

Will be interesting to see if DR Managers are willing to arrange that now that TD will be available for pre booking. Holding a specific table open until 6:20 is not in their best interest for efficiency as it basically means that table will likely only see one seating per evening.

[Tedferg]

On 8/11/2024 at 2:28 PM, Dbld777 said:

Will be interesting to see if DR Managers are willing to arrange that now that TD will be available for pre booking. Holding a specific table open until 6:20 is not in their best interest for efficiency as it basically means that table will likely only see one seating per evening.

This was always a minor quibble for me. Not a big thing but never understood why they allowed this. Reservation or Walk Up, why add this complication. We were told a couple of times that we could not have the two-top by the window, "Because it was reserved"

[Steelers36]

On 8/11/2024 at 2:19 PM, Boku said:

I'm in the same position where TD is concerned, its just a shame that the flexible dining is at the back of the ship, on my recent cruise on Sky I found speed and quality of service was a bit better in Estrella which became my preferred MDR but now Estrella is the TD 🙁

I do not like the rear DR much at all.  I would try for one of the mid and see what happens. 

 

That said, I can see them co-locating the "old" TD times with the Walk-Ups because they can easily send Walk-Up overflow up/down at mid-ship DRs in order to fill vacancies in the TD room.

[Steelers36]

On 8/11/2024 at 5:28 PM, Dbld777 said:

Will be interesting to see if DR Managers are willing to arrange that now that TD will be available for pre booking. Holding a specific table open until 6:20 is not in their best interest for efficiency as it basically means that table will likely only see one seating per evening.

I can say they did not like a 6:20 standing table block as much as prior to 6pm (but was not necessary to eat at 5pm).

[Steelers36]

On 8/14/2024 at 11:54 AM, Tedferg said:

This was always a minor quibble for me. Not a big thing but never understood why they allowed this. Reservation or Walk Up, why add this complication. We were told a couple of times that we could not have the two-top by the window, "Because it was reserved"

I can show up at a land-based restaurant for a 6:45 res and not get a table that is blocked for a 7pm res.  Depends on requests, etc.  On the ship, I am more concerned about my general table time and the wait crew than location.  Windows are nice as don't have 360-degree sound, but on many itineraries it gets dark soon enough and I've seen a lot of ocean water in my day.  I'd give that up for an A wait crew over a B wait crew.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

 

That said, I can see them co-locating the "old" TD times with the Walk-Ups because they can easily send Walk-Up overflow up/down at mid-ship DRs in order to fill vacancies in the TD room.

That makes sense, but this is Princess... 😝  When the new system kicks in in September, we'll have to ask for reports.

[MilVet]

We are new to Princess (over 60 cruises with Carnival) and I despise Apps but it is what it is.  Booked on the Enchanted Princess in March '25.  Just called Princess abouth the three dining options.  The lady said you can sign up for the "Traditional" dining (5:00 or 7:30) but you can still go to the Reservaton or Walk-in restaurants.  Why wouldn't you do that?