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

[CruisinGrandpa]

13 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

If that is the case then that would not meet my definition of "DineMyWay"....and that would end one of the most enjoyable daily experiences we have cruising.  And probably would be our first and last cruise on Princess. 

 

My plan is to punch buttons on the medallion app to reserve same time and table preference every night in the MDR (done) and visit the kiosk upon arrival and express our one request:  "Same table, same time, same waiters".  That cannot be difficult. 

 

Looking forward to a great cruise and great experience in the MDR!

It is worth a try to request same table each evening, but with the new program there are no guarantees of the same table and wait staff. 
Given the low passenger count currently on most cruises,

and Your early dining preference (5:20?) you just might be able

to pull it off. 
who knows what the dinning experience will be like once Covid is behind us and ships fill up again.  We might see a limited version of traditional dinning return

[PacnGoNow]

43 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Sorry but dumb question time again....

 

I am hearing that balcony dining may not be available?  Is that the same thing as ordering room service breakfast?

 

On another cruise line, we can fill out a card and order breakfast to be delivered the next morning....we check off the delivery time, put it on our door the night before and magically the tray of breakfast food arrives at our door...and we enjoy it on our balcony....and there is no surcharge. Simple. 

 

Can I do that on Princess?

I’ve talked to Customer relations several times and they all said it was not offered currently because of covid.  But, they may bring it back at a later date.

 

 

[Dbld777]

32 minutes ago, capriccio said:

The Ultimate Balcony Breakfast and Dinner (https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2365) have not been available since cruising resumed last year.

 

You can order breakfast (actually any meal, snacks, and drinks) with the medallion app or thru the TV.  If there is a surcharge (there are only a handful of food items that have a surcharge) it will be noted.

You can also still ask your room steward for the good old breakfast order hang tag, but there probably won't be one in your room.

[FlaMariner]

1 minute ago, Dbld777 said:

You can also still ask your room steward for the good old breakfast order hang tag, but there probably won't be one in your room.

 

I'll be ok with ordering on the TV....just don't need $45 scrambled eggs like I saw in the "balcony dining" ritual. LOL.

 

Do you order on the TV the night before and include a delivery time?

[Dbld777]

6 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

I'll be ok with ordering on the TV....just don't need $45 scrambled eggs like I saw in the "balcony dining" ritual. LOL.

 

Do you order on the TV the night before and include a delivery time?

Didn't try ordering via the TV. So much easier to use the hang card. I don't find the TV very easy to navigate. The TV feels like I'm using a 1990's computer interface. Was very hard to even find dining room menus on the TV.

[FlaMariner]

46 minutes ago, Dbld777 said:

Didn't try ordering via the TV. So much easier to use the hang card. I don't find the TV very easy to navigate. The TV feels like I'm using a 1990's computer interface. Was very hard to even find dining room menus on the TV.

 

very good...I prefer the paper card anyway.....was just trying to act like I enjoyed all this new technology....but I find it slower than "pen and paper" many times!

[PacnGoNow]

Interesting:

In all the notices I am getting for upcoming cruises from PCL about

excursions, health protocols and dining,

this one does state you can have same wait staff every night.  This seems to be updated, maybe because of all the feedback?

 

 

Dine when you want

Select dining times for main dining rooms and specialty restaurants.  Request the same time each night if you prefer the same waitstaff.

[FlaMariner]

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Interesting:

In all the notices I am getting for upcoming cruises from PCL about

excursions, health protocols and dining,

this one does state you can have same wait staff every night.  This seems to be updated, maybe because of all the feedback?

 

 

Dine when you want

Select dining times for main dining rooms and specialty restaurants.  Request the same time each night if you prefer the same waitstaff.

 

Thanks for sharing....So I'm thinking that if you go onto medallion app and choose same time, same place (which we did) you will hopefully get same waitstaff and same table.....Sounds like Traditional Dining to me and works for us...also, I would define that as "DiningMyWay".

 

(I recall many years ago when we were young and foolish and cruised Carnival, we had "any whatever dining" and we had to queue up each night and rattle off our cabin number and beg to be able to sit at a table w/the waiter we enjoyed....what a mess....I'm past that now and Princess should be also)

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

I’ve talked to Customer relations several times and they all said it was not offered currently because of covid.  But, they may bring it back at a later date.

 

Sorry, to clarify:

 

Are you referencing the expensive balcony dining (the $45 breakfast and $$$$ dinner) or the regular "room service" scrambled eggs (free) or both?

 

 

[Dbld777]

10 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Interesting:

In all the notices I am getting for upcoming cruises from PCL about

excursions, health protocols and dining,

this one does state you can have same wait staff every night.  This seems to be updated, maybe because of all the feedback?

 

 

Dine when you want

Select dining times for main dining rooms and specialty restaurants.  Request the same time each night if you prefer the same waitstaff.

Sounds great in writing, but if you read back through the last couple of month's posts on this thread, you'll see that the current implementation is highly varied and isn't really facilitated by the DMW app. When the ships eventually sail full it will most likely be difficult to deliver what they've promised, given the current displayed capabilities of the app.

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Sorry, to clarify:

 

Are you referencing the expensive balcony dining (the $45 breakfast and $$$$ dinner) or the regular "room service" scrambled eggs (free) or both?

 

 

Yes.  The Ultimate Balcony dinner and Ultimate Balcony breakfast.  The expensive ones.  Lol
 

 

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, Dbld777 said:

Sounds great in writing, but if you read back through the last couple of month's posts on this thread, you'll see that the current implementation is highly varied and isn't really facilitated by the DMW app. When the ships eventually sail full it will most likely be difficult to deliver what they've promised, given the current displayed capabilities of the app.

True.  But maybe then they will go back to the Aft DR for those who choose DMW same DR, same time every day?

We will see…

 

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Interesting:

In all the notices I am getting for upcoming cruises from PCL about

excursions, health protocols and dining,

this one does state you can have same wait staff every night.  This seems to be updated, maybe because of all the feedback?

 

 

Dine when you want

Select dining times for main dining rooms and specialty restaurants.  Request the same time each night if you prefer the same waitstaff.

They have always claimed this - and more - from the get-go for DMW.  There is nothing in the App about selecting waitstaff.  A huge gap IMO - and others - is for those who like to share, there is no choice of table size.  Do you want to share at a 4-top, 6-top, 8-top, or 10-top?  I don't imagine many looking to share select a 4-top, but those are the sizes.  

 

We are generally after a Private table - either with our friends (need a 4-top) or alone (2-top).  Some wiseacre decided that a dining party could be split up when looking to dine together.  DMW needs work for sure.  They should let the DRO handle TD and let the App handle AT and it would be MUCH better (assuming they reserve on hold the DR space for the DRO to setup TD).

 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Yes.  The Ultimate Balcony dinner and Ultimate Balcony breakfast.  The expensive ones.  Lol
 

 

I'd rather do a WMD or even CT versus a UBD, but different strokes.  What am I saying?  We are rarely ever in a Balcony anyway!  😁

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd rather do a WMD or even CT versus a UBD, but different strokes.  What am I saying?  We are rarely ever in a Balcony anyway!  😁

We spend a lot of time on our balcony. 
Now more than ever! I love the WMD too.

Thanks for your reply.  
 

15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

They have always claimed this - and more - from the get-go for DMW.  There is nothing in the App about selecting waitstaff.  A huge gap IMO - and others - is for those who like to share, there is no choice of table size.  Do you want to share at a 4-top, 6-top, 8-top, or 10-top?  I don't imagine many looking to share select a 4-top, but those are the sizes.  

 

We are generally after a Private table - either with our friends (need a 4-top) or alone (2-top).  Some wiseacre decided that a dining party could be split up when looking to dine together.  DMW needs work for sure.  They should let the DRO handle TD and let the App handle AT and it would be MUCH better (assuming they reserve on hold the DR space for the DRO to setup TD).

 

 

[wowzz]

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I'd rather do a WMD or even CT versus a UBD, but different strokes.  What am I saying?  We are rarely ever in a Balcony anyway!  😁

Personally we think the UBD is an amazing bargain,  and really miss it. Given that the service is in the open air,  I think that using Covid as a reason not to offer it, is a smokescreen.

[FlaMariner]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

I think that using Covid as a reason not to offer it, is a smokescreen.

 

Especially since you can still have scrambled eggs delivered to your room for free.....Thinking if I was in charge, I'd say that "because of Covid" no free scrambled eggs to your room but for $45 we will still bring you "safely w/consultation  w/the CDC" scrambled eggs.   

[RNRcruisers]

Just off the Regal yesterday and this was our experience -

 

We were a group of 4, we had reserved a table for 7 each night in the Concerto DR before the cruise. We went there the first night and were underwhelmed. They seated us at a table for 6 (so with 2 empty seats) facing a wall and the staff was efficient but not very friendly. I don’t have to be best friends with my waiters but a smile goes a long way. 
 

The next night we decided to try the Allegro DR at 6 so I changed our reservation in the app during the day. When we got there they had a kiosk for open dining outside the door and further in the doorway a separate desk for those with reservations. We liked our table and waiters so decided we wanted the same the rest of the cruise. The next day I changed our standing reservations for the rest of the week and that night as we entered we asked if we could be seated where we had been, no problem. Each night after that we were seated there without asking. The hostess was very friendly and always welcoming. We had a very “traditional dining” experience after that and tipped our waiters extra the last night.  I’m not sure if we had to change the reservation but I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’m also not sure if we had changed the time one night whether we still would have been seated at the same table. There were some around us that we saw every night but others were new. Food was excellent. I agree portions were on the small side but I prefer that and always got plenty to eat. 
 

Regarding the medallion app, overall it worked well. We ordered drinks in our room a few times and it was quick and easy. We tried to order drinks on the pool deck a few times and that didn’t work, but there were many waiters making the rounds anyway. It was also nice for locating the others in our party. It didn’t work well for us in trying to message each other. That’s all I can think of right now. If you have questions I can try to answer. 
 

[capriccio]

13 minutes ago, RNRcruisers said:

Just off the Regal yesterday and this was our experience -

 

We were a group of 4, we had reserved a table for 7 each night in the Concerto DR before the cruise. We went there the first night and were underwhelmed. They seated us at a table for 6 (so with 2 empty seats) facing a wall.
 

When you reserved a table for 7 but only had a group of 4 didn't you risk having others seated with you (not during covid maybe but in the future)?  In the App was the reservation designated as a private table?  I'm just wondering how/if that would work in the future.  I see couples reserving tables for 4, two couples reserving tables for 8, etc.  Then actual large parties may not get a table.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, capriccio said:

When you reserved a table for 7 but only had a group of 4 didn't you risk having others seated with you (not during covid maybe but in the future)?  In the App was the reservation designated as a private table?  I'm just wondering how/if that would work in the future.  I see couples reserving tables for 4, two couples reserving tables for 8, etc.  Then actual large parties may not get a table.

No, dining at 7pm, not a table for 7 people.

[Steelers36]

33 minutes ago, RNRcruisers said:

Just off the Regal yesterday and this was our experience -

 

We were a group of 4, we had reserved a table for 7 each night in the Concerto DR before the cruise. We went there the first night and were underwhelmed. They seated us at a table for 6 (so with 2 empty seats) facing a wall and the staff was efficient but not very friendly. I don’t have to be best friends with my waiters but a smile goes a long way. 
 

The next night we decided to try the Allegro DR at 6 so I changed our reservation in the app during the day. When we got there they had a kiosk for open dining outside the door and further in the doorway a separate desk for those with reservations. We liked our table and waiters so decided we wanted the same the rest of the cruise. The next day I changed our standing reservations for the rest of the week and that night as we entered we asked if we could be seated where we had been, no problem. Each night after that we were seated there without asking. The hostess was very friendly and always welcoming. We had a very “traditional dining” experience after that and tipped our waiters extra the last night.  I’m not sure if we had to change the reservation but I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’m also not sure if we had changed the time one night whether we still would have been seated at the same table. There were some around us that we saw every night but others were new. Food was excellent. I agree portions were on the small side but I prefer that and always got plenty to eat. 
 

Regarding the medallion app, overall it worked well. We ordered drinks in our room a few times and it was quick and easy. We tried to order drinks on the pool deck a few times and that didn’t work, but there were many waiters making the rounds anyway. It was also nice for locating the others in our party. It didn’t work well for us in trying to message each other. That’s all I can think of right now. If you have questions I can try to answer. 
 

Question:  When you first booked in DMW pre-cruise, was Concerto the only DR offered in the list of options?  (It is for me and we are on Regal several months from now).

 

After reading your Allegro experience - and putting that together with a couple of other posts - if Allegro was not offered in the App (DMW) pre-cruise, then the ship's DR mgmt team can deal with table assignments easier and be able to give same table every night because DMW would not have randomly assigned guests to tables and gummed up the system for the TD experience.  Kind of a guess since others like you could make individual nightly reservations on their own, or as replacements.  IDK for sure - just guessing here.

 

 

[capriccio]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

No, dining at 7pm, not a table for 7 people.

Well that certainly makes more sense!  I'm glad RNRcruisers were able to change dining rooms and times for a much better experience.

[Steelers36]

21 minutes ago, capriccio said:

When you reserved a table for 7 but only had a group of 4 didn't you risk having others seated with you (not during covid maybe but in the future)?  In the App was the reservation designated as a private table?  I'm just wondering how/if that would work in the future.  I see couples reserving tables for 4, two couples reserving tables for 8, etc.  Then actual large parties may not get a table.

It is likely they will respond it was indeed Private.  4-tops were probably gone, so they give a 6-top and other chairs remain empty.  In DMW, a guest cannot select the table size - it isn't an option.  You don't even know the table size until show up on board and ask what the system assigned.

[capriccio]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

It is likely they will respond it was indeed Private.  4-tops were probably gone, so they give a 6-top and other chairs remain empty.  In DMW, a guest cannot select the table size - it isn't an option.  You don't even know the table size until show up on board and ask what the system assigned.

Thanks.  We (me, DH, 2 brothers and their spouses) have a cruise on the Enchanted in March where our reservations are the same time, same dining room every night, and a private table.  In July we (me, DH, 2 grown kids with spouses and 2 grandchildren) have similar reservations on a cruise on the Caribbean.  It will be interested, to say the least, to see how all this is handled.  

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, capriccio said:

Thanks.  We (me, DH, 2 brothers and their spouses) have a cruise on the Enchanted in March where our reservations are the same time, same dining room every night, and a private table.  In July we (me, DH, 2 grown kids with spouses and 2 grandchildren) have similar reservations on a cruise on the Caribbean.  It will be interested, to say the least, to see how all this is handled.  

I trust you will post here and let us know and I expect it will work out for you one way or another.