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

[Tracyken]

9 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Your info is stored on a server, not in the app.😉

 

9 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Your info is stored on a server, not in the app.😉

Thank you.  I suppose it’s just Apple’s standard warning making me worried to delete anything!

[MOLAcruiser]

I found this thread a couple of days ago and read through it all, hoping to find the answer about how to redeem Complimentary Specialty Dining offers when using DMW to reserve a table. Lots of good information. As many people have already found out, when booking Specialty Dining in advance, the App wants you to pay now by credit card, there is currently no option to use the dining credit.

 

I did a Live Chat with Princess yesterday to ask about this. She acknowledged that it is a common question and a problem. She indicated that if you pay by credit card now you would be reimbursed on board, but in the form of OBC, not a refund to you credit card. The other option is to wait and book on board. She said that since sailings are going with reduced capacity, specialty dining rooms are not at capacity. We will wait, and hope we are successful in getting our chosen date and/or preferred time.

 

I’m curious about Club Class dining. We had so much FCC to use up that we booked a Club Class Mini Suite for our Alaska sailing this July. They say that you do not need a reservation, just show up whenever you want and you will be seated. But couldn’t that mean a potentially long wait? Assumedly the room isn’t that big and if, for example, many people arrived sometime between 6:00-7:00 and you showed up just after that, might you have a long wait? A short wait is fine. We are a party of 4. Anyone have experience with this?

 

Thank you.

[memoak]

17 minutes ago, MOLAcruiser said:

I found this thread a couple of days ago and read through it all, hoping to find the answer about how to redeem Complimentary Specialty Dining offers when using DMW to reserve a table. Lots of good information. As many people have already found out, when booking Specialty Dining in advance, the App wants you to pay now by credit card, there is currently no option to use the dining credit.

 

I did a Live Chat with Princess yesterday to ask about this. She acknowledged that it is a common question and a problem. She indicated that if you pay by credit card now you would be reimbursed on board, but in the form of OBC, not a refund to you credit card. The other option is to wait and book on board. She said that since sailings are going with reduced capacity, specialty dining rooms are not at capacity. We will wait, and hope we are successful in getting our chosen date and/or preferred time.

 

I’m curious about Club Class dining. We had so much FCC to use up that we booked a Club Class Mini Suite for our Alaska sailing this July. They say that you do not need a reservation, just show up whenever you want and you will be seated. But couldn’t that mean a potentially long wait? Assumedly the room isn’t that big and if, for example, many people arrived sometime between 6:00-7:00 and you showed up just after that, might you have a long wait? A short wait is fine. We are a party of 4. Anyone have experience with this?

 

Thank you.

The amount of cabins that have club class dining is very small. We have had club class dining many times and have never waited more than a few minutes

[MOLAcruiser]

43 minutes ago, memoak said:

The amount of cabins that have club class dining is very small. We have had club class dining many times and have never waited more than a few minutes

Thank you so much, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear!

[cmorgeng]

This has probably been covered, but I just can’t figure it out! 

We are traveling with our 17 year old daughter in adjoining rooms, so we have 2 separate bookings. 

When I try to book our dining, it says our only option is that our party will be split among multiple tables? I kind of want to eat with my kid 😉

Any suggestions?

We are on the Discovery on 4/10 if that matters… 

Thanks! 

[capriccio]

16 minutes ago, cmorgeng said:

This has probably been covered, but I just can’t figure it out! 

We are traveling with our 17 year old daughter in adjoining rooms, so we have 2 separate bookings. 

When I try to book our dining, it says our only option is that our party will be split among multiple tables? I kind of want to eat with my kid 😉

Any suggestions?

We are on the Discovery on 4/10 if that matters… 

Thanks! 

Did you first add her as a travel companion in the Journey View section of the App by entering her booking number and then make the DMW reservation(s)?

[cmorgeng]

21 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Did you first add her as a travel companion in the Journey View section of the App by entering her booking number and then make the DMW reservation(s)?

yes, but it still says we will be split among multiple tables

 

[capriccio]

Just now, cmorgeng said:

yes, but it still says we will be split among multiple tables

 

I get that message when trying to make reservations for 8 in Sabatinis for any day/time so I'm thinking that maybe they really don't have a table for 8 but it sounds like you are only requesting a table for 3.  Have you tried different times and/or days? 

 

We just disembarked the Enchanted and the post cruise survey had sections on DMW and on Specialty Restaurants.  It took me over 1/2 hour to fill out because I used up the 900+ word limit on a number of the comments sections.

[cmorgeng]

4 minutes ago, capriccio said:

I get that message when trying to make reservations for 8 in Sabatinis for any day/time so I'm thinking that maybe they really don't have a table for 8 but it sounds like you are only requesting a table for 3.  Have you tried different times and/or days? 

 

We just disembarked the Enchanted and the post cruise survey had sections on DMW and on Specialty Restaurants.  It took me over 1/2 hour to fill out because I used up the 900+ word limit on a number of the comments sections.

I’m just trying to do our main dining room times… not specialty dining.  

 

Don’t even get me started on specialty dining! Every time I click “explore specialty dining options” on the app it tells me to wait until closer to my cruise… which is in 18 days. I don’t think that’s too soon to book dining, is it? 

 

 

[capriccio]

Just now, cmorgeng said:

I’m just trying to do our main dining room times… not specialty dining.  

 

Don’t even get me started on specialty dining! Every time I click “explore specialty dining options” on the app it tells me to wait until closer to my cruise… which is in 18 days. I don’t think that’s too soon to book dining, is it? 

 

 

What a mess!  I hope you get it straightened out.  Even when you think it is all straightened out, you are likely to find out that it isn't especially if you are hoping to get the same time, same table in the MDR.  See my thread about our experience with that on the Enchanted Princess beginning on March 10th: 

 

[cruisingram1]

We opted for early traditional dining. "Someone" made reservations for us under - VIEW OR BOOK INDIVIDUAL DAILY RESERVATIONS for days 2-7. Same time, same dining room. But nothing for day One. You'd expect that our reservations (for all 7 days) would have been listed under RESERVE FOR THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY since that is what traditional dining stands for. When I tried to "fix" it by trying to reserve same time every day it told me I would be cancelling any other reservations we had. Fearing that we'd end up eating at 8:30, I had my TA contact Princess and make a day one reservation which ended up being in a different dining room than nights 2-7. I'm still confused how the reservations showed up initially since I did not make them. Neither did my TA. Princess did it.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, cmorgeng said:

yes, but it still says we will be split among multiple tables

 

Yes, this non-sensical option can show when looking for a Private table for your dining party.  It means DMW could not find a table just for your party, so it is suggesting to split up.  I am sure most people in the situation would rather share space at a larger table so they could be together.  Another dumb idea probably thought up by an IT person who never cruised.

 

You can keep trying for Private, but probably will have to sort it out on board.  Another problem with DMW is the Princess has often only loaded up one of three DR's for booking which means available space gets taken and guests are frustrated.  IDK why after months of being live, they are holding back DR space.  You may have to wait until on board to see other DR's offered - IDK.  But I do know that Princess is their own worst enemy with continuous flubbing on system design and execution.

[Steelers36]

47 minutes ago, cruisingram1 said:

We opted for early traditional dining. "Someone" made reservations for us under - VIEW OR BOOK INDIVIDUAL DAILY RESERVATIONS for days 2-7. Same time, same dining room. But nothing for day One. You'd expect that our reservations (for all 7 days) would have been listed under RESERVE FOR THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY since that is what traditional dining stands for. When I tried to "fix" it by trying to reserve same time every day it told me I would be cancelling any other reservations we had. Fearing that we'd end up eating at 8:30, I had my TA contact Princess and make a day one reservation which ended up being in a different dining room than nights 2-7. I'm still confused how the reservations showed up initially since I did not make them. Neither did my TA. Princess did it.

You should have just deleted yourself in DMW the individual nights that were setup and then done the RESERVE FOR SAME TIME EACH DAY option. 

 

You really have nothing to fear in checking for dining options.  Yes, you get the warning.  But, you are shown availability when you look for other options, but nothing is deleted nor replaced until you take the final step to confirm.  So, you won't lose what you have if checking for space and it doesn't find any.  Only lose what you have if actually delete nights or when a new booking is confirmed.

 

[Tedferg]

From what I have read Princess does not differentiate between those who made reservations and those who did not. Is this true?

[julie3fan]

3 hours ago, Tedferg said:

From what I have read Princess does not differentiate between those who made reservations and those who did not. Is this true?

 

I'm currently on board the Grand, with reservations each night, different times, private table for 2.  I'm always asked if I have a reservation, then scanned.  I don't know what happens if one doesn't have a reservation, but I presume if no unreserved tables were available they'd need to wait.  We're not sailing at capacity and we don't eat early, so at different times there might be a wait, but we've never seen a line.

[Tedferg]

37 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

 

I'm currently on board the Grand, with reservations each night, different times, private table for 2.  I'm always asked if I have a reservation, then scanned.  I don't know what happens if one doesn't have a reservation, but I presume if no unreserved tables were available they'd need to wait.  We're not sailing at capacity and we don't eat early, so at different times there might be a wait, but we've never seen a line.

OK thanks, might be worth it to make reservations. I had stopped thinking about DMW due to all problems reported here.

[Pam6501]

We’re having issues with DMW on August 1 Emerald.  Only 1 dining room shows up.  We requested a private table.  Shared table only available. Multiple times available. Cancelled one night to see if private table available.  8:20 is the only time available and only 1 dining room available.  Called Princess and was told this is a problem but not a priority so it will be fixed no later than 30 days before cruise.  Using app on iPad.

I was able to make complementary Specialty Dining reservation with private table at time we wanted with no problem.

 

I can’t even get to the cruise on my iPhone13.  I can only get a Baltic cruise for May 4th that we cancelled.  App shows both cruises but when I tap to change it goes right back to the May 4 cruise.

 

I had no problem making dining reservations on the Enchanted May 4 cruise that we cancelled.  Selection of dining rooms and times were available.

 

 

 

 

 

[PC168]

We are also booked the Emerald on Aug. 1 and the Discovery on April 29, when I open my app, I can only reserve dining and buy Wi-Fi for the April 29 cruise, how do you switch to the Aug. 1 cruise on the app? I want to book my dining time as well. Thanks.

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, PC168 said:

how do you switch to the Aug. 1 cruise on the app? I want to book my dining time as well. Thanks.

click on your profile icon on the top left corner, and in the profile menu, your different bookings should show on the left side.

[JF - retired RRT]

14 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

click on your profile icon on the top left corner, and in the profile menu, your different bookings should show on the left side.

If they don't show up that way: log in with your Name, Booking # & DOB.

[c-boy]

On Majestic  "magnificent Majestica"  things are going swimmingly with the app.

[MaisonRose]

On 2/13/2022 at 12:32 PM, Hlitner said:

For some weird reason we have not been able to get into our online Account (it shows as logged in but simply hangs up and does not load any pages).  I sent a message to our very capable cruise agent and ask her to look into the matter since they talk to Princess multiple times an hour.  The response from Princess was not very helpful with their suggestion being that I call Princess (and sit on hold for who knows how long) and they would work with me on the phone to fix the issue (which is at their end).

 

I guess one solution with constant Princess software issues is to simply cancel our future bookings and sail on lines that seem to have their act together.  

 

Hank

Hi Hank from New Cumberland (Susan an ex Harrisburger): I see you frequently on the boards and am impressed with your experience and depth of knowledge. I just want to confirm that the Customer Service Line at Princess answered my call last night after a 70 minute hold. I was shocked when a fellow from Georgia responded and to my first question (can I ask for a tea kettle setup in my cabin...on the Apr 16 b2b including 9 days in the UK), he informed me that he never heard of in room kettles but would ask). He put me on hold and 80 minutes later I hung up. This was the second call: a week ago the call was never answered. This is only my second Princess sail, but I’m not impressed.

I’m supposed to get an upgrade due to a Princess Plus package (which kicked in as a package requirement) but I’m still assigned the original cabin:

that was question 2.

My point: your solution of quitting an unresponsive cruise line sounds solid advice to me.🤓

Cheers & Happy Sailing,

Susan M.

[WAvoyager]

13 minutes ago, MaisonRose said:

My point: your solution of quitting an unresponsive cruise line sounds solid advice to me.🤓

I would only say : These are very unusual times.  For Princess (and many other companies) service, performance, and support are very different now than they have been in the past, and I would guess, how they will be in the future.  

 

Customer Service (call center) does seem to be an ongoing issue for Princess, although much worse these days than it has been, so that is definitely a concern.  But I think it’s worse than normal.

 

The Medallion App is definitely a debacle - I think once they get the issues ironed out, it will be great - hopefully it won’t take too much longer to get past the growing pains.

 

Definitely quitting on them for now is a reasonable thing, and maybe revisit in the future?

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, c-boy said:

On Majestic  "magnificent Majestica"  things are going swimmingly with the app.

But of course - it's much better on board.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, MaisonRose said:

I’m supposed to get an upgrade due to a Princess Plus package (which kicked in as a package requirement) but I’m still assigned the original cabin:

that was question 2.

A cabin upgrade is not an element of Princess Plus booking option.  You may have booked under the recent Best.Sale.Ever promotion.  One of its features is a cabin category upgrade and you get that whether booking the Plus option or the Saver option. 

 

To continue, you don't get a cabin upgrade beyond what you booked.  When you did book, categories F thru B were all priced the same, so you could have booked an Inside IB or Balcony BB, for example, and you would have paid the going rate for the IF or BF.  That's all - unless your booking is marked for accepting upgrades and you receive a visit from the upgrade fairy.