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

[Tedferg]

10 minutes ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

 Wish they would go back to Anytime Dining that we liked.

What difference do you see between old Anytime and just turning up without reservation under DMW

[UpcountryTravelers]

13 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

What difference do you see between old Anytime and just turning up without reservation under DMW

Since you are supposed to use the app, we didn't want the hassle.  We cruise to relax.

[Tedferg]

9 minutes ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

Since you are supposed to use the app, we didn't want the hassle.  We cruise to relax.

Perhaps you did not know, you can turn up and tell receptionist you do not have a reservation. It is then just like Anytime.

[UpcountryTravelers]

2 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Perhaps you did not know, you can turn up and tell receptionist you do not have a reservation. It is then just like Anytime.

Princess does not tell you that.

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Perhaps you did not know, you can turn up and tell receptionist you do not have a reservation. It is then just like Anytime.

On my last Majestic cruise, there was a line for the non-reservation people but they had to wait until the reservation people were seated.  The non line moved much more slowly than the other one.

[JF - retired RRT]

18 hours ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

Experience on Discovery Princess this July:  Dine My Way was pretty much useless.  This was with kids and grandkids, so with DMW only available about a week before the cruise, it was darn near impossible to coordinate.  And with an Alaska cruise, you never know when you will get back.  So, other than one night in Crown Grill that our TA arranged for us, we ate in the buffet every other night.  Wish they would go back to Anytime Dining that we liked.

That's basically what DMW is. The promised Traditional Dining is not easily accomplished (get all reservations on the app for same time/every night, then speak to dining room supervisor to try to get what you want).

If you like AT, just show up, tell them how many and wait until they have a table for you. Nothing has really changed there.

[Tedferg]

16 hours ago, UpcountryTravelers said:

Princess does not tell you that.

Correct, in theory DMW is Anytime plus Reservations. The problem I see is they have done away with the buzzer, so you can't retire to a bar while you wait. On the other hand, if most people have reservations, then the wait for others might not be long.

[Barry H]

On 9/12/2022 at 4:51 PM, Steelers36 said:

Mind responding with which ship?  Thanks.

Cruise is Regal Princess 26 days Barcelona to FLL.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Barry H said:

Cruise is Regal Princess 26 days Barcelona to FLL.

So I am thinking you board on Oct 26 which is the end date of our three on Regal.  (Actually, we "jump ship" in Sicily a couple of days early and then fly back to Rome to pick up the Island).

[Tedferg]

As reported by others, Web Access shows our dinner reservations correctly. Medallionclass App latest version, sign in with email address or with Booking number, does not show reservations. Chat with Princess rep said Web version is more accurate because App sometimes has trouble accessing data.

 

Interestingly, it is Friday Sep 16 5:00 PST - cruise is Sept 20 7:00 pm departure. Web says our cruise is in 4 days Sat Sun Mon Tues - I guess they do not count today. I guess 4 days is close enough. However App says cruise is 3 Days 9 Hours xx Minutes !

[JimC]

Maybe this has been already answered in the 55 pages of comments in this thread. We are sailing on the Enchanted Princess next year. On past cruises -and I hope on this coming cruise- we like to have dinner at a set & same time every night, at the same table, with the same people as on the 1st night, and hopefully with the same waiter. I don't see this available anymore. We have no interest in meeting new people every night.

[Tedferg]

2 minutes ago, JimC said:

Maybe this has been already answered in the 55 pages of comments in this thread. We are sailing on the Enchanted Princess next year. On past cruises -and I hope on this coming cruise- we like to have dinner at a set & same time every night, at the same table, with the same people as on the 1st night, and hopefully with the same waiter. I don't see this available anymore. We have no interest in meeting new people every night.

Traditional Dining no longer exists. You can book same time every night and you can book together with fellow passengers. Also, apparently, if you speak to Hostess on first night, you can have same table assigned. If you want old TD where you have new table mates first night and keep them for successive nights, I think that is very hard to do.

[JimC]

That's a shame. In our 25+ years of cruising (until COVID hit) we met so many friends from the U.,S. and many other countries. We still actively communicate and visit them and they visit us. Why couldn't Princess just leave everything alone. Not everyone is big into apps or dining either with strangers every night or alone. This may be our last Princess cruise if I see that other cruise lines still have traditional dining. Thanks for answering me, however.

[Steelers36]

41 minutes ago, JimC said:

That's a shame. In our 25+ years of cruising (until COVID hit) we met so many friends from the U.,S. and many other countries. We still actively communicate and visit them and they visit us. Why couldn't Princess just leave everything alone. Not everyone is big into apps or dining either with strangers every night or alone. This may be our last Princess cruise if I see that other cruise lines still have traditional dining. Thanks for answering me, however.

PLEASE tell them on the ship.  Put it in cruise review.  Write Customer Relations now and tell them.  There a lot of us that would like to see Princess set aside one of three DR's at least, remove it from DMW, and setup tables manually like they used to.  They still promise TD, but are not delivering on it.  The App cannot possibly handle the sophistications in programming that would be necessary.  All we can do is keep telling them and either they correct the situation or just come out and say "Folks, we told you we were maintaining TD, but we lied and cannot provide it".

 

[Kay S]

29 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

PLEASE tell them on the ship.  Put it in cruise review.  Write Customer Relations now and tell them.  There a lot of us that would like to see Princess set aside one of three DR's at least, remove it from DMW, and setup tables manually like they used to

 

They do not care what we think.  They are going after a new customer, and the sooner they are rid of us old-timers, the better they will like it.  Why do you think they keep chipping away at Elite perks?  They want to be "Classier Carnival" with huge ships filled with families who don't vomit in the elevators.  That's about as "traditional" as they are willing to go.

[ddled]

Kay S-you are right-you should see what Royal is doing with age restrictions in Cozumel, Roatan Costa Maya. At 70 you are too old to ride the trolley into Cozumel and shop around the square, at Roatan a 3 hour fishing trip is a no no if you are 71. At least Princess hasn't started that -yet-.

[Over from NZ]

On 9/17/2022 at 11:56 AM, JimC said:

Maybe this has been already answered in the 55 pages of comments in this thread. We are sailing on the Enchanted Princess next year. On past cruises -and I hope on this coming cruise- we like to have dinner at a set & same time every night, at the same table, with the same people as on the 1st night, and hopefully with the same waiter. I don't see this available anymore. We have no interest in meeting new people every night.

It's very disappointing isn't it! It's noted Princess!! Negatively change enough things.. and we'll shop around more. 🙂 

[cherylandtk]

On 9/18/2022 at 11:21 AM, ddled said:

Kay S-you are right-you should see what Royal is doing with age restrictions in Cozumel, Roatan Costa Maya. At 70 you are too old to ride the trolley into Cozumel and shop around the square, at Roatan a 3 hour fishing trip is a no no if you are 71. At least Princess hasn't started that -yet-.

On Ruby coming up in January we cannot partake in most of the catamaran snorkel activities, nor the Segway adventure and several other activities deemed too difficult for our age group.  

[NownZen]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:03 PM, Tedferg said:

Traditional Dining no longer exists. You can book same time every night and you can book together with fellow passengers. Also, apparently, if you speak to Hostess on first night, you can have same table assigned. If you want old TD where you have new table mates first night and keep them for successive nights, I think that is very hard to do.

Your waiter can take care of this for you on the first night. If the others at your table agree, they can be assigned with your reservation.

[dreaminofcruisin]

Question. I have successfully used DMW on my cruise in August. Now I have a few more coming up and thought I would go check on my reservations. I tried one in 2023 that I have not yet booked the DMW. I got the message "Please check back closer to your journey date to use this feature". I have tried a few times on different dates and always get this message. Today I tried again. Same message. Then I decided to try my upcoming October cruise which I already have booked reservations. Same message. I tried logging off the app and restarting my phone. Tried again. Same message. I checked and I have the current version.

 

I am out of ideas. Not critical, but at some point I would like to book reservations on the 2023 cruise. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[wowzz]

On 9/17/2022 at 1:03 AM, Tedferg said:

Also, apparently, if you speak to Hostess on first night, you can have same table assigned.

Only if you are very lucky.  

If you want to eat when the MDR opens,  fine. But why should they "reserve" a specific table for you later in the evening, when other people are queuing to eat ?

 

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Only if you are very lucky.  

If you want to eat when the MDR opens,  fine. But why should they "reserve" a specific table for you later in the evening, when other people are queuing to eat ?

 

Because HQ promised to?

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Because HQ promised to?

Have they ?  

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Have they ?  

Have you read the DMW info on Princess.com?

[PacnGoNow]

On 9/21/2022 at 3:55 PM, dreaminofcruisin said:

Question. I have successfully used DMW on my cruise in August. Now I have a few more coming up and thought I would go check on my reservations. I tried one in 2023 that I have not yet booked the DMW. I got the message "Please check back closer to your journey date to use this feature". I have tried a few times on different dates and always get this message. Today I tried again. Same message. Then I decided to try my upcoming October cruise which I already have booked reservations. Same message. I tried logging off the app and restarting my phone. Tried again. Same message. I checked and I have the current version.

 

I am out of ideas. Not critical, but at some point I would like to book reservations on the 2023 cruise. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Go into your cruise personalizer and click on the web version of the Medallion App.

You can do DMW there. Sign in on your account or your partner’s account, if you have a problem.