“Traditional Dining No Longer Exists”

[Lady Arwen]

42 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

I'm platinum. I don't remember seeing the table location or pace of dinner when I selected the times.

Is it still an option to select those?

 

Thank you for the info. 😊

You will just have to keep looking on the app.  Open all sections and keep scrolling.

[capriccio]

6 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

You will just have to keep looking on the app.  Open all sections and keep scrolling.

It is under My Preferences in the Travel Checklist section, then chose Dining, followed by Allergies, Diet, and finally Dining Pace and Location.  We chose Near A Window and that didn’t work for us.

[Lady Arwen]

31 minutes ago, capriccio said:

It is under My Preferences in the Travel Checklist section, then chose Dining, followed by Allergies, Diet, and finally Dining Pace and Location.  We chose Near A Window and that didn’t work for us.

We were lucky to choose a window table, but I would think those tables would be the first ones spoken for. It would be nice if we were assigned the same table every night.

[arizonaperson]

I hope Princess brings back the traditional dining sometime soon. DMW does not seem to be working very well and many have found it not to their liking.

 I have not cruised since dine my way was implemented but my mom has and she didn’t care for it. Normally when my husband and I cruise we choose traditional late and  we love it. 

[Lady Arwen]

5 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

I hope Princess brings back the traditional dining sometime soon. DMW does not seem to be working very well and many have found it not to their liking.

 I have not cruised since dine my way was implemented but my mom has and she didn’t care for it. Normally when my husband and I cruise we choose traditional late and  we love it. 

If Princess brings back Traditional dining, it will be greatly appreciated.  However, we’ll just go with the flow, just as long as we get to cruise.  Not the worst problem, thank goodness.

[arizonaperson]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

If Princess brings back Traditional dining, it will be greatly appreciated.  However, we’ll just go with the flow, just as long as we get to cruise.  Not the worst problem, thank goodness.

True not the worst problem,but... go with the flow is good.

 I’m just reading all the comments and it definitely seems like people liked traditional dining. No one wants to wait in line to get into a cruise ship dining room at least not from what I’ve seen or experienced .

[Guardsy]

Not a biggie.  We have always enjoyed traditional dining. Even if only 2 of us, we requested a table of 8 in the past.  We like meeting people.

 

That said, this last December, the first night we were seated at a 2-top.  The next night at an 8-top.  The next at a 6-top.  All close to each other and all with the same 8-10 couples around us.  Only difference was the exact moment you arrived.

 

End result?  Great dinners and conversations with whoever was present.  Didn't spoil our trip one tiny bit.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The level of disappointment we have experienced with DMW cannot be overstated. 

[arizonaperson]

Just now, PescadoAmarillo said:

The level of disappointment we have experienced with DMW cannot be overstated. 

Yep,  that’s exactly what I keep reading and that’s exactly what my mom experienced on her last cruise. -disappointment and it didn’t seem to help to talk to anyone in charge took several days to iron out for them .

I have not cruised since the fall of 2019  (so no first hand DMW experience )and I don’t know when I will ,but I hope they bring traditional dining back by that time .

 

[wowzz]

On our Sky cruise in October last year,  we strolled into the MDR around 20:00 the first night, and got a two top.

Did the same the next night.  Similar table location,  same diners sitting alongside us. Awful experience - thereafter we went earlier or later to make sure we had a different table - met different people, all of whom were charming.

[that]

41 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The level of disappointment we have experienced with DMW cannot be overstated. 

AMEN

[Jadn13]

I was able to secure the  same table and waitstaff on the Enchanted in January for 20 days but did have a 5pm reservation. We discussed it with the hostess and were able to secure it after the first night.

The early time seems to be key to making this happen. 

[leck57]

1 hour ago, arizonaperson said:

True not the worst problem,but... go with the flow is good.

 I’m just reading all the comments and it definitely seems like people liked traditional dining. No one wants to wait in line to get into a cruise ship dining room at least not from what I’ve seen or experienced .

 

We don't like having a reservation in advance as we like to just rock up for dinner when we are ready. We don't like to have a set time that we have to be ready by, however appreciate many do and DMW seems to have messed with a system that wasn't broken.

[PescadoAmarillo]

And the issues are not limited to just getting a reservation that replicates Traditional Dining. The Emerald Princess was in Curaçao late one evening, we decided we were having too much fun on shore to go to dinner, I cancelled our reservation in the app using WiFi on shore, and then the next night when we arrived everyone wanted to know where we were the previous night. Neither the dining room, the restaurant manager nor our waitstaff had received any notification of our cancellation. Wasn’t that a big talking point when DMW was rolled out?

[Astro Flyer]

The bottomline for me…Princess promotes dining at the same location & time yet fails miserably to fulfill those promises.
 

For those of us who prefer a more traditional dining experience Princess is failing miserably to provide as promoted. I was skeptical if that would ever work & based on my experiences & of other passengers Princess is incapable of keeping those promises. It’s certainly not the fault of crew but of management who have tasked their crew with an unworkable system & passengers are not receiving the dining experience promised.

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[cruisingpeople]

Add me as another that thinks Traditional dining should be brought back. However, it should be back to the way it was in the early 2000's. When I started cruising back in 2001, 1st seating was at either 6:00 or 6:15 depending on the ship and/or itinerary. Between 2006 & 2009 they moved it to 5:45, then around 2012 it went to 5:30, then about 2016 it was moved to 5:15. That is when we really started going with what was then the original Anytime Dining because I was getting tired of having to cut my pool time or fun time with our fellow cruisers short because we had to go get ready for dinner. Never mind the fact that if you on a particular excursion, you wouldn't have time to get back and clean up and dress for dinner.

 

JMHO

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, Rudy888 said:

The comment that Traditonal Dining is gone. Maybe I am wrong but traditional dining is opting for one of the 2 times for Traditional dining. Like 5:30 or 7:30.

Anytime Dining is picking your time like 6:30. Where it appears you may or may not be able to get the same table each night

 

 

 

There is no reason a guest should not have the same table each night if that is the way they booked.  Just because it is impossible for their IT team to program a System doesn't mean the guest should suffer the service level.

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

Did it on the app, I believe in preferences or dining.  You are asked what kind of dining experience you prefer:  slow, fast, relaxed, table location, etc.  Are you Platinum or Elite?  These loyalty levels get first choice, before final payment.  I made our dining arrangements in November for our September sailing.

If you think those options in the App are making any impact in the DR, I have some swamp land in FL you might be interested in.

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The level of disappointment we have experienced with DMW cannot be overstated. 

I could try.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

I was able to secure the  same table and waitstaff on the Enchanted in January for 20 days but did have a 5pm reservation. We discussed it with the hostess and were able to secure it after the first night.

The early time seems to be key to making this happen. 

They have to do better because 5:00pm doesn't cut it with many itineraries in Europe and such where the port day doesn't end soon enough in order to maximize time ashore with touring.

[coopco]

We were on the Grand in Dec. for a 5 day cruise and had the same waitstaff every night. We were a group of 6 so it was only our group at the table. I made the reservation for the same time every night, then cancelled one night to book at the Crown Grill. Then once onboard cancelled one of the reservations to make reservations at Sabatini’s. So we only dined in the MDR 3 nights but still had the same table every night. I assumed it was because I booked for the same time, same dining room every night. It’s possible I made reservations for 7 pm but I can’t remember. Thanks for the head’s up on the times to get traditional dining. We’ll have to keep that in mind. We enjoy having the same waitstaff and table mates every night and have met some wonderful people throughout the years. It’s a shame there is no more traditional dining.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

We don't like having a reservation in advance as we like to just rock up for dinner when we are ready. We don't like to have a set time that we have to be ready by, however appreciate many do and DMW seems to have messed with a system that wasn't broken.

DMW is great for the guests who want to select their time each day and just sit anywhere like the old Anytime.  Guests can also be walk-ups.  If guests actually use the system for this, it can also help identify free tables when they change plans.  It works very well for that and fails miserably for a fixed dining experience at the same table with same waiters.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

And the issues are not limited to just getting a reservation that replicates Traditional Dining. The Emerald Princess was in Curaçao late one evening, we decided we were having too much fun on shore to go to dinner, I cancelled our reservation in the app using WiFi on shore, and then the next night when we arrived everyone wanted to know where we were the previous night. Neither the dining room, the restaurant manager nor our waitstaff had received any notification of our cancellation. Wasn’t that a big talking point when DMW was rolled out?

Not good, and I just posted above about that feature in responding to another post.  If a guest actually uses the system (i.e. responsible guest being nice and cooperative) and the DR team isn't alerted, that's just another fail.  It should have worked like a charm as the old way would mean no way to inform them unless you were on the ship and could do it in person.  I really don't think Padgett and Sr Mgmt care anymore (they may have last year when it came out) because they have SO MANY real issues with bookings, data corruption, guest access to MC App in general, that they are just covering their ears about Dining issues.  I'd really like to know what the experienced top-level MD's/DRO's think of this system.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, coopco said:

We were on the Grand in Dec. for a 5 day cruise and had the same waitstaff every night. We were a group of 6 so it was only our group at the table. I made the reservation for the same time every night, then cancelled one night to book at the Crown Grill. Then once onboard cancelled one of the reservations to make reservations at Sabatini’s. So we only dined in the MDR 3 nights but still had the same table every night. I assumed it was because I booked for the same time, same dining room every night. It’s possible I made reservations for 7 pm but I can’t remember. Thanks for the head’s up on the times to get traditional dining. We’ll have to keep that in mind. We enjoy having the same waitstaff and table mates every night and have met some wonderful people throughout the years. It’s a shame there is no more traditional dining.

Princess indicated originally that the new times in DMW that coincided with Early & Late TD, were 5:00, 5:20, & 5:40 and then 7:00, 7:20, & 7:40. 

 

ETA:  They never said you couldn't get same table & wait-staff at other times.  The inference was that selecting the times above would have you in sync with evening show times.  That has been a lark, however, with so many ships sailing half full and only having one show each evening.

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Steelers36

[coopco]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Princess indicated originally that the new times in DMW that coincided with Early & Late TD, were 5:00, 5:20, & 5:40 and then 7:00, 7:20, & 7:40.

 

Oh that’s promising. So I made reservations for our next cruise for 5:40 every night at the same dining room.Do you think that would mean we’ll have the same table? It’s a good experiment at least. Thanks for the info.