What's with all the MDR's? Can someone please explain the differences?

[atexsix]

Hello.  Looking forward to experiencing Princess for the first time.  I've searched for most of my questions, but unable to find anything about each ship having so many MDR's, most lines/ships seem to have one giant MDR, so I'm mystified and the website wasn't much help.  I have several questions: 

 

Can we choose the one closest to our stateroom? 

Is the menu the same in all 3? 

I thought I read years ago that one was used for fixed dining, true?

Are they all open for 3 meals per day?  Sea days only?  Tea?  Late night?

Is the ambiance about equal in all of them?  Is one preferred over another?
 

 

Thanks!  Sorry if these are dumb questions, but completely new to Princess ships, and having Dear Dad in a wheelchair with me, I have to do my research.

 

 

 

[CalTexCruiser]

We will be cruising Princess for the first time in April, and were not even aware there is more than 1 MDR. 

 

So you are already one step ahead of us.

[dickinson]

Your upcoming Discovery Princess sailing will have three dining rooms.  They may only use two depending on the amount of passengers onboard and staff.  Menus are all the same.  Only difference is location.  Some people don't like the aft deck 6 MDR on ships.  Not sure if it is the design of it or just because it is aft and therefore more prone to motion.

 

They are open for breakfast, lunch on sea days (only one dining room usually), and dinner.  The daily Patter will list the dining locations on the back and their hours.

 

Before the pandemic one was Anytime dining , one was traditional dining, and the other had traditional dining and after about 7:30 pm was anytime.

[JF - retired RRT]

40 minutes ago, dickinson said:

Your upcoming Discovery Princess sailing will have three dining rooms.  They may only use two depending on the amount of passengers onboard and staff.  Menus are all the same.  Only difference is location.  Some people don't like the aft deck 6 MDR on ships.  Not sure if it is the design of it or just because it is aft and therefore more prone to motion.

 

Most don't like it, because it's hard to get to. Can only be reached from aft elevator/stairs.

We don't mind the trek, but many do.

[JF - retired RRT]

@atexsix & @CalTexCruiser have you joined your roll call?

[CalTexCruiser]

Yes I have but our roll call discussion covers more advanced topics of interest to seasoned Princess cruisers.

 

I understand that somehow one needs to make a reservation before showing up at an MDR, and that this involves this thing called a Medallion App, but we still need to find out how to do it, and when to do it.

[JF - retired RRT]

2 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Yes I have but our roll call discussion covers more advanced topics of interest to seasoned Princess cruisers.

 

I understand that somehow one needs to make a reservation before showing up at an MDR, and that this involves this thing called a Medallion App, but we still need to find out how to do it, and when to do it.

Load the app now. Play with it, see if you can get it to work.

Reservations are not required for evening dining. You can just show up, if you want, but may have to wait for an open table.

Depending on the smart phone/tablet that you use, you may have no issues or you may not be able to do anything on the app pre-boarding.

You can also do most of the initial information that's need by using the web-based app. Go to Princess.com, click on "Manage This Booking", scroll down a little and you'll see a tiny invitation to "try our web-based version". I have a phone that wouldn't do all the check-in. Went to the web-based version and completed everything and got into the "green lane".

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

We will be cruising Princess for the first time in April, and were not even aware there is more than 1 MDR. 

 

So you are already one step ahead of us.

LoL.  I happened to see it on the deck plans and the little video on the Princess website had "dining rooms" plural.

 

1 hour ago, dickinson said:

Your upcoming Discovery Princess sailing will have three dining rooms.  They may only use two depending on the amount of passengers onboard and staff.  Menus are all the same.  Only difference is location.  Some people don't like the aft deck 6 MDR on ships.  Not sure if it is the design of it or just because it is aft and therefore more prone to motion.

 

They are open for breakfast, lunch on sea days (only one dining room usually), and dinner.  The daily Patter will list the dining locations on the back and their hours.

 

Before the pandemic one was Anytime dining , one was traditional dining, and the other had traditional dining and after about 7:30 pm was anytime.

Thank you very much!  Very helpful.  

 

33 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Most don't like it, because it's hard to get to. Can only be reached from aft elevator/stairs.

We don't mind the trek, but many do.

We're in an aft stateroom, so those elevators will actually be super convenient for us.  Plus, we're used to HAL, where all the MDR's are in the stern.  

[ehogan]

Atexsix: If your Dad is in a wheelchair it might be better to avoid the deck 6 aft dining room.  During meal times the elevators here to get down to deck 6 get very crowded.  The other dining rooms are smaller and easier to get to.

 

CalTex:

Almost everything is now done on the Medallion app including dining reservations, check in, security photo and more.  You start by downloading the app and then go from there.  If you are lucky all will go well with the app, BUT it is not unusual for it to go very wrong.  If so you need to phone the Princess tech guy or perhaps just show up at the pier and Princess will handle everything for you.  Good Luck.

[atexsix]

34 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

@atexsix & @CalTexCruiser have you joined your roll call?

I did this morning.  

 

15 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Yes I have but our roll call discussion covers more advanced topics of interest to seasoned Princess cruisers.

 

I understand that somehow one needs to make a reservation before showing up at an MDR, and that this involves this thing called a Medallion App, but we still need to find out how to do it, and when to do it.

I'm completely clueless on medallion too and asked about it in a different thread.  I'm okay with the app though, because that's what HAL has.  I will ask my main question again here.  Is the medallion a watch, or something you wear around your neck?  I saw a video on youtube in which it was a watch, other videos I've seen cards.  Does Princess send a medallion device to our residence? Or will it be in the stateroom?  

[atexsix]

1 minute ago, ehogan said:

Atexsix: If your Dad is in a wheelchair it might be better to avoid the deck 6 aft dining room.  During meal times the elevators here to get down to deck 6 get very crowded.  The other dining rooms are smaller and easier to get to.

 

CalTex:

Almost everything is now done on the Medallion app including dining reservations, check in, security photo and more.  You start by downloading the app and then go from there.  If you are lucky all will go well with the app, BUT it is not unusual for it to go very wrong.  If so you need to phone the Princess tech guy or perhaps just show up at the pier and Princess will handle everything for you.  Good Luck.

Okay thanks! Good to know.  I don't mind the extra distance because we'll have the chair, and so much on a Princess ship seems to take place there.  With HAL there's little going on center ship.  

[capriccio]

3 minutes ago, atexsix said:

I did this morning.  

 

I'm completely clueless on medallion too and asked about it in a different thread.  I'm okay with the app though, because that's what HAL has.  I will ask my main question again here.  Is the medallion a watch, or something you wear around your neck?  T  I saw a video on youtube in which it was a watch, other videos I've seen cards.  Does Princess send a medallion device to our residence? Or will it be in the stateroom?  

Welcome to Princess! The Medallion is the size and shape of an Apple Air Tag.  It comes with a free lanyard or you can purchase a watch band, necklace, bracelets, etc. through Princess (when you order the Medallion or on board) or Amazon, and EBay.  There is a current thread about the various accessories:

 

It is sent to your home but should it not arrive in time, don't fret.  They will give you one at check-in.

[*Miss G*]

We disembarked the Sky Princess on Monday; also our first Princess cruise.  Only one dining room (the midship one called Estrella, I believe) served breakfast.  We were booked in the Deck 6 Cielo dining room aft for dinner but, unfortunately, they didn’t serve breakfast or lunch there.  The 3rd dining room was closed.  There was no early or main traditional dining and the reservation system was a disaster.  It was basically every man for himself.  I hope you have better luck than we did.

[capriccio]

10 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

We disembarked the Sky Princess on Monday; also our first Princess cruise.  Only one dining room (the midship one called Estrella, I believe) served breakfast.  We were booked in the Deck 6 Cielo dining room aft for dinner but, unfortunately, they didn’t serve breakfast or lunch there.  The 3rd dining room was closed.  There was no early or main traditional dining and the reservation system was a disaster.  It was basically every man for himself.  I hope you have better luck than we did.

To clarify - only one MDR is ever (at least in my experience) opened for breakfast.  Only one MDR is ever open for sea day lunch.  Your MDR dinner location, should you have reservations, has no bearing on where to eat breakfast or sea day lunch. 

 

I agree with you about the reservation system's shortcomings.  On our Enchanted Princess cruise earlier this month, our group of 6 with 'confirmed' dining times and location got to experience all 3 MDRs; in fact the 3rd one wasn't even open at the beginning of the cruise!

Edited March 31, 2022 by capriccio

[atexsix]

25 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Welcome to Princess! The Medallion is the size and shape of an Apple Air Tag.  It comes with a free lanyard or you can purchase a watch band, necklace, bracelets, etc. through Princess (when you order the Medallion or on board) or Amazon, and EBay.  There is a current thread about the various accessories:

 

It is sent to your home but should it not arrive in time, don't fret.  They will give you one at check-in.

Wonderful!  Thanks!  Something to look forward to like the days when the docs went out, I miss those.

 

3 minutes ago, capriccio said:

To clarify - only one MDR is ever (at least in my experience) opened for breakfast.  Only one MDR is every open for sea day lunch.  Your MDR dinner location, should you have reservations, has no bearing on where to eat breakfast or sea day lunch. 

 

I agree with you about the reservation system's shortcomings.  On our Enchanted Princess cruise earlier this month, our group of 6 with 'confirmed' dining times and location got to experience all 3 MDRs; in fact the 3rd one wasn't even open at the beginning of the cruise!

Thanks for the info!

[CalTexCruiser]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Load the app now. Play with it, see if you can get it to work.

Reservations are not required for evening dining. You can just show up, if you want, but may have to wait for an open table.

Depending on the smart phone/tablet that you use, you may have no issues or you may not be able to do anything on the app pre-boarding.

You can also do most of the initial information that's need by using the web-based app. Go to Princess.com, click on "Manage This Booking", scroll down a little and you'll see a tiny invitation to "try our web-based version". I have a phone that wouldn't do all the check-in. Went to the web-based version and completed everything and got into the "green lane".

 

Well that was pretty painless.  Booked all nights including main dining and specialty dining.

 

👍for the advice.

[JF - retired RRT]

2 hours ago, capriccio said:

Welcome to Princess! The Medallion is the size and shape of an Apple Air Tag.  It comes with a free lanyard or you can purchase a watch band, necklace, bracelets, etc. through Princess (when you order the Medallion or on board) or Amazon, and EBay.  There is a current thread about the various accessories:

 

I would suggest to not buy accessories until you are on the ship. They charge $6 for shipping accessories (the Medallion is sent for free). If you have any OBC, you can use "free" $$ to purchase accessories or Amazon & Ebay have lots of choices.

 

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

Well that was pretty painless.  Booked all nights including main dining and specialty dining.

 

👍for the advice.

I'm so jealous.

[RJAM3]

They are the same except location and decor.  Same food, same menu. Just pick one and you will be fine.

[Moondogy]

I am guessing right now due to limited passengers they must be only 2 dining rooms. We are on the Discovery in August and they have already assigned us a dining room and we have anytime dining. Usually there are 2 anytime dining rooms to chose from. I like the one on deck 5 so I can have a cocktail in Good spirits at sea before dinner. As it is right now, they are putting us in the one on deck 6. I'm hoping this changes before August 🤣

[CalTexCruiser]

When making the bookings on the app, I noticed that certain times may not be available in one dining room but is available in the other dining room.

 

Also, I had to play around with different times to find a private table versus a "table shared with others."

[Moondogy]

@atexsixand @CalTexCruiser Since it's both of your first Princess cruise, if either of you are veterans be sure to check out the military benefits. And if you have 100 shares of CCL stock they give benefits for that also.

 

[Moondogy]

2 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

When making the bookings on the app, I noticed that certain times may not be available in one dining room but is available in the other dining room.

 

Also, I had to play around with different times to find a private table versus a "table shared with others."

In the past, we have always eaten around the same time, so we just walk up and get in line and tell them 2 to share table. Plan on still doing the same until I have problems 🤣

[arizonaperson]

To the author/op-

 According to the Patter on day number two on the Discovery Princess inaugural cruise these are the following dining room times .

 Skayway dining room deck six midship: 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM and then 5 PM to 9:30 PM.

Club class dining is in the Skagway dining room deck six midship portside open 730 to 930,am,12 PM to 1:30 PM, and 5 PM to 9:30 PM.

Ketchikan dining room deck six aft is open from 5 PM to 9:30 PM .

I am sure all of that is subject to change  on each individual cruise and or day. But that’s what’s currently being posted .

As others have posted whatever dining room is open and not a specialty dining room ,the menus will be the same in all of them

 Whether you look at the Patter on an app, your state room TV, or a hard copy ,read it it .pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the dining rooms  and  what’s happening around the ship .it’s usually on the back page( dining)

Edited March 31, 2022 by arizonaperson