Response from Princess to email re changes

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

The TD experience I used to have:

 

a) Princess scheduled the time to mesh with the Princess Theater schedule. (I did not have to guess many months in advance what time to schedule dinner to be able to make a show. With DMW, if I wait until boarding when the show times are known, dining reservations are usually not available at that popular appropriate time.)

 

b) On the first evening we were seated with four to six strangers who also wanted to eat at that time every evening. They often became friends we kept in touch with after the cruise. (With DMW, there is no guarantee that the strangers on the first night want to eat at that time every night.)

 

c) The table was always ready for us at the designated time. (With DMW there is no assurance that a table, any table, is available at the time you reserved.) 

 

d) Always had the same table and servers for the entire cruise. Knowing where the table was, could just walk in at the proper time each evening. (With DMW must wait in line to see if a table is available at the reserved time, much less with the servers you prefer. When we asked the first evening to have the same table at that time for the rest of the cruise, we were told it would not be possible because someone else had already reserved it.) 

 

So, no, in our experience there is no way to get the TD experience with DMW.

All I can say is that I and others posting in this Forum have had success.

 

A.  I know what you are saying, but PCL did communicate the dining times to align with production shows and was similar to the old schedule.  Not everyone goes to theater and some go to other shows.  At least experienced guests know the typical show times.

 

B. You are correct.  It is up to guests... all strangers... to see if can form a permanent group on Night 1 and then ask for a set table.  Thing is, no guarantee either that everyone in your initial group is interested in staying together or even if the timing suits them on other nights.  This would have to go back to the DRO to do manually ahead of sail date.

 

C. Unfortunately it seems that way on at least some ships.  It is bad mgmt IMO to fill DR with walk-ups so they do not wait while ignoring those who will show up soon with a res.  I wonder if they had too many no shows and decided to start filling tables regardless on some ships.

 

D. We did just walk to our table last Fall on two different ships.  Even if the specific table you start at is not available, they ought to have another one.  PCL promises the TD experience and I guess we need to nicely and firmly work with DR mgmt to get it.

 

It should be better.  It could be better.  I know PCL did a poor job with DMW and they seem to be living with it.  I would say some ships are doing a better job than others.  I also read more success posts than one like yours.  Hope it works better for you next voyage.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Steelers36

[Guest ldtr]

3 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Yes different ways on each ship.  The one with 1730 opening is from the Sky.  The one with 1700 opening is from the Majestic.

 

Time vary by where the ship is sailing as well.  Earlier in the US later in Europe.  On the transatlantic og Regal the MDR opened at five.  The first British Cruise the time changed to 5:30

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

First formal night?  When?  I am sure this happens.  I don't know how often and if certain ships are chronic cases.  From a photo I cannot tell if the folks are walk-ups or with a res.

[Rick&Jeannie]

In case anybody is interested...

The Internet "Wayback Machine" has this page archived from Feb. 9th, 2020.  It shows how Alfredo's was included in the "base cruise fare".  Of course...this was never in dispute, but just note that this is a REALLY good resource to use in looking back at what *used to be*...

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20200815110131/https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/whats-included/

[Steelers36]

8 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Yes different ways on each ship.  The one with 1730 opening is from the Sky.  The one with 1700 opening is from the Majestic.

 

 

So, it makes me ask if DMW was setup with 5pm, 5:20pm, 5:40pm, etc pre-cruise for the Sky voyage(s) indicated.  And, if so, what did they tell the folks with res prior to 5:30 and did that back-up everyone for most of the evening?

 

First world problem, right?

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

If I can walk up to a bar and order something, then the app should be able to allow me to order the same thing.

 

Promotional advertising for the app does not limit what you can order to a limited subset of what is available if you go to the venue itself.

Although we know rule #3 (approx) of marketing is never advertise a negative.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

App developers don't design Apps to take every single combinations/possibility in mind.  Too complicated.  You can't expect the App developer to think of all customizations/exceptions/changes when developing and App.  For example, if you have a complicated order with lots of customizations, you can't place a mobile order the Starbucks App; you have to place it in person at the store.

They could have added an OTHER option with an open text box and guest could just type in their drink order.  But if the whole published menu isn't in the App, it devalues the benefit IMO.

[roadster08]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

And many of my grocery items have also increased a lot. I am now paying $6 for a quart of half and half

That is only because you refuse to milk your own cow. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

Many in the 3-4 day range.  In the adult focused lines HAL has by far the longest average length, then Princess and the shortest average is Celebrity who has started to move to 3-4 days cruises in the Caribbean.

PCL tried that some years back.  All it did was balloon the Elite ranks.  LOL.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Yes, spend hours fighting the app pre-cruise to save a few minutes at check-in.

I wish you had included my full post as I didn't make the extracted statement myself.  It came from an old article on Medallion technology.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

PCL tried that some years back.  All it did was balloon the Elite ranks.  LOL.

The only ones I recall is when they first moved a ship to LA. In order to introduce the line on the west coast they did several 3 and 4 day trips. If you booked one you got your fare back as an fcc for a future cruise. It worked.

Edited August 21, 2023 by ldtr

[Steelers36]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The only ones I recall is when they first moved a ship to LA. In order to introduce the line on the west coast they did several 3 and 4 day trips. If you booked one you got your fare back as an fcc for a future cruise. It worked.

No, I meant Caribbean sector in response to the post about X doing it.  They did a whole long series of 3/4 nighters.

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

They could have added an OTHER option with an open text box and guest could just type in their drink order.  But if the whole published menu isn't in the App, it devalues the benefit IMO.

 

I think Princess wants people to order some cocktails in person at the actual venue, such as Good Spirits.  They want them to interact and hopefully purchase merch which contributes to onboard sales.

 

This is me speaking from being a restaurant partner:

 

F&B POS systems will only print up to 25 characters per line which limits the amount of customizations  that can be written.  This limits what can be communicated on the ticket.  

 

The other problem would be the language barrier.  English isn't the first language of most line cooks.  From experience, it's better just to have the wait staff verbally tell the cook the modification rather than to expect them to understand shorthand on a ticket.  If the modification was built into the program and always appear, then the line cook could be trained to understand what the modification meant every time it came up, like no tomato on a burger.  On cruise lines English, isn't the first language of the line cooks and the bartenders.  Some of what would be written in the open text box would be lost in translation, which would lead to angry guests and having the cook/bartender to redo the order, leading to more backups and longer waits for all passengers.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

So, it makes me ask if DMW was setup with 5pm, 5:20pm, 5:40pm, etc pre-cruise for the Sky voyage(s) indicated.  And, if so, what did they tell the folks with res prior to 5:30 and did that back-up everyone for most of the evening?

 

First world problem, right?

 

DMW app reservations were set up with the earliest reservation at 1730 for the 2 Sky sailings I was on ex Southampton.  A few evenings we wanted to watch sail away, which meant having to eat dinner early.  Lo and behold, we were seated at little past 1700 on those evenings, before the official opening time listed.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

  From a photo I cannot tell if the folks are walk-ups or with a res.

 

This photo shows the front of the line. The long line is the one on the left which is the one for people with reservations.

 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Thos photo shows the front of the line.

 

 

Looks like 5pm when the doors first open. Not uncommon for first night. Usually processes pretty quickly.

 

Would be unusual if it was much after initial opening. For some reason Princess cruisers will start lining up 15 minutes before the door opens, especially on the first night. Also on the first night a lot of people do not realize that there is a reservations line and many just join the end of the line.

 

The stern dining room on 6 is usually a mess the first night since no room to line up but instead it becomes a mass crowded into the elevator doors until the doors open.

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

First formal night?  When?  I am sure this happens.  I don't know how often and if certain ships are chronic cases.  From a photo I cannot tell if the folks are walk-ups or with a res.

I recall lines like this just before the doors opened. Kinda like at the theater or black Friday sales day. However the line kept moving and there was never an hour +  wait. If there was, I would have said           " screw this, I'm going back to the casino to win some more !"  😅

[Cruise Raider]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

If I can walk up to a bar and order something, then the app should be able to allow me to order the same thing.

 

Promotional advertising for the app does not limit what you can order to a limited subset of what is available if you go to the venue itself.

 No app will ever be able to replicate what you can describe when talking to someone in person.  I don’t think a comments box would actually help the situation but rather, it would complicate things even more.  Thus, if at all possible, I would just be happy that I still had that option and now you don’t have to pay the $15 activation fee for ON.  
 

[caribill]

2 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 No app will ever be able to replicate what you can describe when talking to someone in person.  I don’t think a comments box would actually help the situation but rather, it would complicate things even more.  Thus, if at all possible, I would just be happy that I still had that option and now you don’t have to pay the $15 activation fee for ON.  
 

But the app should have the options to order all that is on the regular menus at the bars and that is not the case.

[Cruise Raider]

Just now, caribill said:

But the app should have the options to order all that is on the regular menus at the bars and that is not the case.

That’s not the point of the app .. never has been and never will be.  As a matter of fact, now that Covid does not pose nearly the threat to the majority of the population as it used to, they are actually making moves to decrease the choices on the app as it has become overwhelming with the cruises now sailing at full capacity.  Like it or not .. that is what it is!  They simply don’t have the staff for people that want every possible dish that can be prepared or customization.  I would rather have a fair number of options as is than none at all.  If you want your custom orders, just call in and pay for it.  

 

[caribill]

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

 If you want your custom orders, just call in and pay for it.  

 

 

There is a difference between asking for something standard on a menu and asking for something different than what is on as menu.

 

The promise of the Medallion being used to order something implied that if it is on the menu, you could order it with the app, not have to spend $5 to order it on the phone if paying a standard fare. (And ordering it on the phone does not get it delivered to wherever you are when it is ready, only to the stateroom.)

 

You are correct that Princess did not staff up to meet the demand for the product they heavily promoted in the past and is still promoting as the best thing ever for cruise ships.

 

Maybe the marketing folk and the operations folk at Princess never discussed this with each other. 

[SCX22]

Just now, Cruise Raider said:

That’s not the point of the app .. never has been and never will be.  As a matter of fact, now that Covid does not pose nearly the threat to the majority of the population as it used to, they are actually making moves to decrease the choices on the app as it has become overwhelming with the cruises now sailing at full capacity.  Like it or not .. that is what it is!  They simply don’t have the staff for people that want every possible dish that can be prepared or customization.  I would rather have a fair number of options as is than none at all.  If you want your custom orders, just call in and pay for it.  

 

 

Agree with you here.  Princess hastened the roll out because of the pandemic.  It was supposed to be rolled out gradually  In reality, the Regal and Royal, which were the first two ships outfitted, were supposed to be the trial ships.  Their fleet was idle for nearly 2 years so the Medallion technology was installed fleetwide during this time to best make use of the time.  The Medallion Class Experience was supposed to attract passengers during the re-start because of what Princess was advertising as "truly touchless technology."  It was also to prevent crowds from forming at bars since crowds were a big no, no during the pandemic.  Princess is now being a victim of the Medallion technology's success.  Too many passengers ordering from ANYWHERE on the ship (that's part of the problem, location of the passenger because now the crew has to gallivant all over the ship.) and not enough crew to fulfill the orders in a timely manner.

 

Personally, keep the app, axe the Medallions, and go back to cruise cards.  Probably won't happen with the ex-Disney guy at the helm.  (Oops, opened up a new can of worms.)

[Tigrou]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

And many of my grocery items have also increased a lot. I am now paying $6 for a quart of half and half

But when you get it home do you then discover you have to pay an extra $1 to open it and drink it?  An extra cost you didn't know about when you paid the original $6.

 

I understand all the cruise lines need to increase their revenue.  I don't have a problem with that.  For me it's the principle of the thing.  Very simply, any new charges should be for new bookings only.  

 

 

[rosevew]

1 hour ago, Tigrou said:

But when you get it home do you then discover you have to pay an extra $1 to open it and drink it?  An extra cost you didn't know about when you paid the original $6.

 

I understand all the cruise lines need to increase their revenue.  I don't have a problem with that.  For me it's the principle of the thing.  Very simply, any new charges should be for new bookings only.  

 

 

My gripe precisely 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

When I first read about these changes I was outraged. We are just about to book our next cruise with Princess and having sailed many times with them before we felt we knew what we were getting. Now it has changed we have had to reassess the value before we book.

 

I am not going to go into the details of the changes and our thoughts on each one separately. We all know by now what they are and no doubt have all made up our own minds on the merits or otherwise. But I just wanted to make a couple of general comments.

 

Prices are rising everywhere and the cruise business is not exempt so cruise lines are going to inevitably put up prices. So it should come as no surprise that Princess have made changes. It seems to me that the biggest losers are those on the standard fare. Losing Alfredo's seems the biggest loss plus room service and OceanNow. However, from what I have seen elsewhere, only 20% of passengers are not on one of the packages (Plus or Premier) so few passengers are going to be affected. Losing Alfredo's is a shame but I can't imagine that it would cause many to cancel because of it. You can't live on pizza for an entire cruise!

 

So overall I think that the changes are not as bad as they could have been in the current financial market.

 

Having said that, what I find a bit disappointing, is that they are not offering free cancellation inside the 90 days for those already booked. They could have offered... I don't suppose many would have cancelled but to be given the choice is the customer-centric thing to have done.

 

We have decided to continue with our booking for April 2024. We still believe that the Princess offering is good value for money especially when compared to other lines.