Using App to Make Dining Res AND USE OBC to Pay

[KillerSnake]

I am trying to book just one SD for my cruise.  The App is not giving me an option to use my OBC to pay for the

SD reservation.

 

Where is it hiding? 

[memoak]

Just now, KillerSnake said:

I am trying to book just one SD for my cruise.  The App is not giving me an option to use my OBC to pay for the

SD reservation.

 

Where is it hiding? 

Not hiding but not available. The only thing I have been able to use OBC prior to boarding is excursions. I guess that is why it is called On Board Credit 

[Hlitner]

Same issue plus we cannot even book our free (included) meals (Premium Package) prior to boarding.  One option is to simply book and pay for the meal (it will immediately charge your credit card) and than seek reimbursement once aboard.  Good luck with that!

 

We even called Princess about booking our included alternative meals (from the Premium Package) and the Princess rep was unable to book the reservation without it charging our credit card.  She did put in a request to fix the situation, but that likely went into the ether or the sea.

 

Hank

[Rick&Jeannie]

You cannot use OBC for anything pre-cruise except excursions. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Same issue plus we cannot even book our free (included) meals (Premium Package) prior to boarding.  One option is to simply book and pay for the meal (it will immediately charge your credit card) and than seek reimbursement once aboard.  Good luck with that!

 

We even called Princess about booking our included alternative meals (from the Premium Package) and the Princess rep was unable to book the reservation without it charging our credit card.  She did put in a request to fix the situation, but that likely went into the ether or the sea.

 

Hank

I was able to book our included Specialty dining using the web version of the APP for our Feb '24 Discovery Princess cruise. 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

I was able to book our included Specialty dining using the web version of the APP for our Feb '24 Discovery Princess cruise. 

Since we do not use Google Play (on our laptops) there is no way to install the Princess app on anything other than Apple or Android devices.

 

I should add that even the Princess folks (who answer their phones) were unable to make reservations using our included specialty dining.  As I posted last week, those Princess "experts" elevated the issue (which in Princess speak means nothing will ever get fixed).  Such is life/

 

Hank

[Lady Arwen]

10 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Since we do not use Google Play (on our laptops) there is no way to install the Princess app on anything other than Apple or Android devices.

 

I should add that even the Princess folks (who answer their phones) were unable to make reservations using our included specialty dining.  As I posted last week, those Princess "experts" elevated the issue (which in Princess speak means nothing will ever get fixed).  Such is life/

 

Hank

That’s a shame you can’t do it!  We have Premier and I was able to book our 2 SD that are included with no issues and then booked a third for which we had to pay.  I guess I was just one of the lucky ones.

[Hlitner]

6 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

That’s a shame you can’t do it!  We have Premier and I was able to book our 2 SD that are included with no issues and then booked a third for which we had to pay.  I guess I was just one of the lucky ones.

Somehow we will survive :).  Since we prefer to dine late (8:30 is not very late for us) we generally have no problem booking alternative reservations onboard.  On Princess, we have found that late diners seldom have issues getting into the MDRs or alternative venues.   We can hope things have not changed.  In fact, the way folks are, these days, I can imagine a queue for dinner at 3pm :).  When we started cruising (back in the 70s) it was very difficult to get the late seatings (usually at 8:30).  Gradually, over the years, North American culture has changed to earlier and earlier dining times.  Folks now go to dinner at tea time!  Imagine!

 

Hank

[Lady Arwen]

We would never have dinner before 7pm even at home.  On a ship we prefer 7:30 to 8:00+.

[Dee_Jay]

19 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Since we do not use Google Play (on our laptops) there is no way to install the Princess app on anything other than Apple or Android devices.

 

I should add that even the Princess folks (who answer their phones) were unable to make reservations using our included specialty dining.  As I posted last week, those Princess "experts" elevated the issue (which in Princess speak means nothing will ever get fixed).  Such is life/

 

Hank

You don't need to install anything on your laptop.  Go to your booking on the Princess website.  On the Summary tab, scroll down to the buttons for installing the app.  Right underneath, click on 'Try our web version'.  The screen that opens will have a Link Booking button.  Ignore that and click Cancel.  Enter your username and password.  Sometimes it will take you to the first screen again; just click Cancel and reenter your username and password. Eventually, it will take you to a screen that looks like the app.  You can select Dine My Way and attempt to book your dinner.

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, Dee_Jay said:

You don't need to install anything on your laptop.  Go to your booking on the Princess website.  On the Summary tab, scroll down to the buttons for installing the app.  Right underneath, click on 'Try our web version'.  The screen that opens will have a Link Booking button.  Ignore that and click Cancel.  Enter your username and password.  Sometimes it will take you to the first screen again; just click Cancel and reenter your username and password. Eventually, it will take you to a screen that looks like the app.  You can select Dine My Way and attempt to book your dinner.

I appreciate your tip, but it does not work (we get "the booking number has already been claimed").  Apparently, this happens because we already have the booking linked to our phone apps.  Kind of fun playing with this stuff (a bit of a techie here) but when it comes to Princess software nothing surprises.  To be honest, we do not sweat this kind of small stuff.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Since we do not use Google Play (on our laptops) there is no way to install the Princess app on anything other than Apple or Android devices.

 

I should add that even the Princess folks (who answer their phones) were unable to make reservations using our included specialty dining.  As I posted last week, those Princess "experts" elevated the issue (which in Princess speak means nothing will ever get fixed).  Such is life/

 

Hank

 

I didn't have to install anything on my desktop. What I did was log into My Account, chose my cruise and where it says Check In with the Medallion App it gave me an option to "Try Our Web Version".  That's how I was able to get into the booking. Once there I went to "Dine My Way"  and reserved the dining. 

 

I have the App installed on both my and my husband's phone and was able to do this. What I do have trouble with is logging in to the Princess website. Gotta love technology. 
 

Edited November 13, 2023 by suzyluvs2cruise

[Rick&Jeannie]

42 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

  Apparently, this happens because we already have the booking linked to our phone apps.

The app does not "link" to the booking number. I regularly bring up our booking via the "web version" as well as the app. There is something else going wrong here...

[Dee_Jay]

Do not enter a booking number.  Click Cancel, and it should display a login screen for username and password.  If you enter these, and it takes you back to the booking number screen, just hit Cancel and enter username and password again.

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, Dee_Jay said:

Do not enter a booking number.  Click Cancel, and it should display a login screen for username and password.  If you enter these, and it takes you back to the booking number screen, just hit Cancel and enter username and password again.

Having fun with this, but no joy!  Using your info (thank you) I was able to get into our reservation on our laptop.  It offers the same exact options as we get through the iPhone App.   If we want to make any reservations it will charge our credit card.  If we try to hit "reserve" without telling it which credit card it simply does not make the reservation.   In case anyone would ask, does the system actually say we have the Premiere Package, the answer is yes.  It is all there in the usual Summary screen with all the benefits listed (including 2 included alternate restaurants).  

 

We will just chalk it up to the Princess software issues (which does not seem to work the same for each person).  Having been on an awful lot of Princess cruises, we could write a book about all the various software issues (over the years) so this is simply one more to add to the mix :).  It was interesting that the Princess phone rep was not surprised by the issue so we assume they hear it over and over again.

 

Hank

[juicyjuju]

Slightly off topic but related - how easy is it to get reservations at popular specialty reservations once on the ship if there are no more available on the app?

[memoak]

57 minutes ago, juicyjuju said:

Slightly off topic but related - how easy is it to get reservations at popular specialty reservations once on the ship if there are no more available on the app?

We have never had an issue as long as we like to dine later in the evening like 8:00 which is our preferred time for dinner anyway   They never reserve every table on the app

Edited November 14, 2023 by memoak

[KylieHva]

5 hours ago, Dee_Jay said:

You don't need to install anything on your laptop.  Go to your booking on the Princess website.  On the Summary tab, scroll down to the buttons for installing the app.  Right underneath, click on 'Try our web version'.  The screen that opens will have a Link Booking button.  Ignore that and click Cancel.  Enter your username and password.  Sometimes it will take you to the first screen again; just click Cancel and reenter your username and password. Eventually, it will take you to a screen that looks like the app.  You can select Dine My Way and attempt to book your dinner.

Thank you so much for this.

I have been trying for ages to do a speciality booking, but the app kept saying it wasn't available.  But I was able to do it by following your steps.

Thank you again.!

[nzOdy]

Couldn't resist jumping in here as we've experienced just about every issue mentioned in this thread.

 

1.) App awareness of dining credits.  I'll start by saying I'm an android user.  We cruised in June and tried to reserve via the app a table for six at Crown Grill,  4 of us were suite guests that should have first night speciality dining comped. The app was not aware of these perks for all parties, but I think may have discounted my wife and I, as 4 had to be payed for with credit card.

 

 Once on board we spoke with the concierge to get the other 2 suite guests comped and the cash difference was converted to additional OBC.

 

Having said that,  if you've seen the Android app debacle in the main Ocean Medallion app thread,  they released 2 updates so far in November. I booked a Crown reservation for my wife and I and it sensed and applied dining credits that were applied to our booking.  So I'm not sure if they've done some work on recognizing credits,  but it feels like it.

 

2.) Specialty dining availability once on board: I have been on a short cruise where the Crown was completely booked out ahead of boarding. We were on the Discovery, which has a concierge lounge for suite guests and is available to assist with any problems you have. He also was not able to find an opening. 

 

So I'd say it's entirely dependent on the length of your cruise as to whether or not you can book one of the popular restaurants once on board.

 

About 2weeks before sailing they usually open up specially booking to non-suite guests.

 

The booking I mentioned above for the Crown was only available at 8:40pm for all 5 nights of our leg (non-suite booking).

 

So make sure you check all time slots when looking to make a booking pre-boarding.

 

Good luck with your bookings and dining reservations!!

[KillerSnake]

19 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

I was able to book our included Specialty dining using the web version of the APP for our Feb '24 Discovery Princess cruise. 

Please share how you paid for them using On Board Credit from thee App.

[jennybenny]

For those of you struggling with the medallion. Try going through the web link but don't try to "link" your booking. Just look it up via name and booking. That works. 

 

When you click on "Try our web version", click the "cancel" button when the screen opens up. 

Then click on "Use Booking Number" and enter the details there. 

"Log in with Booking Number"

That has worked for me, thanks to @Steelers36 for pointing me in the right direction the other day. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by jennybenny

[suzyluvs2cruise]

3 hours ago, KillerSnake said:

Please share how you paid for them using On Board Credit from thee App.

The reservations I had were complimentary due to having the Premium Package.