4/13/24: Princess Rolls Out Fleetwide Dining Revolution

[TRLD]

20 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

If a TD guest wants to bail, they could do so and DR Mgmt could fill the table with other guests - such as walk-ups arriving at the right time and needing a table. 

 

I believe TD is going to be managed they way it was prior to DMW App.

Which will mean what it did in the past before they did away with TD.  If one build on TD then their spots will be empty for that sitting. If they try to.use it for overflow DMW or walk up then you run into the problems of disrupting the flow and efficiency of TD.

 

Would not be surprised if they allow those that select TD to opt for DMW reservations if TD ends up with a lot of empty chairs some nights just as it did before they did away with it a few years ago.

 

Though it seems as if more people have given up on the MDR on cruises altogether, moving away from the long dining  times for more casual dining, they would have more capacity in the MDR.

Edited April 15 by TRLD

[lorri111]

Got the same email here in Australia early this morning, but our reservations in MDR for cruises post Sept still listed, not cancelled yet.

Edited April 16 by lorri111

[Cruisemeister2002]

Have today received notification that Princess will be changing the dining arrangements after the 14th September and that once we have paid the balance on our cruise we will be afforded the options available for dining arrangements. It was welcome and strange how these new arrangements start the day before we sail. As I have said we welcome these changes. Don't think we are stick in the muds for preferring a set time each night and we like the thought of hopefully building a rapport with our fellow diners as we will probably request a table of six.

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 4/13/2024 at 11:53 PM, RNRcruisers said:

Yay! I’m so excited to have traditional dining back!

Me too, fortunately our cruise departs 15th September, so a day after it comes into being.

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 4/14/2024 at 2:30 AM, Arizona Wildcat said:

Probably because they said they will be cancelled over the coming days.  Just announced and doubt Princess would do that on a weekend.  It is thousands and thousands of reservations. 

Possibly due to final balances being paid as Princess have emailed me to say after the day the balance is due I will be contacted to tell them my dining preference.

[susancruzs]

Stick in the muds?  Nope, don't think so!  Traveling alone, I love the TD option, large table, gives me a chance to interact with the same people.

 

Many times I've met other singles this way, we end up doing some tours together or attending things on the ship.  By visiting over dinner, one finds out if you have similar interests.  This is a move in the right direction.

[CAZephyr]

Great idea!  Hope it is true.  We're in traditional column.  Early/Late matters little to us. 

[voljeep]

I like the 'new' arrangements ... and really like that if you pre-book early, late traditional, or a specific reserved time ... and you can't make it, that you can still go to the buffet or other non-mdr dining venues ... as to not disturb the others that opted to book the walk-in status

[Kay S]

Okay.  Been gone awhile.  Do Elite benefits still include priority dining reservations?  I don't want to book and then find out I can't do TD since that is the only reason I would consider another Princess cruise.

[lorri111]

Has anyone actually had booked reservations cancelled yet? Mine are still on the app for our post Sept cruises.

[terrierjohn]

On 4/14/2024 at 7:30 PM, Torfamm said:

The big difference I see is that with select dining in the past it wasn’t possible to make reservations for individual nights  in the MDR ahead of time at all. You had to wait and try to phone the “dine line” the same day that you wanted the reservation. 
 

 

What do you mean by select dining, the current DMW system does enable you to book ahead of time and at a different time every night, and different restaurant.

[Torfamm]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

 

On 4/14/2024 at 2:30 PM, Torfamm said:

The big difference I see is that with select dining in the past it wasn’t possible to make reservations for individual nights  in the MDR ahead of time at all. You had to wait and try to phone the “dine line” the same day that you wanted the reservation. 
 

 

Expand  

What do you mean by select dining, the current DMW system does enable you to book ahead of time and at a different time every night, and different restaurant.

 

I was answering a question about what is different now from when traditional was available in the past, before Dine My Way was introduced. At that time you could not make individual reservations ahead of time.

[lorri111]

Does anyone have any idea what time this roll out will be uploaded on June 17? Curious as to what time that would be in Australia (Perth).

[lorri111]

1 hour ago, lorri111 said:

Does anyone have any idea what time this roll out will be uploaded on June 17? Curious as to what time that would be in Australia (Perth).

Ie would you expect it to be available at midnight California time on June 16/17 or not till start of business hours?

[Astro Flyer]

12 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

Ie would you expect it to be available at midnight California time on June 16/17 or not till start of business hours?

Based on their other app missed dates, I would be surprised if they’ll be available on 6/17. The date they stated for all of the reservations being deleted was missed by several weeks.

 

On 5/16 the time a 2026 total solar eclipse cruise was available was at midnight PT. In the past opening times have been between 0600 & 0900 PT so there’s no way to predict a time…and possibly even the day if history is any indication.

 

Edited May 19 by Astro Flyer

[lorri111]

1 minute ago, Astro Flyer said:

Based on their other app missed dates, I would be surprised if they’ll be available on 6/17. The date they stated for all of the reservations being deleted was missed by several weeks.

 

On the 16th the time a 2026 total solar eclipse cruise was available at midnight PT. In the past opening times have been between 0600 & 0900 PT so there’s no way to predict a time…and possibly even the day if history is any indication.

 

Yes, my reservations were only deleted a few days ago. Oh well, will justhave  to hit refresh a lot and hope it's not the middle of night here 🙂

[Peasy24]

You were right on with that Astro Flyer. I still show zero reservations available for anything in the main dining room.

[jeremystevens]

On 6/18/2024 at 3:56 PM, Peasy24 said:

You were right on with that Astro Flyer. I still show zero reservations available for anything in the main dining room.

Bookings now opening on 1st July.

[paddingtonbear]

Does dinner in MDR takes about 1.5hrs? So 5:30 TD will be finished in good time/just in time to get a seat at the show in the theatre at 7:30 is that right? 

[dreaminofcruisin]

22 hours ago, paddingtonbear said:

Does dinner in MDR takes about 1.5hrs? So 5:30 TD will be finished in good time/just in time to get a seat at the show in the theatre at 7:30 is that right? 

 

It really depends on the ship, the dining room and the server.

In theory, that should be true, but we have had dinners (even for just the 2 of us) that last 2 hours.....🤷‍♀️

One option is to skip dessert if it seems to be running long.

[Astro Flyer]

On 6/18/2024 at 7:56 AM, Peasy24 said:

You were right on with that Astro Flyer. I still show zero reservations available for anything in the main dining room.

 

On 6/24/2024 at 11:31 AM, jeremystevens said:

Bookings now opening on 1st July.

Maybe? ☺️

 

[Astro Flyer]

23 hours ago, paddingtonbear said:

Does dinner in MDR takes about 1.5hrs? So 5:30 TD will be finished in good time/just in time to get a seat at the show in the theatre at 7:30 is that right? 

We’ve had good luck by mentioning to our waitstaff that we’d like to go to a 7:30 performance so our meal was completed within an hour at the max.
 

It’s been our experience for popular production shows arriving at the theater 30 minutes in advance had more limited seating available. We’ll arrive earlier to get our preferred area & will read or go online while waiting. Remember that for production shows they hold seats for those who purchase the Premier bundle which are not released to others until close to showtime.

 

In the app under Profile, My Journeys, Dining Preferences, there are these options although don’t know if onboard staff even looks at them…I know that our selection of the Close to the window option has never worked for us.