questions about upgrades and dinner sittings

[sherri3802]

I'm booked on a January cruise but haven't been able to finish off my personaliser details. My husband's are all done but I have had a hold up with getting a passport.

We booked the cruise early last August. It is fully paid for.

But after reading all the posts, I have been having a look in the personaliser and I noticed we haven't been allocated any particular cabins yet, nor have we been upgraded:(

but even worse,our TA told us we were on first dinner sitting and I now see we are on 'waitlist #104 :eek:'

 

My questions are

-Do cabin allocations or upgrades only happen once all personaliser details are completed, or cruise fully paid for?

-How likely are we to get into the first dinner sitting?

-How come we are on a waitlist for dinner sitting anyway as when we booked, it looked to me as if most categories of cabins on the ship had lots of vacancies, it wasn't as if we were booking at the last minute, so surely we should get into a dinner sitting without too much trouble? After all, they know how many passengers they can fit on board and they must suspect we will all be wanting to eat dinner. I doubt everyone who booked before us asked for first sitting.

Just curious, and got my fingers crossed for even a slight upgrade as we are booked into an inside cabin in the bowels of the ship.:D But hey, even without an upgrade, we will be near the dining room I guess-if we ever get a dinner sitting allocation, that is.;)

[sailawaysally]

I would be more worried about your passport than whether you get first dinner seating!! I hope it sorts out for you soon. Sometimes you won't get a cabin number until you actually check-in but I think most get their number approx. 2 weeks out from your cruise, if you booked early you have a good chance of an upgrade. You will more than likely get first dinner seating anyway if you asked for it in August. Never heard of 'waitlist #104' so don't know what that means.

[robinsoncruisers]

I'm booked on a January cruise but haven't been able to finish off my personaliser details. My husband's are all done but I have had a hold up with getting a passport.

We booked the cruise early last August. It is fully paid for.

But after reading all the posts, I have been having a look in the personaliser and I noticed we haven't been allocated any particular cabins yet, nor have we been upgraded:(

but even worse,our TA told us we were on first dinner sitting and I now see we are on 'waitlist #104 :eek:'

 

My questions are

-Do cabin allocations or upgrades only happen once all personaliser details are completed, or cruise fully paid for?

-How likely are we to get into the first dinner sitting?

-How come we are on a waitlist for dinner sitting anyway as when we booked, it looked to me as if most categories of cabins on the ship had lots of vacancies, it wasn't as if we were booking at the last minute, so surely we should get into a dinner sitting without too much trouble? After all, they know how many passengers they can fit on board and they must suspect we will all be wanting to eat dinner. I doubt everyone who booked before us asked for first sitting.

Just curious, and got my fingers crossed for even a slight upgrade as we are booked into an inside cabin in the bowels of the ship.:D But hey, even without an upgrade, we will be near the dining room I guess-if we ever get a dinner sitting allocation, that is.;)

Not sure which ship you are going on but we are going on the Dawn Princess in just over 2 weeks and have been waitlisted for first dinner since booking which was in August. We have slowly moved up the waitlist and are now #44 for the first sitting. I have spoken to princess australia about this and they said that lots of the elderly book the first sitting for medical reasons, ie diabeties etc and they hold quite a few of thes until the last minuite in case more needy people need the early sitting. If you don't make the early sitting you automatically go to the late sitting at 8.30. We really are hoping we get the early dinner but not sure yet. If we don't get confirmed before sail date we will go and speak to the maitre de as soon as possible and hopefully he can get us in.

 

We are also booked in an inside cabin right up the front of the ship and have been hoping for an upgrade but our personalizer has shown the same cabin grade and cabin number since the day we booked. We are in a triple cabin so maybe thats why we haven't received an upgrade...but still hoping to. My SIL is going also and she has booked an inside twin and hasn't been upgraded either. Both of us said yes to being upgraded. I'm not sure if we are going to miss out on an upgrade since we are able to print out our boarding passes which have the cabin number on it. But still hoping and keeping fingers crossed.

 

Don't worry too much there is still plenty of time till you go....good luck and have a great trip.

 

Annette :):)

[arxcards]

I will assume you are on a ship without anytime dining - Pacific Sun, Dawn Princess or Sun Princess.

First sitting dinner is also popular, especially in school hols, as it aligns with kids clubs hours for families. The dining assignment is based on who has booked first. T/A will have requested first sitting for you, but because already full, you are waitlisted for it. If you are still waitlisted at departure, you are being assigned 2nd sitting. Everone in your booking is listed as #104, but is based on passengers. If a family of 4 moves to the late sitting, you will go up to #100. When final payment date comes around, others might cancel moving you faster up the list.

 

Except for Pacific Sun, you will also have the option of buffet dining anytime. There is also the possibility that there will be casual vacancies on first sitting as others change their mind once onboard. Make sure you ask after you board, as the numbered waitlist will no longer apply - 1st in, best dressed.

 

They do suspect everyone will want to eat, but in order to do that, it is spread over 2 sittings

 

Lots of cabin vacancies does not necessarily mean it is undersold. Up to half of the passengers are booked on flexible "guarantee bookings" which allow them to sell several choices of specific cabins and categories until almost sold out. Guarantee bookings may not have cabins allocated till close to cruising (as already mentioned). By booking a low grade cabin early and being available for an upgrade, chances are you will get one. The reason they allocate cabins late, is to avoid playing musical chairs every time another booking comes in for a lower grade cabin.

[sherri3802]

We are going to be on the Sun Princess. I was worried about the passport but I think I must be on the last lap by now, after a couple of rejections.:(

I am pretty sure it should all be through this month, with any luck.;)

 

But the waitlist for dinner worried me as I was reading on one other thread that last year, some 300 people missed out on getting any sitting-either first or second, because there were more people than 2 dining roomsx2 could accommodate.

I have to admit, I would be creating a real fuss if they told me I could never go to a formal meal at night and always had to use the buffet.

So far, we have not moved from #104 in 3 months, but I will have my fingers crossed we make it to first sitting somehow.

Thanks everyone for the info, it's helpful to know how the systems work.

[arxcards]

We are going to be on the Sun Princess. I was worried about the passport but I think I must be on the last lap by now, after a couple of rejections.:(

I am pretty sure it should all be through this month, with any luck.;)

 

But the waitlist for dinner worried me as I was reading on one other thread that last year, some 300 people missed out on getting any sitting-either first or second, because there were more people than 2 dining roomsx2 could accommodate.

I have to admit, I would be creating a real fuss if they told me I could never go to a formal meal at night and always had to use the buffet.

So far, we have not moved from #104 in 3 months, but I will have my fingers crossed we make it to first sitting somehow.

Thanks everyone for the info, it's helpful to know how the systems work.

Yes, I was on that cruise, which was jammed to the rafters - the 07/08 NYE cruise. We booked very early and had a confirmed 1st sitting when we logged into our personaliser a few days after booking, and also have the same for our 2 upcoming Princess cruises which were booked within weeks of release.

 

Regarding the 300, they had something different on their personalisers that you do not have - waitlisted and a number for 1st sitting, waitlisted and a number for 2nd sitting.

 

Once onboard, there were several that preferred the buffet, and there were vacant tables nearby on our first sitting that stayed that way for the whole cruise. If you don't make off the waitlist, head to the Regency dining room after boarding (they have a set time - don't recall it though). Ask for a first sitting vacancy. It is unlikely that you will be accomodated on the first or even second night, but after that the 1st sitting "no-shows" will lose their allocation. The ones that prefer the buffet do not get the opportunity to specify it when they book, and will move on leaving vacancies.

 

Good luck, whichever way.

[sherri3802]

Yes, I was on that cruise, which was jammed to the rafters - the 07/08 NYE cruise. We booked very early and had a confirmed 1st sitting when we logged into our personaliser a few days after booking, and also have the same for our 2 upcoming Princess cruises which were booked within weeks of release.

 

Regarding the 300, they had something different on their personalisers that you do not have - waitlisted and a number for 1st sitting, waitlisted and a number for 2nd sitting.

 

Once onboard, there were several that preferred the buffet, and there were vacant tables nearby on our first sitting that stayed that way for the whole cruise. If you don't make off the waitlist, head to the Regency dining room after boarding (they have a set time - don't recall it though). Ask for a first sitting vacancy. It is unlikely that you will be accomodated on the first or even second night, but after that the 1st sitting "no-shows" will lose their allocation. The ones that prefer the buffet do not get the opportunity to specify it when they book, and will move on leaving vacancies.

 

Good luck, whichever way.

 

Geoff, thanks for that. You are a mine of information!

We are going with 2 other couples and so far, they think I am amazing, the things i seem to know about cruises. But every bit of info I pass on is always something I have found out from this board!:)

 

It is pretty sad, isn't it, that here I am, off overseas for the first time in my life and my thoughts seem to be centering around food and cocktails.:p

[karmac]

It is pretty sad, isn't it, that here I am, off overseas for the first time in my life and my thoughts seem to be centering around food and cocktails.:p

 

 

That's not sad.......that's what holidays are all about:)