Mediaspot

Essiesmom,

Thanks for responding... You seem to be Tech Savvy w/C/Critic... Me??? Not So much... Could you take the actions you outlined??? We have VERY FEW members on the post for this cruise. If you're going on the cruise, take a look at the posts on the one with "Mexican Riviera" in the Title.

Thom.

Hi,

Looks like two forums have been created for this cruise with (slightly) different names… The one people are following is “Grand Princess Mexican Riviera September 23, 2019”

THM

I have been on 29 Princess Cruises.. When I found out Early Dining was moved to 5PM I didn't like it, but thought I would give it a try... My table had one couple the first two nights and another couple three of the last nights... The other evenings I dined alone... This was NOT the Princess Cruise Experience I had in the past or expected. My hope is that Princess monitors these forums and listens to the musings of their loyal customers. THM

I've been cruising for a long time... When I started there was no such thing as Anytime Dining... You either had Early, Late or you ate at the buffet... I learned quickly that if you wanted the more popular Early Dining you either booked early or were on a "wait list"... Being on the "wait list" pretty well guaranteed you'd be assigned Late Dining.  I've just returned from a 10 day cruise to Mexico on the Grand... I booked early and had confirmed 6PM dining... Heard the "buzz" on C/Critic long before I received the official notification from Princess... I ate in the Early dining room nine out of ten nights... Five of those nights I dined at my table alone... Two nights, one and two, there was a couple  at my table who had not received the notification... They weren't happy and tried to get moved to Late... It was full... After two nights they decided to do the "wait in line" for Anytime... A couple of nights later, a very nice couple joined me... They had opted for Anytime but didn't realize they either would have to wait in line or carry a "Blue Light Beeper" device that gave them 10 minutes to get to the dining room or lose their place... Looking around the dining room those nine nights I saw MANY tables with MANY vacancies. I talked with many people on board about the change... Those that normally eat at 7-8PM or 5-6PM were happy... Those that opted for Anytime were dissatisfied. Those that paid for "Club Class" dining had no complaints... I said it in an earlier post and will repeat it now. I believe Princess is phasing out Traditional dining and replacing it with Anytime Dining and the much more lucrative Club Class Dining.

31 minutes ago, Micah's Grandad said:

 

 

Hoping lots of people complain to the President of Princess causing them to go back and fix what was not broken.

That last sentence pretty well says it all... Just back from 10 days on the Grand... Stayed w/5PM because 7:30 was too late and didn't want to stand in line for Anytime... Past 28 cruises w/Princess have been delightful... This one, due to the rushed or absence of pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers, was not as good. Hope Princess is monitoring this thread... Notice that only 2-3 out of over a hundred respondents have been in favor of the change(s)... Do we have some "ringers" on this thread??? 

What is late TD currently Thom?

Thank you in advance

Jenny

J. Late T/D is 7:30P

T.

I am writing this as we leave P.V. for Manzanillo on the Grand, a 10 dayer out of S.F. to Mexico... I bet that a lot of you are Platinum or Elite... Let me state my feelings in no uncertain terms, EARLY TRADITIONAL DINING AT 5:00 PM SUCKS!!! Do you like to go to the Elite/Platinum Cocktail Party before dinner??? If you answered YES you are out of luck... You can... A. Wolf down a drink and scarf a nosh from 4:30-5:00 and be on time for dinner... or... B. Arrive late for dinner, inconveniencing your tablemates and hurrying through dinner (they have another group after you for Late T/D)... or... C. Stand in line for Anytime Dining or hit the buffet... This is not the Princess Cruises Dining Experience I enjoyed on my first 28 cruises with Princess but it may very well be my memory of my LAST cruise with Princess. Again, I hope P/Cruises monitors social media and acts accordingly.  Thom.

6 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Well, not ALL.  Norwegian comes to mind.

 

Silversea, Regent Seven Seas (yeah, not mass market, but well-known) also have dine when you want.

When Princess, Carnival, Holland America, RCL and NCL give up on T/Dining is when it will become a dead issue.

28 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

I would take issue with this statement.  I'm "elderly" and grew up eating early dinners (my mother had to squeeze them in between working full time and attending college classes at night, while raising 3 kids after my father died) and 5:00 is too early on a cruise for early dining.

I have been cruising for more than three decades, from being a young single guy - then with a variety of women - then with my wife - and, since I lost my wife, as a single traveler. (Note: No, she didn't die... We were in my car on the freeway... She asked to stop at a Rest Stop... She got out of the car... As soon as she went inside I drove away as fast as I could and never looked back!) [Rimshot] I have always tried for Early T/D... The two or three times I didn't book early enough and was "wait listed" for Early, and ended up in Late, I decided that dining at 8PM wasn't for me... I like to go to the Platinum/Elite Cocktail Party at 5PM and dinner at six. I think Princess should have given nine months to a years notice of the change... They didn't... I heard about it on social media past the time I could have cancelled without penalties... Princess sent the official notice of the change AFTER I would have paid a 100% penalty. I told Customer Relations that I thought this to be very "UnPrincessLy"... Yes, I had to invent a word to describe how I felt. Tomorrow I board the Grand out of S.F. for a ten day cruise to Mexico. I will report back to this thread on how the change affected my cruise and whether or not I will cruise with Princess in the future.

20 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Wonder why in Alaska???? Maybe because it was port intensive????

Alaska cruises tend to skew toward older travelers... Young adults, like me (***), look for sunshine and beaches... "Lower my latitude, raise my attitude"... I'm a longtime birdwatcher, seeking the elusive avian "Tea Nee Bah Kini" is always my primary goal when selecting a vacation destination. I'm on the Grand to Mexico the ten days before you leave for Aloha Land... (Cross posted to another thread)

Thom.

(***) Full disclosure; I'm 71 years old!

PS: When you're in Ensenada for your mandtory call at a foreign port I highly recommend lunch at El Rey Sol criss/cross the intersection from the pink high rise Villa Marina Hotel.

16 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

As misguided as Princess is on this matter not sure why people believe it is some sort of plot to eliminate or destroy fixed dining?

Fixed seatings are far easier for cruise lines to administer and galley and servers to operate with. There is no gain for the cruise line to kill it off.

I can't speak for Late T/D, but at Early T/D on my last 4-5 cruises I've notice an increasing number of empty seats... Especially later in the cruise... Empty seats means wasted labor... You can't "guess" who's going to show and who isn't so your staffing has to remain the same while the number of meals served declines... Anytime dining is more like a restaurant... Get em' in, get en' fed and get en' OUT! "Turn the table" as quickly as possible. When I started cruising ALL the dining rooms were T/D with two sittings... If you didn't make it to your scheduled time they would try to accomodate you or you'd have to hit the buffet... That's why I believe T/D will become an option, an option - like the specialty restaurants - for which you pay extra... That IMHO is the future... Wow... I speak "Tech"!!!

This is going to be my 40th cruise, 29th with Princess. Early and late traditional diners have always had a show to attend after their evening meal...  Hence the expression, 'dinner and a show'... I was just in communications with someone on the ship I'll be on next week, the Grand  - S.F. to Mexico... The Elite/Platinum cocktail party, with those delicious appetizers, has been moved up to 4:30PM... I am not looking forward to grabbing a quick drink and nosh and rushing to be on time for dinner OR inconveniencing my fellow diners by being late and throwing off the rhythm of the wait staff. I have always booked early to get Early Dining... If you waited, in the past, you were on the "Wait List"... Waiting is something I don't want to do on cruise... Now, there is a "Wait List" to switch to Late, 7:15PM, dining. It's too late for my cruise, but if enough passengers voice their feelings on the Online Survey, today's equivalent of the Comment Card, perhaps we can make a difference. Or, perhaps, Traditional Cruise Dining is on its' deathbed.

Thanks for the info... Anything else about the Grand that would be helpful to those of us boarding in ten days??? Please "Quote" me so I get an e-mail that you've responded.  Thanks,  Thom.

Here's my prediction for the evening meals aboard Princess ships... Traditional... (scheduled times and assigned seating)… Dining will be phased out. Anytime dining will be the "included in the cost of the cruise" evening meal. Club Class Dining will be offered to all, not just Suite Passengers... Like the specialty restaurants, everyone will be given the option to pay a per day fee... like you do with the beverage and internet packages... and, like those packages, you'll have to pay for every night of the cruise. If you make the wait time to be seated for Anytime Dining, more and more passengers will opt for Club Class.

That's my guess as to the long range plan to monetize dinnertime when you're on a Princess Cruise... Comments???

I've said it before and I'll say it again... Princess is changing, and NOT for the better... I hope they monitor Cruise Critic threads, and other social media, and realize that a LOT of loyal cruisers are voicing their displeasure with many policy changes... Not just the unannounced changes in dining times but many other issues too numerous to mention. Look at the threads for upcoming cruises... Mine is December 13-23 on the Grand out of San Francisco to Mexico... Read the posts and notice how many have negative comments about Princess and the ways they have been treated as customers. This will be my 29th voyage with Princess and, depending on how it goes, may be my last.

Thom.

18 minutes ago, Aulanis said:

I suspect that it may have been in response to  customers request!!

There also seems a large proportion of members on here  think they would switch to late if it is at 07.15 which is an indication they thought the later time was too late

It is even reflected on here that before the change most people would have

selected early traditional or anytime.This used to allow pre dinner drinks

dinner, first or second show then  either bed or more drinks and the smaller shows.  However that would mean that anyone booking their cruise late

would, the First sitting being filled, be allocated second sitting.

They may have been allowed to change to ATD but if not they would most likely say that it was too late to eat and put it in writing.

The simplistic way to correct this for those that complained  is to bring the late dining forward  however to accomodate this they than had too move the first sitting forward.  Their idea was maybe confirmed as workable by the number queueing early for the first sitting.  However many of those may have been on any time dining and wanting a table for 2.  If that is the case

then changing the times will not help.   Maybe they should reduce the number of tables for 2 and/or  say ATD is limited to sharing tables.

I agree with everything in your post, but would add the following... When the changes were made, Princess could/should have offered all those passengers who booked early to get confirmed early traditional dining the option of a guaranteed nightly reservation at 6:00PM at anytime dining. Announcing the change(s) via e-mail AFTER  word had spread "through the grapevine" was a gran mal misstep.  Thom.

Here's my "two cents worth"... Princess should have given 90-120 notice of the changes to all booked passengers. That would have given them until the "75 days prior to cruise deadline", when you start incurring penalties for cancellation, to decide if they wanted to cancel. Those booked after the notice was given, would then have been able to decide whether or not the new schedule(s) suited their personal cruising preferences. I was amazed that I heard rumors of the switched times on the thread for my cruise this December rather than directly from Princess. I wrote (e-mailed)  Princess TWICE after hearing the rumors and have yet to receive a personal response. I hope Princess monitors these social media sites and realizes what a PR problem they have created. This will be my 29th cruise with Princess and I always deposit $100 while on board for my next cruise. I can not, at this point, say I will do the same on this next cruise. 

I am at 28 w/Princess and, sad to say, I am starting to agree with a comment on the thread for my next cruise, December 13-23 - S.F. to Mexico... "Princess is changing, and not for the better"... Thom.

Check my post above... I have also sent two inquiries to Customer Relations and only received two automated responses promising a full answer... I read elsewhere that this change was due to "customer requests and surveys"... They didn't question or survey me. Judging by the negative comments here, and on other social media, it was not a very popular decision by Princess. IMHO:  I think that booked passengers that had a confirmed 6:00PM dining time should be given the option of a reservation for 6:00 at Anytime Dining rather than have to wait in line.... THM

I agree 100%... The last time I talked w/Princess re: my cruise on 12/13/18 I told the rep that on three of the four port days I would probably eat dinner on shore rather than rush back for new Early Dining time... I like having the same wait staff and, if there's a good group, sitting with the same people... Early Dining at 6PM suits me to a Tee... Five PM is a little early, but OK for sea days... Thom. PS: When I asked about the change in dining times, w/out notifying the booked passengers, she said, "That's the Million Dollar Question!"... I then asked her, "Fine, what's the Million Dollar Answer?"  She did not have that information. THM

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 7:27 PM, Mummo said:

OOPS...wrong roll call for this post.  😵. maybe too much cruising? 🤯 Nah. 🤭 

I just tried those search words... … and got results from cruiseradio, ilovecruising,, cruisemapper and several others... (Don't know why above quote was inclused) (New site is not user ready!)

39 minutes ago, jwattle said:

 

If you use those search words you should get several hits with items about the changes...

Cruise Critic won't let you post a URL, but if you search Princess Cruises Dining Times Traditional on your browser you'll find there's quite a brouhaha about this (unannounced) change... I have contacted Princess twice inquiring about the changes... Both times I received an automated response telling me I would get a personal response soon... I am still waiting!!! I'll be back on the Grand and will give it a try, but I'm not a happy camper... Had late dining a couple of cruises ago and checked out anytime dining... Saw the line and decided that was not for me... Happy Cruising... Thom. 

NOTE: EDITED QUOTE: I agree with others that the "dire need of complete refurbishment" comment is an overstatement. One thing that should be replaced is the MUTS screen. It is blurry with several off color panels.

I agree with "dire need" being an overstatement... Also agree that outside screen should be replaced.... Have also suggested to Princess that provisions for wireless headphones be added to the MUTS screen... Overall, my 10 days on the 12/10 sailing would receive an A+!