Dine My Way - new MedallionClass enhancement

[AF-1]

Informatics Nurse;  I know your frustration with this app. No one should have this many issues when they are trying to go on vacation.  I say do what you can do with the app.  Whatever info it takes is a good thing.  Other items it won't take;  just relax and try later or another day.  You have time before your cruise to get all the green checkmarks.  Some days the app works well and some days not so well.  I try not to stress out over an app that I have no control over.  I can't fix the app,  I can't tell the developer how to fix it;  so I wait and if my passport, or credit card info takes, that's great;  if they don't take, I live another day and try again.  

[Cruzinnana47]

Checked the app yesterday and can't access DMW at all now.  Was in there a few days before and the dining reservations for our 2 upcoming cruises were still there.

 

At least our sailings aren't until this Nov. and next May, so there is time for improvement (hopefully).  Just feel bad for those who have cruises coming up soon.  

 

Have decided to leave things as they are in the app and try not to stress about it.   Won't even bother watching the Medallion Monday videos anymore...just useless P.R. presentations by Princess.

[Tedferg]

Thanks informatics and Steelers36 regarding the question of uninstall / reinstall. I do periodically check for Updates and wondered if there is a difference between Update and a new Install.

 

I wonder what passengers who do not have advice from CC are doing - Princess must be overwhelmed with phone calls. They should make a general announcement. I did notice that they say DMW 'Comin Soon'.

[cruzrbachoua]

10 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Thanks informatics and Steelers36 regarding the question of uninstall / reinstall. I do periodically check for Updates and wondered if there is a difference between Update and a new Install.

 

I wonder what passengers who do not have advice from CC are doing - Princess must be overwhelmed with phone calls. They should make a general announcement. I did notice that they say DMW 'Comin Soon'.

I personally was not able to get the latest update to go through so I deleted it and reinstalled and it worked.  Not sure if I will have to do that again when the "new" version comes out 8/31

[capriccio]

27 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I wonder what passengers who do not have advice from CC are doing

I feel for anyone new to Princess trying to navigate this sorry, untested excuse for an app.   I wonder how many booked passengers just give up and cancel.

 

I can tell you what the 4 couples we will be cruising with in 2022 are doing:  absolutely nothing upon my advice!

 

It took me a month to get into the Medallion app and I was able to set up our group dining times and locations and, as of this morning, they are still there!  That was the most important thing to us. 

 

I've told them everything else can wait or, in the case of excursions, be done in the on-line Personalizer (thank goodness).

 

 

[StrawberryHill]

I am trying to make dinner arrangements for our August 8 cruise.  the app says "There are no reservations at this time, check back later".  Does that mean they are already booked ?  I also only have one choice for time - "evening" ?    Any advice out there ?

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by StrawberryHill

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, StrawberryHill said:

I am trying to make dinner arrangements for our August 8 cruise.  the app says "There are no reservations at this time, check back later".  Does that mean they are already booked ?  I also only have one choice for time - "evening" ?    Any advice out there ?

 

IN regards to second question, DMW is only for dinner reservations in the evening.  IDK if they plan to extend to other times of day in future, but they appear to have built in option to expand.

[clueless2]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked and answered previously.  I looked for it but couldn't find it.

 

Does anyone know how long in advance Platinum/Elite are supposed to be able to reserve dining times with the MedallionClass app?

 

I'm able to choose "Evening" and then it shows my wife and my names but when I click continue it then says "Sorry... We could not find any reservations at this time.  Please check back later."

 

It sounds like they haven't loaded the dining room data for the cruise yet and it isn't until Sep 22 but I'd obviously like to get my dining arrangements made asap.

 

Has anyone been able to make dining reservations that far out yet?

 

Thanks in advance. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by clueless2

[capriccio]

2 minutes ago, clueless2 said:

Does anyone know how long in advance Platinum/Elite are supposed to be able to reserve dining times with the MedallionClass app?

I was able to make reservations for our July 2022 cruise but get the same message as you for our April 2023 cruise.

[Steelers36]

39 minutes ago, clueless2 said:

I apologize in advance if this has been asked and answered previously.  I looked for it but couldn't find it.

 

Does anyone know how long in advance Platinum/Elite are supposed to be able to reserve dining times with the MedallionClass app?

 

I'm able to choose "Evening" and then it shows my wife and my names but when I click continue it then says "Sorry... We could not find any reservations at this time.  Please check back later."

 

It sounds like they haven't loaded the dining room data for the cruise yet and it isn't until Sep 22 but I'd obviously like to get my dining arrangements made asap.

 

Has anyone been able to make dining reservations that far out yet?

 

Thanks in advance. 

IMO, they have pulled back some/many(?) future cruises that were open originally.  For example, our logical voyage in departing OCT 01, 2022 (25 nights of B2B2B) now shows no reservations that I had already made and none available.  Our next voyage on OCT 31, shows the bookings I had made - and they are what I would expect and happy with.  But I cannot add or change them as I get unavailable message.  So, why the difference?  IDK.  I can say that for the longer voyage that our res was okay for the first two segments, but then we were placed on a larger size table for the last segment (didn't want that).  Also, both voyages did not have full dining capacity open for booking as at least one entire DR was missing. 

 

[clueless2]

4 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

IMO, they have pulled back some/many(?) future cruises that were open originally.  For example, our logical voyage in departing OCT 01, 2022 (25 nights of B2B2B) now shows no reservations that I had already made and none available.  Our next voyage on OCT 31, shows the bookings I had made - and they are what I would expect and happy with.  But I cannot add or change them as I get unavailable message.  So, why the difference?  IDK.  I can say that for the longer voyage that our res was okay for the first two segments, but then we were placed on a larger size table for the last segment (didn't want that).  Also, both voyages did not have full dining capacity open for booking as at least one entire DR was missing. 

 

Thanks for the info.   We've booked 4 B2B cruises (Transpacific from LA to Sydney and then 3 cruises "down under" (if you're going down there you might as well see as much as you can).   On the website they all show up as different cruises but on the app they show up as one (one start date and one end date).  However all four booking numbers are displayed separated by commas.

[skynight]

4 hours ago, clueless2 said:

 

Does anyone know how long in advance Platinum/Elite are supposed to be able to reserve dining times with the MedallionClass app?

According to Princess' information platinums and elites should be able to reserve dining times when booked. Hope it works out that way. Would be customer unfriendly if we had to mark our calendars for a certain date and then rush to reserve at midnight to get the preferred time(s). The old and our preferred system we requested dining at the time of booking. That was customer friendly. Princess has lost their way. 

[konatyme]

I agree. We chose the dining time we wanted when we book our Sept. 2022 cruise last fall. Now it no longer shows on the Princess website with our other cruise info and I can't get the app to work. VERY unhappy and will be even unhappier if we end up with a dining time we don't want.

 

[Tug10]

22 hours ago, capriccio said:

I was able to make reservations for our July 2022 cruise but get the same message as you for our April 2023 cruise.

I am Elite & was able to select my dining reservations a while back for my June 2022 cruise & I saw they were still there yesterday but I have just checked now and my reservations have all disappeared and I too get the message ‘sorry we cannot find any reservations at this time, please check back later’ when I try to rebook them. I’m hoping this is just a glitch & I haven’t lost my reservations as we prefer a table for 2. 

[capriccio]

6 minutes ago, Tug10 said:

I am Elite & was able to select my dining reservations a while back for my June 2022 cruise & I saw they were still there yesterday but I have just checked now and my reservations have all disappeared and I too get the message ‘sorry we cannot find any reservations at this time, please check back later’ when I try to rebook them. I’m hoping this is just a glitch & I haven’t lost my reservations as we prefer a table for 2. 

 

That got me to check our two reservations in 2022.  The March reservation is still there (table for 6 at 6:20).  For the July 2022 I got a message similar to you when checking the reservation.  When I went to see what happens when I try to book again I got the "You're double-booked!  Modifying this plan will overwrite your existing one."  That seemed to me that the reservation is still in the system so I canceled making a new reservation.  In fact, then just being curious I went back to check the existing reservation and there it was (table for 8 at 5:40)!

[LACruiser88]

We are going to wait until the update before doing anything else.  For our November Hawaii cruise, we don't show any reservations.  Our Late Seating table for two should have migrated over.  And, for our New Year's cruise , I was able to book our group of 9 for a table for 10 at 6;40.  Now, that reservation shows the 9 of us at a table for 2! 

[ClassyApplePie]

Our  group of 4 in table for 6 now shows as group of 4 in table for 2.

[Steelers36]

36 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

Now, that reservation shows the 9 of us at a table for 2! 

 

24 minutes ago, ClassyApplePie said:

Our  group of 4 in table for 6 now shows as group of 4 in table for 2.

The Medallion IT team is the "gift" that just keeps on giving.  What will they come up with next?

[clueless2]

8 hours ago, ClassyApplePie said:

Our  group of 4 in table for 6 now shows as group of 4 in table for 2.

#Togetherness

[MissP22]

On 7/8/2021 at 6:41 PM, skynight said:

The old and our preferred system we requested dining at the time of booking.

The new system seems to not be coordinated to let Platinum & Elites book in advance. The info I receive from my TA just says "Open Choice" and the Medallion App won't let me do anything. 

[billco]

Seems like a lot of stress about something that means so little.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, billco said:

Seems like a lot of stress about something that means so little.

Yes, if you step away from it, and rationalize, you can think back and dining got worked out to desired situation on prior voyages - even if required a visit with the MD.   

 

However, that doesn't cover for Princess who promised the moon and delivered something far less to date and even that isn't working well.  We hope it will get better and get fixed, but clearly it should have had a much more limited release and more testing and QA prior to releasing to customers generally.

[Tedferg]

25 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, if you step away from it, and rationalize, you can think back and dining got worked out to desired situation on prior voyages - even if required a visit with the MD.   

 

However, that doesn't cover for Princess who promised the moon and delivered something far less to date and even that isn't working well.  We hope it will get better and get fixed, but clearly it should have had a much more limited release and more testing and QA prior to releasing to customers generally.

And it is not just Dining that is messed up, though many TD wanting no change and AT wanting Reservations, stand out. 

 

Plus it has become a bit of a fixation to many, me included, checking to see if it is fixed. I have said many times, I had no interest in the Medallion features and never planned to use them or download the app. Just turn up at check in and get a medallion instead of a cruise card. Dinner invitations peaked my interest and PCL made it mandatory !!!!!

Edited July 11, 2021 by Tedferg

[billco]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, if you step away from it, and rationalize, you can think back and dining got worked out to desired situation on prior voyages - even if required a visit with the MD.   

 

However, that doesn't cover for Princess who promised the moon and delivered something far less to date and even that isn't working well.  We hope it will get better and get fixed, but clearly it should have had a much more limited release and more testing and QA prior to releasing to customers generally.

I have to agree somewhat. I think people have more of a reason to get upset now if the App doesn't work, because when one looks at their booking it says check in now with the Medallion Class App vice Coming Soon. But, Princess hasn't sailed in a long time and things are going to be different. The traditional way of cruising is going to be a thing of the past. It seems a lot of the stress is coming from trying to fit the old ways into something new and unknown. 

 

I have noticed the app works much better now for my upcoming cruise in September than it did a month ago. Still some bugs in the later cruises.

 

Just not going to lose any sleep over any of this. I am confident when it comes time to cruise it will be fine. Maybe I learned my lesson from stressing about getting refunds and FCCs. Like a lot of people, I made calls and sent e-mails and checked status every day. If I hadn't done anything, I think the results would have been pretty much the same.

[Steelers36]

34 minutes ago, billco said:

I have to agree somewhat. I think people have more of a reason to get upset now if the App doesn't work, because when one looks at their booking it says check in now with the Medallion Class App vice Coming Soon. But, Princess hasn't sailed in a long time and things are going to be different. The traditional way of cruising is going to be a thing of the past. It seems a lot of the stress is coming from trying to fit the old ways into something new and unknown. 

 

I have noticed the app works much better now for my upcoming cruise in September than it did a month ago. Still some bugs in the later cruises.

 

Just not going to lose any sleep over any of this. I am confident when it comes time to cruise it will be fine. Maybe I learned my lesson from stressing about getting refunds and FCCs. Like a lot of people, I made calls and sent e-mails and checked status every day. If I hadn't done anything, I think the results would have been pretty much the same.

Fair and even-handed comments. 

 

I think a lot of people would have been happier had Princess introduced the new MC App functionality, while maintaining the existing Cruise Personalizer on Princess.com.  They could have done some IT "magic" in the background, not dissimilar to the data conversion process they attempted (but should have succeeded in) to get that data from whatever system (POLAR???) the Personalizer data was in over to the MC System.  At the same time, Princess could have announced that this new expanded MC App was going to be the future direction with opportunities to add even more functionality and benefits for guests.  BUT, the Personalizer will be phased out in 12/18 months at which time the MC App will be used for all interaction of booked cruises. 

 

This would have been a good plan for Princess and guests IMO.  Guests who were not ready to jump with both feet into new technology would have time to consider adopting.  Princess could have offered similar support for port check-in as they are having to do now - as long as guests show up with the necessary paperwork and ID (which has always been true).  The day may be coming when there won't be "non-smart" phones.  I am not an expert on how long various Operating Systems have been out, but seems they ought to have considered supporting some additional platforms out of the gate as well. 

 

Some of us are in the pool and some of us have no problems diving in, but I think those that want to dip their toes and walk in slowly are a valuable segment of guests that no cruise line should want to lose, or risk losing.  They could have had some back-up for themselves and eased people into it, especially after a year-plus of having lives and business disrupted and turned upside-down, including cases of lost loved ones or friends.  It's a lot to be hit with as folks just want to return to normalcy and have a stress-free vacation experience.  Yes, once we get on-board and the ship departs port, and we have a toast, and then sit down for dinner, it will be good.  But why put us through the wringer to get there?