Dine My Way & all new Dining questions since cruising restart!!

[MountainEER74]

Has anyone else been able to access DMW on medallion app recently? I have been trying the last couple of days and keep getting the not available message.

[versuco]

I was finally able to access DMW to set our dining times in the main dining room about 2 weeks ago, but cannot book specialty restaurants.  I get the message to try again closer to sail date, which is Friday!  We will just wait until we board to book our specialty restaurants.  Good Luck.

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, versuco said:

I was finally able to access DMW to set our dining times in the main dining room about 2 weeks ago, but cannot book specialty restaurants.  I get the message to try again closer to sail date, which is Friday!  We will just wait until we board to book our specialty restaurants.  Good Luck.

 

Probably too close now.  Wouldn't be surprised if they cut it off a week ahead???

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, MountainEER74 said:

Has anyone else been able to access DMW on medallion app recently? I have been trying the last couple of days and keep getting the not available message.

Yes, lots of spinning for B2B2B, but get through with a single voyage.  All I know is to keep trying.  Whatever they did in the new release is really slowing it down.

[MountainEER74]

33 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, lots of spinning for B2B2B, but get through with a single voyage.  All I know is to keep trying.  Whatever they did in the new release is really slowing it down.

Finally got to it from my Android tablet.  My Samsung Galaxy 9 phone still doesn't work.  I was able to book both my regular dining and specialty dining this afternoon.

[embpat]

I do have a question about the Medallion App. When can I make our speciality restaurant reservations? I was under the impression it was within 60 days of cruising. Every time I try to make a reservation I get an error message after confirming date and time. We like to have our speciality restaurants booked ahead of boarding as we do when cruising with other lines.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, embpat said:

I do have a question about the Medallion App. When can I make our specialty restaurant reservations? I was under the impression it was within 60 days of cruising. Every time I try to make a reservation I get an error message after confirming date and time. We like to have our specialty restaurants booked ahead of boarding as we do when cruising with other lines.

There is no set time.  If you are Captain's Circle Elite or Platinum, you have access to DMW for all reservations as soon as deposit is recorded on a booking.  That said, Princess may not have loaded inventory depending on how far out the voyage is.  For everyone else, DMW is available after Final Payment is made and cruise paid in full (you can pay ahead of the due date).  

[northwestbear]

Be careful with Specialty Dining reservations made in advance. We made a reservation for 4 for the Crown Grill for our recent trip on Grand Princess using the Medallion app.  We paid in advance as was required and my credit card shows the charge. We were treating two friends to dinner on the last night of our cruise. Imagine my embarrassment when we were contacted by our friends letting us know they were charged for their dinner on their onboard account! A look at our folio revealed we were also charged again for 2 dinners. So we paid twice! Trying to call Princess is  currently almost impossible - you sit on hold for hours. I have Emailed them, so we will see what happens. I am hopeful they will make this right.

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, northwestbear said:

Be careful with Specialty Dining reservations made in advance. We made a reservation for 4 for the Crown Grill for our recent trip on Grand Princess using the Medallion app.  We paid in advance as was required and my credit card shows the charge. We were treating two friends to dinner on the last night of our cruise. Imagine my embarrassment when we were contacted by our friends letting us know they were charged for their dinner on their onboard account! A look at our folio revealed we were also charged again for 2 dinners. So we paid twice! Trying to call Princess is  currently almost impossible - you sit on hold for hours. I have Emailed them, so we will see what happens. I am hopeful they will make this right.

This has been reported sometimes from some of the early Return to Sea voyages.  Some folks noticed it on their folio and went to Guest Services.  I do not envy your situation.

[tkwbear]

It's been eons since I have sailed Princess, I have until recently been on HAL most of the time, with MSC in the recent past.

 

I am thinking of doing a transatlantic this Spring, going alone. Due to COVID I don't really want to sit with a bunch of people in the dining room. On HAL you are able to order room  service off the dining room menu at no charge. Is this possible on Princess? I would probably do this for most dinners and breakfasts with some visits to the buffet.

 

 

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, tkwbear said:

It's been eons since I have sailed Princess, I have until recently been on HAL most of the time, with MSC in the recent past.

 

I am thinking of doing a transatlantic this Spring, going alone. Due to COVID I don't really want to sit with a bunch of people in the dining room. On HAL you are able to order room  service off the dining room menu at no charge. Is this possible on Princess? I would probably do this for most dinners and breakfasts with some visits to the buffet.

 

 

Only if you are in a Suite.  You can request a Private Table in the DR, but other diners could be nearby. 

 

By Spring, Covid could be much less an issue than it is now.  If you don't want to be around people then, suggest you consider to defer cruising until a future date.

[Tedferg]

16 hours ago, northwestbear said:

Be careful with Specialty Dining reservations made in advance. We made a reservation for 4 for the Crown Grill for our recent trip on Grand Princess using the Medallion app.  We paid in advance as was required and my credit card shows the charge. We were treating two friends to dinner on the last night of our cruise. Imagine my embarrassment when we were contacted by our friends letting us know they were charged for their dinner on their onboard account! A look at our folio revealed we were also charged again for 2 dinners. So we paid twice! Trying to call Princess is  currently almost impossible - you sit on hold for hours. I have Emailed them, so we will see what happens. I am hopeful they will make this right.

Try using Chat session.

[wineglass]

On 1/7/2022 at 10:56 AM, wineglass said:

when I go to dine my way for our Discovery Princess cruise in March, it only gives me the option of “party shares a table with others” or “party spread across multiple tables”. There is no private table for your party option. Our party are only 3 people. We have always asked for a private table for 4. Has anyone else seen this result?

Finally, I was able to re-book a private table for each night of our Discovery Princess cruise. Of course, we will see what we actually get when we arrive at the MDR door. You have got to be flexible during theses times right now

[raharris200]

Early this morning, I was able to get into DMW (about 5:30 AM EST) and change the time of my reservation.  I am on 2/18 Enchanted Princess.  This PM, I realized I didn't check off the other two couples we are travelling with, so there reservations were deleted.  Again, at around 2 PM EST, I was able to go back in and rebook all of us.  I was doing it for the entire cruise, all at the same time.  Note, there was no option to reserve any specialty dining.   I guess I will have to keep trying to see if this appears as we get closer to sail date.

 

Yesterday, none of this was working, but I was doing it late in the day.  Maybe it is time of day sensitive?

[CruisinGrandpa]

19 hours ago, tkwbear said:

It's been eons since I have sailed Princess, I have until recently been on HAL most of the time, with MSC in the recent past.

 

I am thinking of doing a transatlantic this Spring, going alone. Due to COVID I don't really want to sit with a bunch of people in the dining room. On HAL you are able to order room  service off the dining room menu at no charge. Is this possible on Princess? I would probably do this for most dinners and breakfasts with some visits to the buffet.

 

 

With Dine my Way there is a much more extensive room service menu available. It might not quite be the same menu as in the MDR, but I suspect it will depend on the ship. And this is for a regular stateroom, not the suite.  We were able to order many different items all over the ship using the medallion app

[PoohUnderstands]

On 8/11/2021 at 5:38 PM, Kay S said:

Hear!  Hear!  Where is that wonderful Jan Swartz now?  Fixing things?

I understand what you are saying, but just like all have a choice of cabin styles from interior to suites, why is there a problem with having choices in dining too?  As far as being available, if you plan ahead with booking, cc staterooms are always available(as too, those wonderful window suites on some of the ships).  As far as pricing, there are different price ranges for staterooms, so also for dining styles.

I am fortunate in that my retirement years, I can do CC staterooms, WS's, and once in a blue moon a suite itself.  I am so very glad to hear that I don't have to preplan dinner times, etc. though.  I will agree that the new system which I haven't bothered to investigate fully does seem a little awkward and hard to use.  Seems like everyone is getting like DisneyWorld in having to preplan everything!!  Which I do not like either. But I think with Covid, etc., that the old ways are not coming back and new normals will have to be gotten used to.  I hate that, but that is life as we know it now.

 

Pooh

[Daniel A]

We have an Ultimate Balcony Dinner reserved for the end of this month.  It still shows on my Travel Summary.  I thought I had read someone thought Princess wasn't doing the balcony dinner because of social distancing and reducing time staff spends inside a cabin.

 

Does anyone know if Princess has cancelled the Ultimate Balcony Dinners?

[PacnGoNow]

14 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

We have an Ultimate Balcony Dinner reserved for the end of this month.  It still shows on my Travel Summary.  I thought I had read someone thought Princess wasn't doing the balcony dinner because of social distancing and reducing time staff spends inside a cabin.

 

Does anyone know if Princess has cancelled the Ultimate Balcony Dinners?

I was told that they weren’t doing the balcony dinner or breakfast at this time,

due to covid.  But, I’m holding onto to my reservation that was made months ago, just in case.  They may be doing it at a later date.  If they are not on your date, then of course, you could just ask them to refund.  I spoke to PCL corporate office, when they called me about another issue.  I’ve also asked customer service.

 

 

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

I just spoke to corporate, as they called me about my concerns regarding TD.

 

I said my concerns were that some ships didn’t seem to offer TD or the ability to

have the same table, time and staff every

night, even though you book it on DMW as though it is similar to TD.

 

Also, to move to a new table, new people and staff every night could increase your chances of being around someone with covid.  Your sitting close, unmasked for up to an hour, etc.  

 

You would lose that building of rapport with the same waiters every night too.

 

She said, it may not be called TD, but the option should still be there on ALL ships to accommodate you, if you

tell the MD or your waiter that’s what you prefer.

She said she will pass on my concerns to others in Corporate.  All ships should be doing the same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

[MustangGT]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

I just spoke to corporate, as they called me about my concerns regarding TD.

 

I said my concerns were that some ships didn’t seem to offer TD or the ability to

have the same table, time and staff every

night, even though you book it on DMW as though it is similar to TD.

 

Also, to move to a new table, new people and staff every night could increase your chances of being around someone with covid.  Your sitting close, unmasked for up to an hour, etc.  

 

You would lose that building of rapport with the same waiters every night too.

 

She said, it may not be called TD, but the option should still be there on ALL ships to accommodate you, if you

tell the MD or your waiter that’s what you prefer.

She said she will pass on my concerns to others in Corporate.  All ships should be doing the same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

From her lips to the ships! 😁

In our case, getting the right Head Waiter and ultimately the Maitre d worked wonders!  It shouldn’t be hard!

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

I just spoke to corporate, as they called me about my concerns regarding TD.

 

I said my concerns were that some ships didn’t seem to offer TD or the ability to

have the same table, time and staff every

night, even though you book it on DMW as though it is similar to TD.

 

Also, to move to a new table, new people and staff every night could increase your chances of being around someone with covid.  Your sitting close, unmasked for up to an hour, etc.  

 

You would lose that building of rapport with the same waiters every night too.

 

She said, it may not be called TD, but the option should still be there on ALL ships to accommodate you, if you

tell the MD or your waiter that’s what you prefer.

She said she will pass on my concerns to others in Corporate.  All ships should be doing the same thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Was this a regular phone rep, or someone in a specific dept such as Customer Relations. 

 

As @MustangGT mentioned, speaking to the DR mgmt should help.  But it is a much more difficult job, IMO, if the DMW has randomly assigned tables and ignored some essential elements of TD.  In fact, I know that DMW simply doesn't do it and cannot do it.  Someone, or someones, is/are dealing with the requests and setting up tables, but I don't think it is being done the "old way" by the MD/DRO on-board.  (I wish I had an understanding of the end-to-end process). 

 

I do think it is another case of a theory at HQ not carried out in practice due to a combination of system limitations, an understanding of what is needed, and who is doing the task.

[PacnGoNow]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Was this a regular phone rep, or someone in a specific dept such as Customer Relations. 

 

As @MustangGT mentioned, speaking to the DR mgmt should help.  But it is a much more difficult job, IMO, if the DMW has randomly assigned tables and ignored some essential elements of TD.  In fact, I know that DMW simply doesn't do it and cannot do it.  Someone, or someones, is/are dealing with the requests and setting up tables, but I don't think it is being done the "old way" by the MD/DRO on-board.  (I wish I had an understanding of the end-to-end process). 

 

I do think it is another case of a theory at HQ not carried out in practice due to a combination of system limitations, an understanding of what is needed, and who is doing the task.

I had Jan Swartz’s email and sent it out to her, asking corporate to look into it. I received a call from the corporate dept.

regarding my concerns.

[Roberto256]

19 hours ago, raharris200 said:

Yesterday, none of this was working, but I was doing it late in the day.  Maybe it is time of day sensitive?

 

Or, load sensitive.   During prime time everything slows down from multiple users.

Often timeouts are not handled gracefully in poorly coded apps.

 

[Dbld777]

2 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

 

Or, load sensitive.   During prime time everything slows down from multiple users.

Often timeouts are not handled gracefully in poorly coded apps.

 

The same concerns exist for the human capacity as well. What some DR Mgrs are making work today, utilizing manual methods, will not fare well when the ships are sailing full, if the app doesn't facilitate or enable assignment and allocation of table inventory.

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

 If they are not on your date, then of course, you could just ask them to refund.  I spoke to PCL corporate office, when they called me about another issue.  I’ve also asked customer service.

I certainly would be getting a refund if they reneged on my purchase.  Since I will not have MDR dinner reservations due to their possible cancellation then what - Prego or Trident?  I know we all need to be flexible, but if they sold me something they don't plan on delivering and don't have the common decency to let me know in advance so I may make alternative dining arrangements...well it's a hell of a way to run an airline.