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

[Flo71]

23 hours ago, NoelleC said:

I just watched a tip that once you are on board you can TEXT Guest Services instead of standing in line through the app. Has anyone tried this, and how well did it work?

We used it when we were mistakenly charged for a drink, resolved immediately through the text service 🙂

 

[EightFurryPaws]

Haven't been a sailing since the Mediallion app has been introduced.

I'm a solo traveler and have no preference to sit alone or with a group.

Can I just arrive at the dining room without a reservation and wait for an opening? Or must I reserve on the app?

 

 

 

[capriccio]

53 minutes ago, EightFurryPaws said:

Haven't been a sailing since the Mediallion app has been introduced.

I'm a solo traveler and have no preference to sit alone or with a group.

Can I just arrive at the dining room without a reservation and wait for an opening? Or must I reserve on the app?

 

 

 

Making a reservation is not a requirement.  Go when you wish.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

What if you have a 5:20 PM DMW reservation?  When you line up how do you know if the 100 people in front of you have a reservation time before or after yours?  What do you do?

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

What if you have a 5:20 PM DMW reservation?  When you line up how do you know if the 100 people in front of you have a reservation time before or after yours?  What do you do?

I presume you are talking about everyone you mention is in the "with reservation" line.  I guess one has to wait to be seated unless the guest has already locked down a set table for each night and can just walk to it.  This is what we did and never waited in lines.

 

As to your direct question, there is no way to know.  Same idea as you join the long TSA line at the airport and you have no way of knowing how many people in front of you have an earlier flight or later flight than you do.  If 100 people have a 5:20pm res, it is going to take them a while to seat everyone.  The DR's are large as you know.  That said, I have never seen close to 100 people in line last Fall.

 

ETA:  Perhaps the Mgr or Host at the door should be calling up those with 5:20pm and then start on the 5:40's, etc?

Edited March 13, 2023 by Steelers36

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

I presume you are talking about everyone you mention is in the "with reservation" line.  I guess one has to wait to be seated unless the guest has already locked down a set table for each night and can just walk to it.  This is what we did and never waited in lines.

 

As to your direct question, there is no way to know.  Same idea as you join the long TSA line at the airport and you have no way of knowing how many people in front of you have an earlier flight or later flight than you do.  If 100 people have a 5:20pm res, it is going to take them a while to seat everyone.  The DR's are large as you know.  That said, I have never seen close to 100 people in line last Fall.

 

ETA:  Perhaps the Mgr or Host at the door should be calling up those with 5:20pm and then start on the 5:40's, etc?

I’ve just been wondering since some posters have posted photos of long lines for the MDR. My friend has a hard time standing for long periods of time. That’s an excellent idea for someone to be calling up those with reservations at that time.  

[konatyme]

Good question. One of our traveling companions is also unable to stand for long periods of time, so hoping our 6 PM reservations for every night will keep this from happening. But who knows? On the Regal last fall, we were able to just walk in (we'd asked for the same table, or at least same waiter every night, and got that).

 

[BamaVol]

13 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I’ve just been wondering since some posters have posted photos of long lines for the MDR. My friend has a hard time standing for long periods of time. That’s an excellent idea for someone to be calling up those with reservations at that time.  

I never saw 100 in line ahead of me, but maybe 30-40.  That number was cleared in under 10 minutes.  There was always a much shorter line with no reservations but I don’t know what they heard when they got to the front of the line.  

[BamaVol]

6 hours ago, konatyme said:

Good question. One of our traveling companions is also unable to stand for long periods of time, so hoping our 6 PM reservations for every night will keep this from happening. But who knows? On the Regal last fall, we were able to just walk in (we'd asked for the same table, or at least same waiter every night, and got that).

 

Our MDR reservations varied between 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00.  The lines seemed to vary by day more than time.  The later in the cruise, the shorter the line, or so it seemed.

[elaine5]

are there still  "share tables?" Prior to Covid, we walked up and said we'd share a large table and were always seated right away. We enjoyed meeting new people each night.

[that]

Yes

[kntrygrl]

Are the MDR’s daily menu’s posted anywhere prior to cruising? I’d like to make reservations for specialty dining asap but it would be nice if I was able pick days the MDR menu didn’t offer my favorite options.

[suzyed]

On 3/15/2023 at 6:23 PM, elaine5 said:

are there still  "share tables?" Prior to Covid, we walked up and said we'd share a large table and were always seated right away. We enjoyed meeting new people each night.

Yes, there are many shared tables!

 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, kntrygrl said:

Are the MDR’s daily menu’s posted anywhere prior to cruising? I’d like to make reservations for specialty dining asap but it would be nice if I was able pick days the MDR menu didn’t offer my favorite options.

In a word,  no. The menus are posted outside each MDR every morning for that night's dinner.

[Times Prince]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:18 PM, Steelers36 said:

DMW offers a set of times and the guest doesn't just pick a random time.  The only situation where a dining time would be random assigned is if the guest is a walk-up.  Otherwise, DMW is offering booking times every 20 minutes.  I do realize they are somewhat theoretical in that a guest may not be immediately seated upon arrival for a reservation - depending on the res time and the flow throughout the DR.

I am concerned about "how theoretical?"   My wife has diabetes and previously with Anytime Dining often the wait time delayed our meal past when she must eat and the buffet became our only option.  I've booked a 6:40 time for an upcoming cruise, hoping that the 5 PM early diners will have cleared out by then, but if there is a significant delay there may be issues.  What have been your experiences with delays?

 

Also, there was no option for "share a table" when I booked it. Is that something they offer you when you arrive, even with the scheduled time for a 2-top?

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Times Prince
clarification

[BamaVol]

18 minutes ago, Times Prince said:

I am concerned about "how theoretical?"   My wife has diabetes and previously with Anytime Dining often the wait time delayed our meal past when she must eat and the buffet became our only option.  I've booked a 6:40 time for an upcoming cruise, hoping that the 5 PM early diners will have cleared out by then, but if there is a significant delay there may be issues.  What have been your experiences with delays?

 

Also, there was no option for "share a table" when I booked it. Is that something they offer you when you arrive, even with the scheduled time for a 2-top?

 

We were always asked if we wished to share a table, despite having reserved a table for two. 
 

We had food within 20 minutes of sitting most nights. They will bring bread pretty quickly. For whatever reason, every stage of the meal took forever on embarkation day. The buffet might be a good choice that night. 

[Steelers36]

26 minutes ago, Times Prince said:

I am concerned about "how theoretical?"   My wife has diabetes and previously with Anytime Dining often the wait time delayed our meal past when she must eat and the buffet became our only option.  I've booked a 6:40 time for an upcoming cruise, hoping that the 5 PM early diners will have cleared out by then, but if there is a significant delay there may be issues.  What have been your experiences with delays?

 

Also, there was no option for "share a table" when I booked it. Is that something they offer you when you arrive, even with the scheduled time for a 2-top?

 

I would speak to the DR Manager the first night and see if you cannot be setup with same table each night and you just walk in.  Most certainly some of the 5pm diners should be heading out after 90 minutes.  You won't have a delay if you can get the "same table/same waiter" experience.  Just ask and explain the timing issue for eating.

 

There is no sharing of 2-tops.  If you want to share a table, that would mean canceling your reservation and replacing with a sharing table.  You can do that at the door on a whim I suppose and no doubt another couple will be happy to have your 2-top.  That said, the sharing table needs to get filled before waiters start up with full service and taking orders and the larger the table, the slower the service.

[eric4395]

Hi everyone my wife and I are on a princess cruise in May from Southampton 

First time with Princess so this medallion and app are new to us . We have filled all our details on the  princess app and have reserved a time each night splitting between the 3 main restaurants. We have a private table marked against it so does that mean it's a table for 2 which is what we are looking for and are we guaranteed that without a wait or is it a case that we will prob have to wait for a table for 2 despite reserving it. It's my wife's birthday one of the nights and we haven't reserved anything for that night and as we have cruise credit will prob use this however it wants to take it off our credit card  if we reserve in advance ,so we have just left it for the moment. Sorry if the answers to this are on this post but it's 69 pages long and didn't want to trawl through it😊

[suzyed]

1 hour ago, Times Prince said:

I am concerned about "how theoretical?"   My wife has diabetes and previously with Anytime Dining often the wait time delayed our meal past when she must eat and the buffet became our only option.  I've booked a 6:40 time for an upcoming cruise, hoping that the 5 PM early diners will have cleared out by then, but if there is a significant delay there may be issues.  What have been your experiences with delays?

 

Also, there was no option for "share a table" when I booked it. Is that something they offer you when you arrive, even with the scheduled time for a 2-top?

 

There is an option for "Private" or group or shared table on the Dine my way app.

Edited March 18, 2023 by suzyed

[suzyed]

1 hour ago, eric4395 said:

Hi everyone my wife and I are on a princess cruise in May from Southampton 

First time with Princess so this medallion and app are new to us . We have filled all our details on the  princess app and have reserved a time each night splitting between the 3 main restaurants. We have a private table marked against it so does that mean it's a table for 2 which is what we are looking for and are we guaranteed that without a wait or is it a case that we will prob have to wait for a table for 2 despite reserving it. It's my wife's birthday one of the nights and we haven't reserved anything for that night and as we have cruise credit will prob use this however it wants to take it off our credit card  if we reserve in advance ,so we have just left it for the moment. Sorry if the answers to this are on this post but it's 69 pages long and didn't want to trawl through it😊

There may or may not be a wait...it depends on the ship/time/dining room. Private table means just those in your party. I would make a reservation somewhere for your wife's birthday so you don't get shut out just in case nothing else is available.  Once on board you can try to make a reservation in a specialty restaurant but I would do it right away!

Edited March 18, 2023 by suzyed

[Princess Chatterer]

On 8/11/2021 at 9:44 PM, 2 cruises a year said:

And Expensive!!

The Class Structure coming back.

Just wait until you see the Princess class structure planned for the new Sun Princess.  Steerage class for many and lots of good things for the privileged monied class.

[Incognito1]

4 hours ago, Princess Chatterer said:

Just wait until you see the Princess class structure planned for the new Sun Princess.  Steerage class for many and lots of good things for the privileged monied class.

As someone who usually travels in "steerage class," I don't have a problem with those who are paying more money enjoying more perks.  Isn't it BETTER for us not to have the cost of extra perks spread across everyone instead of those receiving them?  I don't begrudge those who start their vacations in the first class section of the plane, either.  It is those paying premium prices who will keep the company afloat.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Incognito1
typo

[Times Prince]

4 hours ago, suzyed said:

There is an option for "Private" or group or shared table on the Dine my way app.

Not on the app on my phone.
I have reservations and it says it will cancel if I even look at other options for reservations.

[wowzz]

8 hours ago, eric4395 said:

It's my wife's birthday one of the nights and we haven't reserved anything for that night and as we have cruise credit will prob use this however it wants to take it off our credit card  if we reserve in advance ,so we have just left it for the moment.

If you really want to book a speciality restaurant, I think you should just accept the fact that you will have to pay  for it .  Waiting until you get in board may well mean that you can't get a table at all, or that it will be at an unacceptable time, such a 17:00 !

I wouldn't run that risk, and you certainly don't want to disappoint your wife ! There are plenty of other ways you can use up your obc.

[BamaVol]

12 hours ago, eric4395 said:

Hi everyone my wife and I are on a princess cruise in May from Southampton 

First time with Princess so this medallion and app are new to us . We have filled all our details on the  princess app and have reserved a time each night splitting between the 3 main restaurants. We have a private table marked against it so does that mean it's a table for 2 which is what we are looking for and are we guaranteed that without a wait or is it a case that we will prob have to wait for a table for 2 despite reserving it. It's my wife's birthday one of the nights and we haven't reserved anything for that night and as we have cruise credit will prob use this however it wants to take it off our credit card  if we reserve in advance ,so we have just left it for the moment. Sorry if the answers to this are on this post but it's 69 pages long and didn't want to trawl through it😊

Is there a reason you are splitting amongst 3 MDRs?  I think the advantage of sticking to a single MDR is the likelihood you will be recognized by the staff and treated with just a little more personal service.  There are those among us here who long for the days of traditional dining.  If you are one of those, you may find the experience more to your liking if you return to the same dining room night after night.

 

We had the same headwaiter each night and got to know him pretty well, and vice versa,  We did not see the same server every night but when we did get a repeat, he remembered us from a couple nights earlier. Being served by the same staff just makes for a smoother experience, like knowing not to put butter on my bread plate or remembering that my wife drinks cabernet so that a drink reorder took a few seconds less.

 

And as several others have pointed out, you may be able to secure the same table and server for the entire cruise which elevates the experience just that much more. Part of the pleasure of cruising is being treated as if you are much more important than you might be in real life. This helps with that.

 

Of course, none of this might matter to you. But if it does, something to consider.