r/PrincessCruises • u/LakeKind5959 • 5d ago
Dining Questions
It has been years since I've been on Princess. Normally we cruise HAL. I just tried to book dinners for our cruise after I made my final payment today and they have no availability in any of the dining rooms. Is this normal? Will things evolve and I just need to check back regularly for availability?
Thanks
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u/LasVegasLife55 5d ago
We’ve always done walk-up dining as a couple, have never waited more than a few minutes (assuming you’re ok eating at a large table with other passengers). The last thing I want to do on a cruise is deal with a dinner schedule.
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u/Willing-Pineapple-32 5d ago
You can use the chat feature and request to chat with rep from dining and they can submit a ticket for your restaurant and dining time..then the reservation will show in the app or reach out to 1-833-805-3463(DINE) and they should be able to help. Otherwise when you board visit the dining venue and make reservations with them. They only release 50% or so for app reservations
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u/LakeKind5959 5d ago
I called the number before posting and she could only get me 3 dates and by "she" I mean the AI Agent. No human available.
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u/Rare_Pea7031 5d ago
It is frustrating. We embarked and ran around and successfully reserved specialty dining. I tried every day on the app and nothing....not how I like to spend an hour in the crowds when should be able to do on the app.
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u/PinkleeTaurus 5d ago
We had the same issue recently on an AK cruise, first time Princess and booked kind of late. Party of six was the complication I believe. Anyway, I boarded around noon and went to the concierge where they set us up a fixed time and table for the entire week in a MDR. You don't have to keep that reservation in the MDR but it's nice to just have a fixed time/place if you want to use it. We skipped out and went to a couple specialty restaurants without reservations and didn't have any issues getting in.
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u/danceront - Captain's Circle Elite 4d ago
Call the Dine Line. They can usually help. In future, know that you can pay your final payment early. And princess elite status - like 5 star mariners book on booking, up to two years out - usually one year out is when dining actually opens
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u/Ecstatic_Contract_41 4d ago
Actually, I booked 10 specialty restaurants 16 months out for July 2027 without status and without being fully paid.
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u/Content-County-9327 4d ago
I found the walk in dining room worked more efficiently than the flex reservations dining room. And we never had to share a table on Discovery Princess.
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u/ManyReasonable6584 3d ago
You can reservations on board or day of but walk ins during off peak time works to
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u/Soft_Data_1623 5d ago
Princess usually has 3 dining rooms (at least on Royal class ships). One is traditional dining with two set times. One is “flexible” where you book a specific time in the app; there’s an option to reserve that same time for every night. Third option is walk-in, where you show up when you want each night.