Anytime Dining

Which ship? Which cruise?

Always the buffet or room service, pizza and burgers by the pool. Most ships have the International Cafe, some have Alfredos. All these are no extra change. You can also consider the pay extra restaurants but might need a reservation.

Which ship? Which cruise?

Sapphire Princess sailing on 7th July 2018 from Southampton for a Baltic Cruise.

The OP may be looking for how anytime dining works in the MDR, altho as listed above, there are other options.

Anytime dining is in one of the main dining rooms. Which dining room depends on the ship. The hours for this are usually 5:30-10:00, or something like that. Sometimes there is a line, sometimes you get a buzzer so you can sit & relax in the atrium while waiting for a table. Sometimes you can get right in. It all depends on what time you show up. You can request a table for 2 or you can share a table. We always have anytime dining, & always get a table for 2.

Depending on the ship, you can sometimes make a reservation for that evening on the Dine Line (phone number listed in your stateroom) starting at 8 AM.

We were successful doing this each evening in October on the Crown for a table for 2 around 7 PM.

YMMV.

:cool:

If you are later than 5:30 or 6:00 for the MDR do not worry. Anytime Dining earns you cannot can go to the appropriate dining room ANYTIME it is open. No need to rush. No need to make reservations ( which defeat the purpose of anytime dining). No need to go to an alternate dining venue. If you return from your excursion at say 7:30 then get cleaned up and go to the dining room and enjoy an evening meal.

There is usually one dining room used and the Patters tell you everyday which dining room will be used. Usually the same one. Just show up and get seated. Most times you have a choice of a private table or share. There might be a short wait during peak hours but we eat early so that is never an issue.

After about 5.45 and till at least 7pm be prepared for quite a wait if you want to eat by yourselves. On the ship we were on there was a great shortage of 2 tops.

If you are happy to share expect to be seated with 6 others and you will get seated straight away. We found that it could take a long time to get through a meal as there are no wine waiters and the waiters had to do it.

I guess everyone's experience is different. We just did two different 10 days cruises. One on the Royal and one on the Crown. It can be next to impossible to get a table for 2 from 5:30 to about 7-7:15. Yes, there is a dedicate MDR for anytime dining but they wouldn't accept reservations during "prime time" and we were often sent off with the "beepers" even when we agreed to share a table. The second cruise was not during a holiday period which I thought would be the only time we'd have trouble. We opted for the (ever-increasing) "pay restaurants" three out of our 10 nights. No issue getting into those.....

No need to make reservations ( which defeat the purpose of anytime dining).

With all due respect, for some of us reservations do not defeat the purpose of Anytime Dining. For us the main reason for choosing ATD is that we think 5:30-6:00 is too early for dinner and 8:15-8:30 is usually too late. If we can make a reservation for 7 to 7:30 and not have to wait for a table, that is "just right" for us.

Just off the Ruby Princess. We had ATD and did make reservations a couple of nights. Never waited more then 5 minutes for a table for 2 and even scored getting the section we wanted to sit at.

OP is on the Sapphire Princess. That ship and its sister the Diamond Princess have four half-sized dining rooms mid-ships instead of two. IIRC, the aft dining room will always be traditional dining while the two of the mid-ship four rooms will always be ATD and the other two will be traditional for first seating only.

The other experience I've had with port calls where departure is late and many excursions arrive late is all dining rooms become ATD with no traditional seating at all for that port only.

No, it's not, sorry

It "may" just not be released to a walk in after the first seating

We always do anytime dining, and we would head down around 5:30-6:00pm. Often there has been a line up, but usually not a long extended line-up. And many times there was no line-up, because they were handing out the buzzers. We would head over to Vines and enjoy a glass of wine, and when we got buzzed, they would give us travelling glasses (can’t take their good glasses), and head over to the MDR. As there seems to be a better selection of wine in Vines, sometimes we would get a bottle of wine there, and take that into the MDR. Our recent ships, Crown, Majestic and Regal.

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The other experience I've had with port calls where departure is late and many excursions arrive late is all dining rooms become ATD with no traditional seating at all for that port only.

I have never had my Traditional Seating cancelled and the dining room converted into Anytime Dining due to late departures from a port.

On my one experience with Anytime Dining, every evening there were long waits to get a table at 6 - 7 p.m. This was for a shared table, not for a two-top. That one cruise's experience put me firmly in the Traditional Dining camp.

With all due respect, for some of us reservations do not defeat the purpose of Anytime Dining. For us the main reason for choosing ATD is that we think 5:30-6:00 is too early for dinner and 8:15-8:30 is usually too late. If we can make a reservation for 7 to 7:30 and not have to wait for a table, that is "just right" for us.

Of course if people did have reservations between 7 to 7:30 they wouldn't see the problem but what do you think would happen if they did allow it? Dozens of people would have to wait even longer to tables held out of service just waiting for people to arrive.

It a good thing they don't operate like that.

What is wrong with just showing up at the door when you're ready to eat?

With all due respect, for some of us reservations do not defeat the purpose of Anytime Dining. For us the main reason for choosing ATD is that we think 5:30-6:00 is too early for dinner and 8:15-8:30 is usually too late. If we can make a reservation for 7 to 7:30 and not have to wait for a table, that is "just right" for us.

Agreed. Us also.

Regardless of whether or not one likes the idea of reservations for Anytime, it does get you seated more quickly...or at least that was our experience...especially if you didn't want to share. On the Crown this past fall, the people at the door were ENCOURAGING people to make reservations so they wouldn't have to wait.....

Never do ATD anymore. Everyone wants to eat 7-7:30.

Calling in morning puts you early or late which is the same as Traditional.....we do Traditional,

Calling in morning puts you early or late which is the same as Traditional.....we do Traditional,

Are you saying that when you make a reservation in the morning that you can only reserve an early or late time, that it’s not possible to reserve a table for example at 6.45? I was under the impression from reading other posts on CC that there were no time restrictions when booking for that evening (obviously where slots were still available), providing you rang after 8am. Is this not the case?

Agreed. Us also.

Regardless of whether or not one likes the idea of reservations for Anytime, it does get you seated more quickly...or at least that was our experience...especially if you didn't want to share. On the Crown this past fall, the people at the door were ENCOURAGING people to make reservations so they wouldn't have to wait.....

So for every couple wanting reservations it means a slowdown for all the other people that have to wait a little longer.

It's one of the main reasons that people complain about the long lines at the door and doesn't really help to seat the crowd in general.

It takes the table out of action for a longer period waiting for you to arrive when it could have been used for the people who showed up & were ready to eat at that moment.

So for every couple wanting reservations it means a slowdown for all the other people that have to wait a little longer.

It's one of the main reasons that people complain about the long lines at the door and doesn't really help to seat the crowd in general.

It takes the table out of action for a longer period waiting for you to arrive when it could have been used for the people who showed up & were ready to eat at that moment.

That may be...I really don't know. However, in the past with Anytime, never making a reservation, we have ALWAYS waited unless we went to dinner really late and often sharing was the ONLY option available. This past cruise on the Crown, the people that were seating people at the door were basically "begging" people to make reservations. We complied. It worked great! Not sure why they would be encouraging it if it left tables empty? When we called promptly at 8 am to make a reservation, pretty much all times were available. We always picked 7. Maybe they shouldn't accept reservations.....but since they do....you have a choice. Make a reservation, be willing to share (and also maybe wait), or wait a long time unless you go really late. Different ships may vary, but that was our experience. :cool:

That may be...I really don't know. However, in the past with Anytime, never making a reservation, we have ALWAYS waited unless we went to dinner really late and often sharing was the ONLY option available. This past cruise on the Crown, the people that were seating people at the door were basically "begging" people to make reservations. We complied. It worked great! Not sure why they would be encouraging it if it left tables empty? When we called promptly at 8 am to make a reservation, pretty much all times were available. We always picked 7. Maybe they shouldn't accept reservations.....but since they do....you have a choice. Make a reservation, be willing to share (and also maybe wait), or wait a long time unless you go really late. Different ships may vary, but that was our experience. :cool:

Begging people is only a way of quieting down the crowd that are are angry because of the wait and doesn't help the situation at all in the overall picture.

How does taking reservations help the crowd get seated & fed any faster or smoother?

I've never heard of them taking reservations for 7 PM.

That must have been a real crowd pleaser. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Whenever we have tried getting reservations we have been told 5:30or 7:45. On the Regal we have had good luck just going at 7:45 to the dining room that has early traditional and converts to anytime dining after that.

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