Alternate dining on Diamond

[J18ktleo]

well, it's been a few years since we were on the Diamond and I remember being very very unimpressed with the alternate dining choices however, we are sailing on her again in January and I'm reading as much as I can about everyone's impressions...

Wondering if you could give me a little overview of the options for anytime dining, the different restaurants and the best way to handle timing?

We just got off the Coral and the Maitre D' was amazing in getting us a fabulous table with a great wait staff for 6:30 every nite...my dh is recovering from serious medical issues and needs extra time to eat so we would like to know in advance the best way to go...and the cc boards ALWAYS steer us in the right direction!:D

[Pam in CA]

well, it's been a few years since we were on the Diamond and I remember being very very unimpressed with the alternate dining choices however, we are sailing on her again in January and I'm reading as much as I can about everyone's impressions...

Wondering if you could give me a little overview of the options for anytime dining, the different restaurants and the best way to handle timing?

Are you asking about Anytime dining or the alternative restaurants? I'm a little confused.

 

The Diamond has four Anytime dining rooms; two on deck 5, two on deck 6 mid-ship. Your best bet if you don't want to wait is to get there very early, i.e., before 6pm.

[J18ktleo]

Question is...can you make reservations?

And, what are the other restaurants (for a fee) on board and are they worth the extra money?

From what I remember, one of the four restaurants was Sterling and it wasn't very good, service or food! I know that Sterling is usually the steakhouse on most ships but was one of the four on the Diamond...

 

Advice anyone???

[karatemom2]

Yes you can make reservations. The four anytime dining rooms with their signature dishes are Savoy (pork chops), Pacific Moon (shrimp noodle dish), Santa Fe (chicken fajitas) and Vivalidi (traditional until 8 p.m., osso bucco). The two additional fee dining rooms are Sabatinis and Sterling Steak House (which is located in a paneled off section of the buffet each evening).

 

We love the Diamond and have dined in all four of the anytime venues and twice at Sabatinis. We have never been disappointed! In our experience, wait times have been minimal with the exception of formal evenings so we now always make reservations for formal nights.

[J18ktleo]

The Vivaldi is traditional until 8pm? You mean to eat there it has to be after 8pm???

And the Sterling is set off from the buffet area? I thought it was it's own restaurant?

 

And I'm thinking the traditional dining room menu is available in all the themed restaurants as well?

 

Thanks so much for the info!

[karatemom2]

The Vivaldi is traditional until 8pm? You mean to eat there it has to be after 8pm???

And the Sterling is set off from the buffet area? I thought it was it's own restaurant?

 

And I'm thinking the traditional dining room menu is available in all the themed restaurants as well?

 

Thanks so much for the info!

 

Yes the Vivaldi is traditional until 8 p.m. and the Sterling Steak House is in the back section of the buffet. They set it up each evening and it is separated from the buffet with panels to make it private.

 

The traditional menu is the same in all the dining rooms each evening. The specialty dishes are something unique to each of the four AD dining rooms in addition to the regular menu.

[J18ktleo]

Thanks, Karatemom

Is there any time they WILL NOT take reservations for?

 

How much extra is Sterling and is it worth it?

[Pam in CA]

The menus are the same for both Traditional and Anytime dining. The only difference is that on the Sapphire and Diamond, there is one dish offered in each of the four Anytime dining rooms that's "themed." It doesn't change and is the same every night.

 

On most ships, you cannot make a reservation in Anytime dining between 6 and 8pm; unfortunately, Princess isn't consistent with this and it depends on the Maitre D.

[J18ktleo]

Pam,

Thank you from just up the road!

We just got off the Coral and we were able to make reservations for 6:30 every nite which was great....dh needs extra time to eat and 6 is just a little too early! :rolleyes: