Anytime dining

[Musky Ike]

Looks like I am in the minority here, but we went with AD once and never again. We eat early and there were long lines waiting for the doors to open on formal night. Those who say no wait must not count the time in line to get to into the room. With TD we just walk in, our table and staff are ready for us. I don't think we are alone, as TD fills up so much that they have added new seatings. If something conflicts there are always other options.

[Pam in CA]

Another Traditional diner here. I've tried Anytime twice and just don't like the long lines and waits. To me, waiting for 45+ minutes is not "any time." I also enjoy getting to know new people; we've never had the horror stories that others have reported. I like knowing exactly what time I'll be going to dinner and can plan activities, pre-dinner drinks, etc. accordingly. I like that "my" waitstaff have iced tea ready for me when I'm seated.

[Liz54]

I'm with Pam. We do late traditional. No rush to get back from excursions. We love going to the pool at 5.00 having a cooling dip, then a drink in a bar or on the balcony. If we are hungry there are lots of snack options and when we arrive in the dining room our wine of choice is waiting for us.

We always request a big table and enjoy the fact that we have lots of time to get to know our table mates. We have never had a bad table.

Wouldnt it be dull - and backed up - if we all wanted the same dining option?

[chloe kitty]

Ever since Princess started offering ATD, we have requested it. The flexibility is great. We tend to eat between 7:30p to 8;15p. After quite a few cruises, we have only had to wait twice, and for less than 5 minutes both times.

We like it because when we are in port, we don't have to worry about getting back in time for dinner. This is a much better solution. Also, if you find a particular server that you enjoy, you can request him/her area. Sometimes when making a request like that, you might have a slightly longer wait.

 

chloe kitty

[paul929207]

We don't usually have a choice. We have been on 18 Princess Cruises and only 3 (a b2b2b on the Star) offered AD. We have four next year and no AD on any of them eiither. But that's OK, we love TD.

[gingera]

We have done anytime once and it was OK...we got to meet lots of people and I liked eating earlier. And, we never had to wait long.

What I didn't like was that I never really got to know people as we never sat with the some ones. So, we went back to TD.

[ONT-CA]

One of the benefits of Anytime Dinning is that you can alter it to be traditional style in that you can arrange for a standing reservation for the same table and the same time. We have tried the evening's open reservation list, which can and has extended the cocktail 'hour' more than wise. So we arrange for a table for two at a table for four at a chosen time that falls within the dining room's allowable parameters. As to late arrivals from excursions, the reservation can be set later than the latest traditional available.

 

When meeting another couple who would like to share our table we need only advise the maitre d' (Table Captain) early enough in the evening and the table is then set for four. If we are lucky enough to have another couple request to join us we again advise the Captain and the table is magically increased to six. (We have all seen the replacement of tabletops and the lifting of under table extensions)

 

As to sharing a large table with random passengers, we wonder how many and how often any of us has said "Thank goodness we are not sitting at that table". A relaxed atmosphere for dining and for good digestion is paramount.

[The Wilkies]

This will be our seventh cruise but have never tried the anytime dining (presently booked for it) and would love to hear the negatives and positives of this approach. What has your experience been with anytime dining? I am especially curious about it working with a port intensive cruise and getting back in time for the evening meal.Appreciate advise on this.

 

Absolutely love ATD, probably because I love talking to people. The last time we did formal, hated the people (well mainly one woman) on our table within about 30 minutes of sitting down. Make sure though that you are on a table for 8 maximum, any more and you find you can't hear what anyone at the other end of the table says and it then becomes the equivalent of 2 tables put together.

 

Really good if you have had a very long hot day ashore, gives you time to relax before getting ready for dinner.

 

Negatives - can't really think of any. If you don't get on with the people you are with, you probably won't meet them again. If you do make friends, make sure you all go down to dinner at the sametime, or book a table for you all.

 

Go for it.

[Floridiana]

I only know any time dining. It was a good experience on Azamara and Aranui, but a horror on one of the NCL ships. On the first two, we usually arrived at the same time as other compatible couples we had met before.

 

On the NCL ship, we never met the same people twice, saw some atrocious teenage manners, and ate with passengers who obviously did not feel like having a conversation with strangers.

 

I'll see how the TD pans out tomorrow night.

[Woobstr112G]

This will be our seventh cruise but have never tried the anytime dining (presently booked for it) and would love to hear the negatives and positives of this approach. What has your experience been with anytime dining? I am especially curious about it working with a port intensive cruise and getting back in time for the evening meal.Appreciate advise on this.

 

We are late seating traditional die hards. Love having the same waitstaff and table mates every night (less specialty dining). Also, and yes I know it's been discussed before, AT is not really AT (IMHO) when they allow standing reservations. Ive walked by the AT dining venues and have seen somewhat long lines and many empty tables inside.....

 

Just My Two Cents.....:):):)

 

Bob

[jean s]

We have tried both TD and AD. We prefer AD but we do like to eat quite late. Because we eat late we very rarely encounter any lines. I really like meeting new people every night. It's just nice to meet lots of people and then see them around the ship during the week.

[Bebekat57]

Love AD. Always sharing a large table. It's great to meet new people and hear different stories each night at dinner. Never had to wait more than 15 min and service has always been excellent. Would never do TD again unless with a large group, family cruise.:)

[pianolady1219]

Our first cruise, on the Ocean back in '02, we had AD. We had met some other couples from here on the cruisecritics site so our first night at the dinner table we asked if we could have this certain table for the rest of the cruise. We had 4 couples in out group with a sitting time of approx 6:30. There was no problem with the arrangements. So each night we were able to have the same table, the same wait staff and the same window. It was a great first time experience. Our next cruise, scheduled for May of 2011 to Alaska we will have 18 couples so I think we will have to break up the group!!:p

 

 

HEY CHEROKEE --- We well remember that 2002 cruise. It was one of our favorites! Do you continue to be in touch with the other couples? Sandy and Jim

[UKBayern]

After 3 or 4 days we found that the best way to go was to call the dining line each morning and make a reservation at a time that we felt would fit in with our schedule for the day. That worked out fine for the rest of the trip.

 

So Princess also has a set-up where you can make a reservation before you go on shore? We are leaving for our first Prncess cruise in a week and did not know if it worked the same way as on RCCL, where a planner was available to take reservations for MyTime Dining.

 

Absolutely love ATD, probably because I love talking to people. The last time we did formal, hated the people (well mainly one woman) on our table within about 30 minutes of sitting down. Make sure though that you are on a table for 8 maximum, any more and you find you can't hear what anyone at the other end of the table says and it then becomes the equivalent of 2 tables put together.

 

I agree completely. We always love larger tables in ATD, since you will always find somebody to connect to, whereas with the fixed table in TD, you might be lucky or unlucky with your tablemates. I have found that if the table is larger than 8, not only can't you hear what is being said on the other side of the table, but there is no general table conversation anymore either.

[shepp]

I like late traditional. For one thing, the experience of a roomful of people all sitting down at the same time for dinner seems (maybe stupidly) special to me.(But then, I still wave my napkin at the Baked Alaskas.) I have experienced one traditional table so incompatible we requested to be moved, but on the Sea last fall, we ended up with and got to know the most delightful tablemates, while when we went to the MDR for breakfast or lunch and were seated with strangers, we had to start from conversational scratch and often as not left thinking "Well, thank goodness that's over." And when we did meet people we wanted to share a meal with, there was always breakfast, lunch, or tea.

[salty56]

Agree totally with karatemom2, and will add that it depends on the type of person you are and how flexible you like to be. Some ships it works easier than others.