Anytime Dining question

[dm5201]

We are leaving this weekend for our first cruise. We are anytime diners. I read alot about the main dining room, are we allowed to eat in the main dining room?

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Depending on the ship there can be up to 3 MDR

 

two anytime and one fixed time.

 

yours Shogun

[dm5201]

We are leaving this weekend for our first cruise. We are anytime diners. I read alot about the main dining room, are we allowed to eat in the main dining room?

 

By the way, we will be sailing on the Ruby.

[cruzinchris]

By the way, we will be sailing on the Ruby

 

The Ruby Princess has three main dining rooms: One is specifically for traditional diners while the other two accommodate anytime. All three dining venues offer the same nightly menus. The embarkation day Patter will have all dining information for your cruise.

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[Tralynn]

By the way, we will be sailing on the Ruby.

There will be 2 anytime dining rooms and 1 dining room for traditional diners.....They look almost identical (just different artwork and colors) and serve the exact same menu.

 

(Ooops, just saw someone posted the same answer right before I clicked......)

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

You will have a choice of two main dinning rooms.

 

 

Have a great cruise.

 

 

yours Shogun

[Jasperdo]

The Ruby will have two Anytime Dining Rooms: the Da Vinci on Deck 6 and the Michelangelo on Deck 5. As others have stated, they are considered Main Dining Rooms, exactly like the Traditional Dining Room: the Botticelli. Some food, service and decor.

 

One thing to be aware of is that Princess recently started a third Traditional seating. It occupies one of the two Anytime Dining Rooms from 5:30PM until 7:30PM. So, in effect, until 7:30PM, there is only one Anytime Dining Room. After 7:30PM, you will have a choice of two. Your daily Princess Patter will let you know which is which.

[caribill]

And the dress code (smart casual or formal) will be the same in all three dining rooms each evening.

[Jim B]

Would someone please explain to me the "rules" on anytime dining.

We are a group of 17 and signed up for anytime dining. Early seating is to early

and late seating is to late for most in our group.

What do we need to do after we get on board?

Do we still have to make reservations for a specific time? If so when and where do you make this? Do we have to do it everyday?

 

I have done lots of cruising on other cruise lines and have always been able to just go to dinner when ever we are ready. Even the no charge specialty restaurants only required how many and no times so this is all new to me.

Sure would appricate some help.

[Pam in CA]

With a group of 17, you'll need several tables. Once you board, you should go to the Maitre d', who will be available to take dining requests (a notice will be in the Patter where he'll be.) Make sure you have all the names and cabin #s with you. Explain your group and ask for his assistance. Chances are he'll give you a standing reservation at a specific time. Even with a reservation, a table or two may have a wait since if you're not the first one's at the table, you will have to wait for the previous occupants to finish. I've found that people take longer on formal night; just so you are prepared.

[bjkTX]

Would someone please explain to me the "rules" on anytime dining.

We are a group of 17 and signed up for anytime dining. Early seating is to early

and late seating is to late for most in our group.

What do we need to do after we get on board?

Do we still have to make reservations for a specific time? If so when and where do you make this? Do we have to do it everyday?

 

I have done lots of cruising on other cruise lines and have always been able to just go to dinner when ever we are ready. Even the no charge specialty restaurants only required how many and no times so this is all new to me.

Sure would appricate some help.

 

 

You might be able to get standing reservations by talking with the Maitre d' as indicated - but you can almost always show up at 8PM or later (if everyone is ok with that timeframe) and get right in with your group. The trouble with a large group is some want to eat early, some late - so someone is always unhappy :-) We just spent two weeks with two couples like that and it was like herding cats for a few days until we settled into a rhythm.

[Jim B]

Thank you everyone.

I already know we have the problem with some wanting to eat earlier

than others.

No problem with sitting at different tables. Can just rotate every night

and other than the birthday and anniversary dinner party nights they

can go when ever they wish.

Another question. Open dining have only certain places they can go to eat?

[Potstech]

Open dining have only certain places they can go to eat?

 

Not sure what you mean by open dining. Wach ship will have a Dining Room designated for Traditional Dinersopen you will be seated. These are the cruisers who have selected a certian time - early or late- to dine every evening. They will be at the same tablewith the same table mates at the same time every night. This is fixed as they have requested

 

Anytime Diners will have one or two (depending on the ship and circumstances) where they can walk up anytime they want and request a table. The staff will then see what is available and then seat you as soon as possible. You can request a table for 2,4,6 or 8 and as soon as one is available they will take you to it. If none are available they will either tell you the expected wait and if you want they will give you a pager and you can go to one of the lounges to wait.

 

If you do not want to wait then there is the Horizon Court or one of the Specialty restaurants you can use.

 

Hope this helps you.

[Jasperdo]

Another question. Open dining have only certain places they can go to eat?

I assume by Open Dining you mean Anytime Dining. The answer to that is, the only place you can not eat would be the Traditional Dining Room. That is reserved for passengers with a fixed dining time and assigned table. Every other food venue is open to Anytime Diners: the AT Dining Rooms (during listed hours), Horizon Court Buffet, Specialty Restaurants, Pizzeria, Hamburger Grill, International Cafe (if your ship has it).

[Dave59]

We just got off of the Emerald. We along with another couple we had sailed on NCL the past number of years. Our understanding of "anytime" dining and Princess's understanding of it were worlds apart. Be prepared. Anytime to them means anytime after 7:30. They will get you a table before that if you agree to share it with other folks. We never minded doing that but soon realized that the service time for our table was much greater than those with assigned seating. They got around to us as they had time. Our average meal time was well over two hours.

 

All that being said, the food was great and we enjoyed every meal. Just be prepared. We were often treated with very rude welcomes and made to feel very much unwanted.

[Jim B]

So if we want to eat at 6:30 one night then 7:00 pm another and

7:30 pm another night we may have a problem getting a table?

Or if we do get seated we may be there for awhile?

 

I'm still confused a little on anytime dining.

Do we have to make reservations every day for the time we want to eat

dinner that night?

If so. How early during the day do we need to do this?

 

We are on the July 10th Sapphire Princess Inside Passage Alaska cruise.

[garden2]

Just off the Grand--we tried both Anytime Dining Rooms & settled back with the DaVinci. Seems this particular cruise most people were eating very early which we do not like- even though we came in at 8PM to 8:15PM-Dining room not busy at all. We found a great team & stuck with them for 10 of the 14 nights & were able to get a standing reservation with no problem--5 of us. We usually were some of the last diners at 9:30PM so that was a strange feeling. MD said these passengers are early diners but that does not always happen! Enjoy & try different dining rooms--we enjoyed the dining room on the Ruby that had Roger as MD but was Fall of 09.

[paul929207]

You do not have to make a reservation. However, like a good restaurant on land, at times the demand will exceed the supply and you will have to wait to get a table.

 

You can vary the times you eat. Once seated, you will only have to wait if there are empty seats at your table and they want to fill them. That should not take long.

[bjkTX]

So if we want to eat at 6:30 one night then 7:00 pm another and

7:30 pm another night we may have a problem getting a table?

Or if we do get seated we may be there for awhile?

 

I'm still confused a little on anytime dining.

Do we have to make reservations every day for the time we want to eat

dinner that night?

If so. How early during the day do we need to do this?

 

We are on the July 10th Sapphire Princess Inside Passage Alaska cruise.

 

You can go at any of those times, and unlike the other poster, in our 8 Princess cruises we have never felt like we had to wait while the servers gave preference to someone else.

 

You can make reservations starting at 8am on the day you want the reservation for. I don't think they will make reservations from 7-8 - not sure. We have only made reservations a couple of times, 99% of the time we just show up. Usually - unless we try to go at the busiest time (7) we get right in, or may have to wait 5 or 10 minutes for a table to clear. If you go at 8 or after there is hardly ever anyone waiting.

[Jasperdo]

So if we want to eat at 6:30 one night then 7:00 pm another and

7:30 pm another night we may have a problem getting a table?

Or if we do get seated we may be there for awhile?

 

I'm still confused a little on anytime dining.

Do we have to make reservations every day for the time we want to eat

dinner that night?

If so. How early during the day do we need to do this?

 

We are on the July 10th Sapphire Princess Inside Passage Alaska cruise.

Think of Anytime Dining as going to Applebee's. Sometimes when you go, you are seated immediately. Other times there is a wait and they hand you a buzzer. This is exactly how Anytime Dining works. The difference is you have a choice of just dining with your party, or sharing a larger table with other passengers. The choice is always yours. But many times it's less of a wait if you share a table.

 

Reservations is another matter. That really varies from ship to ship, Maitre'd to Maitre'd. Some allow it, some don't. Some have only certain times it's accepted. But, you don't need to make a reservation, even if they do allow them. We have never made a reservation for Anytime Dining. Just show up during open hours, and you will be taken care of. There might be a wait, there might not be.

[Jim B]

I thank you for the information.

 

As I stated before. I have cruised a lot but not on Princess.

Of the 17 in our group only DW and I and one other couple have cruised,

and they only once.

Everyone thinks I know all the answers. LOL

So I really appriciate everything you are telling me.

[1 HappyCruiser]

The biggest waits for the anytime seating come into play when people want a table for 2. If you're willing to accept being seated at a table with other people the waits are generally much shorter.

[Jim B]

OK.

I am sure there will be more than two of us

wanting to be seated every night.

Do appriciate all the comments.

I'm normally over on The Regent Seven Seas site

so it is interesting for me to learn some things here

on the Princess site.

[jean s]

We were on Crown for a week in February and had anytime dining. We got to the dining room at 8 each evening. Two nights we asked for a table for two and were immediatlely seated. The other evenings we said we would dine at large tables and never waited. I did see people with reservations but we never made a reservation. From reading some recent posts I was expecting a nightmare at anytime dining and luckily we experienced no problems the entire week. I did see large groups seated together at the same tables each evening.