Our experience with Anytime Dining

[as19111]

We are signed up for AD on our upcoming Golden to Hawaii in November. We usually buy a bottle of wine but only drink 2 glasses so we can have it again the next night. Anyone have any problems with the dining attendants finding your wine if you are at a different table or even in a different dining room? Thanks!

 

We've never lost a bottle but we have had times when it took a long time to locate it. Be sure to remember what dining room you were in when you asked them to cork it and tell the current team what that dining room was and the name of the wine...it helps them find it.

[Beachgirl19]

As a Princess newbie, which is the best option to select when making your initial cruise reservation if you want a table for 2 every evening?

 

We prefer to eat AFTER 8 PM, so traditional 2nd seating or AD with a reservation? I don't see anywhere to specify a table for 2 while booking, smallest option for traditional is 4 top??

 

How and where is the 2 top specified or do you have to wait until actual boarding /at pier / or request 1st day in person dining room request?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated! TIA! :)

[dcruisers]

And yes, if you go during "prime time" you will wait. Go a bit earlier or a bit later and there is no wait at all... :rolleyes:

 

So it appears that it isn't "anytime" dining...not if you have to go to beat the crowds!

i.e earlier than 7 and later than 8.

I guess we will stick to traditional dining -at least on Princess.

[dplusd]

As a Princess newbie, which is the best option to select when making your initial cruise reservation if you want a table for 2 every evening?

 

We prefer to eat AFTER 8 PM, so traditional 2nd seating or AD with a reservation? I don't see anywhere to specify a table for 2 while booking, smallest option for traditional is 4 top??

 

How and where is the 2 top specified or do you have to wait until actual boarding /at pier / or request 1st day in person dining room request?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated! TIA! :)

 

Select Anytime Dining for a table for two. Since you prefer to eat after 8PM, there should be no wait and you may be able to make a standing reservation (depends on ship policy).

 

A note about tables for two on Princess...almost all two-tops are grouped together along a wall with only 12-18 inches between them. It is a table for two, but not really private.

[swedish weave]

So it appears that it isn't "anytime" dining...not if you have to go to beat the crowds!

i.e earlier than 7 and later than 8.

I guess we will stick to traditional dining -at least on Princess.

 

It is good that we all have choices. (We can thank NCL for initiating anytime dining).

 

We prefer anytime dining, and it is not a problem to wait a few minutes for a table. After all, we are not on a strict schedule !!:)

[Beachgirl19]

Select Anytime Dining for a table for two. Since you prefer to eat after 8PM, there should be no wait and you may be able to make a standing reservation (depends on ship policy).

 

A note about tables for two on Princess...almost all two-tops are grouped together along a wall with only 12-18 inches between them. It is a table for two, but not really private.

 

Thank you so much for the quick & helpful response! :) Greatly appreciated!

[caribill]

So it appears that it isn't "anytime" dining...not if you have to go to beat the crowds!

i.e earlier than 7 and later than 8.

I guess we will stick to traditional dining -at least on Princess.

 

With up to 2/3rds of the passengers on board in anytime dining, how many decide their "anytime" is the same as your "anytime" will determine if there is a crowd at the time you wish to eat each evening.

[PeteC22]

So it appears that it isn't "anytime" dining...not if you have to go to beat the crowds!

i.e earlier than 7 and later than 8.

I guess we will stick to traditional dining -at least on Princess.

 

It sounds as though you have a very narrow time range to be satisfied without waiting, even for short period.

[dcruisers]

It sounds as though you have a very narrow time range to be satisfied without waiting, even for short period.

 

You don't know me.... I always have an open mind on vacation... after all we are there to enjoy and relax. Waiting is not the problem!

My point was the "anytime" dining offer isn't actually anytime if you are told when to eat-i.e. come after a certain time and before another so you don't have to wait. You may have wanted to eat around 7 or want to work around a show etc. BUT because it is the same "anytime" as others, you won't be able to eat at the time you had chosen. Also, what is the purpose of having to make a reservation in the morning to assure a table for 2, 8 or whatever? That seems like an inconvenience. We had anytime dining on NCL and had to make reservations every morning. Believe me ..on a Med cruise that was the last thing I wanted to worry about before leaving ship for excursions.

Perhaps, as another post said, do like Celebrity and limit amount of anytime diners. Just an option.

[AKman2495]

You don't know me.... I always have an open mind on vacation... after all we are there to enjoy and relax. Waiting is not the problem!

My point was the "anytime" dining offer isn't actually anytime if you are told when to eat-i.e. come after a certain time and before another so you don't have to wait. You may have wanted to eat around 7 or want to work around a show etc. BUT because it is the same "anytime" as others, you won't be able to eat at the time you had chosen. Also, what is the purpose of having to make a reservation in the morning to assure a table for 2, 8 or whatever? That seems like an inconvenience. We had anytime dining on NCL and had to make reservations every morning. Believe me ..on a Med cruise that was the last thing I wanted to worry about before leaving ship for excursions.

Perhaps, as another post said, do like Celebrity and limit amount of anytime diners. Just an option.

 

Actually, on our cruise we never had a problem getting a table and we ate at different times but usually before 7 pm.

 

Of course, we shared several table, but we got tables for 3 (there were 3 of us) many times during the cruise.

 

We never made a reservation and never had to wait.

 

Anytime dining met all of our needs and expectations with no problem.

[PeteC22]

You don't know me.... I always have an open mind on vacation... after all we are there to enjoy and relax. Waiting is not the problem!

My point was the "anytime" dining offer isn't actually anytime if you are told when to eat-i.e. come after a certain time and before another so you don't have to wait. You may have wanted to eat around 7 or want to work around a show etc. BUT because it is the same "anytime" as others, you won't be able to eat at the time you had chosen. Also, what is the purpose of having to make a reservation in the morning to assure a table for 2, 8 or whatever? That seems like an inconvenience. We had anytime dining on NCL and had to make reservations every morning. Believe me ..on a Med cruise that was the last thing I wanted to worry about before leaving ship for excursions.

Perhaps, as another post said, do like Celebrity and limit amount of anytime diners. Just an option.

 

When indicating "anytime" it means to me that you can choose you time if available and like on on land restaurant that particular time might be busy. What would you do a t home if you wanted to eat at 6:45 on a Saturday evening? Wait on their line of go to another restaurant. Same on the ship except that your choices of other places to eat are a little limited.

[swedish weave]

You don't know me.... I always have an open mind on vacation... after all we are there to enjoy and relax. Waiting is not the problem!

My point was the "anytime" dining offer isn't actually anytime if you are told when to eat-i.e. come after a certain time and before another so you don't have to wait. You may have wanted to eat around 7 or want to work around a show etc. BUT because it is the same "anytime" as others, you won't be able to eat at the time you had chosen. Also, what is the purpose of having to make a reservation in the morning to assure a table for 2, 8 or whatever? That seems like an inconvenience. We had anytime dining on NCL and had to make reservations every morning. Believe me ..on a Med cruise that was the last thing I wanted to worry about before leaving ship for excursions.

Perhaps, as another post said, do like Celebrity and limit amount of anytime diners. Just an option.

 

Since it appears you have made up your mind to dislike anytime dining, perhaps the best solution for you would be assigned dining.

 

I hope this helps !

[rickdeni]

We have been on many Princess ships and have always had anytime dining going back to 2004 on the Diamond. We have never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table for 2. In September we were on the Crown in the Italy and Greece. We like to eat about 7 PM and never had a problem getting a table for 2 in the Michaelangelo dining room. Because this cruise was so port intensive the dining rooms never seemed crowded. Where people ate I have no idea. I love Anytime Dining!!!

[happy42cruise]

We have been on many Princess ships and have always had anytime dining going back to 2004 on the Diamond. We have never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table for 2. In September we were on the Crown in the Italy and Greece. We like to eat about 7 PM and never had a problem getting a table for 2 in the Michaelangelo dining room. Because this cruise was so port intensive the dining rooms never seemed crowded. Where people ate I have no idea. I love Anytime Dining!!!

 

I have to agree with the previous posts. We have chosen anytime dining since it was first introduced and we love it. There can be lines if you choose a popular time, but if you are flexible you are seated realitively quickly. Sometimes they have space on a large table or if you request a table for 2 if there is one available it is yours. We have also met new friends during the cruise and dined with them on occasion. If we had traditional dining we would not have been able to dine with them without changing our table and/or time. If you are dining later then you will probably not encounter the wait problem, but we have never felt the wait was long or that inconvenient. I also like the ability to eat when I am ready, not at the time they schedule. I think Princess does it very well.;)

[Cruisin' Chick]

When you go in for anytime dining, do they sit you with others who are entering the dining room at the same time? Princess did this when we cruised to Alaska and it was a great way to meet new people every night. On Island Princess- do they seat people this way?

 

Supposedly that's the way it should work. But on our last cruise, we were sat twice at tables where some of the passengers had already ordered. Made it quite a bit disorganized, in our opinion, that some people were served at different times (and it wouldn't seem fair that some people's courses would be delayed just for the rest of us to catch up). Considering that about 10 per cent of the passengers missed the ship (due to bad weather delaying flights), there should haven't have happened.

[OCruisers]

We have been doing Anytime for lots of years now on Princess.

 

Maybe we've just been lucky! We've never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be seated and we've never had others ordering anything other than drinks before we were seated.

PLEASE NOTE: We are "Easy" -- will share at any size table and sit at any wait station.

 

LuLu

~~~~~~

[AKman2495]

We have been doing Anytime for lots of years now on Princess.

 

Maybe we've just been lucky! We've never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be seated and we've never had others ordering anything other than drinks before we were seated.

PLEASE NOTE: We are "Easy" -- will share at any size table and sit at any wait station.

 

LuLu

~~~~~~

 

We were seated once at a table where the others had already ordered. They simply took our orders and held up the other's meals for a few minutes so that we were al served together. Since some people order all courses and others only some, it worked out fine and we had some time to get acquainted.

[PeteC22]

We were seated once at a table where the others had already ordered. They simply took our orders and held up the other's meals for a few minutes so that we were al served together. Since some people order all courses and others only some, it worked out fine and we had some time to get acquainted.

 

That's a good reason to only eat at a table for 2 and not have to wait for additional people who are just being seated. We get there at a time that allows us to get out the door to get a good seat for the show, not have our meals held up for late comers. I would have demanded my meal immediately & let the new people eat by themselves.

[Boyshockeymommy]

We just got off the Island and had no problem with the anytime dinning...but we made our reservations at 8am. We chose the times we wanted after looking at the days patter and seeing what the entertainment options were.

 

 

I have NEVER understood the need to make a reservation for "anytime" dining. Kind of an oxymoron, I would think. Give me an early traditional dining time, and a large table with 8-10 guests, and I am a happy woman!

[sallybrown2012]

We are new to Princess so this topic is very interesting for me. I've signed up for Anytime Dining since we're going on a very port intensive cruise - hopefully it will work out!

[Beej29]

I had a good experience with anytime dining last year on the Emerald. I am a solo traveler so I always asked to sit with others and got seated relatively quickly. What I did notice is that nobody checked to ee if anyone was supposed to be in anytime dining and I was wondering if traditional diners might have been going at anytime. Don't know that it was actually happening, just a thought I had at the time.

[AKman2495]

I had a good experience with anytime dining last year on the Emerald. I am a solo traveler so I always asked to sit with others and got seated relatively quickly. What I did notice is that nobody checked to ee if anyone was supposed to be in anytime dining and I was wondering if traditional diners might have been going at anytime. Don't know that it was actually happening, just a thought I had at the time.

 

I just got off the Coral and they did check the first few days to make sure you were in the right place. After a few days, the greeters got to know you and it was laess of a problem.

[Pam in CA]

I disembarked the Island Princess last Saturday and while I had Late Traditional seating (7:45pm), people with Anytime dining were led in and seated in the Traditional dining room throughout most of our meal. Apparently, there were long lines for Anytime. That's pretty consistent with the lines I've seen or experienced on all my cruises when it comes to Anytime.

[swedish weave]

I disembarked the Island Princess last Saturday and while I had Late Traditional seating (7:45pm), people with Anytime dining were led in and seated in the Traditional dining room throughout most of our meal. Apparently, there were long lines for Anytime. That's pretty consistent with the lines I've seen or experienced on all my cruises when it comes to Anytime.

 

Did you question why there were vacant tables in the traditional dining room ?

 

I believe the problem lies with those who are assigned using the anytime dining room when they choose, thereby creating a backlog at anytime dining rooms.

[SoBaycruiser]

I'm always amazed at the number of people who assume that because they have never had a problem with AD that no one else should... if they are just flexible. It's rather insulting. There are a lot of factors whether AD works for a cruise. On our Hawaii trip last spring it was terrible. The combination of the following made for a perfect storm.

 

1) only three DRs, and only one for AD before 7:30

2) two week cruise so many elderly cruisers ...most wanting to eat early

3) shows only at 8 and 10

4) all reservations were booked up before 8 by people with standing reservations

5) many days at sea, so people are ready to eat earlier those days

 

This created a huge demand for early eating and led to long lines and waits. Basically there was a long line to fill the one dining room when it opened and everyone else had to wait until those people finished their meals. So you could say it was AD after 7:45 only.

 

So although AD has worked well for you, don't criticize those who have had a problem with it.