Our experience with Anytime Dining

[caribill]

 

Celebrity only sells so many Anytime slots and you have to pre-pay the gratutities as an added way of limiting those opting for Anytime. After the slots are sold, the remaining guests must take traditional seating.

 

On Princess it is the opposite.

 

There are only so many traditional dining slots. Once those are full, anyone else who wanted traditional is assigned to anytime along with those who selected anytime in the first place.

[jnc411]

Just thought I might add a comment or two on this subject. We returned recently from a 14 day cruise on the Sapphire. We did have to wait for Anytime Dining on several occasions. One thing I do not understand is -- if it is Anytime dining , why do they take reservations ?? we have cruised many times and when Anytime dining was first introduced it seemed to work more smoothly, before the whole reservation option was put in place. You arrived at the dining room and were seated as you arrive when seating was available I do not remember a different line for reservations. It just seems to cancel out the whole concept of Anytime dining . I know that there are others that disagree with me on this , but that is just my opinion, everyone is entitiled to there opinion. We really like sailing with Princess , but not sure if we will do the Anytime dining option again , we always chose that before , just don't know now, we liked the freedom of going to dinner when we wanted to especially after a busy day in port , or for an early show we wanted to see, so making reservations for every evening at the beginning of the cruise , well it just did not make sense. Well that is just my 2 cents .

Cori

[sp2]

We are just home from sailing the Ruby Princess. In the past, we have preferred Anytime Dining. We like to dine early, so on past cruises we were able to go when the dining room opened (usually at 6 p.m.) and be seated right away. Not so on this cruise. There were long lineups (and I mean long - snaked all the way around the Atrium!) waiting for the dining room to open at 6. By the time we got to the front of the line, we were given a beeper and the wait was at least 30 minutes for a table for two. A couple of nights we gave up and went to Sabatini's.

 

By Wednesday we decided to make a standing reservation for dinner. The earliest we could get was 8 p.m. in the Michelangelo (opens at 6) or 7:30 p.m. in the DaVinci (converts to Anytime Dining at 7:30).

 

It appears that most of the people waiting are waiting because they prefer a table for two (like us). In the Davinci, we noticed several tables for 12 that sat empty every night. I am not sure why Princess does not give in to the passengers' desires for tables for two, and convert these large tables to tables for 2. We even noticed tables for 4 that sometimes sat empty, while passengers were lined up outside waiting for a table for 2? Why not just seat them at a table for 4 for goodness sake? That is what an onshore restaurant would do. They would not ask you to share if you didn't want to.

 

It appears to depend on each ship's particular demographic on that particular sailing, but i think Princess needs to take a long look at how their dining rooms are configured and perhaps allocate more time/area to Anytime Dining since it seems to have become extremely popular.

 

I would have to agree with a previous poster, that it did seem to work better on Celebrity for some reason. On our two cruises at least, we had no waiting and no issue with getting a table for two as there were many.

[DGNY]

One thing I do not understand is -- if it is Anytime dining , why do they take reservations ??

 

2 simple reasons off the top of my head:

 

* If you like to eat at a time that is after early but earlier than late.

* If you do not want to share a table. Anytime is the only way to guarantee that.

 

For me, I don't want to share a table. If early/late dining could guarantee me a table for 2, it would be a more attractive option.

[JimmyVWine]

Another reason that they take reservations is to move people out of the long 6:00 line referred to above. Let's face it. There is a certain "sheep mentality" among cruise ship passengers, and there is also a demographic of people who are set in their ways and have to be in line at 5:15 for a 5:30 table or in line at 5:45 for a 6:00 table. By taking reservations (mostly for times other than "door opening"), the ship is thankful to pull a number of people out of line, give them a table at 7:30, and their guaranteed table is the quid pro quo for those people not clogging up the hallways at 5:30. Think of it like a bribe. "If you promise not to make the situation worse at 5:30, I promise to have a table for you at 7:30." For those who enjoy dining at this hour, it is a win/win. For people who would prefer to be seated at 6:30, but can live with 7:30, it is a fair tradeoff. For those who insist on being seated earlier, then, welcome to buzzer-ville. Without reservations, 75% of the Anytime diners would show up at 5:30. With reservations, maybe they can shave that number down to 50%.

 

You want a better solution? If you have 3 MDRs of reasonable size, make all dining "Traditional", but do a better job of staggering the times. Instead of 5:30 (too early) and 8:00 (too late), have seatings at MDR #1 at 5:30 and 7:30. (Honestly. Can't they turn the tables in less than 2 hours? Every land-based restaurant does). MDR #2 could be 6:15 and 8:15. MDR #3 could be 6:45 and 8:45 (or a single seating at 7:00 if there is no need for two seatings). If you offered passengers traditional times of 5:30, 6:15, 6:45, 7:30, 8:15 and 8:30, everyone would be happy. And the specialty restaurants would be just as they are now with no set times.

[scmexico]

We like anytime dining primarily because you can eat and go to a show without sitting for 2+ hours eating dinner. We do prefer tables for 2 since you do not need to wait for everyone to be seated and order. Also some people like to order extra courses which slows the whole dining process to a crawl.

 

We have not waited very long on almost all cruises we have taken. However on the last holiday cruise there were very large families that took lots of tables in anytime. This prevented anytime diners from sitting together. They were mostly large families and they did spend a lot of time having dinner. Of course it was Christmas and NYE so families were to be expected.

 

When a table for two became available there were several couples lined up for it. We eventually moved to late traditional with an entire table of anytime diners.

[DeloreanGirl]

Those wanting tables for 2 (without a reservation) or with other specific requests (such as location, waiter, etc) are usually the ones waiting.

 

Hank

 

If you want to only sit with your spouse most nights for Anytime Dining, do you ask and then patiently wait until a 2-4 person table opens up for you both? We've done traditional group seating in the past as well as Anytime Dining and loved the (Royal Caribbean version) of the one-on-one dinners. Is there something you tell them up front about wanting a 2-person table all week? Or is it a night by night thing?

[Beej29]

Just a thought and I don't know for a fact that this is true, but when I was on the Emerald last month, I noticed that when you go to anytime dining there is no check in whatsoever. Since this was my first time on Princess, I don't know if that is how all the ships operate, but that is what happened on my sailing. On other ships (not Princess), they always asked for your room key or at least cabin number to check off that you came or that you belonged in anytime dining. I began to develop a feeling that people with fixed dining times could have been using anytime dining. Can't prove it and not 100% sure that was the case, but anyone could easily attend anytime dining that had a fixed dining time. In any case, I do believe that is a flaw in the anytime dining.

[J & G]

I guess I'm confused about Anytime Dining.....

 

Our previous experiences with this have been on RC, Celebrity, and HAL, so the Princess operation is new to us.

 

If we have signed up for 4 people for Anytime Dining, do we need to make a reservation for a set time each night? (We have done that on other ships.....)

 

If we have reserved Traditional Dining (set time) can we go to Anytime without jeopardizing our set dining time for subsequent evenings? (not allowed on other ships.....you are one or the other....but you can't go back and forth)

 

What time are the show? BIL and SIL like to be finished with dinner in time to get to the shows. Do we need reservations/ tickets for the shows?

[PescadoAmarillo]

Since Princess instituted 5:30 early traditional dining in one of the anytime dining rooms, long waits are very common for anytime dining before 7:30. Allowing reservations in the one anytime dining room between 5:30 and 7:30 also adds to the problem.

 

THIS is exactly right. It made things much worse in the one dining room that is not used to accommodate the 5:30pm traditional diners.

[DGNY]

THIS is exactly right. It made things much worse in the one dining room that is not used to accommodate the 5:30pm traditional diners.

 

What time does the (Anytime) dining room used for the 5:30 early seating opened up to Anytime diners?

[JimmyVWine]

What time does the (Anytime) dining room used for the 5:30 early seating opened up to Anytime diners?

 

7:30. (Which is proof that tables can be turned in 2 hours or less).

[DGNY]

7:30. (Which is proof that tables can be turned in 2 hours or less).

 

Is there typically a bottleneck at 7:30? Or is this a good time to go as a whole room of tables just opened up?

[JimmyVWine]

I hate to answer this way, but.....it depends. There is not nearly the bottleneck that there is when the doors first open. If you are on a cruise with a lot of "early bird" diners, or one with lots of vacationing children, 7:30 tends to be on the "late" side for them, and things calm down as the dinner hours progress. If you are on a cruise with a lot of Europeans or South Americans, then 5:30 is way too early for them, and 7:30 becomes more popular. So it really does vary.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We have had good luck with anytime dining on Princess but we eat early, when the dining room opens. I am glad to read from the OP how it is on Celebrity which we are on in July and were given Anytime - I don't mind paying gratuities in advance to get the time that we want. Barbara

[missm54]

Just back from 2 weeks of cruising. First week on Carnival Glory and anytime dining worked well with minimal waits, eating between 6pm and 6:45pm with 1/2 hour wait on formal nights.

Now 2nd week on Ruby Princess anytime dining did not go very well for us. Long lines from 5:30 to 6:30 and 30-40 minute waits for table for 2. 1 night was able to make reservations for 5:45 but not our prefered time to eat. They kept wanting to seat us at larger tables, but we enjoy our table for 2 as we dont eat all the courses and prefer not to make small talk while we eat. We ended up eating in the buffet 5 out of 7 nights along with a lot of other diners.

Cant quite decide why Princess has so much trouble when we have cruised NCL and now Carnival and can enjoy the anytime aspect of dining.

[Jabbermom]

Just came back from the Ruby. If you wanted anytime dining and it was between early and late traditional seating times, the lines were very long. Which made me wonder what's the point of anytime dining if you have to make a reservation. The later the time the less the line was. But if I wanted late I could have just signed up for traditional late seating.

[Mom33]

To those of you who waited in long lines for anytime dining, did you check out both anytime dining rooms or only one? When we see a line at Davinci, we head to Michaelangelo. We never wait.

[JimmyVWine]

To those of you who waited in long lines for anytime dining, did you check out both anytime dining rooms or only one? When we see a line at Davinci, we head to Michaelangelo. We never wait.

 

I don't really get this. If you are trying to dine between 5:30 and 7:30, there is no second "Anytime" MDR to choose from. Only one MDR is open for "Anytime" during those two hours. See this thread, Post #11. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1419933

[crusinpeg]

I believe the second anytime dining room doesn't accept anytime diners until after 7:30 or 8:00

[Mom33]

I don't really get this. If you are trying to dine between 5:30 and 7:30, there is no second "Anytime" MDR to choose from. Only one MDR is open for "Anytime" during those two hours. See this thread, Post #11. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1419933

 

The Davinci does and early traditional dining for the overflow of cruisers that were on the waiting list for traditional. Before Princess made the change, there would still be lines at the door at 5:30. So, technically you still have the same number of cruisers for both dining rooms only one is now Traditional and the other is open. We have experienced lines at Michaelangelo, but they moved very quickly, we did not need a pager and we went about 6 each night.

The same held true after the new Traditional dining was added to Davinci. We never waited at the Michaelangelo.

[JimmyVWine]

The Davinci does and early traditional dining for the overflow of cruisers that were on the waiting list for traditional. Before Princess made the change, there would still be lines at the door at 5:30. So, technically you still have the same number of cruisers for both dining rooms only one is now Traditional and the other is open. We have experienced lines at Michaelangelo, but they moved very quickly, we did not need a pager and we went about 6 each night.

The same held true after the new Traditional dining was added to Davinci. We never waited at the Michaelangelo.

 

But your earlier post reads as if one can go from one dining room to the other, searching for the shorter line. This is only possible after 7:30. Anytime diners cannot do this between 5:30 and 7:30. Your earlier post appears to be offering this as a solution, but I am just not seeing it. When you posted: "When we see a line at DaVinci, we head to Michelangelo...", it sounds as if you are doing this before 7:30. But since you can't go to DaVinci before 7:30 (as an Anytime diner), the solution seems like a non sequitor.

[Mom33]

But your earlier post reads as if one can go from one dining room to the other, searching for the shorter line. This is only possible after 7:30. Anytime diners cannot do this between 5:30 and 7:30. Your earlier post appears to be offering this as a solution, but I am just not seeing it. When you posted: "When we see a line at DaVinci, we head to Michelangelo...", it sounds as if you are doing this before 7:30. But since you can't go to DaVinci before 7:30 (as an Anytime diner), the solution seems like a non sequitor.

 

I apologize if my post was confusing.

Prior to the dining change, we went from one to the other dining room.

After the change, we went to Michaelangelo around 6 each night and did not wait to be seated.

[sarar]

Just off the Island Princess. We chose Anytime Dining given our great experience with it on Celebrity last spring. On Princess, Anytime Dining is so OVERBOOKED that most nights you have to show up, put in your name, take a buzzer and hang around for 45 minutes waiting to be buzzed. On the formal photo nights, when standing around you are jockeying for space with all those backdrops and folks waiting for photos. I think some people were able to make reservations if they called between certain hours... we never did figure that one out. Anyway, after the third night we BEGGED to be switched to Traditional Dining and got late sitting and were so much happier.

 

Celebrity only sells so many Anytime slots and you have to pre-pay the gratutities as an added way of limiting those opting for Anytime. After the slots are sold, the remaining guests must take traditional seating. That meant that we NEVER waited longer than it took the maitre d' to walk back to the desk and pick up the next set of diners. It was just so civilized!!

 

I have just returned from the Crown and I have to agree with Bear, the Anytime Dining is way oversold. They should allocate so many to Anytime dining and once that is sold, everyone has to have Traditional.

[watergal]

IMHO, the Princess Anytime dining is very poorly managed. As long as they allow those from Traditional to be seated any time they want, things won't improve. I've done Anytime twice and had long waits both times, even getting to the dining room quite late (about 8:30pm.) I've also been on quite a few cruises where the Maitre d' seated Anytime passengers at empty Traditional tables because the waits were over 45 minutes. Some cruises, they did that every night. When I asked, the Maitre d' said that the waits were awful. :(

 

On HAL, if you have Traditional and want to eat in their Open seating, you have to request it ahead of time, are given a sticker to add to your card which shows the change, and it's a one-way, permanent switch.

 

Thank you, Pam. I absolutely agree that it is poorly managed. Just off the Golden and it was horrendous - both the lineups and the waiting. The maitre d' said he was actually stepping around bodies at 4:30 and it didn't open until 5:30! I REALLY don't understand the necessity of having a reservation for anytime dining - is this not an oxymoron?! Why don't most of these folks just opt for traditional? We missed most of the shows as we were AD but never seated before 7:45 and theatre was packed for the second performance by the time we arrived. Something wrong with this picture, and no, I don't want to eat in Horizon Court in order to accommodate a seat in the Princess Theatre. That's buffet - not that there's anything wrong with that - but it's not what I expect when I'm 'fine' dining. Just sayin'.....