Our experience with Anytime Dining

[Worn out mailman]

I've never had to wait with anytime dining.:), but then I do wait in line waiting for the doors to open - generally at 5:30. I'll then eat in the buffet for a small meal about 9 or so, so my blood sugar isn't too far out of sorts.

 

Yes, we're like you regarding getting to the dining room early and not having to wait. Our problem with anytime dining was that since there were just two of us, they seated us too near the galley, and they really rushed us through our meal.

[Restless Feet]

As mentioned by several others on this thread, the problems with Anytime Dining continued with last week's cruise on the Ruby. DH and I wanted to try AD as an experiment, and I would call it a failure. One evening, we got in line at 5:45, spent 20 minutes waiting to get a buzzer, then at 7 pm we gave up and ate at the buffet - as someone else stated...not 'fine dining.' We made it into the MDR three nights out of seven - only one of which was without a wait (all different times - 5:45, 7:30, 6:00, with the 6:00 evening being the one without a wait). We were willing to be seated with others, the 'first available' concept. It is my perception that the reservation system was a major contributor to the the problems, along with Princess' willingness to allow anyone who wants AD to have it. I will think long and hard about doing AD again, although conceptually it is appealing.

[JimmyVWine]

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.

 

It actually works in reverse. Traditional is far more requested. So when that fills up, everyone else defaults to Anytime. So it would seem as if they need to find a way to seat more in Traditional. As I pointed out above, a good place to start would be to abandon the idea that you need two-and-a-half hours to turn the tables.

[Cruisin' Chick]

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.

 

It actually works in reverse. Traditional is far more requested. So when that fills up, everyone else defaults to Anytime. So it would seem as if they need to find a way to seat more in Traditional. As I pointed out above, a good place to start would be to abandon the idea that you need two-and-a-half hours to turn the tables.

 

Maybe if more tables were allocated to traditional so those of us who want t.d. get it, rather than stuck with anytime... After all, that's our choice. And obviously if there's a waitlist for t.d. for just about any sailing, that must mean something. Many of us who do t.d. know not to crash anytime dining (at least we wouldn't). And if it's made clear (to TAs, to passengers being asked their choice, to passengers via the Patters) which dining room you can go to and when, and that cards will be checked, then there wouldn't be much of a problem, would it?

 

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?

 

Supposedly you are assigned to traditional or to anytime, not a combination of both. So back and forth shouldn't be allowed, and sometimes isn't. You shouldn't have to make a reservation at all. There are usually two performances of the big production shows at night (maybe even a daytime performance on a latter day of the cruise). I think the first show is at 7 or 8 and the second at 10:15, IIRC.

[caribill]

If each dining room hold 400 passengers and there are two anytime rooms (not always true because there can be an early traditional in one of the anytime rooms) and 800 people choose for their "anytime" be about when the dining rooms open, the result will be:

 

a) Long lines at both anytime rooms when they open

 

b) No room for anyone else and thus a wait until the first 800 people who are seated start finishing up and leaving.

 

On the otherhand, when people want to eat will vary with each cruise. It is possible that most anytime diners might prefer not to eat until 7:30, so there may be short lines when the restaurants open and no waits at all until about 7:30.

 

There is no way to predict in advance at what time the anytime passengers will want to eat, so therefore sometimes there will be crowds at certain times and other times you can just walk right in when you want, just like a restaurant on land.

 

And for those who think the new third early traditional dining time (around 5:30) is the cause of the problem because it occupies one of the anytime rooms, that is not the cause. Before this new traditional time was available, those that could not get assigned to the normal early traditional were assigned to anytime.

 

Since they obviously like to eat at an early time, they would have joined those who selected anytime and like to eat early, so the lines would have been no shorter when the restaurants opened and again, once the restaurents are full, newcomers would still have to wait until those already eating begin to finish up and leave.

[Stevesan]

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.

 

 

Exactly what the Maitre d' on Crown did when I switched from TD to AT day two of a British Isles cruise.

I had neen seated next to a shrill harpy who couldn't keep her gob shut. I didn't have to wait, though. He switched me on the spot.

[wdrl]

We just did a B2B on the Grand Princess and while on board we did the Ultimate Ship's Tour. The Chef was telling us during the tour that with anytime dining, two thirds of the passengers all show up between 7:30 and 8:30 expecting to be seated despite the fact that other diners are still eating their meals. Also many didn't even realize there was a second anytime dining room one deck below.

 

We prefer anytime dining because some nights we might dine early and others late. But if we go with friends we sometimes will reserve a table that morning for a specific time.

[sp2]

There is no way to predict in advance at what time the anytime passengers will want to eat, so therefore sometimes there will be crowds at certain times and other times you can just walk right in when you want, just like a restaurant on land.

 

quote]

 

I disagree. They must maintain statistics on this sort of thing from cruise to cruise. In the same way they are able to predict that certain amounts of certain foods will be consumed on each cruise (30,000 eggs, so many pounds of chicken, etc.) in order to bring on board the proper amounts. They must know, on average, what percentage of diners like to eat between 6:30 - 7:30, what percentage wants a table for two, etc. If they don't maintain these statistics they should certainly start recording them, in order to plan dining room table configurations and timings.

[Northender]

I have a question, when and why did Princess decide to add the third TD seating? I was "off the grid" awhile back and perhaps missed this.

 

TD, in my experience always filled up and had a wait list. If you did not make it, you were now in AD. Simple as that.:)

 

I know Princess reads these boards. Hopefully they will try and figure out what is NOT working in this case.:(

[beary]

I've probably said this before on another thread, but what works for us with Anytime Dining, is to go to one of the bars close by, order a drink and then my DH goes to the desk and gets the buzzer. We never wait more than 30 minutes. If they can seat us right away, my husband comes back to get me and we carry our cocktails/wine with us to our table.

 

Works most of the time!

 

That's what we do as well. We have done this for so long that a relaxing drink together before dinner has become part of our cruise tradition even when family or friends travel with us. It sets a nice tone for the meal.

 

Kevin

[as19111]

That's what we do as well. We have done this for so long that a relaxing drink together before dinner has become part of our cruise tradition even when family or friends travel with us. It sets a nice tone for the meal.

 

Kevin

 

Some of us need to eat at a given time (outside of the too early/too late traditional times) due to medications/insulin. Going to have a long relaxing drink would be disasterous!

 

I agree that the addition of the traditional early to the anytime dining room has gummed up the dining experience. We never experienced waits like this until last year on the Crown, and that was a 90 minute wait!

 

We just came off the Coral Princess, and the first couple of nights the AD lines were around the plaza! After that, it shook itself out, and we made sure we were seated by 6 pm, but the buzzers were waiting at the front desk. On two occasions we were placed as "seat fillers" for traditional dining in the AD room. The second time, the rest of the table were none too happy about our presence (read grumpy and ignored us). Makes me like that extra traditional seating in the AD room even more:rolleyes: On the days we elected to eat at Horizon Court, we also noted the traditional diners from the AD room up there. I wonder if those diners ever told them they weren't coming that night.

 

Princess, it's not working!

[Cruisin Kay D]

In past 2 years, we have gone on several Princess ships with 3 dining rooms (Ruby, Crown and Caribbean 2x) and we had Anytime Dining -- we ALWAYS went straight to DaVinci (on deck 6 I think) about 6:45-7:15PM and ALWAYS got seated, asking to be seated at any size table -- many of the early traditional tables were empty by then or had never been used by the early people -- we never had to wait and were never turned away. Now we are getting ready to go on Coral so I know that will be different with having only 2 dining rooms....however there are fewer passengers on Coral than the other 3 I mentioned.

[caribill]

I have a question, when and why did Princess decide to add the third TD seating? I was "off the grid" awhile back and perhaps missed this.

 

TD, in my experience always filled up and had a wait list. If you did not make it, you were now in AD. Simple as that.:)

 

 

About 12 to 18 months ago.

 

Basically, on many cruises there are enough people who wanted the early traditional seating to fill up two dining rooms. If they had not set up the new early traditional time, these same poeple who cound not make the original dining room list would have lined up at anytime for an early dinner.

 

Not having the new early traditional seating does not mean the room would not be full by 6 PM.

[Want2CWhales]

It actually works in reverse. Traditional is far more requested. So when that fills up, everyone else defaults to Anytime. So it would seem as if they need to find a way to seat more in Traditional.

 

I'm really apprehensive about my upcoming trip now. We wanted the early Traditional, but were placed on waiting list and AD. We still are. There are 4 diabetics in our group who must eat at a certain time. :(

 

Are dining rooms the same or different on the various Princess ships? I'm having a hard time figuring out where we can go. The Princess website is not helpful, just says "main dining rooms." We'll be sailing on the Sapphire, and assuming we don't get our desired TD, where are we permitted to go, if we want a sit-down meal "elegant" meal without paying extra for the specialty restaurants?

Thanks.

[caribill]

I'm really apprehensive about my upcoming trip now. We wanted the early Traditional, but were placed on waiting list and AD. We still are. There are 4 diabetics in our group who must eat at a certain time. :(

 

Are dining rooms the same or different on the various Princess ships? I'm having a hard time figuring out where we can go. The Princess website is not helpful, just says "main dining rooms." We'll be sailing on the Sapphire, and assuming we don't get our desired TD, where are we permitted to go, if we want a sit-down meal "elegant" meal without paying extra for the specialty restaurants?

Thanks.

 

First of all, if you all do not clear the waitlist for traditional dining, on embarkation day there will be a time you can meet with the Matre d' to adjust dining arrangements. If he cannot find space in the traditional time, he might be able to give you an assigned time in one of the anytime dining rooms. Your cruise cards will have your dining assignment on them, so you will know when you board if you have been assigned to traditional and to the same table (I assume your cruise bookings are linked together for this).

 

The Sapphire has four anytime dining rooms and they have the same menus (and dress code) as the traditional dining room. On some cruises, one of the anytime dining rooms may be used for an "overflow" additional early traditional dining time and then become anytime after that service is finished.

 

If you are assigned to anytime and do not have a reservation set up for the cruise in an anytime dining room, you can eat at any of the anytime dining rooms you wish. You can also ask the headwaiter in an anytime dining room if you can have a fixed reservation time for the cruise.

[waterduo]

You are on holiday!

Why worry about time?:D:):):)

[Mulege]

LOL. My thoughts exactly, though you beat me to it. ;)

 

Can't handle the truth?

[kendon]

What the OP describes is exactly what I experienced on the Celebrity Summit last week. It was awful. But instead of a silent light up device that Princess issues, we got a ticket with a number....when our table was ready they ran around shouting your number looking for you. Sounded worse than the deli counter at my grocery store. Tacky!

[Want2CWhales]

Thanks, caribill, that was really helpful.

It's our vacation, so I'd prefer to not have to deal with cranky people or serious health issues due to poor blood sugar management. :)

 

First of all, if you all do not clear the waitlist for traditional dining, on embarkation day there will be a time you can meet with the Matre d' to adjust dining arrangements. If he cannot find space in the traditional time, he might be able to give you an assigned time in one of the anytime dining rooms. Your cruise cards will have your dining assignment on them, so you will know when you board if you have been assigned to traditional and to the same table (I assume your cruise bookings are linked together for this).

 

The Sapphire has four anytime dining rooms and they have the same menus (and dress code) as the traditional dining room. On some cruises, one of the anytime dining rooms may be used for an "overflow" additional early traditional dining time and then become anytime after that service is finished.

 

If you are assigned to anytime and do not have a reservation set up for the cruise in an anytime dining room, you can eat at any of the anytime dining rooms you wish. You can also ask the headwaiter in an anytime dining room if you can have a fixed reservation time for the cruise.

[cellyml12]

It sounds like having a way to monitor the situation of TD diners sneaking into AT when the time they CHOSE isn't working for them a particular night, might help. I've seen people on here, advising posters on eating at an AT dining room if they get back late from a port & miss their TD time. If you can't make it back in time, then you need to go to the buffet. It's obvious from an above poster that TD diners don't want us as fillers, so by the same token, we don't want them holding up our lines. Just saying...

[SpelChic2001]

Let me start by saying I have booked Anytime Dining on four out of five Princess Cruises, and have never had a problem. The most we have ever waited for a table was 5 - 10 minutes. This all changed on our recent cruise aboard the Sea Princess/SF/Alaska. The average wait for a table for dinner was 45 minutes, sometimes much longer (the longest time was an hour 15 minutes) Our party of four was rarely seated before 8:00 p.m.; we were happy to share a larger table, if that made the wait shorter, but it seemingly made no difference. We finally started calling it "anytime after 8:00 p.m. dining." Sometimes, we completed our dinner at 9:45 p.m., much too late IMHO.

 

Reservations, we were told, were available but "not before 8:30." So, what kind of scam is Princess trying to pull? If they would at least be honest about the "new" anytime dining "policy", people could plan accordingly. Anytime dining has worked before...why not now?

 

I have always enjoyed cruising with Princess, but this last cruise was my least favorite, despite the beauty that is Alaska. There were other issues besides the anytime dining fiasco, so I'll be carefully considering my travel options in the future.

[Pam in CA]

Let me start by saying I have booked Anytime Dining on four out of five Princess Cruises, and have never had a problem. The most we have ever waited for a table was 5 - 10 minutes. This all changed on our recent cruise aboard the Sea Princess/SF/Alaska. The average wait for a table for dinner was 45 minutes, sometimes much longer (the longest time was an hour 15 minutes) Our party of four was rarely seated before 8:00 p.m.; we were happy to share a larger table, if that made the wait shorter, but it seemingly made no difference. We finally started calling it "anytime after 8:00 p.m. dining." Sometimes, we completed our dinner at 9:45 p.m., much too late IMHO.

 

Reservations, we were told, were available but "not before 8:30." So, what kind of scam is Princess trying to pull? If they would at least be honest about the "new" anytime dining "policy", people could plan accordingly. Anytime dining has worked before...why not now?

 

I have always enjoyed cruising with Princess, but this last cruise was my least favorite, despite the beauty that is Alaska. There were other issues besides the anytime dining fiasco, so I'll be carefully considering my travel options in the future.

Not a scam. Nothing new or different about this. Ever since its introduction in 2001, Anytime dining has been managed inconsistently depending on the Maitre d'. That hasn't changed. Not allowing you to make a reservation before 8:00 or 8:30pm is not new or different. It's always been there. :(

[caribill]

This all changed on our recent cruise aboard the Sea Princess/SF/Alaska. The average wait for a table for dinner was 45 minutes, sometimes much longer (the longest time was an hour 15 minutes) Our party of four was rarely seated before 8:00 p.m.; we were happy to share a larger table, if that made the wait shorter, but it seemingly made no difference. We finally started calling it "anytime after 8:00 p.m. dining." Sometimes, we completed our dinner at 9:45 p.m., much too late IMHO.

 

 

The Sea Princess can have 1990 lower berth passengers. About half can have traditional dining and the other half will have Anytime dining either because they want it or because traditional was full.

 

The anytime dining room can only hold so many passengers at a time. If more than that decide to show up, the excess will need to wait.

 

1000 passengers cannot eat in Anytime at the same time. Anytime just means you can choose when to show up at the dining room, not that there will always be a table available when you get there, just like at a restaurant on land.

 

And if the anytime dining room is filled by about 6:30 PM, then the people there will not be finished and out until about 8 PM, thus a wait for those who show up after the dining room is full.

 

On your previous cruises, the anytime diners chose to spread themselves out so you did not have much of a wait when you wanted to eat.

[Cruisin4]

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?

[Rottweiler Puppy]

How is ATD on Ruby Princess? We eat early 5:45 and hope its not crowded at that time. The last 2 cruises were on Carnival with ATD and at 5:45 we basically walked right in and got any table we wanted. Had a window table every night.

 

I really hope its as smooth. Even if we have to wait a short time it wont kill us though.