Why no pagers for ATD?

[sawtooth]

This was mentioned on a thread about ATD on the Golden and we experienced it first hand on the 11/30 sailing.

When we sailed last January on the Island they used pagers and it worked great! Get a pager, go have a cocktail and relax until it buzzed.

We are sailing the Royal in January and would be upset if there were no pager on that ship for ATD.

Usually they only take reservations for 5:30 or after 7:30 so getting a pager was fine. Now the lines are ridiculous and you have to wait or lose you place.

This is a bad policy.

[shredie]

It may have been noro.

[waltd]

It could be that they might not have had enough pagers to go around for the number of people that wanted to do Anytime Dining. We were told that around 70% of the passengers on the 4 day Golden wanted anytime. We had pagers on the Island but then again it was a 15 day cruise.

[cpcanuck]

I'm pretty sure it has to do with hygiene issues and noro virus on the ships. Hard to clean those pagers I suspect.

[Dudleydog73]

We had pagers in the AT Dining on the Emerald last month, although we only needed one once during the 14 day cruise. We are signed up for AT Dining on the CB next month so I will report back.

[satxdiver]

We had a pager on our last Island cruise (15 day). Our last Golden cruise (4 day) I did see a few with pagers but we stood in line albeit a short one as it was after 7 PM. Just got off the Star (10 day), saw the pagers but did not see any in use. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the pager use.

[jrzebird]

As I recall, there were pagers on the Royal for ATD when I sailed her last month. I also was on the CB and they also had pagers. The lines really weren't long for ATD on the Royal when I ate there a couple of times. I had traditional on the Royal but dined with a group in ATD so that's why I noticed. I had ATD on the CB and there wasn't much of a line at all.

 

Enjoy the Royal. I fell in love with her once I became accustomed to the differences.

[Av8tor]

Regal had and used pagers last week at various times when seating wasn't immediately available.

[RickEk]

It seems that they aren't using pagers on the short 3 and 4 day cruises. Too many folks want anytime on those cruises...

[JimmyVWine]

It seems that they aren't using pagers on the short 3 and 4 day cruises. Too many folks want anytime on those cruises...

 

On a typical cruise, Traditional fills up and then passengers are assigned to ATD and put on the TD waiting list. Shouldn't it also work in reverse? Once a critical number of people sign up for ATD, shouldn't the remaining passengers be assigned to a TD table and put on the ATD waiting list?

[geoherb]

It seems that they aren't using pagers on the short 3 and 4 day cruises. Too many folks want anytime on those cruises...

Apparently except for our New Year's 4-day cruise. We couldn't get second seating traditional dining when I booked it a month ago. The waitlist is currently at 120 for it. There's a waitlist for the 6 p.m. traditional too, but it's only at 72. We've decided to use the opportunity to eat at the specialty restaurants instead of the dining room on this cruise. The large amount of on-board credit will cover the cost. We haven't eaten in Sabatini's since the new menu came out a few years ago. We've never eaten in the Crown Grill or the Crab Shack. I'm looking forward to all three. And, if they offer it, we'll try to book the Ultimate Balcony Dinner as well.

[flamomo]

On a typical cruise, Traditional fills up and then passengers are assigned to ATD and put on the TD waiting list. Shouldn't it also work in reverse? Once a critical number of people sign up for ATD, shouldn't the remaining passengers be assigned to a TD table and put on the ATD waiting list?

 

Not sure how that would be possible, since each seating in TD has only so many seats available, and if TD for a given cruise has reached wait-list status, there would be no available seats for AT Diners.

[DonnasMom&Dad]

On a typical cruise, Traditional fills up and then passengers are assigned to ATD and put on the TD waiting list. Shouldn't it also work in reverse? Once a critical number of people sign up for ATD, shouldn't the remaining passengers be assigned to a TD table and put on the ATD waiting list?

 

God forbid!!!! :eek:

 

Cato :)

[caribsun]

We were given pagers on our Golden July sailing.

[brentlym]

I love the MDRs on Princess, but I really believe their dining concepts are quickly becoming outdated. I know there are people that love traditional dining times, but it seems the majority of people like the anytime concept, and even more so, an NCL type of "Freestyle Cruising". I believe Princess is going to have to have a paradigm shift where dining is concerned. I suppose time will tell and customer demand will drive the action they take.

[lovevacadays]

This was mentioned on a thread about ATD on the Golden and we experienced it first hand on the 11/30 sailing.

 

When we sailed last January on the Island they used pagers and it worked great! Get a pager, go have a cocktail and relax until it buzzed.

 

We are sailing the Royal in January and would be upset if there were no pager on that ship for ATD.

 

Usually they only take reservations for 5:30 or after 7:30 so getting a pager was fine. Now the lines are ridiculous and you have to wait or lose you place.

 

This is a bad policy.

 

 

We had pagers on the November 14th cruise on the Golden. We only went once to the MDR. Since we were there about 630 and wanted a table for two we had a twenty minute wait and were given a pager. We went up and looked in a shop, walked back down by the dining room and our pager went off.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[shredie]

I know there are people that love traditional dining times, but it seems the majority of people like the anytime concept,

 

If this were true, there would not be the ever-present wait lists for the Traditional Dining rooms. There would also be no need for the overflow early Traditional Dining that takes over a midship dining room for half the night. I imagine the long lines at the ATD venues give the impression that the majority of the ship is there, but the people in TD are not as obvious since they are already seated and eating while the others stand in a line.

[jrzebird]

I love the MDRs on Princess, but I really believe their dining concepts are quickly becoming outdated. I know there are people that love traditional dining times, but it seems the majority of people like the anytime concept, and even more so, an NCL type of "Freestyle Cruising". I believe Princess is going to have to have a paradigm shift where dining is concerned. I suppose time will tell and customer demand will drive the action they take.

 

I sure hope you're wrong on this. If I wanted NCL type of "freestyle cruising" I'd sail NCL. I also don't believe that enough of the majority like anytime. Enough of we traditionalist are still around to fill one dining room twice and another once a night, with a waiting list.

 

Maureen

[brentlym]

I sure hope you're wrong on this. If I wanted NCL type of "freestyle cruising" I'd sail NCL. I also don't believe that enough of the majority like anytime. Enough of we traditionalist are still around to fill one dining room twice and another once a night, with a waiting list.

 

Maureen

You're right, Maureen. There are a ton of people that love the traditional dining times and that style of dining. It just seems that Princess has a real conundrum on their hands. And....I think it's one where the money will win out. They have to grow and change with the demands of their customers and what they like to do. Princess is currently trying to cater to both types of passengers, and it's not working. Time will tell, I suppose.

[Casey12]

You're right, Maureen. There are a ton of people that love the traditional dining times and that style of dining. It just seems that Princess has a real conundrum on their hands. And....I think it's one where the money will win out. They have to grow and change with the demands of their customers and what they like to do. Princess is currently trying to cater to both types of passengers, and it's not working. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

It seems like many other cruise lines are doing both also. Not just Princess. HAL and Celebrity also have their versions of both.

[msmoger]

On our one experience with NCL's Freestyle Dining the waits were much longer than any wait we've had on Princess and we always eat later (8:00 to 8:30).

 

On 7 out of 8 Princess cruises (the 8th was on the Ocean Princess) we have never had a long wait and always get a table for two.

 

I guess everybody has had their own experience. ;)

[maggie.1008]

I was on the Crown in Oct. and the Golden in Nov. and I was never offered a pager. Long lines on both cruises.

[godawgs2012]

I was on the Crown in Oct. and the Golden in Nov. and I was never offered a pager. Long lines on both cruises.

 

I wonder if they don't use the pagers when the ship has had a recent outbreak of Noro. I know the Crown has had its share of Noro problems and maybe that's why they don't use them. Less people touching the same items over and over again can reduce the spread of germs. Not sure about the Golden.

[mmckm]

We were on the Ruby in nov. for 14 days we had ATD. They were calling our room everyday and asking if we wanted to make a reservation for dinner. We did a couple nights but some days we weren't decided on what time we wanted dinner. They had pagers and the waits were not long. The nights we made a reservation our table was ready for us.

[Kartgv]

I wonder if they don't use the pagers when the ship has had a recent outbreak of Noro. I know the Crown has had its share of Noro problems and maybe that's why they don't use them. Less people touching the same items over and over again can reduce the spread of germs. Not sure about the Golden.

 

The Noro outbreak on the Crown 28 day cruise in October didn't begin until the last 10 days or so of the cruise, but we had no pagers from the very beginning. We bypassed any lines by not trying to eat at 5:30 when they first opened and by making a reservation for each night at 7:15. Never waited more than 5 minutes, most nights were seated as soon as they noticed us at the door.