lindakthomas@hotmail.com Posted May 11, 2015 #1 Share Posted May 11, 2015 We are a couple in our 60s about to embark on our 1st ever cruise. We are cruising on the Coral Princess departing Vancouver on 19/8/15 to Anchorage for 7 nights. At present we are booked on the 5.45pm option, which seems a little early!! Our other option is 8pm or anytime dining? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Our main aim on this cruise is to savour the Alaskan scenery. I have also posted this on 1st time cruise forum, sorry if that has caused some confusion. Many thanks Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted May 11, 2015 #2 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Check the itinerary for every day. If you are doing glacier scenic cruising that ends after 5:45, I would switch to either the later traditional time or to anytime, realizing that there could be a wait to get seated in anytime. If you are in a port until after 5:45, then even the traditional dining room will be anytime that evening. If you have left a port before 5:45, chances are the ship will be too far from shore to have any scenic views except between Vancouver and Ketchikan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindakthomas@hotmail.com Posted May 11, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Check the itinerary for every day. If you are doing glacier scenic cruising that ends after 5:45, I would switch to either the later traditional time or to anytime, realizing that there could be a wait to get seated in anytime. If you are in a port until after 5:45, then even the traditional dining room will be anytime that evening. If you have left a port before 5:45, chances are the ship will be too far from shore to have any scenic views except between Vancouver and Ketchikan. Thanks caribill, I will check itinerary again and think might change to anytime dining Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skynight Posted May 11, 2015 #4 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Enjoy Alaska it’s nice Your ship calls at 3 ports and has 2 scenic cruising ‘stops’. Three of those stops are over dinner time, Juneau departs 21:00, Skagway departs 20:30 and College Fjord is scenic cruising from 18:00 to 20:30. So, it may be difficult to dine in the main dining room (MDR) at 5:45 each night. If you don’t mind dining late I would try to switch into the 8pm time slot. The Coral Princess has two MDR’s, Bordeaux DR and Provence DR. One is fully used for traditional early and late dining. Half of the other may also be used for early traditional seating with the other half used for early ATD. After 7:30 the entire DR is available for ATD. The number of ATD dining tables in the early time slot can change on each cruise depending on demand for early seating, but should never be less than half the DR. Once onboard it is possible to change from fixed seating to ATD by speaking to the Head Waiter or Maitre’d. The Horizon Ct. Buffet is also open every evening until 11pm for dinner as is the Trident Grill. This is an option if you are out late on tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindakthomas@hotmail.com Posted May 11, 2015 Author #5 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Thanks so much for this great information sknight, so helpful for us being 1st time cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skynight Posted May 11, 2015 #6 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Thanks so much for this great information sknight, so helpful for us being 1st time cruisers. All the way from Perth, hope you are spending some extra time in N.A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindakthomas@hotmail.com Posted May 12, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Yes 8 weeks in Alaska & Canada, can't wait. So different to our flat dry landscape 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted May 12, 2015 #8 Share Posted May 12, 2015 We are a couple in our 60s about to embark on our 1st ever cruise.We are cruising on the Coral Princess departing Vancouver on 19/8/15 to Anchorage for 7 nights. At present we are booked on the 5.45pm option, which seems a little early!! Our other option is 8pm or anytime dining? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Our main aim on this cruise is to savour the Alaskan scenery. I have also posted this on 1st time cruise forum, sorry if that has caused some confusion. Many thanks Linda I agree about anytime, that way its flexible for you to plan activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300dtc Posted May 12, 2015 #9 Share Posted May 12, 2015 We are a couple in our 60s about to embark on our 1st ever cruise.We are cruising on the Coral Princess departing Vancouver on 19/8/15 to Anchorage for 7 nights. At present we are booked on the 5.45pm option, which seems a little early!! Our other option is 8pm or anytime dining? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Our main aim on this cruise is to savour the Alaskan scenery. I have also posted this on 1st time cruise forum, sorry if that has caused some confusion. Many thanks Linda How exciting for you! Our first cruise was in our early 50's and we love cruising now! We have always chosen anytime dining, which may be a result of our not cruising with parents or earlier in our lives when there was no such thing. I like the flexibility of eating dinner when I'm hungry :) I only wish we had started cruising sooner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted May 12, 2015 #10 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I agree about anytime, that way its flexible for you to plan activities. Unless you need to wait to get seated. There was one day on the one cruise where we had Anytime when I really wanted to be able to attend an activity later in the evening. But that evening we had to wait an hour to be seated and thus missed the activity which started before we finished the delayed dining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted May 12, 2015 #11 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Unless you need to wait to get seated. There was one day on the one cruise where we had Anytime when I really wanted to be able to attend an activity later in the evening. But that evening we had to wait an hour to be seated and thus missed the activity which started before we finished the delayed dining. Don't be a killjoy, think positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle Posted May 12, 2015 #12 Share Posted May 12, 2015 (edited) Alaska is so beautiful, you don't want to miss anything. To me anytime is the best. Eat when you want, where you want. Plan around what you want to see or do. For the MDR going after 7:30pm or later is better time to have no waiting for a table. Edited May 12, 2015 by Belle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrak Posted May 12, 2015 #13 Share Posted May 12, 2015 CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST CRUISE! Enjoy yourselves. You only get one first cruise. Some people look down their noses at the "blue card people" because they are new to cruising and inexperienced. I'm the opposite and am always just a bit jealous of people who are on their first cruise. We didn't cruise until 2011 when we too went to Alaska on our first cruise. It was wonderful. I can only hope that you enjoy your first time as much as we did ours. It definitely got us hooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted May 12, 2015 #14 Share Posted May 12, 2015 The most important thing to do on your first cruise is to ask questions if you have any once on board. No question is unimportant. Don't get to the end of the cruise and say "I would have done that if I had only known about it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindakthomas@hotmail.com Posted May 12, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Thank you all very much for this wonderful information, well worth posting the question. Next thing to think about will be whether to get a drinks package or not? Very excited about our Alaskan cruise. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiefBoats Posted May 13, 2015 #16 Share Posted May 13, 2015 We always use anytime donning. That way we eat based on our schedule. Sent from my KFTHWI using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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