Question about later dining

[DrMark]

Hi all,

 

We are on the Caribbean Princess in August, and have anytime dining. We usually like to eat later (7:30-8:30), which sounds like it is a good thing to avoid the waits.

 

Are we going to have a problem with the kitchen running out of certain main courses? I hate it when I'm on an airplane, and by the time they get to me, the only meal left is the squid ala mode :mad:. There is nothing worse than seeing something you really crave on the menu, only to be told that they ran out an hour ago.

 

Thanks!

[shredie]

Hi all,

 

We are on the Caribbean Princess in August, and have anytime dining. We usually like to eat later (7:30-8:30), which sounds like it is a good thing to avoid the waits.

 

Are we going to have a problem with the kitchen running out of certain main courses? I hate it when I'm on an airplane, and by the time they get to me, the only meal left is the squid ala mode :mad:. There is nothing worse than seeing something you really crave on the menu, only to be told that they ran out an hour ago.

 

Thanks!

 

That has never happened to me.

[fishywood]

Have never experienced this on a dozen Princess cruises, all of which were either late traditional dining or anytime dining where we turned up at 7:45-ish or later.

 

From what I have seen on other lines with poor kitchen management (*cough* Celebrity Select Dining *cough*) they are much more likely to run out of accompaniments (salad dressing) or desserts (baked Alaska on formal night, believe it or not) than entrees. If a particular entree is of higher demand than expected you may be told it will be a bit of a wait for that item while they prepare (translation: defrost) the ingredients. I have read here about the latter situation even on Princess.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We have had late traditional dining on ten cruises (one time with anytime dining) and I have never heard of anything on the menu running out.

[islandatsea]

All menu items has been available each time on every cruise we have taken.

[paul929207]

We usually eat about 7:30 pm and never had a problem with them running out of any dish

[partybarbie]

We like to eat later too, and have never had them run out of anything on the menu.

[berlingo]

We too are sailing on the Carribean Princess in August from Southampton to the Med.

 

As everyone has said we have never been aware of the dining room running out of any items. We also like to eat later and often are one of the last in the dining room.

 

However I am not anticipating a lack of queues by eating at this time. For many of us British folks dining after 8pm is the preferred time. Not quite as late as other Europeans but certainly not early.

[cb at sea]

We always do "late" seating and have never had anything be "out"...

[Pam in CA]

Never experienced Princess run out of entrees. On very long cruises, they may run out of some fresh fruit. I was on the Diamond a couple of years ago when she repositioned from Beijing to Whittier and they ran out of cottage cheese. My friends laughed at me but I love cottage cheese and melon for breakfast. That's the "worst" I've ever experienced. :):)

[paul929207]

Never experienced Princess run out of entrees. On very long cruises, they may run out of some fresh fruit. I was on the Diamond a couple of years ago when she repositioned from Beijing to Whittier and they ran out of cottage cheese. My friends laughed at me but I love cottage cheese and melon for breakfast. That's the "worst" I've ever experienced. :):)

Isn't it wonderful that the "worst" we have encountered is running out of something like cottage cheese. (And this is not a knock on cottage cheese).

[OCruisers]

Never have had a problem with entrées running out when we don't arrive for ATD until 9:30. :D

 

LuLu

[partybarbie]

Sometimes the kitchen runs out of the fresh produce. On a 16-day cruise from Tahiti to Los Angeles, we ran out of all the fresh fruit except for apples, oranges, and some very old bananas. :p It was only for a couple of days though as new supplies were brought on in Hawaii.

[satxdiver]

We also like to have dinner around 7:30 which is nice since so many Americans like to eat early meaning less crowds. We did the South American cruise and found out they like to eat late after 8:00 which I believe most of the rest of the world likes to do. We have never had an issue with them saying something was not available in the MDR. We have seen certain food appear in the HC only to disappear later that same meal or have seen empty trays to be taken away and not replenished but no big deal.

[GUT2407]

We normally do late traditional so 8ish never Once had anything ran out.

[caribill]

Never experienced Princess run out of entrees. On very long cruises, they may run out of some fresh fruit. I was on the Diamond a couple of years ago when she repositioned from Beijing to Whittier and they ran out of cottage cheese.

 

Sometimes the kitchen runs out of the fresh produce. On a 16-day cruise from Tahiti to Los Angeles, we ran out of all the fresh fruit except for apples, oranges, and some very old bananas.

 

Yes, some items do get used up on a cruise, but they would be unavailable for the entire meal, not disappear in the middle of a meal.

Edited July 18, 2015 by caribill

[Av8tor]

Always eat at late seating and have never seen anything on the menu run out. Not even when asking for seconds on lobster & shrimp night - Ymmmm! :)

[YWW]

Hi all,We are on the Cari bbean Princess in August, and have anytime dining. We usually like to eat later (7:30-8:30), which sounds like it is a good thing to avoid the waits.

 

Are we going to have a problem with the kitchen running out of certain main courses? I hate it when I'm on an airplane, and by the time they get to me, the only meal left is the squid ala mode :mad:. There is nothing worse than seeing something you really crave on the menu, only to be told that they ran out an hour ago. Thanks!

 

We have never experienced the kitchen out of certain entrees regardless of how late we went in to dine. However, our March cruise on the Royal Princess, it was total chaos since the main dining room on several mornings and evenings ran out of clean silverwares and plates plus the kitchen couldn't keep up with demand so the wait staff was apologizing to the diners for the delay. Not sure whether that was due to the severe outbreak of Noro virus on our ship or the lack of staff.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have not experienced the DR running out of any meals/items.

[HUNKY]

Airlines serve meals? I've heard they used to do that many years ago...

[caribill]

Airlines serve meals? I've heard they used to do that many years ago...

 

You young ones are just not old enough to have had that experience. Just born too late.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

You poor US folks with zero service airlines, can still find china cups , real knife and fork and a choice of food and on mass market seats, this side of the pond, and this was a Princess chatter.

 

yours Shogun

Edited July 19, 2015 by Shogun

[emmak8]

You should have no problem. Never heard of them running out of food on Princess.

[txjim09]

Hi All

 

You poor US folks with zero service airlines, can still find china cups , real knife and fork and a choice of food and on mass market seats, this side of the pond, and this was a Princess chatter.

 

yours Shogun

 

(cough) Ryanair (cough)

[emeybee]

(cough) Ryanair (cough)

 

Ryanair flights are ridiculously cheap (i.e. fly across Europe for $20). Hardly the same as paying several hundred dollars for a flight on a mainstream US airline and then being nickle-and-dimed on top of it.

 

If Ryanair was their only option, then I'd see your point. But in Europe they have a choice between low cost/low service and high cost/high service. We're stuck with the latter's prices and the former's (lack of) service.

 

It sucks.