Anytime dining reservations

[pablo222]

I really doubt the problem is TD diners eating in ATD.

 

I agree with you, as no one posting is at the door checking cards,

and can provide accurate data here.

 

Based on seeing many passengers, I think some of them spend

way too much time at the trough. If they would move along, Princess

could turn the table for another guest.

[PrincessLuver]

I really doubt the problem is TD diners eating in ATD. The problem is that on many cruises with a predominance of American cruisers there are more people wanting to eat early than there are tables. This is evidenced by the fact that two of the three DRs on most ships are reserved for early TD. I would suggest that only one DR should be reserved for TD and let everyone else use ATD. On our Baltic cruise a couple of years ago and our Mediterranean cruise last year there was no wait at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30 or 7:00 and we were able to walk in to the ATD DR at any time on the Emerald and the Regal.

 

I did not want to imply that it is the people from TD eating in AD sometimes that is the problem.....it is that Princess takes reservations and on most other cruise lines AD means first come first serve.....there should be no reservations in IMHO because it really creates another TD room in away....:cool:

[Hlitner]

Yes, you can call and specifically ask for a table for 4. However, as we found on last week's Regal cruise, they only accept a limited number of reservations for specific time periods. The Maitre'd in one of the Regal's dining rooms told me that they were limiting reservations to no more then 30% of available seating. That being said, we dine late and were sometimes frustrated when held at the door for 10-15 min. And once inside the MDR we would always find that the room was less then half full (most passengers prefer to dine at "late lunch time"). So we did finally ask why Anytime Diners had to wait when the dining room was near empty. We never got a good answer.

 

Hank

[Woobstr112G]

I think this is what makes Princess' Anytime Dining such a mess. We never make reservations and assume we can eat at "anytime". Wrong!

 

On many nights the reservation line will be longer then the people who just line up for "anytime dining." We have to wait while all of the reservations are seated. To me it really throws a kink in what should be a simple system.

 

Princess needs to call it what it is which seems to be "Anything Goes Dining." Other cruise lines we cruise with allow no reservations for "Anytime Dining", check you sign and sail card to make sure you belong in AD and it is always way more pleasant then Princess' way of doing things as far as dining times.

 

Princess needs to set the policy not the Maitre d's and if people need a certain table at a certain time then I believe the need to be assigned to traditional dining....:cool:

 

 

I am in total agreement with you. Reservations in ATD are the reason it is so screwed up.....:mad::mad::mad:

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

My wife and I are Anytime dining fans so take anything I say with that in mind and this is directed at no one in particular.

 

We've never had an issue with anytime dining, we always get a table for 2 and yes we have the occasional wait just like in any restaurant on land would. We are also very easy going and have no trouble heading to Vines to grab a glass of wine while we wait.

 

What I don't understand about the Anytime haters is how privileged they sound. They say, "Anytime means anytime "I" want. Princess should always have a table for ME because I am special!" Do you expect Princess to have 3000-5000 tables always available and open in case everyone at once wants to eat? Get over yourselves.

 

I will say Princess must start checking cards at the door. Way too many "Traditionals" think Anytime means they can go there too. Your excursion ran late and you have early traditional? Head to the buffet.

 

We have in the past made standing reservations for a table in Anytime when we find waiters we liked and there was no issues. But we also wanted to eat at 7:30.

 

You are missing the point in my humble opinion. TD'ers that sneak in, as you say, are not the main reason ATD is so screwed up. It is allowing of standing reservations that is the main problem. In your post you talked about how privileged they sound. This in my humble opinion makes no sense at all. It is not that people think there should be a table for them anytime they want it. Any rational person knows this is not possible. But within reason, someone should be able to go to an ATD dining room and expect to be seated around that time instead of having to wait for the standing reservation types to be seated.

 

Bob

Edited November 7, 2015 by Woobstr112G

[raider23]

So if this is Princess' policy, then Anytime Diners should be able to call the Maitre'D and be able to make reservations (or wait in line) for a table during traditional dining times.

[Bruin Steve]

One of my pet peeves with Princess is just how screwed up their dining seating is...

 

A few years back, we were on the Diamond Princess and had Early Traditional seating... EVERY dinner on our cruise, we were the ONLY people at our table who actually showed up for dinner (and, mind you, this cruise was sold out)...The table next to ours and the one next to that were empty every night...and, three tables away was another large table with just one couple...The dining room was about two-thirds empty...In our section, there were about six tables with a grand total of eight passengers. We asked the waiters if we could just all move to one table and dine together...and we were told NO.

 

So, where was everyone assigned to Traditional Dining? Well, we ran into people on the cruise who told us they had traditional dining, but chose, instead, to just show up at Anytime!

 

So, the next cruise, just under a year ago, on the Golden, for various reasons, we chose to do Anytime...The first night, we showed up around 6:30 and had to wait a long time to be seated--even though there were scores of empty tables and we were willing to eat with others. We said something to the Maitre d' and he suggested we call for a reservation for the next night...had to do it at 8:30 am or later the next morning...So, we called the next morning after breakfast--at around 8:45...and were told that ALL the reservations were taken...So, the following morning, I got up from breakfast at 8:25 and went over to the house phone in the dining room...and started dialing the number repeatedly...and could not get through. The Maitre d' tried helping us by dialing himself. When we finally got through--at about 8:35, we were again told there were no reservations left--until 8:45 pm. We just gave up.

 

I have cruised on eight different cruise lines...and have done multiple "Anytime" bookings...on Oceania (where everyone is on "Anytime"), on Celebrity and on Royal Caribbean...I have NEVER had to wait more than 3-4 minutes for a table on any of those lines...an, if that, it's usually just waiting for the crew members assigned the task to come back to get us after seating someone else...And we usually head to dinner around 7:00-7:15 on those lines (On Celebrity, I am sure of the time since we have Elite Drinking Hours until 7:00 and we always go to dinner at the end of that).

 

Why does Princess have a problem and Celebrity/Royal Caribbean not? On those lines, when you get to the door at the dining room, they either ask for your card or for your cabin number and check it on the computer to make sure you actually have Anytime Dining! People with "traditional" assignments are turned away.

 

It is absolutely clear what the problem is on Princess. Cruise ships are designed to seat approximately half of the total passengers at any one time. Before they had Anytime, the math was simple...Say you had a ship with 3,000 passengers...You'd have 1,500 seats in the dining room and half the passengers would be assigned early seating and half late seating. To accommodate the concept of Anytime dining, they take a portion of those seats and set them aside for those Anytime Diners...Say they have the same 1,500 seats and 3,000 passengers...and they have 1,500 of them assigned to Traditional, then 750 seats are set aside from that and 750 people are in early, 750 in late. The other 1,500 seats are reserved for Anytime...and run like a land restaurant. Say the dining room is open from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The hope is that those 1,500 passengers will spread themselves out over that four hour window. It would be ideal if exactly half came at 6:00 and the other half at 8:00...but we know that just won't happen...Laws of probability say it's more like a parabolic curve with some coming early, some coming late and the majority showing up around 7:15 to 7:45...So, what the Dining staff have to do is to push some people through dinner in a time window a little quicker than the ordinary two hour window...Especially those arriving early, to make room for the 7:30 crush...then try to move those people along to accommodate the late arrivals. So, instead of having two seatings per table, you are trying to get it to three for a large number of the tables...

 

Despite the added logistics, it still works, most of the time, on most cruise lines...since, even at 7:15-7:45, you still, likely, only have about 750 of the 1,500 show up and can seat most of them if you've moved the early group along...

 

But, on Princess, this is complicated by the large number of Traditional diners showing up unchecked at Anytime...You've got 750 seats, two seatings=1,500 people NOT using their assignments--so half empty dining rooms that you CANNOT seat people in...First because you cannot use them in case the people actually show up and, second, because Princess' ships have three, sometimes four separate rooms with people showing up only to one room. Then, for the rooms assigned for Anytime, you have 2,250 people showing up for only 750 seats--resulting in lines, waits and poorer service as you need to rush people through dinner even faster.

 

It is EASY, Princess:

1. Check the dining assignments for people who show up at the Anytime door. Politely tell people they need to show up at their proper assignment or, if they've missed that, they can always dine at the Buffet...

2. If you don't want to do that, eliminate traditional altogether...though, with Princess' ship design, you may need a system to spread people out amongst the different dining rooms--maybe just room assignments, or maybe a reservation system.

 

One thing for certain--it really needs to be fixed.

[Hlitner]

Based on last week's Regal cruise we would have to agree that Princess has really screwed-up their Anytime Dining system. The reservation system just does not work well, defeats the purpose of "Anytime" and at times it appeared that the MDR staff did not have a clue as to what they were doing. The system on Celebrity works much better because they actually check the computer when folks dine. So if you have Fixed Seating and show-up at Anytime....you might find yourself not being allowed in the MDR. And if you make an Anytime reservation and show up at a different time, the Maitre'd will see the conflict and may or may not seat you. Princess seems to be running a free for all situation which is made worse by having 3 different MDRs on most of their ships. At times we had to walk back and forth between both Anytime MDRs (both of which were about half empty) trying to get seated. We heard similar frustration from some other Anytime diners.

 

And its hard not to notice the lack of coordination and technology. There is a single Maitre'd walking around each MDR with a clipboard where he tries to keep track of open tables, seats, etc. This means why that person is somewhere inside the MDR, nobody is being admitted (or seated) because the person on the door has no clue as to what is even available. Some other lines have all this computerized which means they can not only seat folks faster, but can use multiple MDR entrances at the same time.

 

Hank

Edited November 7, 2015 by Hlitner

[IECalCruiser]

I won't quote all of Steve Bruin's post (#32) but there is an issue when many TD seats are left empty and DR capacity is lost. That is one reason we prefer ATD with early reservations because we only eat in the DR 4-5 times out of 7 days. Doing that eliminates empty seats in TD. There is no good way to use those empty TD seats without messing up the timing of the other diners already eating at those tables. One cruise we were with another couple at a tablet for 8. After the first day the other four people didn't show and the table was empty for the rest of the cruise. Those people should have had their TD canceled and use the other spots for ATD reservations.

 

As I stated before, I am in favor of only one TD dining room with reservations allowed in the other two. On the Island a couple of years ago they would cancel your reservation in ATD if you were10 minutes late to the table. There was one person training to be a supervisor that was responsible for checking on missed reservations and making certain that all tables were filled.

[raider23]

Has anyone tried contacting Princess on this issue? We are taking our first Princess cruise next May,on the Grand Princess and frankly I am already unsure I have made the right choice. We used NCL's anytime dining option a few years back and found no problem with it. I will be taking my wife (who has back problems made worse by excessive sitting, and my 75 year old mother) I understand fully there won't always be a table waiting for us whenever we arrive, but would be disappointed if I have to wait for traditional diners to be seated ahead of us.

Edited November 7, 2015 by raider23

[shredie]

TD is the way to go, IMO. If you like to eat early-ish, you get a table without having to call every day for a reservation or stand in a line to get a table. You go to your table when you arrive and sit down to order. If you like to eat later, you have the same options. I guess if a table for two is important to you, and you aren't assigned one in TD, then the trade off will be standing around in line waiting. I always wonder about the people who say they want to eat when they want to eat and not when Princess tells them to. If you want to eat at 6:23 and not 6:00, then I guess that's a problem, but waiting around for a table means you won't get seated at 6:23 anyway. I'm also aware that some people have no choice because they don't clear a TD waiting list and get stuck with AT. The problems with the system are many, and it's not just TDers sneaking into AT or people choosing to eat at the same hour as everyone else. It's a bit of each, and Princess doesn't seem to want to solve the problems. I always feel a little sorry for the AT diners I see standing in line when I walk past them on my way to my TD dining room where I know my table is waiting.

[caribill]

A few years back, we were on the Diamond Princess and had Early Traditional seating... EVERY dinner on our cruise, we were the ONLY people at our table who actually showed up for dinner (and, mind you, this cruise was sold out)...The table next to ours and the one next to that were empty every night...and, three tables away was another large table with just one couple...The dining room was about two-thirds empty...In our section, there were about six tables with a grand total of eight passengers. We asked the waiters if we could just all move to one table and dine together...and we were told NO.

 

A headwaiter or the Maitre d' would have arranged for all of you to sit at a single table. The waiters cannot arrange this.

 

So, where was everyone assigned to Traditional Dining? Well, we ran into people on the cruise who told us they had traditional dining, but chose, instead, to just show up at Anytime!

 

 

First of all, on the first evening and possibly the second anyone going to an anytime dining room has their cruise card checked and if in traditional are sent to the assigned dining room. So if nobody else was at those tables the first evening, they were not in an anytime dining room.

 

Second of all, about half the cruisers on average are new to Princess and may be new to cruising. Their travel agent may not explain the dining options and just ask do you like to eat early or late, then set them up for traditional dining. Many of these diners will spend every evening in the buffet.

 

And there have been posts of new passengers who thought that there was an extra charge each evening to eat in a dining room and stayed away for that reason.

 

It does not apply in your case since the other people did not show up every evening and your tables supposedly had other people assigned to them but:

o Some people in traditional only show up on formal evenings.

o Some people show up except for formal evenings

o Especially with the late traditional dining a number of tables may be completely unoccupied because not enough people signed up for traditional.

 

If Traditional times are full, then Princess will assign others who want traditional to anytime. RCI does the opposite. They limit how many can have anytime and assign the overflow to traditional.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Totally agree. And it's so simple to fix. Just check the cards and turn away traditionals sneaking in.

 

We like TD over AD, as it is less hassle for us to find a table. The only time we do not show in TD is when we go specialty. Unfortunately some people do want wander off to AD when it suits them. Only Princess can fix this problem.

[birdiebill]

We have always done anytime dining and like it. We go to eat before 6:00 and are willing to share any size table. That willingness has meant we have never been turned away from anytime dining. We have only made a reservation or requested a table for two for a special occasion--anniversary. I agree with those who have suggested there should be no reservations for anytime. If you want anytime and are willing to eat after 7:30, there should never be a wait for a table unless you have a special "need."

[berlingo]

Please do not let these discussions worry you about your upcoming cruise.

 

We have always chosen Anytime Dining on Princess and have never found it a big problem. We do a mixture of just turning up and making reservations. This summer on the Princess we were in a party of seven. Sometimes we dined together or on tables of four or two. Making a reservation for formal nights worked well as everyone does seem to want to eat at the same time. At other times we would expect to be given a pager and then go for a wander or a drink. Occasionally even when we were after a table for seven we would be seated straight away.

 

We love dining on Princess and it is always the highlight of our evening. Good food, good wine and excellent company. How could it be any better? Take the evening at a leisurely pace, relax and enjoy would be my advice.

[eltigre]

As you can see it has been awhile since I was on Princess and then it was Traditional Dining only. It was so very nice everyone dressed up, great conversation, waiters knew you after the first dinner. Everyone waited until all were at the table before starting to order. Do they still do that?

 

Since then it has been Anytime Dining & we have never had a problem on NCL or Carnival. Some short waits only, but we have had tables for two & tables for 6-8 with others when ever we requested. Cabin #'s always verified for dining type.

 

I am on holiday & I don't need the clock watching or stress to get a dining room chair & table, or a lounger at the sanctuary or even a chair at the pool.

 

The lovely carefree existence on a ship is being subverted by the cruise lines & the passengers with all these loyalty levels, pay for dining, specialty spots on the deck, and selfish greedy all deserving guests.

 

Just Sayin

[shepp]

As you can see it has been awhile since I was on Princess and then it was Traditional Dining only. It was so very nice everyone dressed up, great conversation, waiters knew you after the first dinner. Everyone waited until all were at the table before starting to order. Do they still do that?

 

If you're fortunate, yes. Or you might end up at a table with people you can't stand (or who never even show up once), waitstaff who can't get anything right, table mates who are always 20 minutes late, and people whose idea of "smart casual" is their most recently laundered T-shirt.

 

Luck of the draw.

 

And why we now choose ATD.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

TD is the way to go, IMO. If you like to eat early-ish, you get a table without having to call every day for a reservation or stand in a line to get a table. You go to your table when you arrive and sit down to order. If you like to eat later, you have the same options. I guess if a table for two is important to you, and you aren't assigned one in TD, then the trade off will be standing around in line waiting. I always wonder about the people who say they want to eat when they want to eat and not when Princess tells them to. If you want to eat at 6:23 and not 6:00, then I guess that's a problem, but waiting around for a table means you won't get seated at 6:23 anyway. I'm also aware that some people have no choice because they don't clear a TD waiting list and get stuck with AT. The problems with the system are many, and it's not just TDers sneaking into AT or people choosing to eat at the same hour as everyone else. It's a bit of each, and Princess doesn't seem to want to solve the problems. I always feel a little sorry for the AT diners I see standing in line when I walk past them on my way to my TD dining room where I know my table is waiting.

 

Amen, that's it in a nutshell! And I wonder why do some select TD in the first

place.

[Hlitner]

TD vs AT (love these silly acronyms). Once upon a time all cruisers lived int he TD world. But times have changed. While TD might make sense for those wanting a 2-top we find it a silly choice for those of us who enjoy sharing large tables (and meeting lots of new folks). The last time we booked a large TD table was about 10 years ago on a RCI cruise. We got a wonderful table for 8, and the other 6 folks never showed-up for a single dinner! The Maitre'd contacted them and they all said they preferred to dine in the Lido buffet...but wanted to keep their table reservations "just in case."

 

So now, we happily do AT, dine after sunset (around 8-8:30) and always request to share a large table. We usually have a full table and always meet some very interesting folks. And unlike those folks that prefer to eat their dinner at late lunch time, we do not have to fight for seats in the main showroom or seldom need to show-up early. A big complaint we heard on the Regal (last week) was about the early diners not being able to find seats in the main show room. In fact, there were so many complaints after the first production show that the CD scheduled 3 performances for the remainder of the production shows.

 

Hank

Edited November 8, 2015 by Hlitner

[sonomaphil]

TD is the way to go, IMO. If you like to eat early-ish, you get a table without having to call every day for a reservation or stand in a line to get a table. You go to your table when you arrive and sit down to order. If you like to eat later, you have the same options. I guess if a table for two is important to you, and you aren't assigned one in TD, then the trade off will be standing around in line waiting. I always wonder about the people who say they want to eat when they want to eat and not when Princess tells them to. If you want to eat at 6:23 and not 6:00, then I guess that's a problem, but waiting around for a table means you won't get seated at 6:23 anyway. I'm also aware that some people have no choice because they don't clear a TD waiting list and get stuck with AT. The problems with the system are many, and it's not just TDers sneaking into AT or people choosing to eat at the same hour as everyone else. It's a bit of each, and Princess doesn't seem to want to solve the problems. I always feel a little sorry for the AT diners I see standing in line when I walk past them on my way to my TD dining room where I know my table is waiting.

 

 

And that's wonderful, I'm happy you love it so much...as long as if you miss your dining time for whatever reason you don't go to the Anytime dining room. The buffet awaits!

Edited November 8, 2015 by sonomaphil

[KiwiFunCruiser]

And that's wonderful, I'm happy you love it so much...as long as if you miss your dining time for whatever reason you don't go to the Anytime dining room. The buffet awaits!

 

A specialty Restaurant would be my choice. Actually I have heard the buffet is quite good.

[caribill]

How Anytime (My Time Dining) is treated on Royal Caribbean:

 

"To ensure quick seating, we encourage guests to place a reservation for each evening. If you're already booked and have chosen the My Time Dining option, you can easily pre-reserve specific days and times online. Seating can also be reserved while onboard. Maximum of 10 guests per reservation."

[truckguy]

We have five Princess cruises to our credit and we have enjoyed anytime dining on each of them. We have always just showed up at the time of our convenience and made our request for a table. We generally like to sit at a large table of 10 with people we have never met. We have found that the varity of stories and experiences to be excellent conversation topics. We have occasionally requested a smaller table if we have met a couple and wish to dine alone with them or by ourselves. We have always been promptly accommodated with sometimes only a minimual wait. We love the anytime dining. It suits our chaotic schedule.

 

Wishing you calm seas and endless sunsets,

Bryan (truckguy)