Personal Choice Dining

[tiggyfrank]

I will be going on Sapphire, 1st time on Princess. For Personal Choice are reservations for dinner necessary or would we be able to just walk in without much wait? I just rather be able to get there when we get there and not have to be right on time.

[Gotmartini]

Great question. I have heard that service can be a little slow if you get Personal Choice. But I do not know that to be true. My next cruise is on the Golden and I am worried about having a standing reservation since the cruise is so port intensive.

[Beryl]

If you want to try each of the four restaurants I'd make reservations. If you don't care which restaurant you eat in I think you should not have too much of a wait just arriving when you wish to eat. A lot depends on the size of your party though. Since the same menu is served in all four restaurants now the logistics of having to seat people don't seem quite so complicated. When I cruised to Alaska in early June I did not see huge lines waiting to be seated in any of the restaurants.

[sashas_mom]

My DH and I love the Personal Choice dining. We traveled alone this time, and when we arrived at the dining room they asked us if we were willing to share a table. We were, and it afforded us the opportunity to meet a lot of very nice people. We walked right in to the dining room every time. Sometimes we just got a table for 2. On the Diamond we traveled with other couples and always needed a table for 8. We had to make reservations because we were such a large group. However, after the first night we made a standing reservation and still walked right in.

sasha'smom

[marlinmike]

Been on 3 cruises and have made reservations only at the speciality restaurants and formal nights only. Sometimes we'd eat at a table for 8 with mixed couples, sometimes we'd request a table for 2. NEVER have had to wait more than 10 minutes, which is better than most restaurants here in town.

[Once Upon A Time]

Reservations are best and you can make 3 days at a time by calling the Consierge when you board. That way you don't have a wait in line and watch the people with reservations walking right in and being seated. You can also choose your resturant ahead of time. The Santa Fe and the Savoy are my favorites for decor. Menu is the same in all of them( except Sterling and Sabitini's) and we never had bad service in any of the 6 resturants we tried.

[IKE]

We love "Personal Choice Dining"! Just returned from Royal Caribbean's "Voyager of the Seas" Cruise and missed this great feature. So back to Princess for our next cruise in Feb.2006.

[CruiseFever]

I will be going on Sapphire, 1st time on Princess. For Personal Choice are reservations for dinner necessary or would we be able to just walk in without much wait? I just rather be able to get there when we get there and not have to be right on time.

 

Anytime Dining will be perfect for you then!

 

I think that's what we like best about it.

[cherylandtk]

This dining is aptly named--it REALLY is really a matter of personal preference--as you can see from the various responses, some people prefer having the reservation and knowing exactly when they will eat and others prefer to have the flexibility to change plans at the last minute. You do not HAVE to make reservations nor do you HAVE to wing it. Just pick whatever you feel most comfortable with, or mix and match all you want.

[ladylynne]

our last cruise we were talked into having a standing reservation with the same table and same waiter. I did enjoy having Alec serve us all week because he really was good and very friendly. He knew ahead of time some favorite requests each night and knew us by name. However, I surely missed sitting in the hot tub until 5:30 or 6:00 or whenever we wanted to get out and leisurely stroll into dinner. I didn't like telling myself no more pizza by the poolside after 3:00 because I won't be hungry for dinner... This cruise, if we decide to reserve a table (because now we'll have 8 and it might be harder to get a table) it will be later... so I can get the most of those leisurly moments I can get.