No more Anytime Dining reservations???

[cafelovercanada]

That's great to know - thanks everyone for your posts! We are really looking forward to this cruise. It will be a first for our adult children and their significant others!

[Thrak]

While we are booked for ATD on our next cruise (and have done it before as well) we actually prefer TD. However, on our last cruise we had a "confirmed" time that was magically moved to 5:30 when we were onboard. That was just too dang early for us. If we could keep our "confirmed" time it would be great but being issuing a confirmation and then having Princess change the time is something we didn't like at all.

[paul929207]

While we are booked for ATD on our next cruise (and have done it before as well) we actually prefer TD. However, on our last cruise we had a "confirmed" time that was magically moved to 5:30 when we were onboard. That was just too dang early for us. If we could keep our "confirmed" time it would be great but being issuing a confirmation and then having Princess change the time is something we didn't like at all.

I don't understand why they move around the time like this. You would think that by now they would have it down so the time you are confirmed for is the real time

[Cruisin' Chick]

As a couple who prefer late traditional (and didn't care for anytime the one time we didn't clear the waitlist), we would never "crash" the anytime dining room. If somehow we missed our seating (which would be very rare), we would just go to the Horizon happily.

 

I think those assigned to traditional dining and not think twice of utilizing the a.d. room may be new to cruising and not really understand how much they are messing things up for those of you who do a.d. So count me in as someone who feels cabin cards need to be checked at the door, and traditional diners who show up there be told that they can't eat there. Maybe travel agents aren't explaining the dining system to newbie clients. Definitely this should be spelled out in the first day Patter.

[knotgillty]

I think those assigned to traditional dining and not think twice of utilizing the a.d. room may be new to cruising and not really understand how much they are messing things up for those of you who do a.d.

As someone who has AD for an upcoming trip, but hasn't cruised with Princess before, which dining room should we look for each evening?

[paul929207]

As someone who has AD for an upcoming trip, but hasn't cruised with Princess before, which dining room should we look for each evening?

Which ship? The dining rooms have different names on ships.

[knotgillty]

Which ship? The dining rooms have different names on ships.

we are sailing aboard the Grand Princess.

 

Thanks in advance

[kruisey]

Personally if I was a group of seven would pick traditional dining.With 'Anytime ' it can get really busy 6.45 to 7.30, and that is better if you are solo or two you can fill in the gaps,but a table of seven if you are not allowed reservations can make for a long wait.I remember even years ago when I traveled with my deceased we had to even wait at that time 'Anytime'

There again feel it is very selfish move to reserve Traditional and never use their space for there are spaces on tables in TD that are hardly ever filled because the booked occupiers dine in other areas each night.

[Ethel5]

..............................SNIP.............................

 

One time a few years ago we appeared at the ATD door around 6:45 or so. They took us to the TD MDR that switches to ATD at 7:15 and gave us a table for two. t that point the room was definitely not full so it was a good use of empty tables. Perhaps they need to do more of filling in the empty TD tables with ATD pax.

 

This really is not a good solution. We normally have early TD and several times during several cruises we have had our dinners interrupted by AD diners being placed at our servers station. If our server has 4 tables and then gets AD diners placed in his area, it slows down OUR dining and is a disruption. He has had to stop to wait on them while we sitt there waiting for him to come back and finish what he was doing. It is not fair to the server or to the TD diners.

[GUT2407]

I'm one who would love to see them stop taking reservations.

[mrs and mrs]

There are pros and cons with AD & TD. We prefer TD but don't like the late seating anymore and early is just too early. This is what happened to us:

 

We chose AD for the Island in the Mediterranean. After some thought we decided to change once onboard. We met with the MD to change to TD or a standing reservation with AD. His response was how about 6:30 in the TD!!?? We said fine, great! He did say we needed to be out before the late TD. We were a 2-top and I think our waiter actually liked that we came later - he was able to serve the larger tables first and not have a big rush all at once.

 

Obviously, this won't happen again, it was at the discretion of the current MD on the Island. It worked great for us, perfect time. :D

 

Oh stop it you are being way to sensible,by discussing with the M.D,your options.Way to helpful.

And maybe,what would happen if people actually dropped in and actually told the M.D,that they have no intention of dining in A.T.D or T.D that evening.

Would that be helpful to the staff and the M.D,like um 5 mins of our time.:):)

I dont beleive it wouldnt happen again,you made their job easier and especially if all the 2 ups did this.

Edited June 5, 2016 by mrs and mrs
another additional thought.

[Glenndale]

Anytime dining should be on a strictly 'first come, first served' basis and anyone choosing traditional dining should not be allowed to use the anytime facility.

Reservations for anytime are a nonsense.

We noticed tables sat empty with wine chilling besides them on a previous Princess cruise, which was particularly galling after we had been sent away with a timer to wait for a table.:(

After that experience we gravitated to Oceania and Azamara, lines which handle 'anytime' so much better.

We will be travelling with Princess again next February, for the itinerary.

Let's hope they have developed an anytime system that works.

[GUT2407]

Anytime dining should be on a strictly 'first come, first served' basis and anyone choosing traditional dining should not be allowed to use the anytime facility.

Reservations for anytime are a nonsense.

We noticed tables sat empty with wine chilling besides them on a previous Princess cruise, which was particularly galling after we had been sent away with a timer to wait for a table.:(

After that experience we gravitated to Oceania and Azamara, lines which handle 'anytime' so much better.

We will be travelling with Princess again next February, for the itinerary.

Let's hope they have developed an anytime system that works.

 

Agree.

[jean s]

We always do anytime dining and agree that it should be a no reservations situation.

[caribill]

We are relative rookies at cruising and first timers with Princess. Our TA chose AT dining for us when we booked because of our large group (7 of us travelling together). From what I've read, I'm expecting that we will not be able to go to the dining room to eat when we want to eat.

 

Unless your group of 7 did not want to eat at the same time each evening, your TA did you no favor by selecting AT for you.

 

If you had picked traditional dining, your group of 7 would be at a table for 8 (with one seat vacant) each evening at your selected traditional (early or late) seating time.

[caribill]

I don't understand why they move around the time like this. You would think that by now they would have it down so the time you are confirmed for is the real time

 

The "confirmed" times you see in the Personalizer have always been approximate.

 

The actual times are not known a year or more before the sailing when the cruises can be first booked. They may not even be known the week before the cruise.

 

At any point in time ship management can change what the traditional dining times are for the next segment.

[caribill]

As someone who has AD for an upcoming trip, but hasn't cruised with Princess before, which dining room should we look for each evening?

 

The Grand class ships have two dining rooms (decks 5 and 6 near the atrium) that are used for AD.

 

Often one of these is used for an extra early TD and then changes to AD once the early TD passengers have finished.

 

You can go to either of the AD rooms that you want during AD hours. You do not have to use the same one each evening.

[iceleven]

The Grand class ships have two dining rooms (decks 5 and 6 near the atrium) that are used for AD.

 

Often one of these is used for an extra early TD and then changes to AD once the early TD passengers have finished.

 

You can go to either of the AD rooms that you want during AD hours. You do not have to use the same one each evening.

 

Actually there are three dining rooms.

Edit - sorry I read your response too quickly. Yes, two for AD; three in total.

Edited June 6, 2016 by iceleven

[Hlitner]

The entire concept of "Anytime Dining" is that passengers have a large time window in which to dine...at their option. The use of reservations is for the convenience of both the dining staff and the passengers...but is also subject to many limitations based on total number of passengers and their habits. Maitre'ds (and dining room managers) are expected to deal with the current situation. We have been on many cruises where they have restricted Anytime Dining reservations during certain prime hours...and on other cruises where they have simply said, "no reservations until 7:30 or 7:45).

 

For those that simply "must have a nightly reservation," perhaps they should consider booking a fixed dining time.

 

We have long been confirmed Anytime dining fans, but since we tend to dine after 7:30 this is not normally an issue. There are times when the dining rooms are too busy, and the staff simply gives us a beeper. For us, it is no big deal and just an opportunity to enjoy another pre-dinner cocktail and enjoy socialization at a bar...while we wait for the beeper to activate.

 

Hank

[mysaddlebred000]

I'm one who would love to see them stop taking reservations.

 

Agree. It is my understanding that reservations in the AT started as a perk for suite passengers. Then, it seemed that many people, especially elites because of all their cruises, knew either a waiter or head waiter and managed to get reservations. Now it seems that everyone wants a reservation for AT. It's anytime dining!!!! We have not been able to get a nightly reservation for the past three years - well - one cruise .

 

Now most of our cruises were over three weeks long with many seasoned cruisers and we did not arrive at the dining room until the second night because of the first night free specialty dinner with the suite. That also depends on the ship - some allow you to change while others say only the first night. Yes, I did call the reservation line and they said to go to the dining room to make the reservation. On the Island TA this fall, we were told the first night that the allotted number of reservation were already taken but the number was down since 30 % of the table were given to traditional diners thanks to the additional cabins added in drydock.

[floridalover5623]

The entire concept of "Anytime Dining" is that passengers have a large time window in which to dine...at their option. The use of reservations is for the convenience of both the dining staff and the passengers...but is also subject to many limitations based on total number of passengers and their habits. Maitre'ds (and dining room managers) are expected to deal with the current situation. We have been on many cruises where they have restricted Anytime Dining reservations during certain prime hours...and on other cruises where they have simply said, "no reservations until 7:30 or 7:45).

 

For those that simply "must have a nightly reservation," perhaps they should consider booking a fixed dining time.

We have long been confirmed Anytime dining fans, but since we tend to dine after 7:30 this is not normally an issue. There are times when the dining rooms are too busy, and the staff simply gives us a beeper. For us, it is no big deal and just an opportunity to enjoy another pre-dinner cocktail and enjoy socialization at a bar...while we wait for the beeper to activate.

 

Hank

I may be wrong but I always assumed that letting people reserving the same table each night (at the same early time) in the AT DR was because there just isn't sufficient room in the TD DR for all those that requested TD.

[PrincessLuver]

I may be wrong but I always assumed that letting people reserving the same table each night (at the same early time) in the AT DR was because there just isn't sufficient room in the TD DR for all those that requested TD.[/quote

 

Our experience has been that we are usually put on a waitlist for AD and have had no problem getting a TD time slot when making cruise reservations.

[dtb55]

I may be wrong but I always assumed that letting people reserving the same table each night (at the same early time) in the AT DR was because there just isn't sufficient room in the TD DR for all those that requested TD.[/quote

 

 

 

Our experience has been that we are usually put on a waitlist for AD and have had no problem getting a TD time slot when making cruise reservations.

 

 

Interesting, I've never seen a wait list for AD, always for TD. At least on my cruises.

[paul929207]

 

 

Interesting, I've never seen a wait list for AD, always for TD. At least on my cruises.

Same here

[cruisin froggy]

The entire concept of "Anytime Dining" is that passengers have a large time window in which to dine...at their option. The use of reservations is for the convenience of both the dining staff and the passengers...but is also subject to many limitations based on total number of passengers and their habits. Maitre'ds (and dining room managers) are expected to deal with the current situation. We have been on many cruises where they have restricted Anytime Dining reservations during certain prime hours...and on other cruises where they have simply said, "no reservations until 7:30 or 7:45).

 

For those that simply "must have a nightly reservation," perhaps they should consider booking a fixed dining time.

 

We have long been confirmed Anytime dining fans, but since we tend to dine after 7:30 this is not normally an issue. There are times when the dining rooms are too busy, and the staff simply gives us a beeper. For us, it is no big deal and just an opportunity to enjoy another pre-dinner cocktail and enjoy socialization at a bar...while we wait for the beeper to activate.

 

Hank

 

On our last cruise, we were called and asked if we would like to make a reservation. So we called every day to make one and even a specific table.