anytime dining possible with traditional dining?

[spongerob]

HAL ... is also piloting a version of Anytime Dining on one of their Vista Class ships.

 

And the HAL faithful are none too happy about it.

[mii]

And the HAL faithful are none too happy about it.

 

I was curious about the above comment so went over and read the HAL board on the subject of Anytime dining. Whew. They, as Rob said not too happy about it.

 

Marilyn

[bdjam]

I was curious about the above comment so went over and read the HAL board on the subject of Anytime dining. Whew. They, as Rob said not too happy about it.

 

Marilyn

And you really can’t blame them. HAL bills itself as a “traditional” cruise line…the only tradition that Anytime Dining emulates is the open seating of the days when there were enough seats in the dining room for the full passenger complement.

[negc]

There is absolutely no reason that they cannot accomodate (today) the passengers requesting traditional dining ... just set aside an appropriately sized section of one of the "Personal Choice" dining rooms. It could be done; I just feel that there is some ulterior motive for not doing so. (All the maitre d' has to do is reserve a certain number of tables at traditional dining times, assign these tables to those waitlisted diners, and the problem is solved!)

 

From your lips to Princess' ears.:)

Isn't it amazing that folks on this board can come up with reasonable solutions to the "wait list for traditional dining" problem, but Princess either can not or will not do the same? Actually, in place of "amazing" I might substitute the word "sad".:(

[coiran]

This may be slightly off the mark here, but I'll throw in my 2 cents worth.

 

The dining room facilities (on any ship) take up a lot of space given that they are being used 4-5 hours (2 dinner meals) a day. With Personal Choice dining, it is possible to get 3 sittings into a slightly longer meal time, and with the same personnel requirement. This would equate to needing less dining room space, therefore more space available for revenue (i.e. passenger cabins) within the same sized ship.

 

I firmly believe in, and use, traditional dining. But, I'm sure that the bean counters back at HQ look at this unused space, and drool over the possibilities. There is absolutely no reason that they cannot accomodate (today) the passengers requesting traditional dining ... just set aside an appropriately sized section of one of the "Personal Choice" dining rooms. It could be done; I just feel that there is some ulterior motive for not doing so. (All the maitre d' has to do is reserve a certain number of tables at traditional dining times, assign these tables to those waitlisted diners, and the problem is solved!)

 

They did exactly this on one of our recent Star cruises - not with our group, but with another group that had booked TD. So - yes - it can be done and it was.

Robn

[Opinions]

Anytime Dining isn’t a Carnival Corporation idea.

 

No where in my post did I claim that "Anytime Dining" was a Carnival Corporation idea...Carnival was well aware that Princess had "Anytime" when they took Princess over...They could very well change Princess back to all "Traditional" if they felt it was to their advantage...I don't think the Carnival Corporation would let any of its cruise lines continue a practice if they felt it would affect their finances negatively...There are now even reports that "Carnival" is going to try "Anytime" on HAL.

[bdjam]

No where in my post did I claim that "Anytime Dining" was a Carnival Corporation idea...Carnival was well aware that Princess had "Anytime" when they took Princess over...They could very well change Princess back to all "Traditional" if they felt it was to their advantage...I don't think the Carnival Corporation would let any of its cruise lines continue a practice if they felt it would affect their finances negatively...There are now even reports that "Carnival" is going to try "Anytime" on HAL.

I didn’t say you did – I was just stating what I felt was a fact. And right – HAL is trying Anytime Dining – as I stated in my post.

[Beach4me]

I read somewhere (I think on another thread here) that Anytime doesn't offer baked Alaska or bananas foster - they are only offered in the traditional dining room...is that true?

 

I had opted for Anytime on my Island cruise but changed to traditional due to port times. After reading this thread, I'm glad I got my traditional request in and confirmed. Baked Alaska and bananas foster are just icing on the cake.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Well, I think you're sort of missing the point. I agree that eating elsewhere and letting your tablemates know about it for 2 nights out of the 7 isn't rude. But the problem is that you were taking up seats in the anytime DRs on those nights and possibly lengthening the wait for the passengers who had signed up for anytime dining. If a lot of traditional diners do this, even for 2 nights apiece, think of the chaos in the anytime rooms!! I have seen traditional diners turned away from the anytime DRs, but apparently that is not universal. Anyway, it doesn't seem fair to the anytime diners -- that is the problem that has everyone here at odds.

 

When we cruised on the CB we had PC. One night PC had no openings when we arrived at the dining room. Thanks to considerate diners in traditional letting the maitre'd know they would be eating at Sabitinis we were escorted to the traditional dining room that evening.

 

So anyone who has traditional opts for another dining room please let the maitre'd know.:)

 

Bill

[donna5]

I read somewhere (I think on another thread here) that Anytime doesn't offer baked Alaska or bananas foster - they are only offered in the traditional dining room...is that true?

 

I had opted for Anytime on my Island cruise but changed to traditional due to port times. After reading this thread, I'm glad I got my traditional request in and confirmed. Baked Alaska and bananas foster are just icing on the cake.

 

You can get a slice of baked alaska in Anytime the same night they have the Baked Alaska Parade, you just don't have the parade. It is called something like bombe diplomat. I actually like the one in anytime cause it is on a cold plate and doesn't melt while you are waiting for your coffee or tea.

[FunShipCruiser]

Let's not forget that Anytime Dining is what we experience for the 51 other weeks of the year when we are not cruising :(. Eating when we want, making reservations, waiting in line, having different wait staff, etc. is a normal part of life when visiting restaurants on shore.

 

So when we're aboard our ships, Traditional Dining is our escape from this normal routine...and the specialized treatment we receive is a welcome change.

 

I have only known Traditional Dining while cruising, and have reserved Anytime Dining for our August cruise on the Crown. After reading the posts here, I'm not sure that I've made the correct choice. My greatest criticism with Traditional Dining is that there are often evenings when our tablemates did not tell us that they would not be dining with us, and we ended up sitting alone at a large table. The social experience of dinner is one of my favourite reasons for cruising.

 

Is there anyone out there who likes Anytime Dining? Please reassure me by telling me why.

[cruiseman111111]

We had anytime on NCL Spirit in Oct 05 & hated it. We are going to traditional on Dawn Princess next month.

[KAJOKG]

 

Is there anyone out there who likes Anytime Dining? Please reassure me by telling me why.

Me! I do! Here are my reasons -- I really dislike strict regimentation while on vacation. I hate to have to plan for dinner the same time every night. And unless you book early, it's difficult to get early seating in traditional. When Princess first started Anytime Dining, it worked blissfully well. Now folks sign up for Traditional, but choose to go back and forth, The ship's crew plans on the number of diners according to what the passengers chose when they booked -- i.e., 500 PC diners, 500 table settings. When someone chooses to skip their traditional table and go to PC, it throws the schedule off. That is why they now take reservations for PC dining every evening. What was once a great concept has not entirely worked out as intended. I know of many who sign up for traditional when they fully intend to use PC, thereby assuring themselves a table somewhere. Makes it difficult for good planning. All of that said, I still prefer the luxury of having dinner on my own schedule.

[Seal]

Good Morning

 

In answer to your question--We had Anytime Dining on the Coral Princess--on a 2 week cruise this Fall--There are just the two of us traveling together--maybe that makes it easier

 

We made no reservations for the Anytime Dining Reataurant (can't remember the name) we never waited, not once--we were always asked at the door, would we care to join others--we always did join others, it makes the dining more interesting most of the time.

 

The only dinner reservations that were made were for the two speciality restaurants.

 

We have several future cruises for 06 and 07 and have chosen Anytime Dining if available.

 

Have a great cruise

 

Nancy

 

The person who posted just before this was correct--the problems arise when the traditional dining people decide to go to the Anytime Dining Restaurant--Somewhere the traditional Dining patrons have the idea that this is just fine. I have a good friend, who is going on the Diamond next month and said she and her friends were signed up for traditional dining and could go there or the Anytime Dining Restaurant. She is sure she is correct and that I just don't understand how it works.

 

If our cards were checked as we entered the dining room--this problem would resolve itself.

 

:) :) :)

[mafig]

We like anytime too! DH and I prefer a table-for-two. We also prefer to have dinner when we want to. If we find a waiter and assistant team that we like, we request them. If we have a waiter and assistant that we don't care for, we know we are not "stuck" with them for the entire cruise.

 

We recently had a cruise on Norwegian Jewel which has "freestyle." One of the reasons we booked on her was because we enjoyed "personal choice" so much.

[negc]

Very few, if any, folks on these boards are saying that there aren't people who enjoy antime dining. They are only questioning why, if a majority of the people on a particular sailing, request traditional dining, Princess can't be flexible enough in its dining room assignments to accommodate them. Rigidly adhering to a formula of assigning two dining rooms to anytime dining and one to traditional, even when the percentages among the passengers are the reverse (and known to the line well in advance of sailing) seems to be contrary to common sense. As for the confusion over whether traditional diners can choose to try anytime dining at some point during their cruise, some of the blame for that misconception has to go to Princess, which early on when "anytime dining" was just being introduced, suggested exactly that in its printed materials (since changed, I would hope).

[MaryPoppinz]

There has to be a reason why Princess wait-lists so many for traditional. My guess is that, at least in part, they've found that a significant percentage of traditional diners end up switching to PC during the cruise. If everyone who initially requested traditional dining were to be accomodated, such a huge switch to PC would completely disrupt both PC and traditional dining.

 

We hear pretty routinely about vacancies at traditional tables. Certainly, some wait-listed traditional diners give up and default to PC without ever trying to get a traditional table, but there's no question that many confirmed traditional diners defect to PC during the cruise.

[bdjam]

There has to be a reason why Princess wait-lists so many for traditional. My guess is that, at least in part, they've found that a significant percentage of traditional diners end up switching to PC during the cruise. If everyone who initially requested traditional dining were to be accomodated, such a huge switch to PC would completely disrupt both PC and traditional dining.

 

We hear pretty routinely about vacancies at traditional tables. Certainly, some wait-listed traditional diners give up and default to PC without ever trying to get a traditional table, but there's no question that many confirmed traditional diners defect to PC during the cruise.

I don’t understand – because some Traditional Diners switch to Anytime, those who really want Traditional should be put on wait lists and told their Personal Choice is not available? The last few cruises that I’ve been on that have offered Anytime Dining, the Traditional Dining room has been full and remained that way (at least in surrounding sections) for the entire cruise.

There’s no valid reason why Princess can’t offer Traditional Dining to the overflow in the Anytime Dining room. If they are trying to convince Traditional Diners that they should try Anytime, they are going about it in the wrong way…frustrating the Traditional Diners in the first place doesn’t put them in the right frame of mind to try something else.

[negc]

There has to be a reason why Princess wait-lists so many for traditional. My guess is that, at least in part, they've found that a significant percentage of traditional diners end up switching to PC during the cruise. If everyone who initially requested traditional dining were to be accomodated, such a huge switch to PC would completely disrupt both PC and traditional dining.

 

We hear pretty routinely about vacancies at traditional tables. Certainly, some wait-listed traditional diners give up and default to PC without ever trying to get a traditional table, but there's no question that many confirmed traditional diners defect to PC during the cruise.

 

What "huge switch" would there be if people who requested traditional dining actually got it? Maybe they should try accomodating everyone who requested traditional dining. Then we could see about what you describe as a "huge switch".

 

We more routinely hear about frustrated passengers denied their personal choice of traditional dining. I think that there is definitely a question about whether or not many confirmed traditional diners defect (of their own volition) to PC during the cruise. Most are still on a waiting list when they board and are unable to switch afterwards.

 

It is amazing that in face of all the evidence to the contrary, some like this poster, can claim that anytime is such an overwhelming and unquestioned success. No one denies that there are those who prefer it, but even among that number, you can see that many pretty much replicate traditional by booking the same table, wait staff, and dining time, while others complain that they can only book a specific table and wait staff at times that the restaurant staff will allow, not necessarily the times that the passengers would choose.

 

All most of us are asking is some acknowledgement by Princess that alloting more dining rooms to anytime dining than to traditional when the demand reflects a need to do the opposite, doesn't make sense and is, in such cases, counter-productive.

[SaylorGirl]

Very few, if any, folks on these boards are saying that there aren't people who enjoy antime dining. They are only questioning why, if a majority of the people on a particular sailing, request traditional dining, Princess can't be flexible enough in its dining room assignments to accommodate them. Rigidly adhering to a formula of assigning two dining rooms to anytime dining and one to traditional, even when the percentages among the passengers are the reverse (and known to the line well in advance of sailing) seems to be contrary to common sense. As for the confusion over whether traditional diners can choose to try anytime dining at some point during their cruise, some of the blame for that misconception has to go to Princess, which early on when "anytime dining" was just being introduced, suggested exactly that in its printed materials (since changed, I would hope).

 

Part of the problem could be that many of the "requests" for traditional dining are not requests at all. Some of the internet sites do not have the option for traditional or personal choice just choices of large or small tables and early or late dining. So when these people get to the ship they want personal choice and not traditional. Also, my TA always puts in traditional dining and I only want personal choice, its too much trouble to try and change it before we sail so I just go to the PC dining room the first night and they switch it out. So the problem would be if Princess puts aside one of the PC dining rooms for traditional there may not be enough diners to fill it up.

[spongerob]

Well stated, Bill.

[donna5]

It shouldn't be too much of a problem to get anytime dining. If your TA doesn't do as you ask, then you should get a diff. TA. Most of the online agents have a phone number and you can call and ask them to put you in Anytime dining.

[MaryPoppinz]

It is amazing that in face of all the evidence to the contrary, some like this poster, can claim that anytime is such an overwhelming and unquestioned success.

 

I would prefer that you not put words into my mouth that no one has spoken.

[Cruisin' Chick]

"There’s no valid reason why Princess can’t offer Traditional Dining to the overflow in the Anytime Dining room. If they are trying to convince Traditional Diners that they should try Anytime, they are going about it in the wrong way…frustrating the Traditional Diners in the first place doesn’t put them in the right frame of mind to try something else. "

I agree. Let passengers decide if they want anytime or traditional. If there's over 100 (or whatever) passengers who want traditional, put aside a space for them. Don't make them do anytime dining just because they weren't first to book their cabin.

Then let traditional diners know that they can't simply show up at the anytime dining rooms unless they switch permanently to anytime. That's only fair. Then those on the waitlist (if they're still need one), can be asked if they want the table in traditional. If they can't make a seating one night, they can still go to the Horizon Court (or whatever it is on their ship) or order room service.

[laprofesora]

Let's not forget that Anytime Dining is what we experience for the 51 other weeks of the year when we are not cruising :(. Eating when we want, making reservations, waiting in line, having different wait staff, etc. is a normal part of life when visiting restaurants on shore.

 

So when we're aboard our ships, Traditional Dining is our escape from this normal routine...and the specialized treatment we receive is a welcome change.

 

I have only known Traditional Dining while cruising, and have reserved Anytime Dining for our August cruise on the Crown. After reading the posts here, I'm not sure that I've made the correct choice. My greatest criticism with Traditional Dining is that there are often evenings when our tablemates did not tell us that they would not be dining with us, and we ended up sitting alone at a large table. The social experience of dinner is one of my favourite reasons for cruising.

 

Is there anyone out there who likes Anytime Dining? Please reassure me by telling me why.

We have done both. Each has some good points.However, it is fun to do a traditional late dining if you are not with a group. It also is a way to get to know your wait staff. Less hassle then personal choice as there is no waiting in a long line. Probably easier to see the shows. We also sailed on the Noordam in March.