ATD British Isles Crown Princess

[cfly]

We will be doing ATD on Crown Princess. I have read many posts but still have some questions so thanks for your responses.

I know that we can call day of starting at 8am to reserve a time, but we will generally be off the ship by then so that will not be an option for us.

We are a couple and are happy to eat at a table for 8 each night. Many nights we will be happy to eat at 5:30. If we just show up at the MDR at that time are we likely to have a long wait? more than 15 minutes?  What about eating later on a long port day-say after 7pm? Will there be a long wait then? I read that Princess changes its dining on long port days so that everyone is on ATD. Is that true-no one has reservations? We usually like to see the early shows so we will want to be finished dinner early enough to get to the theatre venues for decent seats. Is getting into the shows an issue too?  

Some nights we plan to book specialty dining but there are no times between 5:30 and 7:30. Does this mean they are all sold or that we are likely to be able to get such a time on the ship?

 

[skynight]

7 minutes ago, cfly said:

We will be doing ATD on Crown Princess. I have read many posts but still have some questions so thanks for your responses.

I know that we can call day of starting at 8am to reserve a time, but we will generally be off the ship by then so that will not be an option for us.

We are a couple and are happy to eat at a table for 8 each night. Many nights we will be happy to eat at 5:30. If we just show up at the MDR at that time are we likely to have a long wait? more than 15 minutes? 

The Michelangelo DR, deck 5 mid ship, is open around 5:00pm for ATD. Basically if you just show up at 5:30, ask for a table to share, you will be seated fairly quickly. In Europe many passengers tend to dine later.

What about eating later on a long port day-say after 7pm? Will there be a long wait then?

Probably no issues at 7pm or later. A second DR, DaVinci, deck 6 mid ship, opens for ATD around 7pm increasing the available tables.

I read that Princess changes its dining on long port days so that everyone is on ATD. Is that true-no one has reservations?

This refers to those that have early and late traditional fixed seat dining which is mostly in the Botticelli DR, deck 6 aft with some early fixed seating in the DaVinci DR. Their fixed seating changes to Anytime, but in the same DR. 

We usually like to see the early shows so we will want to be finished dinner early enough to get to the theatre venues for decent seats. Is getting into the shows an issue too? 

Not an issue if you eat at 5:30. Show times do vary when you have this kind of itinerary. What we do is plan our evening meal around the shows and activities not visa versa. 

Some nights we plan to book specialty dining but there are no times between 5:30 and 7:30. Does this mean they are all sold or that we are likely to be able to get such a time on the ship?

You should be able to get a reservation on the ship. Just call the dining line or visit the restaurant. They have tables available at other times than those shown in the cruise personlizer. I would visit on boarding day once you review the Princess Patter for information.

 

I don't think you will have any difficulty with ATD on your itinerary. Each cruise has a little different passenger demographic and you will have to figure that out. If we find that there are crowds at our normal dining time then we call for reservations. Reservations are normally given for specific times. Some other comments above.

[Blondilu]

Regarding ATD, my sisters  and I always say we'll share and have never had to wait. 

 

Regarding speciality  dining, it's my understanding is that 5:30 and 7:30 are the only 2 options. I think it's so no one has to rush and no one is left waiting for others to leave.  

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Blondilu said:

Regarding speciality  dining, it's my understanding is that 5:30 and 7:30 are the only 2 options. I think it's so no one has to rush and no one is left waiting for others to leave.  

 

Those are the only pre-cruise options to keeop the booking process simpler.

 

Once on board you can usually book the time you want unless the restaurant is already "full" at that time.

[cfly]

thanks for the info-it is reassuring. It sounds like we probably won't have to wait too long.

[Southern Cruise]

On ‎4‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 6:33 PM, cfly said:

We will be doing ATD on Crown Princess. I have read many posts but still have some questions so thanks for your responses.

I know that we can call day of starting at 8am to reserve a time, but we will generally be off the ship by then so that will not be an option for us.

We are a couple and are happy to eat at a table for 8 each night. Many nights we will be happy to eat at 5:30. If we just show up at the MDR at that time are we likely to have a long wait? more than 15 minutes?  What about eating later on a long port day-say after 7pm? Will there be a long wait then? I read that Princess changes its dining on long port days so that everyone is on ATD. Is that true-no one has reservations? We usually like to see the early shows so we will want to be finished dinner early enough to get to the theatre venues for decent seats. Is getting into the shows an issue too?  

Some nights we plan to book specialty dining but there are no times between 5:30 and 7:30. Does this mean they are all sold or that we are likely to be able to get such a time on the ship?

 

We had ATD on the Crown BI cruise that sailed 5/13 - 5/25.  I tried to make a reservation twice and was told just to show up.  We only ate in the main dining room 5 nights out of 11 because the port times were so varied and intensive and we found it easier after being gone all day to just grab a burger, a slice of pizza or do the Buffet.  We had 6 people total and usually turned up for ATD between 6:15 and 7:15 and never waited more than 15 minutes.  They gave you a pager, so we just grabbed a table and a drink by the International café.  Our final night of ATD was on Thursday before disembarking on Saturday and it was also a sea day.  They actually moved us to one of the fixed time dining rooms and we had better service.  I do think you have a better shot if you show up at 6:15 or 6:45 vs. 6:30 (on the half hour).  Good Luck.

[Diver2014]

We were on the Crown Princess from May 25 to June 6 and had traditional dining at 5pm.  They do not change to ATD  on long port days. Traditional dining is in the Botticelli Dining Room on deck 6 and ATD is in the Da Vinci and Michelangelo dining rooms on decks 6 and 7.