Pacific Princess dining question

[FritzG]

We sailing on the Pacific Princess on Sept. 9.  It's a port intensive cruise, and we won't be back on board at dinner time for at least 7 of the ports.  Will they have open dining on those nights?  If not, is the buffet our only choice if we're not back in time for first seating?   This is our 28th Princess cruise, but it's our first time on a small ship where there is no anytime dining .

[Jezabel2924]

We just got off of the Pacific Princess last week.  On most port days the onboard time was 5:30pm with a 6pm sailing.  There was one port that we did not leave until 1am and it was open seating that night.  The two "actual" on board dining times were 5:30pm and 7:45pm, although they almost always opened up at 7:30pm.  We had second sitting and were not affected at all.  The first sitting folks needed to be onboard earlier.  I did hear a couple of people say that they had asked to join a table on second sitting when they  missed their dining and they were able to accomodate them.  (There were many empty tables regularly around us on most nights)

[walkingsoon]

I recall open seating being available in the MDR for those port days in which all aboard hour extended beyond early seating.

[Colo Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, walkingsoon said:

I recall open seating being available in the MDR for those port days in which all aboard hour extended beyond early seating.

On the Pacific?

[walkingsoon]

Yes, Colorado Cruiser, but I shouldn't have used the plural. I guess it was just the one day when there was open seating. Like Jezabel, I was second seating and didn't pay too much attention. 

The OPs question certainly is fair - the buffet was kind of stressed at times when several excursion groups all returned at the same time. On the other hand, I can't say I ever felt underfed. 

The Pacific is a great ship - top of my list for Princess.

[Micahs Grandad]

6 hours ago, walkingsoon said:

I recall open seating being available in the MDR for those port days in which all aboard hour extended beyond early seating.

On late port days they were ok with people arriving about a half hour late for early seating.

[flamomo]

I've cruised on the Pacific a number of time because I love this little ship!! On full-day port days there are often a number of empty seats in the dining room, perhaps because some late returners may have eaten on shore,  are tired, or opted not to bother with changing clothes to go to the DR, so chose the buffet or room service.

There definitely seemed to be some leeway on those days allowing for late arrivals for first seating, and we were always able to sit at our usual table when we were late returning.

On the occasional day when all-aboard time was well into the evening, it was open seating for all.

 

 

[FritzG]

Thanks for the replies.  Four of our ports sail after 8pm.