Do any of you Princess cruisers still enjoy 'traditional' cruise dining?

[Disneycruisers]

I just booked our first Princess cruise for next March on Crown Princess.

 

We've sailed DCL, CCL, RCCL and are eager to try Princess. (Trying them all. We're hopelessly hooked on cruising.)

 

I've noticed that this new ship has two 'freestyle' dining venues, and one traditional dining room.

 

One of the reasons we like to cruise is the traditional dining. Freestyle dining is what we have in our everyday lives when we choose to eat out. (Speaking only for my family. I know it's a personal choice for everyone.) We love having certain nights to dress up, having a set dining time, meeting new people and getting to know our waitstaff. (We're a family of three.) For this cruise we requested second seating at a large table (to sit with others.)

 

I'm eager for us to sail on Princess, and am wondering and (hoping) there will be others who feel the same way we do? I was so impressed when I saw the new NCL ship on 'the Apprentice' earlier this week, until I learned it was all 'freestyle' dining.

 

Thanks!

[negc]

The fact that there are lengthy waitlists for traditional dining on practically every Princess sailing should be sufficient evidence of the continued popularity of traditional dining. I agree with you, if I want freestyle or anytime dining, I can stay home and go to a good land-based restaurant. I want my cruise dining experience to be special and not what I can get somewhere else, so I opt for traditional. For whatever reasons, it appears that Princess while giving lip service to the concept of offering two styles of dining, is loading the odds to force more and more passengers into anytime dining.

[tkebrad]

DW and I also very much enjoy traditional dinning. We love getting to know the waitstaff, and the special attention they can provide once they know you. Seems that Princess is very eager to push everyone into anytime dinning, but you can tell by the length of the waitlists that many people still enjoy traditional.

[Disneycruisers]

Thank you!

 

I didn't know that there are waitlists for traditional dining. One would think that that'd be the to go (or stay?)

 

Hopefully the demands will stay the same for traditional.

[Ethel5]

DW and I also very much enjoy traditional dinning. We love getting to know the waitstaff, and the special attention they can provide once they know you. Seems that Princess is very eager to push everyone into anytime dinning, but you can tell by the length of the waitlists that many people still enjoy traditional.

 

I agree totally! It's great to sit down and have you iced tea already there. I like having the same tablemates so you don't have to do the autobiography each night and you can talk about other things.

[Cindy]

We much prefer traditional. There was an interesting thread a couple days ago, about people using both traditional and anytime. This happened to us on the Grand earlier this month, and it negatively impacted both types of diners.

I would like to see Princess adjust the availability of traditional dining on a sailing-by-sailing basis, depending on the length of the waitlist. I agree with Bill (negc) that Princess seems to be trying to get the majority of the passengers into anytime dining.

[sun&sea]

One of the things that I felt was special in my early cruising years, was the whole traditional dining experience. After many cruises, when DH and I go alone, "anytime" fits just right. However, when we take newbies, I would like for them to experience traditional dining. Seems like unless you book a year in advance, it is difficult to get traditional dining anymore.

 

Janet

[judynorth]

We prefer traditional dining, and yes, there is almost always a waitlist to get it. (We are waitlisted at almost 200 for our fall cruise.) On our last cruise we were 2 couples traveling together. We shared a table with 4 English ladies who were also traveling together. Can you imagine 4 folks from the south and 4 English ladies getting along together? We had a wonderful time and when the last night came we were almost in tears because we would soon be parting. We still keep in touch. Getting to know the wait staff was great too. Our waiters were the BEST!

[SaylorGirl]

While I enjoy the dining room (I don't like buffets) and I enjoy the wait staff, I always choose PC dining. I have done the traditional enough times to know that I would no longer book a cruise on a ship that only had traditional. I prefer to meet people on my own not be stuck with others for dinner. My DH and I enjoy a table for 2, which is impossible to get in traditional dining. That is what is so great about Princess they have the best of both worlds. We have never had to wait for a table but we usually dine late.

[Nancyquilts]

We much prefer the traditional dining - so much so that we will never take NCL again, because traditional isn't offered. We enjoy meeting a variety of passengers at breakfast and lunch, but like to really get to know people at the traditional dining experience. Nancy

[suziehmkr]

You can still get a feeling of traditional in the Personal Choice Dining room.... to an extent. Once you find a waiter that you like, you can reserve the same table at a specific time for the rest of your cruise - or on a night to night basis. We loved Personal Choice, and when we knew we would be at dinner by a certain time, we would call and reserve our table for that time. So, you can still dine with the same waitstaff at the same time each evening if you want.

 

We still are partial to RCCL over Princess - but some sort of Personal Choice dining is something that all lines should look at for at least one dining room. We felt that was a huge plus and enjoyed being as flexible as we needed to be.

[cruiserone]

We tried PC dining last year and hated it! We ended the week staying with the same wait staff the last 3 nights and loved it! I agree with poster that said she liked coming to the table and having her iced tea waiting for her. We just got off the Mariner of the Seas where they still have traditional dining. Our wait staff was terrific!! Every night he addressed us by name and every person at the table said it was the best staff they ever had. I do not find that with PC dining. We like the personal touch with the staff.:D

[negc]

You can still get a feeling of traditional in the Personal Choice Dining room.... to an extent. Once you find a waiter that you like, you can reserve the same table at a specific time for the rest of your cruise - or on a night to night basis. We loved Personal Choice, and when we knew we would be at dinner by a certain time, we would call and reserve our table for that time. So, you can still dine with the same waitstaff at the same time each evening if you want.

 

We still are partial to RCCL over Princess - but some sort of Personal Choice dining is something that all lines should look at for at least one dining room. We felt that was a huge plus and enjoyed being as flexible as we needed to be.

 

Unfortunately, I know of people who attempted to reserve the same table, wait staff and time and were not allowed to. Unless you choose less popular dining times, it is difficult, perhaps impossible to do as you suggest.

If Princess only designated one dining room for anytime dining or, better yet, adjusted the designations to reflect the actual demand on each particular cruise, there might be fewer wait lists and the concept might work better. On at least one Princess ship I understand that a portion of one anytime dining room has now been set aside to accommodate those seeking early traditional dining. It is a small step in the right direction IMHO.

[2BCruising]

My DH and I enjoyed our traditional dining experience on the last two Princess cruises. We've sat at a large table and enjoyed meeting other people. A few times on the last cruise, we felt rushed getting to our early seating. Also, some our excursions would get back to the ship late and we would end up having a late lunch and then a short few hours later have dinner. For our next cruise (14-days), we're going to try the "anytime" dining.

[Tom O.]

Most people, like myself, prefer traditional dining, but there are also a lot of people that loves Personal Choice. The problem is that Princess does not allow enough space for traditional diners

[GBeret]

My wife and I both like traditional dining! We have sampled the specialty places. Didn't care for them that much.

[S&M in Pgh]

We prefer the traditional dining, did the PC dining on the Grand a few years ago because our traveling companions booked late and could not get in. It took 4 nights until we found a waiter we liked and enjoyed so we requested his station for the last few nights.

 

We are back to traditional for our up coming Crown Princess cruise.

 

And I agree with some of the other comments that the amount of people wait listed should tell them that they need more Traditional seating rather than more PC seating.

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Leafpeeper]

We are sailing Princess for the first time this Fall and look forward to trying the personal choice anytime dining. I like that Princess gives people the optioin of traditional or anytime dining.

 

Last month we sailed on a Carnival ship with one dining room and a horrible buffet. After a few nights eating same time--same table--same waiter, we got very bored in the dining room. Unlike RCCL, there was no hot food on the Carnival room service menu for balcony dining so we had to eat at a very limited buffet when we didn't use the dining room.

 

About 15 months ago we sailed NCL Dawn and loved freestyle dining with ten restaurants to choose from each night. We made reservations for some restaurants and left other nights open to be flexible. We loved all the choices of where and when to eat.

 

We do enjoy cruising RCCL new ships because they have 2 specialty restaurants in addition to their dining room and an incredible buffet. They also offer hot food with a dinner menu on the tv screen to choose from each day. There is no room service fee for a hot dinner on the balcony either. I have a collapsable table that I carry over my shoulder just for those couple of evenings dining on the balcony. I did notice that Princess ships have a dining table on the balcony so I can leave my table home.

 

We will be sailing NCL Star in February, so between the anytime dining on Princess this Fall and the freestyle dining on NCL, we won't have to worry about being on time for dinner. It's our choice to make.

[bjkTX]

I want to be able to determine when I eat dinner based on what I'm doing that day/evening, not determine what I'm going to do based on when I need to be in the dinning room (traditional). On our first cruise we had PC dinning but opted for a large table and all we could think of afterward was how thankfull we were we didn't have to sit with them all week - I'm sure they felt the same way :-) I can understand the desire to get to know the wait staff and have them be familiar with you - it's just not a biggee on my list - I'll get my iced tea fast enough. I would not cruise on a line that did not offer PC - that's us - I know it's just the opposite for many others.

[Belle2002]

The great thing about Princess is that if you choose to have the traditional dining and are not thrilled with your tablemates you can make a very gracious exit.

 

We happen to like the traditional dining experience. We always find that the dining experience is just part of the total cruise experience. We had sailed last year on the NCL Dawn with a large group. Freestyle, when you are part of a large group is great, you will generally always have someone that you can pair up and dine with. Belle

[ssbeagle]

We like to do traditional dining so we get to know our tablemates and waiters. When we travel with our family and grandchildren we do anytime so we can eat early enough to get the boys up to the kids' program and they won't miss the functions they have up there. If we find a waiter/asst waiter that we like in open sitting we'll make a reservation each night for that table.

[fnewman]

We absolutely prefer traditional dining, particularly because we get to know the wait staff and table companions. With respect to being 'waitlisted' - back in the days before PC, dining the ship's dining rooms almost had to be big enough to hold all the passengers in two seatings. At that time the only waitlist was for those who wanted early seating but couldn't because they booked too late, etc. Now, with the newer ships some of the dining space has been devoted to specialty and PC dining rooms leaving the main dingin rooms not needing as much space. However, ther are still those who wait until they board and are disappointed when they can't just walk up and get a space in early seating.

 

I don't think the cruise lines can win; I'd hate to be the designer who had to make the decision as to how much space to devote to each type of dining room.

[Opinions]

We prefer the traditional dining, did the PC dining on the Grand a few years ago because our traveling companions booked late and could not get in. It took 4 nights until we found a waiter we liked and enjoyed so we requested his station for the last few nights.

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

Just curious, what happens in Traditional if you have a waiter you don't "like"?...I doubt they would let you change 4 times until you found the right one.

[makeup face]

I always prefer the traditional dining:D

[LuvTheGoodLife]

For us, after trying both Traditional and Anytime/Personal Choice on Princess - we strongly prefer Anytime/Personal Choice. We like varying our dining times, meeting different people or dining by ourselves and trying alternative dining options like the Ultimate Balcony Dinner and Sabatini's.

 

What we did not like with one of our Traditional Dining experiences on Princess was sitting at a large table by ourselves for the last 4 mights as various of our tablemates (all first time cruisers) began to switch to anytime dining once they understood that option. Their travel agents had placed them in traditional dining without explaining how it and anytime differed.

 

In talking with the Head Waiter and Maitre D who came by to ask about our near empty table, they acknowledged that a good percentage of Traditional Diners switch or mostly switch to Anytime Dining by mid-week and that is why Princess is reluctant to assign more dining space to Traditional Dining, despite any initial waiting lists for Traditional. If 2 dining rooms were assigned to Traditional and only 1 to Anytime, then if many traditional diners decided to switch to Anytime, the Anytime dining room could not handle the capacity.

 

Just thought I would offer a different perspective to the discussion.