Anytime dining question - how does it work

[ilovetocruisetoo]

We have cruised many times on many lines and have ALWAYS done traditional dining, late seating. We are late eaters and this just fits into our lifestyle best. But it looks like we have been waitlisted for this upcoming cruise, so wonder how exactly anytime dining works.

 

I understand there is a dedicated dining room (or two) for it. Correct?

 

Do you just show up whenever you feel like it or are there just the two times, early and late? I assume it would be like going to any restaraunt in town, you show up, if they have an open table, they seat you right away. If not, you wait. I don't have a problem waiting.

 

I also understand you can request from the m.d. the same table every night. Do you do this when you board or before/after dinner the first night?

[Pam in CA]

I've done Anytime dining twice and both times, had waits every single night, sometimes as long as 45 minutes, even with a reservation for the same table at the same time every night at 8PM. From what I've read, people who go to the Anytime dining room between 5:30-6PM have better success in being seated right away. You cannot make a reservation between 6:00 and 8:00PM.

 

Technically, you should be able to just walk up and be seated but for many, it doesn't work that easily, particularly if you prefer the late traditional eating times. If you are willing to be seated at a large table with others, you will probably have less of a wait.

 

We're still waitlisted for late traditional on our upcoming Golden cruise (at #19) and it doesn't look like we're going to get it. <sigh> We plan to go to the Maitre D and cry and beg to be put in late traditional. I will not do Anytime again. Been there, done that, won't do it. Even with a reservation, the service and experience just isn't the same.

[cruise fairy]

We've always done anytime (all 3 times) and never have had to wait more than 5 minutes. Second cruise we requested same table/waiter each night, no wait!

We really like the anytime dining, but might try traditional next cruise for a change.

[il professore]

I think Anytime is just like eating at any fine restaurant. Make a reservation for prime time and plan on at least a one drink wait in the bar before they buzz you. Arrive sans reservation at an off time, and, odds are, you'll have only a slight wait. Have a reservation for an off time, arrive and walk to the front of the line, if there is one, and the maitre 'd seats you. If you are a parrty of 2, get a table for two. When you like a wait team, reserve one of their tables for the rest of the cruise if you wish.

 

And, of course, if you like a wait team and reserve their table give them a sizeable tip on the last night. We figure that only about $4 per person per day goes to the dinner wait team (at most)! If the 5-course dinner is worth $50 per person, we feel we should tip an additional $6/person/day for the standard 20%. And the service has always been worth that.

 

Antime Dining is why we always cruise Princess. I think only the really high-priced lines have something similar. (NCL's Freestyle definitely does not count!)

 

Enjoy the escargots. They're wonderful!

[willysgrandma]

For anytime dining, you show up at the dining roomwhenever you want to eat. When we were on the Crown, there were two lines - one if you had reservations, one if yo didn't. We never had reservations and were seated immediately - never a wait.

 

But we did notice that the line for people WITH reservations did sometimes have a wait.

[cynbar]

You didn't say what ship you'll be on. We have had great luck with anytime dining, until our cruise last summer on Crown Princess. The waits seemed longer and a lot of people were making reservations (there is a separate line at the DR entrance for those with reservations), so after a couple of nights, we reserved for the rest of the week with a waiter we had enjoyed. I'm thinking this may have been because the Crown and the Caribbean have an extra deck of passengers so the DRs are busier, but that's just a theory. We prefer the flexibility of just arriving when we're ready, but even without that, we prefer anytime because we avoid being stuck with a bad waiter or boring tablemates for the entire cruise.

[julieds]

Seems like Anytime Dining works better for some people and on some ships than others... We enjoyed it on our Golden cruise last month: we never made a reservation and never had to wait for a table as long as we were willing to share with others. (We generally dined on the early side, between 6:30 and 7:30.) We felt the convenience of being able to eat whenever we wanted to and the fun of meeting different people at each dinner more than made up for the less-attentive service we received (compared to traditional dining on other lines--this was our first Princess cruise).

[JohnQ]

We are waitlisted for early traditional for Dawn cruise in two weeks, with #332, so we will probably not get traditional. My question is are we automatically given anytime card and treated same as all anytime diners or do we get in another waitlist line to eat ? And the ability to reserve all cruise with same waiter seems to be a ship to ship thing?

[cherylandtk]

We are waitlisted for early traditional for Dawn cruise in two weeks, with #332, so we will probably not get traditional. My question is are we automatically given anytime card and treated same as all anytime diners or do we get in another waitlist line to eat ? And the ability to reserve all cruise with same waiter seems to be a ship to ship thing?

If you don't clear the waitlist you will be assigned Anytime dining. Once you get on the ship you can see the maitre'd and ask if there is a chance to switch to traditional dining--several folks have reported that they get assigned the second night by doing that. If neither works, there is no 'waitlist' line, you just are an Anytime diner. As for the second part of your question, yes, the standing reservation policy varies from ship to ship and even from sailing to sailing on some ships. But you can always ask.