waitlist for dining

[renata102]

Hi, I am new to Princess. I am booked on the Crown Princess July 14 sailing. I notice I am waitlisted for dinner (1st seating) and I am at #157.

 

Can someone explain what a waitlist is. I mean, I get the jist of the idea. But does that number mean, there is no room left in the dining rooms? Is this common? What is there a waitlist? I keep hearing that it is waiting to be cleared (but 157 seems like a high number). I don't want to do anytime dining either. Anyway can some one give me a dining waitlist course 101 on this please? What is your wait list number and how far away is your cruise? I am 88 days away. Also when does a waitlist clear?

 

Thanks:confused:

[katisdale]

This means that the first seating for traditional dining (one dining room) is full and you are 157 on the waiting list. There are two other dining rooms(anytime) and if you don't clear the wait list (ie move from waitlist to confirmed) you will be placed in anytime dining. You then have the choice of eating at different times each night as a "walk-up" customer like at a local restaurant or you can make a reservation for a set time each evening. If you find you like one dining room better than the other or find a waiter you enjoy you can reserve a specific room/table/waiter for the rest of the cruise. I don't think they take reservations between 7 and 8:30 PM as that is only available for walk ups. I like both traditional and anytime but there are differences. In traditional I like meeting with my tablemates each night and hearing about what they did that day. I don't like rushing back from a long day in port and rushing to get ready for my predetermined dining time. In anytime I like being able to eat early one day and later the next. I don't like having to do introductions every evening as I am never with the same group. The food is the same but the atmosphere is subtly different. In traditional the whole room is basically on the same schedule. In anytime the people at the next table may be eating salads while you are on your dessert.

[Pam in CA]

Almost every Princess cruise has a Traditional dining waitlist; far more people want it than there are available tables/seats. We booked last September for our February cruise and were finally down to #4 when we boarded. However, we were assigned Anytime dining. I went to the Maitre D right after boarding and requested a table in Traditional and he was able to find one for us so it worked out.

 

With Anytime dining, you can make a reservation for a table before 6PM or after 8PM. The time between is prime time and strictly walk-up. The earlier you go, the better chance you have of not having a wait. Last year, we did Anytime and had a standing reservation for the same table at 8PM every night of the cruise. We still had waits of between 5 - 45 minutes. As has been said, your servers are waiting on tables on very different schedules. Every night, we had to wait 10 - 15 minutes with our finished salad or soup plates while the table next to us was being seated, their drink orders taken, and their dinner orders taken. That might not be your experience but it was ours.

[JLC@SD]

Hi, I am new to Princess. I am booked on the Crown Princess July 14 sailing. I notice I am waitlisted for dinner (1st seating) and I am at #157.

 

Can someone explain what a waitlist is. I mean, I get the jist of the idea. But does that number mean, there is no room left in the dining rooms? Is this common? What is there a waitlist? I keep hearing that it is waiting to be cleared (but 157 seems like a high number). I don't want to do anytime dining either. Anyway can some one give me a dining waitlist course 101 on this please? What is your wait list number and how far away is your cruise? I am 88 days away. Also when does a waitlist clear?

 

Thanks:confused:

 

......3000 pax on the ship......3 dining rooms.......2 sittings per dining room =s 500 passengers for 1st sitting.

 

157 people have to cancel for you to get a table......or 157 / 500 = 32 percent have to cancel.

 

It is possible if you are pre final payment.....less likely after final payment....;)

[hb1491]

We here wait listed# 256 on Sydney to SF. last year and we got in just after final payment I think you still have chance.

[tarheelmjfan]

This means that the first seating for traditional dining (one dining room) is full and you are 157 on the waiting list. There are two other dining rooms(anytime) and if you don't clear the wait list (ie move from waitlist to confirmed) you will be placed in anytime dining. You then have the choice of eating at different times each night as a "walk-up" customer like at a local restaurant or you can make a reservation for a set time each evening. If you find you like one dining room better than the other or find a waiter you enjoy you can reserve a specific room/table/waiter for the rest of the cruise. I don't think they take reservations between 7 and 8:30 PM as that is only available for walk ups. I like both traditional and anytime but there are differences. In traditional I like meeting with my tablemates each night and hearing about what they did that day. I don't like rushing back from a long day in port and rushing to get ready for my predetermined dining time. In anytime I like being able to eat early one day and later the next. I don't like having to do introductions every evening as I am never with the same group. The food is the same but the atmosphere is subtly different. In traditional the whole room is basically on the same schedule. In anytime the people at the next table may be eating salads while you are on your dessert.

 

We're considering booking our next cruise on Princess. Our biggest concern is being stuck with anytime dining. Now, I'm even more concerned. Are you say those with anytime dining are seated with others? We won't go to a local restaurant without reservations. We'd easily forgo the ability of choosing a dining time to avoid waiting to be seated. I was trying to convince myself AD would be fine. The only plus I came up with was having a table to ourselves. If we couldn't get into Traditional Dining, we could make a reservation for the 3 of us each evening at one of the other locations. If in fact we would be seated with a different set of people each evening, that would be a deal breaker. We'll look elsewhere. Am I reading your post correctly? If not, please explain how it works. TIA :)

 

PS: We like late seating. Is traditional dining as hard to get for late seating as early seating? Thanks again.

[Sea Hag]

The earlier you book, the better your chances are of getting the seating you prefer. You might try being flexible on which sailing of a ship/itenary you book - if you can't get your preferred seating confirmed on one sailing, then you might be able to get it on another sailing. Of course, the cruise price might be different. This is probably like nearly everything else in life - you make the choices that are most acceptable to you on an average basis.

[tarheelmjfan]

The earlier you book, the better your chances are of getting the seating you prefer. You might try being flexible on which sailing of a ship/itenary you book - if you can't get your preferred seating confirmed on one sailing, then you might be able to get it on another sailing. Of course, the cruise price might be different. This is probably like nearly everything else in life - you make the choices that are most acceptable to you on an average basis.

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of total flexibility yet. Our son's in high school. We have to work around his schedule. When it's just my DH & I, we'll definitely be flexible. We'll choose cruises based on price alone for the itinerary of our choosing. After all these years of vacationing in peak season, we'll deserve a price break. :D

 

I'm just really curious how Princess dining works. I don't want to book without knowing exactly what to expect. I'm crazy that way. :p

[BrooklynGirl2]

tarheelmjfan....We have traditional late seating on the Crown this summer. Our cruise is June and we booked late January. Traditional diners all eat in the same dining room at the same time. They don't mix open seating people in with the traditional people. The Crown has 3 separate dining rooms. One is for Traditional seating and the other 2 are for the anytime diners.

 

If you do get anytime dining they will give you the choice of either being seated with others (different people every night) or waiting for a table for 2 or 3 of you (as the case may be). It would be your choice but if you want to eat alone you may have to wait a bit longer for a table, depending on what time you arrive for dinner.

 

We are usually X cruisers and are trying Princess for the first time. Getting traditional late dining sealed the deal for us.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[tarheelmjfan]

tarheelmjfan....We have traditional late seating on the Crown this summer. Our cruise is June and we booked late January. Traditional diners all eat in the same dining room at the same time. They don't mix open seating people in with the traditional people. The Crown has 3 separate dining rooms. One is for Traditional seating and the other 2 are for the anytime diners.

 

If you do get anytime dining they will give you the choice of either being seated with others (different people every night) or waiting for a table for 2 or 3 of you (as the case may be). It would be your choice but if you want to eat alone you may have to wait a bit longer for a table, depending on what time you arrive for dinner.

 

We are usually X cruisers and are trying Princess for the first time. Getting traditional late dining sealed the deal for us.

 

Hope this helps.

 

This is our situation exactly! Your response is very helpful. As soon as we've made our final decision, we'll be calling to book a Nov. cruise. I hope we can get into traditional, late seating dining. The more I read about anytime dining, the more I want to stick with traditional. :p If it's anytime or nothing, I'm not sure we'll book that cruise. I'm glad you got what you wanting. Hopefully, we'll be equally lucky. :)

[katisdale]

Hello Tarheelmjfan,

I prefer the pack myself. However to answer your question, if you want to dine with others and don't have the "others" identified (people you know from home or have met on the cruise) then yes you would be dining with strangers but you do have the option to ask for a table that only includes your own party. You would probably have a longer wait but that may or may not be a problem. You could also make a reservation for the entire cruise for just the 3 of you. I like both ways of having dinner so it is not an issue with me but my husband prefers anytime as he loves eating with new people each night.

[tarheelmjfan]

Hello Tarheelmjfan,

I prefer the pack myself. However to answer your question, if you want to dine with others and don't have the "others" identified (people you know from home or have met on the cruise) then yes you would be dining with strangers but you do have the option to ask for a table that only includes your own party. You would probably have a longer wait but that may or may not be a problem. You could also make a reservation for the entire cruise for just the 3 of you. I like both ways of having dinner so it is not an issue with me but my husband prefers anytime as he loves eating with new people each night.

 

Thanks for getting back to me. We travel with our a 15 yr. old son. He's not comfortable around strangers, & many people don't want to dine with a child. Dining alone gives us a chance for some quality time, but also helps to avoid any awkwardness. To be honest, our son kind of comes by it honestly. My DH & I love to meet new people, but we'd prefer to do that elsewhere than at dinner. OTOH, If we meet someone early on in the cruise or on the roll call that we get along with, we'd be happy to dine with them. Just not so much with someone we've never met. :o

[Pam in CA]

The more I read about anytime dining, the more I want to stick with traditional. :p If it's anytime or nothing, I'm not sure we'll book that cruise. I'm glad you got what you wanting. Hopefully, we'll be equally lucky. :)

If you don't clear the waitlist by the time you board, go to the Maitre D as soon as you board and explain your situation and request traditional. Chances are excellent that he will be able to accommodate you. Don't let being waitlisted keep you from taking the cruise.

[Vanilla]

If there are 150 people wanting traditional, why doesn't Princess just section off a part of the Anytime Dining area and accommodate those people. It would be in the Anytime area, but they could be served as traditional style. That is alot of people to have unhappy when they could certainly do just a little moving around to accommodate them. If it is apparent that there is that many on the waiting list - its apparent some still enjoy the Traditional way of dining. We are #15 on the waitlist for our June cruise.

[ginak1112]

I just sailed with a group on 10 on CB. We were #220 for 2nd seating (spring break week). I knew that anytime would be nuts with a group of 10 so I went to the maitre d immediately after an early boarding. He took down my info and said that he would let me know by the following evening at the latest. I thanked him and handed him a $20. That was the best $20 I've ever spent! By the time I went back to my cabin that afternoon there was a note giving me our table number for late seating for us. Every night we had special plates of calamari, caprese, fried mozzarella, seafood salad, etc. coming to the table. I tipped him again on the last night. I also noticed a few empty tables near the back of the dining room where we were sitting so I know that they save some. Good luck!

[sacway]

We are now 197 on first seating waitlist for our July cruise, down from 250 a few weeks ago. We may or may not clear before getting on board, but if we don't we'll just make a polite request with the maitre-d on boarding.

 

On our last cruise, even though they had that waitlist, after a couple of days the dining room was far less than full. A mix, I suppose, of people having dinner in specialty restaurants, going to the buffet to avoid dressing up, not getting ready in time, and so on. I think that's why they don't just allocate a couple hundred seats more as traditional dining.

[gambit57]

PS: We like late seating. Is traditional dining as hard to get for late seating as early seating? Thanks again.

 

Late traditional is easier to get. I was #400 something for early. I think around 100 something for late, but got it right around final payment time.

[pg.]

One of the reasons the waitlist goes down AFTER ( before is obvioulsy cancellations) boarding is that Trad diners try Anytime and find out it isn't that bad.

We had ATD this past March on CB, ( family of five) and never waited for a table and never sat with other people. We MUCH prefer it since we never had to be anywhere at a certain time. We did tend to dine early though as the kids wanted to do the evenings programs , so we tended to arrive at the dining room between 6 and 6:30.

 

Like some who say they would find ATD a deal breaker if they couldn't get Trad seating, we say we would NOT consider other lines if they DIDN"T have open or anytime dining.

 

Anyways, try it, you might enjoy the freedom, and you can make reservations, and greasing the MD hand will make that even easier if you are very adamant about getting what you want, we are a bit of "go with the flow" types on vacation.