Waitlisted for dining room?

[NCmomwithteens]

So we booked our trip in February and requested second seating dining. Have been on two other cruises and it was never an issue about getting our request. Now we are three weeks from our cruise and are "waitlisted" for our dining preference. We were told by Princess and our travel agent that we could do anytime dining which we don't want. Any suggestions from more experienced cruisers about how to handle this?

Thanks!

[qiangf2]

So we booked our trip in February and requested second seating dining. Have been on two other cruises and it was never an issue about getting our request. Now we are three weeks from our cruise and are "waitlisted" for our dining preference. We were told by Princess and our travel agent that we could do anytime dining which we don't want. Any suggestions from more experienced cruisers about how to handle this?

Thanks!

 

Tough call. I would have suggested any time dining as well. But apparently it does not work for you.

[sayaguru]

Go to the pursers desk as soon as you arrive. You could always go to the dining room and request a set table every night (a tip might help). But this won't solve your problm if you wanted a large table with the same people every night.

It's funny the fixed dining was the only thing I was worried about before going on my last cruise as I had only done Anytime Dining.

I like eating when I want and where I want.

[pmoments]

Do you find it better to have early or late seating on alaska cruises?

[rjscott]

NCmom, we were on the Dawn Princess last April. That first day, the maitre d' was set up in the main dining room to take requests for changes to times/tables from passengers. We had to wait maybe 10 minutes to talk with him, but we visited with other passengers while we waited. The maitre d' took our info and asked us to check with him the next day for our new assigned table(There were many people wanting to change their assignments). That was a day at sea for us, so it was quite easy to go back to the dining room in the morning and get our assigned seating for the traditional dining. Hope this helps.

[sayaguru]

Early/Late.

Depends on the ship I guess On Diamond Princess the shows are 7 and 9pm.

We had anytime and most nighhts went to the 7pm show then dinner. After that we would go to one of the lounges to dance. listen to a band or a comedy act. But one night we ate at 10pm at the buffet. My hubby said "I can't believe we are eating at 10pm". But it wasn't even dark yet.