Anytime Dining.........

[aaannnthony]

.......now, an absolute misnomer. It now entails making a reservation for each night, not coming to the AD/PC dining rooms at "anytime" to see what's available. Basically, it now amounts to traditional dining, but, you make the choice for each night, first or second seating.

 

You're limited to reservations for 5:30 to 6:20, for two or shared table, or after 8:00, again two or shared, by phone reservation.

 

Go to the dining room at 7:15-7:30, you're told to come back after eight, even though there are empty tables at the time. We did this twice, the first two nights, and, were totally frustrated to see empty tables that we had to wait for another half hour plus.

 

We were on the Diamond 9/20-25 and 9/25-10/2!

[bdjam]

It’s going to be unfortunate that Princess is going to have to gut the four Anytime Dining rooms on Diamond and Sapphire Princesses when they go back to Traditional Dining for all. At least on the other ships, the décor of all the dining rooms is the same.

 

I don’t think “Anytime” has ever meant that anyone could just drop in to the dining room and expect a seat anytime they felt like it. The capacity of the room would have to be pretty large to accommodate that. And from what I’ve read, passengers on Diamond and Sapphire have been encouraged to get reservations, especially given the Anytime Dining rooms are half the size.

 

So I guess my question is, which is preferable – Anytime Dining with it’s drawbacks or Traditional? Maybe Princess should try a modified Traditional with varying start times in each dining room. You choose the time you want to have dinner each night and get assigned to a dining room based on that time. You can’t go Anytime, but you’ll have more initial choices than just early or late…? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[CruiseFever]

"It’s going to be unfortunate that Princess is going to have to gut the four Anytime Dining rooms on Diamond and Sapphire Princesses when they go back to Traditional Dining for all."

Huh?

[bdjam]

"It’s going to be unfortunate that Princess is going to have to gut the four Anytime Dining rooms on Diamond and Sapphire Princesses when they go back to Traditional Dining for all."

 

Huh?

Just a joke…:D :D :D

[Irishjayne]

After reading numeous threads on this subject, I have chosen Traditional 2nd seating and was waitlisted. We have been confirmed. I figure if we don't like traditional then we can switch to PC and give our seats up.

We have a restaurant in town that does not take reservations between certain hours. So if we want to eat between those hours we go and put our name on the list and wait at the bar for them to call us. It sounds like that is what happens on the Sapphire and the Diamond. What's the problem?

[CruiseFever]

Just a joke…:D :D :D

Whew, I was about to book NCL and try Freestyle!

[bdjam]

Whew, I was about to book NCL and try Freestyle!

I dunno – if we assume that this board is a good representation of the cruising public… :rolleyes: …then the complaints about Anytime Dining are running pretty high. And yet when asked, a slight majority say they prefer it…:confused:

We have a restaurant in town that does not take reservations between certain hours. So if we want to eat between those hours we go and put our name on the list and wait at the bar for them to call us. It sounds like that is what happens on the Sapphire and the Diamond. What's the problem?

Exactly. If I were to partake in Anytime Dining without a reservation, here’s what I’d do…about 30 minutes or so before I was ready to eat, I’d go down and have my name put on the list, then go off to one of the lounges for a pre-dinner drink or some dancing. What’s the problem? It’s a vacation for Pete’s sake – why not have a little fun? Must be the California sensibility ;)

[Shelli]

We requested Traditional Late when we booked our Caribbean Princess cruise and we got it. The first night, though, we weren't crazy about our tablemates (there were 4 of us and 4 of them, and only one of them did any talking at all), and our waitstaff didn't especially impress us. Combine that with the fact that we felt we were missing too much in the way of entertainment, and the result was that we switched to Anytime Dining the next day. However, whenever I tried to book a reservation, I was told only 8:00 was available. So we took our chances (except for the nights we went to the two specialty restaurants) and just showed up at 7:00... and got seated immediately everytime.

 

I appreciate the convenience of Anytime Dining... but I still feel part of the cruise experience is the old Traditional way, and I miss that.

[nycruise]

Actually, Freestyle on the NCL Dawn worked well. Since there is no traditional dining, all dining rooms are available for walkins. Princess is trying to be all things to all people. I don't understand why they are allowing people with traditional dining to tie up the tables in the other dining rooms? Doesn't seem to be working to well based on the comments. :confused:

[Irishjayne]

I am under the impression that the Traditional dinners can't eat in the theme restaurants. They will be given a theme menu with the traditional menu each night. They can go to the restaurant that charges extra money.

[nhcruiser]

Shelli,

 

I agree with you in that "I still feel part of the cruise experience is the old Traditional way, and I miss that." :)

Problem is if a couple selects traditional dining, then you are locked into a time and table with people you may not get along with. This has happened to us a couple of times and it can be a real strain. Besides, we all want to have choices.

This last Spring we cruised on the Regal Princess to Hawaii where PC was not an option. We were lucky to be assigned to an OK table of people. I think everyone had at least a good time as I heard no complaints at all.

 

Brian, you mentioned that the PC dining rooms on the Diamond Class ships are "half" the size of the traditional ding room. Wonder why they designed the ships that way. Any ideas?

 

Rod

[Irishjayne]

I have a question. What are some of the reasons you wouldn't like the people that you are assigned a table with? I will be a newbie 11/1/04.

[spongerob]

– why not have a little fun? Must be the California sensibility ;)

Or the California Chablis.

[tom-n-jules]

I have a question. What are some of the reasons you wouldn't like the people that you are assigned a table with? I will be a newbie 11/1/04.

Use your imagination!

 

Recall the most offensive/boring/boorish/loud/"insert-negative-personality-trait-here" people you've ever encountered however briefly in your life, and then picture having to share a table and dine with them for 2 hours per night for 7 nights... :eek:

 

Luckily we've always had the most amazing tablemates for traditional seating! Of course, the experience is whatever you make it out to be; make lemonade with the lemons if you must.

 

Don't sweat it -- I'm sure you'll LOVE your cruise!! :D

[Irishjayne]

Or the Cabernets.

[Irishjayne]

Use your imagination!

 

Recall the most offensive/boring/boorish/loud/"insert-negative-personality-trait-here" people you've ever encountered however briefly in your life, and then picture having to share a table and dine with them for 2 hours per night for 7 nights... :eek:

 

Luckily we've always had the most amazing tablemates for traditional seating! Of course, the experience is whatever you make it out to be; make lemonade with the lemons if you must.

 

Don't sweat it -- I'm sure you'll LOVE your cruise!! :D

I deal with the public everyday and as you say make lemonade with the lemons. My guess is that our dinning experience will be what we make it. I will be on vacation and I won't let anyone spoil it for me.

[fellswoop]

When you speak of reservations, do you mean if you just want a table for 2 or you have your own group? We will be trying PC for the first time soon and I thought you just got in line and they start filling tables and you can sit at a big table and meet new people. That's what we want. We don't want to make reservations we just want to "wing it" each night. We have no problem arriving at the dining room and putting our name on the list and then going to the bar...will that work?

[BJS]

When you speak of reservations, do you mean if you just want a table for 2 or you have your own group? We will be trying PC for the first time soon and I thought you just got in line and they start filling tables and you can sit at a big table and meet new people. That's what we want. We don't want to make reservations we just want to "wing it" each night. We have no problem arriving at the dining room and putting our name on the list and then going to the bar...will that work?

You do not need reservations, can join others and can just "wing it" each night. Some ships suggest you make reservations for Formal nights when there will most likely be lines after the Captain's Reception gets over. When you arrive at the diningroom they will ask if there are two of you and if you'd like to sit with others. The need for reservations depends on many factors: Maiter'd, wanting specific dining time or a specific waiter, never wanting to join others no matter what size your group, not wanting to wait for a table should you arrive and it is a popular time, and ship.

[Aquarian]

I must be very lucky because we've done anytime dining/personal choice on three Princess ships. We've never made a reservation and we've never had to wait except for 5-10 minutes on formal nights. It's been soooo easy and so convenient and it amazes me when I hear all the trouble people have with it. It's never been complicated for us. Wonder why? We eat at different times every night so that's not it.

[aaannnthony]

BJS and Aquarian.....times have changed....re-read my opening salvo....that's the way it is now on the Diamond, and, I also believe on the Sapphire!

 

I also believe the Golden, Grand, and Star continue to do the "show up whenever", and, you get seats, or you may have to wait a short time, and, they give you a pager.

 

I'm very puzzled that Princess would divert from a practice that works fine on three other ships.....the chaos on the 9/20 and 9/25 Diamond cruises was pitiful. And, IMO, the maitre'd's were most inept in their handling....as I previously mentioned, there were many empty tables at 7:20-7:30, but, pax were told to come back after 8PM.

[BJS]

BJS and Aquarian.....times have changed....re-read my opening salvo....that's the way it is now on the Diamond, and, I also believe on the Sapphire!

I have read your opening salvo and guess I must have misunderstood it. I got the impression that you arrived between 7:15-7:30 and were told to come back after eight. This is totally possible if no tables were available because of reservations having been made. Did you ever try just arriving around 6:30 or after 8:00 pm? Also am I understanding you correctly that they did not have pager lights and would not take your name?

 

We will be sailing on the Diamond in January and agree that Princess should not divert from a practice that works fine on three other ships..... Also I feel there should be a standardization of policy for all the ships in the fleet that have anytime dining. The difference in policy is one thing that keeps showing up as a negative in posts. If everyone knew what the policy was they could deal with it much better.

 

While on the subject I must mention that "frequent sailing", and I don't just mean Elite, means a different set of rules. On our last voyage a couple who have sailed more days than any of us might imagine with Princess had a reserved table for two, by the window, for 3 meals a day, for the entire 41 days they were on the ship. The table was "theirs" even if they never showed up. I have no doubt they deserve this but also am aware that others are given priority in the dining rooms based on number of sailings and who they know.

[louiskam]

Two of us were on the same Sept.20-25 wonderful coastal cruise too. Diamond Princess impressed us particularly on the four PC theme free-dinings experience, among others. The enviroment, foods, services there were all well presented under each theme. We felt like we were on the luxury liners to have these many fantastic offers. Comparing this to the Traditional dining on "Diamond" this time, we never looked back.

[amy417]

Can some one clear things up for me? I was under the impression from articles I read about the Diamond and the "new" PC dining computers that if you showed up at a full dining room, the maitre'd could look in the computer and tell you where you can be seated immediately. Then reserve the spot for you.

Also we like eating late. So if we make reservations for 8 and show up on time and there is a long line, how does it work. Do they ask for all those in line with a reservation? How long do they hold your reservation before it is released? Don't want to lose my reservation while waiting in line.

Next, I read if you want to wait for a table at a specific dining room, you are given a pager to carry that lets you know when your table is ready.

Thanks guys. We sail in one month and will have a great time no matter what. But it would be nice to kinda know the ropes before we board.

Amy

[skarletohara]

They don't GIVE a pager on the Diamond. That's why everyone is annoyed.

They do on the Star and Golden, and it works beautifully! Of course, Aaaanthony is correct, they took something that worked well and screwed it up. The Diamond and probably Sapphire are the only two ships experienceing

this debacle because they're the only two ships in the fleet with the

four specialty themed restaurants to choose from.

 

Please, take our word for it, those of you who haven't sailed the Diamond and those of you who might be critical of our opinions, we're not trying to

bash Princess or the Diamond. I loved the ship in every other respect. It's just that it was a big disappointment thinking that we'd be able to wing it

just like we did on the other two Princess ships (where it worked great winging it) and when we found out that we basically had a "traditional" seating time, it was a big bummer. Trust me, I researched a lot before

I left to sail the Diamond, and I also felt confident that anytime dining on the Diamond would be the excellent experience that it always had been.

 

I learned differently. It didn't ruin my cruise. It's just that that was a big

part of why I love sailing Princesss, and if I'd wanted the same-time dining

experience, well, I could have gone on Celebrity's Mercury or another cruise line to Mexico, but the edge with Princess was the ANYTIME dining experience. And when it was so problematic to eat without a reservation,

well, that set us thinking, will we even GET to eat in the dining rooms for the remainder of the trip. Did we screw up by not reserving all 7 nights?

People on our cruise were told to go to Horizon Court. That was the maitre d's big suggestion... so much for the lovely computer software that if one

restaurant can't accommodate you, the computer will find a space for you.

That just was not true. We were told to fend for ourselves. And that's

the truth.

 

I personally love the people who haven't sailed on the Diamond, or particularly

were not on our sailing, and they seem to have ananswer for why we couldn't get our times, or why we should be able to understand the logistics about the dining room system and how it should work for all and how Princess can't accommodate EVERYONE at the same dinner time. The bottom line is

this, Princess had a system that worked or still works on their other ships,

and decided to royally mess it up on the Diamond, for some reason. We have

paid our cruise fare in advance, and we are entitled to eat in a dining room and have a nice meal without being told that we must go to the buffet because there's no more room.

[AngelinaMaria]

Was on the Diamond for the Coastal 9/20-9/25 sailing. Our experience was pretty bad with PC dining as well. Upon boarding the ship, because I wanted flexibility in dining times for certain nights, I only made reservations (6:15 p.m.) for 2 nights--those nights, we were seated upon arrival and there were no problems (except as noted below). However, when we arrived at the Pacific Moon room on one night at around 7:00 without reservations, after several minutes at the computer screen, we were told to come back in 20 to 30 minutes. We ended up being seated at 7:40. The next night we dined without reservations was worse--we went to the Vivaldi room around 6:30 and when we said we didn't have reservations--they literally scoffed at us and said the dining room was completely booked and they could not seat us till after 8:30. They told us to try the other rooms. We stopped at the Sterling since it is on the same floor and got the same reaction. Finally, the Santa Fe room was able to accomodate us with a 20 minute wait. It was never evident that their computer system showed the availability of tables in the other dining rooms. If so, they are not/ were not using this feature at all the entire cruise.

 

On almost all evenings, it was very apparent that they are serving large blocks of tables all at the same time similar to the International Dining Room rhythm--meaning all tables in a waiter's station (6-8 tables maybe) were served appetizers at the same time and no table progressed to the next course until all the tables were complete with the last course. This was extreamely tiresome in the Sterling room where the table next to us ordered well over 4 different appetizers plus salad and soup and our wait between when we finished our appetizers and our main course was well over 45 minutes!!!! We never even got a chance to ask our waiter where our main course was until it came out. The Pacific Moon and Santa Fe rooms, on our cruise at least, seemed to manage this process a little smother and didn't seem quite so rigid with the serving process but it was still evident to a certain degree.