This has probably been explained a million times already...

[SMRivera198]

I'm still confused at the differences between traditional and anytime dining. I know that if you choose traditional you are limited to only 2 specific times and you will be sitting with other people, but what I want to know is if you can do both. I would like to try the main dining room and the cruise experience of meeting other people from our table but I also want to try the other dining rooms. So what I'm wondering is if your choice is for every night on the ship or just the formal nights? Sorry I'm still a newbie :o

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm still confused at the differences between traditional and anytime dining. I know that if you choose traditional you are limited to only 2 specific times and you will be sitting with other people, but what I want to know is if you can do both. I would like to try the main dining room and the cruise experience of meeting other people from our table but I also want to try the other dining rooms. So what I'm wondering is if your choice is for every night on the ship or just the formal nights? Sorry I'm still a newbie :o

 

All the dining rooms are pretty much the same. The only difference is with traditional you sit with the same people and have the same wait staff.

 

No matter which dining room you eat in the menus are the same, except for a couple ships. The dress codes are also the same.

 

Specialty restaurants of course have different menus and there is a charge.

 

When you go to traditional dining you are supposed to go there every night unless you have the specialty restaurant booked, or you eat in the buffet. There is also the Ultimate Balcony dinner.

 

You are not supposed to go to the anytime dining rooms when you have traditional and vice versa.

 

Bill

[apeller]

Whatever you choose is what you keep for the entire cruise. If you have traditional, you could probably change your choice to anytime (talk to them in the dining room), but you probably could not switch to traditional from anytime (because there is always a waiting list). regardless of traditional or anytime you are in a main dining room, the difference is with one you have an assigned time and table and the other you go when you want and sit with different people. Regardless of your choice you can go to the buffet or other specialty dining restaurants.

Both options have pros and cons. People have their personal preferences. Whatever you decide, I am sure you will have a great cruise.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Despite what a few people may post here, you select among the following choices when booking a Princess cruise: first seating Traditional, second (or late) seating Traditional, or Anytime. The exceptions are on small ships that just have traditional.

 

You are not supposed to go back and forth. It's the same food served with the same dress code. The difference is that with Traditional, you are assigned to a seating, table and waitstaff. Anytime, you go up to an anytime dining room when you want to eat, and are seated immediately if there's a table, or else given a pager to alert you when there's a table. Some people in Anytime will ask to reserve a specific time during the whole cruise, especially if they like a waiter.

 

No matter which type of dining you get, you also have the choices of buffet (the Horizon Court on most of the ships), the specialty dining rooms (which carry a cover charge), room service (which is usually not the dining room menu unless you're in a full suite -- you can get things like sandwiches), Ultimate Balcony Dining (which has a charge). If you know ahead of time you're doing one of these options some night, it's considerate to let the waitstaff know ahead of time if you're in traditional, so your tablemates aren't being held up, waiting for you.

 

If for some reason you're not up for your regular seating (our girl was feeling iffy one night), you can always go to the buffet without any problem. You can always go there early and have an early nosh and then go to the dining room for your seating at the regular time. On a port day, if you aren't sure if you're coming back for your regular seating, no problem, you can always go to the buffet.

 

The reason for respecting the traditional/anytime concept is that there's usually a waitlist for traditional. So if you get t.d. and sometimes go to a.d., you're wasting a slot that someone really wanted. You also cwould cause someone who is assigned to a.d. to have to wait for a table.

[paul929207]

You cannot try Anytime dining one night. Usually, you must show your cruise card when entering the dining room and it indicatees your assigned dining room.

 

You may switch from Traditional to Anytime, however, you may not switch the other way.

[judyjbest]

If you were assigned Anytime dining, but wish Traditional dining, you can request that change once boarding the ship. The maitre' d will accommodate you immediately if he can, and otherwise, he'll notify you if and when he can accommodate your request.

[dforeigner]

Traditional and anytime even use the same kitchen. :D

[LoriPhil]

Traditional is an assigned seating only for dinner. You get the "anytime" experience at breakfast and lunch, which are not assigned.

[FLACRUISER99]

You cannot try Anytime dining one night. Usually, you must show your cruise card when entering the dining room and it indicatees your assigned dining room.

 

You may switch from Traditional to Anytime, however, you may not switch the other way.

And I wish they would enforce this more

[crt37]

No matter which dining room you eat in the menus are the same, except for a couple ships. The dress codes are also the same.

 

 

 

You can't get Baked Alaska if you choose anytime dining. For me, that is no big loss though.

[flag fan]

My understanding is that there are the 3 options for night time dining; you can only pick one of them and that is the choice for the entire cruise:

 

Option 1 -- Traditional early: 6:00 pm (assigned table) (Island Dining Room in Caribbean Princess (CB)) or specialty Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternate buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room service (free (but limited menu unless in a suite) or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations required, limited availability)

 

Option 2 -- Traditional late: 8:15 pm (assigned table) (Island Dining Room in Caribbean Princess (CB)) or speciality Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or speciality steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternative buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room serice (free (but limited menu unless in a suite) or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations, limited availability)

 

Option 3 -- Anytime: any time between 5:30pm-10:00pm (no assigned table) (choice of two restaurants) (Palm Dining Room or Coral Dining Room in CB) (no reservations required, but recommended if dining at popular time) or speciality Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or speciality steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternate buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room service (free (but limited menu unless in a suite or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations required, limited availability)

 

Note that the only difference is the regular dining room; for the 2 Traditional options, you have an assigned time and table; for Anytime you have a choice of either of 2 dining rooms and any table and no set time. But even Traditional offers a lot of options every night. On a 7-day cruise, even with Traditional, you could have a different dining experience every night: Traditional in regular dining room, speciality Italian, speciality steakhouse, buffet, alternate buffet, room service, and Chef's Table. Of course, three of those are extra cost and for those who want a dinner that is served the buffets and room service are not real options, but for those that want flexibility in dining, there are a lot of choices even without choosing Anytime Dining.

[slidergirl]

As an aside -

On my May Coastal cruise, I had Anytime dining. On my cruise card, they gave the name of a dining room. So, I'm assuming that you are supposed to eat in the dining room assigned, not pick and choose from the two Anytime DRs.

Since this was my first cruise, I may be wrong.

[megessey]

On the Diamond, did I read this correctly that the Anytime Dining rooms are seperated into themes -- like mexican and asian? But that you can order from the main menu in these themed sections -- is this correct?

 

Also, if you were in the mexican secton, for example, could you order from the asian menu? I love to make simple things complicated :p

[Pam in CA]

On the Diamond, did I read this correctly that the Anytime Dining rooms are seperated into themes -- like mexican and asian? But that you can order from the main menu in these themed sections -- is this correct?

 

Also, if you were in the mexican secton, for example, could you order from the asian menu? I love to make simple things complicated :p

The Diamond and the Sapphire were originally designed with the two Anytime dining rooms each split in half, creating four smaller dining rooms, each with a different theme and menu. That lasted only a few months as there were very long lines for the Sterling (which had mostly steak items) and few at the Pacific Moon, for instance. It just wasn't working so they changed the menus so that all of the menus for all of the dining rooms are essentially the same. The former themed dining rooms each have ONE item on the menu related to the theme and it doesn't change. So, the menus are exactly the same for all of the Traditional and Anytime dining rooms except for that one item on the Diamond and Sapphire Anytime dining rooms. You can order any of the theme items (there are four of them as there are four Anytime dining rooms) at any time in any of the Anytime dining rooms which are the Sante Fe, Pacific Moon, Savoy and Vivaldi.

[Pam in CA]

My understanding is that there are the 3 options for night time dining; you can only pick one of them and that is the choice for the entire cruise:

 

Option 1 -- Traditional early: 6:00 pm (assigned table) (Island Dining Room in Caribbean Princess (CB)) or specialty Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternate buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room service (free (but limited menu unless in a suite) or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations required, limited availability)

 

Option 2 -- Traditional late: 8:15 pm (assigned table) (Island Dining Room in Caribbean Princess (CB)) or speciality Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or speciality steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternative buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room serice (free (but limited menu unless in a suite) or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations, limited availability)

 

Option 3 -- Anytime: any time between 5:30pm-10:00pm (no assigned table) (choice of two restaurants) (Palm Dining Room or Coral Dining Room in CB) (no reservations required, but recommended if dining at popular time) or speciality Italian restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sabatini's in CB) or speciality steakhouse restaurant (extra charge) (any time with reservations) (Sterling's Steakhouse in CB) or buffet (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Horizon Court in CB) or alternate buffet (with theme nights) (any time, no extra charge, no reservations needed) (Cafe Caribe in CB) or room service (free (but limited menu unless in a suite or $3 for pizza or Ultimate Balcony Dining (extra charge)) or Chef's Table (extra charge, reservations required, limited availability)

 

Note that the only difference is the regular dining room; for the 2 Traditional options, you have an assigned time and table; for Anytime you have a choice of either of 2 dining rooms and any table and no set time. But even Traditional offers a lot of options every night. On a 7-day cruise, even with Traditional, you could have a different dining experience every night: Traditional in regular dining room, speciality Italian, speciality steakhouse, buffet, alternate buffet, room service, and Chef's Table. Of course, three of those are extra cost and for those who want a dinner that is served the buffets and room service are not real options, but for those that want flexibility in dining, there are a lot of choices even without choosing Anytime Dining.

IMHO, this is complicated to read and figure out. It's really pretty simple: when you board, you either have either Traditional (early or late) or Anytime dining. Traditional is assigned seating at a specific table with the same waitstaff every night, and depending on the ship and/or itinerary, the dining times can be assigned to be between 5:45 - 6:15 for early or 8:00 - 8:30PM for late. If you switch from Traditional to Anytime dining, it's a one-way switch. You cannot switch back to Traditional.

 

If you do not choose to go to one of the dining rooms, there are other options available: the buffet and room service are free, specialty restaurants and Ultimate Balcony Dinner have an extra charge.

 

There are also other options on some of the ships. For instance, on the Royal/Pacific/Tahitian Princess, you can go to the Bistro for dinner which has a limited menu. It's set up in part of the buffet as a free table service area. FYI, not every Princess buffet area is called Horizon Court. :)

[megessey]

Pam, thank you! I'm glad they simplified things for the easily confused :D