Traditional Dining

[caribill]

I don't have a clue as to how it works but I'm excited to find out.

 

Actually, it is pretty simple.

 

Menus and dress code are the same as in the traditional seating dining room.

 

On most ships with anytime, there are two anytime dining rooms. On most of these ships, you can choose either to go to.

 

You can show up for dinner anytime they are open, usually from about 5:30 PM until about 10 PM. Let them know that you wish to be seated with others and you will usually be seated pretty quickly. May be a wait at times on formal nights as many head to the dining rooms at the same time.

 

If you make friends and wish to eat dinner with them, just agree what time to show up to eat.

 

If you find a waiter/asst.waiter than you really like, you can request to be seated in their section each night. If you prefer, you may be able to make a reservation for their table at a fixed time.

 

All of the above applies to dinner. Whether you have traditional or anytime for dinner, breakfast and lunch in the dining room is show up when open and be seated.

[RVD]

There is no Asian or PacRim cuisine specialty restaurant on any Princess ship. There are two ships, the Diamond and Sapphire, that were originally designed to have four smaller Anytime dining rooms instead of two larger dining rooms. Each dining room had a theme and different menu which lasted only a few months. Now, all of the Anytime dining rooms on the Diamond and Sapphire have the same menu except for one "always available" item based on the room's original theme. Also, for those ships that have a Cafe Caribe, there is sometimes an Asian-themed lunch there with sushi, dim sum, satay, etc. but that's not every day.

 

Ah, thanks for the info. I think I went a little crazy with the googling and reading reviews.

 

As you said, I guess there used to be one because a bunch of reviews mention Pacific Moon as an Asian themed restaurant serving sushi, dim sum, etc.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na635&submit=pk

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/reviews/princess/sapphire.cfm

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/sapphire.html

 

and countless more...

 

RVD.

[muffy6445]

We did early trad. on the Sapphire this summer and glad we did. We were a party of 6. They were very accommodating. One night we arrive back on the ship late due to a princess excursion and they let us dine at trad. late. We made arrangements ahead. We didn't have our usual table, but it was better than waiting for a table in anytime (which was our other option as the excursion was a princess one and didn't get back until 8:15) We were told by the anytime dining room our wait at 8 p.m was going to be 45 min. Not with kids! Anytime is ok is seems for smaller parties, but with 6 it makes it a little harder.

[Pam in CA]

Ah, thanks for the info. I think I went a little crazy with the googling and reading reviews.

 

As you said, I guess there used to be one because a bunch of reviews mention Pacific Moon as an Asian themed restaurant serving sushi, dim sum, etc.

 

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na635&submit=pk

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/reviews/princess/sapphire.cfm

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/sapphire.html

 

and countless more...

The Pacific Moon is a lovely dining room and the decoration is Asian-themed, but the menu is essentially the same as all of the other dining rooms except for one item. I haven't done Anytime on the Diamond or Sapphire so I don't know what the one item is for each of the four Anytime dining rooms. Unfortunately, the articles you pulled up by searching Google are dated 2004. :( A lot as changed on the ships since then.

[RVD]

The Pacific Moon is a lovely dining room and the decoration is Asian-themed, but the menu is essentially the same as all of the other dining rooms except for one item. I haven't done Anytime on the Diamond or Sapphire so I don't know what the one item is for each of the four Anytime dining rooms. Unfortunately, the articles you pulled up by searching Google are dated 2004. :( A lot as changed on the ships since then.

 

Yeah I didn't realize the dates until after I read the stuff in here. Anyway, everything looks great and thanks for the updated information.

 

RVD.

[Eaglecw]

I don’t think your going to have much of a problem changing to the traditional late dinning hour. Last year we where on the Golden Princess and the dinning room was almost abandoned, lots of open seats. We had a table for 6 and most of the time it was just the wife and I for dinner. We like the late dinner, we don’t feel rushed. Talk to the maitre-d before dinner, I’m sure he’ll fix you up.

[RaeVynn]

I have a very dear friend who just returned (on Saturday) from the very same cruise we are taking in September -- The Golden, to Alaska.

 

It was their honeymoon, and they had traditional dining (I think early)... and she reported to me that the waitstaff just seemed a bit off... the food was fine, service was fine, but all the little details were missing. Slow service, long waits for courses, and no little touches, like holding chairs, placing napkins, filling water glasses, etc.

 

I think we'll stick to Anytime, as we'll have two dining rooms to choose from, in case we have mediocre service in one.

 

Thank you all :)

[luv2cruise2much]

I have enjoyed both traditional and anytime. We went to the same dining room each night and were able to ask for the same waiter's section. This is the best of both worlds.