Dining on the Diamond

[J18ktleo]

We just booked the Diamond for next year and I was wondering...we sailed this ship a few years ago and they had 'themed' restaurants for anytime dining (which we were very dissatisfied with, service and food) but in looking at the website there's no mention of this.

Anyone who has sailed on her recently that can tell me the details of anytime dining for dinner on the Diamond?

And do they still block out the time from 6:30-8 for no seatings?:cool:

Thanks for your insight;)

[cdngrl]

last year dining was like this on the diamond.

i enjoy all of the restaurants except the santa fe. good food, horrible service.

[J18ktleo]

darn, I was hoping they went to the same anytime dining as the other ships...so the choices are Santa Fe and Asian? Is there another 'just regular' anytime dining room????:confused:

[Oxenford]

darn, I was hoping they went to the same anytime dining as the other ships...so the choices are Santa Fe and Asian? Is there another 'just regular' anytime dining room????:confused:

 

Pacific Moon may be thought of as the Asian Restaurant but it is not. Each theme rest. has a signature dish but the basic menu is the same in each. We found that everyone thought the Pacific Moon was Asian and stayed away which meant less crowds and great service.

[Ken076]

On Diamond there are 4 Themed Anytime dining restaurants, all serving the same Traditional Dining room menu + several specialties associated with the theme of that Dining room. I believe Vivaldi anytime dining Room is the overflow for the Traditional Dining Room and isn't available for Anytime dining until second seating time. Alll this is on the Diamond web pages. ken

[J18ktleo]

Thanks everyone...Ken, what are the 'Diamond web pages' you refer to?

[crusinwen]

We are booked on the Diamond for a May 23 sailing to Alaska. This is our first Princess cruise. We are RCCL and Celebrity regulars and are unsure of the anytime dining vs traditional. We want to try the anytime dining but are so use to the traditional. Can anyone give their feedback on how they really feel about this dining? We are thinking we might really miss getting to know other couples that we might have met at the same table. We are traveling with my sister and her husband so we would not be totally alone. Just looking for your opinions. Thanks!!!!!

 

Wendy:D

[sheeps daughter]

We just got back from Diamond, you can book a table for 5.45 or 8.15 at any of the restaurants otherwise they give you a pager if a table is not free when you get there( we had a big group of 11). We had an excellent waiter at Pacific Moon so kept going back there, he was happy to get us the specialities from the other restaurants if we wanted them in fact nothing was too much trouble..

[J18ktleo]

Thanks, Sheeps Daughter...I just remember the last time we sailed the Diamond when we went to the restaurant, even though they seated us at a table for 2 they waited until there were 2-3 other couples seated next to us to wait on us...so it was like waiting on a 2 top...really was annoying as sometimes we waited quite a bit to be taken care of!

I think the clue is getting a waiter you like and keeping their table...that has worked great for us on all the other Princess ships!;)

 

Cruisinwen...we love anytime dining as we're not locked into early seating (which seems to be quite early if you're in port til 6 or so) or late seating (which always tends to be too late)...and when you meat people you enjoy they can always join you for dinner. We've had excellent experiences with anytime (except the last time we were on the Diamond)!

[Colo Cruiser]

I don't like the 4 small themed dining rooms on the Sapphire/Diamond. :(

I am glad they are only on these 2 ships.

[J18ktleo]

yeah, I feel the same but the itinerary we want is on the Diamond so we have no choice...hopefully, it'll be better than we remember!:rolleyes:

[Colo Cruiser]

yeah, I feel the same but the itinerary we want is on the Diamond so we have no choice...hopefully, it'll be better than we remember!:rolleyes:

 

 

Oh believe me I would put up with that if I had too!! :D

[OCCALIF]

Wendy,

I can think of two reasons my wife and I enjoy the anytime dining. One is the flexibilty in your schedule. You won't have to be there at a certain time, although we generally showed up around 6:00 anyway most evenings and didn't have to wait for seating. The other reason is we usually shared a table with other people and enjoyed meeting others from different areas and experiences. I suppose if you do meet someone that you would enjoy dining with again you can always make arrangements for another dinner together.

[Topaz_M]

I was on the Diamond in January 2009.

 

The first part of my review covers dining

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=911854&highlight=diamond+princess+impressions

 

 

Hope that helps to some extent,

Moira :)

[J18ktleo]

Thank you Moira...funny, I seem to remember that when we went the Sterling was not the steakhouse you paid extra for...don't remember them having that. Maybe what we had that was the Sterling then is now the Savoy?

Do they have a Sabbatini's? We've still not been able to try it and are hoping to do so on this go around!

[Arnold Don]

We have been on the Diamond twice and the the Sapphire twice and just love the four themed anytime dining rooms, they are quieter, and have more ambience than two large dining rooms. Each has its decor and a specialty entree in addition to the regular menu. It is fun to go to each of the dining rooms at least once and decide which you like best. The Santa Fe has our favorate decor and has outstanding beef or chicken fajitas, that are great to order on nights that you know the main menu just isn't to your taste for the evening.I find that I miss the varitiety of ianytime dining rooms when I am on other ships. The Sterling became the Savoy, and they do have a Sabbatini's in dedicated location, the Sterling Steak house is set up in the back of the Horizon Court Buffet in the evenings. It is dressed up so it doesn't look like the buffet.

Don:)

[Topaz_M]

The Sterling became the Savoy, and they do have a Sabbatini's in dedicated location, the Sterling Steak house is set up in the back of the Horizon Court Buffet in the evenings. It is dressed up so it doesn't look like the buffet.

Don:)

 

I didn't go to Sabbatini's but all reports were good as long as you were hungry!!

 

The part of the Horizon Court set up as Sterlings is screened off. There are a limited amount of tables and you need to book ahead, same as Sabbatini's.

You'd never recognise it at night - nice tableware, lighting and cutlery, real flowers and we had the sunset to watch too.

They bring all the meat on a trolley and explain all the cuts for you to pick your choice for dinner.

 

Great value.

[kcl]

Just returned home from the February 10-22 sailing on the Diamond, Auckland to Sydney. My husband and I prefer Anytime Dining because of the flexibility and the ability to find a Waiter/Assistant combination that we like for duration of the cruise. It took us three tries to find Iulian (Romania) and Oleksander (Ukraine) in the Santa Fe dining room - a fantastic duo with great rapport and service. We always had a 2-top and never had to wait to be served no matter how many of their tables were filled. I saw three other tables with the same people every night so we weren't the only ones who thought they were great. I believe they are on the Diamond through the Alaska season so you might want to seek them out. Enjoy your cruise.

[J18ktleo]

kcl...thanks so much for the info!

And, yours is the exact cruise we have booked for next year...any insights you'd like to share with me???:rolleyes:

[RJ2002]

We have been on the Diamond twice and the the Sapphire twice and just love the four themed anytime dining rooms, they are quieter, and have more ambience than two large dining rooms. Each has its decor and a specialty entree in addition to the regular menu. It is fun to go to each of the dining rooms at least once and decide which you like best. The Santa Fe has our favorate decor and has outstanding beef or chicken fajitas, that are great to order on nights that you know the main menu just isn't to your taste for the evening.I find that I miss the varitiety of ianytime dining rooms when I am on other ships. The Sterling became the Savoy, and they do have a Sabbatini's in dedicated location, the Sterling Steak house is set up in the back of the Horizon Court Buffet in the evenings. It is dressed up so it doesn't look like the buffet.

Don:)

 

Thanks for mentioning the specialty dishes for the Santa Fe (fajitas). Can anyone name the specialty dishes for the other themed anytime dining rooms?

[onthelake]

Vivaldi is Osso Bucco, the Asian (not asian) is a shrimp & scallop stir fry (my favorite) and the Savoy is a special cut pork chop. Any of the restaurants will provide the special if you request.

[RJ2002]

Vivaldi is Osso Bucco, the Asian (not asian) is a shrimp & scallop stir fry (my favorite) and the Savoy is a special cut pork chop. Any of the restaurants will provide the special if you request.

 

Thanks! Good to know in advance....

[Quilter n Cruiser]

WE just completed the New Zealand -Australia cruise Feb 22 on the Diamond. There were 4 of us . We dined in all 4 of the Anytime restaurants. The Vivaldi 8:15 as that was when it opened after overflow for fixed seating.. The rest we varied from 6:00 to 9:30. the longest we waited with the pager was less then 10 minutes. Once we were told the wait would be 30 minutes and the hostess called The Pacific Moon and we were seated right away. The theme restaurants have a special entree either Siuthwestern or Asian but the rest of the menue was identical for all the restaurants. Our service was good no problems and quite frankly we preferred the smaller dining rooms , not so noisy. We never made a reservation as it was not needed. Have a great cruise

[sheeps daughter]

and pacific Moon was pasta with scallops and seafood. And the fahitas. We ordered all of them from the Pacific Moon as our excellent waiter Manuel went and got them for us.

[Stuartm]

We were on the Diamond this Xmas and really enjoyed the anytime dining. Only had to wait on Xmas night for about 30 mins for a table, but we could have booked one if we'd thought of it. We did book for New Year.

 

I learnt about the specialty dishes in each restaurant from other guests. Not once did any of the wait staff even mention they existed.

 

I thought the Sterling was a big disappointment. Not worth the extra in my opinion.