Which dinner seating? Early or anytime - alaska

[firststeps]

Okay, you can really tell that I am new to this. We are going on the Coral Princess in early August and will plan excursions ourselves (not with Princess). Since we have a lot of time in a few ports we are wondering about the dinner seating. We do not want late seating. Early up folks and want to see the shows at night as well as try to practice our ballroom dancing. So... the question is, should we confirm the early seating or do anytime seating?

 

All of you experienced cruisers out there must have a suggestion for me. Thanks. terr

[Toto2Kansas]

Okay, you can really tell that I am new to this. We are going on the Coral Princess in early August and will plan excursions ourselves (not with Princess). Since we have a lot of time in a few ports we are wondering about the dinner seating. We do not want late seating. Early up folks and want to see the shows at night as well as try to practice our ballroom dancing. So... the question is, should we confirm the early seating or do anytime seating?

 

All of you experienced cruisers out there must have a suggestion for me. Thanks. terr

 

I would guess since your cruise is in August that if you haven't already been confirmed for early seating dinner, that it is too late and you would be put on the waitlist anyways. You could always try, but normally, traditional dining gets booked up longgggg in advance. Good luck!

[firststeps]

We actually have the early dining. Guess we were lucky. We were told that we could switch to anytime dining and that is why I posed the question. Terri

[mii]

As Toto said probably traditional first seating is already reserved. it is the most popular. Why don't you try anytime dining. That might work out best for you. Then you can dine anytime you wish.

 

Marilyn

[Toto2Kansas]

We actually have the early dining. Guess we were lucky. We were told that we could switch to anytime dining and that is why I posed the question. Terri

 

Then you are all set and confirmed for early seating, that is great!

What you can do is give your early seating a try, as if you switch to anytime dining now, chances are, you won't be able to get your early seating assignment back again. It is very easy to switch to anytime onboard if you decide that is what will suit your needs better.

 

What I would do is to keep the early traditional, try it out and if it doesn't fit your schedule, tell them you would like to switch to anytime. That way they can give your seats in traditional to someone on the waitlist.

 

Switching from tradtional to anytime is very easy, it is going from anytime to tradtional that is close to impossible after you are onboard. ;) Have a wonderful cruise!

[Lookingforfacts]

You only have two port days to worry about. You can always do the buffet or pay for one of the specialty restaurants if you wind up getting back late.

[packercruising]

Then you are all set and confirmed for early seating, that is great!

What you can do is give your early seating a try, as if you switch to anytime dining now, chances are, you won't be able to get your early seating assignment back again. It is very easy to switch to anytime onboard if you decide that is what will suit your needs better.

 

What I would do is to keep the early traditional, try it out and if it doesn't fit your schedule, tell them you would like to switch to anytime. That way they can give your seats in traditional to someone on the waitlist.

 

Switching from tradtional to anytime is very easy, it is going from anytime to tradtional that is close to impossible after you are onboard. ;) Have a wonderful cruise!

 

I think this is what OP was asking about and I would like to know too. Thanks for the response!:D Traditional Seating seems to be overwhelmingly more popular on this forum then Anytime. We are coming over from NCL which truely is Anytime Dining with their Freestyle and would like to know some of the plus and minuses of Anytime Dining. We aslo are already booked for Early Seating.

 

Thank you.:cool:

[Woodmnky]

I personally would and did choose Anytime Dining. We do not want to have to be rushed getting back to the ship during the long days in port. Also we sometimes want to catch a quick nap and/or have a snack when we get back on the ship from port and are not always hungry or ready when the assigned dinner time comes around. We prefer to be able to go to dinner when we are hungry and ready, rather than when the clock dictates that we go.

Also, DH & I prefer to dine alone so we find it easier to do so in Anytime.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Hi all,

 

We sailed on the Coral and had Anytime, which we always do on Princess. The Coral has only one Anytime dining room, unlike the larger ships which have two. We found that the hostess most of the time seemed overwhelmed and there was often a line or a wait on the Coral, and even after we got seated the service was at times slow. There is also very limited space ih which to wait for a table and the beepers they gave you had a very limited range. Therefore, we ended up eating early to avoid frustration!!

 

So, my recommendation is to stick with the traditional if you like to eat early anyhow!!

[sunsetbeachgal]

But, lest you get the wrong impression from my post above, the Coral is a fabulous ship and ranks among our favorite! Enjoy-and you will love Alaska!

[firststeps]

Thanks everyone! We will stick to the early dining initially and then see if it fits us. You all are great... What a way to get the best info for a new cruiser. Terri

[BoPippy]

i personally would and did choose anytime dining. We do not want to have to be rushed getting back to the ship during the long days in port. Also we sometimes want to catch a quick nap and/or have a snack when we get back on the ship from port and are not always hungry or ready when the assigned dinner time comes around. We prefer to be able to go to dinner when we are hungry and ready, rather than when the clock dictates that we go.

Also, dh & i prefer to dine alone so we find it easier to do so in anytime.

 

exactly!!!:)

[Stevesan]

Hi all,

 

We sailed on the Coral and had Anytime, which we always do on Princess. The Coral has only one Anytime dining room, unlike the larger ships which have two. We found that the hostess most of the time seemed overwhelmed and there was often a line or a wait on the Coral, and even after we got seated the service was at times slow. There is also very limited space ih which to wait for a table and the beepers they gave you had a very limited range. Therefore, we ended up eating early to avoid frustration!!

 

So, my recommendation is to stick with the traditional if you like to eat early anyhow!!

 

I had the exactly same problems on Sea Princess, compounded by a completely inept Head Waiter.

However, the larger Crown, also with two Anytime dining rooms, was exemplary. I usually dined between 7 & 7:30 without a wait (but I always ask for a "share").

 

I agree with keeping the Early Traditional. If it absolutely doesn't work out, OP can switch to Anytime.

[jff50]

Thanks everyone! We will stick to the early dining initially and then see if it fits us. You all are great... What a way to get the best info for a new cruiser. Terri

Unless you have a strong attraction to traditional dining (same time, table, waiters, tablemates every evening), not sure why you would choose early traditional over anytime. If you are going to eat early every evening, you can usually get into the anytime dining room early with little or no wait. The thing is that traditional doesn't allow you any flexibility on this. In traditional; if you have a reason that you don't want to/can't make the early seating, your option is the buffet. With anytime dining, you always have the option of eating later. In addition; anytime allows you the options of eating alone, with people you've met during the course of the cruise, or at a table with people that you haven't met--can't do any of those with traditional.

 

We've sailed on the Island Princess (sister to the Coral) through the Panama Canal twice, and have had anytime dining both times. Went to dinner at times that varied from 5:30 to 7:15, and never had much of a wait for anytime dining.

[packercruising]

Thanks for that! :) We are early diners anyway.

[allentownahoy]

This is probably a minority viewpoint so please don't flame me. I see early fixed dining as a drawback on an Alaska cruise for several reasons. Even if you usually are an early diner you may find in Alaska you may not be ready to stop exploring and/or enjoying the scenery that early- but if you do want to eat early on any given day with anytime dining this is not usually a problem.

 

In Alaska you may want different times on different days depending on where you are as well as when you might be traveling through potential whale sighting areas.

 

Finally, it seems like meals take longer in traditional seating ( though you can still linger over coffee and dessert in anytime if you want to ).

 

Again, since the scenery is so amazing in Alaska I am always eager to get back out on deck for more viewing.

 

For me Alaska cruising is all about Alaska rather than about dining or shows. On other itineraries the ship experience takes on a bit more importance.

[packercruising]

Excellent points! :)

[cruisinalong001]

We usually like anytime dining, but early traditional would have easily fit into our schedule in Alaska as we were up so early for excursions. I'm not sure why, but anytime was really a zoo a lot of the time. We were on the Golden, not the Coral.

[cb at sea]

If the early seating fits into your "everyday" eating schedule, stick with it--you'll have plenty of time to get ready, and your tummy will be happy. If you're an "anytime I'm hungry" sort of person, then go with the anytime dining....either will be fine.

Generally, by the end of a port day, you'll be more than ready to head back to the ship--port days are exhausting!

[Times Prince]

We found that the twilight hours were some of the best for seeing wildlife while cruising in Alaska. The most frustrating for me was when I was showering before dinner and my wife saw some whales nearby.

 

But as Toto said it is much easier to go from Traditional to Anytime once onboard, if you find that you want to change for any reason.

[DougandEric]

We usually dine later - 7:30 - 8PM most nights and usually choose either late traditional or Anytime (depending on the line). We sailed Alaska and got stuck in early seating - hated it. We frequently missed sailing out of port because of getting ready for dinner or being at dinner while others saw things we didn't.

 

Personally I would choose Anytime dining in Alaska - you can eat when you want. If you choose early traditional anyway, you can still go to the Horizon Court for the buffet and skip the dining room that night or even order room service.