Fixed Seating Pax Having it Both Ways

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

I know this subject has been covered in the past, but I just wondered if anyone knows whether or not Princess will ever start following their own rules and not allow pax who signed up for a fixed table and eating time in one dining room to also avail themselves of the convenience of anytime dining by showing up there when it suits them. Why bother to actually put a person's dining choice right smack on their cruise card, making it simple for the maitre d's to quickly determine who is not where they belong? Of course sometimes tours return late and early diners miss their time - perhaps they should then have to wait until, say, after 8 p.m. when most of the legit anytime diners have arrived?

[4cats4me]

I agree.

[pedirn]

Just a quick note. I am on the Sea Princess right now and have anytime dining. They are checking our cards every night when we enter the dining room. I have seen them turn people away who were signed up for traditional dining.

 

Chris

[paul929207]

Just a quick note. I am on the Sea Princess right now and have anytime dining. They are checking our cards every night when we enter the dining room. I have seen them turn people away who were signed up for traditional dining.

 

Chris

Glad to see it. We usually sail on the small Princess ships that don't offer Anytime Dining, so it is not a problem for us. However, I do think with there always being a waitlist for Traditional, people who get it should not be allowed into Anytime.

[Shifra]

Hear Hear! There are so many pax that book traditional and think they can still switch back and forth. I do believe part of this problem is from TA's who tell their customers that it's ok to do this.

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

Just a quick note. I am on the Sea Princess right now and have anytime dining. They are checking our cards every night when we enter the dining room. I have seen them turn people away who were signed up for traditional dining.Chris

 

Thanks, Chris - this is good news indeed! We'll next be on the Tahitian in July with only assigned seating so it won't be a problem, but we have a 30-day B2B on the Coral in November. The Coral has only one dining room each for fixed and anytime dining. It will REALLY be nice if the rules are enforced then. Otherwise, the fixed seating will often have many empty seats and we anytime diners will find outselves spending a lot of time clutching those little buzzers.

[leavitt1]

Hear Hear! There are so many pax that book traditional and think they can still switch back and forth. I do believe part of this problem is from TA's who tell their customers that it's ok to do this.

 

I agree. I actually had to correct my TA when she told me that I "could always try 'anytime dining' on days when you don't feel like doing traditional." :eek:

[Coral]

The ONLY time when I believe it is OK to go from Traditional to Anytime would be if you have an evening port stop. For example, on my cruise next week - we are in Juneau from 2-10 pm. Since many (most?) people will be at port during dinner time, having some traditional people in anytime would not cause problems. Otherwise, I do not believe people should be able to switch.

[rcacace]

Hear Hear! There are so many pax that book traditional and think they can still switch back and forth. I do believe part of this problem is from TA's who tell their customers that it's ok to do this.

 

I'm not defending or condoning the traditional diner who want to dine in the anytime DR, since it doesn't affect me at all, but just what would you have Princess do when a person shows up on day 4 of a 7 day cruise & wants to eat for just 1 evening in the traditional DR? If they deny them entrance that night they'll switch permanently to anytime and the traditional seat will go unused for the rest of the cruise. (They never back fill into TD at that point of the cruise). If they just close their eyes to the offender, they might just eat there one evening & go back to traditional after that. Which is better?

[paul929207]

I'm not defending or condoning the traditional diner who want to dine in the anytime DR, since it doesn't affect me at all, but just what would you have Princess do when a person shows up on day 4 of a 7 day cruise & wants to eat for just 1 evening in the traditional DR? If they deny them entrance that night they'll switch permanently to anytime and the traditional seat will go unused for the rest of the cruise. (They never back fill into TD at that point of the cruise). If they just close their eyes to the offender, they might just eat there one evening & go back to traditional after that. Which is better?

I would have the Maitre D' tell the diners that if they want to switch from Traditional to Anytime they can. They just have to give him 24 hours notice as stated in the cruise answer book.

[rcacace]

I would have the Maitre D' tell the diners that if they want to switch from Traditional to Anytime they can. They just have to give him 24 hours notice as stated in the cruise answer book.

 

I've never heard of a Maitre D' asking people for a 24 hour notice before switching but I suppose they might. I have been on TD seating & have had empty chairs for the whole cruise & never did they add people into the group. Strange, since everyone is always clamoring for TD and can't seem to get it.

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

just what would you have Princess do when a person shows up on day 4 of a 7 day cruise & wants to eat for just 1 evening in the traditional DR? If they deny them entrance that night they'll switch permanently to anytime and the traditional seat will go unused for the rest of the cruise. (They never back fill into TD at that point of the cruise). If they just close their eyes to the offender, they might just eat there one evening & go back to traditional after that. Which is better?

I think it's better if you just stop posting such nonsense................and yes they DO "back fill" traditional dining seats (it's called a waiting list). Or, let's say you have anytime dining and you meet some great people who have a TD seating and they tell you that a couple from their table has switched to anytime dining (or another TD table) leaving two empty seats every night. They suggest you join them and you think it's a great idea, so you advise the maitre d' and voila you're in.

On occasion, primarily because of port hours, it is necessary for traditional diners to seek out seating in anytime dining. The point of this thread is some of us feel Princess should put a stop to people who flip back and forth between the two dining rooms as if they are interchangeable. I wish they would set everything like a regular restaurant. Show up any time you want and if you want a specific time for a specific number of people, MAKE A RESERVATION IN ADVANCE.

[themerle]

The Coral has only one dining room each for fixed and anytime dining. It will REALLY be nice if the rules are enforced then. Otherwise, the fixed seating will often have many empty seats and we anytime diners will find outselves spending a lot of time clutching those little buzzers.

 

Three weeks ago on the Coral I did see a couple from Traditional going into Anytime and I thought it was rude of them to take up a table when they had one in the Traditional Dining room. I thought cards would have had to be checked.

[jagsfan]

I've been waitlisted for TD from day one. I started being put farther down on the list,

and now I'm moving up on it again. Very frustrating. I wrote a letter about my husband's

medical problems, but I'm still waitlisted. I don't think it's right for anyone to move at

will from TD to Anytime at will. If they can, then why can't Anytime people do the same?

If one is fortunate enough to get TD, one shouldn't try to get the best of both worlds

when it will impinge on the Anytime diners ability to be seated.

This is a real sore point for me.

[robsaw]

I think Princess own description of the dining options is a big part of the problem. Nowhere do they explicitly state that "passengers assigned to traditional dining are not entitled to use the anytime dining rooms for dinner". It can be logically deduced, but we know that unless the rules are made doubly explicit, they won't be treated as such.

 

There are many rules that can be flexible, even this could be flexible on a ship that isn't filled to capacity, but on a very full ship moving from Traditional to Anytime dining-room on a whim creates a problem of pure numbers.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm not defending or condoning the traditional diner who want to dine in the anytime DR, since it doesn't affect me at all, but just what would you have Princess do when a person shows up on day 4 of a 7 day cruise & wants to eat for just 1 evening in the traditional DR? If they deny them entrance that night they'll switch permanently to anytime and the traditional seat will go unused for the rest of the cruise. (They never back fill into TD at that point of the cruise). If they just close their eyes to the offender, they might just eat there one evening & go back to traditional after that. Which is better?

 

We have had anytime dining in the past and one night we went to the anytime dining room and there was a wait. The Maitre'd looked at the computer, summoned someone from the dining room and escorted us to the traditional dining room to eat for that evening as the table was open. Turns out the occupants of that table were eating in a specialty dining room for that night.

 

Bill

[Pam in CA]

I agree. I actually had to correct my TA when she told me that I "could always try 'anytime dining' on days when you don't feel like doing traditional." :eek:

This is one of the problems, i.e., TAs telling clients that they can switch back and forth. Another is Maitre d's going overboard not to upset passengers and letting them switch back and forth. I've been on several cruises that on nights when the ship stays in port late, traditional diners can go into their dining room at any time. In other words, it's "open seating" in the traditional dining room that night.

 

My few experiences with HAL's "As You Wish Dining" (their Anytime) have made me a believer in how it should be done. Every single person in your group's card is checked and recorded; if you don't have AYWD, you don't get in. If you want to switch to AYWD, you must request permission and only after receiving approval in writing may you go to AYWD. That approval is not guaranteed.

 

IMHO, Princess bends their own rules way too much out of fear. If they enforced their rules unilaterally and without question, and communicated clearly, there wouldn't be many of the issues discussed on this board.

[Richard]

We just came back from the 6/8 sailing of the Island Princess. While waiting for a table in the Anytime dining room, around 7:45 PM, a couple came up and pushed their way in front of me and said they came back late from a tour and wanted a table in the Antime dining room . The hostess started to escort them to a shared table and they said "oh no, we want a table for 2". I spoke up and said we were waiting and we would share if needed. It's people like this who cause a wait for a table and think since they missed their traditional seating they can go in front of everyone else. What a pair. The staff should have told them to go to the Horizon Court or to a specialty restaurant instead of taking a table away from a registered Anytime diner. I blame Princess for not taking a hard line and holding to their published policies. I also blame rude inconsiderate people like the ones I just described.

Richard

[Cruisin' Grandma]

I think it's better if you just stop posting such nonsense................and yes they DO "back fill" traditional dining seats (it's called a waiting list). Or, let's say you have anytime dining and you meet some great people who have a TD seating and they tell you that a couple from their table has switched to anytime dining (or another TD table) leaving two empty seats every night. They suggest you join them and you think it's a great idea, so you advise the maitre d' and voila you're in.

On occasion, primarily because of port hours, it is necessary for traditional diners to seek out seating in anytime dining. The point of this thread is some of us feel Princess should put a stop to people who flip back and forth between the two dining rooms as if they are interchangeable. I wish they would set everything like a regular restaurant. Show up any time you want and if you want a specific time for a specific number of people, MAKE A RESERVATION IN ADVANCE.

 

Sorry, but to me if you have Traditional Dining, you should stay in Traditional Dining. If you are late from a shore excursion, or in port late, there's always the buffet. Making a reservation in advance isn't "Anytime Dining". Sure they backfill with a waiting list, but I think, if there is a waiting list of over 500 passengers wanting Traditional Dining, open up another dining room for Traditional on the voyage. This is the one thing that really riles me, if you want Traditional, stay there. If you want anytime, stay there.

 

Lola in Hamilton

[paul929207]

We just came back from the 6/8 sailing of the Island Princess. While waiting for a table in the Anytime dining room, around 7:45 PM, a couple came up and pushed their way in front of me and said they came back late from a tour and wanted a table in the Antime dining room . The hostess started to escort them to a shared table and they said "oh no, we want a table for 2". I spoke up and said we were waiting and we would share if needed. It's people like this who cause a wait for a table and think since they missed their traditional seating they can go in front of everyone else. What a pair. The staff should have told them to go to the Horizon Court or to a specialty restaurant instead of taking a table away from a registered Anytime diner. I blame Princess for not taking a hard line and holding to their published policies. I also blame rude inconsiderate people like the ones I just described.

Richard

I think this story belongs on the "rude behavior" thread in the Ask a Cruise Question area.

[rcacace]

I think it's better if you just stop posting such nonsense................and yes they DO "back fill" traditional dining seats (it's called a waiting list). Or, let's say you have anytime dining and you meet some great people who have a TD seating and they tell you that a couple from their table has switched to anytime dining (or another TD table) leaving two empty seats every night. They suggest you join them and you think it's a great idea, so you advise the maitre d' and voila you're in.

On occasion, primarily because of port hours, it is necessary for traditional diners to seek out seating in anytime dining. The point of this thread is some of us feel Princess should put a stop to people who flip back and forth between the two dining rooms as if they are interchangeable. I wish they would set everything like a regular restaurant. Show up any time you want and if you want a specific time for a specific number of people, MAKE A RESERVATION IN ADVANCE.

 

You may very well think it's nonsense & I have NEVER seen a back fill 4 days into a cruise in all my trips. I've seen plenty of empty seats in TD that I'm sure someone would have enjoyed but the "waitlist" system only works initially & quickly abandoned. Sure, if you know of a couple who's left the TD & notified the Maitre D' about a vacancy he'll seat you there, but most people don't know about any vacant seating. How many people do you know of that have been asked to go into TD in the middle of the cruise because their name came up on a "waitlist" ?

btw- I do not switch seating.

[cynbar]

This is a pet peeve of mine, and for the life of me, I don't understand why some passengers are inconsiderate enough to think that it's OK if they take up 2 tables for the evening. How long will the waits be in anytime if many of the traditional diners are there? Common sense should tell them that this is not OK. I prefer anytime but I hate to see the posts here that brag about traditional diners who managed to get into anytime (and we all know we have seen them.) !

[partsman_ba]

Off with their heads, I say!

[jake165]

I believe RCACACE gave an accurate account, and, it certainly was not nonsense, his observations of 7 day cruises mirror what is happening on longer itineraries. Regards Jake

[vickie_bernie]

I have been on ships where they have checked cards, but i've been on many where they haven't. It is frustrating when there are waits to get in during prime time.

 

We have had friends dine with us in Anytime when they were traditional but we checked first and we went later, after 8 pm when there were no waits at all. In fact our friends liked it so much they switched to anytime.