not traditional dining option ?

[AntonJ]

I'm sure this has been asked all over the board but I'm having a hard time searching so here goes...

We have friends that will be cruising on the Diamond Princess in June to Alaska. They are new to cruising and we have never cruised Princess (yet). How does the alternative dining work (they chose that over traditional)? Do they need to make reservations prior to boarding? Should they make them right when they board? Will they be able to dine in the alternative rest. if they don't make reservations? Are there charges for any of the rest.? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Northender]

Do you mean Personal Choice Dining vs Traditional? If so, no need to make any reservations, you can have dinner anytime during the evening that the DR is open.

Alternative Dining is usually a couple of restaurants aboard ship that do have an extra charge, such as Sterling Steakhouse or Sabatini's ($25pp) I would recommend making reservations once aboard for these restaurants. We did not use alternative dining and were pleased with Personal Choice.



Grand Princess 4/4/04

[AntonJ]

Thanks, I do mean personal choice dining. Does this mean that they still eat in the main dining room but choose when they eat? I'm assuming that the alternative dining works like other cruise lines then. Are the charges posted somewhere? I didn't really see them on Pricess website.

Thanks again.

[Nitemare]

The Personal Choice dining rooms are "separate but equal". Same food, same decor, but eat when you want to, with whomever you want.

[TracyQ]

The Diamond and its sister ship the Sapphire have unique dining options. There was a review done by CC that explains it pretty well. Recent cruisers on the Diamond have suggested making reservations soon after boarding in order to get the times you would prefer. This is a link to the review.


http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=296

Tracy

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;6;26;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0800
DIAMOND ALASKA

[gopher's girl]

I had heard lots of things about people making reservations for Personal Choice, but my sister said to just go whenever and not make a reservation, so that's what I did.

Lo and behold I never had a wait - there were just 2 of us and we sat wherever they placed us - usually at a table for 8. About 85% of our tablemates were wonderful, and the 15% that were not gave us much to laugh about for the rest of the cruise.

I would suggest reservations for tables of 2 only, or for larger groups especially on formal night between 6:30 and 7:30, but that's really it.

Ooh, and if you have a medical reason to eat on a schedule you might want reservations too, but that is just for the people who already knew to do that.

Keep the choice in personal choice!

[AntonJ]

Thanks for the review post-makes sense. Since my friends are new to cruising, will there be any information about dining personal choice when they board? I remember my first cruise and we lived by the daily sheet left in the room. Thanks

[johnmik1]

To clarify the terms,Personal Choice encompasses Tradition and Anytime Dining.On this board the term Personal Choice is being uses to describe Anytime Dining.Just off the Island and my cruise card said Anytime Dining.