Anytime Dining Reservations

One word: HELP!!

Waiting 45 minutes before the doors open; "Something is rotten in the state of ....".

Luckily for us, the evening buffet was really good and we are perfectly happy at the buffet.

There were times when the dining room wasn't busy, so you need to figure out on your cruise when those times are. It also varied by evening. For the formal nights, I strongly recommend getting up a little before 8 and be ready to call for reservations right at 8. There is a separate line for reservations, so it is much easier to get in.

Luckily for us, the evening buffet was really good and we are perfectly happy at the buffet.

We also opt for the buffet at times. I agree the evening buffet is good and table setting is nice too. Not too crowded.

Making reservations for Anytime dining makes a great deal of sense if you wish to eat every evening at a time between the first and second seating of Traditional dining AND you want to have a table for two. In my experience, Traditional dining usually involves sharing a table which is something I and my wife do not want to do anymore.

There are tables for two in traditional dining although there may not be enough of them to meet the demand.

Yes, some of them are very close to other tables, but that is true in anytime dining also.

Making reservations for Anytime dining makes a great deal of sense if you wish to eat every evening at a time between the first and second seating of Traditional dining AND you want to have a table for two. In my experience, Traditional dining usually involves sharing a table which is something I and my wife do not want to do anymore.

We've never had a problem getting a table for two and have only ever waited a couple of minutes except on the Island Princess which has a wee bit of a problem now it has all those extra cabins.

So, I wonder ... if most people want to eat earlier, why don't they try starting ATD dinner at 4:30 and end it earlier as well. People were lining up by 4:45 and maybe even earlier, so there are people available to eat at that time.

I think princess could open the dining room for dinner, at almost anytime, and there

would be a line beforehand.

People on ships just like to line up.

It's part of the charm.

We tend to eat early so have never worried about reservations in the MDR on Anytime Dining. This is our first Princess cruise but on other ships has never been a problem.

We tend to eat early so have never worried about reservations in the MDR on Anytime Dining. This is our first Princess cruise but on other ships has never been a problem.

This is our finding on another line but it seems that Princess has a totally different view of and method for "Anytime Dining" to the view and method of the other line.

This is our finding on another line but it seems that Princess has a totally different view of and method for "Anytime Dining" to the view and method of the other line.

Princess restricts the number of people in Traditional dining and any overflow (which happens most with early seating) are assigned to Anytime dining, usually unhappily. In addition some of the time a Traditional late seating may be under utilized because more people chose Anytime.

So in effect there is no set limit on the number of people that can have been assigned to Anytime on Princess.

On some other cruise lines the number of people in Anytime is restricted and the overflow assigned to Traditional, usually unhappily**. With a set limit on the number of people in Anytime, it often is a smoother operation.

** I was on one cruise with another cruise line where early Traditional was full and the number of passengers allowed to select Anytime was reached. The result was a number of very unhappy passengers whom, against their desires, had been assigned to late Traditional. Very unhappy.

The debate about anytime dining vs. traditional and how they are managed is nearly as popular as the discussion about formal nights.

A couple of qualitative observations.

1. It sure seems like there are more 2 tops on the newer ships than the older ones. If my feeling is correct I think that Princess understands that cruiser dining preferences are changing from shared dining experience to dining with only your travel group. This may be having an impact on the efficiency of ATD on some ships where the dining room design wasn't optimized for couples wishing to dine alone
   
2. Traditional dining remains popular, and the proof is in that there is almost always a long waitlist for the early seating. Therefore I don't see traditional dining going away any time soon, there just seems to be too much demand, and yet...
   
3. Traditional dining guests that don't take their seating time seriously can clog up the works in ATD when they just show up there. But what is a line supposed to do with those Traditional guests that miss their seating time? Tell them to go eat in the buffet?
   

I also think that we as members of the peanut gallery forget that the cruise line has to feed 2000-3500 guests a minimum of 3 meals every day for however many days of a sailing. I think that breakfast and lunch are easier because people stagger out those meals depending on their vacationing style. But dinner gets compressed into a handful of hours which have to dovetail with evening entertainment. So during the first 2/3 of the day people get meals mostly when they feel like eating, but dinner rolls around and thousands of hungry mouths want to be fed sufficiently well and sufficiently quickly to make it to the evenings activities.

I'm not sure how you solve this challenge.

1. Traditional dining guests that don't take their seating time seriously can clog up the works in ATD when they just show up there. But what is a line supposed to do with those Traditional guests that miss their seating time? Tell them to go eat in the buffet?

My aging brain seems to recall that when I started cruising pax who didn't show up within 15 minutes of their assigned seating time weren't admitted to eat in the dining room. (This may have been on HAL, and as far as I'm aware there was no anytime back then.) So yes, they were stuck with the buffet. Sure, all kinds of stuff can happen, and it might seem heartless. And, given Princess' propensity with letting people get away with all sorts of stuff rather risk a confrontation, ain't gonna happen anymore on PCL.

But people who swan in a half hour late are being rude to their table mates, inconsiderate of the staff, and if they end up in ATD at peak times inconsiderate of their fellow passengers as well. There are, truly, worse things than eating in the HC, and if you give me a few minutes I'll think of a couple.

Here in San Francisco, Opera performances start precisely when they're supposed to and there's no late seating until intermission. (In the case of Das Rheingold, that means never.) You can bet that pushes people to show up on time.

Princess restricts the number of people in Traditional dining and any overflow (which happens most with early seating) are assigned to Anytime dining, usually unhappily. In addition some of the time a Traditional late seating may be under utilized because more people chose Anytime.

 

So in effect there is no set limit on the number of people that can have been assigned to Anytime on Princess.

 

On some other cruise lines the number of people in Anytime is restricted and the overflow assigned to Traditional, usually unhappily**. With a set limit on the number of people in Anytime, it often is a smoother operation.

 

** I was on one cruise with another cruise line where early Traditional was full and the number of passengers allowed to select Anytime was reached. The result was a number of very unhappy passengers whom, against their desires, had been assigned to late Traditional. Very unhappy.

That is probably why that "other line" is able to take reservations for ANYTIME dining prior to the cruise. The trick with the "other line" is to book early and have a good travel agent who can get the ANYTIME reservation. The more I read about Princess the less likely I want to take a Princess cruise even if their itinerary is great.