Any Time Dining

[mike23]

We are travelling on Star in September for two weeks and have chosen the anytime dining option. I was just wondering how this actually works, do we have to run up to all the resturants on board and book our tables as soon as we get on board or do we just go where we feel like it and see if there is a table available?

 

If we want to use the main dining room one evening do we jsut show up at the door and the head waiter sits us at a table?

 

Not a big deal as I am sure there will be plenty to eat, just curious how it all works or what the best strategy is.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

[karatemom2]

You do not need a reservation for Anytime Dining. You simply walk up to the dining room during service hours and request a table. We have found that typically there is little to no wait, especially before 7 p.m. You can make a reservation if you like by calling the dining line the morning on the day you want to reserve. We sometimes make reservations on formal evenings as that seems to be the busiest in the dining rooms. We have had anytime dining on all of our Princess cruises and it has worked quite well for our family.

[paul929207]

The ship will use one dining room for Traitional Dining and the rest of Anytime Dining. You do not need reservations for AD, but on some ships you can make them. Otherwise you just show up at on of the AD dining rooms and you will be seated as soon as possible.

[uppitycats]

We are travelling on Star in September for two weeks and have chosen the anytime dining option. I was just wondering how this actually works, do we have to run up to all the resturants on board and book our tables as soon as we get on board or do we just go where we feel like it and see if there is a table available?

 

If we want to use the main dining room one evening do we jsut show up at the door and the head waiter sits us at a table?

 

Not a big deal as I am sure there will be plenty to eat, just curious how it all works or what the best strategy is.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

You might want to make reservations for any specialty restaurants (where you have to pay a surcharge to eat there), as sometimes they're busy. But otherwise, yes, you just walk up to the dining room designated as the anytime dining room. They'll ask you how many in your party, and you'll be seated. Much like you do at any land-based restaurant.

 

We won't go back to the traditional dining option whenever this flexible system is available.

[Colo Cruiser]

You would get whatever table is available when you arrive.

[caribill]

If we want to use the main dining room one evening do we jsut show up at the door and the head waiter sits us at a table?

 

 

If you are asking about the fixed time traditional dining room, the answer is "No."

 

When you are signed up for anytime, you cannot eat in the traditional dining room.

 

The menus and dress code are the same in both traditional and anytime.

[paul929207]

The only difference between AD and a restaurant at home is with AD they will ask if you would like to share a table with others. Since mst tables are large, you will often be seated faster if you are willing to sit with others.

[rnenrick]

The confusion about anytime dining always amazes me, no offense to the OP. Anytime dining is like going to a restaurant on land. I took my wife to Red Lobster last night. (Yeah, I'm a big spender.) We didn't have reservations; we walked in, gave our name and waited 15 minutes for a table. Pretty much the same thing happens on board a ship with anytime dining. Yes, you get to pick WHEN you eat (just like with Red Lobster) but you may have to wait a while. (But there's often no wait at all.) If the wait is too long, you can go to another restaurant on board. (Like leaving Red Lobster and going to Applebee's.) If you dislike any wait at all, then, as aforementioned, you can make reservations on board if you like. (Again, just like you can at Red Lobster or Applebee's.)

[Kinkacruiser]

Is there a cocktail lounge handy so you can enjoy the 15min wait? How do you know when you table is ready...a pager system perhaps?

Thanks

[paul929207]

Yes, there is a bar near each dining room. You get a beeper like many restaurants at home.

[Off2China]

Is there a cocktail lounge handy so you can enjoy the 15min wait? How do you know when you table is ready...a pager system perhaps?

Thanks

 

Yes, there is a bar near each dining room. You get a beeper like many restaurants at home.

 

We never had time to finish a glass of wine before the beeper went off, even while waiting for a table for two.

[d3661]

As someone who goes back and forth from anytime dining to traditional dining on Princess Cruises let me add that anytime dining works very well. Just got off a 15 day sailing on Coral where we selected anytime dining and we only had to wait once, New Years eve, when we asked for a table for two. That wait was 10 minutes, at the most.

 

When you walk up to the staff at the anytime dining room you'll be asked if you'd like to join a larger group. A "yes" answer gets you seated quickly, and a big smile from staff, in my experience. Staff would call out "...two to join" and off we went to our table, escorted by a waiter.

 

A few other observations: A table for two may be what my spouse laughingly calls a "fake" table for two. While there were a few truly private tables for two scattered about on Coral, dining room staff often take a table set for four or six and pull the underlying tables apart by about 10 inches. Thus, you are going to get to know your "tablemates" regardless. Also, on Coral the anytime dining room staff were communicating with the traditional dining room on the deck above. If there was an open table in that dining room you were often sent up the stairs. Very nice.

 

Back to traditional dining next cruise, just to keep the pattern going.

[Haz73]

My parents do the Anytime Dining. They have found that if they like a particular wait staff member at the beginning of the cruise, they ask if they can have that same waiter throughout the cruise. They typically go at 6pm every night & sit at the same table so they can have the same waiter. So, they've essentially turned their "Anytime dining" into "Traditional Dining" (but they are still in the Anytime Dining restaurant)!

[seait]

We are travelling on Star in September for two weeks and have chosen the anytime dining option. I was just wondering how this actually works, do we have to run up to all the resturants on board and book our tables as soon as we get on board or do we just go where we feel like it and see if there is a table available?

 

If we want to use the main dining room one evening do we jsut show up at the door and the head waiter sits us at a table?

 

Not a big deal as I am sure there will be plenty to eat, just curious how it all works or what the best strategy is.

 

Thanks

 

Mike

 

During my November Panama cruise, I decided to try open dining as opposed to the early sitting. The flexibility open dining offers is so great that I will not go back to the set dining time.

 

I met so many more people through open dining that it made the cruise all that more enjoyable.

 

Hope you find open dining as pleasurable and I did.

[caribill]

During my November Panama cruise, I decided to try open dining as opposed to the early sitting. The flexibility open dining offers is so great that I will not go back to the set dining time.

 

Normally we do traditional late seating (never hungry on a cruise ship by early seating time). On our recent cruise, we tried anytime with some friends.

 

Everynight but one we were seated as soon as we reached the front of the line. However, on the second formal night we had to wait almost an hour until space was available. This caused us to miss an activity we wanted to be at that ended about the time we finished dinner.

[Teacherph]

During my November Panama cruise, I decided to try open dining as opposed to the early sitting. The flexibility open dining offers is so great that I will not go back to the set dining time.

 

I met so many more people through open dining that it made the cruise all that more enjoyable.

 

Hope you find open dining as pleasurable and I did.

 

 

Just got off the Coral's Panama Cruise. We loved the AD and meeting new people each and every meal. We never had to wait. Saw pagers going to people who just wanted dinner for 2 while we walked right in. We usually ate between 6 & 7. One night we got reservations for 8 and had to wait till 7:45. The next night we just said we'd join and 6 were seated immediately. Only once were we seated with a disgruntled couple. Glad we weren't on TD with them. Would have been a horrid experience. As it was, we met people from all over the world and loved every minute of it.

[cb at sea]

What are you signed up for? You can't switch between traditional and anytime dining...it's one or the other!

[pandorasays]

I thought if you had traditional dining you could use Anytime if you wanted to. Is that not so? Thanks.

[Colo Cruiser]

I thought if you had traditional dining you could use Anytime if you wanted to. Is that not so? Thanks.

 

 

You cannot switch back and forth.

[paul929207]

I thought if you had traditional dining you could use Anytime if you wanted to. Is that not so? Thanks.

Most people feel you should notbe allowed to switch back & forth. There is almost always a waitlist for TD. So if you have a seat there, you should not be leaving it empty and go to AD. Also there is often a wait to get a table in AD. People from TS should not aggrivate that. But in fact, Princess does not seem to prevent people with TD from going to AD.

[Treven]

I always do the Anytime Dining, and generally will ask for a table for 2. I like eating alone so I can read through dinner or quietly enjoy that day's excursion or that day's nothingness; sitting on deck reading and or people watching.

[rnenrick]

Most people feel you should not be allowed to switch back & forth. There is almost always a waitlist for TD. So if you have a seat there, you should not be leaving it empty and go to AD. Also there is often a wait to get a table in AD. People from TS should not aggrivate that. But in fact, Princess does not seem to prevent people with TD from going to AD.

I don't know of any poll showing "most people" hold that opinion. But let's explore the absurd notion that TDs shouldn't go to AD. That logic would suggest people with balcony cabins shouldn't "aggravate" the railings on the open decks because they'd be "leaving" their own railings "empty"! :rolleyes: Fortunately Princess is not as Draconian as "most people." All passengers are free to use AD; that includes TDs, and rightly so. And this is expressed by an AD.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I don't know of any poll showing "most people" hold that opinion. But let's explore the absurd notion that TDs shouldn't go to AD. That logic would suggest people with balcony cabins shouldn't "aggravate" the railings on the open decks because they'd be "leaving" their own railings "empty"! :rolleyes: Fortunately Princess is not as Draconian as "most people." All passengers are free to use AD; that includes TDs, and rightly so. And this is expressed by an AD.

 

By you logic I suppose you wouldn't mind if your cabin balcony was available for anyone else to use while you were occupying a space up on deck.

[paul929207]

I don't know of any poll showing "most people" hold that opinion. But let's explore the absurd notion that TDs shouldn't go to AD. That logic would suggest people with balcony cabins shouldn't "aggravate" the railings on the open decks because they'd be "leaving" their own railings "empty"! :rolleyes: Fortunately Princess is not as Draconian as "most people." All passengers are free to use AD; that includes TDs, and rightly so. And this is expressed by an AD.

Firs, I don't recall a single person from AD saying they want people from TD coming to the AD dining rooms and making the waits longer. Further, a number of people with TD like myself have also said people should not switch back and forth.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, can we use your balcony and facilities today, and I will gladly pay you for it Tuesday.