New Traditional Dining Time coming out

[Colo Cruiser]

Though - they do this anyway on the Sapphire and Diamond. One of the 4 is always "First Traditional" and then as those people leave, it becomes Anytime. Sometimes they say Anytime after 8 pm. I don't remember which dining room this is but it has been that way on the 3 times I have sailed on the Sapphire.

 

 

Vivaldi until 8.

[Coral]

May 13, 2010

 

Princess Cruises adds new Traditional Dining seating time

 

 

As part of Princess Cruises’ continuing commitment to service, we’re pleased to announce the addition of a third Traditional Dining seating time on most voyages. The new seating time is in response to the high demand we’ve received for our popular Traditional Dining option, and as the Consummate Host®, we’re happy to accommodate our guests and travel agent partners.

 

The new seating time will be in a separate dining room at either 5:15 pm or 5:30 pm depending on the voyage. The only voyages not offering the third seating will be on our small ships, or those sailing in Australia. Below is a chart outlining the Traditional Dining seating times for each ship:

 

Ship

Traditional Dining Seating Times

Grand/Diamond Class

 

Grand Princess

Golden Princess

Star Princess

Caribbean Princess

Crown Princess

Emerald Princess

Ruby Princess

Diamond Princess

Sapphire Princess

5:30 pm (NEW)

6:00 pm

8:15 pm

 

Coral Class and Sea Princess

 

Sea Princess (non-Australia voyages)

Coral Princess

Island Princess

5:15 pm (NEW)

6:00 pm

8:15 pm

 

Small Ships

Ocean Princess

Pacific Princess

Royal Princess

6:00 pm

8:15 pm

Sun Class (Australia voyages)

 

Dawn Princess

Sun Princess

Sea Princess (Australia voyages)

5:30 pm

7:45 pm

 

 

The new seating time will be listed on POLAR Online for eligible voyages. If you have passengers booked on an existing cruise with Princess who are interested in the new seating time, the change can be made in POLAR Online under the “Dining and Bedding” section.

 

 

Thank you for your continued support of Princess Cruises!

 

===========

 

Sorry - the email had nice charts that don't copy and paste well here.

[davaller]

We are booked on the Sun princess August this year and June next and both bookings have 5.30 pm dining times and have had these times advertised since early this year

 

Davaller:D

[mkkao924]

We will be on Sapphire to Alaska, and I am wondering if we missed the dining time due to land excursion, what's our dining option? Can we still go to anytime dining room or we can just have buffet / pool side grill?

[CruisinEars]

Where do you get this info?

 

What do you do for Princess?

 

I am a reservation agent with Princess. I only state information I have once it has been relayed to travel agents.

[captainron]

Where is it announced?

 

Sounds like another rumor. :rolleyes:

 

Checked under dining options for the Diamond and they note 5:30pm* 6pm and 8:15pm however the asterisk denotes that the 5:30 time is dependent on the itinerary of the vessel.

 

Doing Diamond from Whittier in Sep. Dining Options mention hours for the Patisserie, wine bar and ice cream bar, but nowhere on the deckplans can I locate where these are. Does anyone have an idea where we go for these 3 dining options?

 

Ciao for now!!!

[BigGuy25]

I could work, without any real change in the amount of time diners have to enjoy their meal, if one dining room did just "early" and "2nd Traditional" and the other dining room stayed with "1st Traditional" and "2nd Traditional." That way "early" and "1st" wouldn't overlap causing issues in the same dining room.

[spongerob]

Particularly on formal nights. Those nights, dining times always take a lot longer.

I don't think that the people who want the "Early Bird Special" are going to linger for long. ;)

 

This is a great idea, and hopefully will benefit both Traditional and Anytime diners.

[Infi]

What a strange idea. The execution is a little convoluted (using one anytime dining room so early could make it overcrowded during the typical dinner hour rush), but we'll see how it works. I can't imagine how many people would want to eat at 5:15 or 5:30, but that's just me. I remember we had early seating at 5:30 in Alaska and that was way too early to be getting ready for and eating dinner, ugh.

But, if it relieves some of the demand for the original traditional early seating, I am all for it! It's hard enough to get traditional as it is, so it's good Princess is listening and trying to accommodate.

[DonnaK]

I just got this email (I booked the Caribbean Princess directly with Princess)

 

We’re pleased to announce that an additional Traditional Dining seating is now available on your upcoming voyage. The new seating time at 5:30 pm is in response to the high demand we’ve received for our 6:00 pm seating, and will be offered in a separate dining room. If you wish to change your current dining selection to the new 5:30 pm Traditional seating time, please call 1-800-PRINCESS to book, as space is limited.

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon!

[AlaskaGolden]

This may cause some issues for those of us who like Anytime Dining and usually like to eat early (5:30 to 6:30 PM) IF Princess uses one of the Anytime Dining Rooms for the new 5:15/5:30 Traditional Seatings. Less tables available for those of us eating early! :eek:

 

Perhaps they'll only use a portion of one of the Anytime Dining Rooms and just have two separate lines (one for Anytime Diners and one for Traditional Diners)?

 

Would be great if we knew exactly how they plan to implement this!

[Purpleprincess4]

I just got this email (I booked the Caribbean Princess directly with Princess)

 

We’re pleased to announce that an additional Traditional Dining seating is now available on your upcoming voyage. The new seating time at 5:30 pm is in response to the high demand we’ve received for our 6:00 pm seating, and will be offered in a separate dining room. If you wish to change your current dining selection to the new 5:30 pm Traditional seating time, please call 1-800-PRINCESS to book, as space is limited.

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon!

 

I have recieved the exact email as stated above for our Golden 7/17 Alaska sailing. Our large group has 6PM traditional and we will keep it that way.

[pms4104]

We will be on Sapphire to Alaska, and I am wondering if we missed the dining time due to land excursion, what's our dining option? Can we still go to anytime dining room or we can just have buffet / pool side grill?

I believe that if you have assigned traditional seating and miss your dining time, you would be expected to eat in the buffet/pool side grill or, perhaps, order room service.

[Colo Cruiser]

Checked under dining options for the Diamond and they note 5:30pm* 6pm and 8:15pm however the asterisk denotes that the 5:30 time is dependent on the itinerary of the vessel.

 

Doing Diamond from Whittier in Sep. Dining Options mention hours for the Patisserie, wine bar and ice cream bar, but nowhere on the deckplans can I locate where these are. Does anyone have an idea where we go for these 3 dining options?

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

Yeah I found it.

[Colo Cruiser]

I am a reservation agent with Princess. I only state information I have once it has been relayed to travel agents.

 

Thanks.

[davekathy]

Cruising was so much easier when the only Dining options to consider were Early (1st) or Late (2nd) Traditional Dining. But unlike some we always choose Early Traditional. Works for us.

[bhopal21]

I just received the following email for our August Golden Princess cruise:

 

"We’re pleased to announce that an additional Traditional Dining seating is now available on your upcoming voyage. The new seating time at 5:30 pm is in response to the high demand we’ve received for our 6:00 pm seating, and will be offered in a separate dining room. If you wish to change your current dining selection to the new 5:30 pm Traditional seating time, please contact your travel agent to book, as space is limited.

Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon! "

 

We booked through a TA

 

Mike:)

[coops]

We also recieved this in email this morning.

Dawn

[jlf1]

This offer was sent to passengers of Golden's 5/22 sailing to Alaska. Offered "due to popular demand". Didn't explain which dining room or how it was going to work, just gave us the opportunity to switch from Anytime to this early 5:30 traditional seating.

 

 

Received an e-mail telling us about this today.

[FritzG]

Not a lot of difference between 5:30 and 6:00 ... I wonder if this will pose a logistics issue with guests funneling into the dining room at two overlapping times. At the very least, it could be disruptive to the service and normal atmosphere of the venue.

.

 

You wouldn't think that was much of a difference, but we always get first seating, and when dinner is at 5:30 or 5:45 as we've seen, that's too early. We like 6 pm dinner much more.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I find it very hard to believe that a lot of people want 5:30pm fixed dining. I think I know only 1 person who would like that.

 

I wish they would've added a 7:00pm traditional dining time!!!!!

[Great8]

Also received the same email this morning. Wonder if this will have an effect on trying to reserve 7 p.m. for our group of 8 in Anytime Dining....

Unfortunately 5:30 would cut into naptime after returning from tours;)

[Colo Cruiser]

What a mess. :eek:

[Quilter n Cruiser]

We got an e-mail from Princess regarding our upcoming cruise Iceland/Norway end of July on the Crown. It stated due to demand an additional early dining seating would be at 5:30 PM in a separate dining room. If interested contact your travel agent. That 's the scoop

[DonnaK]

I think it is absolutely wonderful that Princess is accomodating the people who want early traditional (we were over 600 on the waiting list for our last cruise, and it was a disaster resulting in very long lines in the anytime room and the maitre-d refusing to accept reservations from those of us who wanted to simulate the traditional experience after being forced into anytime). I always thought that they needed to provide traditional dining for everyone who wanted it, even if it meant changing the space allocations according to the demand for each sailing.

 

However, I think 5:30 is too early and I wonder how many people will sign up. If they kept the time at 6pm for the newly alloted space, that would have been better.

 

Now, all they need to do is check Sea Passes at the anytime room to make sure that those who chose traditional dining do NOT eat in the anytime room at their whim, to avoid lines and problems for those who actually chose anytime.