Dining choices on Diamond?

[intrepid23]

This will be our first time cruising with Princess and we have a few queries about the possible options. We have chosen Traditional Dining (late sitting) as we have always liked this arrangement on our previous cruises however..

1) May we eat the occasional dinner in the other four 'anytime dining' restaurants providing we advise the maitre d' in advance? (and of course let our table mates know)

2) Does this limit our choices for lunch time dining - are we only able to eat in the International Room or are we able to dine in any of the other rest

aurants (are they even open??)

Thank you

[Pia1913]

This will be our first time cruising with Princess and we have a few queries about the possible options. We have chosen Traditional Dining (late sitting) as we have always liked this arrangement on our previous cruises however..

1) May we eat the occasional dinner in the other four 'anytime dining' restaurants providing we advise the maitre d' in advance? (and of course let our table mates know)

2) Does this limit our choices for lunch time dining - are we only able to eat in the International Room or are we able to dine in any of the other rest

aurants (are they even open??)

Thank you

 

1. Yes

 

2. Lunch is open seating, so you can eat anywhere you like. Specialty restaurants are not open for lunch.

[Pam in CA]

Yes, you can eat in any of the Anytime dining rooms if you have Traditional seating. You won't be turned away. However, that means that your seats in the Traditional dining room will remain empty and you'll be using two more seats in Anytime. One of the biggest problems with Anytime dining is the sometimes very long waits for a table. Contributing to this are the Traditional diners going to Anytime. Even if you tell the Maitre d' that you won't be there, they will not seat people in your place.

 

Just be aware of the ramifications if you have Traditional seating and go to Anytime for dinner.

[BARBYDOLL]

We were on the Diamond in April. They were allowing "traditional diners" into Anytime, but not until after 8.30 p.m. We found there were never any queues (lines). If we did encounter a queue, we just went to one of the other dining rooms and never waited for more than a few minutes. They seemed to be enforcing quite a few of the rules on the ship - for instance, removing towels from "saved" sun beds. We thought this was quite fair.

Barbara

[Jenna109]

We will not be eating in the main dining room on the first night as it is our wedding anniversary and we hope to book Sabatini's. However, I would like to let the people sitting at our table know that we will be joining them on the second evening. Can we leave a message with the waiter? Or any suggetions please

[Pam in CA]

We will not be eating in the main dining room on the first night as it is our wedding anniversary and we hope to book Sabatini's. However, I would like to let the people sitting at our table know that we will be joining them on the second evening. Can we leave a message with the waiter? Or any suggetions please

The Maitre d' will be either in the dining room or at another location listed in the Patter, taking dining choice changes. You can tell him there or call the Dine line and let them know. The first night is kind of strange and a lot of people don't go then, either because of lengthy travel and they're tired, they don't want to bother, etc., so it's not at all unusual for many passengers not to be there the first night.

[intrepid23]

Thank you for all the responses...you are quite right, we wouldn't want to upset the applecart so to speak, but if the facility is there and our table mates are aware that we may be away for a night or two, we would love to experience the other restaurants as well. Asking the traditional diners that want to dine in an Anytime restaurant to wait until after 830 seems perfectly reasonable. And hoorah for the staff that follow up on those that hold a deckchair ransom!!!!:)

[moondance75]

Aren't they the same menus though? I thought traditional and anytime dining had the same food...

[Pam in CA]

Aren't they the same menus though? I thought traditional and anytime dining had the same food...

Yes, they do. But, on the Diamond and Sapphire, each of the four Anytime dining rooms has a specialty dish that's not on the Traditional menu. These are the only two ships with the extra menu item in Anytime.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Aren't they the same menus though? I thought traditional and anytime dining had the same food...

 

Yes there are.

 

Considering that there are many people who do want, and get waitlisted for, traditional dining, it would be nice if passengers just stick with the dining system they are assigned to, imo. We would have preferred our usual traditional dining on our last cruise, but had booked our cruise nearly last minute. When we do have traditional dining, but can't make our seating (on our cruise before that, that only happened once in 15 nights when our daughter felt iffy), we would head to the Horizon Court and not the anytime dining room.

[intrepid23]

I guess a solution to the dilema might be to eat at the Anytime Dining restaurants at lunch time - are they open? I understand that the Speciality restaurants are closed for lunch but have I interpreted the information on the Princess website correctly when it says Anytime Dining is open for lunch 12-2pm. Would this be at all four restaurants each day?

Thanks again

[Pam in CA]

I guess a solution to the dilema might be to eat at the Anytime Dining restaurants at lunch time - are they open? I understand that the Speciality restaurants are closed for lunch but have I interpreted the information on the Princess website correctly when it says Anytime Dining is open for lunch 12-2pm. Would this be at all four restaurants each day?

Thanks again

One of the dining rooms on all Princess ships is open for breakfast and lunch. These dining times are always open seating, just like Anytime. On the Sapphire and Diamond, the dining room that's open is the one aft on deck 6 which is used for Traditional at night. They don't open the smaller Anytime dining rooms for daytime dining.

[Jenna109]

Thank you for the information - once we have made our booking for Sabitini's we will contact the dining room. A slightly different subject - what do men wear in the evenings? Formal - tux - no problem. Other evenings? We leave this weekend on the Queen Victoria - hubby needs suits/tie for every evening - no problem that is what is expected. However, on the Diamond we will be travelling from England so limited regarding luggage - will he need to wear a jacket on other than formal evenings? Will a long sleeved shirt/smart trousers suffice?:rolleyes: Also is there a good laundry service on the Diamond Princess? We cannot take enough changes for 3 weeks.:eek:

[chamima]

Thank you for the information - once we have made our booking for Sabitini's we will contact the dining room. A slightly different subject - what do men wear in the evenings? Formal - tux - no problem. Other evenings? We leave this weekend on the Queen Victoria - hubby needs suits/tie for every evening - no problem that is what is expected. However, on the Diamond we will be travelling from England so limited regarding luggage - will he need to wear a jacket on other than formal evenings? Will a long sleeved shirt/smart trousers suffice?:rolleyes: Also is there a good laundry service on the Diamond Princess? We cannot take enough changes for 3 weeks.:eek:

 

 

Jenna - A long sleeved shirt and trousers will be fine for non formal nights. Sometimes (and only sometimes) the ships are cool inside so one extra jacket or sweater might be good to take.

I'm not sure if you're asking about laundry service or self service laundry. The laundry rooms are very convenient and you can do your own washing and drying or you can give your laundry to your room steward. The prices for Princess doing your laundry are comparable to dry cleaners on land and they have always done a nice job for our things.

[rugbypopsie]

Just a suggestion re Sabatinis.....book an early dinner and choose a table away from the front doors. We had a group birthday celebration and were quite disappointed compared to other Sabatinis...not with the food, it was lovely but the service and ambience was lacking..plus as the other tables finished we sat amongst the dirty glasses and half cleared tables stacked up with menus....not what we usually experience on Princess.

 

The ONLY negative I have about the 3 Diamond Princess cruises totally nearly 50 days I have taken maybe it was just an "off" night.

[Jenna109]

Thank you for the information about booking Sabatini's - from what I have read it would be better to have an early booking as the meal is rather large! Also thanks about inf. re. shirts being okay for dining room. What about Sabatini's? When we have been on Celebrity ships my husband has always put on a suit for the speciality restaurants - again would shirt/tie be okay?

Our Sept. booking is on the Diamond Princess and we have just booked the Crown Princess for December - any views on these ships? Any 'must do's' would be appreciated:D

[Jenna109]

Thank you Karen regarding info. about washing. I have a large obc so I think I will let them do the washing/ironing!! I have just ironed 14 shirts - including 4 formal - to take on a cruise this weekend. It would be nice to let someone else do it for me

[Mary Ellen1]

intrepid23, why don't you just book Anytime Dining? That will give you the flexibility you want -- Go to Sabatini's one night, experience the 4 different Anytime Dining restaurants on other nights... Sounds to me like you're a perfect candidate for Anytime Dining on this cruise!

 

As Pam mentioned, your table in Traditional Dining will go unused for the nights that you're not there. And there may be a wait list of folks who are waiting for a confirmed spot in Traditional Dining. Maybe you should consider switching yourselves over to Anytime for this cruise. Just a thought...

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[chamima]

Thank you for the information about booking Sabatini's - from what I have read it would be better to have an early booking as the meal is rather large! Also thanks about inf. re. shirts being okay for dining room. What about Sabatini's? When we have been on Celebrity ships my husband has always put on a suit for the speciality restaurants - again would shirt/tie be okay?

Our Sept. booking is on the Diamond Princess and we have just booked the Crown Princess for December - any views on these ships? Any 'must do's' would be appreciated:D

 

Jenna

As far as dress for the specialty restaurants on Princess, the only thing I can compare them to is Murano on the Solstice. Murano was more formal than Sabatinis, however, I know that my husband is more comfortable (and feels the evening is more special) if he puts on a coat (and sometimes a tie). You will find many people dressed fairly casually in Sabatinis but what the two of you wear is really up to you.

Must do's- most involve food. :rolleyes: Make sure you try the goat cheese souffle appetizer, all of the dessert souffles, the almond croissants in the main dining room for breakfast, the chocolate croissants in the International Cafe (on the Crown), the pizza by the pool and make sure you go to tea at least once in the afternoon.

We book the Sanctuary (on warm weather itineraries) ($15/pp/per day) first thing when we get on the ship. It's not totally necessary but it means you will have your own thick, cushy deck chair waiting for you every day. (And it's a great way to use up all of those OBCs)

Most of all - relax and enjoy!

[intrepid23]

Yes, Mary Ellen we do have to consider choosing Anytime - we have only been on two cruises before and have really enjoyed getting to know our fellow diners at our fixed dinner table. We thought that on our 16 night cruise that maybe 2 or 3 might be spent other places...sure wish the other dining rooms were open for lunch because I can see that by choosing Traditional Dining we will probably end up eating most of our meals in the one restaurant which might get tedious considering all the other options. By the way we are not a fan of buffet - to us having table service at lunch is a delightful relaxing way to spend mid day. So maybe we could eat our lunches at the International dining room and then move around for dinners -( will have to give up idea of eating with the same dinner mates! except hubby of course!) I'll think on it - its like anything -advantages and disadvantages to both and you just have to make the most of what you choose - although who's complaining when we are on a cruise in the first place!!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Yes, Mary Ellen we do have to consider choosing Anytime - we have only been on two cruises before and have really enjoyed getting to know our fellow diners at our fixed dinner table. We thought that on our 16 night cruise that maybe 2 or 3 might be spent other places...sure wish the other dining rooms were open for lunch because I can see that by choosing Traditional Dining we will probably end up eating most of our meals in the one restaurant which might get tedious considering all the other options. By the way we are not a fan of buffet - to us having table service at lunch is a delightful relaxing way to spend mid day. So maybe we could eat our lunches at the International dining room and then move around for dinners -( will have to give up idea of eating with the same dinner mates! except hubby of course!) I'll think on it - its like anything -advantages and disadvantages to both and you just have to make the most of what you choose - although who's complaining when we are on a cruise in the first place!!!

 

Every night there's a menu that is served in all of the main dining rooms (The International and the anytime dining rooms). Each night the menu changes (even on the longer cruises, you won't find a duplication of an entire menu). So I'm just not getting the "tedious" angle at all. I know that there used to be (and may still be) a signature dish for each smaller dining room on the Sapphire and the Diamond, but if you have traditional, these items are offered to you too.

 

 

 

Thank you for the information - once we have made our booking for Sabitini's we will contact the dining room. A slightly different subject - what do men wear in the evenings? Formal - tux - no problem. Other evenings? We leave this weekend on the Queen Victoria - hubby needs suits/tie for every evening - no problem that is what is expected. However, on the Diamond we will be travelling from England so limited regarding luggage - will he need to wear a jacket on other than formal evenings? Will a long sleeved shirt/smart trousers suffice?:rolleyes: Also is there a good laundry service on the Diamond Princess? We cannot take enough changes for 3 weeks.:eek:

 

A man can actually wear a polo shirt/dockers or even tropical shirts (what my hubby likes to wear) on the non-formal night. It's just shorts or jeans that have holes in them that are considered taboo.