Should I switch from late traditional to anytime?

[Boatingmom]

Thinking of switching so I don't miss the game shows and stargazing. Seems they are only held once a night. Although I prefer traditional dining, the early seating is too early and I will miss some activities if I keep late seating traditional. I an considering anytime around 7:30. Any opinions? If you have done both did you miss td?

[-Lew-]

We switched from traditional to anytime dining during our first Princess cruise and haven't looked back. Our reasons were the same as yours. The flexibility of anytime dining will enhance your onboard experience if you want to fully enjoy evening entertainment.

 

Lew

[jpaq]

I have also switched to Anytime and never looked back ! Totally enjoy the flexibility and have never experienced more than a 5-10 wait to get a table !

[runner15km]

Ask the hostess what time is generally the shortest wait time.

[caribill]

I have also switched to Anytime and never looked back ! Totally enjoy the flexibility and have never experienced more than a 5-10 wait to get a table !

 

The one cruise we did anytime there was only one evening I wanted to finish in time to attend an event.

 

That night we had to wait with a pager for over an hour to be seated for dinner. We missed the one event I had wanted to see that evening.

Edited March 14, 2015 by caribill

[Treven]

I also have never experienced much more than a few minutes wait for a table. Plus I can't imagine dinner with a table of strangers I have no interest in. It's anytime for me and a table to myself. Although I have had an occasional dinner with folks I've met. On my last cruise during the Chef's Table, the Maitre'd invited the table to have dinner together the following evening. It was very pleasant, tho I don't believe I saw any of the other diners for the rest of the cruise.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Treven

[OCruisers]

We love Anytime and would never want to go back to Traditional! :D

LuLu

[peety3]

I also have never experienced much more than a few minutes wait for a table.

You might be in for a surprise on ships with three dining rooms. If there's enough draw for TD, Princess will use the #2 DR for an additional early seating. As a result, there's 50% capacity for AD until that seating finishes, and therefore NO RESERVATIONS after 5:30 but before 7:15. I've also seen 40+ minute waits around 6:35 or so...if all of the tables are occupied, all of the tables are occupied.

[Liz54]

You might want to try Traditional. You can ALWAYS switch to anytime, even after the cruise begins, but often you cannot switch into Traditional because the spots are all taken....

[Mackenzie1]

You might be in for a surprise on ships with three dining rooms. If there's enough draw for TD, Princess will use the #2 DR for an additional early seating. As a result, there's 50% capacity for AD until that seating finishes, and therefore NO RESERVATIONS after 5:30 but before 7:15. I've also seen 40+ minute waits around 6:35 or so...if all of the tables are occupied, all of the tables are occupied.

 

Yes, and with this ship set-up, between 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., 2/3 rds of the ship's main dining rooms are being occupied by traditional diners, which means that only 1/3 rd of the remaining main dining room space is available for anytime diners. I really believe that this is what causes the lines between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for anytime diners, not that traditional diners are jumping over to anytime dining.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[shredie]

Yes, and with this ship set-up, between 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., 2/3 rds of the ship's main dining rooms are being occupied by traditional diners, which means that only 1/3 rd of the remaining main dining room space is available for anytime diners. I really believe that this is what causes the lines between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for anytime diners, not that traditional diners are jumping over to anytime dining.

 

It's probably a little bit of both...

[caribill]

Yes, and with this ship set-up, between 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., 2/3 rds of the ship's main dining rooms are being occupied by traditional diners, which means that only 1/3 rd of the remaining main dining room space is available for anytime diners. I really believe that this is what causes the lines between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for anytime diners, not that traditional diners are jumping over to anytime dining.

 

If they did not have that additional 5:30 Traditional, then those same passengers would be lining up at 5:30 for anytime. Same result either way.

[NavyVeteran]

You usually don't have to wait for anytime dining after 7:30 pm when the second restaurant opens for anytime. You may have to wait before then, since there is only one restaurant available and once it's full no one is seated until someone finishes and leaves.

 

The main exception I have seen is on formal night when the Captain's Welcome Aboard Party or the Captain's Circle Party let a lot of people out at the same time. Even if you don't normally make reservations, it may be a good idea to do it on those formal nights.

 

If you want to eat at a specific time, you can make reservations, as long as you don't try to make them before 7:30.

[geoherb]

We had anytime for the first time since 2002 on our New Year's Eve cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We did specialty dining every night, so I don't have personal experience with the wait times for the anytime dining rooms. A few people I talked with on the ship complained about having to wait, but I don't remember exactly how long they had to wait.

 

My plan was to be able to participate in the evening games shows. I made it to a couple of them but not as many as I thought I might since dinner at Sabatini's and the Crown Grill took a long time. The two I did were the evening we ate at the Crab Shack.

 

We'll be going back to traditional dining on our next cruise.

[satxdiver]

We did TD back in the days when that was all that was available. We do ATD now and don't miss TD. If you have late seating TD, you will miss quite a few events/shows so in answer I would switch to ATD. We have never had a problem with going to the MDR after 7:30. We always ask for a 2,4 or 6 seat table and not 8 seat. It reduces the time spent in the MDR and gets us out faster plus I think the waiters are trying to get quicker turnover. Our last cruise two of the MDR started the evening in TD mode and then one switched to ATD at 7:30. By the second night two MDR started as ATD and only one was TD .

[Boatingmom]

Still considering ATD I so like having the same waiter for every dinner. Also, don't want to feel rushed. Traveling with 9 if that matters. Would want 7:30 atd

[ChiefBoats]

We have always had anytime dining because of the flexibility. We normally find a waiter we like and then sit at his table the remainder of the cruise.

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[Liz54]

Whoa! Traveling with 9 is a game changer. I recommend you keep your traditional spot until you are on board and then discuss your needs with the Maitre D. Even at 7.30 you may have long waits and the biggest tables are usually for 8.

[caribill]

Whoa! Traveling with 9 is a game changer. I recommend you keep your traditional spot until you are on board and then discuss your needs with the Maitre D. Even at 7.30 you may have long waits and the biggest tables are usually for 8.

 

They do have some tables for 10, but without a reservation it could be a significant wait to get one in Anytime.

[Tak8]

I've always done traditional on Princess. I did a Royal Caribbean cruise a couple of years ago and decided to try their version of anytime dining. I hated it because it wasn't anytime. Each evening, they wanted to know what time I wanted to eat the next evening. I thought it was suppose to be flexible, but on Royal Caribbean not so.

I may give Princess Any Time a try on my next cruise. Sometimes, I know what time I want for the next evening, but sometimes it depends upon what time I get back from that port.

[KYWEST1]

With a larger party, it is recommended to do Traditional Dining. I wanted to try Anytime on my upcoming cruise, but my TA said with our party of 8, we should just stick with the late seating.

[NavyVeteran]

Still considering ATD I so like having the same waiter for every dinner. Also, don't want to feel rushed. Traveling with 9 if that matters. Would want 7:30 atd

 

Although my wife and I usually do ATD now, I wouldn't consider it for a party of nine. If you all show up without reservations to eat together, you will probably have a wait. Also, you would have the problem trying to have everyone decide each day when and where to meet for dinner.

 

With traditional dining, you would have a table for ten reserved for your party of nine every night at the same place and same time. It makes it much easier for you to coordinate with the rest of your group. You may be going separately during the day, but you know you will have this time together every evening. I have traveled with a party of nine (one table for the nine) and a party of thirteen (one table for seven and one for six). With the larger group, the two tables were next to each other with the same waiter, and we switched around between our two tables every evening.

 

ATD may be doable for a larger group if some of you are in a full suite, since full suite passengers get priority ATD reservations. Otherwise, I wouldn't try it with a group of eight or more who want to eat together every evening.

[grhoney]

We switched from traditional to anytime dining during our first Princess cruise and haven't looked back. Our reasons were the same as yours. The flexibility of anytime dining will enhance your onboard experience if you want to fully enjoy evening entertainment.

 

Lew

 

Same here...

[TomCruises]

Thinking of switching so I don't miss the game shows and stargazing. Seems they are only held once a night. Although I prefer traditional dining, the early seating is too early and I will miss some activities if I keep late seating traditional. I an considering anytime around 7:30. Any opinions? If you have done both did you miss td?

 

 

 

We always reserve 8:15 seating in MDR. Sometimes we are not happy with our waiter so we'll establish a relationship with a waiter that we really like in Anytime Dining and reserve a table that we like with him for 7:30pm each evening.

That's the benefit of MDR 8:15pm when you have a great waiter, he will learn exactly what you like and take care of you throughout the cruise. Anytime Dining standardly scattered around from waiter to waiter during cruise, not good!

[pmcue]

Alth

 

ATD may be doable for a larger group if some of you are in a full suite, since full suite passengers get priority ATD reservations. Otherwise, I wouldn't try it with a group of eight or more who want to eat together every evening.

 

Can you tell me how this works. I just change from TD to ATD for a cruise we are on in 2 weeks. We are just party of 2 but in a suite. We have done ton of cruises on many lines and this is first time on ATD and just curious how it works for suite guests