anytime dining vs. fixed cruise like dining?

[Iamcruzin]

I will say I feel the late traditional, while once coveted, is now rare. On our cruise in April the dining room was half full most nights and sparse on others. I think the majority are moving to anytime.

I found it to be the same the last time I booked late traditional. I think half the problem is that Princess allows traditional diners to jump back and forth between traditional and anytime seating. We were at a table for 8 and most of the time only one other couple showed up. One night it was just the two of us. I haven't booked traditional since. Celebrity doesn't allow this behavior so the anytime experience is much better. We figured if we are going to wait until 8 for traditional we may as well book anytime at least it's more flexible with time and table size.

[Iamcruzin]

That may be the most judgmental diatribe I've seen in 5 years on Cruise Critic. What makes you think that everyone eats lunch at 1 and takes tea at 4? Is it just because you do? What makes you think everyone should act and feel the way you do?

 

What makes you think that North American traits are evil and European ones are pure?

 

My 95-year-old mother eats dinner between 5 and 5:30 every night. Is that OK with you? Probably not, because you seem to think everyone should follow your lead.

 

Jim

 

Wowzz,

Everyone from everywhere has their own habits and preferences. I have lived abroad and traveled extensively and would never imagine questioning any dining preference, of a country or individuals. Can't we each do what works best for us, without putting others down?

 

U.S. citizen here, born and raised in NY the melting pot. Not everyone in the U.S. is a retired senior citizen yet. I'm still in rush our traffic at 5:30. As a matter of fact it's 8:30pm and my wife is still on the train. I have about another 15 years before I can even think about eating that early. As for eating lunch at 1:00 in the afternoon, judging by the lines in the buffet on a sea day I would say that's the peak time to eat lunch.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Whenever we go the route of AD, we ALWAYS pick up a courtesy phone and let them know we're on our way. Although I prefer having the same wait staff so they know my specific needs as to food temperature, highest quality ingredients, allergens, ice cube to beverage ratio, silverware placement, etc.

 

Highest quality ingredients? Silverware placement? Ice cube to beverage ratio? Wow, the word that comes to my mind is a four letter one that starts with a.

[Iamcruzin]

Thanks for the support Diver. Has no-one else heard the phrase 'tongue in cheek'? And as for being judgmental, I was merely pointing out that Europeans generally ate later than North Americans, which I think we can all agree on. Personally I hate eating at 11 at night, but sometimes you have to fall in with local customs.

At the end of the day, it's just as well that we all have our own preferences. If we all wanted to eat at the same time, the MDR queues would be really long.

Bon Appetit!

 

Funny thing is all I ever heard about Europe and Australia is that they have mega vacation time, a couple of hours to eat lunch during the day which is when they eat a heavy meal and government funded medical benefits. Makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing here? I was surprised to read that it's not uncommon to eat at 11:00pm

[WCAB]

We have done both. I think for shorter cruises 7 days or less I prefer traditional seating. We will be on a 16 day cruise in the fall with a lot of sea days and the possibility of ending up at a table where we are not matched well was just a bit more of a risk than I wanted to take. Anytime dining will expose us to a lot of different size groups and just felt like the way to go this time.

[donaldsc]

I have read many comments about long lines and waiting for tables and being handed a beeper at the anytime dining venue. We always see the Maître d, and tip him $35 or more and end tell him what time we want to dine for the week and we have never had a problem. On formal night we sail by the long line, and and on other nights we just arrive and get seated. We are accustomed to this, coming from NYC originally. It doesn't make sense to tip the Maître d at the end of the cruise. Also the reservation system is not fool proof.

 

So I guess that you feel that a bribe paid to the right person solves all problems.

 

DON

[MicCanberra]

We prefer AD to TD and have never had an issue. We do tip the Maître De (extra from the auto gratuities) but we do it at the end of the cruise and only if they have looked after us throughout the cruise. :D

[awesome girl]

We have only cruised on the Sun class ships from Australia, where only

TD has been offered, later this year we are cruising on the Diamond

which has both, after reading many threads on this subject, we have

again opted for TD late seating as we like to know where our table is

and the wait staff get to know what your preferences are.:D

[kenexx]

Never had TD and never will. We are on the ship to relax and it's not like we have to be anywhere at any time. Never had any huge delay in getting a table for 2 in AD.

[MicCanberra]

Never had TD and never will. We are on the ship to relax and it's not like we have to be anywhere at any time. Never had any huge delay in getting a table for 2 in AD.

 

Likewise.:D

[sonomaphil]

Never had TD and never will. We are on the ship to relax and it's not like we have to be anywhere at any time. Never had any huge delay in getting a table for 2 in AD.

 

 

Nominee for post of the week.

[GUT2407]

Never had TD and never will. We are on the ship to relax and it's not like we have to be anywhere at any time. Never had any huge delay in getting a table for 2 in AD.

 

 

Where as we love TD. Literally go into "Cruise control", and not bother making decisions.

[GUT2407]

We have only cruised on the Sun class ships from Australia, where only

TD has been offered, later this year we are cruising on the Diamond

which has both, after reading many threads on this subject, we have

again opted for TD late seating as we like to know where our table is

and the wait staff get to know what your preferences are.:D

 

 

We're the same.

 

And also on Diamond in October.

 

Because it is b2b we are doing ATD on one leg and TD on the other, just to mix things up a bit.

[GUT2407]

So I guess that you feel that a bribe paid to the right person solves all problems.

 

DON

 

 

Seems to be a common attitude.

[caribill]

Seems to be a common attitude.

 

Even with FIFA.

[GUT2407]

Even with FIFA.

 

 

Ain't that a shocker.

[MicCanberra]

Even with FIFA.

 

I cannot believe they have left Sep alone, talk about the pot calling the kettle black, They all should go to prison.

[YankeePenny]

since we are ' never eat before half past seven p.m.' diners, I am hoping it will be a bit quieter at the later seating.

[wowzz]

Geesh, at home we typically eat dinner around 4pm. Of course, at home or on a cruise, we don't often have lunch (sea days excepted). And we have had tea perhaps 5 times in our lives. So, 8 hours after having a light breakfast, we are hungry!

 

What I can't figure out, as I get older, is how the Europeans can eat dinner at 11pm and then go to sleep. My ability to do that left me years ago. And, as for supper...that's what we used to call dinner. It was not the opportunity for another meal.

 

We finally cried "uncle" when it came to Princess' Anytime Dining and now get a table for 2 at 5:30pm traditional. This helps us to avoid the aft dining rooms (I do NOT like them!) and locks us in to a table/server without wait. No, there are days when I'd certainly prefer dining a little later (like 6:30pm), but we work within the framework Princess has established and, in the end, it's the best solution for us.

 

Don't forget, that in Spain, 4 p.m. is still siesta time. Shops and offices will re-open at 5 until 8 or 9. Time then for a tapa or two, followed by dinner.

[mysaddlebred000]

When anytime dining was first introduced, we enjoyed it but not the past couple years. We book suites and one of the perks is suppose to be priority dinner reservations. I don't know how many times we have called and been on hold over an hour and finally gave up. We have not been able to get a window table for three years. Seems too many people either offer bribes to the head waiter and manage to snag those tables or they are elite people who demand a certain table. The suite guests receive a free first night specialty restaurant dinner and thus aren't in the MDR the first night and by the second night, all the good tables are gone. We have turned to ordering dinner in our cabin most nights.

 

On a recent cruise the head waiter tried to kick a couple out of their window table right after they sat down. The night before, the waiter told them they could have the table the entire cruise. Seems a couple made such a deal about wanting their table and they pulled the we are elite so the head waiter was going to grant them their wish - not sure if a bribe was also involved.

 

I think anytime dining should be just that. And I think they should stop allowing people to make reservations for the entire cruise. If people want a reservation for the week, then they should do traditional dining.

I believe the reason the waiters ask if people want the table the entire cruise is because of the tips. They may get a tip if the same people are at their table the entire cruise. But most don't get any tips when the people change every night.

So, the crew gets screwed if they work anytime dining.

[Chloe1500]

Hmmm, well, I guess we have just been lucky in AD. We always ask for a table for two (and never make reservations nor offer any bribes:)) and we always get in. The head waiter sometimes acts as though we are asking for the moon, gives us a pager and warns it will be up to an hour...but even then, we go off to get a glass of wine at Vines and before we can eat the sushi, the pager buzzes. We have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes.

[AzEileen]

Our first Princess Cruise will be to British Isles in 2016. Our ship is Caribbean Princess. We will be cruising with one other couple. On previous cruises (NCL, Holland America) we used anytime dining and went to the main dining room whenever we were ready. For this cruise we selected traditional, table for 4, 6 pm. Two questions for experienced Princess cruisers:

• Will we get a table for 4 or be seated at larger tables?
  
• If we return late from an excursion, can we go to the main dining room or do we have to go to the buffet?
  

 

Thanks for helping me figure this out!

[quelah]

Hmmm, well, I guess we have just been lucky in AD. We always ask for a table for two (and never make reservations nor offer any bribes:)) and we always get in. The head waiter sometimes acts as though we are asking for the moon, gives us a pager and warns it will be up to an hour...but even then, we go off to get a glass of wine at Vines and before we can eat the sushi, the pager buzzes. We have never had to wait longer than 15 minutes.

 

That's our experience too. No big problem getting a table for 2 in AD, just a short wait during peak times.

[msmoger]

Perhaps a bit off topic, but does anyone know the approximate range for the pagers? If we're waiting for a table in the Deck 5 Dining Room will the pager work if, as an example, we go to Crooners on Deck 7?

 

Thanks,

[Colo Cruiser]

Perhaps a bit off topic, but does anyone know the approximate range for the pagers? If we're waiting for a table in the Deck 5 Dining Room will the pager work if, as an example, we go to Crooners on Deck 7?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

Ours did, we sat as close to the railing as possible. ;)