anytime dining vs. fixed cruise like dining?

[mysaddlebred000]

donaldsc, that will never happen because you know that none of the crew wants to start any waves. People make a fuss and they get what they want. Crew may call them names down in the crew quarters and bar but not to their faces. They will just smile and say it is ok.

[eandj]

donaldsc, that will never happen because you know that none of the crew wants to start any waves. People make a fuss and they get what they want. Crew may call them names down in the crew quarters and bar but not to their faces. They will just smile and say it is ok.

 

Well there are lots of Celebrity cruisers who live with their policy. And believe me you don't hear the complaining in the anytime line or here re their system.

 

If you miss your traditional seating, (and they DO allow for some flexibility arriving at your table if you are running late, ) unless you show up at the end of the serving schedule when things are slowing, you aren't going to get into anytime. You know you will need to find another option. It isn't a big deal there. I think Princess will indeed find it difficult to undo the flaw in their policy. Guess they figure if word is out that you can switch back and forth you have been forewarned. Same with other policies not really being enforced.

Edited May 30, 2015 by eandj

[eandj]

Hi, perhaps a rookie question. We have always gone with ATD, but end up booking the same 2 person table, at the same time every night. So for the upcoming cruise we have booked TD and requested a 2 person table. Are there any other differences between the two options? They don't serve the entire dining room on the same schedule/pace or anything like that do they? We usually like to just go in, eat and leave reasonably quickly.

 

We do the table for two traditional all the time. On the first night when you meet your servers, give them some kind of idea of how you like to be served. If you would like to be in and out quickly, arrive on time and beat the larger groups. The waiters will bring the water and menus to you first. No you won't be put on any pace to match others. Just talk to your servers every night and let them know if you felt too rushed or delayed. They will do the best they can to accommodate you.

have a great time!

Edited May 30, 2015 by eandj

[Meanee]

I do not have gazillion cruises under my belt like most people here, but all of my cruises had Anytime dining.

 

I am on a vacation, and not on a schedule to go eat at certain time, with certain people. Sometimes we do not go to dining room. Sometimes we want to eat early, other days later.

 

Wait was never a factor. Longest I waited ever was on Oasis of the Seas for all of 10 minutes. And they have quite elegant waiting area, with wine pouring machines.

[donaldsc]

donaldsc, that will never happen because you know that none of the crew wants to start any waves. People make a fuss and they get what they want. Crew may call them names down in the crew quarters and bar but not to their faces. They will just smile and say it is ok.

 

That is the job of the matre'd. If they allow TDers into any time dining, they are not doing their job. And then they expect to be tipped.

 

By the same logic, I should be able to wander into the TD dining room and sit down at any time on any empty space and expect to be served. I should also be allowed to sit at the same space every night.

 

Has anyone tried it?

 

BTW - I do realize that I am being Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

 

DON

[Colo Cruiser]

That is the job of the matre'd. If they allow TDers into any time dining, they are not doing their job. And then they expect to be tipped.

 

By the same logic, I should be able to wander into the TD dining room and sit down at any time on any empty space and expect to be served. I should also be allowed to sit at the same space every night.

 

Has anyone tried it?

 

BTW - I do realize that I am being Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

 

DON

 

 

Do let us know how that turns out. ;)

[eandj]

There was a table for four near our section on the regal in January. After the first two nights, the group eating there changed every night. We thought perhaps the original traditional group notified the maître d they would not be returning. And on busy nights, a different group of 4 any-timers was sent to our tradtional dining room to fill a very nice located table. So...it might be easy enough to fill in empty tables in traditional if you don't show up too late.

[MicCanberra]

Do let us know how that turns out. ;)

 

I would like to know what he has against windmills.;)

[Veng]

Just got off the crown. Only one night did we have to wait to get a table and that was about 5-10 minutes and only because we decided to not share a table that night right after about 5 other groups of 2 decided the same as well.

 

That being said, I wasn't overly impressed with the service. As someone at one of my tables said "Its seems like there's a lot of people running around, but nothing seems to get done". Couldn't be more true. There were always a lot of people running around everywhere, dinning room, buffet, didn't matter. However, they never got anything done and a lot of them just stood around.

 

I don't know if the length of dining service varies with anytime vs traditional, but it was anything but fast. We went in expecting 2 hours for dinner, and it was about that nearly every night.