Early Traditional Dinning Time ???

[susancruzs]

You wouldn't think it was a big deal until you get back late from a port, you eat a later lunch, you want to have tea at least once during your cruise, you want to go to the Platinum/Elite lounge before dinner, etc. 6pm is early enough for dinner, and if they're not going to offer it they shouldn't advertise or confirm it.

 

OK, I think I should be done. I've been late from a port, had a later lunch, enjoy the tea sometimes, am Platinum, a day or two away from Elite and all of it, doesn't matter. I've been doing this 33 years, 25+ cruises on 6 cruise lines and I guess I just don't get it.

Edited March 31, 2016 by susancruzs

[caribill]

We brought a copy of our confirmed 6 PM dining and asked the Matre D what part of confirmed didn't Princess understand.

 

And the Maitre d' said ??????

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We're on Coral in May and our TA signed us up for early seating which turned out to be 5:15 which is way too early. We're now wait listed for 5:45 but we're told to go to anytime dining if list isnt cleared.

 

This is a very short cruise but whoever heard of 5:15on a cruise??? I'd prefer 6 but all cruise lines appear to have changed it to 5:45.

 

The Coral only has two dining rooms, one for traditional and one for anytime. If you selected the earlier 5:15pm instead of the 5:45pm traditional, they actually put you in the anytime dining room at the same table every night.

 

We always pick the 5:15pm or earliest traditional dining we can get. We don't work a 9-5 lifestyle and if we are eating at 5:30pm at home, it's late dining and something delayed us getting home from work.

 

Only problem we have ever encountered with eating this early on a cruise is not going to the PES lounge before dinner as usually starts at 5:00pm. We don't have much interest in that anyway, just prefer to do our own thing.

 

What ever dining time it ends up being, we just adjust our schedule and go with it, although I do understand that it does cause problems with others and what they want to plan.

[cruzsnooze]

And the Maitre d' said ??????

 

He said he gets a lot of complaints and for us to just come at 6 PM. He went on to say that Corp has been told about this discrepancy many times and does nothing.

Edited April 1, 2016 by cruzsnooze

[amyotravel]

Dang it. In another thread someone posted the Patters from a recent cruise on my ship and itinerary. It shows early seating at 5:30. Not a 5:30 and a 6:00. I would say that pretty much confirms it. Princess definitely needs to change their website to provide accurate information so passengers can make an informed decision. My CVP says she didn't even know this was happening.

 

[Eaglecw]

At home we normally have dinner around 5-5:30. On the cruise ship we like to have dinner at the traditional 8pm seating. We have a snack about 4pm or so to tide us over to dinner. It’s never crowded, most of the time we eat alone. The couple of cruises we’ve been on we’ve had a table for 6 all to ourselves. I don’t see what the big deal is, if you don’t like eating at 5:15 go the 8pm seating which is 7:45 seating.

[amyotravel]

I'm not a late night person. Eating such a full meal late at night makes me too uncomfortable when I go to bed. I never eat past 7 PM at home and have always chosen 6 PM as dining time on a ship.

[shredie]

At home we normally have dinner around 5-5:30. On the cruise ship we like to have dinner at the traditional 8pm seating. We have a snack about 4pm or so to tide us over to dinner. It’s never crowded, most of the time we eat alone. The couple of cruises we’ve been on we’ve had a table for 6 all to ourselves. I don’t see what the big deal is, if you don’t like eating at 5:15 go the 8pm seating which is 7:45 seating.

 

Sometimes it is, sometimes not. The 8:00 time slot is as variable as the 6:00 one. I've had dinner at 7:30, 7:45, 8:15, and all over the place. Princess is just not consistent with the dining times published and the dining times you actually find on the boat. It's one of the things that peeves me.

[FritzG]

Sometimes it is, sometimes not. The 8:00 time slot is as variable as the 6:00 one. I've had dinner at 7:30, 7:45, 8:15, and all over the place. Princess is just not consistent with the dining times published and the dining times you actually find on the boat. It's one of the things that peeves me.

 

If they offered second seating at 7:30 we'd be signing up for it. We'll have to check with the maitre d' when we board on May 15th.

[cruzsnooze]

If they offered second seating at 7:30 we'd be signing up for it. We'll have to check with the maitre d' when we board on May 15th.

 

That time frame could mean missing both shows, the 7 Pm and the 9 PM. Princess would be doing us a favor to think through all the ramifications and correlate them to show times and activities.