Anytime Dining Reservations

[CRUISER166]

Is it possible to make reservations for Anytime Dining by phoning Princess prior to the cruise? We are new cruisers on Princess and have been able to do this on Celebrity.

 

Thanks.

[Colo Cruiser]

Is it possible to make reservations for Anytime Dining by phoning Princess prior to the cruise? We are new cruisers on Princess and have been able to do this on Celebrity.

 

Thanks.

 

 

No has to be done onboard. Every ship handles this differently onboard.

[CRUISER166]

No has to be done onboard. Every ship handles this differently onboard.

 

 

Thanks for the answer. I am finding a lot of differences between Princess and Celebrity. The ability to make dining reservations ahead of time with Celebrity is a great benefit.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the answer. I am finding a lot of differences between Princess and Celebrity. The ability to make dining reservations ahead of time with Celebrity is a great benefit.

 

 

On Princess the intent of anytime was to be able to show when you want to eat. We like that aspect.

You don't want traditional?

[Kamloops50]

Is it possible to make reservations for Anytime Dining by phoning Princess prior to the cruise? We are new cruisers on Princess and have been able to do this on Celebrity.

 

Thanks.

 

 

You have to call the dine line every morning at 8AM sharp. They will only book about 30% of the tables . You can't reserve for the whole in one call. Unless your eat towards 8PM , there will be a fairly long line. People start lining up about 30 minutes before the anytime DR opens. By opening the line can stretch most of the way around the piazzia.

[easyboy]

When we plan to dine at the MDR the following evening, we request the Headwaiter after dinner for a table reservation. Most often, we are shown the table that may be available for us to reserve.

[casofilia]

You have to call the dine line every morning at 8AM sharp. They will only book about 30% of the tables . You can't reserve for the whole in one call. Unless your eat towards 8PM , there will be a fairly long line. People start lining up about 30 minutes before the anytime DR opens. By opening the line can stretch most of the way around the piazzia.

 

 

If you have a booking are you able to bypass this line?

[casofilia]

When we plan to dine at the MDR the following evening, we request the Headwaiter after dinner for a table reservation. Most often, we are shown the table that may be available for us to reserve.

 

 

This sounds a good idea; we will have to try it. Hope it works for us.

[wishfulone]

Is it possible to make reservations for Anytime Dining by phoning Princess prior to the cruise? We are new cruisers on Princess and have been able to do this on Celebrity.

 

Thanks.

 

 

The idea of Anytime Dining is that you show up when you're ready to eat. You might prefer to lock in one of the Traditional Dining times.

[SadieN]

We've had no wait for ATD when choosing the MDR that starts out as traditional then changes to ATD at 7:30.

[caribill]

If you have a booking are you able to bypass this line?

 

They usually have a separate line for those with reservations.

[caribill]

You have to call the dine line every morning at 8AM sharp. They will only book about 30% of the tables .

 

 

Different ships do it different ways.

 

o Must call the morning of to make a reservation for that night

o Can make a reservation for the entire cruise

o Do not take reservations at all

 

It depends on the Maitre d' and you may not know until you board which option it will be.

[casofilia]

They usually have a separate line for those with reservations.

 

Different ships do it different ways.

 

o Must call the morning of to make a reservation for that night

o Can make a reservation for the entire cruise

o Do not take reservations at all

 

It depends on the Maitre d' and you may not know until you board which option it will be.

 

 

Thank you

[wishfulone]

They usually have a separate line for those with reservations.

We're almost Elite with Princess and I've never seen a separate line for those with reservations.

Reserving a table for Anytime Dining is fairly rare and usually only for a special occasion. Having said that you can always get a reserved table particularly if you want to book a group table a table for two for a special occasion.

[JimmyVWine]

We're almost Elite with Princess and I've never seen a separate line for those with reservations.

Reserving a table for Anytime Dining is fairly rare and usually only for a special occasion. Having said that you can always get a reserved table particularly if you want to book a group table a table for two for a special occasion.

Have you accumulated your "almost Elite" status on a wide array of ships or concentrated on just a few? Because every cruise that I have been on in the past 6 years has both accepted same day reservations for ATD and had a sign indicating a separate line for checking in. If reservations are "rare" and separate lines non-existent, then I am on one heck of a hot streak and need to spend more time in the casino. I realize that not every ship allows the practice, but I would say that it is far from rare.

[Carolyn R]

If you have a reservation in anytime dining you enter the dining room to the right of the line for those without reservations. The line does get very long before the dining room opens. If you like to eat early and don't want to wait, book early traditional dining. From 7:30 on there should be little or no wait. YMMV

[dtb55]

We're almost Elite with Princess and I've never seen a separate line for those with reservations.

Reserving a table for Anytime Dining is fairly rare and usually only for a special occasion. Having said that you can always get a reserved table particularly if you want to book a group table a table for two for a special occasion.

 

 

 

I have most definitely seen a line for those with reservations in ATD.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[LeeW]

Hmm. Haven't been able to make an early reservation for two via DINE or asking in last 20 cruises or so. They will take reservations for more people, though. Last few cruises the "reservations" line included the people with fixed early seating plus the few that got reservations.

 

We like to eat early and have the same waiters, so we just arrive a few minutes before the dining room opens. Typically the dining room fills by about 45 minutes in and then anyone arriving has to wait. Then it starts to empty and people can just walk in. So, if you don't have a reservation either arrive when dining room opens or wait about 90 minutes and it isn't a problem.

[shepp]

I wonder how many before-the-cruise reservations on X turn out to be no-shows compared to the day-of reservations on Princess.

[alwalaska]

On Princess the intent of anytime was to be able to show when you want to eat. We like that aspect.

You don't want traditional?

 

 

Ha ha. Obviously you haven't cruised on the Island Princess. ;) My idea of anytime is to be able to eat at the size table I want and at a different time each day, but that didn't work without getting ready to dial the phone exactly at 8am to get a reservation, eating after 8pm, standing in a long line, and/or getting a beeper to wait.

 

People said it works better on other ships, but I'm wondering, is it possible to just walk up and eat at a smaller table (2 or 4 people instead of 8 or 10) without either a long wait or reservations on other ships? Especially with part of the anytime dining room now being reserved for club class.

[CRUISER166]

Ha ha. Obviously you haven't cruised on the Island Princess. ;) My idea of anytime is to be able to eat at the size table I want and at a different time each day, but that didn't work without getting ready to dial the phone exactly at 8am to get a reservation, eating after 8pm, standing in a long line, and/or getting a beeper to wait.

 

People said it works better on other ships, but I'm wondering, is it possible to just walk up and eat at a smaller table (2 or 4 people instead of 8 or 10) without either a long wait or reservations on other ships? Especially with part of the anytime dining room now being reserved for club class.

 

 

My usual cruise line is Celebrity and Yes, you can book anytime reservations prior to boarding for the entire cruise on Celebrity. We like a table for two every evening at 6:30 PM and we book that ahead of time for the entire cruise. If our plans change on a specific day then we call up on that day and change the time. We rarely have to wait at all with reservations.

 

Anytime dining should allow flexibility without having to wait in a long line. The only reason we are switching to Princess for one cruise is the itinerary.

[Kamloops50]

My usual cruise line is Celebrity and Yes, you can book anytime reservations prior to boarding for the entire cruise on Celebrity. We like a table for two every evening at 6:30 PM and we book that ahead of time for the entire cruise. If our plans change on a specific day then we call up on that day and change the time. We rarely have to wait at all with reservations.

 

Anytime dining should allow flexibility without having to wait in a long line. The only reason we are switching to Princess for one cruise is the itinerary.

 

 

Princess doesn't seem to work that way now. When they first started there was no lineup or waiting time for a table.

About two years ago there started being a lineup for anytime dining.

[wishfulone]

Ha ha. Obviously you haven't cruised on the Island Princess. ;) My idea of anytime is to be able to eat at the size table I want and at a different time each day, but that didn't work without getting ready to dial the phone exactly at 8am to get a reservation, eating after 8pm, standing in a long line, and/or getting a beeper to wait.

 

People said it works better on other ships, but I'm wondering, is it possible to just walk up and eat at a smaller table (2 or 4 people instead of 8 or 10) without either a long wait or reservations on other ships? Especially with part of the anytime dining room now being reserved for club class.

 

 

ATD on the Island is certainly a bit of a worry since they added the extra cabins. We've never had to queue more than 5 mins on any other ship. We just rock up and ask for 2 or say yes to a share table depending how we feel. Often we dine with the people we've been chatting to in the queue. Works well. We've also arranged a special table for 10 in the Anytime Dining room on a Christmas cruise.

[casofilia]

ATD on the Island is certainly a bit of a worry since they added the extra cabins. We've never had to queue more than 5 mins on any other ship. We just rock up and ask for 2 or say yes to a share table depending how we feel. Often we dine with the people we've been chatting to in the queue. Works well. We've also arranged a special table for 10 in the Anytime Dining room on a Christmas cruise.

 

 

That sounds like the way we are used to on NCL; hope that some of the problems that people talk about do not happen to us on the Caribbean "Round Britain".

[wishfulone]

That sounds like the way we are used to on NCL; hope that some of the problems that people talk about do not happen to us on the Caribbean "Round Britain".

 

 

When are you cruising? It'll be great I'm sure.