The Traditional Experience

[Zebboriah]

My wife and I are going on our third cruise in April on the Sapphire to Mexico. Based on a lot of the feedback we have received from this board, we have opted to try traditional rather than mess with the reservations that end up making Anytime Dining a different form of traditional.

 

So...since this will be our first time doing traditional, outside of the normal sitting with the same people, waiters knowing your querks and so on, what should we expect? Do they still do the Baked Alaska parade on the Sapphire and if so, what night? What else sets it apart? I'm just curious so any feedback would be great, especially from recent traditional cruisers on the Sapphire or any other ship.

 

THANKS!

[Pam in CA]

I'm off on the Sapphire in two days (Yay!) and my preference is for the late traditional seating. I like it because I'm not big on going to the shows at night so I don't feel pressed or stressed to eat and run.

 

Things I like about traditional dining:

 

* Same waiter every night who gets to know you very quickly. They'll have your favorite beverage waiting for you; they will make suggestions as to what they think you'll like; they're more willing to suggest off-menu items or bring you "extras" of what you like.

 

* Everyone is being served at about the same time. My experience with anytime dining is that just as we'd finished our appetizer, a large group arrived at the table next to us and the next 15 minutes or more, we were left with dishes while the waiter and asst. waiter get them set up, took their drink orders, dinner orders, etc. Same thing happened as we waited for dessert. They were just finishing their appetizers and we had to wait with dirty dishes in front of us for 10 or 15 minutes. It wasn't the fault of the waiter but rather the timing.

 

* The baked Alaska parade. I'm not a big fan of baked Alaska but there's something special to me about the parade. It's usually the last night of the cruise.

 

Overall, traditional dining is really different from making a reservation with the same waiters every night. The traditional dining waiters are usually much more attentive and give you more personal service because they have the time to do so. The anytime waiters have three or four different tables on different schedules and it just doesn't seem to flow well.

[caribbean2000]

Agree with everything Pam said and I'll add that it's nice to really get to know your tablemates. Now, having said that, I must qualify it a bit - we have been blessed on EVERY cruise to have wonderful, interesting and fun tablemates, some of whom we are still in contact with. But I've seen some things at nearby tables that ranged from funny/awkward (the guy at the next table last April on the Star who brought his ukelele to the table to serenade everyone a couple of nights - if he hadn't taken it so seriously, it may have been funny) to awful (the two couples on the Carnival Pride who arrived to dinner EVERY night totally wasted, were loud and onoxious and one night took out cans of Silly String and started spraying the waiters as they walked by). But these fortunately are the exception. Not to say you can't meet great people in Anytime Dining...I just don't want to go through the introduction phase over and over. Just an opinion!

We love 2nd seating, traditional!

Gene

[Pam in CA]

Gene... I agree. On our 21-day Royal Princess cruise, we were seated at a table for 10 with people I thought looked quite "different" at first sight. It was a pretty international group with one couple originally from the Philippines, one husband from Sri Lanka and his wife is Canadian of Russian descent, and a single, elderly lady from England. I would never have met any of them if they weren't at our table. We wound up having the best table ever with funny, knowledgeable, educated and interesting people. We were among the last to leave every night and I could see other tables looking over at us wondering what we were talking or laughing about all the time. I'm still in touch with my new friends. They really made the cruise very special.

 

Out of many cruises and traditional seatings, only once have I had a couple I didn't like. So we changed tables. Not a biggie.

[Zebboriah]

Thanks for the replies. Now I am really looking forward to it! We are booked 2nd seating as well. Is there enough time between the end of dinner and the start of the late show in the Princess Theater to get there in time?

[atdahop]

Hi,

 

Just off the Sapphire Dec 17..........no they do not do the Baked Alaska...too much of a fire hazzard....they same for cherries jubilee or pasta dishes...you can get these but just not tableside.

 

We were diehard traditional late seaters until our last cruise...where we had the table from Hell...one woman was constantly drunk and making all kinds of disparaging remarks about others in the dining room, really very embarrassing. This trip we opted for Anytime Dining and once you get the knack of how to do it, it was fine. We actually had the same waitress for 6 nights, we loved her so much. You just have to see the Maitre'D and make arrangments. What we liked was being able to change our times from 6:15 for a couple of nights to 7:30 or 8 on others, instead of being locked in to the 8 only times.

 

Carole

[Av8tor]

Agree with everything Pam said and I'll add that it's nice to really get to know your tablemates. Now, having said that, I must qualify it a bit - we have been blessed on EVERY cruise to have wonderful, interesting and fun tablemates, some of whom we are still in contact with. But I've seen some things at nearby tables that ranged from funny/awkward (the guy at the next table last April on the Star who brought his ukelele to the table to serenade everyone a couple of nights - if he hadn't taken it so seriously, it may have been funny) to awful (the two couples on the Carnival Pride who arrived to dinner EVERY night totally wasted, were loud and onoxious and one night took out cans of Silly String and started spraying the waiters as they walked by). But these fortunately are the exception. Not to say you can't meet great people in Anytime Dining...I just don't want to go through the introduction phase over and over. Just an opinion!

We love 2nd seating, traditional!

Gene

 

You said it all when you mentioned that the wasted silly string folks were on a Carnival cruise... enough said for avoiding carnival!

 

JMHO,

Paul

[Murphey]

Hi,

 

Just off the Sapphire Dec 17..........no they do not do the Baked Alaska...too much of a fire hazzard....they same for cherries jubilee or pasta dishes...you can get these but just not tableside.

 

Carole

 

 

Interesting....we were on the Regal in November and had all these events....why would it be a fire hazard on one and not the other? I think Princess may be getting lazy....

[negc]

Thanks for the replies. Now I am really looking forward to it! We are booked 2nd seating as well. Is there enough time between the end of dinner and the start of the late show in the Princess Theater to get there in time?

Despite all the touting of 'anytime dining', the shows are still scheduled to coordinate with the early and late dining sessions, so you should have no problem finishing a relatively leisurely dinner and getting to the theater before the start of the show. Getting a seat, however, could be a problem if too many of those who had early seating or who dined at a time of their choice in the any time dining rooms, decide to take in the late show or decide to see it for a second time. This can sometimes be a problem even on ships that have only the traditional dining times, especially if the show is extremely good or popular.

[bdjam]

Interesting....we were on the Regal in November and had all these events....why would it be a fire hazard on one and not the other? I think Princess may be getting lazy....

I just got off Dawn Princess. We had tableside preparation of Pasta on Italian night, Cherries Jubilee and Bananas Foster (which involves flaming). We also had a Baked Alaska parade with the Alaskas flaming as well. Interesting on Sapphire Princess, the one the burned in the ship yard, it’s a fire hazard but not anywhere else…

Despite all the touting of 'anytime dining', the shows are still scheduled to coordinate with the early and late dining sessions, so you should have no problem finishing a relatively leisurely dinner and getting to the theater before the start of the show. Getting a seat, however, could be a problem if too many of those who had early seating or who dined at a time of their choice in the any time dining rooms, decide to take in the late show or decide to see it for a second time. This can sometimes be a problem even on ships that have only the traditional dining times, especially if the show is extremely good or popular.

Right – we were out of Second Seating dinner approximately 10:00 and the major evening events started at 10:15. On our trip, the second shows weren’t that full, but having 15 minutes before gives one plenty of time to get there.

[Hlitner]

We have also had lots of soul searching regarding traditional vs personal choice. However, circumstances in a few traditional seatings has sealer our decision (personal choice). We were on a cruise 2 years ago and had a table of 8 in 2nd seating. During the 7 day cruise, not once did we ever see the other 6, who apparently elected to eat up in the buffet. We thought this was a fluke, and a few months later we were on a RCL ship where this is no personal choice. Again, we had a 2nd seating table for 8 and never saw the other 6 (the maitre'd said this was not uncommon). Se, now we always do personal choice. We have found that particularly on longer cruises (more than 10 days) this works quite well. We tend to dine after 8, and always ask to be seated at a large table. Accordingly, we seldom have to wait more than a minute to be seated and we meet lots of interesting cruisers. Usually after the first few days we "bond" with a few cruise mates and form our own personal choice table. At that point, once of us makes reservations and continue to enjoy our new found friends. The only draw-back is that we do miss the opportunity to have a regular waiter. On the other hand, we never have a bad table.

 

Hank

[FredS]

Got off the Sapphire Princess on Dec 17. They did the Baked Alaska parade the last night. Slices were small but waiter asked if anyone wanted a second helping; i passed on it. I had First Seatting in the traditional dining room. I like the ability to meet new people and get to know them. We still correspond with a couple from England we met on a 21 day cruise. If you don't like the people at the table or some of them ask the Matri d' to move you to a different table. Our cherries jubilee was not flaming, it lacked something but not sure what.

Perhaps the Baked Alaska parade only takes place in the main dining room.

[donna5]

They have baked alaska and cherries jubilee only in Traditional dining, it is kind of hard to have it in Anytime, where every table is finishing at a different time. The person who said they didn't have it was in Anytime. But on the nights that they have the baked alaska in traditional, they have it on the desert menu in anytime and is called something like bombe diplomat.

[tequilasunrise]

For traditional dining they throw in some fun surprises which might include: tableside cooking, singing waiters, the baked alaska parade, homemade liquors, and on our last cruise, we did a parade around the room on Italian night. It sounds odd, but everyone was waving napkins and dancing in a long line---it was really fun.

 

You also have no waiting for your table, the same waiters, and the same companions (if you want).

[Hlitner]

Hmmm. I do not mean to sound crass, but if Personal Choice gets me away from parades ofwaiters, pirates, Baked Alaska (nice name for ice cream) etc, than I am now a big fan of personal choice. On the other hand, at least Baked Alaska is free ice cream (smile). As to Princess desserts, I have long been a huge fan of their souffles. And on our recent Sea Princess cruise the lobster tails seemed to be larger and better than on previous cruises. As to the beef,, well if they servied that in any of our local restaurants they would be out of business in weeks. Its kind of sad that they have cut back on good beef in the dining room to entice us all to the alternative dining steak houses. Oh well, Cruising is still the best vacation on earth.

 

Hank

[bdjam]

if Personal Choice gets me away from parades ofwaiters, pirates, Baked Alaska (nice name for ice cream) etc, than I am now a big fan of personal choice.

The Baked Alaska parade is what, 10 minutes of a cruise?

[snie]

adtahop,

 

I was on the same cruise as you (Sapphire Dec 10-17), and there was most definitely a parade of flaming baked alaskas!

 

It was on the 2nd formal night, following a dinner of prime rib! We were seated in 2nd seating traditional dining.

 

In the chef demo they stated they don't do flamed dishes (flambes) or pasta table-side due to the fire hazard. I guess the flaming baked alaskas are ok.....

[SeaTeacher]

I too was on the 12-17 2nd seating traditional. We sat at table 73. We had great table mates. As a newbie cruiser, my experienced table mates explained what was going on, as well as what some other cruise lines do for dining room celebrations.

 

The parade of chefs and the Baked Alaska parade took place on the same night, the second formal evening. Some folks we met from PC dining had no idea this parade took place. They said they would try traditional next time.

 

As for the dancing and singing waiters, this is not done on the Sapphire - just a quick parade, introductions, and cheers/twirling napkins from the passengers. It's over in 5 minutes.

 

I tend to think I would find dancing and singing to be an annoyance and distracting from both the meal and conversation. But I can't say this from shipboard experience. I have been to restaurants that had strolling musicians and I didn't enjoy that.

 

The Baked Alaska parade and the chef's parade seems to be a good compromise by Princess. It's a little flashy, it's fun for some, and it's over quickly.

 

Now, as for those who consistently don't show up for traditional dining - I wonder if there could be a way to cancel a party's placement in the dining room if they miss the 2-3 nights in a row. Or at least the Maitre'D could contact the passengers to check on their status. I know many ships have a waiting list of passengers trying to get out of Personsl Choice and into trafitional. It strikes me as rude to reserve space in the dining room and then never use it without canceling. On the Sapphire I never saw a nearly empty table until the very last night when many people ate in the buffet so they could spend part of the night packing.

 

However, dining room patrons should be able to miss a few nights so they can try the specialty restaurants. There has to be a good compromise that allows for flexibility, but dumps consistent no-shows in favor of wait-listed diners.

[calikak]

Now, as for those who consistently don't show up for traditional dining - I wonder if there could be a way to cancel a party's placement in the dining room if they miss the 2-3 nights in a row. Or at least the Maitre'D could contact the passengers to check on their status.

 

The Maitre'D does do this, at least on some ships. I was part of a group of 6 on the Golden last spring (my parents, two of my dear friends, and DH and I) and we were assigned to a table for 8. Whoever was supposed to occupy those other 2 chairs at our table never once showed up to dinner, and this was a 10-night cruise. On the second night, the Maitre'D came by and asked our cabin numbers, and also asked if we knew the other people who were supposed to be sitting there, and we said no. He said he was going to call the two people who were missing because there were people on the waiting list still for traditional dining, and if these two weren't going to use the traditional dining room, then he was going to put a couple people from the waitlist there. The next night, our waiter told us that the Maitre'D had contacted the two missing people, and they'd said they were still planning to use their place in traditional dining, so they couldn't give away their spots, but like I said, they never once showed up. One night, we invited a couple of friends who had Anytime dining to come eat with us on one of the formal nights, since it was clear by then that these mystery people weren't coming to dinner. The rest of the week, the seats stayed empty.

[serene56]

You said it all when you mentioned that the wasted silly string folks were on a Carnival cruise... enough said for avoiding carnival!

JMHO,

 

I sailed on a royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas once-- on formal night the table next to us the people came to dinner in tee shirts with the tx imprinted on the front of it. Jeans and flip flops.. not the dressy kind-- the plastic kinds ya see at the dollar store. So it jsut isnt a carnival thing.

[Hlitner]

I have to agree (somewhat_ with Serene's post. We have been fortunate to have cruised on 11 different cruise lines (including Carnival) and more than 40 different ships. Whenever I see "Carnival Bashing" my first thought is that the comment comes from someone not very familiar with Carnival. Yes, we love the better cruise lines such as Radisson, Crystal, and Seaborne but still enjoy the "mass market" lines such as Princess and Carnival. We have seen good and bad on all the lines and have seen good dressers and bad on all the lines. We think that many Americans (we are also Americans) have a tendency to dress-up on formal nights. On most recent cruise (3 weeks ago) on the Sea Princess had about 2/3 British on the ship, and it was probably the best dressed crowd we have seen on any Princess cruise. On our last Carnival cruise (Destiny) the passengers were better dressed and better behaved than we have seen on many RCL and Princess cruises. It just seems to vary with each individual cruise, so we have learned to avoid the generalizations normally attributed to a particular line.

 

Hank

[chasetf]

We like the late traditional, baked alaska and all. Would not miss it if they cancelled it, fire hazard or whatever. We like meeting new people and getting to know them. Even when traveling with another couple, we still opt for the table of 8 or 10.

 

The only time we do PC is when traditional is not available. And if we get stuck with it, we just make a standing reservation. We also like late traditional so we can be up top during the sail away, and then enjoy our coffee before leaving dinner for a show. :D