Change in Traditional Dining Times?

[RDC1]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

Apples and Oranges.  I agree, that it will probably move some from early to late, so if that's what they're trying to do, we'll see.  

 

But if it's eliminate the waiting at 5:15 (or whatever), it won't do that.

We will see. Will be on Grand next month, Sapphire in Feb, and Emerald in May.  Will be interesting to see how the changes go. Noticed that times in the dining times on the cruise in the med have not shifted as far as the cruises originating in the US and the one from Singapore.

[Ombud]

49 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

why do those who have early Fixed dining line up even earlier?  We have wondered about that for many years and finally concluded that there are just some obsessive folks who enjoy waiting in queues :).  We see those folks waiting for dinner, waiting in line for lunch (before the MDR is open), or waiting in line wherever this is a line :).

 

Hank

Which is why I come a few minutes late. Takes them 5-10 minutes to escort the queue in so if I come 5-10 minutes late there's no wait! 

 

FWIW: I'm glad there's a 7:15 seating or I'd do ATD now that I know I can still preorder 

[Diver2014]

I checked my res today for next month on the Crown and we're now #1 on the waitlist for 5:15p traditional dining.  I had originally requested 5:30p but that is no longer an option.  We'll stay with 5:15p - that's better than the 4:45 Princess tried to move us to.  We are once again confirmed for 5:30p on Crown Princess British Isles cruise for next May, which is what we wanted in the first place. Princess sure has a lot of people stirred up!

[Maksim]

Can anyone please explain what is CC dining? Who is eligible for it and where does it take place? Thank you.

[oskidunker]

My July 2019 cruise is still 5:30. If it gets earlier, I would change. 

[abbydancer2003]

5 minutes ago, Maksim said:

Can anyone please explain what is CC dining? Who is eligible for it and where does it take place? Thank you.

CC is Club Class.  It's a section of one of the anytime rooms (usually the one that flips from fixed early to anytime) that's reserved for suites, and selected mini Suites( labeled as Club Class, usually midship).  Idea is you get great service, no waiting, and a couple of extra menu items, often cooked by the headwaiter of the section.

 

 

[PrincessE.]

1 minute ago, Maksim said:

Can anyone please explain what is CC dining? Who is eligible for it and where does it take place? Thank you.

I agree with all of your comments, but having sailed Princess before it became part of Carnival, I have seen a lot of changes; at this point in time I think it is all about control & moving passengers where the cruise line wants them.  Using Medallion alerts the cruise line where you are, what you are doing & what you are spending; as elite status, everything that I sailed for for this status is slowing being taken away from me; I got internet minutes for free depending upon length of cruise - now it is free - don't be too sure.  The style of traditional dining looks like it will be a thing of the past to open the door for paid for dining, etc. & the 'beat' goes on! PE.

[Maksim]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

CC is Club Class.  It's a section of one of the anytime rooms (usually the one that flips from fixed early to anytime) that's reserved for suites, and selected mini Suites( labeled as Club Class, usually midship).  Idea is you get great service, no waiting, and a couple of extra menu items, often cooked by the headwaiter of the section.

 

 

Thank you so much for quick reply. So, you need to be at least in a mini to qualify. Right?

[abbydancer2003]

Just now, Maksim said:

Thank you so much for quick reply. So, you need to be at least in a mini to qualify. Right?

A club class mini.  Most mini suites are not club class, and, yes, they are more expensive than other minis.  

[Doug R.]

On 10/17/2018 at 4:50 PM, RDC1 said:

Many of us feel that it is a positive for  Princess that it does not consume large amount of interior public space with large numbers of alternative for pay dining venues, the few it has is quite enough.

l

The alternative pay dining venues on NCL ships are not the only consumer of available public space. On the larger ships, like the Getaway, they have The Haven, the deluxe suites, which have their own private space including a pool. However we would not hesitate to go on them again depending on the itinerary. We will always look to Princess first.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Doug R.

[Idratherbeatsea]

Our April 2019 sailing of the Royal now shows as 445 and 5pm. We had early just changed to late (715pm)

[caribill]

17 hours ago, StartrainDD said:

 

What makes me mad is to make a change like this after final payment.  There are lots of other options in the same time frame we would have considered.

 

They have not changed the actual time that you will be dining. What they have changed is what time they show in the Personalizer. The 8:15 previously was a fiction and it is likely that the 7:15 time is also a fiction.

[caribill]

9 hours ago, RDC1 said:

As far as the other I suspect, from the gradual shift over time, passenger being in front of the dining room doors 15 minutes before they open, the lines at Anytime before they open, that enough people will be happy with the new times.

 

I do not think there are actually new times for dining when you are on the ship. What is new is what is listed in the personalizer. In the past the times on ship rarely were what was listed in the personalizer. I have no reason to believe the times now listed in the personalizer are accurate either.

 

People may be happy/unhappy with what they see with the changes shown in the personalizer, but may be unhappy once on board and see the actual times differ from what the personalizer listed.

[minniem]

I booked a Feb cruise almost 2 years ago with a confirmed 5:30 seating which of course was changed this week to 4:45.  But the odd part is I am now on the waitlist #27 for the 4:45 seating.  I find it hard to believe people are rushing for this time slot.  And how did I go from confirmed to #27?  Something very odd is going on at Princess headquarters.

[Woobstr112G]

1 hour ago, minniem said:

I booked a Feb cruise almost 2 years ago with a confirmed 5:30 seating which of course was changed this week to 4:45.  But the odd part is I am now on the waitlist #27 for the 4:45 seating.  I find it hard to believe people are rushing for this time slot.  And how did I go from confirmed to #27?  Something very odd is going on at Princess headquarters.

Strange indeed.....

 

Bob

[ksm77]

My Sister an her DH were on the Crown in September.  They had requested the 8:15 seating.  When they picked up their cards, on the card was 7:15.  She thought it was a mistake.  She went to customer service and was told, that is the new late seating dinner time.  It seems odd they have changed it this much.  I would be ok with late seating at 7:45 but 7:15 does not give us anytime for Happy Hour.  We don't really sit and drink after dinner.  We usually go to the show then bed.  I guess Princess will loose some $$ from us on before dinner drinks???  What about the elite cocktail hour?  Will it start at 4:00?  People doing early dinner will completely miss it if they keep it the same time.  Maybe they will just do away with it.  Princess is sure making some odd changes. 

[suzyed]

On 10/17/2018 at 11:20 AM, Hlitner said:

We have often heard fellow cruisers whining about their traditional dining times...and this happens on every cruise line.  For some its too early, for others its too late, for some its just right but service is too slow and for others the service is too fast :).  Bottom line is that no matter what a cruise line does with traditional scheduling they are going to be wrong with some folks.  But the answer to the problem is quite simple and already exists.  Just book Open Sitting and dine when you please :).   Ohhhh I  understand.  There are some who still prefer traditional dining but only when it exactly fits their personal needs/wants etc.  Whine on!

For the record I certainly have no problem in criticizing a cruise line and have done it many times.  But in this case they are likely doing their best to accommodate a majority of cruisers.  I can point the finger to my DW's ex who loves to cruise and is unhappy if he cannot have dinner by 4pm :).  Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he is the "ex."

Hank 

MOST people do not want to eat at 4:45!  We signed up for early seating (5:30-6:00) and it was accepted and posted to our Personalizer as such.  Now 5 days before sailing they changed it.  It's not whining.  It's wondering why they would do this? It's just silly.

 

[bobnfl]

Our cruise on the Star in march next year dining went from 6:00pm to 5:00pm which is ok for us since you will not starting for at least 30 min. after seating. That will be close to our regular dinning time at home. we hate to eat late.  This gives us more time to do things on the ship since a lot of people will be eating late dinner.

[suzyed]

On 10/17/2018 at 12:29 PM, famski740 said:

Just went in to check my Sky Princess cruise.  Saw I was changed from 6:00 PM confirmed to 5:00 PM waitlisted #5.  That is ridiculous so I changed to 7:15 PM and it is straight confirmed.  We normally eat at 6:30 at home so this is a better time for us.  Would hate to miss sail away from both the embarkation port and most of the islands with the earlier time.  Also, it would mean rushing back rom the islands and getting dressed for dinner.  Also seems like you would have to skip lunch in order to be hungry.

Agree with all your points!  Just ridiculous! Ours was changed to 4:45!  What are they doing???

[Woobstr112G]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Agree with all your points!  Just ridiculous! Ours was changed to 4:45!  What are they doing???

I'm also in agreement.  I know it's good for some and everyone is different but before 1700 is just too darn early to eat dinner.....

 

Bob

[metairiegal]

We live in South Florida (Boca Raton) and don't consider ourselves to be early birds.  I am not here to debate when other South Floridians eat. 

 

My problem is that with this new earlier dining time we will miss just about every sailaway on our upcoming 14-night Circle Caribbean cruise!  That is just not going to work!

 

Plus, we always enjoy going to the Platinum/Elite lounge for a quick stop to enjoy the view and relax - no more with the new dining time change.

 

I guess we have been pushed into Anytime dining.

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, suzyed said:

MOST people do not want to eat at 4:45!  We signed up for early seating (5:30-6:00) and it was accepted and posted to our Personalizer as such.  Now 5 days before sailing they changed it.  It's not whining.  It's wondering why they would do this? It's just silly.

 

I could make you a bet that the 4:45 seating will be full on nearly all cruises.  And you will still hear folks (especially from FL) complaining that its too late for dinner :).

 

Hank

[Sheltieluv]

I have the same question as Minniem.  Our cruise is a year away; we are booked and confirmed for early seating.  (It changed from 6 p.m. to 5:30, but that's ok). However, we are waitlisted for the early seating, and our waitlist # seems to change daily.....14 to 26 to 34, and now we're at #36.  How can we be confirmed and waitlisted at the same time???  This is our first cruise with Princess.  Is this a "normal" thing, and can we assume it will sort itself out?  Thanks!

[4cats4me]

3 hours ago, ksm77 said:

My Sister an her DH were on the Crown in September.  They had requested the 8:15 seating.  When they picked up their cards, on the card was 7:15.  She thought it was a mistake.  She went to customer service and was told, that is the new late seating dinner time.  It seems odd they have changed it this much.  I would be ok with late seating at 7:45 but 7:15 does not give us anytime for Happy Hour.  We don't really sit and drink after dinner.  We usually go to the show then bed.  I guess Princess will loose some $$ from us on before dinner drinks???  What about the elite cocktail hour?  Will it start at 4:00?  People doing early dinner will completely miss it if they keep it the same time.  Maybe they will just do away with it.  Princess is sure making some odd changes. 

We just disembarked the Crown last week, and although we only dined in the MDR anytime on the first evening, we were surprised that it opened at 7:15 vs the old time of 7:45 after the traditional diners were done.  We didn’t think too much about it at the time, but when we lined up at 7:05 pm there was a huge line, which surprised us a little.  We thought it was due to being the first night, but many on the ship we’re on a back to back, so at least half the ship weren’t first-nighters.  At any rate, dinner took two hours, so we decided to go to the buffet or Crown Grill for the rest of the cruise.  On certain nights the buffet lines were astronomica.  One night at 7:15 the line stretched out the door almost to the pool.  Later, at 8:00 pm it was still stretched out to the pool.  We went to the hamburger bar by the pool, and they line was 15 people long at 7:15. 

We thought it was odd.  

Anytime we went to the buffet for dinner, which was at least 8 nights, it was so crowded you couldn’t get a free table, although we could have asked to share. It seemed as if people lived at the buffet.  

We didn’t pay much attention to dining times on the Patter since we didn’t go to the MDR, but we did keep commenting to one another how overly crowded this dinner buffet experience was to all the other cruises we’ve been on. 

I did notice though on the Patter that the closing time for one of the AT diningvrooms was 9 pm, and even stated to my husband that that seemed pretty early.  

Obviously some of these new changes were in effect unbeknownst to us, and it did impact other dining venues.  

 

[Colo Cruiser]

3 hours ago, Woobstr112G said:

I'm also in agreement.  I know it's good for some and everyone is different but before 1700 is just too darn early to eat dinner.....

 

Bob

Not in Boca Del Vista Bob.  😁