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Anytime Dining


bigeagle12
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I don't understanding the taking of bookings either. Doesn't matter much though. We like meeting new people and since we will sit with others, the wait has never been very long. Usually within the first couple of nights, you meet  people who are enjoyable enough dinner companions that you end up having dinner with them most nights anyways. 

 

For those who want a particular table or a table for 2 each night, traditional dining is the way to go. 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, OCruisers said:

The best thing about Anytime Dining is not being locked into a time you need to arrive for dinner.  :classic_cool:

And you can adjust your eating schedule, to some degree, around the shows for that particular evening. 

Try that with traditional dining at a table for 8 & you'll miss the show because all the seats are gone or have a stiff neck sitting in the very first row. 

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16 hours ago, johnfas said:

You really don't need the beverage package at all.  Actually unless you drink very heavily or constantly I have found it's just better to buy as you go.  You can also bring 2 bottles of wine on board. No corkage fee if opened in your room.  We like to enjoy a glass pre dinner and sometimes will carry a glass to dinner.  Also if buying wine do the bottle. They will hold it for you to enjoy the next day or just bring it back to your room...of course when we were younger we never had any left...lol

Going back and forth on the beverage package...happy just not paying more to get the "free" apps.  Thanks for your input!

 

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An alternative idea--eat dinner in "cafeteria" upstairs.  No waiting!  Very good service for beverages like wine.  Plenty of seating and it's quiet; plus one will probably see the dancers and other staff eating there.  On the pre-Royal ships, there is always a different meat at the carving station and they have (or did last time we sailed--1/17)  "theme" nights like "German" night (my personal favorite), "Italian" night, etc.  Obviously we're not "foodies".  Usually we ate once in the DR on every cruise when they had an entree we liked that was never offered upstairs.

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We prefer anytime dining. We adjust what time we want to be seated by the show times.

From experience we know that eating in the DR can take anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 depending on if your seated @ a table for 2 or table of 6.

We also like it because we love meeting new people and we look at it like a surprise gift of whom we are eating with. Most of the time its very interesting especially when you meet others from different countries.

 

We go find out what the wait time is, if any, go grab a cocktail and people watch. There is always entertainment in the atrium to watch as well.  

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1 hour ago, greenie082756 said:

We prefer anytime dining. We adjust what time we want to be seated by the show times.

From experience we know that eating in the DR can take anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2.5 depending on if your seated @ a table for 2 or table of 6.

We also like it because we love meeting new people and we look at it like a surprise gift of whom we are eating with. Most of the time its very interesting especially when you meet others from different countries.

 

We go find out what the wait time is, if any, go grab a cocktail and people watch. There is always entertainment in the atrium to watch as well.  

I

You obviously enjoy talking to others more than going to a show. 

I would be long gone if dinner took 2 1/2 hours to finish. 

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50 minutes ago, floridalover5623 said:

I

You obviously enjoy talking to others more than going to a show. 

I would be long gone if dinner took 2 1/2 hours to finish. 

Actually yes. Sometimes I learn a few things from others. 

With the right persons at your table, time flies by.

 

When you have negative people, it seems to be forever.

 

 

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I tried anytime dining last May on a Coastal Cruise and the first night was so busy that I gave up and went to the Crown Grill.  I was forgotten there even though they were half full and waited forever between courses.  I think these short cruises have trouble so I am going to go with the late traditional seating this next round.

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4 hours ago, CynCyn said:

I tried anytime dining last May on a Coastal Cruise and the first night was so busy that I gave up and went to the Crown Grill.  I was forgotten there even though they were half full and waited forever between courses.  I think these short cruises have trouble so I am going to go with the late traditional seating this next round.

It sounds like you just hit it at peak times. Next cruise vary you eating time slightly & you'll find a big difference.

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On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 9:27 PM, bigeagle12 said:

Will be on the Crown in March and have never done anytime on Princess.  How does it work?

 

When does it start?

 Can you reserve a table for same time every night?

Sounds like one dining room open early and then another after early traditional dining is done.

Any suggestions .. we like to eat early between 5:30 and 6. 

 

If you really want to eat early and the same time every day why are you even looking at Anytime.

 

You should probably consider traditional and try to get a table in the more stable part of the ship if that matters to you.  

 

Also, do you want to sit with other people or have a smaller table?

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1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

 

If you really want to eat early and the same time every day why are you even looking at Anytime.

 

You should probably consider traditional and try to get a table in the more stable part of the ship if that matters to you.  

 

Also, do you want to sit with other people or have a smaller table?

So anytime = unstable dining?

Traditional = stable dining?

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49 minutes ago, floridalover5623 said:

So anytime = unstable dining?

Traditional = stable dining?

 

Crown Princess has a couple of dining rooms.

 

We were in the dining room at the stern and the seas were pretty rough a couple of nights.  More midship should be more stable during rough seas.

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On Crown Princess, at the rear of the ship on deck 6 is the Botticelli dining room.  When the seas are rough you will feel the movement while eating dinner.  We did.  The cruise had a few very rough days (e.g., closed the pools, my wife saw a crewmember fall down, lots of seasick PAX, etc.)

 

On deck 6, midships, is the Da Vinci dining room.  I wasn't there during the rough seas however, since it is midships I would assume that the ships movement is less noticeable.

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On 3/1/2019 at 12:52 PM, BarbinMich said:

An alternative idea--eat dinner in "cafeteria" upstairs.  No waiting!  Very good service for beverages like wine.  Plenty of seating and it's quiet.

Agreed! We have just recently started going upstairs for dinner on occasion.  Very surprised as it is generally not busy, nice assortment of dinner choices and no loud dinner noise like in the main dinning rooms.  Of course our first choice is still the Crown Grill second, Vines, third upstairs and fourth is the main dining room.  Of course you don't get a meal at Vines but with the International cafe next to it, makes it all good!

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3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

Crown Princess has a couple of dining rooms.

 

We were in the dining room at the stern and the seas were pretty rough a couple of nights.  More midship should be more stable during rough seas.

Try some snacks in Skywalkers. 😏

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We did any time last round and going to try traditional. However our 6:30 has been moved to 5 or 7:30, so we stuck with the 5, since we want to keep dinner around our normal time of 6- and eventually will have a time change. WIth the anytime, we always got in line around 7:15 for the 7:30 opening and got seated quickly. Even on formal night when there was the longest line, a table for two went faster. Plus we had the same general area and decided we liked having staff remember us. And if for some reason it is too early, we might just check it out and eat later... pizza is always good at 11pm haha

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A lot of time when people book their cruise late (last minute) , there is no availability in Traditional or all that is left is 8:30 pm at night.    We take the 8:30 pm offered and then we go over to Any Time.   If you kindly speak with the Maitre D at Any Time and you are not too picky, he can usually book you in the Any Time dining location for a specific time each evening of your cruise.   

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11 hours ago, pink845 said:

A lot of time when people book their cruise late (last minute) , there is no availability in Traditional or all that is left is 8:30 pm at night.    We take the 8:30 pm offered and then we go over to Any Time.   If you kindly speak with the Maitre D at Any Time and you are not too picky, he can usually book you in the Any Time dining location for a specific time each evening of your cruise.   

That's what I'm going to do next cruise.

Wait till the last moment to request a TD table which we probably won't be able to receive & then ask for specific table & time in AT dining. 

This way I won't have to call in each day for reservations. 😄🙄🙄

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I learned my lesson about Anytime in Nov 2015 aboard the Crown. They would put 4 of us at a table of 8. Then they put other people at different tables. The servers ignored us for half an hour before they took our orders. That happened twice. One of the days on Crown, they asked us if we wanted to take a table for two in the Traditional dining room. We got the best service on the cruise in that room. When we took Ruby to Alaska in 2017, we just went early traditional. Jick, our waiter and Jason, our assistant waiter were splendid. I am doing traditional on the Royal as well in April. I will probably get the same wait staff for most of my cruise. Doing one night in Crown Grill and will do Brazilian Steakhouse in Horizon Court dinner. I love the 5:00 TD choice. April 6 on Royal cannot come soon enough.

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47 minutes ago, stvandy1 said:

I learned my lesson about Anytime in Nov 2015 aboard the Crown. They would put 4 of us at a table of 8.

That was the exact reason for all your problems. Never sit at large a table & the wait is reduced considerably. To add to the slowness of dining, the more people at a table the more talking and you never get to the shows on time

 

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