No Anytime Dining in Japan???

[Betty in Cozumel]

Found this on my TA website.  What does that mean?  And why not?  This is for an 8 night cruise from Taipei to Taipei only going to 4 Japan ports.

 

Note: Anytime Dining is not available when ship is in Japan. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Betty in Cozumel

[Cruiser_1977]

From what I've read traditional has been the only option for awhile. Not sure as to the why.

 

If you find you don't like your table mates (or something similar) you can discuss with the maitre d. You are free to go to the buffet or any of the extra fee specialty restaurants, Sabatini's, Sterling Steakhouse or Kai Sushi any evening. If you know you are going to skip the DR the night before, you should let your waitstaff and table mates know so they don't wait for you.

Edited April 11, 2019 by JennyB1977

[cruzrbachoua]

Perhaps it is a cultural thing... I know there a some differences in cabin set up and stuff when the ship is in Japan so I can see that maybe this is because of that as well.

[Kenswing]

We are booked on an 18 day Japan cruise next April.  Anytime wasn't an option.  I thought it was because the cruise was filling up fast and all the slots were full.  Come to find out it's not even offered. 

[JF - retired RRT]

24 minutes ago, Kenswing said:

We are booked on an 18 day Japan cruise next April.  Anytime wasn't an option.  I thought it was because the cruise was filling up fast and all the slots were full.  Come to find out it's not even offered. 

ATD doesn't get "full".

[sandyoftheseas]

There was no any time dining on our Australian cruise either.

[Aloha 1]

It is a "cultural thing". Don't worry, some of the best service and food on Princess are on the Diamond in Japan.

[caribill]

12 hours ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

Note: Anytime Dining is not available when ship is in Japan. 

 

a) Wording sounds like anytime is offered when not in Japanese waters on the same trip. Probably not the case, but that is what it says to me.

b) I do not see it as being a cultural thing. Just because a cruise ship has Japanese ports on the itinerary does not mean that there are a large number of Japanese nationals on the cruise.

[Aus Traveller]

13 hours ago, sandyoftheseas said:

There was no any time dining on our Australian cruise either.

That must have been some time ago. The Australian-based Princess ships have had Anytime dining for a year or two.

[newport dave]

We did a Japan cruise on Celebrity and they had their version of Anytime Dining, so don't think it's a cultural thing. 

[possum52]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

That must have been some time ago. The Australian-based Princess ships have had Anytime dining for a year or two.

At least four years as we had AT on the Diamond in 2015.

 

Leigh

[Coral]

At one time, we all had only Traditional dining to choose from and we survived. I know, difficult to imagine but it worked well.

[Aus Traveller]

34 minutes ago, possum52 said:

At least four years as we had AT on the Diamond in 2015.

 

Leigh

I don't think it is that long for the Sun P and the Sea P.🙂

[terry&mike]

It actually is a bit of an odd fish, with some confusing results. 

When the Sapphire and the Diamond sail in Japan, they only offer Traditional Dining, not Anytime Dining.

 

Here is an interesting twist: I currently have 27 people sailing with me on the Singapore to Tokyo, Jan. 6, 2020, Diamond. Most of us booked a long time ago and are confirmed for 2nd Traditional at 7:15pm. Given that there will be some late days in ports with lots to do, this works out well. There are a couple of people who have booked more recently and are Waitlisted for the 2nd seating (at #30, and at #260). Here is where it gets interesting, the current Waitlist position on this sailing for 7:15p is 410, and the current Waitlist position for 5:00p is #178. Given that Anytime is not an option, I keep waiting for Princess to figure this out, as it seems that something will have to give as you cannot expect all these people to eat in the buffet for every meal of a 2 week cruise. I have spoken with my Princess rep and she doesn't know how they will figure it out, but that "I'm sure they'll do something". I have called Princess and spoken to phone reps and most are completely unaware that there is no Anytime and give you some verbiage about if they don't clear for 7:15p they'll be assigned Anytime, you point out there is no Anytime, they say there is Anytime on all ships, you point out this specific unusual circumstance for Diamond and they place you on hold for a long time, and then come back and say, "Oh yes, you are correct, there is no Anytime Dining on that sailing", but then they don't know how it will be handled. 

I have no doubt the #30 position will clear the Waitlist, as we are far enough out, but I doubt the #260 person will. I'm thinking Princess will just open up a flood of new dining spaces in both seatings, as they obviously have the room for it, but there has been chatter that they may shuffle all the dining to 3 set times at 4pm, 6:15p and 8:30p, which I think will cause a stampede of disgruntled travelers. 

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, terry&mike said:

 

I have no doubt the #30 position will clear the Waitlist, as we are far enough out, but I doubt the #260 person will. I'm thinking Princess will just open up a flood of new dining spaces in both seatings, as they obviously have the room for it, but there has been chatter that they may shuffle all the dining to 3 set times at 4pm, 6:15p and 8:30p, which I think will cause a stampede of disgruntled travelers. 

Sometimes if you have the bookings linked with someone who does have late dining, they will clear. I have friends who have booked late and were up there in the hundreds and they magically cleared and shared a table with me. Otherwise, just see the Matride on the first day.

[Expat Cruise]

16 hours ago, sandyoftheseas said:

There was no any time dining on our Australian cruise either.

 Had anytime dinning on the Sun Princess March 5 from Sydney, and on the Majestic Princess March 26 from Sydney. I also have anytime dinning confirmed on the Majestic Princess February 2020 from Sydney to Singapore, so I know from sailing in Australia anytime dinning is offered.

[terry&mike]

8 minutes ago, Coral said:

Sometimes if you have the bookings linked with someone who does have late dining, they will clear. I have friends who have booked late and were up there in the hundreds and they magically cleared and shared a table with me. Otherwise, just see the Matride on the first day.

Thank you. Yes, all the reservations are linked, and my Princess rep has worked on it and put in a request, so we're at a wait and see. I have a couple of other tricks up my sleeve I can pull in if needed. 

[Essiesmom]

58 minutes ago, terry&mike said:

It actually is a bit of an odd fish, with some confusing results. 

When the Sapphire and the Diamond sail in Japan, they only offer Traditional Dining, not Anytime Dining.

 

Here is an interesting twist: I currently have 27 people sailing with me on the Singapore to Tokyo, Jan. 6, 2020, Diamond. Most of us booked a long time ago and are confirmed for 2nd Traditional at 7:15pm. Given that there will be some late days in ports with lots to do, this works out well. There are a couple of people who have booked more recently and are Waitlisted for the 2nd seating (at #30, and at #260). Here is where it gets interesting, the current Waitlist position on this sailing for 7:15p is 410, and the current Waitlist position for 5:00p is #178. Given that Anytime is not an option, I keep waiting for Princess to figure this out, as it seems that something will have to give as you cannot expect all these people to eat in the buffet for every meal of a 2 week cruise. I have spoken with my Princess rep and she doesn't know how they will figure it out, but that "I'm sure they'll do something". I have called Princess and spoken to phone reps and most are completely unaware that there is no Anytime and give you some verbiage about if they don't clear for 7:15p they'll be assigned Anytime, you point out there is no Anytime, they say there is Anytime on all ships, you point out this specific unusual circumstance for Diamond and they place you on hold for a long time, and then come back and say, "Oh yes, you are correct, there is no Anytime Dining on that sailing", but then they don't know how it will be handled. 

I have no doubt the #30 position will clear the Waitlist, as we are far enough out, but I doubt the #260 person will. I'm thinking Princess will just open up a flood of new dining spaces in both seatings, as they obviously have the room for it, but there has been chatter that they may shuffle all the dining to 3 set times at 4pm, 6:15p and 8:30p, which I think will cause a stampede of disgruntled travelers. 

 

I would bet that the computer system that assigns the dining times, etc. is only programming for the aft traditional dining room.  It is totally ignoring the four midship (Anytime) dining rooms.  Someday, they will figure it out.  EM

[manunia]

i was told by food and beverage manager (who i knew him from previous cruises) that there is only traditional dining option due to possible language barrier - not every waiter can talk to Japanese or Chinese speaking cruisers in their native language and seating is done based on it. even i prefer to have my dinner in the dining room (was on a waiting list for early dinner, never got cleared), i did not lose any weight during the cruise😋.

[brian1]

17 hours ago, sandyoftheseas said:

There was no any time dining on our Australian cruise either.

I think that's because the Sun class ships in Aus have only 1 MDR.

[brian1]

4 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

That must have been some time ago. The Australian-based Princess ships have had Anytime dining for a year or two.

Sorry,just seen your post.We were on the Sea Princess in 2007,before it went to Aus.

[sandyoftheseas]

We were on our Australian cruise in 2012 so it was a while ago.  I am glad they offer anytime dinning in Australia at least on some ships. Anytime dining is our preference but, traditional dining can be interesting depending on your tablemates.

[Coral]

4 hours ago, manunia said:

i was told by food and beverage manager (who i knew him from previous cruises) that there is only traditional dining option due to possible language barrier - not every waiter can talk to Japanese or Chinese speaking cruisers in their native language and seating is done based on it. even i prefer to have my dinner in the dining room (was on a waiting list for early dinner, never got cleared), i did not lose any weight during the cruise😋.

We had one cruise to Mexico with a lot of Russian speaking individuals (who were from LA and did speak English but chose to speak Russian in a group and around friends). They moved everyone out of Traditional dining who wasn't Russian and any wait staff who spoke Russian (or anything similar) were assigned that dining room for that cruise only.

 

So that makes sense.

[memoak]

The Pacific Princess also only has 1 MDR and only has traditional dining hours - still one of my favorite ships

[Aus Traveller]

11 hours ago, brian1 said:

I think that's because the Sun class ships in Aus have only 1 MDR.

We have cruised on the Sun Princess many times. It has two large dining rooms - one on deck 5 and one on deck 6.