New to Princess

[juliet]

I started reading about our upcoming cruise on Princess.  Someone mentioned some upgrade(?) to assure a table for two without waiting too long in the MDR?  Can any one let me know what this is about please.  Thanks.

[Qcruise]

Do you have set traditional dining or anytime dining for your cruise......?

[juliet]

Anytime

[Qcruise]

Anytime dining begins around 515pm and you'll need to get there by 530 to get your 2 top without a wait.  After the room fills up you can't get in until 715 to 730 as the tables open up.  You can call the dining line at 8am each morning to reserve a table but your choices will be 515,  530 or 730......they do not reserve any other times.  If you need a 2 top you'll need to wait sometimes.

[skynight]

18 minutes ago, juliet said:

I started reading about our upcoming cruise on Princess.  Someone mentioned some upgrade(?) to assure a table for two without waiting too long in the MDR?  Can any one let me know what this is about please.  Thanks.

No specific dining upgrade that you can purchase. If you book a Club Class mini suite or a full suite you dine in the Club Class section of the MDR. This is anytime dining, with a table for two almost certain. If you are not in one of these cabin categories then you select either fixed seating traditional dining or anytime dining. With traditional you can request a table for two in the cruise personlizer, and then visit the maitre'd on boarding day to discuss. With anytime dining you ask for a table for 2 when you either show up for dining or when you call each morning for a reservation.   

[kywildcatfanone]

Some ships let you make reservations for a set time, but it's not consistent across ships that I have ever seen.  Best bet is to go early and you should have no trouble getting a 2 top without a wait.

[PMGS247]

Pretty sure they were referencing club class mini suites which comes with club class dining where you would almost undoubtedly be able to get a 2-top any time, as compared to standard anytime dining.  I don't believe there's any other stand-alone dining "upgrade" to guarantee a 2-top with no wait.  See the rest of the responses for various tips & tricks for getting a two-top without a wait in the usual methods.

 

One quick story about some of the 2-tops: my wife and I typically take group seating because we enjoy meeting new people but literally the most recent meal we had on a cruise ship we went particularly early and they offered a two-top as we walked it so we kind of shrugged our shoulders and said sure.  We got there and realized it was kind of laughable as a two-top because it was literally within 2-3 inches of the two-top next to us.  No where on earth other than this cruise ship would someone try to pass this as a two-top...it was a 4-top.  Thankfully our neighbors, i.e. table-mates, found it just as amusing as we did and we all had a great dinner together, but be foreworned, some of the two-tops don't come with the personal space you might be envisioning.  Having said all that there are plenty of two-tops that seem to have more normal spacing to surrounding tables, so this story is by no means guaranteed to happen to everyone looking for a two-top, but it's possible.