Evening Dining Times on Princess

[tring]

According to the Princess website, the first sitting dining time is 5pm, 5.20pm and 5.40pm and second sitting is stated to be to be  7pm, 7.20pm or 7.40pm, which was confirmed by a member of the Princess staff when we telephoned the company just now about our October cruise to The Med, departing from the UK. 

 

Can I ask if that is that time time that Princess ships actually dining times on cruises from the UK?  It is very different to what we are used to experiencing on other cruise lines operating from the UK, as they tend to have dining times at approximately 6.30pm for early dining and 8.30pm for late dining.  We are completely new to Princess for our October cruise. 

[1025cruise]

I believe Princess moved dining times earlier due to customer demand.

[Alaskanb]

My October 19 cruise to the med from Southampton has been cancelled. 

[WoodstockGirl]

Yes, those times are generally typical.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

I believe Princess moved dining times earlier due to customer demand.

Although I always thought it was that more Princess customers preferred early dining and more demand for that.  Not necessarily that the early dining start time needed to be earlier than it was. 

 

Early TD almost always filled up with a wait list in the booking engine, while late never filled.  When they moved the times up, more people selected Late TD.  Maybe they accomplished what they wanted, but now we end up looking to get setup for a later start as 5pm is way too early.

[Race Dave]

Hi Alaskan. Sorry to hear that. What is the reason for the cancellation and which ship. I am booked on Regal Princess out of Southampton on 12th October and have not heard anything.

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Early TD almost always filled up with a wait list in the booking engine, while late never filled.  When they moved the times up, more people selected Late TD. 

It's interesting to see how trends change, when we first started cruising (early 90's), Late Traditional Seating was ALWAYS full and had a long waitlist.  For the past 10 years or so, that trend has definitely reversed itself. 

[Alaskanb]

6 hours ago, Race Dave said:

Hi Alaskan. Sorry to hear that. What is the reason for the cancellation and which ship. I am booked on Regal Princess out of Southampton on 12th October and have not heard anything.

Island Princess. Southampton to Rome No reason why but assume it's due to the uncertainties of Covid. Is the Royal for UK passengers only? At the moment we cannot even get into the UK, even with two jobs, without quarantine. We have been transferred to next years cruise. 

[caribill]

13 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I believe Princess moved dining times earlier due to customer demand.

 

I do not think there was customer demand for an earlier first seating.

 

The demand was for an earlier second seating which often was 8:15 PM.

 

So when the second seating was moved to an earlier time, the first seating had to be moved earlier also.

 

And, as someone above noted, since many people do not want dinner at 5 PM (especially when the ship is in port to that time or later), demand grew for the second seating time.