I miss the old Princess

[cruising.mark.uk]

24 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

The problem with assigned times is that almost everybody wants early. The average cruise passenger wants dinner at 5:30 and a seat in the theatre for the 7pm show.

That might be the case for US cruisers, but I'm almost certain that it won't be for UK and European cruisers who make up a good proportion of Princess' passenger base and generally eat their main meal quite a bit later in the day than 5.30 in the UK and much later than that in many other European countries.

 

So, I sense that on UK / European sailings and North American sailings that attract a good proportion of non-US passengers, there should be be a fairly good split between passengers seeking very early dining and those that are happy to dine after 7pm.  Perhaps the sailings on which this is more likely to become a problem are the shorter North American ones that attract predominantly US passengers?

[555]

16 minutes ago, susancruzs said:

These threads are always an interesting read.  I've always liked the set dining times, same table, same folks every night. 

 

I don't care about rushing to get a seat in the theater because I've got very sensitive hearing and have my preferred location towards the back.  Seeing the show obsession is amusing, not a priority for me at all.

 

I am curious how the dining will work on the Coral, with only 2 dining rooms.

Hang tight, you may get your wish in the near future.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/04/princess-cruises-rolls-out-fleetwide-dining-changes/

[TheMichael]

3 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Perhaps the sailings on which this is more likely to become a problem are the shorter North American ones that attract predominantly US passengers?

I hate to answer this with “Princess considers Americas-originating/ending cruises first,” but even without looking at comparative passenger/ship numbers I would guess that it’s true. 
 

If Princess isn’t already doing things differently for ships with majority-European passengers (which they absolutely should, and I’d think they’d already have a template to follow - or what not to do - from the European-based lines), I would be even more certain that their focus is their Americas business. 

[memoak]

43 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

The problem with assigned times is that almost everybody wants early. The average cruise passenger wants dinner at 5:30 and a seat in the theatre for the 7pm show.
 

“Anytime”/“My Time” is a way to deflect blame to one’s fellow passengers, rather than in the cruise line for not building ships in which the MDR would somehow hold 3k passengers. (They already complain that the theater is too small - if some folks had their way, half of ships’ indoor space would be the MDR and the other half would be the Theater.)

That is why we are glad that we like to eat after 7:30

[memoak]

15 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

That might be the case for US cruisers, but I'm almost certain that it won't be for UK and European cruisers who make up a good proportion of Princess' passenger base and generally eat their main meal quite a bit later in the day than 5.30 in the UK and much later than that in many other European countries.

 

So, I sense that on UK / European sailings and North American sailings that attract a good proportion of non-US passengers, there should be be a fairly good split between passengers seeking very early dining and those that are happy to dine after 7pm.  Perhaps the sailings on which this is more likely to become a problem are the shorter North American ones that attract predominantly US passengers?

Even on 3 week cruises in North America there are incredibly long lines waiting as early as 4:30

[TheMichael]

18 minutes ago, susancruzs said:

These threads are always an interesting read.  I've always liked the set dining times, same table, same folks every night. 

 

I don't care about rushing to get a seat in the theater because I've got very sensitive hearing and have my preferred location towards the back.  Seeing the show obsession is amusing, not a priority for me at all.

 

I am curious how the dining will work on the Coral, with only 2 dining rooms.

While I’m the opposite re:dining times (we don’t eat at a set time at home), I’m with you on avoiding the early theatre shows at all costs. We also like a bit of a buffer in the theater so we can avoid being one of the numbers wheezing and coughing at the end of a cruise. 😀

[cruising.mark.uk]

2 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

I hate to answer this with “Princess considers Americas-originating/ending cruises first,” but even without looking at comparative passenger/ship numbers I would guess that it’s true. 
 

If Princess isn’t already doing things differently for ships with majority-European passengers (which they absolutely should, and I’d think they’d already have a template to follow - or what not to do - from the European-based lines), I would be even more certain that their focus is their Americas business. 

They do things differently depending on where they are cruising, but given that many ships change location over the course of a year with changes in their passenger base to match, it is somewhat impractical to expect them to build ships that can seat the majority of the passenger load in one very early dinner seating just to cater for the dining preferences of the US market when the ship may spend 6 months of a year or more away from that market.  It seems logical to me to build dining capacity to ensure that everyone can be fed across all venues over the course of the evening.  Doing anything else will just build in wasteful (and expensive) spare capacity.

[Arizona Wildcat]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Even on 3 week cruises in North America there are incredibly long lines waiting as early as 4:30

 

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

Even on 3 week cruises in North America there are incredibly long lines waiting as early as 4:30

There were always lots of lines when dinner opened whether for fixed (people would simply arrive early, no idea why) or dine my way.  Nothing has changed.  With reservations there will be limits on how many can be accommodated early - same as before.

While DW and I like to eat while on ship about 8pm or so; many friends eat their main meal about 2pm with a VERY light snack early evening.

[TheMichael]

2 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

They do things differently depending on where they are cruising, but given that many ships change location over the course of a year with changes in their passenger base to match, it is somewhat impractical to expect them to build ships that can seat the majority of the passenger load in one very early dinner seating just to cater for the dining preferences of the US market when the ship may spend 6 months of a year or more away from that market.  It seems logical to me to build dining capacity to ensure that everyone can be fed across all venues over the course of the evening.  Doing anything else will just build in wasteful (and expensive) spare capacity.

That’s all true no matter where or with which passenger mix they’re sailing. IMO even the US passenger base is changing, and it would be a good idea for cruise lines to start changing things in ways that their longtime passengers may not like but to which new folks might more quickly adapt.
 

IMO the “My Time” concept is one of those changes that works for younger and more diverse cruisers, but as long as they continue to schedule the theater around dining, logjams might be an issue. Perhaps move the early theater show to 6pm?

 

Im looking forward to cruising Virgin soon, where there is no MDR. 

[555]

3 hours ago, TheMichael said:

Im looking forward to cruising Virgin soon, where there is no MDR. 

So all they have is a buffet type dining?

[TRLD]

5 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

That might be the case for US cruisers, but I'm almost certain that it won't be for UK and European cruisers who make up a good proportion of Princess' passenger base and generally eat their main meal quite a bit later in the day than 5.30 in the UK and much later than that in many other European countries.

 

So, I sense that on UK / European sailings and North American sailings that attract a good proportion of non-US passengers, there should be be a fairly good split between passengers seeking very early dining and those that are happy to dine after 7pm.  Perhaps the sailings on which this is more likely to become a problem are the shorter North American ones that attract predominantly US passengers?

Back before Princess went away from traditional dining times. You had pretty much the outcome in cruises out of the US, Europe, Asia.

 

Early dining would fill up first, late dining less full. Then when they first went to anytime they had 2 dining rooms for traditional early, with one anytime, then after the first dining period one dining room switched from fixed to anytime leaving only 1 late traditional dining room. 

 

For the couple of years before Princess did away with traditional the traditional dining rooms seemed to have far fewer people in then with many either switching out from fixed or just not showing up.

 

Seemed more Princess reacting to passengers wants and norms.

 

Many did not like the dining times they were assigned, or did not like the rigidity. Some wanted only 2 tops or dif not like the table mates assigned to their table. Also the increase in specialty dining increased the number of those skipping their traditional dining spots.

 

In the end the demand for traditional dropped over the years and the industry changed, except for a percentage that wanted the formality and consistency of traditional dining.

 

It will be interesting how many select traditional dining on the Sun now that it is offered again as well as the new changes coming in Sept.

 

 

Edited April 14 by TRLD

[TheMichael]

2 hours ago, 555 said:

So all they have is a buffet type dining?

I’m not even sure they have a buffet at all. There are 20-something “casual/specialty” restaurants, all included in the fare, plus a food hall. 

[DrSea]

On 4/12/2024 at 1:25 PM, MacMadame said:

I didn't say assigned times cost more money. I said that cruise lines that still cruise in the old ways cost more money. Assigned times is just one place where things have changed, there is also turndown service, the midnight buffet, all drinks except alcohol, and all activities included in the fare, etc.

Thank you for the clarification 

 

On 4/12/2024 at 4:26 PM, stevenr597 said:

I would imagine that assigned times would actually cost less money.  Put less strain and give more efficiency to the waiters and kitchen in that they would not have to be preparing multiple dishes at the same time. 

I spoke to one of the managers on another cruise line and found out that it does cost more money to have the flexible dining schedule. It is because you have to flex up the staff when there is more demand. 

[DrSea]

7 hours ago, TheMichael said:

The problem with assigned times is that almost everybody wants early. The average cruise passenger wants dinner at 5:30 and a seat in the theatre for the 7pm show.
 

“Anytime”/“My Time” is a way to deflect blame to one’s fellow passengers, rather than in the cruise line for not building ships in which the MDR would somehow hold 3k passengers. (They already complain that the theater is too small - if some folks had their way, half of ships’ indoor space would be the MDR and the other half would be the Theater.)

In the US, the earlier dining times are preferred. In Europe,  it's the later times that are preferred. So it depends on the pax of that sailing

[TRLD]

3 minutes ago, DrSea said:

In the US, the earlier dining times are preferred. In Europe,  it's the later times that are preferred. So it depends on the pax of that sailing

Even on Princess cruises is Europe demand for earlier dining has seemed to be higher. Probably because even in Europe north American passengers tend to make up a majority of passengers.

[Cruise Raider]

54 minutes ago, DrSea said:

In the US, the earlier dining times are preferred. In Europe,  it's the later times that are preferred. So it depends on the pax of that sailing

I really think it may have more to do with the ages of the passengers onboard and where they come from.  When we were younger, we couldn’t understand how people wanted to eat dinner at 6:00 PM, much less at 4:30 PM. Our preferred time to start dinner was at 8:00 or even 8:30 PM.  Now that we are older, we prefer the earliest dining time available.  At home, we’re known to be done with dinner by 4:00 PM and wish the specialty restaurants would offer the same menu at lunchtime, even if it’s at the same cost.  
Perhaps that is why the cruisleines are trying to attract more and more younger crowds, as their key demographic is aging.  
Anyway, it may be all anecdotal but we tend to see more people that are our age (seniors) seated for the earlier dining times than we used to when we ate later in the evening. 
Lately, we’ve skipped out of even going to the MDR for dinner and just get little snacks at either the PES lounge, food delivery, the buffet or at Alfredo’s for a bowl of soup.  We have larger lunches and smaller dinners with each passing year.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 hours ago, susancruzs said:

These threads are always an interesting read.  I've always liked the set dining times, same table, same folks every night. 

 

I don't care about rushing to get a seat in the theater because I've got very sensitive hearing and have my preferred location towards the back.  Seeing the show obsession is amusing, not a priority for me at all.

 

I am curious how the dining will work on the Coral, with only 2 dining rooms.

They've stated that one dining room would be for Traditional dining, the other would be for reserved bookings and walk-ins. The Bordeaux MDR has the Reserve Collection dining in one corner so that reduces the available space for general dining. I guess they'll calculate which of the options will be the least popular and assign that to Bordeaux.

 

In the Australian region late traditional dining, usually at 7:45pm or 7:30pm, was popular when we started cruising in 2014 but once Anytime dining was introduced in our region there seemed to be more empty tables or spaces at tables than in the past. We had mixed success with Traditional dining - we loved the concept but more than 50% of the time we ended up with tablemates we didn't really click with or, in at least two cases, dining most nights at a large table by ourselves. 

[susancruzs]

I have friends that always ate late, plus have traveled with those preferring 8 over 6 p.m.  Now that I'm older I cannot eat later.  Even when I travel, my habits don't change, I get up early, tend to go to bed at a decent hour.

[DrSea]

On 4/14/2024 at 3:35 PM, TRLD said:

Even on Princess cruises is Europe demand for earlier dining has seemed to be higher. Probably because even in Europe north American passengers tend to make up a majority of passengers.

 

On 4/14/2024 at 4:31 PM, Cruise Raider said:

I really think it may have more to do with the ages of the passengers onboard and where they come from.  When we were younger, we couldn’t understand how people wanted to eat dinner at 6:00 PM, much less at 4:30 PM. Our preferred time to start dinner was at 8:00 or even 8:30 PM.  Now that we are older, we prefer the earliest dining time available.  At home, we’re known to be done with dinner by 4:00 PM and wish the specialty restaurants would offer the same menu at lunchtime, even if it’s at the same cost.  
Perhaps that is why the cruisleines are trying to attract more and more younger crowds, as their key demographic is aging.  
Anyway, it may be all anecdotal but we tend to see more people that are our age (seniors) seated for the earlier dining times than we used to when we ate later in the evening. 
Lately, we’ve skipped out of even going to the MDR for dinner and just get little snacks at either the PES lounge, food delivery, the buffet or at Alfredo’s for a bowl of soup.  We have larger lunches and smaller dinners with each passing year.  

 

Both age and nationality are factors. Hence we have multivariate analysis. 

 

 

[Torfamm]

6 hours ago, DrSea said:

 

 

Both age and nationality are factors. Hence we have multivariate analysis. 

 

 

I think the other factor might be itinerary. On a port intensive cruise with long or overnight stays in port like Southeast Asia or Europe, many take full day excursions and may not even return to the ship until 5:00. In those areas lunch is also served later. Perhaps at 1:00 or even 2:00.
 

I think fewer people will be ready to eat at 4:30 in the afternoon in that case than on a Caribbean or even transatlantic cruise. 

[Cruise Raider]

8 hours ago, DrSea said:

 

 

Both age and nationality are factors. Hence we have multivariate analysis. 

 

 

I’m sure you are right on the money!  

[Kay S]

On 4/14/2024 at 1:37 PM, TRLD said:

 

 

 

 

In the end the demand for traditional dropped over the years and the industry changed, except for a percentage that wanted the formality and consistency of traditional dining.

 

 

 

 

That would be me.  I'm waiting to see if they are serious about TD before I book Princess again.

[stevenr597]

14 hours ago, Kay S said:

That would be me.  I'm waiting to see if they are serious about TD before I book Princess again.

We used to love "Traditional Dining" but, especially on Princess, we like to book a Reserve Class which gives preferential seating.  We often take in the Early Show in the main theatre, getting there fairly early so we can find good seats, and then eat dinner afterwards. 

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/7/2024 at 5:40 PM, MacMadame said:

I've actually been thinking about bringing some because I do love a small chocolate when I go to bed. 🤣 It would mostly be a surprise for my husband.

A different type of surprise may put a bigger smile on your DH's face that the consumption of a small piece of chocolate. 😉

[Retired-N-Happy]

On 4/14/2024 at 11:04 AM, TheMichael said:

(They already complain that the theater is too small - if some folks had their way, half of ships’ indoor space would be the MDR and the other half would be the Theater.)

Obviously teetotalers.  If 50% is dedicated to the MDR and another 50% dedicated to the theater, that would leave 0% dedicated to bars.