Anytime dining

[barbface1]

Can someone give me some information on anytime dining.

 

We are going to be 5 adults and an infant on the May 21st sailing. Will we be able to get a table for 6 easily?

 

Can you be signed up for late seating but then go to anytime?

[AngryKing]

Can someone give me some information on anytime dining.

 

We are going to be 5 adults and an infant on the May 21st sailing. Will we be able to get a table for 6 easily?

 

Can you be signed up for late seating but then go to anytime?

 

With anytime dining you can dine whenever and whereever you want. Sometimes there might be a wait depending on how busy a certain restaurant is.

 

Yes. If you are confirmed for early or late seating, you can leave your formal dining room and eat at one of the other dining rooms. Not a problem.

[Pam in CA]

Can someone give me some information on anytime dining.

 

We are going to be 5 adults and an infant on the May 21st sailing. Will we be able to get a table for 6 easily?

It'll be a bit harder to walk up and get a table for 6. My suggestion is to make a reservation (before 6PM and after 8PM) for a table. You still could have a bit of a wait, even with a reservation.

Can you be signed up for late seating but then go to anytime?

No. If you're signed up for late seating, you can eat in any of the Specialty restaurants or the buffet. You can't switch to Anytime without making it a permanent switch for the cruise. There's almost always a wait list for traditional dining so that if you don't use it, you're blocking others who would like it.

[Pam in CA]

With anytime dining you can dine whenever and whereever you want. Sometimes there might be a wait depending on how busy a certain restaurant is.

 

Yes. If you are confirmed for early or late seating, you can leave your formal dining room and eat at one of the other dining rooms. Not a problem.

Incorrect information. If you have Anytime dining, you can't eat in the traditional dining room and there are often waits if you go to the Anytime dining room(s). Also, if one is confirmed for early or late traditional seating, you cannot switch to Anytime and go back to traditional. It's a one-way switch.

[vickie_bernie]

Yes. If you are confirmed for early or late seating, you can leave your formal dining room and eat at one of the other dining rooms. Not a problem.

 

Just got off the Dawn and this was NOT the case here. If you had confirmed dining you could not dine in the anytime dining room. They usually asked to see your cruise card to confirm. After a few days the Matre D recognized you and sometimes would not ask to see card, but when it was someone new they did. Many people were turned away.

 

My recommendation is if you like to eat at a certain time choose early or late. But you could also choose anytime and make a reservation on the first day for the rest of the cruise for a certain time and table.

[Beach4me]

Aside from the obvious (set time, set table, set place, etc), what are the differences between traditional and anytime? I thought I read that there were some menu differences. Are there some items in the traditional dining rooms that aren't available in the anytime dining rooms?

 

We've got late seating booked for the Island rt Hawaii cruise in January but are thinking that we may want to switch to anytime. But, if there are many (or significant - like no filet, shrimp cocktail daily) between the 2, we'll stick with our traditional reservation.

 

Thanks

[vickie_bernie]

absolutely no difference in menus, in fact on the Dawn the dinning rooms are identical, one above the other. It was funny seeing some people go to the wrong dinning room only to see people sitting at their table.

[MCManders99]

The Baked Alaska Parade is not available in Anytime, only Traditional. Probably the Baked Alaska, but not the parade by the waiters. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

[saintintx]

"They usually asked to see your cruise card to confirm"

 

I just returned from the Golden and in the Anytime dining room they never asked to see our card.

 

I was told by my TA that you can sign up for traditional and then choose Anytime if you don't want to eat at the assigned time.

 

We choose Anytime as we didn't want to be restricted to a specific time to eat. Because it was only 2 of us and we were willing to share a table with others, we never waited for a table.

[Travelbug 2]

With anytime dining if they do not ask for your cruise card they will ask for your cabin number to check your dining status. It would be an absolute nightmare if they just let anyone in without checking first.

Yes you can switch from traditional to anytime but then it is fixed for the rest of the cruise. The traditional dining room is "out of bounds" for evening meals for anytime diners.

[whale-watcher]

...I was told by my TA that you can sign up for traditional and then choose Anytime if you don't want to eat at the assigned time...

Hopefully princess will discourage this, as this practice will only increase the wait times for those pax that choose anytime dining in the first place. It would be better to direct these people to Horizon Court.

[vickie_bernie]

The Baked Alaska Parade is not available in Anytime, only Traditional. Probably the Baked Alaska, but not the parade by the waiters. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

 

In anytime dinning we got Baked Alaska but not the parade but neither did traditional dining, a waiter said it was because of safety concerns with the flames !! :eek:

[2boyzmom]

Is there a difference in the "anytime dining" restaurant and the treditional dining room on the Crown? Is one nicer then the other???

[Beach4me]

In anytime dinning we got Baked Alaska but not the parade but neither did traditional dining, a waiter said it was because of safety concerns with the flames !! :eek:

 

Excellent! I thought I had read that baked Alaska was not available in the anytime dining dining rooms. I can do without the parades. It was such a nice dining experience on RCCL a few weeks ago. I had done a few Carnival cruises in a row and forgot how nice it was to not be 'entertained' at dinner time. :rolleyes: Looking forward to anytime on Princess.

 

Just want to ask another question (or two)...from what I've read, it looks like we can make standing reservations in the anytime dining room, say for 7:00 p.m. every evening? Is there an issue with then giving up the reservation once or twice during the two weeks if we decide to eat in one of the specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks againg for all the info!

[JanMD]

What we do is the first night is go down to the dinning room and get a table for 4 by the window and then hold that table for the same time each evening- if we don't plan on eatting at that location we notify them and they are able to seat another 4 people.