Personal Choice dining on Princess?

[hispea]

I'm just trying to get a better idea of what the personal choice dining really means on Princess. My husband and I have only been on Norwegian and LOVE the freestyle cruising.,.. is it anything like this? Will we be able to sit alone and eat when & where we want? Could someone please explain this personal choice dining better.

 

Thanks! :)

[RickSt]

We're fresh off the Caribbean Princess this past Sunday and Personal Choice Dining is just that. It allows you to eat when and where you want. We had it and although we only ate in the formal dining rooms 3 times we never had to wait to be seated nor had a problem getting a table for 2. Of course it makes a difference on what time you want to eat. When going to a formal dining room we usually tried to get there 6pm - 7pm. I did see people waiting as it got later in the evening. During the day we usually had room service for breakfast and went to one of the buffets for lunch or to the Trident Grill or Pregos Pizza.

We also dined in the evening at Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's for Italian. Both were outstanding.

We are definitely doing Anytime Dining from here on.

 

 

Rick

[rsbg1]

Hello,On Princes its about the same as you said, my wife and I went to mexico in Jan.on the Sapphire and found this was a easy way to dine.It is better to make a resvation,but you can just show up like we did.Hope this helps a little Im sure some else will give you a better answer..:)

[Julia’s Journey’s]

On our 2 cruises on the Grand, just DH and myself we just showed up when we were ready, we were asked if we wanted a table for 2 or to share and did both.

One our 3 Diamond cruises we made reservations every night, rotating the restaurants as there we large groups of us (12, 5 and 9) never had a problem, on our B2B to Alaska we even did a UBD for 9 and they made a special area in the horizen and the assistant food and beverage manager served us so they could see how it worked for a large group.

Love PC and requested it for the SUN cruise in 2007.

[cruzzers]

We love the PC dining on Princess. Sometimes we feel like a big table and sometimes it is good to get a table for 2. You may find the smaller sun class ships are a bit harder to get the tables for 2. This is a great way to meet new people every night of your cruise or invite others to dine with you.

[Sandytoes]

personal choice dining

 

You control when and where you want to eat. No structual time set. If you like to eat at a certain time, just make reservations. If you want to dine alone or if you like, to be seated with others just tell the Matri'd. Your choice.

You will see on formal nites pax dressed. If your in a gown or tux the person next to you will be dressed as well. Not in shorts/t's (not mentioning cruise name)....

Food is served on your time. You do not have to wait for everyone to be served....Why wait for a table of 10 if it's just 2 of you.....

 

I am so glad Princess offers this option. Makes dining a pleasure....

Hope this helps.

[Psee]

It's not much different than going to restaurant. You decide when you want to eat dinner. If you decide to go to a restaurant on Saturday night at 7:30PM you'll probably have to wait for a table. If you go a little earlier or a little later you you'll be seated right away. :)

[Pam in CA]

There's confusion between "Personal Choice" and Anytime Dining. Personal Choice means that you have the choice of eating in the dining room, going to a specialty restaurant or going to the buffet. Anytime Dining is similar to the NCL Freestyle in that there are one or two dining rooms dedicated to those who want to just show up and be seated at any time they want. With Anytime dining, you also have the option of making a reservation if you want to dine before 6PM or after 8PM. Princess also offers early or late Traditional dining for those who want to eat at the same table with the same companions at the same time every night.

 

Thus, Princess offers a lot of choices. The buffet is open 24/7 with a wide variety of food options. And, of course, you can order a "Balcony Breakfast" or "Balcony Dinner" -- or room service.

[cherylandtk]

As Sandytoes alluded to, the major difference between Anytime Dining and Freestyle dining is that the Anytime dining rooms do have a dress code for the night, either resort casual or formal. If you want casual dining, the buffet is available.

[kkruzcrazy]

I have never been on a ship where "anytime" was an option. On the ships that have early and late seating the entertainment is scheduled around dining times. What do they do with anytime? Is there a mad rush to dinner after the show?

[serene56]

I have never been on a ship where "anytime" was an option. On the ships that have early and late seating the entertainment is scheduled around dining times. What do they do with anytime? Is there a mad rush to dinner after the show?

 

From what I have read on the boards: For anytime dining on the CAribbean Princess (CB) I have a choice of two dining rooms to chose from. (Coral or Palm) I also have a choice to go to a specialty place (Sabatinis or Sterlings)

or go to the buffet. I can eat room service or head for a burger with fries.

 

I cant see only one place being crowded because a show let out. Remember half those people also have tradiational dining

[SailAways]

Personal Choice Dining - As described in the Princess Brochure is::

 

"You're on vacation.

You should be able to dine based on your own preferences and schedule.

That's why Princess offers Personal Choice Dining.

Dress up for traditional dinner in an elegant dining room.

Enjoy our flexible Anytime Dining when it's convenient.

Or try specialty restaurants like Sabatini's trattoria.

The choice is yours.

 

Seating arrangements in the dining room are made by request on a first-come, first served basis. To request preference for Anytime Dining, Traditional first, or second seating, special diets, or seating with a specific party, it is best to have your travel agent make the arrangements at the time of booking. Your dining arrangements will be shown on your cruise ticket."

 

 

The wording seems to indicate that you may select Traditional, but still enjoy the flexibility of Anytime Dining when it is convenient. This seems to negate the entire program, and according to many returning cruisers, does from time to time cause some misunderstanding.

 

We have not yet cruised with Princess, but will next year. We are hoping for a happy dining experience with our choice of Anytime..

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

And sometimes there IS a wait for a table with Anytime Dinning, but they give you a beeper of sorts and we just go off to one of our favorite bars and have pre-dinner cocktail. :D

[indiaksue]

We are taking our first cruise on Princess in April. I had a question about the Anytime Dining. Is there still formal nights in those dinning rooms or is it just the usual resort or business casual.

[TJM001]

There are formal nights with the "Anytime Dining" just as there are with the traditional first and last seating. Menus are the same. Decor of the rooms is pretty much the same. The only thing different is that you choose when you want to eat.

[naragonl]

Have cruised both, Personal choice is the same as NCLs Freestyle.

Only difference is there are not as many specialty restaurants as NCL.

[Eskwire]

We are taking our first cruise on Princess in April. I had a question about the Anytime Dining. Is there still formal nights in those dinning rooms or is it just the usual resort or business casual.

 

It would be formal night whether you dined traditionally in the early or late seating OR in the dining rooms set for anytime dining. I think what you are trying to ask is whether you are required to dress formally if you choose eat, for example, in the Horizon Court on formal night. I would like to know the answer to this as well. I actually think the dress code applies wherever you choose to eat, but I'm not really sure at all.

[Sandytoes]

You do not have to dress formal to dine in the Horizon Court.

[shepp]

Just a quick and (I hope) nonsnarky note. I just haven't seen another word misspelled here as often as "dining." When a one-syllable word has a long vowel and ends in "e," it generally drops the e and does not double the final consonant when taking "ing."

 

"Dinning" means making a deafening noise, and I or one have no particular interest in showing up at the dinning room, with or without a reservation. :)

[Another ship trip]

I have been on 10 or so Norwegian and absolutely love freestyle. Personal Choice is offered on the Grand and a couple other ships and it is virtually the same thing. Those are the only Princess ships I will go on because I absolutely hate being told when to be at dinner. Personal Choice is great and Princess should offer more of it!

[Psee]

Just a quick and (I hope) nonsnarky note. I just haven't seen another word misspelled here as often as "dining." When a one-syllable word has a long vowel and ends in "e," it generally drops the e and does not double the final consonant when taking "ing."

 

"Dinning" means making a deafening noise, and I or one have no particular interest in showing up at the dinning room, with or without a reservation. :)

 

Should "nonsnarky" be hyphenated? :D

[SailAways]

Just a quick and (I hope) nonsnarky note. I just haven't seen another word misspelled here as often as "dining." When a one-syllable word has a long vowel and ends in "e," it generally drops the e and does not double the final consonant when taking "ing."

 

"Dinning" means making a deafening noise, and I or one have no particular interest in showing up at the dinning room, with or without a reservation. :)

 

English lesson observed. A visit to the "Guidelines" may be in order.:D

[shepp]

Should "nonsnarky" be hyphenated? :D

 

Nope. "In forming compounds, non- is normally joined with the following element without space or hyphen: nonnutritive." - The American Heritage Dictionary.

 

But thanks for asking. Isn't this fun? ;)

[serene56]

You do not have to dress formal to dine in the Horizon Court.

 

when reading various patters it states no short sleeves or sandals.

??? short sleeve is a shirt? or are they requesting no shorts?

[cynbar]

We love anytime dining and it has given the edge to Princess when we chose our last few cruises. But I have to add that it didn't work as well for us on the Crown last August. It seemed that so many diners made reservations that it was hard to just walk up and be seated, as we were always able to do in the past. After 3 nights of long waits with the beeper, we gave up and made reservations for the rest of the cruise. It still gave us the advantage of requesting a favorite table and waiter, however--- as well as reserving at different times based on our daily schedule. Anyway, this probably varies from week to week because other cruisers reported no problems with anytime on the Crown, but it was our experience, anyway.