Dining Poll - Do you like anytime dining?

[mike35]

Yes, I mean anywhere I can get into Roy's. :)

 

Roy's opened in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area) a few years back. The food was excellent, but it's far and away the noisiest restaurant we've ever eaten in, so we won't go back.

 

But hey - this tread is about anytime vs. traditional dining -- so......

 

We LOVE anytime dining. Crystal would be our favorite cruise line EXCEPT for the fact that they only have traditional dining. We've always found an excellent wait staff team in anytime dining, and we book with them for the remainder of the cruise. We often meet folks during the cruise, and we enjoy dining with them as well.

 

Although perhaps atypical, here's a horror story that happened on a recent cruise that only had traditional. The first night, DW and I were the only occupants of our table for six. We enjoy company at dinner, so I thought I would give it another night to see if anyone would join us. Should have been careful what I wished for -- in came a Russian family - informal night (jackets recommended for men) -- papa bear came in jeans with suspenders, spoke no English; mama bear came dressed to the nines - minimal English, teen-bear was sullen and wouldn't speak to anyone, and then there was baby bear - the most precocious 3-year old I've ever seen! She was up, down, running all over the place, yelling...not a fun evening, to say the least. So, first thing next morning I contacted the maitre 'd to request a change. All he had available was early, early dining (5:30). Better than nothing, I guess, so we accepted the table. Older couple with the wife dying of congestive heart failure; single gentleman whom we never saw again, and - the saving grace - a charming 70's-something German lady who was the life of the party.

 

Just thought I would share this rather humorous (?) experience with traditional dining.

[curiouscat]

Mike

 

LOL... I too would have opted to run from the Russian family. :eek: My husband is Russian and they are an intersting lot. So to speak.

 

CuriousCat

[wizard-of-roz]

Hey, I'm Russian....watch what you say.....on the other hand; even I want to run from me, at times! :eek:

[Hondu]

We go back and forth from cruise to cruise. Last December on the Golden we had choice and just last month on the Dawn we had traditional. We are flexible.

[curiouscat]

Hey, I'm Russian....watch what you say.....on the other hand; even I want to run from me, at times! :eek:

 

 

I was hoping that didn't come out wrong. Don't get me wrong I love my Russian relatives... it's just the culture is waay different... :p and they can be "difficult" people at times...

 

CuriousCat

[wizard-of-roz]

"Fine woman.....bare fine baby!" ;)

 

Are we off topic?

[macsmum1]

I think I confused some people! We do not switch during the cruise - we choose which one we will do and stick with it.

 

I agree, you should not be switching from one to the other during the cruise

as it does cause lines in Anytime Dining.

 

Sorry I'm so late in clearing this up but we've had massive computer problems - almost ready to pitch the thing!

 

;)

[NowVoyager908]

I love the freedom of anytime dining. In my experience (Golden Princess), we had to wait to be seated only once during a seven-night cruise (lobster night, of course) and that was only for five minutes for so. I've waited longer than that to get into a "traditional" dining room because of the bottle-neck of so many people trying to get into the dining room at the same time. LOL.

 

I also didn't feel that the level of service nor the quality of food served had declined because of the implementation of anytime. Perhaps we were just lucky.

 

I've also done Freestyle on NCL and again had no problems . . . except on lobster night when we had to wait five minutes to be seated. But we were a group of eleven, so a short wait was not unexpected.

 

I would hate to go back to traditional dining, though I do understand that some cruisers prefer it. For me, it just proved to be too regimented and restrictive. Different strokes . . .

[willysgrandma]

RCCL is doing an experiment with Choice DIning on 7 cruises on the Freedom of the Seas (I wish it had been on our Sept. 2 cruise, I hate traditional dining).

 

You should see the stink people are making over there about this!

[Guillermo]

Roy's opened in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area) a few years back. The food was excellent, but it's far and away the noisiest restaurant we've ever eaten in, so we won't go back.

 

But hey - this tread is about anytime vs. traditional dining -- so......

 

We LOVE anytime dining.

 

 

We've had some interesting evenings with traditional dining -- once next to a table that had a thoroughly obnoxious teenage boy who shouted at the waiters in demeaning and racist terms -- no attempt on his mother's part to quiet him. Another time, a tablemate never showed up after the maitre d' shelled the shrimp for his wife --

m d' was Caribbean, tablemate was something of a redneck. We didn't miss that couple after that. Anytime gives us much more freedom.

By the way, Roy's must br really noisy if it's worse than Casey's in Bermuda Dunes. We're looking forward to a few meals again at Cedar Creek. Do you know the Right Bank, by any chance? What do you think of it? We wanted to go to Bing Crosby's last winter, but couldn't get a reservation. Will try again this year.

[mumsiesof2]

Our time is anytime--it's a vacation for one to enjoy.Come & go as you please and that goes for meals also.

Linda

[Kittycat]

We've tried both and prefer anytime dining. Traditional is great if you get good tablemates, but on two occasions we haven't and on a smallish table, that's quite a problem. We like the flexibility of anytime dining though and haven't (as yet) had any wait - put us down for that!

[CraigRDR1]

In all my Princess cruises I haven't used Anytime Dining and, I was just wondering how many of you have made the switch from traditional to anytime - and if you'd recommend it

 

Shoot, forgot to add the poll and don't know how to get back to add it:mad:

 

 

Anytime dining is the best... just like going to a restaurant!!! been on 4 prior princess cruises... never had to wait for a table..2 thumbs up!!

[Idratherbeatsea]

We are wait list #43 for 4/4/2008 on the Emerald, keeping our fingers crossed.We are fans of early traditional.

[curiouscat]

That shouldn't be a problem... your sailing is way out.

 

If not you know the ole maitre'd routine. I'm sure they will accomodate you

 

 

CuriousCat

 

A traditional diner fan too

 

Dining anytime is too much like restaurants at home. If I wanted to dine "land restaurant style I would have not walked the plank onto the ship":eek:

[mike35]

Right Bank -- What do you think of it? We wanted to go to Bing Crosby's last winter, but couldn't get a reservation. Will try again this year.

 

Haven't been to the Right Bank, but what used to be the Left Bank, now called Uptown Grill (corner of Vista Chino and Indian in Palm Springs) is excellent. Used to be the same owners as Right Bank. Our favorite in the desert is Johannes (just came home from there) - FABULOUS!

[Ricky Chan]

Princess anytime dining for sure

 

Ricky

[GBeret]

No Way! We do not like or choose 'Anytime Dinning!' :eek:

 

We prefer Princess 1st seating, Traditional Dining for sure! It's the best way to go IMHO, if you can get it and we and usually do! ;)

[crusinpeg]

Had anytime dining 2 years ago for the first time and loved the flexibility.....don't understand what the big deal is about the waiter "knowing your likes and dislikes". Basically our "likes" are whatever we order from the menu and I really think we'll survive if our drink is not at the table as soon as we sit down.

If we want, we dine alone and when we want to be social..request a large table...still get to meet and converse with great people even if only for one meal.

[PescadoAmarillo]

If we want, we dine alone and when we want to be social..request a large table...still get to meet and converse with great people even if only for one meal.

That is a great point, and we find it to be true also. We generally cruise for longer periods, and, frankly, it gets to be a bit much to have dinner be the big social gathering every night.

 

When we first started cruising, we always did a large table, traditional dining (it was all that was offered). On our NCL cruise, with Freestyle, we ended up in the specialty restaurant every night with a table for 2 and loved it (I would have thought that we'd have nothing to say to each other at dinner...not true). When Anytime Dining was first introduced, I thought I would hate it, because I pictured it being like breakfast and lunch in the dining room. You know, where are you from, how many times have you cruised, are you enjoying your cruise, etc. I thought it would be mundane, but, in fact, it is anything but. We've met wonderful people at Anytime Dining, on the nights we want to be social, but, after a long day, we sometimes want simply to dine alone, and we have that flexibility. And by the end of the cruise, we know so many more people on the ship and start planning dinner together with another couple or two that we've hit it off with or cruised with before.

 

We've have excellent to poor waitstaff with Anytime Dining, and it is not the same as Traditional, but it is a small price to pay for the flexibility, especially on a port intensive cruise.

[losuds63]

seems on other cruises your afternoon plans were shifted for dinner plans ---pretty dumb when your on VACATION

[jff50]

Works especially well with a kid, whose wants/needs can change daily.