Anytime Dining - Waiting

[lovevacadays]

We are booked in traditional- late on the Crown in a week and a half but have seen that some of the activities we want to do like Disco, Country, and 50's night will make it difficult for us to participate. We are thinking of changing to Anytime. I did Anytime on the Sapphire back in Dec 08 but usually made reservations between 6-630 because the people I traveled with liked to eat early. We never had issues booking those times but on the Crown we might prefer eating around 7pm. I know you can't make reservations for that time so my question is what is the typical time to wait for a table? We would be looking for a table for 2.

[Pam in CA]

We are booked in traditional- late on the Crown in a week and a half but have seen that some of the activities we want to do like Disco, Country, and 50's night will make it difficult for us to participate. We are thinking of changing to Anytime. I did Anytime on the Sapphire back in Dec 08 but usually made reservations between 6-630 because the people I traveled with liked to eat early. We never had issues booking those times but on the Crown we might prefer eating around 7pm. I know you can't make reservations for that time so my question is what is the typical time to wait for a table? We would be looking for a table for 2.

Some Maitre d's allow you to make a reservation, others don't. When you go to Anytime dining at 6pm or shortly after, you are there when the dining room is just filling so there are rarely any lines. From 7pm on, there will probably be a line. My observations on two Crown Princess cruises is that 8pm or later, there were lines of 45 minutes or longer because they sat people in the Traditional dining room because the waits were so long. Others have had the experience of walking up and being seated right away at 7pm, so I'm not sure which will be your experience.

 

As you know, if you keep your late traditional dining and want to be out in time to make an event, just tell your waiters and they will do everything they can to accommodate you.

[Lynzchat]

We are booked in traditional- late on the Crown in a week and a half but have seen that some of the activities we want to do like Disco, Country, and 50's night will make it difficult for us to participate. We are thinking of changing to Anytime. I did Anytime on the Sapphire back in Dec 08 but usually made reservations between 6-630 because the people I traveled with liked to eat early. We never had issues booking those times but on the Crown we might prefer eating around 7pm. I know you can't make reservations for that time so my question is what is the typical time to wait for a table? We would be looking for a table for 2.

 

We are booked on a late Traditional dining, too. What time do most of these events typically take place? Just curious.:)

[OCruisers]

We were on Emerald (as you know, sister ship of Crown) in January. We had AD, normally went for dinner at around 7:45, and NEVER had to wait.

 

Lots of this was probably because we requested a large table to SHARE. ;)

 

Guess, we'll see what it's like on Crown on our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise. :rolleyes:

[caribill]

We are booked on a late Traditional dining, too. What time do most of these events typically take place? Just curious.:)

 

A Cruise Critic member has posted recent Patters from the Emerald Princess at http://cid-aefb3157505aa0c5.skydrive...ald%20Princess

 

Even though that is a different ship, the types of activities will be about the same.

[lovevacadays]

Lynzkat - I'm looking at the Patters for the Emerald Princess although we are sailing on the Crown Activities are usually pretty similar. We want to go to the theme party nights ie.. Country, disco and it is looking like most of these start at 9:30pm. So with traditional, we would have to really rush and then probably be too late to get a good seat.

 

It looks like the shows in the Princess Theatre are doable.

[Lynzchat]

Lynzkat - I'm looking at the Patters for the Emerald Princess although we are sailing on the Crown Activities are usually pretty similar. We want to go to the theme party nights ie.. Country, disco and it is looking like most of these start at 9:30pm. So with traditional, we would have to really rush and then probably be too late to get a good seat.

 

It looks like the shows in the Princess Theatre are doable.

 

Thanks Chloedmom! I like the theme party activities but I think the hubby may enjoy a slow dining experience. He likes playing things by ear so we will hope that we can see something! I am so excited!

[lovevacadays]

Hi Lynzchat, There should be plenty of things for you and yours to see. There are several lounges on the Princess ships with many different activities. We just happen to like the particular ones I mentioned. To some they are a bit cheesy but for me, they are things I don't do on land and just plain fun. I'm excited as well. We are going to have a great cruise!

 

Have you cruised Princess before?

[Lynzchat]

Hi Lynzchat, There should be plenty of things for you and yours to see. There are several lounges on the Princess ships with many different activities. We just happen to like the particular ones I mentioned. To some they are a bit cheesy but for me, they are things I don't do on land and just plain fun. I'm excited as well. We are going to have a great cruise!

 

Have you cruised Princess before?

 

Thanks Chloedmom. This is our very first Princess Cruise. I have cruise RCCL, and me and hubby have cruised HAL on our honeymoon 5 years ago and we have also cruised Carnival. We are celebrating our 5 yr anniversary, on the 20th so we are doing the vow renewals.

 

We love the cheesy stuff, and I love all the lounges on these cruise ships.

 

We hope to see you at the M&G's...I already bought my small fun gifts!

 

BTW, I used to live in CA!

[Avalon35]

Hi, I am new to Princess. Going on Crown in January. Have cruised CCL (3), NCL(2), RCCL(1). We have anytime dining. I have read through the posts, but would like to understand what exactly you are supposed to do? Call, call who? Just go there, go where? Do you miss anything from Traditional? Hints or tips?

[cb at sea]

Even if you have to wait a few minutes...it's not a big deal...bring your cocktail with you!

 

The shows are scheduled around the traditional dining times....eating should NEVER cause you to miss any shows!

[caribill]

Hi, I am new to Princess. Going on Crown in January. We have anytime dining. I have read through the posts, but would like to understand what exactly you are supposed to do? Call, call who? Just go there, go where? Do you miss anything from Traditional? Hints or tips?

 

Crown has two anytime dining rooms located on the 5th and 6th decks near the atrium. Hours for dinner are 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM.

 

Menus, dess code, etc. are the same in both (and in the traditional dining room). It does not matter which you go to and if you wish you can switch between them as you want to.

 

With anytime you can go when you want during the open hours. Sometimes there may be a wait (if there is, you can see if there is a wait at the other one). The wait is usually short, but can be long if many people want to eat at the same time as often happens on the first formal night right after the Captain's welcome party in the atrium.

 

Table sizes range from room for two people to 10 people. When you enter, you will be asked if you wish to sit by yourselves or share a table with others. You have more chance of a wait sometimes if you want a table for two.

 

If you find a waiter and assistant waiter that you like, you can request to be seated in their area.

 

The rules seem to vary by ship, but you can usually make a reservation on anytime for a fixed time (with a desired waitstaff if you wish), usually only allowed outside of the busiest times. Some ships allow a reservation to be made for the entire cruise. Others require calling in daily.

 

What you miss from traditional is the same waitstaff and dinner companions every night. The same waitstaff means they can become familiar with your preferences, for example a glass of milk ready for you as soon as you sit down. (As mentioned above, you can request waitstaff that you like in the anytime room.) The same dinner companions means you do not repeat the same conversations each night (where are you from? have you cruised before? etc.)

 

The other thing missed is on the last evening the traditional dining room has a Baked Alaska parade by the assistant waiters. You can still get that dessert in anytime, but without the parade.

 

If you prefer a table for two, the anytime dining rooms have more of them than the traditional dining room.

[sbtw13]

we were on the Crown last January, had a table for 2 every evening except 1, and virtually never had to wait. We usually ate around 7:30-8ish.

We found that the dining room on the lower deck (deck 5) was much less crowded then on deck 6- we only waited on deck 6.

[cruisemom42]

We have never had to wait more than a few minutes for a table, whether asking for a table for 2 or sharing with a larger group (more often what I/we choose). Very rarely we've waited 5-10 mins to get seated. We generally enter the dining room sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.

[Jasperdo]

We have done Anytime Dining on all three of our Princess cruises. While we really enjoyed the flexability, and will definately do it again, we did have a different experience on each of the ships. We always request a table for two. On the Dawn, every night they wanted us to sit at a large table. They seemed upset that we wanted a table for two. On the Star, it was the exact opposite. They were very accommodating and quickly sat us at a table for two each night. The Sapphire was a mixed bag. That ship has four Anytime dining rooms, which sounds good in theory, but turned out to be a problem at times. We wanted to try each of the dining rooms during the cruise, and wound up just eating in two of them. We tried three times to eat in the Pacific Moon, and each time we were escorted to another dining room, since the Pacific Moon was full. They didn't even give us an option of waiting for an open table. When I asked, I was told it would be too long a wait. I think the problem on the Sapphire is the four dining rooms are on the small side, they can fill up quickly.

 

But, overall, we have been pleased with Anytime Dining, and recommend it. BTW, if there is a wait for a table, they hand you a beeper, and you can hang out in the Atrium area. This happened to us once on the Star, and it was only about a 5 minute wait.

[atlasali]

During our 30 day cruise, we only had to wait in line once for Anytime dining.

 

It was our fault...we needed to eat early, get to Captain's party at 7:30, a show at 8:15 and another show later. We got to the dining room before it opened, so we and the other passengers "waited" until the doors to the dining room opened.

 

Most nights we chose to share a table with other passengers. We met the most delightful people that way. However, there were plenty of tables for 2 available.

 

On the Christmas cruises, we have seen people who had to wait. However, they were large (8 or more) family groups.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Two different ships:

 

Arriving at 6:00 to 6:45 - never had to wait; shared table with interesting people

 

Arriving at 7:00 to 7:30 - longest we ever waited was 15 mins. Most nights there was no wait; one night there was a 5-7 min. wait.

 

Although you don't get to know your waiter as well and the wait staff can sometimes be a bit harried and rushed, we love not being tied down to a specific time for dining!

[cynbar]

Hi, I am new to Princess. Going on Crown in January. Have cruised CCL (3), NCL(2), RCCL(1). We have anytime dining. I have read through the posts, but would like to understand what exactly you are supposed to do? Call, call who? Just go there, go where? Do you miss anything from Traditional? Hints or tips?

 

If you want to try to make a reservation, there is a DINE button on your cabin phone--- call that early in the day and try for a time you like. It's also possible, if you want to reserve a particular table and/or waiter whom you have liked, to speak to the maitre d' as you leave the MDR and ask if he will do this for you on subsequent nights (usually they will.) If you don't have a reservation, just present yourself at the door of the designated anytime MDR (this info will be listed in the Princess Patter)when you are ready, and tell them if you want to eat alone or share a table. If you have to wait, you will be given a beeper and can go have a drink, browse the shops, whatever. We have never experienced a wait of more than a few minutes, although we do usually reserve on formal nights when it seems more passengers come to the MDR.