Anytime Dining or Traditional

[jff50]

I much prefer to eat in a all-adult setting so I don't have to tailor my conversation to kid level. So I'm thinking that unless you land a TD table for four, Anytime would make it less persistently awkward all around if you ended up with a tablemate like me.

 

Have you ever been seated with kids? My experience is that all the cruise lines that we have been on (Carnival, Celebrity, Costa and Princess) do a very good job of sitting people with kids either alone or with another family with kids. With about 30 cruises with one or more kids, I have never been seated at a table with others unless they also had kids.

 

We prefer the anytime dining, and would be reluctant to cruise without it in the future. The flexibility works very well with children.

[Asil65]

I would plan to check with the friends when you board to be sure you are at the same seating and table.

 

Thanks Paul- my friend had done it prior to my calling Princess so it was a snatch.

[gertz]

If you want early seating book early as 1st always has a wait list. Wonder why.:eek:

[mjmalino]

I have actually done both TD and AT with my kids. On our first 2 cruises we did AT. On these cruises we tried to dine around 5:30 ish so that the kids could go to kids camp when it opened. The nice thing about AT was on the days that on the days that the kids camp had their camp dinners we could wait until 7pm and head for dinner when they met.

 

On our last cruise this past summer we had early TD. There were 6 of us as my in laws joined us. It also worked well. We met for dinner at 6:15 and after the kids were done, they would excuse themselves to leave for camp (they were 11 and 10). The only difference was that on the nights of their camp dinners we still went for dinner at 6:15 but allowed the kids to remain in the cabin until 7pm and then walk themselves up to camp. This may or may not be something you feel comfortable with, and in fact, this is the first time that we actually did this ourselves.

 

Bottom line, I think given the age of your kids, either will work.

[odis]

My parents are taking all the family on the Emerald this summer for their 50th anniversary. There will be 11 of us and are signed up for anytime dining. I have always done traditional late seating on other cruise lines so it will be a totally new experience for me.

 

I have seen other posts that mentioned making reservations for anytime dining. Is that possible? With that many it may be a good idea, but if not, how long is the usual wait? I also heard that they have a beeper system where if you go and there is a wait, you are given a beeper to tell you when they are ready for you. Our bunch usually eats around 7:30-8:00. You hear so many different things so any info and previous experience is appreciated.