Eating later with Anytime?

[realproperty]

I have read lots of debate about the reservation system (or lack thereof) on Diamond for anytime dining. Those who like it seem to be early diners, those who don't want to eat at 7, etc. We prefer to have a full day of activitiy on the ship, have a snack at 4, (I think they call it TEA), and eat at 8 or 8:30. Is that also a problem with reserving for anytime dining. I have not read any complaints if you want to eat a little later. I would appreciate comments and how nutty I hve tobe about reservig for 8 p.m. dinners.

 

I would also be interested in knowing how crowded the dining rooms are for breakfast and lunch. I am on vacation. Buffets are uncivilized. I prefer to be served.

[jody]

The late dinner seating is usually around 8:00, 8:15, or 8:30 depending upon the itinerary, so I do not think you are nutty wanting to eat at that time as a good quarter of the ship will be eating at that time at the second dinner seating. I've always had great luck with the traditional seating, so I can't comment on the service with the Anytime Dining.

 

I've never experienced a wait for a table when dining in the dining room for breakfast or lunch. They do try to seat people who arrive at the same time together, but you may have people coming and going at your table some, if you aren't all seated at the same time. (Some people may have already ordered by the time you are seated or may finish quicker than you and may leave before you are done.)

[BJS]

I have read lots of debate about the reservation system (or lack thereof) on Diamond for anytime dining. ... I would appreciate comments and how nutty I hve tobe about reservig for 8 p.m. dinners.

 

I would also be interested in knowing how crowded the dining rooms are for breakfast and lunch. I am on vacation. Buffets are uncivilized. I prefer to be served.

You will find many that also prefer eating at 8 pm. Just call and make your reservations. The "Patter" will tell you that they suggest you make reservations for "anytime" dining rooms. We went early, 6 PM, and saw many people walk up and be turned away. The 4 dining rooms on the Diamond seemed much busier at that early hour than any we have seen on the other Princess ships. The rooms were totally filled by 6:10 each night. I would assume it is the same when dining at a later time.

 

For breakfast and lunch there is always a spot for you in the dining room. We noticed that more people arrived around 9 am when the doors were going to be closed, to any more people, than when they open at 7:30 on a sea day. The majority seem to prefer eating elsewhere especially with the limited hours that the dining room is open for breakfast and lunch. Don't worry you won't have a problem.

[pamwinn]

I do not like the idea of making reservations as we are impromtu people. To us, that is the whole point of PC dining. We tend to prefer dining after 8PM on vacation. Even though I read many postings which suggested making reservations for PC, we did not. I was interested to see if it would work for us in the way I believe it is intended to work. While on the Sapphire, we never had a wait in the PC dining rooms after that time. It seemed like the vast majority of PC diners had already eaten. There were many empty tables. At the same time, it would not have bothered us in the least if we had been told there is a 20 minute wait. A stroll on the Promenade would take care of that.

[Crowsie]

While on the Grand we made an "anytime dining" reservation for 8pm.

There were still lots of people in line and sometimes we'd have to wait for 10 minutes just to get to the podium to get our "reserved" table.

 

However...just shortly after 8:00..by about 8:20...the dining room seemed to empty and there were plenty of tables and there appeared to be no wait at the podium.