Dinner Seatings

[nchristo]

I am going on the Emerald Princess in August with my girlfriend. We are 24 and 25 and were curious about how Princess matches people up together for seating. Is it by location, age, etc?

 

Also, what are the advantages to anytime seating vs late seating, other than having flexibility? I have heard mixed reviews about anytime (as far as waiting in lines with the beepers and all that) and we think doing a set seating would be a fun way to meet some people. Do most younger people do the later seating or do they do anytime seating?

 

We are concerned though with the times of shows, do they offer 2 show times on board (1 for early seating and 1 for late)? Or if you do the late are you sacrificing the show?

 

Thanks for the help!

[janina]

Princess does try to match seating according to age. We have found that at late dinning we did miss some shows, never to be seen. We now prefer anytime dinning, which might work good for you. You can ask to be seated with others, and the will try to match you up. We've never had to wait that long for anytime. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

I am going on the Emerald Princess in August with my girlfriend. We are 24 and 25 and were curious about how Princess matches people up together for seating. Is it by location, age, etc?

 

Also, what are the advantages to anytime seating vs late seating, other than having flexibility? I have heard mixed reviews about anytime (as far as waiting in lines with the beepers and all that) and we think doing a set seating would be a fun way to meet some people. Do most younger people do the later seating or do they do anytime seating?

 

We are concerned though with the times of shows, do they offer 2 show times on board (1 for early seating and 1 for late)? Or if you do the late are you sacrificing the show?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

It is first come first served, they do not match.

[bhopal21]

It is first come first served, they do not match.

 

I agree with Colo Cruiser.

 

Mike:)

[WeBeGone]

I'd suggest you go with the anytime dining. That way if you meet some fun folks,you can all have dinner together.

[Hobbster]

I am going on the Emerald Princess in August with my girlfriend. We are 24 and 25 and were curious about how Princess matches people up together for seating. Is it by location, age, etc?

 

Also, what are the advantages to anytime seating vs late seating, other than having flexibility? I have heard mixed reviews about anytime (as far as waiting in lines with the beepers and all that) and we think doing a set seating would be a fun way to meet some people. Do most younger people do the later seating or do they do anytime seating?

 

We are concerned though with the times of shows, do they offer 2 show times on board (1 for early seating and 1 for late)? Or if you do the late are you sacrificing the show?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

If you want a greater chance to meet people anytime dining is the ticket, you usually meet different people everyday, and if you meet people throughout day you want to eat with, then you can all show up at one of the anytime MDR's and be seated at same table. Have done anytime dining on 3 cruises, two that were booked to max capacity and only had to wait a couple times, wait wasn't long at all and it is so worth it not to be tied down to one specific time to eat. I have seen all the posts and reasons for traditional dining, but not one of them makes up for the rigidity of being told to be somewhere at a certain time. Anytime dining is the best option hands down (and yes that is an unbiased opinion ;):D )

 

To answer your other question, for the main shows there are usually 2 shows, an early show for late traditional, and late show for early. I have heard complaints from traditional diners on all 3 cruises I have been on that they had to miss both shows and were upset about missing out on main entertainment for pretty much all of the cruise.

[malowe701]

Can you switch if you've already chosen one? Seems to me when we cruised Alaska on a Princess cruise, we changed from traditional to anytime or was it from anytime to traditional when it was packed?

 

Can you switch back & forth?

[ssbeagle]

You might want to consider anytime dining. You can ask to be seated with people close in age or you can request a table for two. Lines don't get long until after 6:30-8:00. There are two shows. One is for early sitting and one for second sitting. You should be able to make any show on board. In traditional dining you may be at a table with people close in age and/or older folks. Of course, if you don't like where you are sitting you can always request a move from the maitre d'.

[Colo Cruiser]

Can you switch if you've already chosen one? Seems to me when we cruised Alaska on a Princess cruise, we changed from traditional to anytime or was it from anytime to traditional when it was packed?

 

Can you switch back & forth?

 

You can switch from trad to anytime very easily, but its difficult to switch back. :)

[Asil65]

We have always liked anytime dining. There are some nights that I just wanted to be seated with my dh and other nights when we asked to be seated with others. I really enjoyed the flexibility. It will be difficult to change from traditional to anytime. Traditional dining is often booked up 3 months prior to your cruise.

[taxgal]

We have always done traditional dining and do not find it restrictive. We normally eat late at home as we both work, so the second seating is what we perfer. Sometimes there are shows that have only one performance and you either miss the show or miss dinner. We live having the same waiter every evening which from friends we have learned is hit or miss on anytime dining. Over the years we have met many interesting people with traditional tablemates, though at times we have opted for smaller tables with just family. On our last cruise with our youngest daughter, we had a table of 12, four families with one high school student...Made for great conversations and story swapping.

 

The choice is yours, but as pointed out, if you want flexiblity and the opportunity to dine with many different cruiesmates, anytime dining might be your best choice.

[Pam in CA]

I am going on the Emerald Princess in August with my girlfriend. We are 24 and 25 and were curious about how Princess matches people up together for seating. Is it by location, age, etc? -- For traditional dining, they do try to match people up by age. We always request a large table; that way, the chances of having compatible people at the table increase.

 

Also, what are the advantages to anytime seating vs late seating, other than having flexibility? I have heard mixed reviews about anytime (as far as waiting in lines with the beepers and all that) and we think doing a set seating would be a fun way to meet some people. Do most younger people do the later seating or do they do anytime seating? -- I've seen many young couples in late seating. They usually thoroughly enjoy meeting others of all ages. At least that's my impression. You are correct about the waiting in lines with beepers for Anytime dining, particularly if you like to eat later.

 

We are concerned though with the times of shows, do they offer 2 show times on board (1 for early seating and 1 for late)? Or if you do the late are you sacrificing the show?

They vary the show times so that diners have the option to attend a show that's convenient for them. Sometimes they have a show at 7pm, sometimes at 8pm and 10:15pm.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

With TD it is nice ot have the same waiter every night whereas with AD there is no guarantee you will get the same waiter. On one cruise we were fortunate to have the same area and waiter but not on our last cruise. I like the personal touch and friendships you develop by having the same waiters each night.