Slow.... Anytime dining...????

[captainron]

It was two assistant waiters per waiter, not per table. One assistant would work for half the waiter's tables and the other assistant would work the other half.

 

Got it...perhaps that's a new change to expedite service in the AT DRs :confused:.

 

When we were on Golden in 08 and Star in 09 we were at tables for 8 and 6 respectively in the AT DR and only had one assistant per table. It'll be nicer eating the same course at the same time as your tablemates...yahoo!!!! Thanks again Bill for the clarification.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[Loonbeam]

You are probably on the Coral or Island - we were on the Coral in Alaska in 09 with Anytime dining and had no issues at all, with a little prep..

 

1> Make reservations! You can do this during the day by calling the dine line. It is busy, so you may have to try a few times. With reservations you bypass the lines.

 

2> If you can't make a res, go off-peak. The line at 6 PM was HUGE, at 7, 5 minutes...

 

3> How busy Anytime dining is also depends on how many people on a given trip choose traditional/anytime. The more who choose anytime, the longer the line, not much the crew can do about that.

 

4> A trick someone told us about too late. If the line is really long, that might be a good time to try the specialty restaurants. Someone we met the last day told us they did that one nite, and since Sabatinis was so underbooked that night, they even waived the cover charge for a last minute booking (and, BTW, plan to do Sabatini's one night.. AWESOME)

 

5> Make friends with the Matre'D. If they know you by name, they sometimes will make things work even if you don't have a res (we didn't make a res one night because we weren't sure of our plans. When we went down to get in line, the MD called us over and said he had held us a table because he noticed we hadn't signed up for around our usual 6:30. Would not take a tip either until the end of the cruise).

 

6> If you find a waiter you like, request them again. Can't always be guaranteed, or may be a short delay.

 

 

 

I'm taking my first Princess cruise in Oct---Panama Canal. Never been on a ship that had anytime dining. Is the slow service specific to a certain ship? If not, I may be better off going with late dining.

 

Thx a million in advance! :)

[margeg]

when you're asked if you care to join a table--say YES--one that's ready to go--you don't want to be the first seated at a table for 8.

 

Try this it works--I'm an anytime diner whenever possible--even if led to a table that is empty let them know that you would like oine that is ready to order.

 

Nancy:D

 

That sounds like a good idea. The last Princess ship we were on was the Carib Princess, and the meals took s o o o o long. No, we are not at Mac Donalds, but I do think 2 hours is way too long for dinner.

 

We hardly ever had to wait for a table for anytime dining. That was not the problem. And meals at tables for two were also long. We did have to run out before dessert sometimes.because we really do enjoy the shows. Sometimes two in a night, theater and explorers lounge shows.