Anytime vs. traditional seating

[Pam in CA]

I have never tried Traditional, but will next year on an Alaskan cruise, because we are going as part of a ten person group. One thing I have wondered about Traditional is the effect on dinner when one or more couples are often late or don't show up.

This is a problem since people don't realize that the dinner time is the time you should be in the dining room and not a "suggested" time. Last September, while on the Crown, we sat near a table for six people. Two couples were there every night at 8:15pm, one couple was at least 30 minutes late every single night while the others waited patiently for them before starting. It was sad to watch people so patently rude and uncaring. If it were me, I would have suggested they go to Anytime unless they could make it to dinner on time. The Maitre d' used to close the dining room doors after 15 minutes; no more. :(

[BosoxI]

To each his own, of course, and we've tried both successfully, but

a) The Princess wait staff is almost universally competent, so having different waiters every night is not a problem for us.

b) waiters are not part of our family, nor are they our friends. We want a friendly but professional relationship

c) Having a set time for anytime dining defeats the purpose of AT dining, we think.

d) Having iced tea waiting for me or coffee brought without my requesting it is of no importance. I'm not in that much of a rut...yet, at least.

e) Yes, there are times when we have to wait for a table, a minor and infrequent inconvenience.

f) Increasingly, we find ourselves eating in the Horizon at night or having our main meal in the DR at lunch. The menu or our willingness to dress properly for the MDR govern our choice. The Horizon menu is frequently best for our taste.

So AT or set time is an individual preference, a choice we made some number of cruises ago.

[hansolosmom]

If your personalizer says confirmed 5:30, that means you are confirmed for traditional 5:30 dining, not anytime dining. They stuck in an extra earlier traditional dining time not long ago.

If you were confirmed for anytime dining, then it would say as you thought, confirmed anytime dining.

 

Edited, I see you edited your post. Are you waitlisted for a different dining time? That could be why it says waitlisted. But the dining confirmed will be for the 5:30 traditional. ;)

 

I edited once I checked to see the actual wording on the personalizer :D

We are waitlisted for the Early TD & are confirmed for anytime. When I talked to the TA she made it seem like there is only 1 early seating at 6pm so our only choice was anytime or late TD seating

[HollyK]

Our next cruise will be our first AD. We are looking forward to it but of course time will tell. We've largely enjoyed TD - always late seating - but although we are not big 'show peeps' I'm a slow enough eater that we rarely if ever could make a show if we so desired. Shows are entertainment that - for us - belongs after dinner not before. I think we'll enjoy AD. We are always willing to have others at our table so that's not going to be an issue. We find it interesting to meet others. Personally I can't imagine dining with DH only (who I dine with 24/7/365) on a cruise. :confused: However that's me. Each to their own.

[laughing husky]

I typically prefer late Traditional but I think lots of it depends on the cruise that you are on. When I am on an Alaskan cruise....which I seem to do frequently, Ido like anytime....When it is light till 11 PM and the the shordays are long, I hate to have to get back early in order to eat.....so then I can eat as late as possible.....or eat very early and go back off the ship....for a bit....or even out on the deck....and when you are cruising the glaciers, it is nice to have a choice of dining times...Again, personally preference....

[ONT-CA]

We were on the Emerald in April and able to make a standing reservation at a table for two at 7:30 PM. They gave us the same table every night with the same wait staff. We never had to wait and entered through the reservation line. It was great. All the advantages of traditional but we were able to eat at a time we wanted. I don't know if they do this on all of the ships or if it had anything to do with my husband's special diet but I loved it. Of course we gave an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

 

It's the Goldie Lox syndrome, early is too early, late is too late. One can have both and we do for we also have a standing reservation in Anytime. If and when we meet up with friends with whom we would like to dine we simply let the Maitre d' know and our standing reservation is so adjusted in size. Having the same waiters eliminates more than half the customary nightly questions and our likes and dislikes are dealt with but once. We enjoy meeting the employees and finding out about their lives in their home countries and the direct, true and personal gratuity is between them and ourselves.

[cherylandtk]

I edited once I checked to see the actual wording on the personalizer :D

We are waitlisted for the Early TD & are confirmed for anytime. When I talked to the TA she made it seem like there is only 1 early seating at 6pm so our only choice was anytime or late TD seating

Your TA is a little behind on the newest changes. Quite a while ago Princess instituted a third time for traditional dining - the 5:30 seating on the Grand class ships. So there are now three seatings for traditional. The new seating takes place in one of the Anytime dining rooms, usually the one down on deck 5. Sometimes it takes up the whole room, sometimes it is just a portion of the room depending on how many diners are in that seating. Depending on which ship you are on you might check to see if there are openings in the 5:30 seating for you.

[Stevesan]

This is a problem since people don't realize that the dinner time is the time you should be in the dining room and not a "suggested" time. Last September, while on the Crown, we sat near a table for six people. Two couples were there every night at 8:15pm, one couple was at least 30 minutes late every single night while the others waited patiently for them before starting. It was sad to watch people so patently rude and uncaring. If it were me, I would have suggested they go to Anytime unless they could make it to dinner on time. The Maitre d' used to close the dining room doors after 15 minutes; no more. :(

 

It is absolutely NOT necessary to wait. The remaining four diners could, and should, have told their waiter to take their orders. I've had similar experience a couple times. The waiter will comply.

 

The 15 minute door closing was an excellent practice. It should be reinstated.

[User Error]

I agree.

You could be waiting for ages and they might not even turn up at all....

[TravlinMaChere]

We are confirmed for 6 TD based on what a couple of friends recommended, but the more I read, the more uncertain we are. TD sounds great for many reasons and lots of you prefer, but 6 is SO early for our usual lifestyle, and with the long hours of daylight, 6 will seem even earlier. We will already miss one of our meals when in Skagway; our excursion doesn't return til later. And the more we learn and read, we think later meals would allow us to hang out on deck and while away more time enjoying the great scenery before dressing for dinner. We are not concerned if we miss a show in the evening. We are very close to changing to Anytime. But we know that there is a waitlist for early TD. Our Coral cruise approacheth, and we've got to make a decision. :confused: eek!

[Stevesan]

We are confirmed for 6 TD based on what a couple of friends recommended, but the more I read, the more uncertain we are. TD sounds great for many reasons and lots of you prefer, but 6 is SO early for our usual lifestyle, and with the long hours of daylight, 6 will seem even earlier. We will already miss one of our meals when in Skagway; our excursion doesn't return til later. And the more we learn and read, we think later meals would allow us to hang out on deck and while away more time enjoying the great scenery before dressing for dinner. We are not concerned if we miss a show in the evening. We are very close to changing to Anytime. But we know that there is a waitlist for early TD. Our Coral cruise approacheth, and we've got to make a decision. :confused: eek!

 

Keep your assigned early dining time and hold on to the late dining wait list. If you don't get the change to late, no worries. You can change to "any time" immediately after boarding, or any other day during the cruise. You won't, however, be able to change from anytime to traditional.

 

If you're still wait listed upon boarding, visit the Maitre d' right away. He may have a "late traditional" opening. If not, he can switch you to anytime.

[Princess Patches]

I prefer traditional dining because I like having my table ready and waiting without worrying about waiting in any lines (or eating late to avoid the wait).

 

I prefer the 6:00 traditional dining time to the 5:30 traditional dining time because 5:30 is just a little early after getting back from a shore excursion. A lot of the shore excursions run to about 5:00 so it would be a rush to make the 5:30 dining.

 

The 6:00 traditional is also in the main dining room, which I prefer. The main dining room is somewhat larger than the anytime dining rooms and is located aft, which is easily accessible for us because we almost always book aft cabins.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Anytime is the best

[FawnRiver]

On our last cruise, we did late traditional and the second night we went to Sabatini's so we told our tablemates not to wait for us.

[psyfi]

we love anytime. The last cruise we did traditional, we realized we had not seen a single sunset as we were always eating at that time. I much prefer being able to eat when I am ready and hungry without feeling like I have to rush and stay on schedule. We have never found the wait for a table to be more than 5-10 minutes, and we were usually seated right away. You can opt to share a table, meeting more people (new people each night) or choose to eat alone. We varied depending on our mood. The downside is inconsistent table mates and staff that don't learn your preferences (new ones potentially each night). However on our last cruise, we met a great waitstaff team, and asked to be seated with them each night so we ended up with the best of both worlds in my opinion. Have a great trip!

[Jim & Gerry]

We just found that some friends are going to be on the same cruise as we have booked. Will the TA or Princess be able to combine our traditional dining seating so we are at the same table?

[paul929207]

You need to ask your TA to link the bookings. Then you should be at the same table assuming you have the same seating.

[Jim & Gerry]

Thanks Paul. We will give that a try.

[MCC retired]

Another differerence;

 

If you prefer a table for 2 (many do nowadays) , your chances of getting one with Traditional are not guaranteed. With Anytime , your chances are 100% if you are flexiable with time/resturant.:rolleyes:

[MichCook]

We just found that some friends are going to be on the same cruise as we have booked. Will the TA or Princess be able to combine our traditional dining seating so we are at the same table?

 

Get your friends booking number and have your TA link your bookings with Princess and request that you be at the same table. That should do the trick.

[bakery]

We are cruising on the Emerald next month, and are registered for Traditional dining at 6:00. On day 2 of our cruise, we're travelling to Berlin and the ship doesn't depart until 10 pm. Of course we won't be back from our excursion until well after 6:00. Does that mean we'll lose our Traditional Dining time for the rest of the cruise?

[rdsqrl]

We are cruising on the Emerald next month, and are registered for Traditional dining at 6:00. On day 2 of our cruise, we're travelling to Berlin and the ship doesn't depart until 10 pm. Of course we won't be back from our excursion until well after 6:00. Does that mean we'll lose our Traditional Dining time for the rest of the cruise?

No, you can miss dinner one night, although it's courteous to let your waiter and tablemates know you won't be there so that they don't wait for you.

If you mean, lose your TD because you're planning to go to the Anytime dining room that night, very unlikely. I've never heard tell of anyone having that happen to them -- as Pam posted, it seems like Princess's "policy" is to overlook this. And, with being in port late, probably other excursions are late back, too, and so I wouldn't be surprised if all the dining rooms might be open seating that night. To be on the safe side, just ask the maitre d' the night before if because of your late excursion, it's okay if you go to Anytime. He's almost sure to say yes, and that way you don't have to worry about it.

[paul929207]

No, only for the evening(s) you are late getting back. Those evening, you can go to a specialty restaurant (extra charge), the buffet, pizzeria, or get room service.

[LindaM]

Does anyone know the time of early seating on Ocean Princess? Unfortunately, that ship doesn't have anytime dining---which we prefer.

[paul929207]

In April and May it was 6pm for first seating and 8:15pm for second seating.