Anytime Dining

[jagoffee]

Their supervisors have access to a list of the cabins where the daily gratuity has been removed. But it is not something they access using the cruise cards.

 

Since this list would most likely be checked at the end of the cruise when cash tips are traditionally bestowed, the cabin occupants may have disembarked before the recipients find out if the money comes back to them or goes into the pool.

 

Perhaps they do not know until the last night. It certainly make sense that they have a list.

 

Thanks

[shofer]

Tried AD for the first time on the Grand early last year and it worked well. We were 2 gals and said we would sit anywhere and met lots of nice people.

As it happened, we ended up at a table for 2 on the first formal night and had a good laugh over our "romantic" dinner.

 

I would say that there was maybe two times we had to wait about 20-30 minutes on a 7 day cruise. Always went about 7 PM so it was prime time. We had the pager and just went and had a drink while we waited.

 

Have AD also on our upcoming Alaska cruise and maybe we will try to go a little earlier this time. But, if we have to wait a little, so what? It's not like we are going anywhere. The ship is moving at that time. And it's vacation!

 

Sue

[2DesertGuys]

We did AD on the Caribbean Princess in November and always were seated right away with one exception. We went 630p-7P and always got a table for two , never in the same area though. The one time we weren't seated right away, we given a beeper which buzzed not more than 5 min later. We always prefer the freedom of any time dining over a set time.

[erbunny]

Thanks for the helpful responses. We just got back froma great cruise. It seems like the consensus is not

to worry as long as you are willing to share, which is our preference anyway.

 

Happy sails !

[Woobstr112G]

First, you need to take negative comments with grain of sail. Everybody is different as to their likes and dislikes. We have been on 8 cruises with Princess and always take the Anytime Dining and have had no bad experiences. We will take any sitting until we find a Waite staff we like then each morning call and make a reservation for their tables and at the time we want. Now, we are early eaters (5:30 - 5:45) and if you wait until 7 o'clock you may have to wait for a table. The DR's tend to get busy at that time.

 

While some obviously have had no issues with ATD, IMHO this is the biggest reason why others have had many issues with it. IMHO, standing reservations do not mix with ATD. How is it ATD when they are allowed:confused::confused::confused: Simply put, how can you expect to go and eat when you want when others are alllowed to "stake" out a table for the entire cruise.....

Bob

[swedish weave]

While some obviously have had no issues with ATD, IMHO this is the biggest reason why others have had many issues with it. IMHO, standing reservations do not mix with ATD. How is it ATD when they are allowed:confused::confused::confused: Simply put, how can you expect to go and eat when you want when others are alllowed to "stake" out a table for the entire cruise.....

 

Bob

 

I will toss a little twist into this. We had a waitress that insisted we have dinner at one of her tables, so I asked her if we should make reservations. She said not to worry, just tell her what time we would be there and she would take care of it. And she did.

 

There is a lot of flexibility in the ATD system.

[tommycha]

ATD is definitely the way for us...

 

More flexibility of time to eat, n who to sit with on different days.. :)

[caribill]

While some obviously have had no issues with ATD, IMHO this is the biggest reason why others have had many issues with it. IMHO, standing reservations do not mix with ATD. How is it ATD when they are allowed:confused::confused::confused: Simply put, how can you expect to go and eat when you want when others are alllowed to "stake" out a table for the entire cruise.....

 

Bob

 

 

The real "problem" with anytime is that if more people decide their time to eat is greater than the capacity of the restaurant at that time, some will have to wait, just like at a land restaurant.

 

Ideally, people in anytime would distribute that time evenly throughout the evening, but it is rare that happens. Two thirds of the passengers could be in anytime, and if they all decide that 7:30 PM is the time they wish to eat, it is just not possible to accomodate them all at that time.

 

Princess limits the number of people in traditional dining and everyone else is in anytime if they wanted it or not. Some cruise lines limit the number of people in anytime and everyone else in in traditional if they wanted it or not.

[Rixnsd]

We like anytime dining because we can eat when we want and get a table for 2 when we feel like it. Also, if you go late you can get in and out in 45 minutes or less. The two cruises we've done it on Princess we didn't make reservations. We never had to wait as long as we went before 6 PM or closer to 9PM. When we've gone between 7 to 7:30PM and requested a table for 2, we've been given a beeper and then typically had to wait 30-40 minutes. Since we were expecting it - we just grabbed a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar.

 

We've had a different experience on Royal Caribbean - wonderful if you have a reservation but we've had to wait over an hour without one for a table for 2.

[BMICKEY]

I am so happy to find this thread today! My husband have going back and forth trying to decide which dining to do. We've always had traditional so it was hard going outside our box. This make so much more sense to do it this way.

 

Any feedback on the quality of the food is helpful too...

 

I've also heard of the waitstaff not being as attentive. Has anyone experienced this?

 

Thanks for all your help!

[caribill]

Any feedback on the quality of the food is helpful too...

 

 

If you are asking about the difference between traditional and anytime, the food quality is identical.

[abqmommyof4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woobstr112G

While some obviously have had no issues with ATD, IMHO this is the biggest reason why others have had many issues with it. IMHO, standing reservations do not mix with ATD. How is it ATD when they are allowed Simply put, how can you expect to go and eat when you want when others are alllowed to "stake" out a table for the entire cruise.....

 

Bob

I will toss a little twist into this. We had a waitress that insisted we have dinner at one of her tables, so I asked her if we should make reservations. She said not to worry, just tell her what time we would be there and she would take care of it. And she did.

 

There is a lot of flexibility in the ATD system.

 

We were willing and able to eat at 530 each evening, that may have made a difference in the ease of getting the same table each night. added to my food issues.

food was wonderful, there was only one thing i tried that didnt thrill me... it was the finnian haddie.. it was meh

:)

[BMICKEY]

If you are asking about the difference between traditional and anytime, the food quality is identical.

 

Thank you! That's exactly what I was asking :D

[funinthesun86]

Just back from our first experience with Anytime Dining. Loved it. We loved the flexibility of not being tied to a specific dining time. Twice, we waited about 30 minutes with a pager when we arrived at 6:30 or 7. No problem, as we enjoyed people watching in the Piazza while we waited.