Anytime Dining/Formal Nights on Island Princess

[brainerdgal]

We'll be on the Island Princess to Alaska this summer, and we want to try Anytime Dining. According to Princess' website, the MDR is available for Anytime the same hours as traditional dining. For those who have done Anytime, is there usually a long wait for the MDR with Anytime?

 

Also, we're seriously thinking of not doing Formal Nights in order to keep our packing to a minimum. Could we get by with "informal" dress (non-jean pants and polo shirts) in the MDR toward the end of dining hours on those nights?

 

We've never sailed Princess before, so any insight on the dining options are appreciated, even if they don't pertain to my questions! ;)

[Pam in CA]

The menu and dress is exactly the same no matter which dining room you choose. A wait for Anytime depends on the time you want to eat and the cruise. It's shorter if you are willing to share a table.

 

On the Diamond Princess cruise that I disembarked yesterday, all of the men, with only a couple of exceptions, were in tuxes or black suits. The exception(s) was someone in a sports jacket and they really stood out.

[rdsqrl]

One black (silk or manmade fiber of your choice) dress weighs nothing, and a man can wear his blazer on the plane. Or reserve a rental tux. Problem solved.

 

Or you can go to the specialty restaurants on formal nights, as they don't require formal attire.

 

I think you'd be pushing it to wear Polo shirts in the dining room on formal night. Not saying people mayn't do that, or that they mayn't get away with it. I'm just saying that's pretty far south of the minimum suggested attire and if you have a by-the-book maitre d' at the door . . .

[Treven]

Whenever I've eaten in the MDR on formal night I wear slacks, a dress shirt and tie; I don't own a suit. I cruise alone and get a table by myself, and as I eat early I don't have much, if any, wait for a table.

[paul929207]

We always say we will share and are either seated immediately or have a wait of 2 or 3 minutes.

[yiew]

Hi. I'm a newbie. Taking my maiden princess cruise n cruise to Alaska this jun. am booked on anytime dining too.

 

Jus wanted to clarify. When I say I'm willing to share a table for anytime dining, do I hav to wait for the table to b full before my food is served? Thanks-

[paul929207]

Hi. I'm a newbie. Taking my maiden princess cruise n cruise to Alaska this jun. am booked on anytime dining too.

 

Jus wanted to clarify. When I say I'm willing to share a table for anytime dining, do I hav to wait for the table to b full before my food is served? Thanks-

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Usually, they fill the tables pretty quickly, so it is full before you are ready to order. If it appears there will be a wait to fill the table, the waiter will ask if you want to go ahead or wait.

[brainerdgal]

Thanks, everyone! All of your answers are very helpful as we plan our packing and eating! :)

[Nan_Sea]

We enjoy anytime dining as well. There is an option to call each morning for a reservation in the anytime dining room. I usually call and book a table to share. A table for six is what we prefer as the larger tables make conversation difficult. On one cruise we met two couples whose company we particularly enjoyed and all six of us sat together for the remainder of the cruise. One of us would call each morning and book for all at a table we enjoyed by a window.

My husband wears a sports jacket and has never been out of place. There is a variety of dress on formal night and from what I have seen lately it is a bit more relaxed.

[yiew]

Thanks everyone for the info! Can't wait for my cruise, am so excited! =)

[GradUT]

When we did a Panama Canal cruise on the Island Princess, we also had Anytime Dining. For the 10-day cruise, there were only 2 times that we had to wait for a table. They give you one of those hand-held "buzzers" and you can go wait elsewhere. (Our waits were no more than 15 minutes.) We LOVED the Anytime Dining option.

 

Most of the time, we asked for a table for just the two of us and it was no problem to be seated right away. Once we opted to be seated at a table for 8 and it just took too much time for the waiters to serve everyone. (I ended up leaving before dessert in order to get to a show.)

 

We saw (almost) everything in the way of clothing for the 2 "formal nights". There were tuxes and gowns, but there were also nice slacks for women and polo shirts for men. My husband wore slacks, a short-sleeved shirt and a tie and was not under-dressed. It's a casual ship--take the slacks and polo shirt.

[Vivsy]

Any Time Dining is just fine. We have seldom had to wait, except on Formal nights at 7.30 when everyone wants to eat. You only have to wait at most 15 minutes but its enjoyable having a pre dinner drink people watching in the Atrium. We are also doing the Island Alaska cruise end of July and for the formal evening I will be taking black silky trousers and a sparkly blouse not too dressy as we are doing the land tour afterwards and I want to use this outfit for evening wear afterwards off the ship. My husband will take and travel in a blazer and slacks and shirt and tie, my son wont take a suit and will wear shirt with tie and slacks (I think) I dont think the Alaska cruise will be particularly dressy as most people will do other things after the cruise ends