Golden Princess Anytime Dining NOT!

[STEVENJAN]

On our recent Thanksgiving cruise we ended up with the so called Anytime Dining.

On our first night we got in line for the dining room around 6. The dining room had a start time of 5:45. We ended up about 10 people back and the assistant MD came out and said we are full.

They said we had to come back at 7:30. I of course objected that we had to come back and get in line again. I asked Can you put our names down? I was told we don't write names down it is a first come, first served dining. We were also told that all of the dining rooms were full. I told them I would write this down on Cruise Critic. They were highly unprofessional. I also made a point to tell them that this was very poor customer service.

In case you were wondering, there was a stack of pagers and I do mean a large stack of pagers, probably 50 against the wall off to the right of the desk. They did not utilize the pagers. Anytime dining means to me that a person or group can show up at anytime, be told that there will be a certain wait and then be given a pager or the name be put on a list.

To me this is a very poor way to run a restaurant. Either it is traditional dining or it is anytime dining. If it is anytime dining it means ANYTIME!

 

Also, we had to adjust our time to accommodate their starting times of the traditional dining. If we didn't get in line by 5 we would come up against the same type of situation.

If we missed out on the first dining time we had to get in line by 7 in order to maybe get in by 7:30.

 

I give Princess a C- on there ability to accommodate their clients for dining.

That said, we have sailed Princess 4 times and we did enjoy our cruise. We actually like the Golden and I don't want this to reflect on Princess overall. We also ended up with some excellent "wait staff". We also tipped them accordingly, not just the daily gratuity suggested. We just have a problem with their poor management of the "Anytime Dining".

[sunsetme]

I had the same experience on the Golden cruise Nov 30. Every night the same story, I was livid. It was handled very poorly. I have always done anytime dining and have never had this experience before.

[CruisingJs]

Definitely not a good thing! I would send an email to customerrelations@princess.com and tell them of your experience. We are seeing this complaint much too often and it really needs to be addressed.

[dfields1814]

Next time try calling for a reservation. They will take reservations for before 6:00 and after 7:30. (They forget to tell you about that option.)

 

We just got off the Golden on Nov. 17th. We had ATD. I was able to get a table for 5:45 on just about every night that I wanted to eat at that time by calling the Dine line and making a reservation first thing in the morning. Once I forgot to call in the morning and they said they were full. So I just arrived at 5:30 and was escorted right in. I think they reserve a certain percent for reservations and the rest are first come first serve.

 

It takes about an hour and half to eat at ATD. So if you arrive after ATD is filled around 6:00 you will have a bit of a wait, probably to about 7:00 or 7:30 when the people who arrived at the opening have finished.

 

We never waited even a minute for ATD after 7:45. They open up a second ATD at that time.

Edited December 5, 2014 by dfields1814

[RickEk]

Count me as another one that didn't have a problem with ATD on our recent cruise on Golden Princess and we always asked for a table for two. Granted, we did generally go after 7:30 to dinner...

[Pam in CA]

Absolutely nothing new. Anytime has been like this since it was first implemented on the Grand Princess years ago. Princess allows Traditional diners to go to Anytime and as long as they allow this, Anytime will be poorly managed when compared to other cruise lines.

[waltd]

Last 4 day cruise on Golden we were told that close to 70 percent of the passengers on that cruise wanted anytime dining. We either went at 5:30 or waited till after 7 to eat. I just think that the older Princess ships are not setup for a high number of anytime dining passengers.

[suntan]

We had a similar experience on Celebrity in September. We had MDR seating for 6pm however in one port of call we advised the waiter and maitre'd we would be late getting back. They said "no problem go to the anytime dining restaurant and they will be able to accommodate us". NOT! We arrived at the anytime dining restaurant around 6:45-7:00pm only to be told they could not seat us because "a thousand passengers could come back on board at any time and where would we seat them if we seat you now". The dining room was practically empty. "We" being 3 people! I was livid! Never in my many years of cruising have I been turned away from a restaurant on a ship. Yes we filed a complaint but nothing came of it - a small gesture of apology would not have gone amiss (like a complimentary bottle of wine, free snacks, not asking the moon here). We went back to the MDR just before the 8:00pm seating and we met up with some people we knew, and we were seated but we had to change our MDR time to late seating dining for the rest of the cruise - we were not happy about that either. Very poorly handled by all staff on that day.

 

I suggested to Celebrity on their post cruise survey to do what Princess did on our November 2013 cruise when we had a late stay in port and most of the ship would be getting back for dinner late - open up both restaurants and let the passengers come in as they arrive. It worked perfectly for us and the wait staff - we didn't have to get dressed for the MDR either, arrived at the restaurant in our day clothes (shorts, pants, tops). That was efficiency at its best.

[STEVENJAN]

Definitely not a good thing! I would send an email to customerrelations@princess.com and tell them of your experience. We are seeing this complaint much too often and it really needs to be addressed.

 

I copied and pasted my Cruise Critic posting to Customer Relations plus extended comments.

[cruzsnooze]

We had a similar experience on Celebrity in September. We had MDR seating for 6pm however in one port of call we advised the waiter and maitre'd we would be late getting back. They said "no problem go to the anytime dining restaurant and they will be able to accommodate us". NOT! We arrived at the anytime dining restaurant around 6:45-7:00pm only to be told they could not seat us because "a thousand passengers could come back on board at any time and where would we seat them if we seat you now". The dining room was practically empty. "We" being 3 people! I was livid! Never in my many years of cruising have I been turned away from a restaurant on a ship. Yes we filed a complaint but nothing came of it - a small gesture of apology would not have gone amiss (like a complimentary bottle of wine, free snacks, not asking the moon here). We went back to the MDR just before the 8:00pm seating and we met up with some people we knew, and we were seated but we had to change our MDR time to late seating dining for the rest of the cruise - we were not happy about that either. Very poorly handled by all staff on that day.

 

I suggested to Celebrity on their post cruise survey to do what Princess did on our November 2013 cruise when we had a late stay in port and most of the ship would be getting back for dinner late - open up both restaurants and let the passengers come in as they arrive. It worked perfectly for us and the wait staff - we didn't have to get dressed for the MDR either, arrived at the restaurant in our day clothes (shorts, pants, tops). That was efficiency at its best.

Glad to hear they don't allow traditional dining passengers into MTD because it means a real MTD has to wait while you leave your seat in the main dining room empty and take up a second seat in a place you didn't sign up for. That's why the buffet is available to you.

[cruzsnooze]

I copied and pasted my Cruise Critic posting to Customer Relations plus extended comments.

I will also send a kudos to customer relations for not allowing traditional seating passengers to enter MTD and make MTD passengers wait unnecessarily. If you have traditional seating and don't want to go then use the buffet or room service but don't disrespect MTD passengers by taking away their seat.

[STEVENJAN]

Next time try calling for a reservation. They will take reservations for before 6:00 and after 7:30. (They forget to tell you about that option.)

 

We just got off the Golden on Nov. 17th. We had ATD. I was able to get a table for 5:45 on just about every night that I wanted to eat at that time by calling the Dine line and making a reservation first thing in the morning. Once I forgot to call in the morning and they said they were full. So I just arrived at 5:30 and was escorted right in. I think they reserve a certain percent for reservations and the rest are first come first serve.

 

It takes about an hour and half to eat at ATD. So if you arrive after ATD is filled around 6:00 you will have a bit of a wait, probably to about 7:00 or 7:30 when the people who arrived at the opening have finished.

 

We never waited even a minute for ATD after 7:45. They open up a second ATD at that time.

 

Perhaps your Elite Membership has some influence. We are Ruby "ONLY".

[STEVENJAN]

Last 4 day cruise on Golden we were told that close to 70 percent of the passengers on that cruise wanted anytime dining. We either went at 5:30 or waited till after 7 to eat. I just think that the older Princess ships are not setup for a high number of anytime dining passengers.

 

We were 29 on the waitlist for traditional early dining.

I did at one point ask them if they knew we were coming.

I did also tell them it was very poor planning.

 

Also, If you can make reservations with ATD, NO ONE TOLD US.

If no one told us and you can make reservations, This is neglectful and incompetence or deliberately deceptive. I think they need to rethink their policies.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like AT was really messed up for sure.

It also helps to talk directly to the MD and not the head waiters at the door.

[satxdiver]

On our recent two cruises (Star and Golden) we went to dinner (ATD) after 7:00 PM and later. I did see a long line waiting to get in the MDR at 6 or so. Moral of the story is if you select ATD either expect to eat after 7 or so or wait in a long line to get seated. If you elect to eat later, go to the MDR on deck 6 as it is not usually that crowded after it opens up for ATD. Most pax seem to go to the ATD MDR on deck 5.

 

Back in the "old" days of TD only, we always chose the later dining time and noticed that the MDR would be maybe half full. On one occasion we sat at a table for 6 by ourselves. They offered to move us to a more occupied table but we declined. Every other time we would sit at a table for 6 or 8 and the table would not be full. Moral is that most like to eat dinner early and it is impossible to seat the entire ship's pax in the MDRs at one time.

 

Any complaint that the OP and others have sent to Princess will likely join a queue of thousands. I agree though that Princess either needs to start a list like the on-shore restaurants do advising pax the wait time and/or use the pagers. Simply saying "we are full" is not acceptable.

[shredie]

Who said "Anytime means any time before 6 and after 7:30"? I have never done ATD, partly because DH is the worst when he has to stand in a line. I'm also pretty old school about cruising stuff. However, on our recent little shorty on the Golden (Oct.) with just me and the kids, we requested early TD at 6:00 and ended up on a waiting list. I definitely did not want ATD, but I was nearly forced into it. Luckily, we cleared the waitlist and ended up with the time (and dining room) we wanted. So those of us in Traditional have a beef with the ATD crashers, too. If you don't want to do TD, then don't sign up for it. You take away a spot from someone who does, and then you take another spot from the ATD diner when you crash his dining room. Princess really needs to do a better job managing the whole business.

[CruisingJs]

Glad to hear they don't allow traditional dining passengers into MTD because it means a real MTD has to wait while you leave your seat in the main dining room empty and take up a second seat in a place you didn't sign up for. That's why the buffet is available to you.

 

I will also send a kudos to customer relations for not allowing traditional seating passengers to enter MTD and make MTD passengers wait unnecessarily. If you have traditional seating and don't want to go then use the buffet or room service but don't disrespect MTD passengers by taking away their seat.

 

Your criticisms are a little strange since one person was talking about their experience on Celebrity and the other did have anytime dining. Clearly you feel strongly about this issue but place blame where it is deserved. These people did nothing wrong.

[Kinkacruiser]

One has to ask why Princess imprints the dining room and time on your cruise card if it's never checked?

Please Princess - keep ATD dining for those passengers only.

[pablo222]

So those of us in Traditional have a beef with the ATD crashers, too. If you don't want to do TD, then don't sign up for it. You take away a spot from someone who does, and then you take another spot from the ATD diner when you crash his dining room.

 

If I want to have a second cup of coffee with desert in the dining room,

is that ok, or should I just move along?

[SadieN]

Could you have gone to the wrong MDR?

I was on the Golden 11/14 & 11/17 B2B. IIRC there was one MDR that was Any Time and a second (Donatello?) MDR had assigned dining for early sitting then converted to ATD at 7:30.

 

Or many had made reservations, defeating the purpose of ATD.

[STEVENJAN]

Could you have gone to the wrong MDR?

I was on the Golden 11/14 & 11/17 B2B. IIRC there was one MDR that was Any Time and a second (Donatello?) MDR had assigned dining for early sitting then converted to ATD at 7:30.

 

Or many had made reservations, defeating the purpose of ATD.

 

Bernini only has ATD.

Donatello has TD first seating Opens again at 7:30 for ATD

There is a third dining room that only has Traditional Dining.

We have sailed 14 times and have had Traditional dining and ATD.

Norwegian is only ATD and specialty dining.

We went to the correct dining rooms. Thanks for asking.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Could you have gone to the wrong MDR?

I was on the Golden 11/14 & 11/17 B2B. IIRC there was one MDR that was Any Time and a second (Donatello?) MDR had assigned dining for early sitting then converted to ATD at 7:30.

 

I was going to ask about this as well. In recent years, on many Grand Class Princess cruises if there are a lot of people seeking early TD, Princess has started adding an early (5:45ish) TD seating in one of the midships MDRs that is otherwise designated as ATD - it's usually the 6th floor MDR (but not always). Then, after the early TD seating has finished, they return the MDR to ATD.

 

This is always announced and posted, but I do know others who have missed the announcements and been similarly frustrated. Even if this was the case, it sounds as if there may have been a problem with communications if the person attending the entrance to the MDR could not clearly explain to the OP what the situation was. But, this is the only logical explanation I can think of for why they would simply outright turn people away and tell them to come back at 7:30 and not hand out beepers.

 

It's speculation, of course, but an educated guess based on my experiences over several cruises. To the OP - could this be a possibility?

Edited December 5, 2014 by 5:00_Somewhere

[Colo Cruiser]

I will also send a kudos to customer relations for not allowing traditional seating passengers to enter MTD and make MTD passengers wait unnecessarily. If you have traditional seating and don't want to go then use the buffet or room service but don't disrespect MTD passengers by taking away their seat.

 

What is MTD?

[STEVENJAN]

I was going to ask about this as well. In recent years, on many Grand Class Princess cruises if there are a lot of people seeking early TD, Princess has started adding an early (5:45ish) TD seating in one of the midships MDRs that is otherwise designated as ATD - it's usually the 6th floor MDR (but not always). Then, after the early TD seating has finished, they return the MDR to ATD.

 

This is always announced and posted, but I do know others who have missed the announcements and been similarly frustrated. Even if this was the case, it sounds as if there may have been a problem with communications if the person attending the entrance to the MDR could not clearly explain to the OP what the situation was. But, this is the only logical explanation I can think of for why they would simply outright turn people away and tell them to come back at 7:30 and not hand out beepers.

 

It's speculation, of course, but an educated guess based on my experiences over several cruises. To the OP - could this be a possibility?

 

We always read the Princess Patter and stay informed.

[geoherb]

What is MTD?

It stands for "my time dining" on Royal Caribbean, comparable to anytime dining on Princess. It's easy for people to confuse the various programs.