Golden Princess Anytime Dining NOT!

[RocketMan275]

We would often have a little mid-afternoon nosh (I might have a little salad' date=' a little pasta, of course, a dessert) and that will tie us over to a late dining seating. My hubby actually will do this at work, have little snacks and a light lunch during the course of the day.[/color']

 

 

 

Actually it's not the fault of the TDers, but is part of the whole "personal choice" system that Princess started some ten years ago. If everyone just went with an assigned seating as in the past, there wouldn't be people complaining about waiting in a line for a table. And if you don't want to eat at your assigned time, there's plenty of other options for dining. That's the way I see it.

 

I was responding to a poster who preferred to do TD rather than make reservations since they "didn't know when they would be hungry".

 

BTW, the only reason Princess offers the "personal choice" system is because a significant number of their customers prefer it to traditional dining.

[LovetheSea]

We always choose a large table. We like to meet people. If we plan to go to a specialty restaurant we always will mention this to our TD waiter and other table mates the night before. As a courtesy.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I was responding to a poster who preferred to do TD rather than make reservations since they "didn't know when they would be hungry".

 

BTW, the only reason Princess offers the "personal choice" system is because a significant number of their customers prefer it to traditional dining.

 

I seem to remember that the phrase "personal choice dining" referred to the many options available for dining on board, an umbrella term, not just to anytime dining. Unfortunately some used the term to just indicate the anytime dining option and not to the others, including traditional.

 

And undoubtedly because there are usually waitlists for traditional seatings, Princess has not dropped that option (and hopefully won't in the future). Obviously many of us still prefer traditional dining while on a cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

I always thought Personal Choice Dining WAS for anytime.

I have never heard that it was related to all the dining choices. :confused:

[oskidunker]

Princess can't go back to all traditional dining because the dining rooms will not handle all the passengers on board.Tere more passengers than 2 times all the dining room capacity. They hope many will go to the buffet or the alternate restaurants(not worth it).This is even worse on the ships that have increased passenger capacity.

 

So I would ask you this, Is it better to pick a fixed dining time and know you will have a stress free evening every night or is it worth not have have any pressure on you to eat a particular time and put up with the mess. I dont want any part of Any time dining.

 

95% of the time the ship sales before the first seating. You won't miss it.

 

Tip #2 . If you have traditional first seating and get back late do one of two things.

1. Go to your assigned dining room and tell the waiter you will not be ordering alot of courses and promise you will be out by the time they need to clean the dining room. we went an hour late and they let us do this. We only took an hour to eat.

 

2. Go to your assigned dining room but arrive at the late seating. the late seating is never full. Try to find your waiter and he will accommodate you. Maybe your assigned table is available( ours was)

 

Do Not go to the Any Time Dining room.

Edited February 20, 2015 by oskidunker

[Nebr.cruiser]

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.

 

Although we've never had much of a wait in Anytime dining with Princess, probably because we usually eat later than 7:30, I really, really agree with this--Anytime dining should be only for those signed up for it. Otherwise it's kind of like hogging two chairs on the deck--one in the shade and one in the sun--which unfortunately some people do.

 

If you can't make your traditional dining time, that's what the buffet is for. Or, choose Anytime when reserving your cruise.

[IECalCruiser]

On our recent 4-day coastal on the Crown the ATD DR opened at 5:00 p.m. and early reservations couldn't be made after 5:15 p.m. Don't know where people were eating on our cruise because there were always a fair number of empty tables in the DR between 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m