Should I switch from late traditional to anytime?

[NavyVeteran]

Can you tell me how this works. I just change from TD to ATD for a cruise we are on in 2 weeks. We are just party of 2 but in a suite. We have done ton of cruises on many lines and this is first time on ATD and just curious how it works for suite guests

 

One of the amenities for a full suite (http://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf) is " Preferred Traditional or Anytime Dining reservations". Note that this is for a full suite only - not for a mini-suite.

 

You may still have to wait if you do not have a reservation, but the priority reservations definitely works.

 

I just came back from a cruise on the Grand Princess in a suite. The ship had one dining room with traditional early and late seatings, one dining room with anytime dining, and one with traditional early seating followed by anytime dining at about 7:30 pm. With only one anytime dining room before 7:30 pm, no tables were available after it filled up until the first people left. They took anytime reservations at 5:15 pm and beginning at 7:30 pm. They did not take reservations between those times, since they would have to leave the table empty until you showed up. However, we had no trouble booking a table at 6:30 pm one night once we identified ourselves as in a suite. When we called for a reservation, we always got the time and table size we requested - even if we called just before the 5:00 pm cutoff for reservations.

 

If you wanted to make reservations for a table for two every night at 6:30 pm, you could probably do it if you are in a full suite. If not, then you definitely could not.

[Colo Cruiser]

We switched from traditional to anytime dining during our first Princess cruise and haven't looked back. Our reasons were the same as yours. The flexibility of anytime dining will enhance your onboard experience if you want to fully enjoy evening entertainment.

 

Lew

 

We did the same.

[RunnerGirl26.2]

We currently have 6 pm traditional seating at a large table for TA in October. We have been considering changing to anytime dining just to have more evening time for movies and shows. Have not had good luck on recent cruises with dining companions. But we do like having the same servers every night. Thoughts anyone?

[caribill]

We currently have 6 pm traditional seating at a large table for TA in October. We have been considering changing to anytime dining just to have more evening time for movies and shows. Have not had good luck on recent cruises with dining companions. But we do like having the same servers every night. Thoughts anyone?

 

a) With 6 PM traditional you will be finished by 8 PM and have plenty of time for shows and activities.

 

b) If you really can't stand your dining companions, ask your headwaiter if you can be assigned to a different table.

[Woobstr112G]

Late seating traditional for me. Guess I hate change.....:D:D:D

 

Bob

[pmcue]

Thanks NavyVeteran, I guess we missed that since we always do Traditional. Sounds like it will work perfect for us due to some different port times.

[TomCruises]

Again, unless you are able to have the same exact waiter every evening in ATD, unfortunately, you will receive service with different waiters each evening which may result in service levels your not satisfied with mainly because there is no relationship.

[cpcanuck]

Again, unless you are able to have the same exact waiter every evening in ATD, unfortunately, you will receive service with different waiters each evening which may result in service levels your not satisfied with mainly because there is no relationship.

 

Having sailed on 3 other cruise lines and have not ever had traditional dining, I'm curious about this notion of "better" service because you have the same waitstaff. I have never felt that the level of service I received from staff in the anytime dining options was inferior. In fact, I quite enjoyed getting to know a few different waiters each night. I don't care if they remember I prefer decaf black coffee at the end of my meal; it isn't difficult to order what you want each night (much like you would do at a landbased restaurant).

[shredie]

Having sailed on 3 other cruise lines and have not ever had traditional dining, I'm curious about this notion of "better" service because you have the same waitstaff.

 

I don't know if it's "better," but I do like having the same staff every night. I think I would call it "comfortable." We have had some really fun people, too. I really enjoyed the Jr waiter on our last long cruise. I liked seeing him around ship and chatting. With little kids along, it's nice to have the staff greet them each evening and have their favorite beverage ready for them when they arrive. The experience is not like eating in restaurants with different servers each time, and that's what I like about it.

[cpcanuck]

I don't know if it's "better," but I do like having the same staff every night. I think I would call it "comfortable." We have had some really fun people, too. I really enjoyed the Jr waiter on our last long cruise. I liked seeing him around ship and chatting. With little kids along, it's nice to have the staff greet them each evening and have their favorite beverage ready for them when they arrive. The experience is not like eating in restaurants with different servers each time, and that's what I like about it.

 

Yes I could see that - especially with children.

[AKman2495]

We have always done ATD and always say we are happy to share a table. We book longer cruises like 10-14 days. We have found that the head waiter gets to know us after a few days. We generally get moved around the dining room, but usually within only a few sections, which means we get the same waiters several times over the course of 2 weeks.

 

We have never felt that we have gotten better service because we have had the same waiter, although some of them are happy to see us again. But they tend to be good waiters to begin so it is hard to say whether we get good service beach we've had them before or because they are just good waiters.

 

Being willing to share a table helps a lot in ATD. We have shared many a table, but we have also been placed at two tops several times. It all depends on the room at any given time and our flexibility helps them a lot-ant they ten to appreciate it.

[canadarocks]

I think it can also depend on which ship you are on. Last year we had ATD on the Emerald and had to wait quite a few times with a pager for a table for 2. Exact same itinerary and dates this year on the Royal.... never had to wait once.

 

I do know that on both ships if we had chosen late traditional dining we would have missed out on almost every nighttime game show. Just off the Royal on March 19th after a 20 day B2B, and they were always held at 8:00/8:15pm or 9:00/9:15pm.

[MaderaMan]

We just got off the Crown this morning and had Anytime for the first time. Ship was sold out. Ate dinner every evening, and never waited. Just walked right up and right in. We did a table for two one night, and hated it. The other nights were all at shared tables and it was delightful. Met a wide variety of folks and it was every enjoyable. Much prefer it to Traditional.

 

The key is avoiding that 6:30-7:30 window. We saw long lines during that time. Some nights we would eat earlier, and some nights later. We always saw the main Princess Theatre production, and the secondary entertainment in the Explorers Lounge. Worked perfectly. One night, we even had the full 4 course meal and was out in exactly one hour.

 

No more Traditional for us!

Edited March 22, 2015 by MaderaMan

[Duck Duck Cruise]

We just did the opposite. We have experience with both dinner choices and booked with ATD. Since our lifestyle has changed a lot and we have been eating late at home we decided to request a change to Late Traditional. Our wait list number was 16, a few days later it was 20 and now it is 23. Does anyone know what that is all about? We will check with the dining room once we are on board if it does not show up as changed in our personalizer.

 

Either way...........we are still on a ship, floating on the sea, on a planet floating in space!