Anytime Dining---Anything but....

[Pam in CA]

This is definitely a big part of the problem. If someone at the door would check the cruise cards every night and send passengers to the correct dining room I think it would go a long way to solving the problem. There seems to be a feeling that it's fine to book a TD table and then go to Anytime as often as you wish. That creates lots of empty spots in the TD dining room and lines at Anytime. We prefer TD, and we hate seeing empty tables night after night and two people sitting alone at a table for 6 or 8.

Correction... the problem is that Princess allows Traditional diners in Anytime. Checking cruise cards and sending them to the "correct" dining room won't fix anything as long as Princess allows this. It's not just a "feeling" but general policy. It's allowed. You may be asked to wait but usually, a Traditional diner will be seated right along with Anytime diners in the Anytime dining room. That's been the case since 2001.

[Northender]

Correction... the problem is that Princess allows Traditional diners in Anytime. Checking cruise cards and sending them to the "correct" dining room won't fix anything as long as Princess allows this. It's not just a "feeling" but general policy. It's allowed. You may be asked to wait but usually, a Traditional diner will be seated right along with Anytime diners in the Anytime dining room. That's been the case since 2001.

 

You can say that again, Pam. Oh wait, you have over and over along with quite a few others. :)

 

People say Princess reads this board, but obviously they don't care or are not willing to upset anyone. :eek:

[raider23]

You can say that again, Pam. Oh wait, you have over and over along with quite a few others. :)

 

People say Princess reads this board, but obviously they don't care or are not willing to upset anyone. :eek:

 

I contacted Princess two days ago on this very subject. I was told that personnel are supposed to check cards and are trained to do so. Since I am still waiting to go on my first Princess cruise, I can neither confirm or deny this. I do, however, believe the problems from previous cruisers on this board that they don't check and are to blame for this problem. I told the agent (who I felt was quite rude) where I am getting my information which causes concern that I choose wisely. She informed me that she nor I should be concerned with what people write. Perhaps if those who experienced problems and had suggestions on how to solve this, then maybe Princess would realize there is a problem and address it.

[WISH84]

I contacted Princess two days ago on this very subject. I was told that personnel are supposed to check cards and are trained to do so. Since I am still waiting to go on my first Princess cruise, I can neither confirm or deny this. I do, however, believe the problems from previous cruisers on this board that they don't check and are to blame for this problem. I told the agent (who I felt was quite rude) where I am getting my information which causes concern that I choose wisely. She informed me that she nor I should be concerned with what people write. Perhaps if those who experienced problems and had suggestions on how to solve this, then maybe Princess would realize there is a problem and address it.

 

And the problem with what you just described is the difference between "Corporate Response" and what you actually see "Out in the Field" This is no different from Comcast, Direct TV or any other cruise line you may travel. The Corporate employee's are taught and instructed (some are given scripts to try and follow) on how to handle questions & complaints but the fact of the matter is.. once out to sea.. it's the ships senior officers who get and do make that call.

 

I don't know how hard it is for Princess (or any other line) to hire or promote Sr. Hotel Director's or Food & Beverage Directors but I would guess its probably a little (sarcastic tone here) harder (a lot harder) than it would be for say Hilton Hotels or Marriott. And from personal experience.. it's tough as nails to find qualified individuals to hold those land based positions.

 

Having said that.. I highly doubt corporate's eagerness to demand, let alone enforce a policy like this just from an employee retention stand point.

 

Can't you just hear this "If they want me to tell a guest they can't eat in this dining room when they are assigned another dining room, let them come out here and do it themselves"

[moki'smommy]

Why is it any harder to point out to someone that they are supposed to be at Traditional Dining than it was for the personnel at one restaurant to point out to me that I had come to the wrong restaurant one night? It was purely my mistake and I had just gotten confused (on a line where guests rotate thru various restaurants on different nights). The Maitre'd just smiled and said he was so sorry, but we belonged in XYZ with Cedomir. Very simple, and we just walked over to the correct location.

 

Admittedly, I wasn't trying to play the system; I'd made a mistake. But just as easy to point out to someone that they are booked in restaurant B, not A.

[sonomaphil]

On the ships with three dining rooms, one is early and late traditional, one is early traditional and then anytime, and oine is anytime the entire evening.

 

Assuming the three traditional dining sessions are full, that is about 1350 passengers.

 

On a ship with 3100 passengers, that leaves 1750 potential anytime diners (although each evening some will eat in a specialty restaurant, in the buffet, etc.).

 

So without any traditional diners trying to sneak into an anytime dining room, that is potentially over 1000 passengers who might want to eat in an anytime dining room at the same time you want to. There will be lines.

 

With Princess, there is no limit to the number of passengers who select the anytime option when booking the cruise. Plus, if the traditional time someone wants is full, Princess will assign you to anytime even though you did not want it.

 

With RCCL and Carnival, they limit the number of passengers assigned to anytime and once that limit is reached, assign anyone else wanting anytime to traditional even though they did not want that.

 

I see what you did here, trying to use math, reason and logic to prove a point. On Cruise Critic? Can't be done. ;)

[Gracie115]

Why is it any harder to point out to someone that they are supposed to be at Traditional Dining than it was for the personnel at one restaurant to point out to me that I had come to the wrong restaurant one night? It was purely my mistake and I had just gotten confused (on a line where guests rotate thru various restaurants on different nights). The Maitre'd just smiled and said he was so sorry' date=' but we belonged in XYZ with Cedomir. Very simple, and we just walked over to the correct location.

 

Admittedly, I wasn't trying to play the system; I'd made a mistake. But just as easy to point out to someone that they are booked in restaurant B, not A.[/quote']

 

And it SHOULDN'T be hard......THAT is exactly what I've seen them do on Royal on several different cruises........on this Princess cruise...the first night they asked NONE of us what room we were in.....the other 3 we had actually made reservations and gave them room #'s when we arrived...

[raider23]

Perhaps if those who experienced problems and had suggestions on how to solve this, then maybe Princess would realize there is a problem and address it.

 

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to edit my own post. What I meant to say was Perhaps if more past guests contacted Princess, they might listen and change.

[iceleven]

Why is it any harder to point out to someone that they are supposed to be at Traditional Dining than it was for the personnel at one restaurant to point out to me that I had come to the wrong restaurant one night? It was purely my mistake and I had just gotten confused (on a line where guests rotate thru various restaurants on different nights). The Maitre'd just smiled and said he was so sorry' date=' but we belonged in XYZ with Cedomir. Very simple, and we just walked over to the correct location.

 

Admittedly, I wasn't trying to play the system; I'd made a mistake. But just as easy to point out to someone that they are booked in restaurant B, not A.[/quote']

 

Because it is not so much they are in the wrong restaurant but they are there at the wrong time. If they "missed" their agreed-upon assigned dining TIME they have, logistically, no other option than to dine elsewhere on the ship, i.e., the Horizon Court, Alfredos, Pizza/burgers, etc. If they have assigned late seating yet attempting to arrive early, they have the additional option of just waiting until their assigned dining time.

 

This puts the Maitre 'D in the uncomfortable position of telling them they must leave the line and go elsewhere for dinner. With the chance of putting these people in a bad and embarrassing position, the staff is reluctant to do this.

 

I can say that there have been a few times where we were asked for our cabin number and/or our card for ID. It must be up to the Maitre'D to decide how closely he will control his dining room.

 

I wonder how many of these people continue to complain about the "RULES" for formal night dress yet feel the rules (for them) for dining are irrelevant.

Edited November 12, 2015 by iceleven

[Pam in CA]

What I meant to say was Perhaps if more past guests contacted Princess, they might listen and change.

After fourteen years, Princess must have a clue that it's a problem. :) However, their policy is to not upset passengers and give them what they want even if that means inconveniencing hundreds of other passengers. A parent knows that when you say, and mean, "No" consistently, children learn boundaries and what they can and cannot do. Unfortunately, Princess appeases tantrums and rewards them. :(

[Mom33]

We must be really fortunate for we have yet to wait to be seated in the Anytime Dining room on any of our cruises. Once on the Star, there was a back up in the AT dining room, but they quickly remedied the situation by taking us to the Traditional Dining room where we were immediately seated.

 

Now, as for the service in the dining rooms, we have experienced slow or deficient service on a few occasions, but they were the exception and not the rule. Sorry the OP was so disappointed.

[Elevatorman]

Just off our first Princess cruise on the Regal. Beautiful ship, lovely stateroom, LOVED the Vines lounge and lots of good entertainment....BUT....

 

what is with Princess' "version" of Anytime Dining?

 

It was just abysmal....waiting in a long line, beepers being handed out.....once being seated a 2 1/2 hour dining time with LONG spaces of time with not even beverage service being offered..... that was just the first night....

 

Second night, after a conversation with the Maitre D was slightly better but only because we agreed to arrive at 5:45...far earlier than we wanted...and yet LOTS of empty tables around us for the entire time...

 

Third night, YET another different section and lousy service again....another 2 1/2 hour night....

 

Fourth night, thank goodness we went to Sabatini's which was great...

 

Last night...AGAIN a different section and the worst wait service of all.....took nearly to the end of the entrée course to receive a glass of wine ordered before the appetizer......

 

I don't understand why Princess can't get this right....Celebrity at least understands the value of placing guests in same section(it benefits BOTH the guests and the server) and Royal is BY FAR the best at My Time Dining, with same section and frequently same table and arriving at whatever time we want never a problem on MANY cruises.

 

I've seen other threads here about this issue so I am not alone....why doesn't Princess address this problem? We were not alone in our views, heard comments nearly every night from those at tables around us....

 

The food was good, the ship beautiful...but for dinner to be a trial every night it certainly put a damper on the cruise......

 

Maybe more glasses of wine before dinner would have helped....:eek::D

 

We tipped the Maître d $20 on the first night and requested 6pm seating and the same table. We got exactly that every evening.

[OCruisers]

We tipped the Maître d $20 on the first night and requested 6pm seating and the same table. We got exactly that every evening.

 

People hate for us to say this ... but, honestly, it is always helpful to "$hake hands". :D

 

LuLu

[Gracie115]

We tipped the Maître d $20 on the first night and requested 6pm seating and the same table. We got exactly that every evening.

 

People hate for us to say this ... but, honestly, it is always helpful to "$hake hands". :D

 

LuLu

 

hmmmm........we have "pre" tipped pretty much everyone on a cruise regularly; stateroom attendant, bartender in whatever bar we've decided to frequent, beverage server in MDR....NEVER pretipped a MaitreD because we never felt the need.....guess we know better now......:eek:

[iceleven]

"We tipped the Maître d $20 on the first night and requested 6pm seating and the same table. We got exactly that every evening."

 

 

I don't understand the point. Why not just keep an early seating assignment? I have no problem with the concept of "perceived" extra service by tipping the man but a 6pm seating isn't that big of a deal or hard to get. If it was 7pm, I could see that $20 having more value.

[Elevatorman]

We found the first seating last year on the Regal was at 5:30, just too early for us. There was always a line at 6 or 6:15, and on "lobster" night it was very long. At any rate we feel that the most important person to tip is the maître d. Not happy with getting one of those buzzers.

[caribill]

TD for the early time always fills up long before the ship sails as everyone seems to want that time slot. The late TD always has openings.

 

Not the time we were number 114 on the wait list for late TD.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...You CAN'T book anytime or ANY dining on Princess prior to the cruise..... We tried to make reservations first thing once on board but were told the only times left were either 5:45 or after 8:00...

 

You can definitely book traditional assigned seating times prior to a cruise, but not ATD reservations. Princess varies from ship-to-ship on ATD reservations once on board, though. On the Golden last year, I was told no reservations, period, for ATD for the entire cruise. On the Ruby last September, they would take reservations for ATD, but only for very early or very late seating. Prime time (6 to 7:30 or so) was a wait-in-line mob scene.

 

I'm guessing that may have been the case on your cruise also--that those weren't the only times left, they were to only times they allowed reservations to begin with.

 

No, Princess does not do ATD well, so we have gone back to assigned seating until the day comes that they improve their ATD.

Edited November 13, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78

[Gracie115]

We found the first seating last year on the Regal was at 5:30, just too early for us. There was always a line at 6 or 6:15, and on "lobster" night it was very long. At any rate we feel that the most important person to tip is the maître d. Not happy with getting one of those buzzers.

 

Exactly...5:30 is too early....

 

Lesson learned...if we sail Princess again, we will tip the MaitreD and hope for a better outcome than we had on Regal this time...

[ms.sunburn]

Exactly...5:30 is too early....

 

Lesson learned...if we sail Princess again, we will tip the MaitreD and hope for a better outcome than we had on Regal this time...

 

Really? That's what it takes to get decent service on Princess?

[Gracie115]

Really? That's what it takes to get decent service on Princess?

 

I don't know that tipping the MaitreD will get you decent service but based on a few posts here it may HELP getting a table at Anytime Dining at the time you want in a station you want......just repeating what was said a few posts back.....

[Dbld777]

We tried ATD on one cruise and weren't impressed, especially with the waitstaff we seemed to get in the ATD dining room. We've gone back to TD and we've had great waitstaff each time. I have a suspicion that the more senior waitstaff(and generally better waitstaff) requests TD dining rooms for their assignment as the potential for end-of-cruise tips is much better than the ATD dining rooms. The are generally adept at knowing the value of developing a relationship with their diners and even entertaining them with little things like singing, magic tricks, humor, etc. For us, it makes the meals so much more enjoyable when you get to know the waitstaff and they get to know your preferences as well. But hey, it's not some folks cup of tea to eat at the same time every evening. I think ATD will grow in popularity with the younger cruising demographic and Princess will HAVE to figure out how to make it work better, especially if the other lines have figured it out.

[Gracie115]

We tried ATD on one cruise and weren't impressed, especially with the waitstaff we seemed to get in the ATD dining room. We've gone back to TD and we've had great waitstaff each time. I have a suspicion that the more senior waitstaff(and generally better waitstaff) requests TD dining rooms for their assignment as the potential for end-of-cruise tips is much better than the ATD dining rooms. The are generally adept at knowing the value of developing a relationship with their diners and even entertaining them with little things like singing, magic tricks, humor, etc. For us, it makes the meals so much more enjoyable when you get to know the waitstaff and they get to know your preferences as well. .

 

Yes, yes & yes...... we mentioned that having a different, indifferent wait staff each night did not inspire us to leave additional tips as we NORMALLY would have.

 

I wish early seating TD was just a little later, as it USED to be..at least on Celebrity, it used to be 6:15-6:30 which was great for us. 5:30 is too early for us....but we'll figure it out if we decide to cruise Princess again...

Edited November 13, 2015 by Gracie115

[birdiebill]

We have done anytime dining on all seven of our previous Princess cruises. We quickly learned that our choice for dining was determined more by when we could get in quickly than by our preferred time to eat. At home we usually have dinner around 6:00. While 5:30 is earlier than we prefer, 7:30 or later is too late for us. So we go with the flow. 5:30 or whenever the ATD opens has been the time we go for dinner. We have always been willing to share any size table, so that makes it easier to be seated also rather than requiring a table for two. We have requested/reserved a table for two when we celebrated an anniversary on two occasions.

 

With upcoming cruises, we have chosen ATD for one and TD for the other. Same ship, same time (5:30). So we should have a real comparison as to what we really like and will choose in the future. ATD on one cruise may not be able to be compared to TD on another. So same ship/same time/ATD versus TD.

[geoherb]

Our one try at anytime dining on Princess wasn't great until we learned to go later. Unfortunately people who like to dine with others were out of luck. We were always stuck at a table for two because no one else was requesting to dine with others.