Another Carribean Princess dining question

[Rustynail]

My wife and I are very much social people and enjoy great conversation with tablemates however we also enjoy time on our own.

We've never cruised on a ship with the personal dining option and am wondering what option to take. Right now we have chosen the personal dining option but I'm worried that we won't get to meet other folks on the cruise.

Can you request a larger table nightly for this dining option? I guess this way if you don't particularly enjoy the company of your tablemates you just move on the next night.

What are the best options to meet people but still have the flexibility to enjoy a table for two if desired?

Thanks,

Rusty

CARRIBEAN PRINCESS JAN 2005
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CARNIVAL'S LEGEND JAN 2003
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[roohound]

Personal Choice Dining is definitely the option you want [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

When we did PCD, the first night we just wanted to relax so we had a table for 2.

By the 2nd night we had already made new friends and from ther eon out either dined at a table of 4, 6, or 8.

If you don't have specific people you want to eat with, just tell the dining room staff you'd like to be seated at a table with others and they will accomodate you [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[gopher's girl]

I went on the Dawn Princess and did PC dining, and I am hoping that they run it exactly the same way on the Caribbean Princess because I thoroughly enjoyed playing dining roulette and going to a different table of 8 every night with my friend. We had new waiters (they got better nightly) and ate with 42 (well, 40 - we had one pair repeat) new people from all over the place. One night we asked if we could sit at a smaller table (like a 4, with another pair) and the maitre'd sort of half-smiled and said "8 or 10"... ok so he was funny about it but apparently so many people had made reservations for the smaller tables that it was tough to slide in whenever at a smaller table.

My next cruise will probably be with my boyfriend on the Caribbean, so we might try for a night or two alone but I look forward to meeting more people.

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[Vacation Nut]

We choose PC dining too, but on the Grand on our first night we were at a table for 8 and one man just dominated everything and had very loud opinions (which unfortunately we did not share). On the second night we were with 2 younger couples - they were friends. They sent every dish back and I was so embarassed. After that we just sat on a table for our family of 3 and it was lovely.
I always worry with traditional that we will be stuck, but on 2 RCCL cruises we were on tables for 10 people and had the greatest time and absolutely looked forward to going to dinner each night. Luck of the draw I guess.

[Rustynail]

Thanks for your replies. I guess the good thing with PC dining is that you don't half to sit with the loud mouth the second night. Perhaps you may get lucky aand sit with some great folks and make new friends.

Sounds like the choice for us.

Thanks again.

Dan

CARRIBEAN PRINCESS JAN 2005
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[pg.]

We too LOVED PC, we'll never go back to traditional!!!
We always chose to sit at a large table( except one night I was a bit under the weather and we sat at a table for two) and met many nice and funny people. We are fairly open minded and socail so we liked meeting people and we didin't find anyone so bad that we couldn't endure one meal with!!
I thought it was nice the way you got to know more people that way, and when around the pool you had a feeling of having more friends around as you would run into someone you dined with. We were on a beach on St Thomas and had a couple call out " hey Canadians" and turned to see a nice couple we had dined with a few nights before smmiling away at us!

We sure liked it, and yes one night we did end up at a large table filled with cruisers at least 40 years older than us( we are early 40's) BUT< we ended up having a lovely dinner with a bunch of folks whose many experiences with travel[ both land and sea) kept us entertained all through dinner.

So Pc is for us!

[marlinmike]

PC Dining is the main reason we choose Princess. We have the ability to enjoy dinner with so many different people. The difference in people is what makes the world go round and the wife & I enjoy meeting and learning from ALL OF THEM. I remember once on our last cruise we were dining with some seasoned veterans and they all taught us how to order "double tails" on lobster night. See, learned something new! Besides, if things didn't work out with the people we were seated with - we'd excuse ourselves early and go to the buffet. Haven't done that yet!

[spongerob]

We enjoy traditional dining, and look forward to comparing notes with our tablemates every evening. After a couple of nights, it's just like joining old friends. If you need a break from socializing, you can always take a night off at an alternative restaurant.

Completed:
Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess
Coming up:
Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04
Caribbean Princess redux 6/25/05

[ginza17]

We are sailing the Caribbean Princess 7/17. We chose traditional dining (late seating) because we want the experience of eating with the same group each evening. The reviews on PC are mixed. Idea and concept are excellent but the execution is still being worked on. Maybe next time we'll try it. Hope to some of you then...

Pete...

[Rustynail]

We have enjoyed the traditional seating as well in the past but neither of the ships we've sailed offered offered personal choice. Since we haven't tried it yet I think we'll give it a whirl and see how if fares compared to the traditional.

One has to give new things a try once in a while don't they??? or the opposite may be if it wasn't broke don't fix it!

Dan

CARRIBEAN PRINCESS JAN 2005
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CARNIVAL'S LEGEND JAN 2003
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