Fix Anytime Dining

[pablo222]

This thread reminds me of the numerous toilet paper threads.

 

It makes me wonder how some folks get along in real life if they are willing to spend so much energy ranting over pointless crap like toilet paper or being "upset" having a relaxing drink before your table is ready.

 

You're absolutely right.

 

We haven't even addressed the vile traditional diners using up all

the butter, and causing a 500+ post thread about butter.

 

This is a fact, and I have the data that proves it. :)

[GRAYTech]

...None of the scenarios discussed above provide a logical reason why a TD diner would show up at the only open ATD MDR early on. So if waits are longer at 5:30, and TD diners are not skipping their own seating at that time to go to the ATD MDR instead, then the cause of the delay at that time must be something else.

 

 

Your logic is sound. It just doesn't make sense for hundreds of TD diners to seek out ATD only to wait for a table when they have a no-wait TD table available to them.

[Doug R.]

Rise up you beleaguered ATD's!!!!! Next time you have to wait more than 2 minutes to be seated, I say we organize and rush the traditional dining rooms and displace them forcefully! :mad:

 

Seriously, we have been on ATD on Princess and Royal and have never had a wait of much over a couple of minutes. We like tables for two, but are flexible and will take a larger table if it is quicker.:cool:

[kennicott]

The two restaurants (Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's) alternate nights, so both are not open at the same time. They are in different locations, though. I find the buffet on Pacific Princess very nice. It's smaller than some others but there was always something there I could eat. I think you will be pleased with the food overall.

 

Thanks, good advice. Particularly about the buffet and over all food quality. Makes me feel better.

Edited October 2, 2016 by kennicott

[Cruise Junky]

Do me a favor, shredded: try cruising on another line sometime...Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, for example. They do NOT have the same issues as Princess. But, the same "numbers" logic applies. They ALL have more anytime diners arriving at peak hours. Yet somehow, unlike on Princess, they manage it. Larger numbers showing up at peak hours is NOT the problem. Otherwise, you would have the same issue on Celebrity. The issue is that, on Princess, it is compounded by the large number of assigned traditional diners getting seated in anytime dining.

 

All of you who think it's not a big issue because YOU claim not to do it, please realize that many people do...enough to really skew those numbers and make seating anytime diners difficult.

 

Again, on Celebrity, they check your assignment at the door. If you are not assigned anytime, you are sent away. Period. No armed guards, no problems. Cruisers on Princess tend to feel entitled. Like that traditional dining assignment is just an option, a fallback. Miss it and you can always go to anytime. Don't want to wait for your late seating, just go to anytime, etc.

 

If you have 800 seats in anytime in which to accommodate 1600 diners, you can move enough people along to get them all seated...but what happens when you get 400 traditional diners (just 25%...and that Sapphire Princess cruise I talked about...it was a FULL cruise and, clearly, over half the seats in our traditional dining room were empty EVERY dinner) ) showing up in anytime? Now you've got to seat 2000 in those 800 seats. And none of those traditional diners are showing up at 5:30 or 8:30. If they wanted to eat then, they'd just go to their assigned table. So, not only do they stress the system, they exasperate the peak times.

 

Again, the issue does not exist on Celebrity. Because they enforce the assignments. It is CLEARLY the enforcement issue, NOT the "numbers"...

 

Completely agree. I've only waited one night on Celebrity and it's usually every night on Princess I'm given a beeper. Something is broken

[Mom33]

Rise up you beleaguered ATD's!!!!! Next time you have to wait more than 2 minutes to be seated, I say we organize and rush the traditional dining rooms and displace them forcefully! :mad:

 

Seriously, we have been on ATD on Princess and Royal and have never had a wait of much over a couple of minutes. We like tables for two, but are flexible and will take a larger table if it is quicker.:cool:

 

We like tables for two on Royal and Regal because they are more numerous than on other Princess ships and spaced much better. We have not waited for a table on our Royal/Regal cruises and find our dinners take no more than an hour. We usually arrive around 6:00.

 

They also have many more tables for 4 than the other ships.They seem to be prepared for a majority of dining preferences with fewer shared,6-10 table setups.

[Mackenzie1]

The Princess dining room staff did a great job in seating ATD diners on a recent transatlantic cruise on the Caribbean Princess. They opened the ATD dinning room on deck 5 sometime between 4:45 to 5:00 p.m., and moved the Princess entertainment from 7:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. It worked perfectly to relieve congestion as many ATD diners went to dinner earlier to make the 7:00 show. The change in the dining room times helped to keep a more even flow of ATD diners throughout the evening, and there were no waits or lines for ATD dining.

[acp1119]

I just don't understand why people get themselves all upset over such trivial things. You are on vacation!! Relax!! Consider yourself lucky to be fortunate to afford a cruise. I guess I'm just one of those who smile and always look on the bright side of things. Make a new friend while waiting on line. Have another drink while waiting. There are other choices. Next time do traditional and you will have no wait. At home if I want to go to a popular restaurant sometimes I have to wait or I make a choice to go somewhere else.

 

Chill out, be happy, relax. It's better for your health. And again count your blessings. Lots of people would love to be able to afford a cruise and change places with you on that line!!

[travellover3]

I just don't understand why people get themselves all upset over such trivial things. You are on vacation!! Relax!! Consider yourself lucky to be fortunate to afford a cruise. I guess I'm just one of those who smile and always look on the bright side of things. Make a new friend while waiting on line. Have another drink while waiting. There are other choices. Next time do traditional and you will have no wait. At home if I want to go to a popular restaurant sometimes I have to wait or I make a choice to go somewhere else.

 

Chill out, be happy, relax. It's better for your health. And again count your blessings. Lots of people would love to be able to afford a cruise and change places with you on that line!!

 

Amen...thank you!

[Potstech]

You have confused anecdote with data.

 

No as I have also sat at a table in AT where another group at the same table said they where supposed to be in TD but missed their time. Others have reported the same thing. That is data.

[Potstech]

You just said if princess blocked traditional diners -- "PRBLEM[sic] SOLVED".

 

Why stop allowing reservations?

Just to be vindictive?

 

So tables would not be left unused until those with the reservations arrive if at all. If they want to allow reservations let them be at the empty tables in the TD dining rooms.

[pablo222]

That is data.

 

Sure. If you say it again, that makes it true.

[Doug R.]

Wonder how many who moan and whine about ATD waiting times think nothing about arriving at a landside restaurant during prime hours and being given a buzzer and being told there is a 15-45 minute wait.:confused:

[toberman]

If they want to allow reservations let them be at the empty tables in the TD dining rooms.

 

How could they possibly know in advance which tables are going to be empty in the TD rooms ??

[BritinSoCal]

...Chill out, be happy, relax. It's better for your health. And again count your blessings. Lots of people would love to be able to afford a cruise and change places with you on that line!!

 

If we're ever on the same cruise, I'll stand you a pint... :)

[shredie]

No as I have also sat at a table in AT where another group at the same table said they where supposed to be in TD but missed their time. Others have reported the same thing. That is data.

You seem like a Wikipedia kind of guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data

Edited October 2, 2016 by shredie

[shredie]

Rise up you beleaguered ATD's!!!!! Next time you have to wait more than 2 minutes to be seated, I say we organize and rush the traditional dining rooms and displace them forcefully! :mad:

 

 

The joke will be on you when you try to displace us and find the dining room completely empty because we are all upstairs standing in line to crash ATD :p

[Doug R.]

Rise up you beleaguered ATD's!!!!! Next time you have to wait more than 2 minutes to be seated, I say we organize and rush the traditional dining rooms and displace them forcefully! :mad:

 

The joke will be on you when you try to displace us and find the dining room completely empty because we are all upstairs standing in line to crash ATD :p

 

Then all's well that ends well, no? :cool: So now what do we do with the pitchforks and torches? :confused: :D

Edited October 2, 2016 by Doug R.

[shredie]

Then all's well that ends well, no? :cool: So now what do we do with the pitchforks and torches? :confused: :D

 

Chairhogs! :mad::p:D

[dtb55]

You're absolutely right.

 

 

 

We haven't even addressed the vile traditional diners using up all

 

the butter, and causing a 500+ post thread about butter.

 

 

 

This is a fact, and I have the data that proves it. :)

 

 

 

I'm a TD diner and I do use a lot of butter.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[dtb55]

The joke will be on you when you try to displace us and find the dining room completely empty because we are all upstairs standing in line to crash ATD :p

 

 

 

[emoji23]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[pablo222]

The Princess dining room staff did a great job in seating ATD diners on a recent transatlantic cruise on the Caribbean Princess. They opened the ATD dinning room on deck 5 sometime between 4:45 to 5:00 p.m.

 

Was Mario Propato the maitre d'?

 

He really likes to open early, which is what passengers seem to like.

 

He also doesn't hide out in the traditional dining room like some

maitre d's, but he personally greets/seats people in the anytime

dining room. I think he is very hands on.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Your post supports my point.

 

You dined later and experienced waits that are shorter than those experienced by people who dine earlier. Conclusion? Waits are worse early on. In addition, the hostess said at 7:30 that TD people were causing your 30 minute wait. Conclusion? TD diners who are cheating are those who miss their assigned early time and go to an ATD MDR later in the evening. But none of this provides any support for the people who insist that there are TD diners with 5:30 seatings who show up at the ATD MDR around that time instead. ...

None of the scenarios discussed above provide a logical reason why a TD diner would show up at the only open ATD MDR early on. So if waits are longer at 5:30, and TD diners are not skipping their own seating at that time to go to the ATD MDR instead, then the cause of the delay at that time must be something else.

 

Thank you. I just wonder what would happen if cabin cards were checked (which I would be happy about as it won't affect me) and passengers were better educated about what the difference was between AT and TD...and there's still lines. I for one am happy to know when I'm able to sit down at a table...and all without having to call in a reservation or stand in a line.

[Mackenzie1]

Was Mario Propato the maitre d'

He really likes to open early, which is what passengers seem to like.

 

He also doesn't hide out in the traditional dining room like some

maitre d's, but he personally greets/seats people in the anytime

dining room. I think he is very hands on.

 

I wish I had kept up with the name of the person who is now running the Caribbean Princess dining rooms. It sounds like as you describe, Mario Propato, since the gentleman joyfully greeted each of us with a big smile as he seated us. He also treated the other crew members in the dining room with respect and graciousness, which I didn't see so much on the three cruises I took last year on the Caribbean Princess. It was obvious that the Caribbean Princess dining rooms are under new management, and things are going more smoothly than they did last year.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Mackenzie1

[Potstech]

Wonder how many who moan and whine about ATD waiting times think nothing about arriving at a landside restaurant during prime hours and being given a buzzer and being told there is a 15-45 minute wait.:confused:

 

If it is more than a 30 minute wait I go somewhere else but then I haven't already paid for my meal.