Changing from fixed dining to anytime

[elycelynne]

According to my booking for my upcoming (5 weeks) cruise on the Royal, I'm #1 on the waitlist for the earliest seating and #75 on the waitlist for the "6:00" (which apparently is really 5:30). I suppose I can deal with 5:30 if I get the later option, but would definitely balk at 5:15.

 

If I do discover that I've been given the 5:15 option after I check in at the terminal (I assume that my dining time will be indicated on my cabin card), is it fairly easy to switch to "anytime" after I board?

[paul929207]

The maître 'd is available on embarkation day in one of the dining rooms. The Princess Patter will tell you which one and the time. Just go see him and he will make the change.

[TracieABD]

And, please do "officially" change it to ATD- this will free up your table for a people who really want TD!

 

Good luck getting the dining you wish for!

[cruzsnooze]

According to my booking for my upcoming (5 weeks) cruise on the Royal, I'm #1 on the waitlist for the earliest seating and #75 on the waitlist for the "6:00" (which apparently is really 5:30). I suppose I can deal with 5:30 if I get the later option, but would definitely balk at 5:15.

 

If I do discover that I've been given the 5:15 option after I check in at the terminal (I assume that my dining time will be indicated on my cabin card), is it fairly easy to switch to "anytime" after I board?

 

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification. Princess really needs to be upfront about the games they play with the traditional dining.

[elycelynne]

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification. Princess really needs to be upfront about the games they play with the traditional dining.

 

So then do your tablemates also arrive at 6 PM, or does the waiter not have a problem with two different times at the same table?

[pablo222]

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification.

 

I would hate to be one of your tablemates.

[Coral]

I would hate to be one of your tablemates.

 

I agree! Just rude.

[shredie]

And, please do "officially" change it to ATD- this will free up your table for a people who really want TD!

Good advice.

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification. Princess really needs to be upfront about the games they play with the traditional dining.

 

I don't think your solution is one I would employ, but it is true that Princess needs to be more forthcoming about dining times. The choices are really just "place holders" for the choices of "early" and "late." It has been years since I got the exact time I was assigned, in early or late. It's a half hour or so different.

[memoak]

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification. Princess really needs to be upfront about the games they play with the traditional dining.

 

You are a tablemate I would change tables to avoid - everyone knows that the traditional times are changeable (in fact almost everything about a cruise is changeable.

[donaldsc]

Princess lies about the early dining time. I always take and get confirmed 6 PM. When i board it becomes 5:30. I always tell my waiter and tablemates that i will arrive at 6 PM per my confirmed written verification. Princess really needs to be upfront about the games they play with the traditional dining.

 

You must be a great table mate.

 

DON

[elycelynne]

And, please do "officially" change it to ATD- this will free up your table for a people who really want TD!

 

Good luck getting the dining you wish for!

 

Of course -- I wouldn't even dream of doing otherwise!

 

And thank you. :)

[TracieABD]

Of course -- I wouldn't even dream of doing otherwise!

 

And thank you. :)

 

You are most welcome!

 

I have been on several sailings where the waitlist for TD was well into the hundreds- yet when I was eating in the MDR, there were so many empty tables. (And such long, long lines for ATD). I just thought it was worth a quick mention.

 

Also, I have experienced the sneaky 6:00 pm dining that is really 5:30 dining. Though IMO, it was way better than the 7:45 dining that turned out to be 8:30 dining. I have little to no impulse control... I just cannot wait to eat until 8:30- I was in severe danger of starving to death on that cruise!:D

[satxdiver]

According to my booking for my upcoming (5 weeks) cruise on the Royal, I'm #1 on the waitlist for the earliest seating and #75 on the waitlist for the "6:00" (which apparently is really 5:30). I suppose I can deal with 5:30 if I get the later option, but would definitely balk at 5:15.

 

If I do discover that I've been given the 5:15 option after I check in at the terminal (I assume that my dining time will be indicated on my cabin card), is it fairly easy to switch to "anytime" after I board?

 

If you want to switch to ATD, you need to do it ASAP after boarding. The ATD group fills up quickly and maxes out. A maitre'd will be in one of the MDRs to make adjustments if at all possible (space available status).

[Times Prince]

According to my booking for my upcoming (5 weeks) cruise on the Royal, I'm #1 on the waitlist for the earliest seating and #75 on the waitlist for the "6:00" (which apparently is really 5:30). I suppose I can deal with 5:30 if I get the later option, but would definitely balk at 5:15.

 

If I do discover that I've been given the 5:15 option after I check in at the terminal (I assume that my dining time will be indicated on my cabin card), is it fairly easy to switch to "anytime" after I board?

Seeing the Maitre'D on the first day is the best way to handle the problem. We've done that, and other than him being curious about why we were switching (the 5 PM time was just too early, especially when excursions arrive back late), there was no problem at all. He just initialed our cruise card, so the Anytime Dining Maitre'D would admit us.

 

We just got off a 10 day cruise on the Royal Princess before Christmas and never once set foot in the main dining room for dinner. The offerings in the Horizon Court and Alfredo's were really outstanding and the temperature of the buffet food was not an issue.

[IECalCruiser]

If you want to switch to ATD, you need to do it ASAP after boarding. The ATD group fills up quickly and maxes out. A maitre'd will be in one of the MDRs to make adjustments if at all possible (space available status).

It is TD that fills up, not ATD. There is no issue switching from TD to ATD. The issue is going from ATD to TD where there must be space at a table.

 

 

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[Spideysmum]

I'm still a newbie cruiser. Last Feb I booked a cruise 15 months in the future. I never once looked at my TD request. It said requested and confirmed. After reading this thread I looked at it and it said that we were 29th on waitlist. 29th?? Seriously? What exactly does that really mean? On our first cruise we took ATD and liked it just fine.

 

Our cruise is 124 days out. Anyone think I should just tough it out (29th on waitlist) or try to change to ATD. What happens if our number never comes up?

 

Husband not upset. He likes the Horizon Court anyway.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

I agree about seeing the MD on embarkation day. Its listed in the Patter and is usually in one of the DR's between 2p-3:30p. I would get there early as the line can be long sometimes. The MD has the power! :)

[easyboy]

 

Our cruise is 124 days out. Anyone think I should just tough it out (29th on waitlist) or try to change to ATD. What happens if our number never comes up?

 

Husband not upset. He likes the Horizon Court anyway.

 

 

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Really you preference. If you like TD, then just wait. Changing to ATD won't reserve a table for you. Might as well go to the Maitre D' on embarkation if you don't like the TD time assigned to you.

Edited December 29, 2016 by easyboy

[jagsfan]

I'm still a newbie cruiser. Last Feb I booked a cruise 15 months in the future. I never once looked at my TD request. It said requested and confirmed. After reading this thread I looked at it and it said that we were 29th on waitlist. 29th?? Seriously? What exactly does that really mean? On our first cruise we took ATD and liked it just fine.

 

Our cruise is 124 days out. Anyone think I should just tough it out (29th on waitlist) or try to change to ATD. What happens if our number never comes up?

 

Husband not upset. He likes the Horizon Court anyway.

 

 

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We've almost always been way down on the wait list, for example, 130th, then 25th, them 90th. There's no pattern that I can see.

However, we have always in the last 10 years or so, gotten the seating we asked for.

 

 

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[Spideysmum]

We've almost always been way down on the wait list, for example, 130th, then 25th, them 90th. There's no pattern that I can see.

However, we have always in the last 10 years or so, gotten the seating we asked for.

 

 

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Ok. Thanks. Just looked again at our booking and we've moved down to 33. These algorithms drive me insane. I'll just chill out and see what shakes out in May. [emoji76]

 

 

 

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[caribill]

You are most welcome!

 

I have been on several sailings where the waitlist for TD was well into the hundreds- yet when I was eating in the MDR, there were so many empty tables. (And such long, long lines for ATD). I just thought it was worth a quick mention.

 

 

In general, 50% of passengers on a cruise are new to cruising or new to cruising on Princess.

 

When there is a waitlist for the MDR, it could mean the new passengers really signed up for fixed seating or it could mean a travel agent did noit explain all the options and maybe only asked if the client wanted to eat early or late.

 

It is possible that those empty seats belonged to new passenegrs who just ate in the buffet each evening. I remember one post a while back where it said a couple never went to their assigned table in the dining room because they thought it would be extra charge each evening, but no charge for the buffet.

[caribill]

If you want to switch to ATD, you need to do it ASAP after boarding. The ATD group fills up quickly and maxes out. A maitre'd will be in one of the MDRs to make adjustments if at all possible (space available status).

 

Not so on Princess. Princess has limits on traditional dining and all the overflow goes to ATD.

 

But on Carnival and RCCL, the opposite is true. There is a limit on ATD and the overflow goes to traditional.

[Number6]

I am on the Caribbean Princess right now. We had TD at 5:30 and asked to be switched to ATD about 1/2 way through our cruise. The Head waiter didn't even blink. He just put a "Anytime Dining" sticker on my cruise card and noted our table as open. Time spent on it? Maybe 20 seconds. Your mileage will probably vary.

 

 

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[Bill B]

I was in severe danger of starving to death on that cruise!:D

 

:eek: You would have made history as the first person to starve to death on a cruise.

[TracieABD]

:eek: You would have made history as the first person to starve to death on a cruise.

 

 

Yeah. Probably not going to happen.

 

 

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