Anytime Dining

[ericopia]

We had ATD on Ruby last week. Showed up a little after 7 the first night and had a pager and a 30-minute wait for a table for two. (Basically, we were seated shortly after the second ATD room opened.) Made reservations the other two nights we did Main Dining. (Had two specialty dinners and ended up just going with the buffet on two nights due to port schedules and not wanting to wait on hold for the reservation line.)

[donaldsc]

On our 75 day cruise on the Golden last year a lot of people were booked on traditional dining time ie early or late. Many however turned up for anytime dining if the fixed time didn't suit. So doing that gives you the best of both worlds.

 

 

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No it doesn't. If you take TD, you are supposed to stay in the TD venue. By coming to my ATD venue, you mess it up for those of us who have chosen ATD and have made me wait longer for a table. They should verify that anyone who comes to ATD actually belongs there. If you pick TD, stay there.

 

DON

[oskidunker]

Ditto. When the return from each port varies so widely on occasion, I don't want to lock myself into a time slot and deny myself a full day in port if desired....

 

94% of the time the ship leaves port before the early dining. If not, traditional becomes anytime.

[shepp]

No it doesn't. If you take TD, you are supposed to stay in the TD venue. By coming to my ATD venue, you mess it up for those of us who have chosen ATD and have made me wait longer for a table. They should verify that anyone who comes to ATD actually belongs there. If you pick TD, stay there.

 

This.

 

I wonder how many of those who complain about ATD are people who shouldn't be there. And I wonder how many people who get shut out of booking early TD could be accommodated at seats left empty by those who aren't entitled to ATD but go there.

 

Princess really should make that clearer. I understand that other lines actually check to make sure people being seated in anytime belong there.

[Cyn874]

Anytime Dining is a new concept to me. I don't think it was a thing the last time I cruised which was around 2007. My family prefers to have a table just to ourselves, we do not enjoy dining with strangers. So in the past, the way to accomplish this was to get on the ship on embarkation day as quickly as possible, beeline to the dining room to talk to the maitre'd and cross your fingers that they can arrange for your private table. It was a bit nerve wracking and a huge hassle. (This was on Carnival, if that makes a difference. This time we will be cruising on Ruby Princess.)

 

When I saw there is now Anytime Dining, I was really happy and signed up my family for that, specifically so we can simply request a table for just the three of us each night. We are not picky when we eat, though we tend to eat around 5-5:30. I think a 20-30 minute waiting for a private table for 3 is reasonable. Was I right to request anytime dining? I'm still seeing a lot of comments about people eating with strangers in this thread. Just want to make sure Anytime Dining is the best option for us to have a private table for 3. I would much prefer not having to race to the main dining room the second we board the ship and beg for one, lol.

[Nebr.cruiser]

If you want only a table for three, that is what you can get, with Anytime Dining. You do not have to share unless you want to. We almost always get a table for two; usually little to no wait, but we eat later. You might have more of a wait at an early time.

 

It is possible to make a reservation for a certain time and table; this varies from ship to ship on how they do this and what is available.

[EastBay Cruisers]

We discovered that if we made ATD reservations for 5:15 PM, we could almost always get the 2-top right next to the window, and since there are not many windows in the MDR, it turned out to be a great table, kind of tucked away in the corner, where we could look out at the ocean.

 

If we went into the dining room when it opened at 5:15, then by the time the waiter brought the entree, it was 6:00 PM. We normally eat at 6 PM at home, so it was not an inconvenience for us. The only thing was, we had to call the Dine Line at 8 AM every morning when they opened, in order to get the 2 top in the corner by the window. If you enter the dining room at 5:15 PM, the waiters still have to take all the orders, bring out the appetizer course, cocktails, etc., so you probably will not be served the entree until 6 PM. - EBC