What if we miss our dining time?

[pablo222]

the servers whose tables we were seated at (there was about 4 or 5 others who came in that late as well) were openly pissed off and didn't care at all that we could sense it.

 

The headwaiters use that as a punishment / belittling for the waiter involved.

 

They call it 'caramela', just like the candies at the door.

[famski740]

On our last b2b on the Regal, whenever there was a late departure from a port, they would cancel early & late traditional dinning and have both dinning rooms set up as open setting.

[donaldsc]

We are sailing the Coral Princess to Alaska next June, and we have the early dining time selected. It looks like one of our excursions will likely make us miss our dining time. So..... two questions:

 

 

1. I assume that it's a matter of courtesy to let our server know that we will not be at our table that night, so they don't delay others unnecessarily.

 

 

 

2. If we REALLY love the menu that night and want the MDR, can we still dine there in the Anytime Dining section?

 

Thanks!

 

I do not know what they will let you do as people who work in service industries are trained to never say "no" even to the most absurd requests. However, my opinion is that you booked in the MDR, just stay out of my anytime dining room. Eat at the buffet or at the poolside snack bar. Just as I am not welcome in the MDR if I book AT dining, the same rule should apply to you going the other way.

 

DON

[Micahs Grandad]

I do not know what they will let you do as people who work in service industries are trained to never say "no" even to the most absurd requests. However, my opinion is that you booked in the MDR, just stay out of my anytime dining room. Eat at the buffet or at the poolside snack bar. Just as I am not welcome in the MDR if I book AT dining, the same rule should apply to you going the other way.

 

DON

 

The people who manage the DR make the rules and as long as we go by them see no problem eating at AT on coming back late from an excursion.

 

We ask someone in authority and if he says yes we tell our waiter the night before and the next night we are happy to meet new people at AT.

[bemis12]

I see that this is an issue with much contention. Noted.

 

 

Will do whatever those actually in charge say to do.

[Potstech]

I do not know what they will let you do as people who work in service industries are trained to never say "no" even to the most absurd requests. However, my opinion is that you booked in the MDR, just stay out of my anytime dining room. Eat at the buffet or at the poolside snack bar. Just as I am not welcome in the MDR if I book AT dining, the same rule should apply to you going the other way.

 

DON

 

Good thing you have no say so in the matter.

 

If the ships staff allows it then proceed onward and upward. No one else matters. Also we have never done Traditional Dining but have eaten in the TDR several tmes. These were with the permission of the ships staff. Seemed there was no difference in food or service. And we did feel Welcomed.

[floridalover5623]

If you ask any head waiter or Maitre D' they'll never say no to any passenger's request to eat in the AT dining room.

There are many people who feel it makes their wait longer but Princess wants to please everyone.

[TheRabbit]

If you ask any head waiter or Maitre D' they'll never say no to any passenger's request to eat in the AT dining room.

There are many people who feel it makes their wait longer but Princess wants to please everyone.

The simple solution may still be just asking your waiter or the Matre d' if they have room for you to eat at the late seating that day.

[sandyoftheseas]

Good thing you have no say so in the matter.

 

If the ships staff allows it then proceed onward and upward. No one else matters. Also we have never done Traditional Dining but have eaten in the TDR several tmes. These were with the permission of the ships staff. Seemed there was no difference in food or service. And we did feel Welcomed.

 

Yes the staff does not care if you eat in TD or ATD but, if I choose ATD and you go to my dining room and others in TD do the same then I get a pager and need to wait. Either go to TD or another option don't go to ATD.

[casofilia]

If Princess were to swipe room cards when you go to a MDR then people with Traditional could be asked to eat other than in the Anytime dining room. As I said earlier Traditional eating in the Anytime is a major cause of moaning on CC about Princess dining

[MGAfhc]

If you miss a 5:30 TD by a bit and try to get into AD at say 6:00, you have no chance of getting in anyway, you would have to have been in line at about 5:00. If you mean go to AD at 7:30 or later, no one will even notice.

[Micahs Grandad]

If you miss a 5:30 TD by a bit and try to get into AD at say 6:00, you have no chance of getting in anyway, you would have to have been in line at about 5:00. If you mean go to AD at 7:30 or later, no one will even notice.

 

On the Royal Princess two weeks ago we had early seating and by the time we got back from excursions and cleaned up we were ready for dinner at about 6 30.

 

Both times when we went to ATD we got right in and DR was not even very crowded. Since the MD said it was ok and our waitstaff knew we were not coming we had every right to do as we did.

[casofilia]

If you want to go to Anytime dining choose Anytime dining; if you want Traditional dining choose Traditional dining; please do NOT choose Traditional Dining but, when it suits, go to Anytime dining.

We have done Anytime dining and hated it (on Princess which is a very poor imitation of NCL's Freestyle Dining) for a number of reasons so now we choose Traditional. If, for any reason, we could not make our Traditional time we would not go to Anytime, there are other places to get a decent meal.

However we do like it when, because of a late port departure, that there is Open dining as we are able to eat in the other Traditional dining room.

[firecrewcapt]

Here we go again a subject that is needless to argue about. The MDR staff KNOWS when people will be late to return from long excursions and they prepare accordingly, we've been signed up for early dining, ATD, and late dining on different cruises and with that said pretty much the dining is open in all the dining rooms, if you make your "early" dining great if you miss it they sure as heck aren't going to turn you away and same with the other options. We stopped by to check the menu as we returned, it was early and we had ATD and since the early dining was pretty much empty the MD invited us in and lo and behold we ate early and nothing was said and we enjoyed every minute of it. Just be flexible and not so snobbish and guess what you'll get to eat believe it or not.

[Micahs Grandad]

Here we go again a subject that is needless to argue about. The MDR staff KNOWS when people will be late to return from long excursions and they prepare accordingly, we've been signed up for early dining, ATD, and late dining on different cruises and with that said pretty much the dining is open in all the dining rooms, if you make your "early" dining great if you miss it they sure as heck aren't going to turn you away and same with the other options. We stopped by to check the menu as we returned, it was early and we had ATD and since the early dining was pretty much empty the MD invited us in and lo and behold we ate early and nothing was said and we enjoyed every minute of it. Just be flexible and not so snobbish and guess what you'll get to eat believe it or not.

 

like

[Potstech]

Here we go again a subject that is needless to argue about. The MDR staff KNOWS when people will be late to return from long excursions and they prepare accordingly, we've been signed up for early dining, ATD, and late dining on different cruises and with that said pretty much the dining is open in all the dining rooms, if you make your "early" dining great if you miss it they sure as heck aren't going to turn you away and same with the other options. We stopped by to check the menu as we returned, it was early and we had ATD and since the early dining was pretty much empty the MD invited us in and lo and behold we ate early and nothing was said and we enjoyed every minute of it. Just be flexible and not so snobbish and guess what you'll get to eat believe it or not.

 

This happens on many subjects that is needless to argue about as the ship and Princess has the only true say on them.

[caribill]

Good thing you have no say so in the matter.

 

If the ships staff allows it then proceed onward and upward. No one else matters. Also we have never done Traditional Dining but have eaten in the TDR several tmes. These were with the permission of the ships staff. Seemed there was no difference in food or service. And we did feel Welcomed.

 

If you had not signed up for Traditional Fixed seating, then you are by default allowed to eat in an Anytime Dining room any evening you wish. No permission needed.

 

Or are you saying you had not signed up for a fixed seating time and still (with permission) ate in a fixed seating dining room several times?

[tanyaewa]

Lol. This is amusing to read folks get preachy about the “rules”. 75% of the cruising public on the ship will not be reading CC and will act according to what they want and what they are told by the staff of the day. You can rail endlessly about the way it should be done... but until it is a written rule, no one will know the difference. Plus... your attendance to a particular meal is a drop in the proverbial bucket of the princess staff’s day

[floridalover5623]

Lol. This is amusing to read folks get preachy about the “rules”. 75% of the cruising public on the ship will not be reading CC and will act according to what they want and what they are told by the staff of the day. You can rail endlessly about the way it should be done... but until it is a written rule, no one will know the difference. Plus... your attendance to a particular meal is a drop in the proverbial bucket of the princess staff’s day

It's humorous that some people seem to think that the long delays at the AT dining room door at peak times are caused by people from traditional wanting to eat there.

 

I doubt that there are really that many doing it that would increase the wait time to any degree.

This falsity has started on CC a long time ago and has grown without any proof to substantiate it.

[Potstech]

If you had not signed up for Traditional Fixed seating, then you are by default allowed to eat in an Anytime Dining room any evening you wish. No permission needed.

 

Or are you saying you had not signed up for a fixed seating time and still (with permission) ate in a fixed seating dining room several times?

 

You are correct in that we were not signed for Traditional but were allowed by staff to eat inthe TDR. Not on any evening we wished but when we requested it to dine with people we met on the cruise.

[cclvr]

We have always had Anytime Dining

 

On one occasion when we showed up at the Anytime Dining Room - they escorted us to and seated us at a table for two in the Traditional Dining Room (obviously they had open tables there with no wait)

 

When port departure has been late evening - the ship had open seating in all three dining rooms, traditional and anytime

 

I'm sure that in the event your excursion causes you to miss your traditional dining time and you speak with the MD they will accommodate you somewhere in one of the dining rooms.

[pablo222]

This falsity has started on CC a long time ago and has grown without any proof to substantiate it.

 

It's like the 'which balconies can connect' threads.

Years and years of disinformation about x00 cabins.

 

Finally settled when princess added a not to the stateroom description

when the balcony can't connect.