Change in Traditional Dining Times?

[skoeper]

So......is the problem that there are just too many passengers on the ship and not enough space in the MDR for those who want to eat there?  We've cruised for over 25 years and I don't remember it being an issue in the past.    There was no Anytime dining and there weren't even specialty restaurants.   Is that problem?

[abbydancer2003]

3 minutes ago, skoeper said:

So......is the problem that there are just too many passengers on the ship and not enough space in the MDR for those who want to eat there?  We've cruised for over 25 years and I don't remember it being an issue in the past.    There was no Anytime dining and there weren't even specialty restaurants.   Is that problem?

I don't think so - I think it's when people want to eat.  Our last two cruises we were in Club Class.  The rest of the dining room was early traditional/ late anytime.  It was almost deserted by 7:30.

[skoeper]

1 minute ago, abbydancer said:

I don't think so - I think it's when people want to eat.  Our last two cruises we were in Club Class.  The rest of the dining room was early traditional/ late anytime.  It was almost deserted by 7:30.

Maybe the whole difference was that there were no mega ships.    And possibly only one dining time.    I wish i could remember if there was a choice.

[RDC1]

2 hours ago, skoeper said:

So......is the problem that there are just too many passengers on the ship and not enough space in the MDR for those who want to eat there?  We've cruised for over 25 years and I don't remember it being an issue in the past.    There was no Anytime dining and there weren't even specialty restaurants.   Is that problem?

nope. the problem has been that more than 1/2 of the people on the ship have wanted to eat early, and far less late making an imbalance in demand vs capacity. In the old days if early traditional was full you were just put into late traditional with no other choice. 

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, skoeper said:

Maybe the whole difference was that there were no mega ships.    And possibly only one dining time.    I wish i could remember if there was a choice.

Our first cruise was in 1980 and there was early and late Traditional dining.  (Also two fixed times for breakfast).

There was no anytime dining in 1980.

 

i believe the trend towards more Anytime dining while still offering Traditional dining is what has lead to the need for changes.  More and more people want to dine  when they wish to dine, and not when  a cruise ship dictates when they should dine.  I am not making a judgment, just stating the trend.

Edited December 9, 2018 by jagoffee

[lstone19]

1 hour ago, RDC1 said:

nope. the problem has been that more than 1/2 of the people on the ship have wanted to eat early, and far less late making an imbalance in demand vs capacity. In the old days if early traditional was full you were just put into late traditional with no other choice. 

In the old days (as late as 2003 - we had a 13 year gap after that before cruising again), late dining was the high demand time. So if late was full, you were put into early with no choice. People wanting to eat early had no problem getting early dining.

[caribill]

18 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

In the old days (as late as 2003 - we had a 13 year gap after that before cruising again), late dining was the high demand time. So if late was full, you were put into early with no choice. People wanting to eat early had no problem getting early dining.

 

I was on one Princess cruise that did not have Anytime dining. However, both early Traditional and late Traditional had waiting lists.

[OCruisers]

13 hours ago, abbydancer said:

I don't think so - I think it's when people want to eat.  Our last two cruises we were in Club Class.  The rest of the dining room was early traditional/ late anytime.  It was almost deserted by 7:30.

 

We noticed the same from what we saw in the rest of the dining room from Club Class BUT it was because the early traditional were finished dinner before 7:30 and the anytime weren't allowed in until 7:30.

Once the anytime diners were allow in at 7:30, it became quite full.      

[abbydancer2003]

10 hours ago, OCruisers said:

 

We noticed the same from what we saw in the rest of the dining room from Club Class BUT it was because the early traditional were finished dinner before 7:30 and the anytime weren't allowed in until 7:30.

Once the anytime diners were allow in at 7:30, it became quite full.      

On ours, the anytimers were few, but recently it was Alaska, and that tends to have more cruisers who like to eat early.

[OCruisers]

5 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

On ours, the anytimers were few, but recently it was Alaska, and that tends to have more cruisers who like to eat early.

 

Wonder why in Alaska???? Maybe because it was port intensive????

[abbydancer2003]

9 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Wonder why in Alaska???? Maybe because it was port intensive????

The first because it was 12 days and Alaska.

 

Alaska tends to have a lot more older cruisers who like to eat early.  I was trying not to say that.

[Mediaspot]

20 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

 

Wonder why in Alaska???? Maybe because it was port intensive????

Alaska cruises tend to skew toward older travelers... Young adults, like me (***), look for sunshine and beaches... "Lower my latitude, raise my attitude"... I'm a longtime birdwatcher, seeking the elusive avian "Tea Nee Bah Kini" is always my primary goal when selecting a vacation destination. I'm on the Grand to Mexico the ten days before you leave for Aloha Land... (Cross posted to another thread)

Thom.

(***) Full disclosure; I'm 71 years old!

PS: When you're in Ensenada for your mandtory call at a foreign port I highly recommend lunch at El Rey Sol criss/cross the intersection from the pink high rise Villa Marina Hotel.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Mediaspot
Clarification

[nimiq]

Although I must agree the new times for early dining is a bit early ...I for myself am very happy with the new late seating traditional 07:15PM.

The old traditional 08:30pm was way to late forcing people to opt for anytime making MDR room emptier and emptier though the years. 

 

Eric

[RDC1]

52 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

The first because it was 12 days and Alaska.

 

Alaska tends to have a lot more older cruisers who like to eat early.  I was trying not to say that.

Being that most Alaska cruises are relatively short (7 days) and tend to occur during the summer when schools are out, they actually do attract a fair number of families with school age children. So if you look at the demographics the average age on Alaska cruises tend to be lower than many others.

 

The ones in may and Sept might tend to older, but those in June, July and August certainly do not.

Edited December 10, 2018 by RDC1

[abbydancer2003]

19 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

Being that most Alaska cruises are relatively short (7 days) and tend to occur during the summer when schools are out, they actually do attract a fair number of families with school age children. So if you look at the demographics the average age on Alaska cruises tend to be lower than many others.

 

The ones in may and Sept might tend to older, but those in June, July and August certainly do not.

And of course families with kids often also eat early.

 

I went in April/May and September, so probably had the age skew at both ends.

[caribill]

4 hours ago, nimiq said:

Although I must agree the new times for early dining is a bit early ...I for myself am very happy with the new late seating traditional 07:15PM.

The old traditional 08:30pm was way to late forcing people to opt for anytime making MDR room emptier and emptier though the years. 

 

 

Some of the ships do indeed have oit at 7:15 now, but others have posted that some ships which show 7:15 in the Personalizer actually have it at 7:45. Hope you will still be very happy if your ship is one of those that did not actually move it to 7:15.

[nimiq]

14 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Some of the ships do indeed have oit at 7:15 now, but others have posted that some ships which show 7:15 in the Personalizer actually have it at 7:45. Hope you will still be very happy if your ship is one of those that did not actually move it to 7:15.

If that's the case would not be happy as If what I have signed up for becomes something else.

[jwattle]

I'll pipe up from the minority; we're just happy to be on a cruise, not at work...change my dining time by an hour? I'll still smile! The ship is sailing, we're on it together, and (hopefully) weather is not hurricane force, so it's a great day on the ship for me ❤️ 

[RDC1]

20 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Some of the ships do indeed have oit at 7:15 now, but others have posted that some ships which show 7:15 in the Personalizer actually have it at 7:45. Hope you will still be very happy if your ship is one of those that did not actually move it to 7:15.

From what I saw on the Grand the late traditional was still a work in progress.  The Personalizer said 7:15, the time at the start of the cruise was 7:30, though as the cruise went on the door opening time moved closer to 7:15.  They cannot open for late TD until the room is entirely reset. So as the changes get implemented that is one area where they are limited depending upon how fast early dining is completed, the room cleared and the tables reset.

[beeza]

I think the new MDR meal times suck, by the number of comments on this subject I think we should all contact Princess and express our dislikes as well as informing our TA, either that or we all stage a mutiny, worked for the guys on the "Bounty"

I get sick and tired of cruise companies changing plans/times after you booked a cruise to what was advertised.

FED UP CRUISER!!

[Princess@Sea]

Time to find out how edible the food in the buffet is ...

[jagoffee]

7 hours ago, beeza said:

I think the new MDR meal times suck, by the number of comments on this subject I think we should all contact Princess and express our dislikes as well as informing our TA, either that or we all stage a mutiny, worked for the guys on the "Bounty"

I get sick and tired of cruise companies changing plans/times after you booked a cruise to what was advertised.

FED UP CRUISER!!

You should have plenty of time to cancel before your final payment is due.

 

I do not think Princess ever guaranteed exact time by policy or practice, but this is a significant change.

[Mediaspot]

 

[norcalcruzr]

The new earlier dining time is geared towards elderly guests and their parents.

[Shmoo here]

41 minutes ago, norcalcruzr said:

The new earlier dining time is geared towards elderly guests and their parents.

I would take issue with this statement.  I'm "elderly" and grew up eating early dinners (my mother had to squeeze them in between working full time and attending college classes at night, while raising 3 kids after my father died) and 5:00 is too early on a cruise for early dining.