Anytime dining doesn’t work!

[Desert Cruizers]

We have always chosen main dining but a couple cruises we did MTD and any night we know we will not be there for dinner. we let our waiter know and table guest and plan for that evening to eat elsewhere Horizon Court/Windjammer etc. 

[Iamcruzin]

9 hours ago, Tedferg said:

Iamcruzin I just realized the difference between 'Anytime' and 'MyTime'.  I guess 'MyTime' does mean you can choose and schedule a time and so the ability to pre-reserve on line makes sense. Initially I thought they were just different names for the same thing. I do object to Anytime allowing reservations if it causes tables to sit empty prior to the reserved time. However if there are always tables open due to staff loading and those tables are used for reservations, then I suppose they are not adding to the number of people waiting with a buzzer.

Hope you all can follow my rambling, finally makes sense to me 🙂

 

BTW on our one cruise with Celebrity we never got to share a table, even though we would have preferred it - always table for two. We always just turned up at random times. Does Celebrity have Traditional Dining ?

 

Seems to makes sense for Princess to do away with Traditional but allow pre-reservations online to create a 'Traditional' effect for those who want same time, same table, same people.

You are so smart. I never looked at My time to actually mean "My time" and Anytime meaning Anytime Princess wants to seat you....LOL. Celebrity has many dining options. If you book a suite or higher you can eat in the special Suite dining room, Aqua Class has their own dining room.  Early and late traditional dining is also available but it seems like it's phasing out since  My time seems to be more popular. 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, EastBay Cruisers said:

 

In the buffet,  It's strictly first-come-first-served. So, there's no equivalence between the buffet and the MDR.

 

  If I'm signed up for A.D.,  and a T.D. diner shows up to "jump over" me just because they are hungry, then I'm not a happy camper.  I'm following the rules as agreed upon, and I think it is fair that the T.D. guests should do the same. That's just common sense and courtesy.  -- EBC

 

As I understand it, ATD in the MDR is also first-come-first-served, thus the buzzers they hand out.  If another passenger shows up at the same dining room before you "just because they are hungry" seems to be a pretty good reason for them to get in line for dinner.  I'm just not sure I have ever seen the "rules" from Princess that has been "agreed upon."  If you know where Princess has published a rule that says TD passengers are prohibited from dining in the ATD MDR I would very much appreciate if you could share that source with me.

 

At this point, I think this horse has been beaten enough.  I do think a lot of this angst can be avoided with Call Ahead Seating.  I sincerely hope you enjoy your future cruises and enjoy prompt seatings for your meals.  : )

[Hlitner]

Just to clarify the situation on Celebrity, like Princess they do have both traditional (early and late seatings) as well as an open seating concept.  If you are in traditional and try to go to the open seating (Anytime Dining) you will be stopped when they scan your cruise card and want to know why you are not at your assigned table in traditional.    As to Aqua Class (on Celebrity) it does come with an additional cost which is sometimes substantial.  Celebrity also charges up to $50 per person for their alternative restaurants.   Celebrity has a separate dining area for the suites (Luminae) but keep in mind that folks are paying a lot of extra money for that somewhat better dining venue.  The Princess Club Class dining does not compare to Luminae (Celebrity) as Club Class is essentially the same menu as the MDR plus one or two additions.

 

We find the two lines alike in many ways, but also somewhat different.  The Princess tradition of having 3 MDRs (on the Grand and Royal Classes) is really a pain when it comes to those of us who use the open dining scheme.  If we decide to go to dinner at 7:45 we will sometimes run back and forth between the deck 5 and 6 restaurants (both Anytime Dining) to figure out which one has the shortest wait.  On Celebrity one would simply go to a single entree point to access all the seating (on either level).  

 

Our liking of Princess is not about their MDR scheme which we find somewhat of a pain, but because of other things such as the International Cafe and Alfredos.   We are completely underwhelmed by the Princess alternative restaurants and generally do not waste our money.   On Celebrity, some of their alternative restaurants are excellent (especially Murano) although they do cost more then on Princess.  But with Celebrity one can often get discounts in the alternative restaurants (up to about 50% off).  

 

Hank

 

[Cruise Junky]

28 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

As I understand it, ATD in the MDR is also first-come-first-served, thus the buzzers they hand out.  If another passenger shows up at the same dining room before you "just because they are hungry" seems to be a pretty good reason for them to get in line for dinner.  I'm just not sure I have ever seen the "rules" from Princess that has been "agreed upon."  If you know where Princess has published a rule that says TD passengers are prohibited from dining in the ATD MDR I would very much appreciate if you could share that source with me.

 

At this point, I think this horse has been beaten enough.  I do think a lot of this angst can be avoided with Call Ahead Seating.  I sincerely hope you enjoy your future cruises and enjoy prompt seatings for your meals.  : )

 

 

“

Anytime Dining offers a flexible dining experience – just like a restaurant would – and gives you the freedom to dine with whomever you wish, at your convenience between 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. in elegant, upscale venues.

Should you need to change this request, call your travel consultant no later than three weeks before you sail. Requests for preferences and changes are considered on a first-come, first-served basis. It is not always possible to alter dining preferences or seating arrangements once they are reserved.

Once onboard and subject to availability, you may attempt to switch preferences with 24 hours notice to the Maitre D’. We will do our best to accommodate your preference.

*NOTE: Anytime Dining is not available on Pacific and is not available on Diamond Princess while in Japan.”

Edited October 24, 2018 by Cruise Junky

[sprint180]

47 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

As I understand it, ATD in the MDR is also first-come-first-served, thus the buzzers they hand out.  If another passenger shows up at the same dining room before you "just because they are hungry" seems to be a pretty good reason for them to get in line for dinner.  I'm just not sure I have ever seen the "rules" from Princess that has been "agreed upon."  If you know where Princess has published a rule that says TD passengers are prohibited from dining in the ATD MDR I would very much appreciate if you could share that source with me.

 

At this point, I think this horse has been beaten enough.  I do think a lot of this angst can be avoided with Call Ahead Seating.  I sincerely hope you enjoy your future cruises and enjoy prompt seatings for your meals.  : )

 

I've only been on a couple Princess cruises but aren't you suppose to choose between TD and ATD when you book or before your cruise?  Aren't you making the choice then and saying I will eat in TD or ATD for this cruise?  So then should someone who chose ATD get to go to TD and take their spot and make them wait, "just because they are hungry" and want to try TD?  Seems to me it would be hard for the cruise line to handle the dinner service and know what to expect.  Maybe not.  Just thinking out loud.

Edited October 24, 2018 by sprint180

[EastBay Cruisers]

When you book the cruise,  you can choose EITHER Traditional Dining or Anytime Dining -- but not both.  Princess does not allow a guest to choose both, because they need to know how to allocate the tables in the MDR's.   Some tables are Anytime Dining, and some tables are Traditional Dining.

 

However, in the buffet, the tables are not allocated between Anytime and Traditional.  Anyone can dine in the buffet at his or her whim.

 

So, if you are hungry, there are many dining options from which to choose -- and Princess will gladly serve as much food as you can eat. However --  a guest that booked for Traditional Dining cannot suddenly decide to take a table away from a guest booked for Anytime Dining.

 

We just got off the Regal last week, with Maitre D'  Neville Saldanha,  and he and his Head Waiters were checking every cruise card.  We are Anytime Dining, and guests in line near us with Traditional Dining noted on their cruise cards were politely and courteously referred to other dining options.  It is the only way to avoid long waits for Anytime Dining. -- EBC

[RDC1]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

 

As I understand it, ATD in the MDR is also first-come-first-served, thus the buzzers they hand out.  If another passenger shows up at the same dining room before you "just because they are hungry" seems to be a pretty good reason for them to get in line for dinner.  I'm just not sure I have ever seen the "rules" from Princess that has been "agreed upon."  If you know where Princess has published a rule that says TD passengers are prohibited from dining in the ATD MDR I would very much appreciate if you could share that source with me.

 

At this point, I think this horse has been beaten enough.  I do think a lot of this angst can be avoided with Call Ahead Seating.  I sincerely hope you enjoy your future cruises and enjoy prompt seatings for your meals.  : )

The rules are very clear in that each passenger is given 1 choice, either ATD or TD.  All of the information on the web site indicates that choice.  Change of that choice is supposed to be cleared through the Maitre D.

 

Hopefully with these changes Princess will start enforcing that selection and make it all clear to everyone. 

Until they do, even if they made the language even more clear, some will ignore until the folks at the door actually stops them.

[pcsunlover]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

 

  If you know where Princess has published a rule that says TD passengers are prohibited from dining in the ATD MDR I would very much appreciate if you could share that source with me.

 

I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is anything formally written that TD passengers are prohibited from dining in ATD.  I believe it is implied when you have to choose between Traditional or Anytime when you book the cruise.  Just as there is also nothing published that says an ATD diner can’t show up and take a TD diners assigned table either, but it wouldn’t be allowed.  Why?  Because the TD diner would throw a fit that somebody took “their table” when they came to eat at their assigned time.

 

A TD diner can request to change to ATD which is the fair thing to do if they want to flip flop between the two. That way their TD table can be opened up for someone else to use.

[Thrak]

We find it to be simple. When we are booked for TD we eat at our assigned time in the TD dining room. If we can't make it we try to let our table mates or our waiters know and then we eat in the buffet, grab a burger, or something of that sort. It has never even occurred to us to crash ATD when we are booked for TD. When we are booked for ATD we sometimes eat in MDR and sometimes don't it doesn't affect others one way or the other. If we have ATD and want to eat during a peak time we can either get a pager and go have a drink or eat elsewhere. We belong to the camp that feels folks who booked TD should not be allowed to crash ATD. If you booked TD and then found out upon boarding that your time had been moved, without your consent or knowledge, to some crazy early time you should be allowed to speak with the head waiter and change to ATD for the duration of the cruise but one shouldn't be allowed to just jump back and forth between the two. It just seems rude to me.

[EastBay Cruisers]

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We find it to be simple. When we are booked for TD we eat at our assigned time in the TD dining room. If we can't make it we try to let our table mates or our waiters know and then we eat in the buffet, grab a burger, or something of that sort. It has never even occurred to us to crash ATD when we are booked for TD. When we are booked for ATD we sometimes eat in MDR and sometimes don't it doesn't affect others one way or the other. If we have ATD and want to eat during a peak time we can either get a pager and go have a drink or eat elsewhere. We belong to the camp that feels folks who booked TD should not be allowed to crash ATD. If you booked TD and then found out upon boarding that your time had been moved, without your consent or knowledge, to some crazy early time you should be allowed to speak with the head waiter and change to ATD for the duration of the cruise but one shouldn't be allowed to just jump back and forth between the two. It just seems rude to me.

 

As always, I agree with Thrak.  Right on, IMO. -- EBC

[neverbeenhere]

44 minutes ago, EastBay Cruisers said:

 

As always, I agree with Thrak.  Right on, IMO. -- EBC

 

Thrak is 99.44% purely correct in his thinking on this matter, but (there is always a but) many times Cruiselines don’t allow people to choose the dining option that they truly want at the time of booking, so that leads to waitlists that “seem” to add to the problems. 

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

On 10/23/2018 at 12:14 AM, Woobstr112G said:

Two words that create about 98% of the problems with ATD; "Standing Reservations".....

 

Bob

Agreed 

[Thrak]

We did a 17 day Panama Canal transit in 2015. It was San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale. We booked the "early" seating at 5:45 PM and it was "confirmed". It seemed a hair early but we went with it. When we boarded we found our "confirmed" seating was 5:15.  GAH!!! We didn't like that time as it was so early. We failed to make it one evening as our excursion was a bit late and then both of our cruise cards failed to work on the cabin door. Needless to say we didn't make it to our assigned dining time. (NO!!! We did not crash ATD. We ate in the buffet that evening.) While we did have the most wonderful server we have ever had on a Princess cruise, (seriously, Faye was amazing!!!) it was still too dang early for us! (One good thing I have to say about the recent CC "upgrade" is that it definitely makes inserting photos easier!)

Faye:

[floridalover5623]

8 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

We just got off the Regal last week, and each night, the Head Waiters checked the status of each diner coming in to Anytime Dining.  They did not allow pax assigned to Traditional Dining to take up space during Anytime Dining.  

That's done on most ships but usually only at the beginning of the cruise until people get their DR straight.

Also even if your assigned to a specific dining room/time, IF you ask the head waiter or Maitre D' if you can change for a special occasion, you will be allowed to do so. Princess likes to make everyone happy no matter what the request.

[SquishTheWhale]

We are new to Princess, and I've been reading this thread with some concern/interest throughout the last few days.

 

First, I am shocked that some people book TD and then think they can use ATD as well! That seems very selfish to me. We aren't hugely experienced cruisers by any means, but I have never heard of this happening on any other line. I really hope they do start enforcing the choice that people made when they booked the cruise to ensure it's fair for all. Who knew that you CAN eat your cake and have it too!

 

Secondly, our first Princess cruise is in December and we have booked ATD as fixed dining does not work for us at all. The one time we had fixed dining on MSC we only went 2 nights as we were never ready to eat at that time (we were supposed to have flexible dining but they took it away after we booked!). We have no objection to a reasonable wait for a table, as we only like tables for 2 and understand they are in limited supply. But if the dining situation is an absolute cluster with long long waits then it will probably be a one-and-done for us on Princess. Which is a shame, but other lines manage to run ATD properly so we'll look elsewhere.

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by SquishTheWhale

[dckmusic]

10 minutes ago, SquishTheWhale said:

We are new to Princess, and I've been reading this thread with some concern/interest throughout the last few days.

 

First, I am shocked that some people book TD and then think they can use ATD as well! That seems very selfish to me. We aren't hugely experienced cruisers by any means, but I have never heard of this happening on any other line. I really hope they do start enforcing the choice that people made when they booked the cruise to ensure it's fair for all. Who knew that you CAN eat your cake and have it too!

 

Secondly, our first Princess cruise is in December and we have booked ATD as fixed dining does not work for us at all. The one time we had fixed dining on MSC we only went 2 nights as we were never ready to eat at that time (we were supposed to have flexible dining but they took it away after we booked!). We have no objection to a reasonable wait for a table, as we only like tables for 2 and understand they are in limited supply. But if the dining situation is an absolute cluster with long long waits then it will probably be a one-and-done for us on Princess. Which is a shame, but other lines manage to run ATD properly so we'll look elsewhere.

 

 

Don't take this thread as the norm - I think this is more case specific times certain people have experienced.  It's just blown up because a few see their TD booking differently than it was intended.  I've only been on Princess twice, but both times, they check your card at the MDR door to see whether you are ATD or TD and direct you from there.  We went to the wrong dining room once (forgot which deck we were on) and they directed us back to our ATD dining room.  Go in with an open mind.  You almost certainly won't find it a problem.  Yes, if you go at peak times, you will wait sometimes.  That's just how it goes.  We only ever waited more than 5-10 minutes once in 17 days of cruising.

[SquishTheWhale]

37 minutes ago, dckmusic said:

 

Don't take this thread as the norm - I think this is more case specific times certain people have experienced.  It's just blown up because a few see their TD booking differently than it was intended.  I've only been on Princess twice, but both times, they check your card at the MDR door to see whether you are ATD or TD and direct you from there.  We went to the wrong dining room once (forgot which deck we were on) and they directed us back to our ATD dining room.  Go in with an open mind.  You almost certainly won't find it a problem.  Yes, if you go at peak times, you will wait sometimes.  That's just how it goes.  We only ever waited more than 5-10 minutes once in 17 days of cruising.

 

Thank you for the reassurance! 5-10 minutes is more like the wait we are used to with NCL, although obviously they don't have TD people causing an issue. We like to eat around 7pm, I'm not sure if that will be later than the norm. If it makes sense to wait for the second ATD venue to open at 7.30 we will just do that.

Edited October 24, 2018 by SquishTheWhale

[Potstech]

On 10/23/2018 at 10:30 AM, Daniel A said:

 

DW and I always select ATD when booking our cruises.  We take most of our meals in the buffet and we did a MDR once.  We don't add to your wait lines.  Why does everybody here think it's ok to send the TD people to get in my queue and take away my table in the buffet?  That's not right either.  It's not like people who use their ATD to eat in a MDR are special and paid more for their meals than those of us who prefer to eat in the buffet.  As long as we're making up onerous rules, nobody who eats in a MDR either TD or ATD should be allowed to eat a burger or get pizza at poolside.  That will reduce my wait in line for those items. 

 

Now that we have that settled, what are we going to do about those inconsiderate people who go willy nilly from one swimming pool to another?

 

Easy, you have no designated table in the buffet.  That is the whole concept of buffet.  If all passengers dcided to go to the buffet not a sngle one would take up "your table or place in the queque."

[Potstech]

12 hours ago, pcsunlover said:

I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is anything formally written that TD passengers are prohibited from dining in ATD.  I believe it is implied when you have to choose between Traditional or Anytime when you book the cruise.  Just as there is also nothing published that says an ATD diner can’t show up and take a TD diners assigned table either, but it wouldn’t be allowed.  Why?  Because the TD diner would throw a fit that somebody took “their table” when they came to eat at their assigned time.

 

A TD diner can request to change to ATD which is the fair thing to do if they want to flip flop between the two. That way their TD table can be opened up for someone else to use.

 

We have eaten in the TD dinng room on several occasions at the invitation of other TD designated diners. One case was a couple who was assigned a table for eight but often either ate by themselves or with just two other people. No uproar occured as none of the other diners at the other tables knew about it. Another time e were lead from the ATDR to the TDDR by the staff due to thenlong wait time at the ATDR.  Again no uproar from anyone.

[SquishTheWhale]

5 minutes ago, Potstech said:

 

We have eaten in the TD dinng room on several occasions at the invitation of other TD designated diners. One case was a couple who was assigned a table for eight but often either ate by themselves or with just two other people. No uproar occured as none of the other diners at the other tables knew about it. Another time e were lead from the ATDR to the TDDR by the staff due to thenlong wait time at the ATDR.  Again no uproar from anyone.

 

That's different from just going there yourself- although in the first example I would imagine that if the rest of the absent tablemates suddenly decided to dine at their table that night, you would have to leave as you were in 'their seat'. In the second example you were taken to a table the crew clearly knew was not assigned to anyone.

 

As a ATD, could you just walk up to the TD room and take a random seat? No, you couldn't. Whoever that seat was assigned to would not be pleased. Which is showing it is not tolerated the other way around.

[lstone19]

One thing that gets mentioned a lot is how one ATD dining room can have a long line while another has a much shorter line. I would think it could make ATD seating management a lot simpler if there was one check-in point for ATD and from there, guests were directed to an ATD room (including the TD room when they know there's room there). Imagine if they tracked TD seat status so if a passenger lets them know they're be dining elsewhere the next night, they could mark those seats as available for ATD. I do realize that mobility issue could make this a problem for some people but there would still be enough people who would gladly go to another room to be seated  quickly.

[pcsunlover]

39 minutes ago, Potstech said:

 

We have eaten in the TD dinng room on several occasions at the invitation of other TD designated diners. One case was a couple who was assigned a table for eight but often either ate by themselves or with just two other people. No uproar occured as none of the other diners at the other tables knew about it. Another time e were lead from the ATDR to the TDDR by the staff due to thenlong wait time at the ATDR.  Again no uproar from anyone.

 

Of course no uproar in that case because you didn’t “take” someone else’s seat.  Why would other TD diners around you care?  You weren’t sitting in their seat. If the people who were assigned to those seats showed up for dinner that evening, you would have been told to eat in ATD as you were assigned or possibly be moved to a different table with your friends within TD if one was available.  We have also been lead by ATD staff to TD to eat because ATD was over crowded and there were empty tables in TD.  But that is up to the staff, we would never presume to just go to TD on our own.  

[pcsunlover]

32 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

One thing that gets mentioned a lot is how one ATD dining room can have a long line while another has a much shorter line. I would think it could make ATD seating management a lot simpler if there was one check-in point for ATD and from there, guests were directed to an ATD room (including the TD room when they know there's room there). Imagine if they tracked TD seat status so if a passenger lets them know they're be dining elsewhere the next night, they could mark those seats as available for ATD. I do realize that mobility issue could make this a problem for some people but there would still be enough people who would gladly go to another room to be seated  quickly.

 

A few times the ATD staff have sent or escorted us to the TD dining room when ATD was overcrowded.  They must be able to communicate some how to let the ATD staff know when people don’t show up for their assigned TD seating.  

[Potstech]

47 minutes ago, pcsunlover said:

 

Of course no uproar in that case because you didn’t “take” someone else’s seat.  Why would other TD diners around you care?  You weren’t sitting in their seat. If the people who were assigned to those seats showed up for dinner that evening, you would have been told to eat in ATD as you were assigned or possibly be moved to a different table with your friends within TD if one was available.  We have also been lead by ATD staff to TD to eat because ATD was over crowded and there were empty tables in TD.  But that is up to the staff, we would never presume to just go to TD on our own.  

 

But we did take some one else's assigned seat.  They just never used it. And if they had shown up we would have given them those seats at the table and then went to the ATDR with apologies. So where were those who were assigned to these seats? ATDR?  Buffet? Specialty dining room? Lido deck grill?  We did not know and actually after a short conversation did not care as they did not show up.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Potstech