Anytime Dining Questions

[cole'snana]

Looking forward to our 1st Princess cruise (have cruised on other lines) on CP on 5/25.

When we board can we go to the MDR and reserve a 5:30 time in the Anytime section for the 1st evening?

Then do we reserve for that time at the MDR desk each night for the next night? This is how it works on RC.

What is Princess' procedure for making a reservation?  Thank you.

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

It depends on the Maitre D'...some allow reservations and some don't.

If you want to dine at a specific time and the same table every night, why not do Traditional Dining?

[fishywood]

Anytime Dining on Princess does not work the same way as My Time Dining on RCI at all. 

Princess prefers to run it as a "turn up and go" service; reservations are extremely limited. You can try to make them by calling the Dine Line after you board; many ships only take them for large tables and/or very early or late in the ATD window. Each Matire d' sets his own policy; very few allow making the next night's when you leave the MDR, you would have to call the Dine Line early each morning.

 

I've never understood the assumption made by RCI and X that those who select My Time Dining want and/or are expected to reserve the same time every night. Isn't that what Traditional Dining is for?

[dfields1814]

On all my cruises with Princess I have never been allowed to RSVP for AD for the first night, You can usually RSVP for all the other nights from opening to about 6:00 PM and after 7:30 PM. But you have to do it each morning. Just call the Dine Line They reserve a certain  amount of tables for RSVP. If you forget and call to late all the reserved table may be taken. 

[skynight]

Works like this. Results sometime depend on if you want table for two, you are willing to share with others, or you are a group. Options:

-show up at the door, wait in line and wait to be seated. There is normally a large demand between 5:15 and 5:45. After 5:45 the DR may be full and you will have to wait until the first passengers clear before tables are available. A 2nd DR opens for ATD at 7:30. Show up 7pm or later and you probably will be seated promptly if sailing from a U.S. port. If sailing from other ports, Europe, South America, for example, more passengers show up for the later dining times.

-Call the dining line each morning for a reservation. There is a button on your cabin phone. There is no MDR desk. The phone line opens at 8am and gets busy quickly. On most voyages reservations are accepted for ATD for specific times, example 5:15, 5:30, 7:15, 7:30. 

- Visit the maitre'd on boarding day. His/Her hours and location will be shown in the Princess Patter. Arrive early there will be a line. The maitre'd can answer any issues that you may have. This is especially true if you are traveling with a group that wants to dine together.

-If you want the same table and same time every evening why not go for Traditional Dining? You can select TD in the cruise personlizer. If it's wait listed then see the maitre'd as indicated above.

-First evening. Reservations may not be accepted. Call the dining line once in your cabin to check if you want a reservation. ATD tends to be hectic on the first evening, especially the early hours, until passengers fall into a pattern. We always dine elsewhere on the first night, either in a specialty restaurant, at the buffet, International Cafe, grill, Salty Dog, Alfredo's (on Royal Class ships).

-FYI for specialty dining reservations you also the dining line, or you may visit the restaurant.

-Just to add, over the years we changed our evening dining time around our plans our evening's shows and activities that we wish to see. Not visa versa. So, we don't dine the same time every evening. Just what we have learned, it's our pattern now.

 

Edited April 26, 2019 by skynight

[paul929207]

I have never been able to make reservations for the first night. For subsequent nights we have found that on most ships,  they start to accept reservations at 8am for that evening. It can often take 15 to 30 minutes to get to the front of the wait on the phone.

[Steven_&_Daniel]

7 hours ago, fishywood said:

Anytime Dining on Princess does not work the same way as My Time Dining on RCI at all. 

We're currently booked on our first RCI cruise with My Time Dining. I thought it was the same as ATD. We don't make reservations. So how are the two different?

Edited April 26, 2019 by Steven_&_Daniel

[fishywood]

48 minutes ago, Steven_&_Daniel said:

We're currently booked on our first RCI cruise with My Time Dining. I thought it was the same as ATD. We don't make reservations. So how are the two different?

With the caveat my only recent RCI cruise was with Traditional late sitting: RCI expects the vast majority who choose MTD to make a standing reservation for the same table at more or less the same time each night. Those who just show up when they wish each evening run the risk of being turned away entirely with no alternative but to head to the buffet if no tables are expected to open up by closing time.

 

Yes they will do that--carry this discussion over to the RCI board where you will likely hear stories of the above definitely happening.

Edited April 27, 2019 by fishywood

[dara90210]

We were on the Grand at the end of March and had ATD for the first time.  We usually do Early Seating in the MDR because we travel with my parents who are older.  If it were just me and my husband we'd do Late Seating.  But I digress...Early Seating at 5 was now too early for all of us so we decided to try ATD.  We ate in the Crown Grill on the first night and then on the second night we got to the ATD Dining Room around 5:30.  We were escorted to Table 71 and introduced to Janelle and her assistant, who was wonderful and she called him "Handsome" and his name started with an M, but I've totally spaced on it, and received attentive, wonderful, amazing service.  We talked to the head waiter on our way out and asked how to make a reservation for their section every night.  We were advised that they could not accept reservations in ATD between 5:45 and 7:30 at all, BUT that if we came to the ATD Dining Room between 5:30 and 5:45 AT THE LATEST, he would make sure we were seated in their section.  That's what we did and it worked well for us.