Trying to plan my dinner times on the Grand Princess but don’t know what times the shows are in the Theatre

[Ricbr]

Pretty much as the topic states.  My wife and I are in the process of trying to book our dinner times for our Alaska trip on the Grand Princess.  We were thinking 7pm each night based on the times of our various ports of call.  But we were trying to find out what times the evening shows are in the main theatre.  Not having much success locating this information.  Any one have ideas on that time or some recent princess patters that may show it?

 

Thanks! 

[caribill]

And that sums up the problem with Dining My Way replacing Traditional dining.

 

With TD, Princess would set up the two sittings to mesh with the show schedule. No work or worry for the passenger. Also these times allow participation in other scheduled activities pre- or post- dinner and even between sittings activities such as the Captain's welcome speech.

 

With DMW, there is no way to know in advance what the showtimes will be. What the schedule is this week may be different next week or any time in the future.

 

So what you have to do with DMW is make an educated guess months in advance of the cruise. When you get on board and learn the actual show times you may have guessed correctly. But if you did not, it is likely the time slot you want is fully booked.

 

Princess does suggest several times to book dinner for seeing shows (such as 7:00, 7:30, 8:00), but in effect they are saying they do not know either and these times may or may not work out best for you.

[Ricbr]

You summed up what was going on in my head….but said it much nicer.  Overall it is not a big deal.  The scenery from our balcony room will beat any show they can give us.  And we didn’t want to book a dinner too early and have to rush back to the ship from a port of call that we may never see again.  It’s a good problem to have I guess.  😆

[voljeep]

dining, at least on Princess in the mdr, is just substance...nothing special at all

 

so for us, at least, food is an afterthought,  after excursions, shows, drinks, etc - we semi-plan, then work food in as necessary...

 

that is not to say at all, that we really appreciate a special meal, we do - just not necessarily in the Princess mdr... now if booked a balcony dinner, that's different (hope to do that on our next cruise)

[caribill]

2 minutes ago, voljeep said:

dining, at least on Princess in the mdr, is just substance...nothing special at all

 

 

 

To us Traditional Dining, with the same dining companions each evening of the cruise was very special.

 

We have made some very good friends forever with TD.

[Steelers36]

54 minutes ago, caribill said:

Princess does suggest several times to book dinner for seeing shows (such as 7:00, 7:30, 8:00), but in effect they are saying they do not know either and these times may or may not work out best for you.

 

2 hours ago, Ricbr said:

Pretty much as the topic states.  My wife and I are in the process of trying to book our dinner times for our Alaska trip on the Grand Princess.  We were thinking 7pm each night based on the times of our various ports of call.  But we were trying to find out what times the evening shows are in the main theatre.  Not having much success locating this information.  Any one have ideas on that time or some recent princess patters that may show it?

 

Thanks! 

 

I can offer the following which is what Princess published that they consider times aligning with the former TD setup.  When cruising started up again, most ships were having limited shows - like one per evening.  With ships sailing fuller now, I think we are seeing things revert to the typical two main shows per evening, perhaps depending on the entertainment type.  Other events like game shows occur at various times, but you can generally make it to a couple of things of interest if that is your intent.

 

PCL has suggested that 5:00pm, 5:20pm, and 5:40pm reservation times in DMW will relate to the former TD early time period.  And 7:00pm, 7:20pm, and 5:40pm relate to the former late TD window.  If you cruised in recent years leading up to Covid-19, you will be aware that PCL backed up both early and late TD periods to make them sooner in order to try and level out the dining demand.  They had more people wanting early time than seats available and the old late time had tables go wanting.  The new schedule almost flipped the situation since they made early starting REALLY early. 

 

Anyway, all you can do is try out the above as guidance and hope it works out.  It really isn't any different than before since we never knew the precise showtimes when making a dining request in our bookings (Cruise Personalizer choices).  I recall some nights knowing we needed to hustle through our dinner in order to make an early show that was scheduled a bit earlier that night than most nights.  Just have to be a bit flexible.  I prefer 5:45pm to 6:00pm as that typically works out for being back on board and ready for dinner and also able to make major show times (we don't dawdle over dinner). 

 

Of course, a long excursion and a later departure throws things off, but you can alter the dining plan for that night.  Good luck.

[nunuc2000]

We were on the Grand from May 25th until June 8th - almost all of the big theatre shows were at 7:30pm and 9:30 pm, and lasted approx 45 minutes.  Dinner service for the two of us at our own table typically took approx 75 minutes.

 

 

[riffatsea]

We've been on the Grand twice since covid

Show times have been 7pm and 9 when there were 2 shows

Hmm? I thought 7 but maybe that's when we got to the show to find a seat we liked?

Edited June 11, 2022 by riffatsea

[arizonaperson]

4 hours ago, Ricbr said:

Pretty much as the topic states.  My wife and I are in the process of trying to book our dinner times for our Alaska trip on the Grand Princess.  We were thinking 7pm each night based on the times of our various ports of call.  But we were trying to find out what times the evening shows are in the main theatre.  Not having much success locating this information.  Any one have ideas on that time or some recent princess patters that may show it?

 

Thanks! 

 Not sure what month you’re going  or your itinerary,but you can always look a couple weeks before your cruise to see if anybody posts patters.

 Just know you do not have to be locked into a dinner time. You can go to dinner anytime that any of the dining rooms are open. Of course there may be a wait depending on the size of the table that you want etc.,but you do not have to book it before you actually cruise. 

But there was a cruise thread titled -live with Celine from The Grand in May. These are the times in the Patter.

7:30 PM to 8:15 PM and 930 pm to 10:15 PM sweet soul of music.

The day that they were in college fijord  there was a show in The Princess Theatre with a vocal impressionist from 9:30 PM to 10:15 PM. The yes no game show was in Explorers lounge from 8:30 PM to 9:15 PM.

The day that they were in Juneau from 7 PM to 7:45 PM Libby riddles a Iditarod champ was in the theater and 930pm to 10:15 PM there was a vocalist. And 830pm to 9:15 PM liars club in Explorers lounge. 

 So this just gives you an idea of what there is in the princess theater and  Explorers Lounge the times in May on The Grand.

[Dar & Bob]

If you look at this thread, the patters are posted for I believe every day.  Just skim through the posts although you might want to read it. 

 

 

[rj59]

Wait until you get on the ship and decide based on whether you're hungry or not, and what the entertainment is, and how tired you are from port. Ship capacity also plays a role--I personally wouldn't go to an early production show on a formal night that's packed with people, and would rather eat later and go to the late show. It's easy to make and change dining times--I just do it every day on the tv when I'm ready to eat. The menu also plays a huge part, and whether or not you want to have something in the buffet you want to try, or a pizza, or drinks. You can also check out the dining rooms and see which is least crowded and avoid going during a busy time when service would be worse and covid risk would be higher. People seem to be a little obsessive about pre-planning everything, freaking out about sold-out excursions when every port has plenty of eager tour operators willing to give you most experiences when you get off the ship. 

[amc2scott]

On 1/21/2024 at 5:05 PM, DDF2821 said:

Cancelled a cruise to Israel, and scheduled this one!

 

On 6/11/2022 at 3:12 PM, caribill said:

 

To us Traditional Dining, with the same dining companions each evening of the cruise was very special.

 

We have made some very good friends forever with TD.

Us too!!! Trying to figure out best time to book.  

[MacMadame]

We booked for 5:30 pm in the new app because it's around when we eat anyway and it should give us a shot at both showings. We also said we were willing to share.

 

We figure we'll cancel some of them due to being in port, wanting to try the buffet and specialty dining, and things like that.

[ArizonaStorm]

It sounds like Princess cruisers need to be flexible on their dining / evening entertainment plans.  Personally, I prioritize a nice sit-down meal experience at least once per day.  I don't even look at the evening entertainment options until after I have dined.  I don't find shipboard entertainment to be enjoyable (I certainly wouldn't pay to see it on land), especially if a venue is packed.  I either gravitate towards a quieter venue with light music and good drinks, or watch a movie.  It's nice that there are plenty of venues for the loud and rambunctious crowds - they are easy to avoid.