Dine my way….on the Caribbean Princess

[travmagic]

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the difference between the 3 main dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess?

The reason I know it’s a stupid question is that I was a TA for 25 years but have only been on 2 cruises in that time. My last cruise was in 2017.

I am assuming (you know what happens when you assume😜) that the food is the same but the location and atmosphere are different? Or maybe not?

I am talking about the Palm, the Island and the Coral dining rooms.

Im sure this won’t be my last stupid question…😂

TIA!

[Guest ldtr]

basically the same except for location.

[cruisingcousin1]

The food is the same on all main dining rooms.  The location is different.  They are located on different levels of the ship.  The atmosphere could be slightly different in that one may be a little smaller than the one that is easily accessible.  

[reedprincess]

55 minutes ago, travmagic said:

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the difference between the 3 main dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess?

The reason I know it’s a stupid question is that I was a TA for 25 years but have only been on 2 cruises in that time. My last cruise was in 2017.

I am assuming (you know what happens when you assume😜) that the food is the same but the location and atmosphere are different? Or maybe not?

I am talking about the Palm, the Island and the Coral dining rooms.

Im sure this won’t be my last stupid question…😂

TIA!

Same menu, same kitchen, same food, same service. Different locations, and different access.

Generally speaking, one of the midship dining rooms will be half Club Class, half "normal, while the other midship is all normal and aft is normal dining.. the aft dining room presents a challenge for access for some people for whatever reason as you can't get there from deck 5 or 6 - if on one of those decks, you have to go up to 7, all the way aft, then down to 6. It tends to be a quieter dining room because of that as opposed to the midship ones which are easily accessed from the bars and piazza there..

 

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, travmagic said:

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the difference between the 3 main dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess?

The reason I know it’s a stupid question is that I was a TA for 25 years but have only been on 2 cruises in that time. My last cruise was in 2017.

I am assuming (you know what happens when you assume😜) that the food is the same but the location and atmosphere are different? Or maybe not?

I am talking about the Palm, the Island and the Coral dining rooms.

Im sure this won’t be my last stupid question…😂

TIA!

Seems everyone has spelled it out.  I would just pick the most convenient one to your cabin.  

We had midship, so we ate in the Coral DR. 
 

Welcome back!

 

[travmagic]

Thanks everyone!

We are on the Riviera deck so I will take a better look at the deck plan!

Very excited for this itinerary, that’s what got me to book!

[Raze]

Just got off the CP and had the Island dining room.  It’s a great location because it’s at the bottom of the Piazza and everything happening there, including the bars and entertainment.

[BamaVol]

I like the idea that the Palm is quieter. I have booked all our dinners there, but one. 

[MJC]

45 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

I like the idea that the Palm is quieter. I have booked all our dinners there, but one. 

We do too, and since we prefer aft cabins, access to the rear elevators isn't an issue for us. But we usually take the stairs anyway.

[EconDoc]

As others have mentioned, the aft dining room tends to be calmer. I think, as a result, better waiter teams try to work in that one. We’ve generally had good experiences in the aft dining rooms. 

[jeromep]

On 1/7/2023 at 1:46 PM, travmagic said:

This is probably a stupid question, but what is the difference between the 3 main dining rooms on the Caribbean Princess?

The reason I know it’s a stupid question is that I was a TA for 25 years but have only been on 2 cruises in that time. My last cruise was in 2017.

I am assuming (you know what happens when you assume😜) that the food is the same but the location and atmosphere are different? Or maybe not?

I am talking about the Palm, the Island and the Coral dining rooms.

Im sure this won’t be my last stupid question…😂

TIA!

Sounds like all the RV dealer friends I have.  They sell RVs, but never have time to go camping.  They don't go camping until they quit the industry or they sell their dealership.

 

Anyway, on the Grand Class ships, you had two dining rooms accessible from the Piazza and the atrium, and then the aft dining room which was nestled all the way aft, and down at the bottom of the aft stairway and elevator shaft.  That full aft dining room was always utilized for traditional, scheduled seating, dining.  It was then used as overflow for Anytime Dining, as space allowed.  Now that things have changed to Dine My Way with all your dining choices done through the app, I've not been on a Grand Class ship since the change, so I can't speak as to how they are using the far aft dining room.

 

The food is the same in all the MDRs each evening.  Ambience is basically the same, although the dining room names are different.  The aft dining room on the Grand Class ships have windows all the way around, making the dining room a bit lighter than the other two dining rooms.

 

Oops, just noticed that you are talking about the Island and Coral Princess, which are the two Panamax ships in the fleet.  I don't think things are much different, but again, since Princess moved to Dine My Way in the app, a lot of what I used to know has become dated.

[Ombud]

On 1/7/2023 at 3:16 PM, PacnGoNow said:

We had midship, so we ate in the Coral DR. 

Us too but that was because we wanted same table / same time / 2 top each night. 

[Roatanfans]

On Caribbean Princess Island is on deck 5, Coral is midship deck 6 (and where lunch is served on sea days).  Palm is the aft dinning room that shares with club class.  On our Christmas cruise we had our my way table in the island, and had lunch in the coral.. Never tried Palm, but we noticed a lot of vibrations on this ship (more so then any of the other grand class ships we've ever been on.  Not sure if there was something going on to cause it on that particular cruise or if it's something about the Caribbean Princess, but either way I was glad not to be further aft because of the vibrations!)

[Ace_Caliente]

We sailed on Regal in the Med in July and really enjoyed the aft dining room. We often eat early so the dining room was pretty empty until just as we were finishing up. Anyway, on Regal, the windows at the back of the aft dining room look out the rear of the ship and on one occasion we saw a small group of dolphins playing in the wake.

[Rick&Jeannie]

On 1/7/2023 at 5:45 PM, reedprincess said:

the aft dining room presents a challenge for access for some people for whatever reason as you can't get there from deck 5 or 6 - if on one of those decks, you have to go up to 7, all the way aft, then down to 6. 

 

We very often book on Riviera and have resorted to a simple trick when we are headed to that DR.  We simply stay on Riviera and walk all the way back to the aft set of elevators and then go down to the proper deck.

[travmagic]

Thank you everyone. We booked the Palm dining room. We have easy access to the aft elevators from our cabin so decided to do that.

[Tigerfan85]

We were mid-ship and it was still easy access.  If you want to go up to Skywalkers before or after dinner, it was always uncrowded and open.  Sunset our last night before dinner in the Palm was spectacular (we just picked up drinks on the way because the bar up there wasn't open yet), then we just hiked down the stairs while our friends took the elevator.