Anytime Dining for Large Group

[EMess]

We have a group of about 20 people. In the past, we have used the tradional dining and had tables next to each other. Would anytime dining work for a group this large. We will be sailing on the Carr. Princess this summer. Is the anytime dining room set up in such a way we could all sit togethor?

[dsfitz]

I would say that traditional would work better. The anytime dining room looks exactly the same as the traditional dining room, but trying to get 20 people next to each other each evening would be a challenge, unless you plan on eating at 5:30 or 9:30. With traditional, if you made the request to all be close to each other, it is possible that you could be accomodated.

 

You could try making a "standing" reservation for the same time each evening, but with such a large group, that may be tough.

[DeltaOne]

We have a group of about 20 people. In the past, we have used the tradional dining and had tables next to each other. Would anytime dining work for a group this large. We will be sailing on the Carr. Princess this summer. Is the anytime dining room set up in such a way we could all sit togethor?

 

It's common to see folks with large groups post complaints about Anytime Dining after their cruise. You should go with traditional dining or eat in groups of six or eight, maybe rotating groups each night.

[NJSunWorshiper]

I agree. We did 20 people last year with anytime dining and it was a pain. We could only get very early or very late reservations, no matter when we called. Nobody knew when or where dinner was on any given night. This year we did the late seating and it worked out perfect. We are sticking with traditional seating for our large group.

[willysgrandma]

If you don't plan on all eating together it is fine.

 

If you want to eat together every night - go with traditional.

[Palomino]

We tried anytime dining with a group of 12 of us and I have decided never again. We have traditional booked for our next cruise.

[Shoalwater]

We sailed in January on the Grand princess with a family group of 10. I went to the maitre'd (the anytime dining room head waiters cannot help) and asked for a fixed time reservation at the same table for every night. We elected for opening time to make it easier. He was happy to oblige. After a few nights we observed that nearly the entire section was fixed-time anytime diners, having standing reservations. Make sure you like the table staff before selecting.

 

One interesting point came up. Our table wait team had been traditional, but they both said they liked anytime dining better. Reason? They aren't under as much pressure to get the first seating done and out in order to be ready for the second seating. More relaxed service.

 

Remember, the maitre'd holds the key to your future!

[Pam in CA]

Unless you plan to eat very early (5:30 - 6PM) or very late (after 8:30PM), it's not going to work for a large group. You probably won't be able to sit near each other, and some will be seated and others have to wait, messing up any after-dinner plans. Even with a reservation, you can expect wait times of 5 - 45 minutes, or longer. (That was our experience and there were only 3 of us.)

 

Your best bet is to book traditional dining. That way, you're assured of being able to eat at the same time near each other.

[gvre]

We were on the Sea Princess last year and I arranged with the Maitre'd for our cruise critic group of 26 to eat together in the personal choice dinning. I let him know a couple of days in advance what time we would like to eat and it worked out fine.

They set aside an area of the dinning room for us and set up 3 tables for us. We had the same waiters for all of us.

I did tip him well for his help.

Richard

[Pam in CA]

We were on the Sea Princess last year and I arranged with the Maitre'd for our cruise critic group of 26 to eat together in the personal choice dinning. I let him know a couple of days in advance what time we would like to eat and it worked out fine.

They set aside an area of the dinning room for us and set up 3 tables for us. We had the same waiters for all of us.

I did tip him well for his help.

Was this every night? Did you let the Maitre D know 2 days in advance for each night as to how many were eating? What time did you eat? I'm trying to figure out how this worked and whether it was for just one night or for the cruise.

 

It's not unusual for CC groups to get together for lunch or dinner, particularly on longer cruises. We had a couple of CC lunches on our Royal Princess Manaus > Rome cruise a couple of years ago. The Maitre D blocked off 5 or 6 tables for us. But that was lunch.

[gvre]

Pam,

It was for one night only. We all got together for a cocktail party and then ate in the PC dining room.

I gave the Maitre D a 2-3 day notice, and he reserved that area for us to eat at.

[gvre]

Pam,

It was for one night only. We all got together for a cocktail party and then ate in the PC dining room.

I gave the Maitre D a 2-3 day notice, and he reserved that area for us to eat at.

[gvre]

Pam,

It was for one night only. We all got together for a cocktail party and then ate in the PC dining room.

I gave the Maitre D a 2-3 day notice, and he reserved that area for us to eat at.

[cherylandtk]

My feeling is that Anytime dining on the Grand Class ships only works well if the group is the same size or smaller than the usual table sizes, meaning 6-8 people. And this is whether or not you want to make a standing reservation.

 

Anything larger, and you are needing multiple tables and/or one of the four larger tables for 10/12. If you want a standing reservation for a large group, it knocks out multiple tables from the turnover flow, and there is a domino effect from that. Dining staff will do their best to accomodate you within their limits, but I definitely agree that if a lot of people want to eat at the same time, they are better off to choose traditional dining.

[Jfeasel]

Our group of 11 is looking at booking the Crown for late July. We did NCL last summer and loved their freestyle. We only ate together 3 times as a big group and plan on doing the same on the Crown. How do I contact the Maitre 'd on the ship about getting a table for all of us for 3 of the nights? Is he/she stationed somewhere?

[Crown08]

We had a group of 16 on the Sun and we were able to call and make reservations for the same day with no problems. We were flexible on time though.

[AZPam]

We've done groups of about 40 for the last 3 years and have done Anytime dining every time. Really didn't have a choice since traditional was already full. We set up a reservation for all 40 in the same area, same staff every night. Pretty much just made it our own traditional type set up. Worked out fine too. Yes, we choose to eat at 6:15 every night and would have rather had closer to 7pm, but it wasn't that much of a big deal. We knew we had to make some concessions for such a large group.

 

What also worked well for us is that we mixed the tables up every night so that the group got to mix with everyone at some point during the week. One night it was kind of by generational lines, another men vs women, and one night we even put room cards in the bread basket and drew names! You can imagine the jokes that went along with everything that night! :D It's too bad that so many only see the negative when things don't work out exactly how they imagined it would be. We have found that anytime dining works well for us even though it's not a perfect match.

[vamcd]

AZPAM-

 

how did you set up your resevation in PC dining for everynite. we are a group of 26 celebrating our sons wedding. we want to do as you did, 6:15, about 4 tables, and everyone can switch off everynite, but it also leaves them free to go to the specialty or what ever. i would appreciate your advice. thanks so much.......

[AZPam]

When we boarded, one in our group went right away to the dining room to make a reservation. He explained the situation, gave a little tip, and it just wasn't a problem. I think it helped that we agreed to eat earlier too.

 

One thing I have noticed with the anytime dining is that it seems like they want you to eat early anyway. Has always just worked out better for attending the shows and the evening entertainment. At least for us. Anyone else notice that?