Diffeence between anytime or traditional dining

[gm217]

Can someone explain the pros and cons of each. Never did anytime and we are thinking of trying it on the Grand this fall.

[fathercop]

If you do a search on this topic, you will find that there are numerous threads about anytime dining vs. traditional dining. Those threads cover it all.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[sayaguru]

Traditional. You get a set time. You eat at the same time in the same restaurant at the same table with the same people EVERY night.

 

Anytime. Choose where, when you want to eat at table size you want.

Same food as traditional, different waiters, different table mates. Or choose a table for 2. Some people mention lines to wait for a table.

[willysgrandma]

Having done both, I will always choose Anytime Dining. I hate being coralled into having to eat at the same time every night. I like to return back from an excursion and be able to relax before taking a shower and dressing for dinner.

 

No more rushing for me. Anytime is the way to go for me.

 

I am actually dreading having to go back to traditional dining on RCCL in September and in fact have two more Princess cruises booked after that and a lot of the reason we continue booking with Princess is because they offer Anytime Dining.

[Karen Carney]

I love traditional seating!!! Having tablemates to discuss your day with, to make other plans with, to kid with and become friends with makes the cruise so much more fun. I also love having the same waiters to know my likes and dislikes. Most of all I love NOT having to say "hi", "my mame is" at every dinner.

[Coolmama_1]

Anytime works for us. We love the flexibility. Since we usually travel with a group, we bring our tablemates with us!:)

[sunneesmile]

Having done both, I will always choose Anytime Dining. I hate being coralled into having to eat at the same time every night. I like to return back from an excursion and be able to relax before taking a shower and dressing for dinner.

 

No more rushing for me. Anytime is the way to go for me.

 

I am actually dreading having to go back to traditional dining on RCCL in September and in fact have two more Princess cruises booked after that and a lot of the reason we continue booking with Princess is because they offer Anytime Dining.

 

 

Our 1st Princess cruise. We are waitlistd on Traditional dining. So if we just settle fro Anytime dining, can you explain to me how we go about getting seated in one of hte dining rooms.?

[DougandEric]

Never having sailed on Princess (we sail Diamond Princess 11-18-2007!) no first hand experience but we were on NCL a few years ago and had 'freestyle' dining - loved it! It's a little less personal than traditional but *you* have more flexibility to eat when and where you want. We were travel ling by ourselves and it worked out great. We've been lucky with traditional dining in that we've never had a *bad* table but did get stuck with a *dud* table once. When on vacation, I don't want to have to play politics or rearrange my schedule to fit others. I think we'll like anytime dining on Princess. Having said that, I still like traditional dining and would not sail a line that only offered that.

[dbdave]

In 'anytime dining', you can call ahead for reservations or just show up at the dining room to be seated. We have never had to wait more than about 10 minutes for a table. We also like the flexible schedule that anytime dining offers. If you like to meet new people just asked to be seated. You may get a table for two, six or ten, you never know, just enjoy!

[LonghornKJK]

Our 1st Princess cruise. We are waitlistd on Traditional dining. So if we just settle fro Anytime dining, can you explain to me how we go about getting seated in one of hte dining rooms.?

 

You just show up! You can ask to be seated with others or by yourselves. If you arrive at a peak time, you may have to wait a few minutes. Sometimes, you're even given a pager.

 

I've had Anytime all three of my cruises. The first time, because we had a party of 14, we had a standing reservation. The second time, it was just my husband and myself and we got a table for two every night except the last formal night, when we were seated with another couple because we asked to be. We never had to wait for a table. The third time, I was with my three grown daughters. We always asked for and received a table for four. We waited only one night -- the first formal night -- for about 15 minutes. Actually, it might have been sooner. We got caught up in window shopping and our pager didn't go off so we went back to inquire and they seated us immediately. We don't know if we strayed too far or showed up just as a table was ready. On the second formal night, we even asked for a specific waiter that we had met at the wine tasting that afternoon and we were seated without delay.

 

There are some who like to make reservations with a particular wait staff after a good experience early in the cruise. Some have said that they hit it off with other cruisers at some point in the cruise and decided to dine together every night, so they also made reservations.

[sultan_sfo]

We like a set time -- DW and I both know when we will eat without having to go through the discussion of when to be ready for dinner each evening! We have also been lucky so far with our tablemates as well as our waiters and asst. waiters.