Anytime Dining - what are your opinions?

[CruisingYiayia]

We'll be sailing on the Caribbean Princess April 27th for one of the short 4 day cruises. Anytime dining has never been an option on any of our other cruises. We have always taken the traditional second seating, but because this is a short cruise, we thought this might be a good opportunity to try the anytime dining. What is everyone's opinion...pros and cons??

[sunsurf]

Anytime dining works best for us. We like having the flexibility of dining when we want. We also like the fact that we can either choose to have a table for two or be seated with a group and enjoy their company.

[Whimsy]

We did anytime dining on our last cruise and really enjoyed the flexibility. We are doing it again on our short May 4th cruise. If you always do traditional and want to try anytime this is a great opportunity since it is only 4 days.

[Druke I]

I prefer Traditional, but as pointed out above, this is a short cruise, so why not give Anytime a try?

[burm]

There are no cons to anytime dining as far as I could see. On the second night of our cruise (Caribbean Princes, April 2007)we had an amazing waiter. From then on we always asked to be seated in his section but every night had different dining companions. It was great to eat whenever we wanted, so convenient on excursions days. We never had to wait more than a minute for a table.

 

I think it is fun to sit with different folks every night. You make so many more friends that way. Everyone is happy to be there and conversation is always lively. No matter who you are, every one at the table is sharing a common, enjoyable experience and there is always lots to talk about.

 

We have had fixed seating in the past but anytime is much, much nicer in our opinion.

[mii]

Like others have said, try the anytime dining. You have liked traditional in the past and always wanted to try it so this will be the perfect opportunity to go for it on this short cruise. I personally like anytime dining as you can dine when you want.

 

marilyn

[whale-watcher]

We like anytime as well..it is our primary reason for choosing princess over other similar lines

[MercedMike]

We are long time Traditionalists. When Anytime came along we were very sceptical. However -- we decided to try it once, and lo and behold we have become great fans.

 

We do miss getting to know our waiter. Finding a good waiter and then making reservations for his section every night sort of misses the point of the flexibility of anytime dining, doesn't it?

 

We also miss getting to know our tablemates and carry the discussion beyond "Where are you from?" and "Is this your first cruise?"

 

But by and large we find anytime dining perfectly satisfactory and normally choose it now.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[phillipahain]

We hate traditional dining so much that we will now only sail on the ships which offer Anytime Dining

 

The Pacific and Tahitian and Royal only offer Traditional and having just got off the Pacific it totally beats me why Princess insist they cant operate Anytime Dining on those 3 ships

 

They were originally part of Renaissance Fleet which were all Anytime Dining as are Oceania and Azamara all run on Anytime dining without a hitch

 

We simply do not want to be forced to eat at 5.45 or 8.15 every ninght

 

5.45 is too early and 8.15 is way too late

[Colo Cruiser]

After the creation of anytime we used it exclusively for 10 or so cruises, however now I find I am missing the traditional experience and have booked traditional the last few cruises. :)

[sunsurf]

 

The Pacific and Tahitian and Royal only offer Traditional and having just got off the Pacific it totally beats me why Princess insist they cant operate Anytime Dining on those 3 ships

 

 

Thanks for sharing. I wasn't aware that those ships didn't offer Anytime. It'll definately play a part in our decsion making when choosing our honeymoon cruise.

[Pam in CA]

I've tried Anytime dining twice and unlike most of the previous posters, experienced long waits, even with a reservation. The first time we did it, on the Grand, the shortest wait was 10 minutes with most waits about 15 - 20 minutes, some longer. We like to eat late and showed up between 8:15 - 8:30PM. The second time we did it, on the Caribbean Princess, we had a standing reservation for the same table every night at 8PM. We had waits of between 5 - 45 minutes -- with the reservation. We also had a table for 10 next to us with a reservation at 8:15PM and every night, when we were done with our soups and salads, we, and the table next to us, had to wait 10 - 15 minutes with dirty plates while the table next to us was getting seated, taking drink orders, and taking dinner orders. Every night when we showed up for dinner, there were very long lines of people who hadn't made a reservation. Many of them were frustrated and angry that Anytime dining really wasn't "any time." From what I've experienced, it doesn't work for me nor does it give me any flexibility. If you make a reservation and then have to wait 30 - 45 minutes, your evening is shot. Because there were so many people waiting, there was no flexibility in requesting another table.

 

I will never, ever do Anytime dining again. It's just not for me. I really gave it a shot but I found it inflexible because of the waits and I felt that with the waitstaff juggling tables on completely different schedules, it wasn't the smooth service I'm used to.

[Pam in CA]

The Pacific and Tahitian and Royal only offer Traditional and having just got off the Pacific it totally beats me why Princess insist they cant operate Anytime Dining on those 3 ships

Easy answer: one dining room and there are many people who do not like or want Anytime. Plus, if you want flexibility or not dress up, there is a Bistro in the buffet area set up as a full-service "restaurant" with a menu, not buffet, that I thought was great.

[giles33]

We really enjoy traditional dinning ... if you get good table mates. I really look forward to dinner when I know I am going to be seated with.

[Cruising Photographer]

We've really enjoy the anytime dining on Princess. On our last cruise we did have a 15 minute wait for the first night's dinner, but we were trying to get in at 7:00 (the busiest time). After that, we made reservations (different times on different days) and were always promptly seated. We could then eat earlier on days at sea and later on days we were in port.

Definiely give it a try. And don't forget you can make reservations for a certain table/waiter you really like if you want to.

 

:)

[CruiseNut7]

My opinion ..... LOVE anytime dining. It's one of the many reasons we enjoy sailing with Princess.

 

I like to determine when I'd like to eat rather than be scheduled.

 

Give it a try - you may enjoy the flexibility! :)

[Robb]

Hate 'anytime', love 'traditional'. That is the main reason we never sail with NCL any more.

[Cruisin' Grandma]

We just had our first anytime dining on the Caribbean Princess. Aside from the flexibility, we hated it. We really missed having the same waiter who knew our likes and dislikes. I felt it really ruined the ambience of the dining room, there was too much activity and hustle.

[newmexicoNita]

I agree about the activity and hussle in the dining room. We still love the concept. We only cruise on lines that offer flex dining. The one thing I did notice about Princess versus NCL: Princess has mainly tables for 6 to 8 while NCL has mostly tables for 2 or 4. It seems with the smaller tables there is less confusion and hussle. I don't know why, but that was our opinion. With the smaller tables we were able to visit a little with our wait persons, unlike Princess where they hardly had time to stop and take a deep breath.

 

I think the op is very smart to try flex dining on a short cruise. This way it is doesn't work they are not stuck for days on end.

 

Nita

[NeurosurgeryNP]

We tried anytime dining for our recent cruiseon the CB. We really enjoyed it. While we did miss the experience of the same wait staff, once we figured out after 2 days who we liked alot,we asked to be seated in their section (and were able to do so without reservations for the remainder of the cruise) and it worked well for us. We did however, tend to eat earlier int he evening as we wante to take advantage of all of the evening activities and entertainment.

[chasetf]

..........The Pacific and Tahitian and Royal only offer Traditional and having just got off the Pacific it totally beats me why Princess insist they cant operate Anytime Dining on those 3 ships

When you only have one dining room you cannot operate both anytime and traditional. One has to be chosen. Traditional is still the most efficient way to operate a dining room because you can maximize seating and more efficiently schedule food production.

 

Another factor that Princess may consider is there is only one convenient small area where people can wait for their table to become available. They may consider that during popular dining times it may become too congested and make passengers upset.

 

Even given that, there are still those that like one verses the other. We for instance like traditional. When you have three dining rooms on a ship then both options are easier to offer.

 

Someday you may see those R ships change over, but for now Princess has chosen to stay with traditional

[Taylor_Dene]

Agree with wanting to keep the same waiter. We've had anytime dining on the last two cruises... first night, check it out and see if you like the waiter, second night try a different one. After that, schedule all of the rest of the nights for the same table (and at roughly the same time) - to ensure you get the same wait staff.

 

We've loved it and both times we've found fun waiters that like to joke around with our group.:D

 

Deb

[Okiguy]

We've done traditional dining on many ships, but our recent experience with anytime dining on the Emerald January 5 cruise was great. Unlike a previous cruise on the Emerald, the Maitre'D asked if you wanted to share a table each time we came to dinner. Usually a table for 6 or 8 was available. You get to meet lots of folks that way...and you are not stuck with a bad waiter or a fellow guest you could do without. We generally went to the DaVinci dining room between 6:00PM and 6:30PM and had no wait any day. This would correspond to the first seating time on the ship.

 

Also, check the first night (embarkation) often has a seafood extravaganza in the Horizon Court with lobster, crab, shrimp. It is well worth skipping the dining room.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Bill (Okiguy)

[BJS]

We think anytime dining is great. You can go when you want, sit with whom ever you want or alone, choose to have a standing reservation at a certain table and request a table at a certain wait station. You are the one to choose what you want to do and not the Maitre'D.

 

It works for us and one of the reasons we've stayed with Princess.:D

 

.

[WehoAtlantis]

Take advantage of the anytime dining while you can. It gets boring dining at the same time and place everyday, especially on the longer cruises. I was on Diamond and it was great to eat in the other 6 dining rooms.

 

Mike