Anytime dining is not at "any" time on the Diamond!

[skarletohara]

Just back today from the Diamond. Absolutely loved everything about the

ship EXCEPT for the anytime dining! Let me just say that we've been

on the Golden and the Star Princess where we've had anytime dining and

it worked beautifully on those ships.

 

However, that being said, I caution anybody with anytime dining that it has severe flaws on this ship. We actually did make reservations when we first boarded for the first two nights. We were told that we could have either 6:20 or 8:20. We were among the first wave of passeners to board the ship.

 

I asked the concierge what about the 7 o'clock hour? He replied -- and this is a direct quote that, "The 7 o'clock hour is entirely reserved for walk-ins only"

 

Well, I believe I've read on this board that others had made reservations for 7:30 or 7:00. Anyway, that being the case we chose one of the other two times.

 

So for the third night we had no reservation and showed up to the Santa Fe

dining room where we encountered the longest line that we've ever seen on

a cruise ship dining room, and everyone was hoppin' mad that they were turned away for dinner. This was at 7:45 p.m. and we were all RUDELY addressed by the maitre'd and chastised for not having a reservation. We were informed that they have "this many passengers" to feed and blah, blah,

blah, and we were told that we HAD to make a reservation, and I told him

that reservations were suggested but not mandatory, and that if they were

going to call it anytime dining that we should truly be able to eat anytime!

The people in front of us had a reservation and they too were turned away.

Oh, and it was there that they informed us that only 20 percent of the tables were reserved for walk-ins.

 

And I might add that several of the tables went unoccupied in many of the

restaurants in which we dined!

 

It seemed that the only complaint coming out of this particular ship was pertaining to this Anytime dining situation. It was quite a topic among several of the passengers that we met. Princess needs to get their act together on this one and just go back to a system of first come, first serve and that should make it fair for all.

 

Oh, so on day 4 I called and asked if I could just go ahead and make reservations for the remaining 4 days and I was informed that I could, and

oddly, now they had 8 o'clock available for each successive night, whereas, at the beginning of the week it was ONLY 6:20 or 8:20.

 

Although each restaurant was very good, I really did not like having to make reservations. And I also did not like having to sit at a table for 2 every single night. We told them we were willing to sit at a "share" table and they told us flat out, no.

 

I hope Princess doesn't start this system fleetwide, because if they do, I won't be coming back. As of now, I will say that Princess did a very good job in every other area. However, the main reason I've been choosing this line is for the flexibility surrounding the eating times.

 

I just don't get it. It seems more like traditional dining if you can only choose 6:20 or 8:20!???

[taxatty]

The Anytime dining rules do seem to fluctuate as Princess works out the kinks in the system. When you're on one of the mega-ships, it is inevitable that a problem may ensue if everyone decides to eat at the same time at the same place. (Of course, other dining room choices were available that may have been less crowded.) We were very pleased with traditional 2nd seating on the Diamond, with one night at Sterling and another at Sabatini's. Not sure if the Sterling night is still a possibility, however, under these circumstances.

 

Les

[bcs819]

I was on this same sailing and we have pretty much decided not to do Princess anymore because of these huge dining hassles. We were not addressed rudely, but we were stressed out about dinner every night and that is just not how I like to spend my vacation. We did meet others from these boards and were calling it "personal choice, not by choice :(" Twice we tried Princess and twice they royally screwed up dinner for us. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me...

[Lizzybell]

Hello-I was on the Sapphire in July and we had similar experiences. I attempted to make reservtions immed. upon boarding and was told no res. between 6-8pm.

What puzzled me was every nite we showed up for dinner at @ 7:30 the MTD would ask if we had reservations?? I was never able to get a straight answer as to how I would have reservations at 7:30 if none were allowed to be made????? After the 4th nite of being asked we made a joke of it . We had no waits to speak of & enjoyed the anytime dining. Do High Tea at least once if they offer it. Liz

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

We were on the Sapphire in June and I made reservations for each night as soon as we boarded. We had no problem between six and six-thirty, but I really didn't like the idea of needing reservations ahead of time. I would much rather no reservations for anyone and have them fill the dining rooms as people walk in.

[ijkh]

We gave the maitre'd in charge a nice large American bill on our Europe Star voyage last summer and suddenly a table for 2 at 7:00 was ours after much stress and anguish prior to this with unanswered phone calls to reservations, rude young assistants treating us like unruley school children. We complained and gave some cash and it all worked our. For our trip next summer we are avoiding the whole STRESS of anytime by booking late seating table for four with our friends. Lets hope it works smoothly next Sept.

[melissa_bel]

They really need to fix that problem on the Diamond and Sapphire but I'm surprised at problems happening on the Grand Class. Of all the nights DH and I went to the dining room, the longest we had to wait was 5-10 minutes and it was the only time we dined with a group.

[Murphey]

Okay.....I really don't "get" it...I am not new to Princess, have sailed lots....but it seems to me, reading the boards that Personal Choice, isn't. Doesn't it severely defeat the purpose if you have to make reservations?????

And, it seems like you have to make reservations the day you board for the rest of the week. What does "Anytime" have to do with that????

[espmass]

Every time I read one of these messages about problems with Anytime Dining, I get worried that we made a big mistake in opting to try it for our upcoming cruise on the Star in February. I keep wondering if we should switch back to Celebrity where we can stick with traditional dining(too late to chance back on this ship). Yes, making a reservation does seem to defeat the purpose of AD but it does alleviate the problem of having to wait in line at a popular time. At least that's what we were led to believe. I have been having doubts as to whether I made the right choice ever since I made it, although I have also read some good opinions of the AD experience.

[palolake]

It must just depend on the ship. We had such a bad experience with anytime dining the first time that we tried it that we don't ever want to take the chance again. The evening meal is a big part of the whole cruising experience for us. And if you have to make a reservation each night, that just defeats the whole purpose.

[Bob & Barb]

We were on the Diamond for the 9/4 sailing to Alaska and we encountered EXACTLY the same problems as skarletohara. And to top it off, we had been upgraded to a pent house suite and even emphasizing that didn't make ANY difference when we tried to get PC reservations. We ended up going to one of the four restaurants early every evening and arguing with the Maitre'd until he seated six of us at a table and sometimes he put us with two or four others. And EVERY evening there would be 6 to 10 tables for six that sat idle the whole time we were there. This really needs to be fixed! Other than that, it was a great trip in all other respects.

 

Bob

[Coral]

This is not good.......

[Solo Cruiser]

I have sailed the Star once and the Grand once, both times choosing Anytime Dining. I never made a reservation, I was always seated at a large table (per my request) within 5 minutes of arrival at the dining room. Usually, I got to the dining room around 6pm but sometimes as late as 7:30 and there was never a problem. Now, Sabatinis and Sterling require reservations, and I will make them on my first day aboard. But other than that, anytime should mean anytime.

[spongerob]

I agree, Sandy. We used Anytime once, and didn't have any problems as long as we were willing to be seated with others. We did have a short wait when we wanted to sit with others we had met. Personally, I think they'd do better if they'd can the entire reservation thing entirely. Anytime means anytime. If you want a set time every night, there's traditional.

 

The complaints here (and I'm not arguing with them) stem from a system that tries to be all things to all people. You can't please everyone, and when you try, you usually end up pleasing noboby.

[gatour]

"If you want a set time every night, there's traditional."

 

The trouble with this, is that for me is that early seating can be too early and late seating is too late. I like to have pre dinner glass of wine while enjoying some music in a lounge to unwind (especially if we are in port that day) and early seating doesn't give me much time to do this. Late seating is just too late in the evening for me to enjoy my dinner.

[Hilary G.]

We cruised on the Island last February and had anytime dining and it was anytime! We waited a couple of evenings perhaps 10 - 20 minutes, gave us time to talk to others who were in the area and have a pre-dinner drink.

We sometimes sat at a table with others sometimes a table for two with no problems.

 

Hope you don't let one bad experience turn you off.

[Coral]

As far as traditional - I booked a cruise 6 months out and am now waitlisted #340. There is no way I can clear since final payment has been made.

 

To get traditional dining - sometimes you need to book really far out and with my job, I am unable to.

[spongerob]

I like to have pre dinner glass of wine while enjoying some music in a lounge to unwind (especially if we are in port that day) and early seating doesn't give me much time to do this. Late seating is just too late in the evening for me to enjoy my dinner.

You can still do all that, and not have to be tied to traditional dining times. I'm suggesting that the complaints might be minimized if reservations were not allowed in Anytime, just walk-ups. I'm not saying that Anytime needs to be gotten rid of.

 

Maybe some of the information posted here is out of date or incorrect, and needs to be corrected so that expectations aren't dashed on board.

[bottomfeeder]

We were on the Sapphire in July and also were told we could only make reservations at 6:30 or earlier, or 8 or later. When I questioned the person taking the reservations he said that was their policy. Well, just like many others we were hoping to eat around 7 or 7:30...but we found that if we showed up at say, 7:30, and when the maitre'd asked if we had a reservation we said "yes, although we are a little early", we got seated at our requested table for 4.

 

There was a huge long line for the second formal night and people were cutting in line and making other people angry...not sure what the holdup was getting people seated. This was at about 8 p.m., and I can't remember which dining room. We had to wait about 10-15 minutes to get to the head of the line and then were seated at our reserved table. Other than that night, did not experience any problems at all with Anytime Dining.

 

And I disagree with those posters who say that these boards have not contained the information about how Anytime Dining works on Sapphire and Diamond--I posted about the "no reservations between 6:30 and 8" and I have read several other posts about it. So the information has definitely been out there--not on the Princess website though.

 

However, I'm sure this is a tricky concept to get just right so that you end up with the shortest lines. They are still fine-tuning the logistics and that isn't surprising. Think about it--passengers reserve a table and would be very upset if they showed up and the size of table they had reserved was not available for them; yet those same passengers could decide on the spur of the moment to eat onshore or at the Horizon Court and so now the table is sitting empty--and Princess has to figure out how often and when and where that is going to happen among 4 Anytime dining rooms! That is a complicated problem! And in my opinion, not allowing reservations at all would make the problem, and the lines and waits, a whole lot worse than they are.

 

I happen to think it's a great concept and it's the main reason I end up sticking with Princess even when I'm tempted to try other cruise lines!

[SueSea]

You can still do all that, and not have to be tied to traditional dining times. I'm suggesting that the complaints might be minimized if reservations were not allowed in Anytime, just walk-ups. I'm not saying that Anytime needs to be gotten rid of.

Sounds like the issue is semantics to me. Those who say the current system is not "Anytime Dining" are technically correct. Perhaps instead of eliminating reservations, Princess should require everyone to make a reservation either for the week or for each day and call their system, "Schedule your own dining time." Eliminating reservations will not minimize complaints--more people will have to wait for a table during peak periods. There are, after all, a limited number of seats. If everyone chooses to just show up for dinner between 6:30 and 7:30, there just aren't enough seats.

 

I hate having to decide upon early seating (often too early, especially on port days) and later seating (always too late), and I'm not a big fan of the buffet for dinner. Personally, I don't expect "Anytime Dining" to mean that I can be seated in a dining room at the exact moment I feel like dining--with or without a reservation. I'm happy to have the option of eating in a dining room at 7 instead having to select early or late seating, even if that means I have to wait until 7:30 on occasion.

 

If memory serves, when NCL went Freestyle, they offered half price at their premium restaurant to dine at earlier or later times to help even out the demand. Princess should be devising ways to incent folks to eat outside of peak times. How about a free glass of wine for Anytime Diners who select an early or late dinner time? Or free bingo cards? There are a number of low cost ways to encourage folks to happily change their dining times.

[Murphey]

As far as traditional - I booked a cruise 6 months out and am now waitlisted #340. There is no way I can clear since final payment has been made.

 

To get traditional dining - sometimes you need to book really far out and with my job, I am unable to.

 

Coral...we were waitlisted #70 for late traditional after final payment and it just sat there for weeks. All of the sudden, each day it went down 2 or three places and we just finally got confirmed. Great news, however, after all that, we found that the Star does not have tables for 2 in their traditional dining room. Now, I don't know what to expect!!!

[tom-n-jules]

Can people who contend that late traditional seating is "too late" expand a little further why they think that? I'm curious why this is not an acceptable option for you in your individual situations.

 

At home we usually eat dinner between 5 and 7 pm. But on the cruise we always have late seating at 8:30 and it works out great, what with all the stuff you have going on during the day onboard, especially on port days. It gives us both time to unwind a little, shower, dress, cocktail, etc. I actually wouldn't move it any earlier, or later than that!

[spongerob]

Sounds like the issue is semantics to me. Those who say the current system is not "Anytime Dining" are technically correct. Perhaps instead of eliminating reservations, Princess should require everyone to make a reservation either for the week or for each day and call their system, "Schedule your own dining time."

That's an interesting suggestion, Sue. It has some merit, but I think it defeats the intent of Anytime that permits people to dine at the time they choose, even different times on different nights depending on their whims.

 

It is also worth noting that some maitre d's seem better able to handle reservation requests. Others seem to discourage the idea entirely.

[BJS]

Can people who contend that late traditional seating is "too late" expand a little further why they think that? I'm curious why this is not an acceptable option for you in your individual situations.

 

I can give you 2 of our reasons. 1) DH has GURDS and he was sick all night the several times we had late traditional seating. Eating that late doesn't give him enough time to digest his food before retiring. 2) When shore excursions meet at 7:00 am, and you have to get up before 6 am, we find having late dining and then seeing a show or just staying up several hours after dinner finishes at 10 pm doesn't give us enough sleep.

[maryevelyn]

Hi, just like some others, I am confused why you would want to make reservations for dinner if you select personal choice. We prefer personal choice

because we like our table for two and the flexibiltiy of dining when it suits our

schedule. Sometimes we dine earlier to work around the later show and sometimes we go to the first show and dine afterwards. We have never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table. We have cruised Golden and Grand. We are trying out Sun next time. We did use traditional dining on our last RC cruise and that worked out well as we were travelling with family and we were a large group.

My sister just got back from Med.cruise on Star and said they selected personal choice, enjoyed their wait staff so much that they made a standing reservation for the rest of their cruise for that same table. This I can understand, as I have heard other people say this. My sister said she enjoyed it so much she might always choose personal choice. It does make the dining experience a little speedier when you are not waiting for an entire table to be served all the different courses.