Alaska cruise question

[Dirtyoldad]

Hi All, re Dinner on 7 days Alaska cruises... early or late seating, or should we just do PC ??? Why one or the other?? We are both in our 50's and we do plan several shore excursions (on our own)

[Host Caroline]

Personally in Alaska that's one itinerary I am doing PC dining...you didn't mention what ship so not sure what port hours are but if you are in port during evening hours you can come back and eat at your leisure or in one of the alternative restaurants...I suppose with the alternatives and Horizon Court you could do traditional dining but sometimes I just want a nice dinner in the dining room but NOT on a set schedule.. Plus folks are coming back onboard at varying times if you are in port thru the evening so it may not be as congested for PC dining as it can get in Caribbean.

[jimbug]

In Alaska, it worked out well for us to have PC. However, I think we would also have been fine in traditional, as we were not in any port very late except Victoria. (in which case, eating very early or having 1st seating would be beneficial)

[MNYTRPS2GO2]

We were on the Sapphire this past summer and had Personal Choice dining. Prior to departure I looked at our port schedule. As soon as I got onboard I called and made our reservations for the week. I made sure to schedule an early dinner for Victoria and did not make a reservation for the day in Juneau. The rest of the week worked out fine and included an evening at Sabitini's.

In a few weeks we are sailing on the Star and will probably make reservations only for the night we are in San Juan. The rest of the week we will play it by ear and eat on our own schedule.

[Budget Queen]

In Alaska, late or PC/freestyle dining is my clear preference. I have been know to skip a few meals on the "standard" sailings, so to enjoy a late port or late sailing. Food is way down my list. There can be some excellent evening sailing opportunites for marine wildlife which I won't miss. With PC you have up until 10 pm to dine. :)

[Geezer Jim]

PC worked well for us on our Alaska cruise.

[LARGIN]

PC is our choice, when available, on all of our cruises..

[Lynda90]

I've done both and liked both. If you want to be assured that you will be with other people, than I would say traditional. With PC, you can be seated with others or not. Just depends on what's available when you get there. Most tables are reserved for a certain amount of people and there might not be room for you so you may have to dine alone. If you don't mind that, then you probably would like PC. On my last cruise, we were with a group so PC worked out just great and I really like it. On my next cruise, my Mom and I will be going by ourselves and we have chosen Traditional so we can be sure we will sit with others. Just some things to think about.

[Cruisin' Chick]

While we were on the Sapphire last summer, we noticed that several of the port departure times turned out to be different (early) from the brochure. We do the traditional (our waiter turned out to be our assistant waiter from the last cruise!) but you may prefer PC. And we literally ran back to the ship in Victoria just to make our seating (late seating always for us) but at least there's always the Horizon.

[Coral]

Personally - I prefer Traditional dining but in Alaska - PC is best. You are in port late and it is just easier to go to dining whenever.