"anytime dining"

[tncruiseman]

We were on Caribbean Princess and booked w/anytime dining. I really missed the interaction with getting to know the wait staff and we ended up making reservations for the same time, same table for each night. For the best personal service, stick with early or late seatings. Also, my 2 cents on the "pay-restaurants" the Steakhouse was marvelous! Don't believe the reservation time wait and just show up with a smile and a tip! the Italian restaurant was a little heavy for rough seas, at least thats me being polite anyway!

[Neutrino78x]

What puzzles me is, if there are set times for the meals, why would they still require a reservation? Unless you want a specific table, I guess.

[caseyg55]

Hi CarolAnn,
I have sailed with Princess 4 times and each time used "anytime dining", it was great. About half the time we had reservations and the other time we just showed up. Never had to wait more that 5 minutes. We dine early so we can see the early shows, maybe that was why we didn't have a long wait. We did notice people wiating for tables when we left. I think the reservations help you get the table and/or wait staff of your choice. We had the same table all week. Also if they know 4/6/8 people with anytime dining want the same time they can hold that table for them. OF course that is all a guess, lol. We cruise again next month and will do anytime dining, again.

Enjoy Life & Cruising
Caseyg

[djcksn]

It depends on which Princess Ship. We went to Alaska on Sun Princess - did anytime dining - loved it. Had absolutely no problems - no waits. On Golden Princess - larger ship- there were waits for anytime dining - sometimes up to 45 minutes. We did not let this bother us. We were not on a set time and if you go out to a nice restaurant, on the average, there would be a wait. Best way to avoid some of the wait time is to dine during the off time. It appeared to be the busiest from 6:30 - 8:00 pm. Hope it works for you.

[Karen Knowlton]

We also sailed on Golden Princess, and chose anytime dining. It worked out very well for us, as we prefer to eat earlier than most people, so we rarely had to wait more than maybe 5 minutes. We always volunteered to share a table, and enjoyed meeting new people. Even made some friends our first night, and ended up eating with them (by plan) several times later in the cruise. We did notice that the wait times were longer during the popular dinner hours (6:30-8), and were also longer in the restaurant on the higher deck. We just went to the lower deck and it was much less crowded!