I absolutely HATE "early" amd "late" dining - I want to sit for dinner with my husband when we are ready to eat. This is why I enjoyed NCL's "freestyle" dining last year. We are going on a princess cruise to Alaska next year, and would like to choose "anytime" but am getting conflicting advice about waits, etc. What is the true - not spun by Princess - way it works (choices, etc.) and pros and cons.
I absolutely HATE "early" amd "late" dining - I want to sit for dinner with my husband when we are ready to eat. This is why I enjoyed NCL's "freestyle" dining last year. We are going on a princess cruise to Alaska next year, and would like to choose "anytime" but am getting conflicting advice about waits, etc. What is the true - not spun by Princess - way it works (choices, etc.) and pros and cons.
We did anytime dining last year on the Sea Princess and liked it so much, we're doing it again on the Sun next weekend. The wait time depends on what time you arrive. We would call down for reservations during the day. The latest they would take reservations, at least what I was told, was 6:15 which was fine with us. We didn't have to wait at all. Some would have a wait that showed up around 7:30, but it wasn't long. Everyone that we talked to really enjoyed the convenience. It is the same menu as the main dining room. The only difference is you don't have the same wait staff each evening. You can, however, request the same table each evening, which you might have to wait for depending on the time you choose to eat. No one I spoke with had more than a 30 minute wait for a table. Hope this helps!
My wife and I cruised on Princes last summer (12 days) and this summer (7 days). Both cruises we did the anytime dining. It worked very well for us. Be sure to make a reservation earlier in the day (or the evening before as you leave) and you shouldn't have a wait. After the first night, we always made a reservation (usually with the same waiter so they got to know us) and went in right away.
If you just arrive at 7:00 with-out a reservation, you'll probably have to wait. They'll give you one of those blinking disks and page you when your table is ready.
Hope that helps.
Jim.
We did the anytime dining and never made a reservation ...never really had to wait a long time only on Photo night...seems everyone showed up around same time. But we just went for a walk about the shops and went back .
If you want the same table or have a large group you may have to wait. There was 2 of us & dined at any available table ...we got to meet new people each night!
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Lyn
FORMER CRUISES:
Alexandr Pushkin, Carnival-Holiday, HAL-(old)Westerdam, Orient lines-Marco Polo, Royal Olympic-Olympic, NCL-Dream, Dawn-Princess, ACCL-Grande Caribe, Oceania-Insignia (3), Regatta(4) Marina (1) St Lawrence Cruise Lines-Canadian Empress
My husband and I have sailed with Princess on our last 4 cruises, and are sailing again on the Sun leaving next week. (see you there, Penny3333!!!) One reason we choose to sail with Princess is for the anytime dining. We have never had to wait very long. If you request a table for two and do not have a reservation, you may have a wait. But, that's the fun of it. Sitting with different people every night. The one problem with traditional seating is that you might be seated with people not to your liking. Then you are stuck with them the entire cruise. It makes it convenient to meet different people each night. The past few years, we have met with people at dinner that we spent the rest of the cruise with. With that said, we just all met at the restaurant and sat together for the remainder of the cruise. It's a great time! Hope this helps!
We have never been on a cruise that offered "anytime dining" but we have always had a good time getting to know our tablemates. Never had a problem. However, I have heard people say that you can always request a different table if you're not satisfied with the ones they have put you with, and they always try to accomodate. Also, we enjoy getting to know our waiter & assistant waiter. By the end of the week, we almost feel like we know them. Seems like you would miss out on that by choosing the anytime dining. Just my opinion.
We just returned from 17 days on the Sun - Panama Canal cruise. We had the late sitting and would not do the "traditional" seating again for dinner. On NCL we had "anytime" and loved it. I heard no complants at all by the people who had the "anytime" dining. Yes, sometimes there was a line but it seemed to disperse very quickly.
We did anytime dining on Sun Princess in Alaska and had no problems. Loved it. Last year we were on Golden Princess, did anytime dining and we did have to wait. The longest we ever waited was 45 minutes - we chatted with other passengers in line, made some friends, and the time went by rather quickly. Make the best of any ill situation and you come out on top. I will only do anytime dining - don't want to be set to a schedule for my meals!
We just returned from the Sun Princess this past Saturday & had anytime seating. We normally opted for a 5:30 pm seating & never had a problem and there was always an empty table for 6 available for additional people right next to ours through our meal each evening. We normally finished out meal around 7 and as we left the DR, the line to get seated was never more than 8 or 10 couples & seems to be moving quickly. There were two lines for seating- one for reserved seats - one without. There was never anyone waiting in the reserved line. They do have beepers available if you don't wish to wait around to be seated.
btw- the food quality has improved dramatically on the Sun since last year at this time.
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