I have never cruised Princess before and we have signed up for the Personal Choice dining because we like the freedom of being able to eat at whatever time is convenient for us. I am wondering though, if anyone knows if the menus are the same in each dining room. Since the personal choice is described as "restaurant style" I wasn't sure if they offered one large menu that is the same the entire week, whereas I know that in the Traditional dining, there is a new menu every night.... I viewed these menus and they look fantastic, so I wouldn't want to be missing out by chosing personal choice dining. Has anyone tried both? Pros/cons?
They are the same menus. Lobster night, crab night, and the rest. The only thing you will miss is the baked alaska parading through the dining room. We used to use late seating and the past 2 cruises we used Personal Choice. We enjoy it so much, we've signed up for it on our next cruise. Best wishes!!
Just a tip. We opted for Personal Choice as well, and found that it was faster to get a table if we opted to share (i.e. be seated at a large table with other couples or small groups). We also found the lines shorter in the lower of the two main dining rooms designated Personal Choice - I guess it was a little farther away for most passengers? (Just one more elevator stop!)
Since it's just my husband and I cruising, we enjoy personal choice dining just for the opportunity to meet different people every night. Also, as Karen stated, if you don't mind sitting at a table for 6 or 8, then you are seated sooner than asking for a table for two. You can always call for reservations earlier in the day if you want a table for two. Only days that may be a problem are on formal nights. Either way, enjoy your cruise!
Thanks everyone. That helps a lot. I think that we will probably end up getting seated with other couples or groups because I know that is one thing I enjoyed about our last cruise. I hope that they would only add you to a table that has requested it. I would hate for them to assume that a couple sitting at a table for 4 wants company if they really don't!
Don't worry about that--they never assume. If they seat a couple that asked for a table alone at a table for four, they will not seat anybody else at that table. They will do whatever they can to make everybody happy.
We used to eat at the traditional dining room until we discovered that the pc is the way to go. We choose to reserve the same table at the same time as soon as we can find a superior waiter & compatible people to eat with. We've been stuck at the traditional dining in the past with couples that we have nothing in common with for the whole cruise. One note- on our last cruise we did miss out on the baked Alaska that was offered in the main dining room. For some unknown reason it wasn't on the menu for pc dining. I still can't figure out why. On another night the assistant waiter told us about the bananas flambé that was being prepared by the head waiter & when we gave our request to our waiter his reply was "he didn't think it was good & that we wouldn't like it"...Very strange for him to say that because he was a good waiter.
I would go with personal choice dining hands-down over traditional dining because of less waiting times, faster service, the opportunity to meet different people from different walks of life, different dining atmospheres at anytime. Happy Holidays!
That's funny because we like it for the exact opposite reasons & it works well for us also. We dislike having the first introductions over & over again. Some day everyone will realize that it's the only way to go & there's no downside to it.
CRUISEMAMA,
I have to agree with RichC on this one
But as I mentioned on another thread, our solution is to have breakfast and lunch occasionally in the dining room which are open seating. We meet new people, and then have traditional second seating dinner with our new old friends. Of course we are very relaxed about meals; you sound like you prefer meals to be a bit snappier.
Which is, of course, why Princess offers both options.
(Just one more elevator stop!)
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