We are first time cruisers and looking forward to enjoying the evening activities on the ship. We have choosen anytime dining on Princess. Can anyone give me a general idea of when the evening activities normally start? Will eating after 7:30 cause you to miss the evening shows?
The shows and live music usually start 6pm or so and continue all evening, here and there. For the big production shows or special guest entertainers they typically do two shows on those nights - an early one and a later one so those with assigned seating dining can get to see it. They don't do the big shows every night. A 7 night cruise will usually have two production shows and the other nights will have lesser shows or perhaps a guest star. On those nights they might only do the show once - again it is usually at a time when everyone with assigned seating might be able to attend. On the nights with only one show my experience is that it is often later - say 10:30 or so.
You can attend either the early or late show, so you'll have to gauge your dinner time accordingly. Show times will be prominently noted in your daily Princess Patter.
I might also add: don't show up just before the show starts and expect to find seats. It is safe to get there 20 minutes or more early so you won't be disappointed. Oftentimes the cruise lines will hold bingo right before the show, and thus the place might be packed with bingo players who then stay put for the show. You'll have to keep an eye on the schedule and see what is planned for the showroom prior to the big performances.
Dave Editor, CruiseReviews.com
Posts: 14641 | Location: Alabama | Registered: December 12, 2005
We did anytime dining and it worked out a lot better than we thought. We made reservations the first day when we boarded and asked for a window seat. We arrived at the specific time 5:30. We liked our table and waiter so every day we made reservations for the next night asking for table #__ and so had it all week...except for one night we had a late port day....Also, eating at 5:30 we finished just in time to make it to the 7pm shows!
Originally posted by cousins: We did anytime dining and it worked out a lot better than we thought. We made reservations the first day when we boarded and asked for a window seat. We arrived at the specific time 5:30. We liked our table and waiter so every day we made reservations for the next night asking for table #__ and so had it all week...except for one night we had a late port day....Also, eating at 5:30 we finished just in time to make it to the 7pm shows!
If you make reservations for same time/table it defeats the purpose of "ANYTIME DINING"
We prefer to eat when we are hungry so times vary with the port or other activities of the day. We prefer not to be locked into a time slot to eat.
I thought anytime dining was first come first served, ( if a table that fits your needs available). We are on a 14 day Hawaii in Oct and being abe to reserve a few of the 8 days at sea would come in handy. EB
It is first come/first served, but you can request the same table/wait staff and make a reservation, if you desire. On Princess, they will not let you make a reservation later than 6:15 so they can accomodate those that like to eat during the usual American dining hours.
So if you request a certain table and wait staff you just wait until that table opens up and if it does not open up until after 6:15 then you just sit where they have room. Do I have that right? Thanks EB
If you want the same table/staff, you would have to wait until it would become available. If you don't mind a different table, they will seat you immediately. If it is entirely full, they will give you a pager, like in a restaurant, so you can have a drink or a stroll on deck or shop. If you say you will share a table, you normally will not have any problems being seated immediately. The longest I've heard for a wait was about 20 minutes. I don't know if they were waiting for a specific table, though.
If you make reservations for same time/table it defeats the purpose of "ANYTIME DINING"
Yes, I thought you just showed up and got the next available seats.
On RCI, if you do My Time dining you have to prepay your gratuities.
I don't know whether to do anytime or not. 6:00 p.m. is fine for me for eating. The thing with anytime is that I might not like the people I sit with. That is true for regular dining room seating, I know, but you have more chances to not like someone. Last cruise the people at my table were all nice. If someone is really obnoxious I would try to change tables or just not go to DR.
Posts: 439 | Location: Maryland | Registered: November 10, 2008
Originally posted by Maurine: [QUOTE] Yes, I thought you just showed up and got the next available seats.
On RCI, if you do My Time dining you have to prepay your gratuities.
I don't know whether to do anytime or not. 6:00 p.m. is fine for me for eating. The thing with anytime is that I might not like the people I sit with. That is true for regular dining room seating, I know, but you have more chances to not like someone. Last cruise the people at my table were all nice. If someone is really obnoxious I would try to change tables or just not go to DR.
Usually that is how it works you just show up you can sit alone or share with others The beauty of anytime is that if you do not like your dinner companions one night you will not have to sit with them the next night unless you choose. We get to meet more people ...different people every night
To call and make a reservation during anytime dining- you eat early but eating at 5:30 gave us just enough time to make the first show. We were 4 adults so we made our reservation for the window seat/table for 4 because we liked eating by ourselves, being able to SEE out the window because its not late (otherwise the window is useless). It worked for us.
