Personal Choice Dining

K

kruznut

Guest
Maybe my thinking is off on this, but does anyone else ever wonder where all these restaurants with cover charges may lead ? It might get to be so popular and widespread that the cruise lines may decide that we are willing to pay extra for all of our food and stop including it in the price of our cruises.



Post Edited (01-02-04 22:41)
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
im sure if the cruise lines did that people would stop cruising and go back to resort all inclusive vacations, i sure hope not. I would hate to be stuck in one place again all week long :)
 
C

Cruise cutie

Guest
Well they won't have to count us in...we have no desire to even try PC dining...I like the late night traditional 2nd seating...and as we book 18 months ahead for our sailings we hope to dear above that we don't get PC or my DH who is a BIG guy will be ever so polite but FIRM on getting us switched back to 2nd seating tout'suite!!! The food is awesome,the seat mates for the time have always been wonderful to meet and we plan our evenings perfectly around the time as we stay up late on purpose...we are on vacation and we like the way the mealtime works..the last 2 cruisings PC people were running around with beepers and annoyed that they had long waits... especially on Formal nights..so someone else can have my PC dining slot...Happy sailing all...:)...Joanne
 
K

kruznut

Guest
I know a lot of people seem to love the personal choice dining option and that's alright if that's what they like. But we love the traditional dining. I can go restaurant hopping at home. When we're cruising, i love to get to know the waiters and tablemates.
Somehow it just seems to be special.
 
L

Lady Jag

Guest
We've done Personal Choice with Princess and liked it when we had a group travelling with us. But, being just the 4 of us, I don't think I'd do it. There are times when I think it's appropriate, like on a European itinerary that is very port intensive.

But, I think you're talking about the Alternative Dining Venues like Sabatini's, Chop's, etc. where you pay a cover charge to eat there. I also hope these don't become too popular or the cruise lines will eventually go toward this money-making scheme. I hope it doesn't come down to that though. :? :? :?
 
K

kruznut

Guest
I guess i kind of suspect that the personal choice deal might be the bridge that could cross over into this alternative dining extra money making situation. And i guess that's why i'm having a hard time differentiating between the two.
 
L

Lady Jag

Guest
Okay, now I see what you're talking about. I wouldn't be surprised. The Personal Choice thing is very similar to eating at home. I can see where it'd be easy to switch over to charging people for meals, I just hope it never comes to that!
 
M

mlzangel78

Guest
to be honest with you we chose PC dining and in essence got trad, read my review of the dec 7th grand sailing to see what i mean,,, never a wait
 
G

gram

Guest
We enjoy the personal choice dining. I will not go to the speciality restaurants. I have always enjoyed our meals in the regular dining rooms. I also think if everyone keeps paying for dinner that eventually all dinning room will have a charge. The cruise ships are always looking for ways to cut cost.
 
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paulfredo

Guest
I have talked with some of the management on the ships and they claim that the alternative restaurants are not a profit center, but instead, usually operate at a slight loss. Perhaps that's untrue... I don't know. I do know that we decided to try the alternative restaurants (how can I give a realistic critique if I don't try it?) and in some cases it wasn't much better than the regular dining, and in others, it was much better. Without a doubt, the Normandie on Summit was the best food we've had at sea, and as good as some of the very best restaurants we've tried on land. However, we had the opportunity to try Freestyle Dining on NCL, and it is almost like having to pay for dinners onboard, because the no-charge dining wasn't nearly as good.

There are a lot of people who seem to like the Freestyle concept... we did not. We will OCCASIONALLY go to an alternative restaurant, but we prefer the traditional seating. We've also tried Personal Choice Anytime Dining on Princess, but there's no charge for the main dining rooms. We don't prefer Anytime Dining, although I can understand how some people may. If it eventually gets to the point where all of the mass market lines change to a Freestyle or Personal Choice dining system, we will not cruise on those lines, and probably will start vacationing in Maui every year like we did before we became cruise addicts.

paul
 
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Sandy G

Guest
We always opt for traditional 2nd seat dining but we'll be sailing this March on the new Diamond Princess and we're going to try Personal Choice. We were intrigued by the 4 PC dining rooms, each with it's own theme and menu. We've tried Sabatini's before and enjoyed it so it looks like, on our 7 day cruise, we'll try each of the 4 themed restaurants and Sabatini's. We were thinking of also trying Sterling Steak House but with the mad cow disease problem, I think we'll pass on steak. Anyway, were looking forward to P.C. dining and when we return, I'll post our experience.

Sandy
 
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