Personal or Traditional and Why??

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Einstein

Guest
This has been discussed some but I would like to get more opinions on why and what coices yours are. I think both have advatages but need better monitiring of the flow of where people go. What are your thoughts and opinions??
 
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Natalia

Guest
I was a "traditional" girl all the way until my last cruise. We really were not happy with our tablemates on the first night of our assigned traditional seating, so we figured the PC dining couldnt be any worse... might as well give it a whirl. I was VERY surprised, we LOVED it. Met and conversed with many more people than usual, due to sitting with new tablemates each night instead of the same 4 or 6. The more people you meet, the more you seem to run into familiar faces when at the pool, shows, games, in port, breakfast, etc. The service was just fine, and we never waited for a seat (although I know some of you have, most nights there was just the 2 of us as the kids were off in their programs). For our family, this was also a great option because the kids eat with us every night at home, everyone is always home for dinner. So onboard, the kids would eat when they felt like it and utilize the kids programs as much as they wanted also. This gave us time to be alone for adult conversations and entertainment. If we wanted to have dinner with the same folks again, we made arrangements to meet... if we wanted to see some new faces, we had that option too. I don't think I will ever go traditional again. Also, when in port I liked NEVER worrying about getting back aboard at a certain time for our scheduled dinner. We were able to take advantage of EVERY minute in port. PC Dining... wonderful... IMO.
 
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CruisJack

Guest
Ahoy Einstein :)

On our last cruise on the Star Princess, we had requested traditional dining at a
table for eight. When we went to the dining room on our first night, we had been assigned a table for four which wasn't the problem -- but it was near the entrance. So we had passengers walking by on both sides of our table which we deemed unacceptable.
The next day we stopped by the dining room and switched to personal choice and
requested a table by a window. When we went to dinner that night, another couple
was seated at the table for six by a window. They were veteran cruisers with 30+
cruises and had many interesting sea tales to tell. A few minutes later, a young couple joined our table and we had the benefit of hearing of their cruising adventures. The older couple had reserved that same table at the same time for the entire cruise and we did the same thing after dinner on our way out of the dining room.
Each night we enjoyed more marine stories from the veteran cruisers and met another
couple to add divirsity to our group/. Our servers were personable and picked up on our preferences and did an outstanding job of serving us during the cruise.
As you know, you may change your dining time to suit your particular situation on any
day of the cruise. We liked our experience with personal choice that it will be our only
choice on future cruises.
 
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CutiePatootie

Guest
Personal choice is a better fit for us. No more running in from the pool, shopping, a tour....whatever. We have never waited more than a minute or two. Enjoy meeting all the new people and don't run the risk of unpleasant tablemates you may get seated with for the entire cruise with traditional.
 
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SpongeRob

Guest
We've had traditional dining on both our cruises and lucked out with excellent tablemates both times. We would look forward to getting together and discussing our days' adventures with each other. I really enjoy having the same wait staff who learn to anticipate your desires and can provide helpful recommendations.

We're going to be on PC next time out. I'll let you know my thoughts when I write my review, but for now I'm not concerned that it will diminish my cruise experience.
 
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connie seabee

Guest
We were unable to get our traditional seating request. To our surprise we were very pleased with the PC dinning experience. We met new people each night and sometimes ended up getting together for lunch or evening meal with some of them.
 
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stargazerm31

Guest
This is a sensitive subject.

Personally, I prefer the traditional. I know when I am going to eat. I know with whom I'm going to eat. I know my wait staff and they know me. I know (I think) where my tip money is going. I know that I will make the show because I do know exactly when I can eat. There is no thought process involved, no planning on when I might eat, will there be a wait, will I have a good wait staff tonight, will I have table companions or not and will they be good. The only item is to plan excursions around dinning but that is not a problem for Pam and I.

Personal choice has it strong points and I won't criticize anyone who likes it. It just isn't Pam's and my style. The problem that I had on several occasions on the NCL Star was that we had two nights where the wait to eat where we wanted was over 45 minutes and I wanted to eat then. The pay for food restaurants was booked and the wait was the same. Because of that, ended up missing the show on board. Throw in the fact that we had one excellent wait staff and three fair wait staff, it just wasn't as good as the traditional service that I have had on Celebrity or HAL. I'm not saying that the traditional wait staff is perfect, you can get a bad staff for 7-nights or more, but at least I know what kind of service I am in for compared to personal choice where you have to worry every night.

Again, there is no right or wrong answer. To each their own.
 
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Einstein

Guest
Very GOOD comments John and it is Gr8 to see everyones opinion as it seems to come up in every Princess review I read. Thanx for ALL your comments and I look forward to hearing your take on it SR when U return in April.



Post Edited (02-17-03 18:16)
 
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JLP20

Guest
The entire subject may be mute in the future. Just got off the Star Princess. I was confirmed for second sitting traditional, but was bumped out by a very large group booking.

There are three large dinning rooms on this ship. Only one is traditional, the other two are PC. I think Princess will do away with traditional dinning in the not so distant future.
 
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TheRealCruiseAholic

Guest
Both have benefits I'm sure, but I'm sticking with Traditional. I don't want to meet new people every evening, plus I like the benefit of having the same wait staff every evening.
 
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SpongeRob

Guest
I hope that your assessment is wrong, JLP20. I'd like to see Princess adopt Carnival's staggered seatings that offer 4 different times. It would give people more freedom plus eliminate the problems that many have noted with PC.

There is no answer that will please everyone, but Carnival seems to have come up with the best compromise to date.
 
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cannonball

Guest
Rob, that would work especially well on the grand class ships since they have 3 dining rooms, have 2 w/ traditional at staggered times and keep the remaining dining room PC.
 
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Kathy

Guest
On our 17 cruises, we have always done 2nd seating traditional dining. We always ask for a large table and have only had to change once because of our tablemates. We have met wonderful people who have become friends and who we have cruised with again and visited in their homes. I agree with John, I like the comraderie of eating with the same people every night, getting to know them and sharing our experiences of the day. It has always been a high point for us. The wait staff gets to know you, your likes and dislikes and it's one less thing you have to plan. You know when, where and with whom you're dining every night. We always eat breakfast and lunch at the buffets outside. The late dining works best for us, as we don't have to rush back from shore to get ready for dinner and we eat later at home, so it's a good fit. Plenty to do in the everning to work off dinner and we feel less rushed with the dining staff at 2nd seating. We don't do midnight buffets so that's not a consideration. I know lots of people prefer personal choice which is great, but for us traditional is our style.

One more great thing about cruising - dining to fit EVERYONE's style!
 
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maw

Guest
We had personal choice on the Dawn in January. We were seated the first night with a Canadian Couple who had been born in Scotland. We had good waiters. So as we left the dining room that night we made a reservation for the rest of week at the same table with same waiters. We found out the next night so had the other couple. We did enjoy meeting back in dining room each evening. We did traditional on our first cruise and Paw ended up seated with 5 women. We are planning on traditional on the Conquest.
 
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tispwisp

Guest
Having done both on Princess, I see pros and cons to both. We actually give a slight edge to personal choice though. Mainly, because we are not tied down to a time. We enjoyed meeting the different people we sat with every night on personal choice. When we were on the Golden we had traditional early seating and we were the only couple at a table for 10. It was strange being at such a large table - just the two of us. However, we did have the undivided attention of our waiter, Pedro!
 
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