dining on the ship

mjuday

What is the defintion of anytime dining on the ship? Do the Tauck travelers have theri own area or are we competing with the other folks on the ship?

Dixie Chick

It means that you can have dinner at any time during the hours that your dining room is open. There is a separate dining room for those who have set seatings with assigned tables with the same people at the same time every night. The old fashined way to cruise, as in Titanic. Generally speaking, there is not a separate section for the 40 or so Tauck guests. Or so I recall. Our trip was 5 years ago.
That said, things are different each evening. Sometimes there is a cocktail hour for Tauck before dinner. Then you go to the dining room as you wish, or there might be an area reserved for you. One night you have dinner as a group in one of the specialty dining rooms...a litle dressier that evening. Some nights you are on your own to eat in the dining room as you wish, or go to the buffet. Or get room service.
We could make reservations for dinner on the evenings when there was nothing planned. We did that the first day. The dining rooms are huge, so there is never much of a problem being seated.
Your TD can, and will, explain all this.
Be aware—-there are two designated “formal nights” during the cruise. Some people were really, really dressy with long gowns and tuxes. Do not panic. None of the Tauck travelers did that. Jackets for the men and something black or sparkly for the ladies will be fine. I wore black pants and a sequin sweater both nights. Lots of the Tauck group were less dressy than that.
We loved this trip. In fact, we are going back July this year with our kids and grandkids to do the same itinerary.
The cruise part was wpnderful, but I think we enjoyed the land portion even more. Alaska is just a very special place.
I hope this helps. Have a fabulous trip.
Nancy

mjuday

Thanks so much for your quick and informative reply.