Main dining-can you be late?

We have main dining (5:45) and for one day our tour returns at 5:15( hoping earlier but it is what is is :))

How late are we allowed to be before we lose the table? I am aware that the table needs to be turned over for late dining people. If we are too late how is cabanas at night? Is it much more casual dress or people may dress the same as main dining? I really liked it for lunch so not opposed to dinner but we prefer normal dining rooms.

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It is quite rude to show up late to dinner. If you get back at 5:15, you should certainly be able to shower and dress for 5:45. Too many people? Adults can shower in the fitness center locker room (in the spa). But really, you only need a 5 minute quick shower.

The problem in the dining room is that everything is on a fairly tight time schedule. If you arrive after the appetizers have been served, you'll find that they are no longer available...and that will stress your dining team. Your team will be professional and try to take care of you, but it messes up their schedule and that of everyone at their station. If you are going to be more than about 5 or certainly 10 minutes late, you should probably consider alternatives. Your port days will be "cruise casual" in the dining room, so no need to be fancy. No need for hair and makeup. Shower, dry hair, dress and you are good to go. Or if you are one of those really creative people, wind your wet hair into one of those neat looking arrangements that I could never pull off.

Cabanas dinner is always "cruise casual." They will select about 5 items from the regular menu in addition to a "carved item" and a salad bar. We have always found the service and food to be excellent. It is also much quieter than the MDRs, and if timed right has a beautiful view of the sunset.

Ok very nice. Yes I am such an on-time person so I get this. I can be quick just harder to rush 70 yr woman who moves slowly anyway so may be a cabanas night. At least we won't miss formal night :) I assumed it wouldn't be on the night of a port day.

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It can also be very disruptive to the timing for Animators, as the courses are served and the scene changes are made when courses are completed.

Cabana's might be a good option especially if you have AP that evening.

ex techie

Maybe you can present it to her as, "If you are ready by 5:45, we will go to the MDR. If you are not ready, we'll use an alternative dining room." That would leave it open based on how fast she moves.

Good point :)

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Also, if you think you may miss it, talk to your servers the night before. I've even heard of them taking the next nights app order as an example to allow some extra time, or if you don't make it they will know not to wait (makes their lives much easier)

We had this same situation on our last Disney cruise and when I told our server that we were going to be skipping the dining room because of a late tour he insisted that we still come to the dining room even though we knew we would be 15-20 minutes late. Check with your server and if you let them know ahead of time they may be able to accommodate you. I wouldn't do it on Animators night though as was previously mentioned. I would also let any other party at your table know so they don't wait for you.

Your server will always tell you that it is OK and they will make it work. That doesn't mean that it isn't a pain for them and that it doesn't mess up their system--it only means that they will hustle and try their best to make it work smoothly. They are trained to never tell you "no."

Laurba99.

I've been noticing your recent posts.

I'm concerned you are worrying too much about nothing.

Now I'm all for planning and whatnot, but damn. lol.

Just sail, relax, and enjoy.

There is a natural flow to it all you will pick up after the first day.

Trust me.

Truly no worries.

Try to relax and enjoy the natural flow.

It's worth it, .... if you can.

HTH

ETA; Have you sailed before? ( I see now AoS, great ship) Who does your sailing party consist of? 3 adults, 2 kids? ; (3A 2K)

How many nights? eta; 7 . Which ship? Fantasy. Eastern w/Tortola.

Depending on how everyone feels, for the cruise casual you could go straight to dinner from the port adventure.

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Bear yes I have been so anxious but that has gone away. This post I hoped had a calmer feel to it-just information gathering without stress :)

I've been on three royals 2 celebrity's and a short Ncl and a 3 night dcl dream.Soo I'm prob more anxious than I should be considering how many cruises we have done but used to traveling with just my family and being with MIL adds a different vibe -trying to keep everyone happy.

We

Can't go right to dinner because this tour has us walking through water to get to our boat so we have to immediately get out of our wet clothes!

:)

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Some good suggestions here. One other point to make is that if you are at a MDR table with others its best to let your server know that you may be late, or not there at all, so that you don't delay their service.

Take your time cleaning up and go to Cabana's. Check the Navigator for the times it is open, you might get luckily and have Cabana's be a sit down dinner that night. If it is, then the menu will be a few items for each of the MDR.

Yes if we get back late it's too rushed for MDR. We are going to request a table for the 4 of us so at least whether we are there or not we won't interrupt anyone else's meal.

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Your server will always tell you that it is OK and they will make it work. That doesn't mean that it isn't a pain for them and that it doesn't mess up their system--it only means that they will hustle and try their best to make it work smoothly. They are trained to never tell you "no."

That works for me. For what Disney costs I'm not really worried about inconveniencing them. Service that goes the extra mile is why I am ok with paying the Disney premium.

That works for me. For what Disney costs I'm not really worried about inconveniencing them. Service that goes the extra mile is why I am ok with paying the Disney premium.

I agree with your view, except where you are sticking it to the crew member, and not the company that are making all of the money and profit.....

You are making unreasonable accommodation requests, and taking your distain for the prices out on the wrong people.

ex techie

It's night four. By then the staff knows what we drink and what we order for appetizers. I'm thinking if we are ten min late or less and give a heads up that it's possible can't they just bring us drinks and have apps ready and then we don't miss a beat? It wouldn't be us but guessing normal guests not on a port day may be 10 min late at times. On the three night I thought service was so slow and the food often cold to be honest. I wonder if I should say something this time

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It's night four. By then the staff knows what we drink and what we order for appetizers. I'm thinking if we are ten min late or less and give a heads up that it's possible can't they just bring us drinks and have apps ready and then we don't miss a beat? It wouldn't be us but guessing normal guests not on a port day may be 10 min late at times. On the three night I thought service was so slow and the food often cold to be honest. I wonder if I should say something this time

 

 

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Some servers are much faster and more efficient than others. If your food is being served cold, talk to the head server. It should be fixed right away. Yes, we've had some of those servers.

If you can be seated in the dining room no later than 10 minutes after the starting time, you'll be ok. Any longer than that is too late. It will also help if you look at the menu in advance (it's on the Navigator app) so you know what you want to eat as soon as you sit down. That will also help get things back on schedule. Your server can also show you the menu the night before, again allowing you to decide then.

My favorite server always told us that if we could possibly arrive at the dining room right at the stated time, he could be very quick and give us the best possible food and service-and he did. In addition, he found out what foods my daughter liked and frequently had them for her even when they were not on the menu. For example, she loves steamed broccoli. Yup, she had a bowl of it appear magically. That was definitely a step up from her "Chicken noodle soup and Mickey Bar" cruise. The trick was that he got his station's orders in first...so we were eating while some others were still ordering!

Thanks. It was so frustrating I hate having cold food esp when it was good food but the way our table was situated I didn't feel like it was easy to keep popping up to go complain but I may mention it on the side first night of my experience last time so maybe it won't be an issue on this trip.

What do you do for bday celebrations. She isn't a big dessert ester so seemed like a waste to order a cake. Is it enough to just have on our reservation that we are celebrating her bday on night one?

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Thanks. It was so frustrating I hate having cold food esp when it was good food but the way our table was situated I didn't feel like it was easy to keep popping up to go complain but I may mention it on the side first night of my experience last time so maybe it won't be an issue on this trip.

 

What do you do for bday celebrations. She isn't a big dessert ester so seemed like a waste to order a cake. Is it enough to just have on our reservation that we are celebrating her bday on night one?

 

 

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I would not mention that you had a bad experience last time. Obviously, it wasn't bad enough to keep you from coming back! I would assume that everything would be great. If it isn't, on the very first night, send the food back telling them it is cold and you'd like it served warm AND talk to the head server. That should fix it for the rest of the cruise. If not, talk to the head server every night.

As to birthday--I agree that ordering a cake is a waste. There is a ton of cake all over the ship if anyone wants to eat cake, so you are mostly ordering it for something to sing over. The head server should come to your table the first night to confirm which night you'd like the celebration. IF the birthday is embarkation day and you want to celebrate that night, go to "Dining changes" to be sure that they have it in their records and will do it that night. Any other night, they'll talk to you during the first night's dinner. They are good at talking to the mom so that the little people at the table don't catch on to what the discussion is about. They will confirm which child (or adult) at the table is celebrating and which night. I'm sure you saw a zillion celebrations on the Dream. They bring the birthday dessert and the serving team sings HB. If you don't already have the button, they will give one. We find it works better to get the button from Guest Services early in the day or even the day before. That way, people all over the ship will express birthday wishes.

Thanks. It was so frustrating I hate having cold food esp when it was good food but the way our table was situated I didn't feel like it was easy to keep popping up to go complain but I may mention it on the side first night of my experience last time so maybe it won't be an issue on this trip.

 

What do you do for bday celebrations. She isn't a big dessert ester so seemed like a waste to order a cake. Is it enough to just have on our reservation that we are celebrating her bday on night one?

 

 

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Even though she wouldn't like the cake, the staff would still sing her happy Bday. I think you can get something else other then the cake if she would prefer, or just get her normal desert.

From talking with the waiter on the Alaska cruise, being on time and ready to order will get you the food right away. before it has a chance to get cold.

So, that is what we did and the food was always hot. There was times where a few of us in the group were running late, so the rest would go on and order for the missing people. The navigator app will have the menu, so they could look at it and text their order to you.

The dinning rooms are designed to move everyone thru on schedule, when you get off schedule is when things start going wrong, like cold food.

But say something and the staff will make it right. The server can't always tell if the food is cold when he is serving, so you would have to say something.

They have a special birthday dessert which is complimentary. It just isn't a typical birthday cake. If you want a cake, you pay for it.

Ok good we will take that (complimentary) not to be cheap but she won't eat it so doesn't make sense. I'd rather get her flowers or decorate her room

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Ok good we will take that (complimentary) not to be cheap but she won't eat it so doesn't make sense. I'd rather get her flowers or decorate her room

 

 

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If you get fresh flowers, you cannot take them off the ship into the US (they are illegal under the "fresh produce" rules.