I don’t know what kind of seating to choose.....

My husband and I recently got married. We’re looking to go on a cruise since we didn’t get a chance to go on a honeymoon due to work. We own a trucking company. But we were wondering what should we choose for seating arrangements for dinning. Anytime dinning or scheduled? And is there an option to eat alone? With just us two?

Zoryana ❤️

If you want to eat by yourself ask for a small table for two. If your interested in meeting other honeymoon couples or other couples your age ask for a larger table. The cruise lines try there best to accommodate everyone. Personally, my family prefers to have traditional late seating at a smaller table, usually between 8:00PM or later. I have also used Anytime Dining on a few occasions. Under that category you can enjoy dinner between certain hours when the main dining room is open. You show up during that time and are seated by yourselves or under certain circumstances with other passengers. If on the first night you enjoy the service of specific dining room staff you can make reservations to be placed in their area for the remainder of your cruise.

We enjoy tablemates, so we ask for a large table at a traditional seating.....we look forward to meeting up with our "dinner friends" nightly. If you'd rather eat alone, then the "anytime" option is what you want....they don't seat others with you.

During a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Allure Of The Seas November 2016 I cruised with forty family and friends for my godsons engagement. We ate in the Anytime Dining room and had four tables assigned to us with each table holding ten passengers each. We enjoyed our dining room waiter and assistant waiter so much that when we cruised on the Allure Of The Seas again in January 2017 as a family of three we asked to be assigned to the same waitstaff. We were easily accommodated and again had a wonderful time with the two person staff from Jamaica.

We prefer to have early seating with a table for two. Can finish supper at our own speed , not the speed set by orfers at the table.

It's your honeymoon.

Just eat by yourselves.

Keith

The buffet is a great option, you can eat when you want and you won't have to share a table.

Consider AnyTimeDining and say you want a table for two. There may be a bit of a wait sometimes but you will get your table for two. (y)

Just be aware that whatever you try, if it doesn't work out, you can ask for a change. What you think you want now might change by the time you sail. EM

Just be aware that whatever you try, if it doesn't work out, you can ask for a change. What you think you want now might change by the time you sail. EM

Good advice. The folks who run the dining room try really hard to accomodate. My wife and I always do the "My Time" (or whatever the cruise line we're on calls it) and always just the two of us. No surprise, tables for 2 are in high demand, but we still never have trouble finding one. These dining rooms are huge and people are constantly coming and going. So if there isn't a table available right away...there will be soon.

We often sail on Royal Caribbean, and when we board, we go straight to the dining room and make a reservation for that night, once we've seen when the shows are on, so that we can be sure to catch the show. Then each night, on our way out, we stop and make reservation for the next night. That seems to work best, and we've never waiting more than 6 or 7 minutes using that method...and we almost always get the same wait staff, which is nice. But if the area they seat you in doesn't suit you, you can ask for a change for the rest of the cruise. Or a change of wait staff (we've never had to do that). etc.

Someone suggested just eating at the buffet. That's theoretically good advice, but the experience of eating at a buffet is SO different than at the dining room. The dining room experience will be far from perfect (it's noisy, the tables are quite close together, sometimes getting drinks can take time)...but to me it's still night and day compared to the buffet. Even on the most hectic nights, once we're seated and the menu is in front of us, I go into an extra level of relaxation. The buffet is always vaguely stressful, as finding a place to sit can be a challenge, and the atmosphere is even more hectic. If you're literally just trying to get some food in your belly...fine. If you're trying for a nice experience...it's the dining room all the way. Just my opinion.

I think your earlier posts were re: an NCL cruise - they're all about doing whatever whenever, so there is no set dining time. Since you're asking about 'Anytime' though I assume you're also considering Princess now?

We've always done Anytime dining on Princess and never had a problem getting a 2-top (as already mentioned, you usually wait a bit instead of going straight to a table - and Princess is certainly very prone to having the folks at the door spin you a pile of hogwash about how long it will take to, shall we say, 'encourage' you to opt for a shared table instead. We've been consistently told 20, 30 minutes, sometimes even 45 or more, and literally never had to wait more than 5).

If you'd rather have the same table, same waitrons, same time and the Early or Late timeslots work for when you like to eat, you could certainly try for a Fixed dining time. Hopefully as honeymooners they'll give you priority - but high status previous cruisers might still be prioritized over you, and depending on the cruise you could find over half the ship has Platinum or Elite status!

Even 2-tops though are rarely nice quiet, romantic tables suitable for whispering sweet nothings - spacing is tighter than any land-based resto I ever visit, frankly you may as well be sitting at the same table with the folks on at least one side of you at most of them. We don't sit at them to get away from other folks voices, but to ensure that we get our dinner at our own pace.

We like anytime dining. It's just like a land based restaurant. You go between certain times and eat when you want. You don't have to be rushed back from a port for dinner if you're in port late, or you don't have to worry about hurrying up to your scheduled dinner. You go on your schedule (between certain times, 6:30-9 I think? I could be wrong on those times). You can sit with strangers if that's your thing, or you can sit by yourself and enjoy each other. If you like the wait staff, you can request the same wait staff each night, or you can get new wait staff. Again, just like a land based restaurant.

I like the 6 PM dining. My table is ALWAYS ready.

Just be aware that whatever you try, if it doesn't work out, you can ask for a change. What you think you want now might change by the time you sail. EM

Good to know. Our first night we have our time set, and it's a special day for two of our party (a 70th birthday and a 17th birthday in the same day; Quite special!), so I would prefer we didn't have to share with others because when they do the cake and singing, wouldn't that annoy tablemates?

Well, we'll see what happens and make the most of it. It's a wonderful trip and I am so eager to board already!

AnyTime dining is dining that looks just like going out to eat at home. You walk up, say how many in your party & get seated when there is a table. At prime times like 7 p.m. there may be a wait With Anytime dining, if you meet people you like on your cruise you can chose to eat with them; just say that now you are 4. You can also ask for a table to share if you are feeling sociable.

With traditional dinning you will be seated at a larger table usually 6-10 in the same spot in the same dining room with the same people at the same time every night. So if you like adhering to a schedule this is for you. It's not that easy to get a table for 2 in this setting

HI, how do we request for a smaller table on RCI? Is it available online, or on email?

If you want to eat by yourself ask for a small table for two. If your interested in meeting other honeymoon couples or other couples your age ask for a larger table. The cruise lines try there best to accommodate everyone. Personally, my family prefers to have traditional late seating at a smaller table, usually between 8:00PM or later. I have also used Anytime Dining on a few occasions. Under that category you can enjoy dinner between certain hours when the main dining room is open. You show up during that time and are seated by yourselves or under certain circumstances with other passengers. If on the first night you enjoy the service of specific dining room staff you can make reservations to be placed in their area for the remainder of your cruise.

I cruise on Carnival, and I prefer their Your Time Dining. We can always get a table for two that way, and I like the flexibility of being able to go to dinner whenever we want. We also seem to have better service, for whatever reason, when we do YTD as opposed to the set dining time.

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