Anytime Dining to Traditional Dining is Their a Concern?

We have a cruise coming up in November and have a choice between Anytime and Traditional (6 or 8:00pm).

 

We've always done Anytime but I'm leaning to Traditional for a change.

 

Anybody gone from this Freestyle type dining to a set time for dining? did you like your choice and did you like the same table mates evening after evening?

 

Thanks,

After cruising 4 or 5 times with Anytime on HAL, we sailed on a Princess ship that had only Traditional. We felt too locked in. Back to Anytime.

 

We always seek tables for two, so tablemates aren't part of this equation.

We have always been fortunate in our table mates - some better than others, but always a few really enjoyable at a table for eight or ten. It is good to have a “nucleus” in the evenings - and, with the advent of “anytime” people who don’t like dining with, and getting to know others, will not be at your table —- which improves the chances of having a compatible group.

 

Worst case: if you have an incompatible group, you can get reassigned - only happened once in dozens of cruises.

We did anytime dining in Alaska on our Carnival cruise and didn't really care for it. Now, we didn't know that we could request the same table/waiter each night. The first night though, we had an OK waiter, so I wouldn't have wanted him again anyway. We felt that the waitstaff didn't give the same attention from when we had the fixed dining. For us, the times that were for set dining work for us.

 

 

 

Now, we also did it on RCI last summer in Europe because our port days had us there so late. This time we did request the same table/waitress each night, basically you can make "reservations" on their ships. So it's still anytime, but with a time you want. So we would go around 6-6:30. Much better experience that time though, having the same waiter/waitress is a much better experience, IMO.

 

 

 

Other than that, we didn't find any other difference or problems!

...did you like your choice and did you like the same table mates evening after evening?

 

Hi there,

 

We have done both types of dining and have loved both types for different reasons. We have had some really wonderful, interesting table mates, and some not so much. It's fun to get to know them and if you really get along well with them, you find yourself looking forward to dinner each night so you can spend time with them. Alternatively, we have had some table mates with whom we just didn't "click", and you know what? That's OK. It happens. :)

 

We also enjoy eating in the buffet at dinner as the ambiance is a little calmer and it's not usually so crowded and rushed. We also like choosing our own items and having a casual dinner alone together.

 

Why don't you go in with an open mind and see what you see. You might know either way after the first night . ;) Having said that, you can go to the buffet for the remaining nights (or some nights) if you feel it's just not what you had hoped for. Simply let your table mates and your wait team know the night before that you won't be there the next night.

 

Have a fun cruise. :)

.

Everyone has different expectations for their MDR experience. My dining preferences and experiences will be entirely different from yours or any number of other cruisers. Some love traditional and dining at large tables with strangers. Some love traditional but hate large tables. Some love anytime dining.... and the permutations go on. The point is, anyone else's opinion is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not you are suited to it.

 

Ask yourself (and perhaps your sailing companion) a few questions. On your past cruises did you typically eat dinner at the same time time every night? If you didn't, would eating at the same time every night, notwithstanding your other plans for the day or evening, pose a problem? If you did, were those times close to the traditional dining times? If they weren't, would either of the traditional times be acceptable on a nightly basis?

 

On your past cruises did you ever eat at large tables with strangers or only at tables sized to your own party? If the latter, how do you feel about the former? How would you react to others at your table whose personalities or habits might clash with your own? Would you view the situation as a possibly amusing or interesting sociological experiment? Or would it ruin your dining experience and send you speeding off to the maitre d' requesting a table change ASAP. Or would you just request a table size just for your own party to begin with?

 

Answer those questions, and you'll have a fairly good idea whether Traditional dining would be a good fit for you. Anyone else's opinion or experience may be interesting, but unless they are your clone, won't guarantee you will have the same outcome.

Personally we find having a fixed dining time too restrictive. It tends to govern all your thinking during the afternoon, in that all your activities have to be timed to fit in with your dining time. I appreciate that there is always the buffet, but we enjoy the social aspect of the mdr, meeting new people each night, and therefore our preference is always to go for Anytime.

 

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We have a cruise coming up in November and have a choice between Anytime and Traditional (6 or 8:00pm). We've always done Anytime but I'm leaning to Traditional for a change. Anybody gone from this Freestyle type dining to a set time for dining? did you like your choice and did you like the same table mates evening after evening?

On our recent cruise we received a series of warning, first several warning that there will be long waits for anytime dining before 8pm, and then a warning that there will be long waits for anytime dining after 7pm. I saw this coming, actually, and switched from anytime dining to traditional dining before both early and late traditional dining both locked up tight.

 

We did a few things to "soften the blow". We booked a couple of specialty meals, at times of our choosing (i.e., between early and late dining times). We also choose to spend a couple of nights at the buffet. We ended up eating in the dining room only a couple of times. I found that arrangement superior to either anytime dining every night or traditional dining every night - so much so that I hope that the cruise lines make more changes to their dining arrangements over time to support this kind of more random dining experience arrangement.

We've done both and prefer ships that offer only any time. When we find a waiter team we like, we stick to them. We tend to eat early and usually have a choice of tables because more passengers eat later.

We have had good and bad experiences with table mates. It's easier to avoid the incompatible ones with any time dining. If you choose traditional seating and plan not to come, please let the maître d' know the day before. The table can then be assigned to passengers on the any time plan for that evening. We have had table mates who never showed up at all in traditional dining and never let anyone know. I thought that was very inconsiderate.

We enjoy table mates, so we usually book a set traditional time. Maybe we've been lucky, or maybe we are just easy to get along with...but we've never had "bad" tablemates!

Anytime dining every time. Fixed dining is too regimented and the expectation of sociability with complete strangers can be a bit of a chore. I prefer to eat when and with whom I want to.

I would never go back to traditional. The times never work right. Early is too early, and late is too late.

I would never go back to traditional. The times never work right. Early is too early, and late is too late.

 

I know a lot of people feel this way, but I have not understood it. Every time you fly a few hundred miles east or west, you need to adjust your time-sense. Even at home, depending on other activities, we will have dinner any time from 6:30 to about 9:00 PM. We find that the (in most cases compatible) dinner partners make our suppers aboard ship into segments of a prolonged dinner party.

We've done both. We prefer Anytime but have had good experiences with Fixed too.

We have gone from traditonal to freestyle a few times on Celebrity when we could not get Freestyle at time of booking.

 

Invariably we were able to switch back to freestyle once on board. Sometimes it took a day or two.

 

Long waits. No, not on the cruises we were on. About the longest wait we ever had was 10 minutes. Once on Princess freestyle we were given a hand held device that lit up when a table was available. That was a great compromise. We simply went into a bar for 20 minutes or so. Time.....most times on freestyle we attend want a table between 7-7:30. Never once been an issue on our cruises.

I would never go back to traditional. The times never work right. Early is too early, and late is too late.

 

We did traditional once, and if the circumstances dictated (traveling with others who strongly preferred traditional) would do it again. Our preference is like yours though and for the same reason.

 

I know a lot of people feel this way, but I have not understood it. Every time you fly a few hundred miles east or west, you need to adjust your time-sense. Even at home, depending on other activities, we will have dinner any time from 6:30 to about 9:00 PM. We find that the (in most cases compatible) dinner partners make our suppers aboard ship into segments of a prolonged dinner party.

 

Maybe my reasons will give you a different perspective to understand. Much like you at home, dinner times often vary based on other activities. 6:30 would be too late for early seating on lines we have cruised (Princess listed 6:00 on-line, but 5:30 was the actual time). We tend to be early risers (and somewhat early to bed) and don't want to be finishing dinner at 10:00 or rushing to late dinner from a show. Even with time zone changes, the number hours between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner will remain similar. Assuming we ate a 12 or 1 lunch, I wouldn't want to have to wait until 8 for dinner (and would be concerned I would over-eat at the buffet if we did a light meal earlier).

 

One of the things I enjoy about cruising is not having to do as much planning and decision making once we board the ship. Traditional dining for us meant more planning than anytime.

The choice of Anytime or Traditional dining has pros & cons both ways. We started cruising when all 3 meals were at set times, with the same table mates & wait staff, so are very comfortable with what is now known as Traditional dining.

 

We have used Traditional for every cruise, including a 104 night world cruise. For breakfast & lunch we use the dining room most days, so we have an opportunity to meet other pax at those meals. At dinner, we prefer not queuing for a table, as at Traditional we walk straight in to the same table and have the same wait staff. I accept some pax have experienced incompatible table mates, but we have been lucky. In those situations, other options are available.

We've done both. We find that when we do "anytime"we usually end up dining within a 1/2 hr or so of when the late sitting time is. We much prefer same table, same staff of traditional and we NEVER get a beeper that we sometimes do when dining "anytime".

We have done MTD twice and absolutely hated it. Fist time we changed back the first night. Second time we lasted two nights. MTD feels rushed and everyone jammed together. Some two tops are closer then sitting at MDR. It seems like we are always at a great table for MDR and are usually the last table to leave. Our upcoming 12 night cruise on Symphony has become a quandary. We booked MDR but changed to MTD because we have 7 specialty dining nights and it would be very rude to not show up 7 of the 12 nights. Might just go with the UDP to skip MTD altogether.

When we first started cruising, we would always choose Early seating (6:00 p.m.) for dinner. Then, about six cruises ago, we decided to give Anytime Dining a try, and haven't gone back to a fixed time since. We like the flexibility of ATD. Typically, we go to the dining room just before it opens, and never have to wait to be seated. Although we may not always get the same table, we do typically get the same wait staff each time. Since it's just the two of us, if we opt to skip eating in the dining room, either because we have reservations at a specialty restaurant, or we just want to have a casual meal at the buffet, we don't have to let anyone know what our plans are.

We find Traditional to be too restrictive so will continue to book Anytime! :)

I much prefer traditional. You get to know your waiter and tablemates. By the 2nd night the waitstaff know your names and what you want to drink and little touches. Makes the cruising experience so much more special to me.