Know Holland America "Open Dining" ?

Having experienced 26 cruises, I have only had 1 open dining experience and that was with NCL this year. I just booked a last minute HA cruise and was told only open dining was available. Has anyone experienced this with HA and how does it work? Any information would be appreciated. This will be my first HA cruise also so any tips are welcomed.:)

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We sail a lot on HAL. We do choose the traditional dining. But we have been on ships with the AYWD.

AYWD - the lower level of the dining room is open from 5:15 until around 9. You can show up any time during those hours.

OR - you can call each day between 8 AM and 4 PM to request a certain time - a certain table size. There is one catch to this. They only accept reservations from 5:15 - 6 and then any time after 7:30 or 8 -- depends on the ship. You can see a map of the layout of the tables by going to the lower level of the dining room -- it will have the table numbers listed on it.

KrazyKruisers, Thanks for the info. If you just show up 5:15-9p, is there a long line or is it OK? Also is there the chance of changing to traditional when we board? We saw a note in our paperwork that said no changing during cruise but didn't know if this applied to 1st day boarding or not. Not a good intro to HA at this point but it seems having as many dining seats as passengers is a way of the past.

On the majority of the ships there have been very little lines for the dining room. But I have been following the Eurodam and on her inaugural cruise just a couple of weeks ago -- it was a mess!!!!

If you do end up with AYWD and if there is a line, you will be given a pager to let you know when your table is ready.

Once you get on the ship you can try to change to traditional dining - there may or may not be room. Many of us book months in advance just to try and get the trsitional dining. Once you get to your cabin -- should be between 1 and 1:30, check your daily program for the time and place to meet with the dining room manager to inquire about switching to traditonal. Get there early -- people line up fast.

Thanks for all the info. You've been a help. I hope this 20 days doesn't seem like 80. Type A People don't handle "no plan" dining well. I'll get in line early on Day 1.

Thanks for all the info. You've been a help. I hope this 20 days doesn't seem like 80. Type A People don't handle "no plan" dining well. I'll get in line early on Day 1.

if you cannot switch to fixed dining on the first day, do not give up -- many people who have fixed dining fail to show attheir assigned table - either because they go to a specialty restaurant, try the Lido, or just forget. If they miss the first two nights, tgheir assignd seats becom available.

Thanks Navy, Great tip, I appreciate it.

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If you do end up with AYWD and if there is a line, you will be given a pager to let you know when your table is ready.

 

Great... Another Sat. night at the local Outback. Guess I'll have to cross HAL off my list of great cruise lines.:(

Great... Another Sat. night at the local Outback. Guess I'll have to cross HAL off my list of great cruise lines.:(

Why??

The wait is usually only about 10 minutes!!!

if you cannot switch to fixed dining on the first day, do not give up -- many people who have fixed dining fail to show attheir assigned table - either because they go to a specialty restaurant, try the Lido, or just forget. If they miss the first two nights, tgheir assignd seats becom available.

On HAL the dining room manager will first contact you and ask if you are no longer going to the dining room before they give your traditional dining room table away!!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

We sail a lot on HAL. We do choose the traditional dining. But we have been on ships with the AYWD.

 

AYWD - the lower level of the dining room is open from 5:15 until around 9. You can show up any time during those hours.

 

OR - you can call each day between 8 AM and 4 PM to request a certain time - a certain table size. There is one catch to this. They only accept reservations from 5:15 - 6 and then any time after 7:30 or 8 -- depends on the ship. You can see a map of the layout of the tables by going to the lower level of the dining room -- it will have the table numbers listed on it.

We're first time HAL cruisers and to make sure I understood this correctly, if I call at 8am to make reservation for 7pm, they will not have that time available? Any time between 6:00 to 7:30 is by walk in only?

Go to the Holland American board. At the top of the threads there are several "stickies" which are threads that remain there for general information. There are a few all about the AWYW dining, and you will get lots of help in how it all works there.

AYWD is great for those relatively few people that choose that option. For the rest of us, unless you are booked in a suite, or book more than a year in advance, you will be forced to accept AYWD whether you want it or not. Works the same way on Princess.

I know that this has changed my booking habits .. if I even think I may go on a cruise I put a deposit on it so that I can get traditional dining.. We have had the Anytime on Princess and the Freestyle on NCL and both were a total mess as far as we were concerned .. although I understand why some people would like it .. we just don't. I never used to book a cruise until I was sure .. but now .. if you don't you will get stuck in the open seating.. and it is quite difficult to change we have found.

Having done a bunch of cruises, we were traditionalists. We did NCL and didn't like the open dining concept at all. We did Princess and chose traditional early dining every time. Then we did Oceania and had no chose - always open dining. Got to say they converted us! After the first couple of nights we would go when we felt like it and ended up with the same table for the rest of cruise. We never waited for "our" table. It was great - great table, great waitress, great food - loved it!!! So next Princess cruise will be anytime and we'll see if it's the same.

Have only done two cruises, one HAL and one NCL—pride of america. Both open dining. Loved it, though the cruise lines were quite different. On HAL, we could choose to sit alone or with others (shorter wait, though never bad anyway) and met lots of interesting people. If you got back late from an excursion, you hadn’t missed your set dining time. On NCL we either sat alone or with the group we were with—they did ask you make reservations for groups over six. The staff tried hard, but the HAL experience was definitely superior.

Interesting...opening a 10 year old thread...

We only do AYW dining because we like to eat early... call the dining phone extension from your cabin when you board & make your reservation for whatever time (within HAL's guidelines) you'd like. We always check out the dining room map before we board so we have some idea of table numbers we'd prefer or you can go to the MDR when you board & scope it out. If you're happy with the table you're seated at, when you leave the MDR, stop at the podium & request the same table for the next 3 nights.