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5:30 dinner on Harmony?


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I notice our early dinner on Harmony is 5:30. I have been on many cruises and it is usually 6:00, 5:30 seems really early since we would be getting dressed at 4:30. Would it be possible to show up later, closer to 6? We are a family of 14 dining together and want everyone to enjoy all the activities every day.

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I notice our early dinner on Harmony is 5:30. I have been on many cruises and it is usually 6:00, 5:30 seems really early since we would be getting dressed at 4:30. Would it be possible to show up later, closer to 6? We are a family of 14 dining together and want everyone to enjoy all the activities every day.

 

Yes, you can show up anytime between 5:30 and 6.

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If first seating is 5.30pm then second seating is 8pm. They need you in, out, and have time to reset the table before the second seating guests arrive.

 

 

If you want to show up later you could consider switching to MTD and reserving a later time?

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I notice our early dinner on Harmony is 5:30. I have been on many cruises and it is usually 6:00, 5:30 seems really early since we would be getting dressed at 4:30. Would it be possible to show up later, closer to 6? We are a family of 14 dining together and want everyone to enjoy all the activities every day.

Best to switch to late dinner or My Time if you cannot make 5:30pm. It messes up traditional dining if you show up late.

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It really throws off service if you show up later. Very disrespectful to not only your waitstaff but to other diners in your area who have their service interrupted so the waitstaff can scurry to get your party served and out in a timely manner. There used to be a time when they would lock the doors to the dining room 15 minutes after the scheduled dinner time. Wished they’d go back to that. Agree with Bob, either switch to MTD or plan to eat in the WJ if you cannot be on time.

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Thanks for your responses. With 14 people it would be impossible to get tables together in my time dining. Also late seating is too late for the children and we have already reserved shows so there would be conflicts. We will try to be there by 5:45. No other diners will be disturbed as we have two full tables together. I just know it is earlier than we have ever had dining before.

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Thanks for your responses. With 14 people it would be impossible to get tables together in my time dining. Also late seating is too late for the children and we have already reserved shows so there would be conflicts. We will try to be there by 5:45. No other diners will be disturbed as we have two full tables together. I just know it is earlier than we have ever had dining before.
Provided the waiters are only serving you. I wouldn't want to be the table next to yours and having the waiters drop what they are doing to go and take care of late comers. Especially the size of your group.

 

Figure it out. Show up on time!!!!

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... No other diners will be disturbed as we have two full tables together. ... .

The waiter and assistant waiter might have other tables, that's the problem.

 

 

If you cannot do late dinner or My Time, the best solution if you cannot be on time is Windjammer.

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Thanks for your responses. With 14 people it would be impossible to get tables together in my time dining. Also late seating is too late for the children and we have already reserved shows so there would be conflicts. We will try to be there by 5:45. No other diners will be disturbed as we have two full tables together. I just know it is earlier than we have ever had dining before.

 

Where it can impact other diners is because the waiter and assistant waiter will be serving more than just your two tables, so if the appetizers or maybe entrees for other tables are coming out as you enter the dining room, the wait staff will leave those in the kitchen to see to a table of 14. Handing out menus, taking drink orders, making small talk (and those after cruise surveys are crucial to the wait staff's livelihood, so they'll make sure to try and be likable) all take time. There's a certain rhythm when passengers all arrive at roughly the same time that can be thrown off by late arrivals.

 

That being said, I think you'll be OK if you can get there by 5:45, but definitely try to arrive as close as possible to your scheduled dining time. I am a bit surprised it takes an hour to get dressed for dinner, but I know different people have different necessities when it comes to getting ready.

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If it's when the ship is up in PC like the Oasis is now with 5:30 dining if the party is not there sometime between 15 - 30 minutes after the start of first seating they have been using those tables and seating MTD people at them, or at least they did in April.

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If it's when the ship is up in PC like the Oasis is now with 5:30 dining if the party is not there sometime between 15 - 30 minutes after the start of first seating they have been using those tables and seating MTD people at them, or at least they did in April.

What a great idea! I've always though that this would be an excellent solution to shortening the wait time for MTD.

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Why cant they do MTD & go to cruise plainer & have all 14 people pick 6pm.Them I would try to talk to the Maitre D ( not sure of the spelling)when you get on the ship & tell him you will be having 14 people comming & need 2 tables next to each other . That should work

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Actually this has happened to us at least twice.

 

The first time was two years ago on Allure. We had MTD reservations, checked in and then waited and waited, while other people who checked in after us were excorted to tables. I was in a a laid back mode soe wasn't getting too concerned. However after 30 minutes a hostess noticed we had been waiting a long time. She checked on us and appoligized. She called one of the traditional dining rooms and they had no shows. Someone took us upstairs. We had excellent service. We did get to see them reset the dining room for the late traditional seating.

 

We did make sure we were done with our meal so they would have time to reset our two top in time for the next seating.

 

The second time was earlier this year on the Harmony. On one night of the cruise (later in the cruise, lobster night) we showed up for MTD at around 5:45 and they sent us up to early Traditional dining room.

 

This time service was abysmal. However this wasn't necessary the fault of our seating time, but because there was a large party accompanying two table. The adults were at a table of 12 or 14 while the "kids" were at a table of 5 or 6. The server/assistant spent most of their time catering to this party and ignoring the other tables in their section.

 

Having said that, if I had tradtional dining, I wouldn't think of waiting until 6pm to show up esp. if you are large party

 

What a great idea! I've always though that this would be an excellent solution to shortening the wait time for MTD.
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On our last cruise, we sat with strangers. We always showed up at 5:30 and they showed up at 5:45. It was a huge pain for us AND our waitstaff--they told us if they didn't get our orders in quickly it would delay our service.

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If it's when the ship is up in PC like the Oasis is now with 5:30 dining if the party is not there sometime between 15 - 30 minutes after the start of first seating they have been using those tables and seating MTD people at them, or at least they did in April.

Serenade did this in December. Might as well fill the empty tables. But have witnessed few passengers that are always 20-25 min late to Main Dining, they were usually getting free Diamond drinks upstairs to bring to meal. Me, I'm first in the door, and Hungry!...and I like to people watch.

Always do B2B2B cruises, what I save in Air Fare pays for one leg of cruise. One cruise might be 5:30 Main, next cruise 6:00. Last yr they even had to change many cards that had wrong start time. Some said 5:30 others 6.

Edited by ONECRUISER
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