Do you feel you get the same quality of service when doing anytime dining?

[Delta Dear]

I can understand the PROS of Anytime Dining in terms of flexibility, but do you get the same feeling of service when you have potentially have different people waiting on you everynight ?

 

The only cruise we've been on was a 3 night cruise on RCI. Even in that short time, we felt we had a connection to our wait staff as they seemed to have with us.

 

Our next cruise will be a 7 night on the Carnival Legend. Anytime Dining is an option for us, but I'm not sure I would like it.

 

So, what can you tell me about your experiences and how do the options compare.

[CC Help Michell]

I can understand the PROS of Anytime Dining in terms of flexibility, but do you get the same feeling of service when you have potentially have different people waiting on you everynight ?

 

The only cruise we've been on was a 3 night cruise on RCI. Even in that short time, we felt we had a connection to our wait staff as they seemed to have with us.

 

Our next cruise will be a 7 night on the Carnival Legend. Anytime Dining is an option for us, but I'm not sure I would like it.

 

So, what can you tell me about your experiences and how do the options compare.

 

"Same" as what? It's no different than the service I've experienced (and expect) from any land-based waitstaff. But then again, I don't purchase cruises in order to create a "relationship" with my waitstaff. If you do, or if feeling that you have is important to you, you probably won't like anytime dining.

[Toto2Kansas]

When anytime dining is used correctly, different tables and waiters each evening mean that you won't 'get to know' your servers, and they won't 'get to know' your likes and dislikes. If this is important to you, then book traditional dining.

But I have to agree, getting to know my servers has never been a top priority when it comes to service in the dining room for us.

But, we all cruise for different reasons, if it is a priority for you, then book TD dining. ;)

[Delta Dear]

Maybe I should have asked for the pros and cons of each.

 

I don't mean I want to make 'friends' with my wait staff, I guess I was wondering if the staff is less attentive since they are only seeing you for that one night. How are pre paid tips distributed for Anytime?

[Cruzaholic41]

I used MTD on my last RCI cruise. It worked out perfect. On RCI, you had the choice of showing up at any time or making a reserved time each night. When we reserved the time (7:30), we always got the same waiter. Service was no less regardless of who waited on us or whether or not we made the reservation.

 

Pre-paid tips my MTD are pooled.

[dandro]

We had anytime dining and had impeccable service, the stewards were very attentive. Will always do anytime dining in the future, too.

 

Automatic tipping charged by the cruise line goes into the tipping pool, and the dining room stewards share in that pool.

[Putterdude]

In AD we have experienced service and attention that is at least as good as that in TD and in some cases even better as there is not that hurry or rush to set up for the next seating which often occurs if you are in the first seating.

[Tucker in Texas]

I did anytime dining on Princess and had no problems with it. I think we only had to wait for a table one night for maybe 1/2 an hour--they gave us a beeper so we could go to a bar and wait and it was a night where we didn't leave a port until about 6:00 so everyone was hitting the dining room at the same time so we couldn't fault them.

 

However, on NCL it was horrible! If you tried to make a reservation, it was 5:30 or 8:30 even though if you went early you could see a lot of empty tables. Service was very slow and not close to being up to par You would get things not prepared as you asked or not even what you ordered. If you asked to have it corrected (this was assuming you could get attention from a server which most of the time you couldn't), they would tell you it would be another 1/2 hour to fix it--even if you told them when they were serving this was not what you ordered. You might get bread but no butter, or butter and no bread. As it was, dinners lasted two hours most of the time. Forget about refills of water or tea and don't even think about coffee following your meal. We always took some money to tip out the servers on our 19 day cruise and ended up leaving a tip maybe twice for service that would not have been up to par on any other line but was great in comparison to what we had been getting.

 

Haven't tried it yet on RCL but have heard good reports so I may give it a shot. Unfortunately on NCL you have no choice and they collect the tips up front as a "service charge."

 

Tucker in Texas

[paul929207]

If you have a different waiter each evening, he will not know your preferences. With TD, if you like ice tea, soda or a cocktail with dinner, your wait will have it ready when you arrive, not so with AD.

[uppitycats]

I've done traditional dining and anytime (or flexible) dining, and have found no difference in the attentiveness of the servers. When I've asked for something it's been delivered quickly, "unusual" things have been handled well. On my last cruise on NCL things were a bit slower than usual because they were dealing with a Noro outbreak and had to serve stuff that was normally on the table (like salt and pepper, butter pats, etc.), but when that was taken into account, service was just fine.

 

I'll never go back to traditional dining on any line that offers a flexible plan.

[Roadtripster]

We have done MTD before and loved it. In fact, several people always seemed to ask to sit at the station of their waiter that they had before.

 

We never had to wait in line. Just got there, gave them our name and walked right in and sat down. Never felt rushed, never felt unwanted or experienced bad service. Only difference I could tell was that we personally enjoyed dinner more, since we were sitting at a table for two.

 

We went with having a different waiter each night as that makes it a little more interesting for us. We talk to each waiter about their country, etc.... After a couple of nights, the previous waiters would come to our table and say HI and stopped by to see what my husband was wearing. He loves to dress up and all the waiters were admiring his outfits. LOL

[operafan]

We've done it twice and tbh, I didn't care for it. It seemed rushed.

[cruzinaway]

We tried freestyle dining on NCL and loved it. No wait times, excellent service and a lots of restaurants to choose from...I don't think we'll ever go back to traditional dining again.

 

 

Happy cruising!

[fann1sh]

OP, I think the reaction varies by cruise line.

 

And a lot of the reaction depends on what fans of each individual line expect from the line's dining experience. As opposed, say, to which line does open dining "best".

 

Me? I want a wine steward at my elbow within a minute of when I sit down; I want my wine order to appear before my appetizer does.

 

I get that with fixed time/fixed table dining on HAL. I often don't with open dining on HAL.

 

I will be very interested to see how open dining works on X.

[paul929207]

OP, I think the reaction varies by cruise line.

 

And a lot of the reaction depends on what fans of each individual line expect from the line's dining experience. As opposed, say, to which line does open dining "best".

 

Me? I want a wine steward at my elbow within a minute of when I sit down; I want my wine order to appear before my appetizer does.

 

I get that with fixed time/fixed table dining on HAL. I often don't with open dining on HAL.

 

I will be very interested to see how open dining works on X.

This goes back to the servers learnin your preferences in TD, but not in AD. We like a little bowl of fresh fruit (peppers, celery, olives, carrots, etc) and dressing when we sit down. With TD, it was on our table when we arrived every evening. With AD, it is more likely to arrive with your salad.

[Hflors]

I did anytime dining on Princess and had no problems with it. I think we only had to wait for a table one night for maybe 1/2 an hour--they gave us a beeper so we could go to a bar and wait and it was a night where we didn't leave a port until about 6:00 so everyone was hitting the dining room at the same time so we couldn't fault them.

 

However, on NCL it was horrible! If you tried to make a reservation, it was 5:30 or 8:30 even though if you went early you could see a lot of empty tables. Service was very slow and not close to being up to par You would get things not prepared as you asked or not even what you ordered. If you asked to have it corrected (this was assuming you could get attention from a server which most of the time you couldn't), they would tell you it would be another 1/2 hour to fix it--even if you told them when they were serving this was not what you ordered. You might get bread but no butter, or butter and no bread. As it was, dinners lasted two hours most of the time. Forget about refills of water or tea and don't even think about coffee following your meal. We always took some money to tip out the servers on our 19 day cruise and ended up leaving a tip maybe twice for service that would not have been up to par on any other line but was great in comparison to what we had been getting.

 

Haven't tried it yet on RCL but have heard good reports so I may give it a shot. Unfortunately on NCL you have no choice and they collect the tips up front as a "service charge."

 

Tucker in Texas

 

Tucker - you must have been on our last NCL cruise! Though you forgot the 1/2 - 45 min wait and the putting you at a table with 8 other people, but you need ten people and wait and wait until they find 2 poor suckers to join you before the waiter and staff even deem to look your way. Coffee following your meal? Forget about that wait staff after serving the main course disappeared! They never returned. And we never saw them again! We finally just got up and left. Very sad service

[uppitycats]

Tucker - you must have been on our last NCL cruise! Though you forgot the 1/2 - 45 min wait and the putting you at a table with 8 other people, but you need ten people and wait and wait until they find 2 poor suckers to join you before the waiter and staff even deem to look your way. Coffee following your meal? Forget about that wait staff after serving the main course disappeared! They never returned. And we never saw them again! We finally just got up and left. Very sad service

 

Contrast your description to this one, also on NCL: We never had to wait more than 10 minutes to be seated -- at a table for 2, at our request. Once we did say we were willing to share, and sat at a table for 4. We NEVER wer placed at a table with 8 other people, nor did we ever have to wait for anyone to join us.

 

Otherwise the service was just fine. Coffee and water glasses filled as they emptied, food brought in a timely manner, etc.

 

I don't know how you got to the table for 8/10 issue -- did you tell them you wanted to eat with other strangers, perhaps, or that you were willing to "share"? Otherwise it was just like going out to eat at a land-based restaurant: the hostess asked us "how many in your party?", we told her, and were seated.

[cruiselover5461]

NCL was where we first experienced freestyle, anytime dining and loved it. We usually ate in the smaller dining room and always sat at a table for 2 and had to wait for a table only once. Never felt rushed, staff may been a little slower. :rolleyes: Come to think about it probably not any slower than being at a table for 6 or 8 and having to wait for everyones order and waiting to have all the orders brought in at 1 time.

 

I like the fact that I'm not expected to be in the dining room at a certain time or feel like I have to go tell someone I won't be there so the other diners at the table don't have to sit and wait for a no show.

 

But everyone is different, it is your vacation so you can decide what works for you! ;)

[chipmaster]

I can understand the PROS of Anytime Dining in terms of flexibility, but do you get the same feeling of service when you have potentially have different people waiting on you everynight ?

 

The only cruise we've been on was a 3 night cruise on RCI. Even in that short time, we felt we had a connection to our wait staff as they seemed to have with us.

 

Our next cruise will be a 7 night on the Carnival Legend. Anytime Dining is an option for us, but I'm not sure I would like it.

 

So, what can you tell me about your experiences and how do the options compare.

 

No question having the same waiting staff makes for a bit "easier" service, but sometimes you can have fun conversation with the new waiter staff makes for fun experience too.

 

I can't compare dinner directlly as we always get standing reservations in anytime and had the same dining crew. But compared to lunch, breakfast to dinner I would say service quality the same. Some things are different, with dinner our waiters would simply confirm some things like dressing, coffee, and have our drinks ready for us. Other stuff like attention was the same IMHO

[cruisemom42]

(My comments below pertain to Princess; the only line on which I've tried Anytime Dining)

 

To address the OP's original question, I think you get the same level of service and attentiveness (after all, a well-trained waiter is a well-trained waiter, and waiters rotate from Anytime to Fixed dining on most cruises....)

 

What differs is that the waiter won't know your particular habits, likes, dislikes, etc.

 

Since I don't really have any dining quirks, I'm very happy with Anytime dining, at least on Princess, because I am often in port until the last reasonable minute -- or enjoying the sailaway with a glass of wine and a snack -- and don't want to have to worry about "rushing" to make a particular time for dinner.

 

I also enjoy sitting with different people each night. I travel with my teen son and often he doesn't want to come to the MDR for dinner. This way I have a chance to meet and converse with others -- have made some great onboard acquaintances doing this.

 

For me, the pluses far outweigh any potential minuses.

[Tucker in Texas]

Contrast your description to this one, also on NCL:

 

I don't know how you got to the table for 8/10 issue -- did you tell them you wanted to eat with other strangers, perhaps, or that you were willing to "share"? Otherwise it was just like going out to eat at a land-based restaurant: the hostess asked us "how many in your party?", we told her, and were seated.

 

I don't know about hflors but we always asked for first available be it for 2 or 10. Most of the time we would get four or six and we had to wait for the other seats to fill before we got any attention. Once after 1/2 hour of waiting at a four top for another couple to come, we practically tripped a waiter and told them we wanted to eat NOW. He said we would have to wait for the table to fill. Husband asked to be pointed towards the maitre 'd. All of the sudden, he could take our order.

 

We were on the Dream in the spring of 2007. We are booked on the POA in Hawaii (only game in town and husband's family wants to go) and I have hopes that things will go better but not holding my breath. Recent reviews have been encouraging. However, I don't expect anything more out of it than a roof over my head and transportation from island to island so anything more will be a bonus. I will, also, be contributing to the local economy by eating off the ship if we experience the same thing we did on the Dream

 

Tucker in Texas

[hajekfam]

We do like traditional - haven't tried nor will try anytime dining. We do that if we go to the alternative casual dining or the specialty restaurant. I think that the reason we like traditional is that we cruise for the shipboard experience not the ports and having the same waiter who knows what you like and has it ready for you before you sit down and sitting with the same people each night is part of the shipboard experience that we want. Anytime dining is no different than going to a land based restaurant. If I want that, why cruise? At least that is my opinion.

[pizzadog]

I can understand the PROS of Anytime Dining in terms of flexibility, but do you get the same feeling of service when you have potentially have different people waiting on you everynight ?

 

The only cruise we've been on was a 3 night cruise on RCI. Even in that short time, we felt we had a connection to our wait staff as they seemed to have with us.

 

Our next cruise will be a 7 night on the Carnival Legend. Anytime Dining is an option for us, but I'm not sure I would like it.

 

So, what can you tell me about your experiences and how do the options compare.

 

One thing I note on the answers to this post is the lack of comments re: dining with different folk every night. My husband and I loved this particular feature of AD - sometimes we had quiet people who talked about their hometowns, kids etc., sometimes we had party people who were having a terrific time and amused us no end! This was on HAL and we wouldn't go any other way now. The only negative we had about AD is the lack of quick service for before dinner drinks and the fact that the wine steward only made one turn of the table. We were always seated immediately, sometimes at a table for 4, sometimes larger (6 or 8). Great way to meet people and learn a bit about other cultures etc.

[cruise.freak]

We did anytime dining on our last cruise and ususally ate between 6:00-6:45. Not only did we have the same table every night we had the same waiter every night. We really enjoyed it.

[barante]

We just got off the Grandeur of the Seas. For nine days in the Caribbean we had My Time Dining which was as good as better than regular dining. We liked our waiters, Gordon and Robert from India, the first night and asked to be served by them each night. This was honored, even after we changed our table to a table of four because we liked another couple there.

This was our eleventh cruise, the first time on Royal Caribbean.

Those who think that they get better service in the traditional settting should remember that many cruise lines have economized by reducing wait staff. That's why the traditional experience has suffered on many lines.