Notify Traditional Wait Staff when not coming to dinner??

[teachergal29]

Is it necessary to notify your traditional dining waitstaff that you will not be coming to dinner?? I was thinking if your plans changed, is it polite and customary to notify your servers for your table when you will not be there?? :)

[tompeter]

It is not necessary, however we always have as I think it is a nice courtesy to let the servers ( as well as tablemates, if applicable) know.

[Langley Cruisers]

It is absolutely courteous to notify your wait team, and your tablemates. This way, they will not be waiting for you and dinner can proceed without you. On our last cruise we had family in two of the ports, got back late, and decided to dine elsewhere those evenings because we wanted to be on deck for sunset sailaway. We told them to go ahead without us, and were eager to catch up with everyone the next night at dinner.

 

Enjoy your cruise. :)

[doe326]

We always notify the wait staff and they have always appreciated it. Also our tables appreciate not having to wait to see if we're going to show up. Not mandatory, just a nice courtesy.

[sdbmd]

I have never done that and never been told its expected.

[doe326]

I have never done that and never been told its expected.

 

 

Not expected and not mandatory, just a common courtesy. Makes life easier for wait staff and tablemates.

[CruisingGoddess]

Not expected and not mandatory, just a common courtesy. Makes life easier for wait staff and tablemates.

 

I agree. As a tablemate, I would be likely to wait a little bit if my tablemates didn't show up on time out of respect so it would be good to know beforehand, that they are running late or not showing up.

[teachergal29]

Thank for your opinions.. We have done this in the past but reading some of the "live" threads where people just go with a whim on where they want to eat for dinner, I was just wondering about the impact on the Trad. dining. I guess this kind of "go with the flow" works more for the "Anytime dining". We've actually called down to the dining room and left a message with the Maitre D' that we would not be coming to dinner that night. Or we told our wait staff the night before if we knew our plans then..

[Hat Pinz Guy]

the DW and i had a later excursion on a prior cruise.

So we ditched dinner and ate ate on Lido.

WE were at a POC the next day.

Our head waiter actually had some time off, saw us and , Flagged us down,

and asked why we did not come to dinner the night before and everyone missed us.

 

We told him our story and he was like you could have always come to the late seating, he would have found a place to seat us where he could have still served us.:o

 

This was on the Carnival imagination - first leg of a back to back DEC-08.

Sorry to rep another line on this forum, but good service is good service.

 

That's dedication in my book.

 

We even went and requested and got in his Area for the second part of the back to back

 

 

So after that point, I felt that it is a common courtesy on any line to inform them when we may be late or miss altogether

[caribill]

In traditional, the waitstaff will often not start to take orders for dinner until everyone at the table has shown up.

 

If you notify either the waitstaff or your dining companions that you will not be there, then they will not wait ten to twenty minutes for you to possibly show up.

 

It is not polite to make others wait for you when you know you will not be there.

[CALMOM]

We always have a table to our self because there is usually 6 of us. However, I always let our waiter know especially if we know we will be eating in port. This also allows passengers that would like to eat at a earlier seating, they can have our table. Shoot, even if we're there, they can join us, the more the merrier. :D

[critterchick]

In traditional, the waitstaff will often not start to take orders for dinner until everyone at the table has shown up.

 

If you notify either the waitstaff or your dining companions that you will not be there, then they will not wait ten to twenty minutes for you to possibly show up.

 

It is not polite to make others wait for you when you know you will not be there.

 

I wouldn't wait 20 minutes for somebody to show up. If my waiter refused to take my order for that long I'd be having a word with the headwaiter.

 

So, in order to avoid annoying me and getting your waiter in trouble, yes, let them know if you're planning on skipping dinner.;)

[CruisingGoddess]

So, in order to avoid annoying me and getting your waiter in trouble, yes, let them know if you're planning on skipping dinner.;)

 

LOL!!! Well said! :D

[Colo Cruiser]

As a courtesy, yes notify them.

[Times Prince]

the DW and i had a later excursion on a prior cruise.

So we ditched dinner and ate ate on Lido.

WE were at a POC the next day.

Our head waiter actually had some time off, saw us and , Flagged us down,

and asked why we did not come to dinner the night before and everyone missed us.

 

We told him our story and he was like you could have always come to the late seating, he would have found a place to seat us where he could have still served us.:o

 

This was on the Carnival imagination - first leg of a back to back DEC-08.

Sorry to rep another line on this forum, but good service is good service.

 

That's dedication in my book.

 

We even went and requested and got in his Area for the second part of the back to back

 

 

So after that point, I felt that it is a common courtesy on any line to inform them when we may be late or miss altogether

We have had frequent occasions on Princess where the head waiter and wait staff will express concern if we haven't shown up for dinner the night before, even when we've told others in our party in advance that we have made alternate plans.

 

When someone is absent the wait staff often wants to know if they are ill and/or not enjoying their cruise, or whether they have planned a specialty restaurant for the evening. They have a great service attitude and want to help us all have a great cruise.

 

Regarding the original question, I also want to put the shoe on the other foot. If I am sitting at a table waiting for tablemates to arrive, wouldn't I want to know that there was no need to wait? This delay may be the difference in making a post dinner show or not.

[teachergal29]

 

Regarding the original question, I also want to put the shoe on the other foot. If I am sitting at a table waiting for tablemates to arrive, wouldn't I want to know that there was no need to wait? This delay may be the difference in making a post dinner show or not.

 

Well, this is why I asked. Following some of the "live" threads I read, they decide at the last minute to go to the Caribe Cafe or the HC, or even a specialty restaurant. I was just wondering how they did that if they were in Traditional dining... I also feel it is rude not to let someone know that you will not be there..

[cb at sea]

If we know in advance, we'll tell both our tablemates AND the waiter...but we don't make a special trip to the dining room if our plans change "last minute"....it's nice, but not necessary.

[donna5]

I have never done that and never been told its expected.

 

I agree that it is only common courtesy to let them know. It is just like if you have a reservation at a rest. and decide not to go. (Some rest. are actually taking a credit card # for reservations and charging no shows.)

 

Maybe Princess should have a list of people that sign up for Traditional and then hardly show up. Then they could make it where those people can not be entered into the traditional dining database:D:p

[MaryPoppinz]

Unless you are disinterested in following the social rules, it *is* mandatory to let the people who are affected by your plans know when you find it necessary to change those plans.

 

Short of an emergency that makes contact impossible, drop by the DR, call the maitre d' or give notice in advance. Don't leave others cooling their heals while you are beginning to enjoy your buffet or specialty meal.

[grandmato4]

So far when we've missing dining in the TD room we've always known ahead of time that was either going to happen or likely to happen and let the waiter and tablemates know the night before we would not be there or we didn't think we would be there so if we weren't present by the time everyone else had arrived to please go ahead and not wait fo us. Simply common courtesy to share with those that it will effect when we know ahead of time.

[cruz chic]

On my last cruise my table mates only showed up 5 out of 14 nights to traditional and never told me or the wait staff they would not be showing up. Why anyone would hold a table for traditional and rarely show up is beyond me. Many nights I sat there by myself. While I don't mind being alone at times I didn't really appreciate it night after night.

[StLouisCruisers]

Same here. Our last 14 nights on B2B Alaska cruises, one couple showed up 7 of 14 nights. Diners 5 and 6 only came first night on the first segment, and the same thing happened with a different couple the second week. So DH and I ate dinner alone 7 nights, and the maitre' d never filled those two empty spots either week, with all those people on the waitlist for traditional dining.

 

By the way, the couple who did the B2B with us and only showed up 7 nights, would promise to be there when we'd run into them that same afternoon, then decide not to later. Seemed like we were always waiting around for people. The waiter and asst. waiter were fantastic, and had to put up with this over and over.

[rdsqrl]

On my last cruise my table mates only showed up 5 out of 14 nights to traditional and never told me or the wait staff they would not be showing up. Why anyone would hold a table for traditional and rarely show up is beyond me. Many nights I sat there by myself. While I don't mind being alone at times I didn't really appreciate it night after night.

That's why I always bring a paperback in my handbag (except on formal nights when it won't fit in my evening bag -- but most people show up on formal nights)!

[Tak8]

I would let them know. Sometimes the staff gets used to our drink order and have some things waiting like a soda for my son. It also helps any dinner mates not have to wait and see if you are coming.

[caribill]

Why anyone would hold a table for traditional and rarely show up is beyond me. Many nights I sat there by myself. While I don't mind being alone at times I didn't really appreciate it night after night.

 

a) Some people only want to eat in the dining room on formal nights.

 

b) Some people only want to eat in the dining room on smart casual nights.

 

c) Some people are not aware of option when they sign up for a cruise and are assigned to traditional by their travel agents.

 

As for being by yourself, when we have had no shows for the first two nights, we request to be assigned to another table.