Anytime Dinining

[Tender Lee]

Booked for Carnival Valor for mid-July and have learned that they offer a more freestyle dining plan in addition to their scheduled seatings. I was wondering if anyone has tried it and whether it worked out well. I am concerned about long waits and whether I will be able to get table for two at the times I wish to dine (between 8 and 9 P.M.). Thanks in advance for any input!

[katiecat]

I did anytime with 4 people for on the victory last year for 2 weeks and never had a problem getting a table at anytime we went. I noticed alot of couples enjoying there tables of two.

Go for it, you'll love it!

[goodml]

I've read here that it can be more difficult for large parties to be seated without waiting but smaller ones are usually fairly quick. I'll be trying it myself in December.

[uppitycats]

We'll only do anytime dining if that is an option. We usually want (and get) a table for two, and rarely have waited more than 5 minutes.

[moonandsun]

We only do anytime dinning now. We love it. We have not encountered any waits. Granted that is for a table of 2. I am going with a group of ten friends in Aug and I do anticipate a bit of a wait. We will see.

[KenMo]

We did Anytime on Valor earlier this month.

 

We were four and never had to wait for a table. We had the same waiters every time, though we didn't go every night.

 

I have to say.....service was great except for the first elegant night. I've never had bad MDR service, but this was horrendous. Long story short...we left without eating our prime rib and lobster. We went back a day later and everything was fine.

[scuabacruiser]

We are die hard fix time MDR cruisers. On our last cruise, our group of 6 wanted to do anytime, so we went along. We liked it and will probably do it again on our next cruise. If we went early, there was not a wait. If we went at the time you are planning, there was a wait of 10 to 15 mins, but that was for a group of 6. It was not a big deal. Just like when we go out at home, we just got a drink and chilled until they paged us on the pager they will give you. If you don't like it, I guess they can switch you back.

[seguincruiser]

I will be using anytime dinning on my cruise this Jan and look forward to it. That being said, the table for 2 will probably very close to your neighbors. Reviews I have read stated that they will put 3 tables for two close together in groups. I don't mind but it may not be a secluded as some are looking for.

[Prairie_Gal]

Do they have Anytime Dining on the Liberty and the Glory?

[KenMo]

Do they have Anytime Dining on the Liberty and the Glory?

 

Yes and yes.

[Skywench]

I tried Anytime Dining on my Legend cruise earlier this month. I thought it was great. The only time we waited was on the first elegant night, but that was only for about five, maybe ten minutes. I liked the fact that we could dine when we felt like it, could have a table to ourselves if we wanted, or if we wanted other company, we had different table mates each time. Much preferred it to the regular dining times. We had no issues with the service with Anytime Dining.

[tntcardz]

Booked for Carnival Valor for mid-July and have learned that they offer a more freestyle dining plan in addition to their scheduled seatings. I was wondering if anyone has tried it and whether it worked out well. I am concerned about long waits and whether I will be able to get table for two at the times I wish to dine (between 8 and 9 P.M.). Thanks in advance for any input!

 

Hi,

Just came back May 16th and we had "Your Time Dining" on the Sensation and it was great. We were always seated upon arrival. We were a party of four and always had a table to ourselves as well. We really liked being able to show up any time we wanted to between 5:45pm and 9:30pm to eat and not at a set time.

[Sherry84]

We just did "anytime dining" on the Imagination two weeks ago and we never had to wait for a table for two. This was between six and seven. We love having a table just for the two of us. Enjoy!

[Knights on the Beach]

I'm really looking forward to trying this. We have assigned dining for our November cruise because there are 16 of us. Next time we have a small number cruising, we'll definitely try it out.

[ChefSusan]

We just got off Glory, and really loved doing Anytime Dining. We were not tied to a "set" dining time, and we could eat when we wanted - the only time we had a wait was on the last (seventh) night, and that was for around 10-15 minutes.

 

We plan on doing Anytime dining on our next two cruises - Spirit in August, and Freedom in October.

[ccruisequeen]

We had Anytime on the Paradise & got our same serve team (albeit a different table once). We went later the last night & got a different serve team but still great service.

[Marie51]

Has anyone done traditional dining at 6pm and then maybe one night if you are running late just go to anytime dining later? Is there any reason we cannot do this?

[wdnoble9999]

Has anyone done traditional dining at 6pm and then maybe one night if you are running late just go to anytime dining later? Is there any reason we cannot do this?

I don't believe that this is an option. We did anytime dining n the Victory in March, and they looked for our name each time we checked in for dinner... the implication being that if you are not listed as 'anytime', you won't be seated. I suppose you could ask, though. Or, go with the anytime dining option in the first place as that way, you don't have to be concerned. If you are like us and like the idea of having the same wait staff each evening, simply ask for the waiter you had on you first night on subsequent evenings (assuming you liked them, of course). We had one particular waiter that we particularly liked, and requested him by name for the rest of the cruise. Longest wait we had was 10 minutes (table for two).

[KenMo]

Has anyone done traditional dining at 6pm and then maybe one night if you are running late just go to anytime dining later? Is there any reason we cannot do this?

 

Can't do it. You can only have one or the other.

 

If you're running late, there's the buffet, steakhouse (if your ship has one), pizza, deli......lots of places to eat!

[happylady]

We're going to try the anytime dining on our next cruise. But, we like the idea of having the same server each night and understand that when we request a server by name we may have to wait for his/her station.

 

So....our question is...how does the tipping work? Is the tipping for the "anytime diners" split evenly among the "anytime servers"? So, if we have a serve team that we would like to give more, how would we do that?

[scchasgal]

We're going to try the anytime dining on our next cruise. But, we like the idea of having the same server each night and understand that when we request a server by name we may have to wait for his/her station.

 

So....our question is...how does the tipping work? Is the tipping for the "anytime diners" split evenly among the "anytime servers"? So, if we have a serve team that we would like to give more, how would we do that?

 

They will check your sail and sign card (to make sure you are assigned anytime dining) and when they give you a table they will make note of your server at their end.

 

Extra tips give in cash.

[BRCruiser08]

We just returned from the Spirit and dined using the anytime dining option. We had a party of seven and never had to wait over 10 minutes in line or waiting for a table. We loved the flexibility (especially in port days). The only disadvantage is that we changed waiting staff daily and you miss that personal touch.

[mucklucks]

Morning,

My dh,dd and myself have cruised 2 times on 2 different ships in the last 7 months since December of 2009. We have experienced anytime dining on both cruises and I would never do it any other way again. We always ate between 8 and 9 p.m. always asked for a table for three and we were always seated within 5 minutes. You have nothing to worry about. Anytime is the way to go.

Later,

Rhonda aka mucklucks

[CharlesCutiePie]

We did anytime dining on our last cruise and are changing back to late seating for the next.

 

Pros -

Convenient

Only had to wait 15 mins one night

 

Cons -

Do not get to meet as many people. We were always seated at a table for two and so did not get to really know anyone. Maybe talk with some one close by, but usually they were getting main meal while we got appetizers. Then next night it was someone else.

 

Different waiters. For the most part I have enjoyed the assigned waiters and them getting to know you and vice versa. This last one they didn't even know our names and we had a new person each night.

 

It's all about what works for you.

[DEBnGAB]

We've always requested the same wait staff every night on Anytime, pending that we liked who we got on Night 1. Never had an issue and got the best of both worlds....had the personal touch with flexibility in dining!