Set Dining Times vs. Open Seating

[Scenestealer7]

If you choose traditional dining, can you request a different table every night or is that frowned upon? Also, if you do miss your time (and cancel it ahead of time), are you allowed to show up for the anytime dining or do you have to go to the buffet?

 

(First time cruiser traveling solo)

[MattInFLL]

Scenestealer, it will be frowned upon to change tables every night and you are supposed to show up at the specified time for the traditional dining. The idea is to get to know your tablemates and your wait staff, and for them to get to know you and your preferences.

 

That said, I am sure they would accommodate you at the select dining area if you were very late or very early one evening.. and as you know, if you select traditional and do not think your table is a good fit the first night, there is no issue in switching to a different table for the rest of the cruise.

[Scenestealer7]

Thanks, Matt - VERY glad I asked so I don't commit a faux pas! I definitely don't want to be rude, but am looking forward to making as many new friends as possible onboard :)

[MattInFLL]

And I trust you will - because you clearly have the right attitude and cruisers tend to be in a more social mood, anyway.

[scotslizzy]

We have always preferred select dining or anytime dining on the cruise shipd we have used .I like to decide for myself when to eat and never had a major problem when turning up to dine.

 

On our last cruise in June on Eclipse I thought the way they handled the seating arrangements were spot on . Sometimes we shared a table (you are asked if that is your preference) or sometimes we just sat at a table for two again at our request.

 

As we are not fussed about were we sit this made life easier for us and the servers. On one occassion we did have to wait around 5 mins but what is the problem with that ? do not understand why some peoplpe get all hot and bothered about this you are on holiday so why stress about small details ? It's not as if you are going to be turned away with no dinner that night !

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

Scotslizzy

[sandravb79]

On 2 of the cruises, we had late dining, on the 3 other, we had My Time Dining (RCCL).

For is (my mom (60) and I (31) ) this is the best option. NOt only can we chose when we eat in function of the port, but also, as non-native English speakers, this avoids the insults of being called "dirty foreigner" in our face.

 

We'd rather have dinner in our own company of 2 and be comfortable with that, than having dinner at a large table and feel unwelcome and uncomfortable.

 

Last year, we met a couple from Australia, also doing the My Time Dining, and we ended up dining with them every night. But that was our choice.

 

So many different people and so many different opinions :)

 

 

I am glad though to see that X also has their version of My Time Dining. That is one big point on the "con" side of the pro/con list we made to cruise X again that I can erase.

Oh, wait, there is nothing on the "con" side again, only a couple of points on the "pro" side :)

[Lsimon]

If you choose traditional dining, can you request a different table every night or is that frowned upon? Also, if you do miss your time (and cancel it ahead of time), are you allowed to show up for the anytime dining or do you have to go to the buffet?

 

(First time cruiser traveling solo)

 

As indicated above - changing tables every night would be an issue. Last minute changes should be avoided as well unless there is truly a last minute problem with your table. Generally if you need to change tables for some reason, for example if you don't feel comfortable with your waiter or table mates, the proper thing to do would be to meet with the Maitre d' well ahead of dinner (even after dinner the night before) and request new assignment. This will also increase the changes of you getting a more enjoyable assigned table.

 

If you really wanted a different table every night for some reason then you should be in Select, with or without a set reservation, and let the seating person there no you'd really prefer NOT to sit at the same table every night. Personally, I think having the same table is a big plus to cruising because of the rapport that develops between you and your wait staff and with your table mates as well.

 

I believe that if you are late for the fixed dining times they will still let you in for something like 20 miin. or so. But do keep in mind that if you are seating at a table with others being that being more than a few minutes late causes problems since the waiters will want to take all orders at the same time and serve everyone together. So if you are running very late, or will not be going to the dining room that night, it is customary to let the dining room or table mates know. If we won't be in the dining room we'll let the waiters know the night before, if we've planned the change, or stop by or give the dining room a call if it is a last minuiite decision.

[bdpnatl]

We sailed on the Millenium in April and had Select Dining. It should be relatively easy as a solo diner to be seated. They always asked us if we wanted to be seated with others and if we said yes could have been seated right away or with a short wait. The disadvantage is that the people already seated could be on their main course by the time you get to the table. You will also meet different people each evening which has it's pros and cons.

 

We were not all that impressed with the select dining and have chosen late dining for our next cruise. There is something to be said for have a core group of people to intereact with on a daily basis that we like. We also are sailing with another couple, so that also factored into our decision.

[Thurston Howell lll]

We wanted to book the Infinity 10 day out of Seattle in September but were too late and only Wait List was offered for open seating. The ony choice offered was late 8:30 seating. We hate the late seatings as we never can get to the shows and find a seat.

We decided to just book Princess rather than be Wait Listed for open seating.