Is there a point at which it is courteous to move from fixed to open dining?

[BoiseIdahoSpud]

We prefer late fixed seating in the MDR. But we like to take at least a handful of dinners in the PG and sometimes order dinner into the suite. We were also thinking of giving Canaletto a first try this time.

 

So here's my question for all you seasoned HAL mariners: Would it be polite to move from late fixed to open dining if we plan to not be at our fixed table X number of nights on a 10 day cruise?

 

Just curious if it makes it easier/better for the MDR staff. Thanks for any thoughts.

[Gablin]

I don't know how the MDR staff is affected by our decisions like this, but I do know how I felt as a person at a large table.

 

My last cruise, November 26 to December 8, my friend and I had requested a table for eight, as that has often been a good way to get acquainted with other cruisers. Four of the eight persons assigned to our table were two couples traveling together. They did not show up until the first formal night, and showed up only three other nights of the twelve night cruise. They told us later that they enjoyed eating at the Lido some nights and Pinnacle and Canaletto on others, plus eating in their rooms some nights.

 

The other two people at our table were a lovely couple from Houston who were there most nights, except one night when the woman felt ill and one night when they booked the Pinnacle Grill, about which they spoke ahead of time.

 

My friend and I spoke about our reservation at the Pinnacle Grill for the last night of the cruise, so it was to be no surprise to anyone when we didn't show up that night, and, when we made a reservation at Canaletto we informed our waiter and our two table mates who were present at the time, the night before.

 

Unless you are at a table for just the number in your party, I think it is better to choose open dining than to amaze the others at your table by your frequent absences.

 

One other cruise, on another line, with my daughter and her family, we were booked at a large table with another family. They were very random about showing up, with only a few of them some nights, no one at all on other nights, and the whole crew on two nights. They did not communicate their plans at all. I prefer a friendlier approach.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since it is just the 2 of us -- and we request a table for 2 -- we do have fixed dinner. We always inform our waitstaff when we are going to be eating elsewhere. That way the table can be assigned to someone from the Open Seating.

 

Now if we were at a large table and going to not eat a lot in the dining room -- then I know that we would switch to Open Seating.

[kazu]

If you prefer fixed dining, then do it. We do fixed dining and alternate as well. We simply tell our wait staff and our table mates the night before that we will be in the PG/wherever, so they know not to wait for us and not to expect us. IMO that is the polite thing to do. Enjoy your cruise :D

[terigo]

If you prefer fixed dining, then do it. We do fixed dining and alternate as well. We simply tell our wait staff and our table mates the night before that we will be in the PG/wherever, so they know not to wait for us and not to expect us. IMO that is the polite thing to do. Enjoy your cruise :D

 

I agree... Basic cruise dining etiquette!

[ROZO'SBEAU]

When you sign up for a fixed large table, you have essentially committed to being "family" for the length of the cruise. Would you not show up for dinner at home without letting the other family members know you would not be coming? Except for an emergency, of course not.

Also, why do some people get themselves assigned to a large table, knowing that most likely they will not be there the majority of nights? I've seen 6 and 8 tops with only two people sitting alone because tablemates have not shown up. We always request a table for two, just to avoid any such situations, and we do get to meet just as many other cruisers despite our dining arrangements.

And one last comment about "family." I don't eat with my real adult family every night when I'm home and I don't dine out with them every night either. We'd go crazy! So how can it be easier with total strangers night after night on a 10, 14, 21 day, or longer cruise? (However, I absolutely respect others who just love the camaraderie, and I realize sometimes lifelong friendships have been established that way).

[Tricia724]

We have had many cruisers post that they were forced into open seating because the fixed seating dining was filled. I have also been on cruises where people were unhappy because they could not get fixed seating. Often it is early seating that books up first, but depending upon the passenger makeup, late seating could also be filled.

 

If you know that you will not be eating in the dining room half of the nights or more, I think it would be a kindness to the other passengers to not take seats in fixed dining that others might want and not be able to get. At the very least, check with the dining room manager upon boarding to see whether there is a wait list for your seating.

[Crazy Gramps]

I have a family. I won't commit to another one.

Beloved bride and I book a table for 2 late sitting.

 

If we are going to the PG we tell our waiter. It gives him a reduced workload that night.

 

Gramps

[Randyk47]

We always do the late sitting. On those occasions where we're not going to be coming to dinner we tell our table wait staff we'll not be there the next night. Never have really considered eating in the other venues frequently, maybe once or twice a cruise, but my initial reaction is that we'd probably change to open sitting so that we'd not disrupt the fixed or late sitting dinner routine for the wait staff and potential tablemates.

[GORDONCHICK]

Since I'm new to HAL, I may be wrong, but I thought I'd read that if you book open seating you could make reservations for a specific time (and maybe table)? If that is correct, then it would make more sense to me if someone doesn't plan to be in the dining room for their traditional DR assigned time for at least half of the meals for them to book open seating and make room for someone who has been waitlisted for traditional dining. There is no waitlist for open seating, but I read of many who want either specifically early or late dining but we waitlisted and placed in open dining until there was room for them in traditional.

 

Since I'm fairly new to HAL, my background is 6 cruises, 3 with traditional dining. We were waitlisted for traditional on the Princess cruise and found their Anytime Dining abysmal (but it was new, and hopefully it has gotten better). When we sail on lines that have traditional dining, we like to opt for that (with our DS - gasp!). But we are also able to go with the flow, which worked really well on our 2 NCL cruises.

 

I just think if you aren't planning on using your traditional dining very much, give it up for someone who otherwise would love to.

[RuthC]

I travel as a solo, and always have late fixed seating at a large table. I do this so as to have an anchor of people I can count on seeing for dinner on (at least) most nights.

As the number of alternatives for dining has increased I have been left with less and less confidence in what I will find when I arrive at the table. One time, at a table for 8, I was all alone. :eek: This is not what I thought I was booking.

From my point of view, if someone knows in advance that they will not be in the dining room most nights, then they should either request a table for themselves only, or request open seating.

[Roz]

Ruth,

 

As another solo cruiser, I find I'm having the same experience since AYW was introduced. With more options for dining, I end up at a large table with 1 or 2 tablemates. Not the dining experience I'm looking for. I think some people take assigned seating or their TA puts them in it, not really understanding it, and then when they get onboard and find out about the open seating, they opt for that.

 

Roz

[VTcruisenut]

our cruise in April will be our 4th on HAL. On our second cruise we went with another couple - HAL gave us a table for 4 instead of booking us at a table for 8 which we had on our first cruise. Well, our friends went to dinner 1 formal night! That was it! They didn't want to change, wanted to eat earlier, whatever, so my husband and I ate alone every night and never got to meet the interesting people we had on our other cruise! No more of that! I have requested the late dinner seating assigned for us this time..........we love the people we meet, the staff are the same every night and get to know you and it si VACATION! HELLO! and 5 star dining! Why would I eat in the Lido and pass that up?

 

BTW: on our 1st cruise hubby almost couldn't fly home to VT in his blue jeans as he ate so much on the cruise!:eek:

[HeatherInFlorida]

I have a family. I won't commit to another one.

Beloved bride and I book a table for 2 late sitting.

 

If we are going to the PG we tell our waiter. It gives him a reduced workload that night.

 

Gramps

 

Which is why the table for two option is offered. You only owe your server a heads up and that's that. Except, of course, for those who will complain you're booking a coveted table for 2 and not using it enough.

 

If a couple chooses to book a table for 4, 6 or 8, then they make a committment to come to dinner a certain number of nights. I believe on a 7-day, anything less than 5, possibly 4, you should do open seating.

 

On a 10-day, if you're going to be at dinner less than 6 or 7 nights, I think the same rule would apply. People book a certain size table based on whether they want to meet another couple, or 2, 3 or whatever. To book such a table and not show up for most nights is, to me, just plain rude.

 

This was one reason I wasn't thrilled when they added all the options ... I knew that it could affect those of us who like traditional dining and enjoy the company of others during dinner. We've been lucky so far, but some day we'll walk up to a table for 8 and no one will be there. If I'm going to dine alone with my husband we eat at home or go to a restaurant ... on a cruise it's just fun to share the time with others.

 

If you don't want to do that, and you want diversity, just opt out of traditional dining.

[ironin]

From my point of view, if someone knows in advance that they will not be in the dining room most nights, then they should either request a table for themselves only, or request open seating.

 

I agree! (what's new? ;)) We elected flexible dining on our cruise last month because we knew in advance that we wouldn't be dining in the MDR almost half the time. We thought leaving reserved seats empty so often would be rude.

 

EDIT: I see I was busy writing while Heather said what I wanted to say, only better (as usual).

[trvlcrzy]

DH and I sailed the Zuiderdam in April 2007, and that was our most recent experience with fixed dining. We had fixed early seating, and we were assigned to a table for 8. Only 7 passengers were assigned to the table, however, because one group had 3 in it.

 

Due to the Lido barbecue party on deck on night, DH and I were alone at the table. It was actually wonderful. The waiters were less harried, and we had much more individual attention. That was the night I tried Nasi Goreng, and the waiter (Made) had a lot of fun with me as I tried Sambal -- mild AND hot. :eek:

[BoiseIdahoSpud]

Thanks for all the informative responses!

Just to clarify - we are sailing as a group of 7 and we have a confirmed table for 8 at late fixed dining. So if we choose a dining option other than the MDR, we won't abandon anyone at the table. We would never do that. If there happens to be a single assigned to our table (they would be in for a treat!), we would let them know in advance if we were not going to be in attendance at dinner and probably invite them to join us in the PG.

We eat most nights in the MDR including formal nights. We enjoy that experience very much. We always have the NL inform the MDR if we will not be at our table so they can reassign/use as needed.

My question is more about being courteous to the MDR staff - are they disappointed if they only see you say... 6 nights of a 10 night cruise? We are still relatively new to cruising (love it) and are just wanting to hold to good protocol where and when possible.

Thanks again for the feedback and opinions!

[SwissMyst]

I think it does help the wait staff to know of any expected absences because it appears they wait to put in a cluster of orders for their section after the diners have arrived rather than individual tables.

 

We get to dinner at the fixed time but we have seen our waiter wait to see if the other surrounding tables get seated before he finally takes our orders, so if there is no reason to wait for those who have chosen to dine elsewhere, it would speed things up for those who came to dinner that night at the appointed fixed dining time.

[Alcarondas]

Add me to the list of solo cruisers who like fixed seating and large tables.

 

As such, I go into my next cruise (11 days, woohoo!) with some trepidation. I've been troubled by visions of sitting by myself at a table set for 8 or 10, and hearing that this has actually happened to some folks is not encouraging.

 

I guess I'm just "old school" about dinner; when on a ship, I view dinner not merely as an oppourtunity to stuff food in my face (we certainly have enough of those anyway), but as a social occasion. It's another form of entertainment, where fellow travellers are at the center of the event. Losing "Dinner-As-An-Organized-Event" is essentially like taking a favorite happening off of the ship's calendar.

 

On my first HAL cruise (way back in the previous century), the MDR was pretty much the only game in town. Dinner in the Lido was a decidedly 2nd-Class affair (buffet only, no table service), and on Formal nights, the Lido wasn't even open! If you wanted to eat on Formal nights, you had two choices: You either dressed up and shared the occasion with all your fellow passengers, or you ate room service in your cabin by yourself.

 

Nowadays, the MDR has to compete with up to four other dining venues (PG, Canaletto, full-service tablecloth'd Lido and maybe Tamarind), plus room service, every single night.

 

The decisions to dramatically expand dining options at the expense of the MDR were made by folks who know a lot more about running cruise ships than I do, so I'll defer to their wisdom.

 

But I don't like it very much.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We've run into the missing table mates problem on many cruises, beginning when ships began offering more dinning options. That is one reason we prefer the Anytime Dinning on Princess...at least we know we will have a full or nearly full table and we don't feel committed to show up in the MDR every evening. It has certainly become common for passengers to try some or all the dinning options so it would be a rare cruise these days where everyone shows up every night at a table at fixed seating.

[SwissMyst]

...........

Nowadays, the MDR has to compete with up to four other dining venues (PG, Canaletto, full-service tablecloth'd Lido and maybe Tamarind), plus room service, every single night.

 

The decisions to dramatically expand dining options at the expense of the MDR were made by folks who know a lot more about running cruise ships than I do, so I'll defer to their wisdom.

 

But I don't like it very much.

 

With so many empty tables on our last Statendam late fixed dining in the Upper MDR, one wonders how much longer ships will dedicate this much floor space to empty tables. We too would feel a huge loss if the space and feel of the formal ships dining room were lost or absorbed into some other use. The drama of HAL's two floor MDR with its tall and broad windows remains one of our most favorite HAL travel memories. And dressing up just a little every night and dressing up a lot for the formal nights. We like that too because it makes the whole experience just a little more out of the ordinary for that special time away from the more mundane routine that lives can slip into at home.

[BoiseIdahoSpud]

With so many empty tables on our last Statendam late fixed dining in the Upper MDR, one wonders how much longer ships will dedicate this much floor space to empty tables. We too would feel a huge loss if the space and feel of the formal ships dining room were lost or absorbed into some other use. The drama of HAL's two floor MDR with its tall and broad windows remains one of our most favorite HAL travel memories. And dressing up just a little every night and dressing up a lot for the formal nights. We like that too because it makes the whole experience just a little more out of the ordinary for that special time away from the more mundane routine that lives can slip into at home.

 

I definitely agree.

[MrsMuir]

Swiss Myst, you are my long-lost twin! Beautifully said.

 

If one can feel sad on a cruise, it happened to DH and me on our second cruise. We were assigned to a large table for 10 (we'd asked for a table for 8), and ended up by ourselves on the first and second nights -- and the second night was a long-anticipated formal night. Here we were, looking gorgeous but without the camaraderie we'd so enjoyed on our first cruise. DH spoke to the Maitre D', who set us up with two nice couples for the rest of the cruise.

[rkacruiser]

On my two most recent cruises, I have experienced the issue of missing tablemates with no prior notice. Four times on the two cruises, I ended up dining alone. While the service and personal attention from the stewards is truly enjoyable, this situation dilutes the dining experience that I enjoy.

 

For that reason, plus the expanded dining options on the Nieuw Amsterdam, I have opted for my first experience with As You Wish Dining. I know that I will want to try Canaletto, Tamarand, and Pinnacle Grill and I like the idea that I can decide on the spur of the moment, availability permitting, where to dine without worrying about not being courteous to my tablemates and to my assigned stewards.

 

For me, this will be another "new travel adventure".

[Roz]

Rka, another solo cruiser here. I tried open seating on a 10-day cruise on the Noordam and liked it. I wasn't sure I would. I signed up for it again on my upcoming Westerdam cruise. Each evening I showed up when I wanted to and asked to be seated with others. It worked out well. I only ended up with a "dud" of a table one night. That sure beats the 5 nights of H**l I experienced on the Oosterdam in fixed seating.

 

Roz