Anytime Dining for a group of 10.

[LAcruiser2000]

We are a group of 5 couples, and are debating between Anytime and Traditional Dining. I have never done AD, and prefer TD bc at least our group is guaranteed to sit together withou a wait. Some in our group have done AD independently and prefer that for the flexibilty.

 

My question is...Will it be difficult to get a table for 10 during AD?

Thanks!

 

p.s. this is a pretty full cruise in the Med in Sept on the Star.

[Morgsmom]

I would think that it would be very difficult to do, especially if the reason you are doing so is for flexibility.

[lovingretirement]

We will have five couples as well, and we plan to do AD. I have had a group of 28 and we did AD. After we viewed the menu, we took a count of how many wanted to dine and at what time. I called ahead and reserved our seating at the time we chose. We usually ate early before the rush, but had no problems sitting together. I think the key was reserving our seating for a specific time.

[Pam in CA]

There aren't that many tables for 10 in the dining room so if you want to sit together, you'll have a wait. Possibly a long wait. Unless you are the first to the dining room, which isn't being "flexible" since that implies you want to go at differing times every night, it's logical that if the table(s) for 10 are taken, you'd have to wait for one to be finished with dinner.

 

Also, the Maitre d's are not consistent when it comes to making a reservation. Some allow reservations at any time during the evening, others allow it only before 6pm and after 8pm. Regardless, unless you're the first at the table, you'd have to wait for the previous occupants to finish. I've had that happen to me where we had to wait up to 45 minutes for our reserved table.

 

You would probably have a more positive experience in Anytime if you're willing to be at two different tables, one for four, one for six. While some might report that they had no problems or waits for Anytime, logic tells me that even with seating two people there can be a wait that with ten, there will be waits. Which makes it not as flexible as I'm sure your friends want.

 

If it were me, I'd go with Traditional dining so you can walk in and be seated at "your" table.

[paul929207]

Before agreeing to AD with a group that big, I would verify that everyone is punctual. I would not be alot of fun hanging around for 30 minutes for slow pokes to drop by

[nerysj]

We have always done AD for our family of 4, but last year we formed a group of 10 for one night. Didn't make a reservation....and waited 45 minutes for a table. Not pleasant! I would say that it would be a logistical nightmare to have AD for this number of people.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

Just off the Ruby and thoroughly enjoyed AD in the Davinci Dining Room. We were allowed to make reservations for 7:30 or later since there was early traditional dining at 5:30 in this dining room. While we were fortunate as a group of 4 getting the same table each night there were 2 other tables in our area of 10 people that had the same table all week. One group was at 7:30 and the other at 8:15.

So as others have stated it depends on the ship. My advice is to go directly to the maitre d for your dining room and see if they will accomodate you.

[downtown48]

We did a Christmas cruise last year with the family (9 people) and we tried the anytime on the first night and that was the only night we tried that. We switched to traditional and that was much better. Not to mention nine people with all of their individual needs and quirks, it was nice to have the same waiter everynight that knew what everybody wanted. That said, if you're all OK with eating way early or way late then you could maybe swing it but any heavy times and you'll probably be disappointed.