Positive experiences with Anytime Dining??

[jackdis]

HI Everyone!

 

When DH and I travel without the kiddos, we usually do the late seating of dinner. But this time we are going on a short cruise without them and thought we would give the anytime dining a try.

 

I have read so many reviews and the main thing that keeps coming up is that the service was not good.

 

I still want to try it out this time, but would be happy to hear any positive thoughts and experiences about it. Surely there must be people out there who had the good service we are used to!!

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, ideas, tips, etc.

[vbecky]

We have done anytime dining in the past and we really like it. The last time we had a party of 8 and we never had to wait and in fact the second night we were asked if we wanted same table and wait staff as the night before. I like the flexibility of being able to eat when we want.

[FightOnRon]

I posted this on antoher anytime didng thread but to repeat.........

 

Only was on 1 CCL hsip on a 4 night cruise,,myirst time tyring anytime. Other 4 cruises were on HAL with fixed dining times.

 

I had the same fear of no repoire with the waiter,,different waiter al lthe time,,but before I sailed I learned I could ask for the same one every night if it worked out.

 

On my other 4 cruises I always tipped the waitstaff at the end because they were always good, in fact darned near perfect. On my CCL cruise when we were seated I too the waiter aside and asked him if he was the best waiter ever,,he said yes,,I gave him a tip and told him if he was I would see him every night. It was just like a fixed dining,,he was more then happy to be our waiter for 4 nights and it was darned near perfect. Leanred our names and all that jazz.

 

We scheduled our dinners around which show we wanted to get to, asked and go the same one every night, never waited more then 5 minutes to be seated, 3 nights seated right away.

 

I am leaving in 40 something days (whatever it says at the bottom of my screen) and I am doing anytime again. I personally loved it.

[Jilldo33]

We had no problem with anytime dining on our last cruise. We never felt our service was bad either. We had to wait like 15 min one night for a table but that's it. Other than that we got a table for 2 every night without a problem.

 

We're doing anytime dining again on our next cruise in May. We like the freedom to eat at anytime.

[ksy8384]

I have done the ATD on both CCL and RCI. We prefer CCL. We went to dinner when we were ready and rarely had to wait more than 5 min for a table, if that. On RCI unless we had a "reservation" we had to wait 10 to 15 minutes. The reservations negated the idea of ATD for me. I didn't like the seating arrangement on CCL but there were only 2 of us on that cruise vs the 5 on the RCI.

[ckdmom]

We had ATD on the Elation last year and I have no complaints. There were 7 of and only one time did we wait at all for a table. Most nights, we walked right in. In addition, for the first 2 night, we had one sever and the 2nd two we had a different server in a different spot. Both were wonderful and our kids loved them both. We enjoyed having the flexibilty to eat when it worked best into our schedule, or when we could all be ready. I see no reason to be concerned about ATD.

[SMSACE6]

I have usually been happy with set time dining early or late, but until a "somewhat" negative experience with table mates on a cruise in 2009, I thought that given the choice next time, I would try anytime, and choose a table to ourselves or to myself depending.

 

So when I booked my next cruise on Freedom for 2010, even though I would be travelling solo this time, I chose to take the opportunity to try your time dining.

 

My only concern was that since I would be cruising solo, I would "stick out" as a solo traveller, and I would not meet people, or have anyone to talk to over/during dinner. Also, I like having the same wait team every night at dinner, and wasnt looking forward to having a different one each evening. I was wrong on both counts!

 

Out of 8 evenings, I dined in the MDR for 7, and enjoyed the same great team of waiters. I was solo, but they treated my like royalty, and could not do enough for me! I did always arrive at the Anytime dining room early ( between 6pm and 6.30pm), so it was not a problem to get the same good wait team.

 

Also, out of 7 nights in the MDR, 6 of those evenings I had people on either side of my table who were freindly and wanted to talk, on the one evening that the young couple next to me were not talkative, it didnt bother me, because, Im ok on my own, dont depend on others to keep me entertained.

 

So for me, anytime dining was a positive experience, so much so, that I have booked it for my next cruise, which will also be a solo.:)

[Rottweiler Puppy]

 

I have read so many reviews and the main thing that keeps coming up is that the service was not good.

.

 

I did it and had awesome service. Of course we eat early so we were in when the MDR opened. I asked for a table for two by a window and go tit. The service was excellent so we requested that table and server the whole week.

 

It was every bit as good as I hoped, got the personalized service with a wait staff who knew my name and my preferences and did have the stress have having t make dinner at a certain time.

 

Food always came hot and never had to wait for it.

 

I say go for it but I am sure the time u go matters. I also think the waiters in YTD appreciate being requested each night and they definitely show their appreciation.

[ohitssunshine]

We did the anytime this past cruise. Before that we had always done early seating.

 

We only used the dining room twice, once on elegant night, and then another random night. We showed up on elegant night about 6:15 and the line was really long, and we waited about 10 minutes in line. Once we got to the door we were seated immediately, and that was a group of 9 of us.

 

The second trip only 6 of us went and we walked right up to the door around 7 and were seated immediately.

 

Both nights the service was good- we saw the entertainment both nights and the food was fast and hot.

 

We actually said for the first time ever that we would use the diningroom more on future cruises if we could do anytime.

[tiggerman101]

We do ATD now because of the flexability. Personally, I would choose late dining and stick with the same staff, but my partner is always apprehensive about "unknown table mates". With that said, if we are in a big group then we will do fixed dining because it is easier. We did this on our family Christmas cruise and it went alright. The waitstaff was nothing special, but not bad either.

 

ATD usually seems rushed to me and a lot more impersonal. My mother and I did have the same waitress in the MDR on Allure of the Seas doing ATD. We commented the first night on how much we liked her and they kept seating us in her section. It was a nice touch. Still, I will choose ATD for the flexibility almost every time.

[smc1313s]

We enjoyed anytime dining and went at different times most every night of our 7 night cruise on the Conquest. We had the same servers twice, but each team was great. I think that ATD is quicker than trad, we were usually in and out in less than an hour and a half, which seemed much quicker to me than trad. I will not go back to trad dining.

[baymadsus]

We had no issues with ATD, in fact, I thought it was great. We had the same fabulous server each night. He got to know us and loved to tease my gramma! haha! Took very good care of us!

[Westbank is bestbank]

I've done anytime dining and wouldn't have it any other way. It is so convenient to eat when you are ready and not have to plan your schedule around eating. Alot of people like the same waiter each night (which I still don't understand the difference) whereas I like the convenience of anytime dining. I really don't care if I know the waiter or not. At home I eat at restuarants all the time and could care less if I have the same waiter. If I want to see someone dance and sing I'll go see a show.

[momof4girls]

Only been on the one cruise (Fascination 2011), but I LOVED using ATD! There was just two of us, but it was a wonderful experience. Had a GREAT waiter the first night. Second night, we just decided to go with whomever they gave us. Much preferred the first waiter we had, so we requested him the last two nights. We saw the live show each night (and the ATD waiters took part too), and the food was always hot and to our liking.

 

Going on a family cruise in 2013, and we just discussed last night if we would choose ATD or early seating. Since we are NEVER on time when we are going somewhere all as a family, we chose ATD. :cool:

 

The only complaint I had of ATD when I was on the Fascination, was that I didn't get to meet/chat with fellow cruisers at dinner time. The first few nights we were sat at a table for two (didn't know there was any other type of seating though). However, on our final night, we were sat at a booth/table type seating. One side is a super long bench seat, and then you have small tables every few feet, and a chair at the other side of the table. It was the only night we were able to talk to other people on the cruise, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! If I had known, I would have requested that kind of seating the entire cruise.

[jackdis]

Thank you so much for all the quick responses!

Wow! I'm so excited to try this now. Hope our experience matches up to everyone's on here!!

Thank you again!!

:)

[ChefSusan]

We've done YTD on 11 out of 13 cruises, and to date we have never had any sort of issues. Food has always come out hot and on time, wait staff has been awesome, never really had too long of a wait (always took a pager and went to a bar for a couple of drinks beforehand), and we absolutely love the flexibility of eating when we want to with the people we want to dine with.

 

Best servers - Alina on Magic, Igor on Miracle, and Hershon on Freedom.

 

The only way we will ever do traditional dining is if we are part of a very large group, or we are sailing with first-timers.

[klmorg]

HI Everyone!

 

When DH and I travel without the kiddos, we usually do the late seating of dinner. But this time we are going on a short cruise without them and thought we would give the anytime dining a try.

 

I have read so many reviews and the main thing that keeps coming up is that the service was not good.

 

I still want to try it out this time, but would be happy to hear any positive thoughts and experiences about it. Surely there must be people out there who had the good service we are used to!!

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, ideas, tips, etc.

 

I have posted over & over & over again about how our service with Anytime dining was BETTER than traditional! We LOVE ATD... the flexibility is the best part, going to dinner when you are ready & when you are hungry, don't care to keep on a dining schedule while on vacation. Never had a wait (well, less than 5 minutes once), and as I said, outstanding service!

[askimdog]

Recently in January this year we had ATD on the Legend. We normally sit with my brother and sisters family as a group of 9, but due to a snafu, we were scheduled ATD being no room at Early Dining.

 

It was nice, I agree it was quicker, still too long for a meal in my eyes, but quicker than set time dining, plus going odd times was able to escape the silly dancing waiters. The service was poor and never a rapport was made with a waiter, just "What can I get you sir", never any other chat. Now, I will say we never asked for the same waiter or table either, so maybe I never gave them a chance. By poor service I just mean food wasn't hot and asking for something like tabasco or a danish at breakfast twice went unanswered. All this and I only ate 4 times in the MDR ( 2 breakfasts/2 dinners). Only eating in there a few times may also have to do with no rapport obviously.

 

I will say on those 4 meals, we never had a line to get in to eat. And Always got a table of 3, as we dislike eating with strangers.

 

Service varies of course, but flexability, ease of getting in and out, always finding a table our size...yes ATD worked fine. As mentioned, some of the problems may have been caused on this end. :)

 

Enjoy your cruise

[nessz79]

We always go anytime dining and love it. Our best experience was our last trip on the Destiny. After the first night, the hostess continued to seat us in the same section with the same wait staff and it was wonderful! It was just like assigned dining in that they knew what we liked, knew our names, and we were very sad to part ways after our 5 day cruise.

 

We never had to wait to be seated, but we usually got there before 6:45. I think we got there once around 7 but still were seated right away. We were in a group of 6.

[Bigal1017]

Tried ATD last year on the Victory and loved it. We never waited to be seated, the food was always hot, the service was very good. Can't wait to do it again.

 

Al

[theneals4]

Had anytime dining, on our last cruise. And never had a problem. I dont like being rushed for dinner. If there is something want to do or take a nap before dinner. I dont want a set time. Each time we went, we never had a problem. The only night we had to wait was the first "formal" night. And we didnt wait no more than 15-20 minutes. That was it. The service was great, the people were great, never got a rude person and never had to wait long for food.

 

We will be doing anytime dining again this cruise. Hopefully all will go well :)

 

Hope you and enjoy your cruise!

[jackdis]

Thank you so much for all the responses. Your comments are making me even more excited about our upcoming trip!!!

[AtoZgirl]

ATD is the best! Unless you have a set schedule at home (ie. everyone sits down for dinner at exactly 6:30 everyyyyyday on the dot or momma aint happy) then I think ATD will work great!!! Annnnd even if you do want to eat at a certain time everyday (not just the two times for early and late) you still could within a few minutes of course, if you decide. Hence, ATD being perfect for most everyone:D

[vwrestler171]

Me and my wife loved anytime dining on our last cruise and we are scheduled for it on our next one. Just works perfect, if I'm hungry after an excursion I can grab a snack and go to dinner later instead of waiting 2-3 hrs for the early seating.

[Waterloomarc]

Our first 3 cruises we did anytime dining. That was two 7 nighters and one 5 nighter and we never had to wait for a table at all. We usually went around 7.

 

That said we're the opposite of you. We took a short cruise in October and decided to give assigned dining as shot - a very easy decision since it was a last minute cruise and ATD was already filled ;) We were shocked at how much better the service was. Our food was so much warmer and the meal flowed so much better. We're doing fixed dining again next month on the Valor. Since we were on her this past September with ATD it'll be more of an apples to apples comparison. But so far our 1 fixed dining experience blew out the other 3.

 

Edit: sorry to critique ATD; the positive was supposed to be that we never had to wait for a table. Also there is definitely no denying its nice to go eat when you're hungry!

 

 

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