Anytime Dining Question.....Please Advise

[martyap]

About a month ago I booked three cabins on the 7/14/2013 sailing of the Pride. As this is a family (6 adults; 4 small children) cruise I had the PVC link the bookings and requested early dining. Just got an email that only ONE cabin was confirmed for early dining. When I called Carnival I was told the other two cabins were out of luck as early was full......so much for "linking"

 

They offered me anytime dining. My question is......what are the chances of being seated as a family AND without waiting a long time each night for dinner? Or.....should I just cancel and look elsewhere.

[tea4ular]

I certainly wouldn't cancel. With a party of 10 you're going to run into issues (not major ones) regardless. Ask your agent to make note to move you all to early if it becomes available (cancellations will certainly happen between now and 2013), and meanwhile take anytime dining. Since early seating starts the same time as anytime, just be ready at that time to make your way to the dining room (all together). The host will do everything they can to have you seated as expeditiously as possible. If you aren't there right when the doors open your wait will be longer, so be at the door 5 to 10 minutes before hand.

 

Have fun.

[SOMBRERO6]

I would call again and see what they can do. It's hard to believe with a cruise over a year away, they can't accomodate you and your group! We have a group of 8 in 4 rooms and we originally booked ATD, then about 2 weeks later we called and asked them to change us to Early Dining. With kids we thought we may be better to have a scheduled dinner plan. There will be no waiting....this works for us..........Have fun!

[jandjtexas]

Anytime dining worked great for us. Most days we didn't have even a 2 minute wait, one time it was about 10 minutes. The dinner service was great and everything moved along quickly. I don't think I'll every try a set time, as we never ate at the same time. Some days early, some a bit later. There seemed to be many tables close together, so even if you are at seperate tables you can still speak with each other.

[hannahsmomtoo]

I actually chose anytime dining because of my daughter. I did not want her to miss any activities that she may want to attend with her peers. I think I would rather have to wait for seating and go at my leisure.

Just my view on it...

[SueG]

You should all go to any time dining. I had a large party on any time dining on the Glory and they always had our large table ready for us. Just go the first night and let them know you would like to sit together.

[Runaway Parent]

We've done anytime dining with a group of seven-- went early each evening and never had to wait. It worked out great.

[MomofBoyz]

We were a party of 10 and we always (one exception) were seated quickly AND at a wonderful round table for 10! Formal night was the only exception. We had to do 4 and 6, but we arrived at peak time.

[martyap]

Thanks for the advice....we do prefer Anytime but had never tried it for 10.

Guess it is worth a try. I was just annoyed that even though I linked the three reservations they just honored one of the three requests.

[mousey]

Yeah, I would have the group that got the early seating to change to ATD because they are going to be given a specific table and even if you went at the same time as them you still might not get to sit with them if they in the assigned seating section of the restaurant and you are in the ATD section of it. I would all go onto ATD and show up early and altogether. Good luck and good cruising!:D