Are there any disadvantages to Any Time Dining?

[lola4795]

It seems like there must be, since the early/late dinings are also offered. But, I can't figure out what they would be. To me, it seems like a no-brainer that we would want to choose our own times to dine each evening.

 

Is there limited seating for ATD? Or are the seats not as good?

 

We are traveling in a group of 9. We don't all necessarily have to eat together every night, but I'm sure we will want to do so at least one time. Are one of the dining options better for this type of thing?

 

The only other cruise we were on was NCL. I have their Freestyle dining stuck in my head and can't really figure out why you would want it any other way.

 

Educate me! :)

[Nessa55]

Hi - we did the ATD 2 years ago and will do it again this year. What happens is although you can go anytime, they will always try to seat you with the same wait staff (probably for tipping purposes - lol). They already have the names of your group so they will pretty much seat you guys not necessarily together since some of you might not come in together but still in the same general area of each other. When you get to the dining room and say there are 5 of you, they will seat that 5, if there are 2 of you, they will seat the 2 of you and so on and so forth. I don't think I will ever enjoy any other dining time personally, I love the flexibility it gives you and your party.

[jlk806]

There could be a wait, depending on how many others decide to dine at the same time as you - Ive heard most people get seated quickly but have heard reports from some that they have waited 45 minutes-1 hr on certain nights at some times. If you do assigned dining, you show up and your table is ready at your assigned time. Also, with assigned dining you get the same wait staff each night and they get to know you, Ive heard its possible with ATD to have the same wait staff, and to some its not important. Thats all I can think of!

[lola4795]

There could be a wait, depending on how many others decide to dine at the same time as you - Ive heard most people get seated quickly but have heard reports from some that they have waited 45 minutes-1 hr on certain nights at some times. If you do assigned dining, you show up and your table is ready at your assigned time. Also, with assigned dining you get the same wait staff each night and they get to know you, Ive heard its possible with ATD to have the same wait staff, and to some its not important. Thats all I can think of!

 

If the wait time is long, can you leave the restaurant area and return later?

[Shaded Lady]

If the wait time is long, can you leave the restaurant area and return later?

 

yes you can... however I've heard a lot of complaints that once you're seated for YTD it can take longer than the early or late seatings... since the waitstaff is dealing with people at all different points in their dining experience!

[cruisercrazy69]

If the wait time is long, can you leave the restaurant area and return later?

they give you a beeper

[golfb4cruzing]

We always go early and don't have a wait. We waited only once on Formal Night. We went to a lounge with our beeper and had a cocktail. Maybe 20 minutes. I don't like waiting for others.

[Wags67]

I loved ATD, however, next cruise I am going to make sure I take note of when the photographers are available...we kept missing them around the time we'd eat...usually only a couple were available and sometimes none..I guess for some people this would be a bonus...LOL, but I enjoy getting a few sessions done. I know that doesn't have much to do about the dining experience...as far as that went...no issues for us so far.

[redpelican]

We did ATD one time and won't do it again. We were never sat with the same server twice and the tables were in the middle of the isle. To be fair, this was a very crowded ship, but the waiters catered to the regular diners. I think you may find it hard to all eat all together as I know they assign those large tables to the other diners. I really think it all depends on the ship and the help and what you are expecting. Either way you choose, I'm sure you will have a wondeful cruise!

[jobell]

If the wait time is long, can you leave the restaurant area and return later?

 

You can pretty much venture anywhere on the ship while you wait for your table to be ready. They'll give you a pager such as you would receive at any land restaurant.

 

If you have a larger group, they usually prefer that you let them know ahead of time (say on Wednesday you all want to dine together), that way they can accommodate you as best as they can.

 

You'll find a wait usually from 6-6:30 and then 7-7:30 (or at least that is what we've always experienced). Anytime dining is usually on the upper level of the MDR or lower level whichever they have designated.

 

We have always done anytime dining and love it. You may not always have the same waitstaff, however you can always request to be seated in their section. If you like having the same waitstaff and knowing that they'll have your preferred beverage waiting for you then you may want to go with assigned dining. If you don't particularly care and want the flexibility of when you go eat, I would definitely recommend anytime.

 

Hope that helps.

[lola4795]

Thanks for the replies. That clears things up! Another question...

 

If you choose the anytime dining, can you still be seated in large groups?

[momof5k]

We travelled with a party of nine last August on the Elation and we were always seated together and had the same wait staff every night. The only night we had to wait was elegant night and that was less than 20 minutes if I remember right.

 

We just took our pager thing to the lounge that was right next door and had a drink while we waited. Easy peasy.

 

We are sailing again the August on the Conquest and are doing Anytime dining again. This time there are eleven of us so I do hope that it works as smoothly... :)

[Twinswithtwins]

On the first Elegant night (Magic/March) our party of 5 waited half an hour on line (6pm) and THEN were given a beeper for another 30min wait to be seated. Still enjoy ATD over set times but won't go at 6 again. We were seated where I could see the line and it didn't go down until 7pm. After that people were being seated as they approached the desk. No waiting any other evening. So next time we'll go at 5:45 or after 7pm on Elegant night.

[SirGoose29445]

Had my first stint of anytime dining on the last cruise and am still undecided on it. I loved the flexibility of it, but also missed dining with others and learning about them and never having the same servers for the entire cruise (although we had the same servers 2 nights in a row).

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

If the wait time is long, can you leave the restaurant area and return later?

 

yes you can... however I've heard a lot of complaints that once you're seated for YTD it can take longer than the early or late seatings... since the waitstaff is dealing with people at all different points in their dining experience!

 

 

We experienced this. Not only did it take longer, but it seemed very disorganized. Tried it once, will go back to traditional dining.

[helen haywood]

In answer to the question "can you be seated in large groups?" If, say, you are a party of two, you can request a table for two or ask to be seated with others at a larger table. Up to you.

[okgirl]

Thanks for the replies. That clears things up! Another question...

 

If you choose the anytime dining, can you still be seated in large groups?

 

If your group of 9 goes to the dining room at the same time they will try to seat you together or in close proximity. The problem will be that there are very few tables that can accomodate that many people.

 

I enjoy YTD because I'm never sure when I'll be in the mood for dinner. Tipping is not an issue because when they print out your assigned table number that wait team is given a portion of your tips for that night. The computer keeps track of it all.

 

Since dinner usually takes about 70 - 90 minutes on average, you can kind of guage when people will be finishing and vacating a table. So 7 to 7:15 is going to be when the 1st batch of people are going to start leaving the dining room.

 

I would say on average we get to the dining room just before 7 or we'll wait until more like 7:45ish. We've rarely had a wait of more than 10 minutes but the majority of times there has been no wait at all.

[wannago35]

We did ATD one time and won't do it again. We were never sat with the same server twice and the tables were in the middle of the isle. To be fair, this was a very crowded ship, but the waiters catered to the regular diners. I think you may find it hard to all eat all together as I know they assign those large tables to the other diners. I really think it all depends on the ship and the help and what you are expecting. Either way you choose, I'm sure you will have a wondeful cruise!

 

May I ask which ship you experienced this on?

[klmorg]

Are there any disadvantages to Any Time Dining?

 

Not for us! Only advantages... the FLEXIBILITY of dining when you are ready & when you are hungry with no meal schedule to keep while on vacation is most important. The service & food has always been fantastic, and never a wait other than about 5 minutes one time. It's the only way to go for us.......

[jasbo49]

As you can see from these posts, what may seem like a no-brainer to you (and me) because we value flexibility so much has different facets to others. A lot of people who have cruised for years really like the idea of a wait staff getting to know your needs and tendencies, and they like being seated with fellow travelers and getting to know them. Heck, they might even like the regimented schedule of knowing what time to show up for dinner.

 

While my wife and I prefer the Anytime, Your Time, Freestyle -- whatever it's called on each line -- I'll say that I did enjoy the traditional dining on our 25th anniversary cruise in 2004 where our waiter who knew our names and that I wanted coffee after dinner and before dessert. Silly little thing, but I liked it. For me, it seems like that only happens with traditional seating. Our experience with Anytime is that we get seated quickly but with a different waiter every night.

 

Jim

[hoplady]

We tried ATD about 3 cruises ago and love it! If you really like your wait team you can request them every night. Sometimes we have done that and sometimes not. They were all great and we never had a wait. They will ask if you want to eat alone or in a larger group. Love that you can go whenever you want to and don't have to wait for every table in your section to arrive before they begin your service. I don't think we will ever go back to assigned times as long as ATD is available!

*******

JANUARY 2013 – SPLENDOR - Hawaii

MAY 2012 – MAGIC – Roatan, Belize, Cozumel

NOVEMBER 2011 – TRIUMPH – W. Caribbean

MAY 2011 – CONQUEST – E. Caribbean

NOVEMBER 2010 – CONQUEST – W. Caribbean

MAY 2010 - CONQUEST - W. Caribbean – Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

MAY 2009 – CONQUEST – Eastern Caribbean- Key West, Nassau, Freeport

MAY 2008 – CONQUEST – Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

JUNE 2007 – SPIRIT – Alaska Northbound

APRIL 2006 – GRAND PRINCESS – Western Caribbean, Belize

MAY 2004 – ELATION – Western Caribbean

MAY 2002 – CELEBRATION – Cozumel

JUNE 1997 – ECSTASY – Western Caribbean – Key West, Cozumel

[shwabob]

I've been doing ATD on the last few cruises, and I'm definitely mixed on it.

It certainly seems that more and more people are going with this option for dining, but the more people want this option, the more challenges it presents for Carnival as Assigned dining is really seems to work better from an operational process standpoint. However, newb cruisers will probably not mind the cons of ATD as it's something they're used to from their neighborhood dining establishments nowadays.

 

PROS:

 

Eating anytime/flexible scheduling - Primary reason for choosing ATD. Usually I eat between 7:30-8:30. Late seating would probably work fine for me, but if I want to eat earlier I like having that option.

 

Seating flexibility - Having the choice to eat by ourselves or with other guests on a nightly basis is a big plus, especially if you happen to meet up with people on the cruise and want to be able to dine together one night, ATD can do that. I also prefer eating rather privately than with a large group (I have to do that enough at business and family functions) and ATD is a sure-fire way to ensure you don't get placed with a group of people you don't want to interact with at dinnertime. Sounds a little anti-social, but us techies are like that to an extent.

 

CONS:

 

Waiting for a table - Seems to be a big problem that there's no easy solution to. It's really bad on the embark night and the first elegant night. A lot of this depends on the quality of the ATD Hostesses, some are really good (like Ivon who was on my past Legend and Victory cruises and is presently on the Breeze) and some aren't so good (like the one on the Sensation last November...we waited 15-45 minutes every night for a 4-top).

 

Non-existent and/or SLOOOOOOOOW Service - This has always stood out and was even more evident on my last trip. We watched as the late-dining guests in the lower level that sat down around the same time as us get their appetizers before we even saw the Bar Waiter or had our order taken...by the time we got our Entrees, they were getting started on dessert. I'm not sure if it's simply because they're always in the weeds with a high table load or what, but the service from Anytime Dining pales in comparison to what you get with Assigned Dining.

 

Inability to regulate guest flow - As a guy that deals with process improvement all the time in my job, I see one of the biggest issues with Anytime vs. Assigned dining is that the Dining room staff have zero control over when a "zerg rush" of guests can overwhelm the MDR and create a massive backup that takes a good hour or so to deal with (yes you could look at the bigger picture regarding shipboard activities and probably have some limited control, but I'm keeping it at the MDR staff level). With Assigned dining, there's a predictable flow for evening operations...setup, early in, early out, setup, late in, late out, cleanup. Anytime adds multiple layers to the processes in the MDR and definitely puts more workload onto the waitstaff.

 

No Reservations (at least not to my knowledge) - I think having some sort of reservations system in place for Anytime dining would make a big difference in improving the operations for Anytime dining, especially if it could be a self-service system much like RCCL has in place. This would allow the MDR staff to gauge incoming guest flow and deal with it, plus it would give guests a better experience overall. On my 2011 Victory cruise, we had already built up a friendship with Ivon beforehand so on the first night she gave us her extension so we could buzz her and see how busy things were beforehand or give her a heads up on when we'd be coming. It definitely made a big difference.

 

tl;dr - Anytime dining is a nice option for up to 4 people, but if you're in a group bigger than that go with Assigned dining. Assigned dining service > Anytime dining service.

[astropilot]

Thanks for the replies. That clears things up! Another question...

 

If you choose the anytime dining, can you still be seated in large groups?

 

We just got back from the Freedom's May 19th cruise, and we did ATD. There were nine in our group, and we were seated together, with the same wait staff, and same table all 7 days.

 

The longest wait we had was on the first ellegant night, of about 20 minutes -- on the other nights there was no wait at all.

[serene56]

 

If you have a larger group, they usually prefer that you let them know ahead of time (say on Wednesday you all want to dine together), that way they can accommodate you as best as they can..

 

 

this was not true on the Legend. We had a party of 8. We were told if we want a table together to be there in the line by 5:45 as they can not hold the tables. It will be first come first serve...and damn if that didnt happen a few nights-- there are very few large tables available- mostly in the front and across the back of the ship. (much vibration too)

 

when we arrived there were large parties in front of us and we had to sit in two booths-- was not comfortable at all.

 

If seating together is important-- take traditional seating

[boating girl]

Does Carnival have separate dining rooms for ATD or are you mixed in the regular dining

rooms? I have only done ATD on Princess where there are separate dining rooms. I'm reading this thread and it sounds like Carnival does not have separate dining rooms.