Anytime dining

[wack001]

Have not sailed Carnival in a couple of years but will be returning, my question governs anytime dining since I do it on other lines (different names).

 

-I usually MUST pre pay the Gratuities to use it but I was informed by my TA that it is not needed for Carnival.

 

- If true how does the system work?

 

On other lines, I usually had to pre book my time dining usually the Hostess/Host are very flexible if I change and usually seated in a special area.

 

Assistance please and I never want to shortchange the staff.

 

Thanks

cruisinbob

[klmorg]

On Carnival, you do not have to pre-pay gratuities with Anytime/Your Time dining. The proper wait staff receives your auto-tips when you arrive in the dining room; the hostess will ask for your S&S card/cabin number. Also, you cannot pre-schedule a dining time; you just show up. We have had YTD several times, and only had to wait once for about 5 minutes.

 

We LOVE YTD... the flexibility of dining when you're hungry, when you're ready, with no dining schedules to keep, while receiving the same food & service as traditional dining is awesome!

[wack001]

On Carnival, you do not have to pre-pay gratuities with Anytime/Your Time dining. The proper wait staff receives your auto-tips when you arrive in the dining room; the hostess will ask for your S&S card/cabin number. Also, you cannot pre-schedule a dining time; you just show up. We have had YTD several times, and only had to wait once for about 5 minutes.

 

We LOVE YTD... the flexibility of dining when you're hungry, when you're ready, with no dining schedules to keep, while receiving the same food & service as traditional dining is awesome!

 

Great, but do you pre pay the gratuities daily do you have to tell front desk?

Is there a special section you go to for dinner?

I just do not want any waitstaff or room staff shortchanged.

Thanks

cruisinbob.com

[klmorg]

Great, but do you pre pay the gratuities daily do you have to tell front desk?

Is there a special section you go to for dinner?

I just do not want any waitstaff or room staff shortchanged.

Thanks

cruisinbob.com

 

No, there is nothing special or different you do concerning tips regardless of what type of dining option you choose. Carnival's gratuity process is similar to the other cruiselines. The auto-tips are explained here from their website:

 

"For your convenience, we automatically charge the gratuities for dining and stateroom staff to your onboard Sail & Sign account. The total amount is $11.50 per guest, per day as follows(our recommended guideline effective voyages departing December 1, 2011 and onward):

 

$ 3.70 USD - Per Day Stateroom Services

$ 5.80 USD - Per Day Dining Room Services

$ 2.00 USD - Per Day Alternative Services: distributed to kitchen, entertainment, guest services and other hotel staff members."

 

You can pre-pay them IF you choose. Totally optional.

 

Also, when you board, your S&S card will indicate which dining room to go to for YTD.

[4wheelr]

The gratuities will be added to your sail & sign card just as if you have early or late dining. When you go the dining room assigned on your S & S, the hostess will seat you in the area of the dining room reserved for the anytime dining patrons. If there are no tables, you will be given a pager (like you get at Olive Garden) and you must wait until it buzzes for them to seat you. Your waitstaff won't be short-changed. The computer system tells them what table you were seated at and who your staff was.

 

For the record, I hate Anytime Dining. Did it once, and that was enough for me.

[wack001]

Thanks you, understand the great information.

So you can go anytime vice try to arrange a specific time, ie 7:00pm.

cruisinbob.com

[klmorg]

Thanks you, understand the great information.

So you can go anytime vice try to arrange a specific time, ie 7:00pm.

cruisinbob.com

 

 

You're welcome. Yes, you just show up ANYTIME you are ready to eat dinner between the hours of 5:45pm - 9:30pm (or some timeframe very similar to this; it will be outlilned in your daily FunTimes).

[falcon74]

Thanks you, understand the great information.

So you can go anytime vice try to arrange a specific time, ie 7:00pm.

cruisinbob.com

 

Correct, YTD does not take reservations, you just show up between 6-9 (or whatever time YTD is). We have done this on the last several cruises and won't do the set time dinning again. Also we have found if we like a certain wait staff we can ask to be seated in their section when you show up. We only had to wait once for about 20 mins on the formal night and when we got to our cabin later there was a letter from customer service and the dining room apologizing for our wait and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries.

[wack001]

Correct, YTD does not take reservations, you just show up between 6-9 (or whatever time YTD is). We have done this on the last several cruises and won't do the set time dinning again. Also we have found if we like a certain wait staff we can ask to be seated in their section when you show up. We only had to wait once for about 20 mins on the formal night and when we got to our cabin later there was a letter from customer service and the dining room apologizing for our wait and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

I might just ask for a table of 9 on formal night just to get the chocolates. I just enjoying having a drink and making my way to the MDR to meet up with DW, so I usually show up at 7pm almost every night. Thanks for good explanation.

cruisinbob.com

[katiel53]

Correct, YTD does not take reservations, you just show up between 6-9 (or whatever time YTD is). We have done this on the last several cruises and won't do the set time dinning again. Also we have found if we like a certain wait staff we can ask to be seated in their section when you show up. We only had to wait once for about 20 mins on the formal night and when we got to our cabin later there was a letter from customer service and the dining room apologizing for our wait and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

You were really lucky to get the chocolate covered strawberries and I bet that it wasn't on Dream. (If it were it was when the heavy set Maitre D' that we had 3x wasn't there.)

 

On Dream we waited every night to get the same wait staff. We waited anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. We have two more cruises on Dream scheduled, but we won't do ATD on there.

 

OP I wish it were done like Royal Caribbean so we could reserve a time and know that we will be able to be served at that time. In all fairness to Carnival, if you take any seat offered to you, there probably won't be a long or any wait. Another possibility is that it's just Dream that has the problems, because we noticed a lot of problem areas in ATD with that Maitre D.

 

The ATD is a great idea when it works.

[Chrisp414]

Correct, YTD does not take reservations, you just show up between 6-9 (or whatever time YTD is). We have done this on the last several cruises and won't do the set time dinning again. Also we have found if we like a certain wait staff we can ask to be seated in their section when you show up. We only had to wait once for about 20 mins on the formal night and when we got to our cabin later there was a letter from customer service and the dining room apologizing for our wait and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries.

 

 

 

Wow - the exact same thing happened to us - on the Dream a couple of years ago - strawberries back at the cabin! We were surprised. Love any time dining.

[Momma1980]

 

For the record, I hate Anytime Dining. Did it once, and that was enough for me.

 

Hello! Will you share the reason(s) you hated Anytime Dining? Thanks!