Pros/Cons of Anytime dining

[Ironmen]

Thinking about switching to anytime dining. We have never done this before. Family of 4. What are the pros/cons?

[big_duck]

Pros - eat when you want.

 

Cons - might have to wait for a table.

[golfadj]

We like having the same tablemates for a cruise and the same waitstaff.

 

Will be doing anytime though on our next cruise as the two couples we are going with wanted it.

[Spudder]

We've done it twice and love it.

 

Never waited more then 2 minutes for a table.

Eat when you want.

Meet different wait staff or request the same crew, it is up to you.

Eat at as large or small a table as you want, we sat at an 8 top and a 2 top.

Catch a show then eat, or eat then catch a show....

If you don't feel like eating in the MDR then don't, you don't have tablemates waiting for you.

 

Enjoy....

[figdu]

We have booked anytime since it became available. We still eat with the same crew as we ask at the hostess stand for it. Even doing this we have never had to wait for a table.

[Cruise, J.D.]

I like it. Only issue is that I have had some slower than usual service with it when arriving in the middle of the first sitting.

[cruise luvr]

If you choose anytime dining do you get to sit with other people each night. I thought it might be nice to meet a variety of people. Or, do they sit you based on the size of your party (we are 2)?

[figdu]

If you choose anytime dining do you get to sit with other people each night. I thought it might be nice to meet a variety of people. Or, do they sit you based on the size of your party (we are 2)?

 

You can although I choose to get a table for two.

[QTPieRye]

We've dont it 2 times, once with 2 of us and the other time with 7.

 

We have found the only advantage to be time flexibility, allowing us to do activities that may have otherwise clashed with dinner in the MDR.

 

We did not care for the wait times... once over 1 hour for our group of 7. We did end up with the same table every night and had the same wait staff.

 

Both times, service was slower than the MDR. Overall, we did not feel we got the same personal service as in the past with scheduled dining.

 

Our next cruise, we will not do YTD.

[CoconutJD]

My understanding is the larger the party, the longer you may have to wait. My wife and I did ATD on the Triumph in August and never had to wait more than 10 minutes. We were seated by ourselves every night, but they did give us the option of sitting with others. But even seated by ourselves, the other tables were close enough to have casual conversation with other people.

[Ironmen]

We've dont it 2 times, once with 2 of us and the other time with 7.

 

We have found the only advantage to be time flexibility, allowing us to do activities that may have otherwise clashed with dinner in the MDR.

 

We did not care for the wait times... once over 1 hour for our group of 7. We did end up with the same table every night and had the same wait staff.

 

Both times, service was slower than the MDR. Overall, we did not feel we got the same personal service as in the past with scheduled dining.

 

Our next cruise, we will not do YTD.

 

Thanks! That is some good information to think about.

[luvscruzn]

If you choose anytime dining do you get to sit with other people each night. I thought it might be nice to meet a variety of people. Or, do they sit you based on the size of your party (we are 2)?

 

You can request a table for 2 or ask to be seated with others, your choice. We have done ATD since it started, love it, agree with all the

pros, have not found any cons. Only problem , there might be a wait if

you want a table between 6:30 and 7:30, as a large number of people

want that time frame.

[Express Man]

Love ATD!!

 

Pros-

Eat when you want

No rush back to ship in Ports

Kids get hungry go early

Shows early that night eat late

Shows late that night eat early

We have found we can get in and out sooner if we please no waiting on table mates. Or also ask server to slow the pace so we can dine a little longer that night.

If you find a great server,You can request them every night as like you would with assigned seating.

Get your choice of table

Only waited on table once(10 minutes max) on Elegant night and because we asked for a certain server.

Ect.

[Rockee4055]

I don;t prefer anytime dining only because I like having the same wait staff as it gives us a chance to get to know them and have fun.

 

One cruise we were playing practical jokes on each other the entire time. Was the best wait staff we ever had and we had a BLAST.

 

As another post stated, no guarantee that you will get right in and seated. When I'm ready to eat, I wanna eat! I get cranky when I'm hungry...ask my DW, DD and DS. :p

[Carbri]

I don;t prefer anytime dining only because I like having the same wait staff as it gives us a chance to get to know them and have fun.

 

One cruise we were playing practical jokes on each other the entire time. Was the best wait staff we ever had and we had a BLAST.

 

As another post stated, no guarantee that you will get right in and seated. When I'm ready to eat, I wanna eat! I get cranky when I'm hungry...ask my DW, DD and DS. :p

 

This is VERY true about having the same wait staff. On my honeymoon last year I did ATD for the first time and found that one: the wait was longer (but we always requested a table for 2) and the service was very spotty and non personal. I seemed to see that it must be a bit harder on the staff. I did miss having the same staff each night and getting to know them and they know you and on my past 9 cruises, this is one great way to meet wonderful people that you make long friendships with. I like to sit at a large table if doing assigned dining. I did a 4 top one time and it was less than thrilling. The other couple had ZERO in common with us and acting like they hated us. In fact, they didn't even come to dinner the last 4 nights of the trip. No idea why as my ex and I were always fun loving and open people.

This year, my new hubby and I opted for anytime dining because we like the flexibility and we dont mind to wait for a table. Last year we just got a pager and went to the bar:D

[ExFed drvr]

We've dont it 2 times, once with 2 of us and the other time with 7.

 

We have found the only advantage to be time flexibility, allowing us to do activities that may have otherwise clashed with dinner in the MDR.

 

We did not care for the wait times... once over 1 hour for our group of 7. We did end up with the same table every night and had the same wait staff.

 

Both times, service was slower than the MDR. Overall, we did not feel we got the same personal service as in the past with scheduled dining.

 

Our next cruise, we will not do YTD.

 

I agree...we did ATD on the Dream last January since it was only me & wife...Waited every night no matter when we went ...Ate in buffet several nights and will not do ATD again...Dennis

[092306]

We've been doing anytime dining for a while and never had a problem requesting the same waitstaff so we didn't miss any of the personalized service that comes with set dining. I think we only waited for a table one time when we dined with another couple, but the wait was short. For us, there are more pros than cons.

[srlafleur]

We always do ATD, on any line that offers it. We don't particularly like the artificial socializing forced by set dining times at set tables. It's not that we're anti-social, but I'm not a fan of small-talk and the whole "let's be best buddies for the next week or so". If we feel like socializing, we can still request a larger table (we don't, usually). Neither do I feel the need to become besties with the servers, though if we find one we particularly like, we may request that section at subsequent dinners.

We do like being able to eat when we're hungry and find it much more relaxing if we don't have to adhere to a set schedule to eat (there's enough of that with meeting tours, etc.), or risk keeping the rest of the table waiting if we fail to notify someone that we've decided to eat at an alternate dining venue.

[howielovescruisin]

We love ATD, won't book a cruise if it's not available. We like being able to pick what time we want to eat. We have learned that if we like the waitstaff from the first night, they will seat us in their section again if we want. Similarly if we didn't like the waitstaff we could be asked to be moved to new ones.

[cruzinlisa]

My understanding is the larger the party, the longer you may have to wait. My wife and I did ATD on the Triumph in August and never had to wait more than 10 minutes. We were seated by ourselves every night, but they did give us the option of sitting with others. But even seated by ourselves, the other tables were close enough to have casual conversation with other people.

 

In our case, only one time were we asked if we wanted to sit with others. We opted to do so that night. The other nights (assuming we did not have our daugther with us), they automatically sat us at a table for two, however they had a row of 4 tables for 2 that probably would have otherwise been a long ten top table. We were about 1 foot from the other table (seriously), so we usually chatted with our neighbors.

 

I love ATD because of the flexibility. If we wanted to sit alone, we could. On port days we would often come back and have a late snack/light lunch, and then have a little later dinner.

 

On our last cruise service was good with ATD, but last year we had a different experience. Still DH and I said if it was just us cruising, we would pick traditional dining. We do not when we have our DD ( 2 y/o) with us, because if we take her to dinner we prefer to eat alone -because she can be a little "unpleasant" when traveling (what I really want to say is she can be a brat- but that does not sound very nice). If we do not take her to dinner (either feed her at buffet and take to camp or let her eat at camp), then I do not want to sit at a table with other people's children. But if we decide to leave her home next year with grandparents, then we probably will pick late dining.

[TerReuv]

We did ATD on the Fascination and we loved it. So nice to be flexible. Also, we loved our waitstaff the first night and requested them each night we went. We only had to wait one night and that was elegent night. We only waited about 20 minutes. No biggie. So it is possible to have the same wait staff and ATD.

[momof4girls]

I LOVE ATD! Did it on my first cruise (there was just two of us), and we had the same server every night (at our request). The tables were close enough that we had no problem getting to know other people (if we chose).

 

Loved it so much on my first cruise that I chose it for my last cruise. We were a party of six. The ONLY wait we had was the first elegant night, and we were told by countless others that it is the busiest night in the dining rooms. The wait was about 10 minutes. We requested the same servers each night so we didn't miss out on the "personal touch" you might get at assigned dining. On our second to last night, when the hostess asked for our room number, I gave her the room # and said, "You know we are going to request Joel again!" She smiled and said that Joel already informed her that he would like a table "saved" for us as long as it was possible. :) We showed up to the dining room between 6:00 and 6:30 each night.

[poptart]

We love it and it is the only way we go since it was made available. 6 is too early and 8:30 is too late to eat.

 

 

We only had to wait about 10 minutes once on Elegant night we like to eat around 7ish which is a very popular time.

 

We've been either just the 2 of us or a group of 4.

 

This year there will be 6 of us. I've already warned the other 4 that we may have to wait sometimes since we are a larger group.

 

We don't like to eat with strangers, we don't mind different wait staff, we are just there to eat.

 

So as far as we are concerned it is all PRO! :D

 

Last time we sailed the Legend we had early seating and everyone but me missed the ship going under the bridge. (I stayed and took pictures and arrived to dinner late. No problem I just had the main course and dessert!)

[vache]

We always do anytime dinning. It allows us to plan our day around what we want to do. We cruise as a couple so we like to eat as a couple. If we find a wait satff we like we reuest a table in there area and it maybe a wait but we are okay with that. Whose in a rush i'm on vaction!!

[bunchesofun]

If you choose anytime dining do you get to sit with other people each night. I thought it might be nice to meet a variety of people. Or, do they sit you based on the size of your party (we are 2)?

It's your choice. You can sit by yourself or be seated with others. Last cruise we were seated with others twice, and by ourselves the rest of the time.