Why anytime dining?

[shelle007]

Does anyone know if you can make reservations for anytime dining? We took a cruise on Princess this past spring and had their version of anytime dining and we were able to reserve each morning at 8am through their reservation line. It was convenient and we were always able to get a table for two with no waiting at all.

[askimdog]

We rarely eat in the MDR so when asked we choose ATD, thinking why take a guaranteed spot at Early or Late. We do on occasion use the

MDR, about twice a 7 day cruise, be it breakfast or evening meal we dislike sitting with strangers too. Lastly, we cruise as 3 people bringing our child who is 8. Since she is with us and her bedtime is 8:30, a late dining slot would never work.

 

We did like that with ATD you can be seated at 4:45, which is close to our 5PM preferred dining time.

[trini_ras]

Tried ATD on my last Two cruises, did not like the wait, or the lines. :(

Going back to 'late dining' for my cruise next month :D

[mslrac]

We had ATD when we cruised on the Fantasy at the beginning of the month and we really liked it. Some nights there were shows that we wanted to see so we would eat late or early to accommodate those. We also didn't have to rush back to the ship to get ready for dinner on port days. The only night that we had to wait was on the first elegant night and we did not wait long at all...like the bartender hadn't even finished making my martini at the Grand Spectrum bar when our pager went off. There was always a line starting around 5:30 but once the dining room opened at 5:45, it cleared out quick.

[Khloella]

You hear about the long waits on here, but we've done Anytime Dining on all but one of our cruises. We only had late dining on one because we booked last minute and ATD wasn't available. We've never been given a pager and told to come back, and we've never stood in a line more than just a few people in front of us. We do ATD because we like sitting at our own table. I'm sure sometimes you luck out with assigned dining times, but if you don't like your table mates you're SOL for the whole cruise. We didn't like ours and it really made us not enjoy our dinner. They complained about every course at every meal. They almost made us feel bad that we were enjoying our food. We also do ATD so that we don't have to miss anything if we don't want to. We like the flexibility.

[richstowe]

WE love YTD and had only good things to say about it until this summer's Glory cruise.

 

The cruise was at 125 % of 2 per cabin capacity. I believe full is full for the set dining times

so they must have dumped all the extras into YTD. We had to wait each and every night.

The ship as a whole was crowded but it was in the YDR and the comedy club that it was most noticeable.

Even the buffet wasn't so bad with the new 2.0 upgrades.

 

We waiting time was 15 to 60 minutes each night. Service was slow but except for the last night , not horrible.

That final evening service totally broke down although we "only" waited 20 minutes to get in.

 

Having said all of the above, we still wouldn't want to eat with set dining times.

I don't think there are normally serious waiting issues unless the ship is very very full.

[paytonjsplace]

We were a group of 6 last year on the Legend and LOVED Anytime Dining. We loved not feeling scheduled (even though we ended up meeting for dinner at 6pm every night to head down -- except one night, when we went more like 7:15pm). Never waited more than 5 minutes, of the 7 nights, we had the same spot and same wait staff 6 nights. LOVED it...and doing it again this cruise.

[saltybones]

One time we had to get a pager and go have a drink at the atrium bar, it was such a horror :) I like how laid-back it is when you don't have to obey a clock and can just go to supper when you feel like it instead of a set time.

 

Hey, the same thing happened to us :eek:

 

We Love it!

 

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk 2

[KillaFee]

We have yet to try ATD but have selected it for our upcoming cruise on the Splendor over Thanksgiving because the early seating is WAY too early for us and we feel that late seating would just be begging for heartburn (clearly, we're getting older). SO, with that being said, we figure that we'll head down to ATD around 7:15 - 7:30, which I'm sure is when it's busiest, but better than getting finished w/dinner at 10pm, IMHO. We shall see!!

 

Laura

[cjcjohio]

Group of 4 tried it on Legend this year did NOT like it waited 30 minutes most nights. the first night the pager was broken and we waited over one hour.

Next cruise we have scheduled a set dining time.

[crusinpsychRN]

Can anyone tell me about doing Your Time as a solo? Do you almost always sit with others?

[icruz]

We have used ATD for 45 Carnival cruises and have "never" had to wait

[mslrac]

Can anyone tell me about doing Your Time as a solo? Do you almost always sit with others?

 

We were a party of 2 and they always asked us if we'd prefer a table for 2 or to sit with others. We did a mix of both. When we dined with others, we had solo travelers with us each time but we also saw solo guests seated a tables for 2.

[Tatka]

We have used ATD for 45 Carnival cruises and have "never" had to wait

 

How many times per year do you cruise?! :)

 

ATD on Carnival is a relatively new concept. Maybe 8 years old, but I think not even that old.

[Rudyard]

We like it because we don't eat at set times at home. There might be times when I'm hungry at 6:00 and another night I might be hungry at 8:00. I've done ATD on both of my previous cruises and never experienced a wait longer than five minutes for a table for two. This upcoming cruise there will be four of us so I'll see if that makes a difference, but also saw groups of four being seated quickly as well the last time.

[JB3]

I understand why people would want flexibility, but it seems like When anytime dining is mentioned in a thread it is associated with long lines. I liKe traditional dining (late) but if anytime has such lines, why do people Choose it?

 

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We were just on the Freedom last week, and did the anytime dining... it was great. We never waited at all. We always went to eat at either 7 or 730, depending on the night.

Our service in the Chic dining room was great too.