Tell me about your time dining

[lovestocruise19]

DH and I are going on the 12 day Freedom repo cruise in February. DH has convinced me that we should do a different dining time than the early time because sometimes we sleep in later and subsequently have lunch later, which sometimes makes us not so hungry at 6 p.m. Same with days in port (late lunch getting back on the ship after excursions). DH suggested late dining, but I don't think I could last until 8:15 p.m. So we compromised and chose your time dining.

 

Here are my questions for those that have used your time dining:

 

1. How does it work? Do you just go anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. and get a table?

 

2. Is there always a wait like at a land based restaurant?

 

3. Do you get seated at a different table each night and have different waiters?

 

4. Do you get seated with other your time dining people? (For the past four cruises, we've either been seated just the two of us or with family we were cruising with).

 

5. Is your time dining in the aft or mid ship MDR (as Freedom has two dining rooms) or does it depend on the cruise?

 

And, as a side note, anyone know how many formal nights there would be on a 12 night cruise? My DH says "too many." Lol!

[hartsnvt]

DH and I are going on the 12 day Freedom repo cruise in February. DH has convinced me that we should do a different dining time than the early time because sometimes we sleep in later and subsequently have lunch later, which sometimes makes us not so hungry at 6 p.m. Same with days in port (late lunch getting back on the ship after excursions). DH suggested late dining, but I don't think I could last until 8:15 p.m. So we compromised and chose your time dining.

 

Here are my questions for those that have used your time dining:

 

1. How does it work? Do you just go anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. and get a table? Yes. The earlier you go the faster you are seated.

 

2. Is there always a wait like at a land based restaurant? I have never waited more than a few minutes and we usually are there by 6:30.

 

3. Do you get seated at a different table each night and have different waiters?You can request the same wait staff if you enjoy them, if not then say you do not want so and so and they will seat you at a different station

 

4. Do you get seated with other your time dining people? (For the past four cruises, we've either been seated just the two of us or with family we were cruising with).You can choose to be at a table for 2 or request a larger table, it is up to you though you may have to wait for others to be seated with them.

 

5. Is your time dining in the aft or mid ship MDR (as Freedom has two dining rooms) or does it depend on the cruise?I think it depends on the ship. On Sunshine I am told it is aft. On Sensation it was aft.

 

And, as a side note, anyone know how many formal nights there would be on a 12 night cruise? My DH says "too many." Lol!

I have no clue. Someone else will have to answer that one.

[ccruisequeen]

Two formal nights. You can wear the same little black dress and switch up accessories and Hubby can wear a shirt and pants (no jacket and tie).

 

[lovestocruise19]

Two formal nights. You can wear the same little black dress and switch up accessories and Hubby can wear a shirt and pants (no jacket and tie).

 

 

Oh, just two? Okay, I figured it might be more seeming as though it is a longer cruise, but I'm sure DH won't be heartbroken. Lol!

[lovestocruise19]

So let's say they seat you at a large table. Would you have to wait until it filled up before they take your order? That happened to us at the sea day brunch on our last cruise and it was kinda annoying waiting for people to arrive before ordering.

[gadan1]

As to the last question, on all of the Conquest class ships(of which Freedom is), (Glory, Liberty, Conquest), anytime dining was in the midship dining room. It's kind of convenient that way...if you get a pager and have to wait, you can hang out in the lobby area or at the lobby bar versus if it were aft and there is nothing on deck 3 back there except the dining room.

[lovestocruise19]

As to the last question, on all of the Conquest class ships(of which Freedom is), (Glory, Liberty, Conquest), anytime dining was in the midship dining room. It's kind of convenient that way...if you get a pager and have to wait, you can hang out in the lobby area or at the lobby bar versus if it were aft and there is nothing on deck 3 back there except the dining room.

 

Oh, cool, so like a pager that blinks when your table is ready? And midship would be great because we have a room that is one of the interior with walkway view, which is in the bow of the ship. Less walking to get there.

[lovestocruise19]

Anyone else? Loved it, hated it? I'm pretty sure we will give it a go, but was hoping to hear more opinions on your time dining.

[shoppingfever]

We had anytime dining on The Legend and loved it. We went on embarkation and picked out a table for two we would love to be at if possible. When we arrived, they had one available on the other side in the same location. We were so thankful because we had the best waiter, Kwame! We asked for his section each time we ate in the MDR (aft).

 

We thought we would be there nightly but some days, just like you mentioned, we ate a late lunch and some days we just didn't want to get dressed for the MDR and grabbed something on Lido.

 

Anytime dining was perfect for us and when we cruise again, we will definitely choose it.

[seannyice81]

DH and I are going on the 12 day Freedom repo cruise in February. DH has convinced me that we should do a different dining time than the early time because sometimes we sleep in later and subsequently have lunch later, which sometimes makes us not so hungry at 6 p.m. Same with days in port (late lunch getting back on the ship after excursions). DH suggested late dining, but I don't think I could last until 8:15 p.m. So we compromised and chose your time dining.

 

Here are my questions for those that have used your time dining:

 

1. How does it work? Do you just go anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. and get a table?

 

2. Is there always a wait like at a land based restaurant?

 

3. Do you get seated at a different table each night and have different waiters?

 

4. Do you get seated with other your time dining people? (For the past four cruises, we've either been seated just the two of us or with family we were cruising with).

 

5. Is your time dining in the aft or mid ship MDR (as Freedom has two dining rooms) or does it depend on the cruise?

 

And, as a side note, anyone know how many formal nights there would be on a 12 night cruise? My DH says "too many." Lol!

 

1. Yes. Depending on when other guests arrive as well, there may be a short wait time to be seated.

 

2. Occasionally. On 3 of my 4 Carnival cruises, my anytime dining experiences had a short wait in line, followed by almost immediate seating. (The 4th cruise was assigned dining)

 

3. Yes. However, you can request the same table or waiter if they're available (remember their name or table #).

 

4. I've always been seated with those who were in my booking and were linked with my booking. You can also request to be seated at a table with other guests, but you may not be served until more guests fill that table.

 

5. Your Time Dining on Triumph & Conquest Class ships is in the lower mid-ship dining room.

Edited April 27, 2014 by seannyice81

[cruisin_baker]

We did your time dining on Ecstasy 2 years back. We arrived when the dining room opened and each night the lines were huge. We wanted a table for two, but there was quite literally inches between the tables on either side of us. Kinda awkward for the waiters! The bar service was non existent. First time I drank water with dinner and not wine! Maybe because the ship was a smaller one, maybe they have improved things in a couple of years? Most comments I have read are much more favourable than ours, but I just wanted you to know our experience. The idea of dining when you want and not a set time is what attracted us to it.

 

 

Sent from my Ipad

[OCruisers]

We like Your Time Dining because it gives us the option of going to dinner at different times each night. :)

LuLu

[barbeecat]

Love Anytime dining..we usually go around 6:30-7 after the first crush is over..never have to wait except formal nite and we are given a beeper and it's usually only a short wait..last cruise in Feb we had an awesome waitstaff the first nite so we requested them every nite...no problem and by day 4 the hostess knew who we wanted without asking!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[ccruisequeen]

I always do YTD. You can ask to be seated with others but your order will be taken individually, not as a part of a group like assigned 6 or 8;30 dining. You can ask for the same table and/or table in same wait staff's area. The longer the cruise the more they get to know you.

 

 

[irie0518]

We really like the flexibility of your time dining. We use it on every cruise. We prefer to dine alone so not sure if you are wanting to share a table how much of an impact that would be. We tend to go to dinner on the early side of things and it usually works out pretty well. We don't usually have to wait for a table and if we do it has never seemed like an incredibly long period of time. We usually try to find a group of waitstaff we like early in the cruise and then request their section on each night there after. They are usually able to accommodate the request.

 

We like it for the exact reasons you said in your post. Sometimes you have a later lunch and aren't ready for an early dinner. We also would not want the late time every night either.

 

The only other thing to keep in mind is if the singing and dancing is important to you that is geared more towards the set dining times. I think they sing and dance around 7 & 9 so just keep that in mind if you either want to see it or avoid it. I personally think it's kind of cute but if I miss it I am not heartbroken.

[lovestocruise19]

We really like the flexibility of your time dining. We use it on every cruise. We prefer to dine alone so not sure if you are wanting to share a table how much of an impact that would be. We tend to go to dinner on the early side of things and it usually works out pretty well. We don't usually have to wait for a table and if we do it has never seemed like an incredibly long period of time. We usually try to find a group of waitstaff we like early in the cruise and then request their section on each night there after. They are usually able to accommodate the request.

 

We like it for the exact reasons you said in your post. Sometimes you have a later lunch and aren't ready for an early dinner. We also would not want the late time every night either.

 

The only other thing to keep in mind is if the singing and dancing is important to you that is geared more towards the set dining times. I think they sing and dance around 7 & 9 so just keep that in mind if you either want to see it or avoid it. I personally think it's kind of cute but if I miss it I am not heartbroken.

 

I don't necessarily want to sit with others or not. I just want to be able to be seated and be able to order right away. We've only shared a table with strangers on our very first cruise, so it has been awhile and I wasn't sure if you come as a party of two in your time dining if they sit you as a party of two.

 

Thanks for the advice on the singing/dancing. I also enjoy the singing and dancing and sometimes we'd actually miss it when we were in early dining on our last cruise because we had a table for two and would end up finishing eating before they sang/danced.

[cruising_diva]

We've had YTD three times on the Elation between 2011 and 2013. We've never been seated with strangers. Also, different tables every night. We also never had any wait time whatsoever, but the Elation is a smaller ship.

It has always been a positive experience for us, and we will continue to choose YTD. We're going to see what the experience is like on the Dream this October!

Enjoy your cruise!

[silverpenguin]

1. How does it work? Do you just go anytime between 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. and get a table? Yes. Just like a restaurant

 

2. Is there always a wait like at a land based restaurant? We only had to wait in line. When we got to the maitre d stand, we were seated immeditaly (party of 4)

 

3. Do you get seated at a different table each night and have different waiters? 4 out of 5 nights, we requested to be seated in the same section to get the same staff. On the odd night, they told us there would be a wait for that section, so we told them to seat us where ever there was room

 

4. Do you get seated with other your time dining people? (For the past four cruises, we've either been seated just the two of us or with family we were cruising with). Party of 4, table for 4. We saw tables for 2 all over the place, though.

 

5. Is your time dining in the aft or mid ship MDR (as Freedom has two dining rooms) or does it depend on the cruise? Probably depends on the ship. On Fascination, it was aft, but each ship has a specific dining room set up for YTD.

 

And, as a side note, anyone know how many formal nights there would be on a 12 night cruise? My DH says "too many." Lol! Not sure of that one, but it is in Carnival's FAQ section. Just search for dining dress code

[CruisinCarps]

We had anytime dining and did NOT like it! Mainly because several times we had to wait over an hour in line. Once it was almost 1 hr 45 mins! One of those times we got inside and there were empty tables left and right. I was so upset! I am hypoglycemic and had to start bringing those little chocolates with me in case I started getting dizzy, etc.

 

So our next cruise comings up next month, we want early dining, but we are wait listed for it. It could be just had very bad luck, but we were usually there around 6:30..:lot of people were upset.

[bunchesofun]

Three cruises. YTD each time. First time we always had a table just for our party. Second and third we sometimes agreed to sit with others. Never had to wait too long for the table to fill. Generally waited behind maybe 10 people to be seated (6:30-7:00) Twice we've been given pagers, once on elegant night, once because we wanted to be in a certain section for the waitstaff. We love it also because there have been times we were on excursions and couldn't make it when we had planned but it caused no problems. We have it scheduled for the next cruise.

[Boozebabe]

Had it our last 2 cruises and we LOVE it. We aren't always hungry at the same time every day. If it's a late port day you have to rush to get ready for dinner if you have early seating. Mostly we have been at a table for 2. I'd prefer a larger group, maybe a table for 6-8. The wait has never been long. I can't stand for very long due to back problems and the line moves fine for me. Even with 5 or 6 groups ahead of you it only takes 5 minutes at most.

[silverpenguin]

Remember that the buffet, deli, pizza & grill are anytime options as well. If there is a wait and you decide not to. And I've also heard they give you a buzzer like at a restaraunt (or even if there's not)...Put your name in the hat, for an hour wait, go grab an "appetizer" from the buffet, come back & wait for your name to be called.

[jmcancruise]

We have done your time dining on our last couple of cruises. We always arrived early and were promptly seated. We always asked for a table for two and got it. Sometimes we were sitting close to other people, but when we arrived very early we usually got a nice table by the window.

 

One nice thing about your time dining is that you can time your meal around other things you want to do that evening.

 

For us it has worked out nicely and we have booked it again for our next cruise.

[lovestocruise19]

We had anytime dining and did NOT like it! Mainly because several times we had to wait over an hour in line. Once it was almost 1 hr 45 mins! One of those times we got inside and there were empty tables left and right. I was so upset! I am hypoglycemic and had to start bringing those little chocolates with me in case I started getting dizzy, etc.

 

So our next cruise comings up next month, we want early dining, but we are wait listed for it. It could be just had very bad luck, but we were usually there around 6:30..:lot of people were upset.

 

Gosh! I hope this was a fluke. I'm not sure if I'm hypoglycemic, but I get really icky feeling if I don't eat, too! But I suppose if it was that bad, we could just leave and go up to the Lido buffet.

[lovestocruise19]

Had it our last 2 cruises and we LOVE it. We aren't always hungry at the same time every day. If it's a late port day you have to rush to get ready for dinner if you have early seating. Mostly we have been at a table for 2. I'd prefer a larger group, maybe a table for 6-8. The wait has never been long. I can't stand for very long due to back problems and the line moves fine for me. Even with 5 or 6 groups ahead of you it only takes 5 minutes at most.

 

Yes, that has happened to us where we had to rush to get to early dining, especially on the very first night of the cruise during sailaway. It would be nice to experience a whole sailaway without having to rush to get to dinner at 6 p.m.