Tell me about your time dining

[jdyer09]

We've done ATD on every cruise we've booked since they started offering it. Personally we love it for the reasons already listed, but when traveling with kids it's even better because they too aren't hungry at the same time everyday.

 

We've waited a few times. Usually elegant night and once when requesting a certain wait team. One wait was about 30-45 minutes on the Conquest on formal night shortly after this concept rolled out. We grabbed the kiddo a small snack from the lido and relaxed until our pager went off. Never have had that long of a wait since then, and have used It several times.

 

Also, we like it because we tend to travel in groups for cruises and if we are able to get ATD for everyone, that means everyone can eat whenever and we don't have to always be together or feel obligated to eat with each other every night.

 

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[vamartha]

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, just like a land based restaurant. You might or might not have a small wait.

 

2. Is there always a wait like at a land based restaurant? No, there isn't always a wait, we've had it work both ways. On three different ships we've never waited more than 15 minutes and most of our waits have been more like three to five minutes.

 

3. Do you get seated at a different table each night and have different waiters? You can request the same waiters if you wish. On one cruise our only stipulation was not to have a certain waiter (slow service, not especially friendly wait staff on that one team), the Maitre 'D did inquire as to why we didn't want that particular team and we were honest with him.

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, if you choose. We always just request a table for two but some of the tables for two are just inches away from the other tables for two and once on the Breeze our four tables for two were more like a table for eight with two inches between each of them. We did not enjoy that night at all.

 

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? Usually it is the mid ship dining room but I have not sailed on the Freedom.

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! That is an excellent question, will be curious to know the answer myself!

 

12 nights sounds heavenly!

[bookcreator]

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!

 

First, always 2 elegant nights even on long cruises. We have done 7 day, 8 day, 10 day, 12 day, 15 days, 16 days and one 18 day on Carnival - always 2 nights

 

A little background:

We cruise a lot, 11-12 times a year on Carnival for the last 5 years. We only want a table for two, so even though we are diamond and are guaranteed our selection of early, late or ATD, the table is random. We would stand on line to have our table changed to a table for two every cruise when we boarded, or we would be rushing to verify that the table on our S&S card was indeed a table for two if we tried to go through John Heald or Carnival to request a table for two ahead of time. (results are hit or miss in our experience)

Despite this, we ran into times when we were told no table for two, but we were diamond so they would "see what they could do," and then by the second night we had it. We wanted early dining, but we were being told - ATD gets you a table for two or any table you want, you should ask for that etc.

We were constantly told of the wonders of anytime dining which, like you, we had a lot of questions. Then came the challenge from the Maitre'D on the Panama Canal cruise of the Miracle; "give it one year, the way you cruise, you will see that set dining is better." That is what we did - 1 year, different ships, long cruises (12-16 days) as well as shorter Caribbean ones (7-8 day)

Since we are known on the ships, this challenge and trial on Carnival for us became well known on the ships we sailed with each Maitre D asking us how the trial was coming.

The problem with asking other cruisers how they like it, their experience is limited to one or two cruises a year, so if you want info, you really need to have someone who did many cruises in the last 12 months, rather than isolated cruises, or cruises that were based on info prior to last summer. Here is what we found:

 

In March of 2013 when we started, it seemed pretty good, and we actually kicked ourselves for not doing it sooner. Walk up to the desk, request a table for two, we were seated, and we ate. If we wanted the same server, we could request that (we didn't care) - we went for random tables for two. I can eat food from lukewarm to hot, so I didn't care, but my husband noted that the food in ATD was cooler or seemed to be plated longer than set dining since they were not feeding everyone the same part of the meal at the same time (not a deal breaker even for my husband - he loved not having to board the ship and get in line)

 

By June, we noticed more people wanting ATD and there was a little wait (step to the side a minute) but we had yet to be handed a pager although from others we knew they existed.

Four cruises into the trial we did note that the tables for two were now 6-8 inches apart from each other, not affording much privacy and if you had someone nosy next to you it was easy for them to rudely join your conversation based on your discussion they overhead.

 

By September, we got our first pager, mostly because we wanted a table for two but if we were willing to share a table (we were not, that was the reason we wanted ATD) we could be seated right away. The first elegant night (Lobster) was the longest wait with our pager but most times, it was going off in 5 minutes so it was not an issue. We did notice that the servers seemed to have more tables and there were some short delays in service, but again, not too bad.

 

By December and 3/4 through the year trial - waits were a little longer and we had to start adjusting when we went to try to avoid the crowds. The amounts of tables for two in the diningroom seemed to double and they were much closer, making it difficult to navigate the dining room when people were seated for both diners and servers. Problems with cooler food and food that had obviously been plated longer were cropping up.

 

By January-Feb 2014, the tables for two were so close when approached looked like a table for 8 - only when you carefully looked, you saw that instead of one big table cloth, each table had it's own dividing then huge table into 4 units of two, separated only by a layer of cloth. Basically it became a table for 8 no matter what you did.

Elegant night (Lobster) was huge waits with the line backed up across the atrium, and a 15 minute wait to the desk was not uncommon. Even if you got on line when it opened, the line was huge, and often by the time you got to the desk, you were handed a pager to wait. Now the wait was real long because everyone just sat down so the pager would not go off until the people who had just sat down finished. We started saying forget it and going to the Lido to eat.

 

By March, waits and pagers were common place (10 minutes to get to the desk to get a pager and then up to 25 minutes for the pager to call you) We started being seated at half set tables with maybe plates or missing silverware, or glasses or napkins. More than once we had to ask for bread plates when the server arrived with bread or we had to ask for water glasses when he arrived with a pitcher and no glass to put it in. Sometimes we sat for 15 minutes before anyone ever acknowledged us or gave us water or bread. There was a wait to take our order and food was delivered random and on the edge of cool, so we ended up eating our courses separate while the other watched waiting for theirs.

We attempted to vary the time we arrived but the results were the same. Walking through the dining room was impossible and there was inches to squeeze through and you were certainly disrupting the meal of the person you were passing, and sometimes the space wasn't big enough and your found yourself doubling back some to find a path to pass through.

 

The trial was over, but we boarded the Dream for a B2B, (7 day and a 9 day repo) still with ATD because we hadn't changed back. We kept hearing people say how wonderful it was but we weren't seeing it. During the first cruise, it was terrible, crowded chairs and tables shoved everywhere, cold food, and long lines and waiting. We ended up dining on the Lido most days after waiting 30 minutes with the line and pager and still no table.

Being diamond, we had cocktails with the Captain and officers, I shared the trial and ATD with the person in charge of the dining room. He acknowledged a problem with ATD, and told us to go at 7:45 pm when the first wave left. We told him we had but, we agreed to do a trial for him on his own ship. We left the cabin and arrived on the line at 7:45 pm. At 8:01 pm we reached the desk and asked for a table for two. We were handed a pager and sent to the atrium to sit at 8:03 pm. The pager finally rang at 8:30 pm and we were taken to a table and handed menus. The table had two plates, one bread plate, two wine glasses, no silverware, and only one napkin. After 10 minutes (8:40 pm) someone arrived with the silverware, I mentioned we needed a napkin when he grabbed off another set table. At 8:55 pm we finally stopped a waiter to ask for water or even a piece of bread - he would send someone, we also mentioned no one had taken our order. At this point it was 1 hour and 10 minutes since we "went to dinner."

At 9:00 pm they took our order, and by 9:10 they delivered our appetizer, and at 9:25 they delivered my husbands entree, but they had to stop to dance, so my entree sat 5 minutes while they danced. I was given my entree at 9:30 pm. We were finally handed dessert menus at 9:55 pm. It was not just our table, everyone else around us was having the same problems, even with different wait teams. We finally left the dining room at 10:15 pm and we were being rushed because it was so late. It had been almost 3 hours since we left our cabin to "go have dinner.'

 

I shared the data with the officer in charge as he requested. At that point he switched us back to set dining and explained this to us.

 

We were told that when we first started the trial (March 2013), the allowed per ship 500 people for ATD. He said that went well, and there were few problems. Then so many people insisted on it, and many wanted solely like us for a table for two, that there were extra tables for two jammed in the dining room. They were now up to 950-1000 people per cruise with ATD and that was just too many and that was causing the problems. We really saw what was a great experience deteriorate over 12 cruises and one year. That explained some of what we had experienced.

 

We have returned to set dining at 6 pm, and the food is served better (everyone is eating the same course in the diningroom at the same time), it is hotter and arrives faster. It takes, at the most 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes to eat. The table is completely set then we arrive, and since set dining is not being over booked, the tables are properly spaced with at least a couple of feet between them.

 

The idea is good, but we feel they either have to go to all or nothing. I think if it was all ATD with people just assigned one dining room or the other that could be based on an online selection of "what time do you usually go to dinner as a rule" to split the passengers between dining rooms so that there was a steady stream in each dining room.

 

As it stands now, double the amount of people using ATD by jamming more tables in one diningroom is not working well. I don't have the answer but for now we are back to getting on the ship and seeing the Maitre D for our table for two. The second half of the B2B on the Dream were were on set dining at 6 pm, as well as the 16 days we were just on the Splendor.

 

We did check the line outside of the mid diningroom used for ATD on the Splendor - the lines were long. Both mid and aft diningrooms are 2 stories, and only downstairs in the mid dining room was ATD. The entire aft dining room and upstairs in the mid dining room were set dining. ATD was a jammed packed set of tables with no walking room and no privacy between the tables.

 

I hope this helps. It is current over the last 14 months, and it involves many cruises and many ships, not just a one time cruise 6 months ago.

Edited June 1, 2014 by bookcreator

[Laurie S.]

We did it in Miracle in February and loved it! We typically headed to dinner between 8 and 8:30 and there was no line. We ate in the steakhouse the first night and skipped dinner the second night because we didn't feel like eating after a big sea day brunch. So, on the third night when we first went to the dining room, we didn't know what to expect. We've always done traditional dining in the past. We asked for seating for two and were taken to the back where we had a nice comfy booth. The waiters were fabulous, so we asked for the same table each night. We got it, except on one night, but still received a similar booth in the opposite side of the room.

 

We again will have ATD on our upcoming cruise and will do the same thing. The late dining time works for us because my fiancé takes medication that requires him to take a nap for an hour or so around 4 or 5 pm. We don't care for the shows, so we eat and either go to the bars or do karaoke until 11 or 12 pm. Since it's just the two of us and the dining room isn't packed at that hour, we typically are finished with dinner in an hour or less.

[krismas_tina]

On our first cruise, before Anytime Dining was an option, we had early seating and we hated it! I don't eat dinner before 8 pm on a regular day, let alone on vacation! After that, we have only had Anytime Dining.

You can ask for a table for two, or to be seated with others. FYI, the tables for two are usually extremely close to other tables, so we always end up chatting with those next to us. On the Sunshine, we did find a table that was private, so you can always ask if the Freedom has that option as well.

In our experience, the first 2-3 nights always have a longer waiting time, sometimes over an hour! Not sure why but this was the case on both the Valor and the Sunshine. After that it got better.

If you're lucky, you will find a waiter who you love, and you can ask to be seated in his/her section. We have been fortunate to have this happen on every cruise, so it feels like you have assigned seating.

Have a great cruise!