Open Dinning Problem that didn't happen

[propwash]

So, some have followed my earlier post about fixed dinning not avaiable on my Westerdam cruise on January 17th. For those that hadn't, here's a summary;

 

January 6, 2015

We sail on Saturday January 17th, and today I got the following message;

 

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:

We would like to advise you of a change to the open dining option offered for

the ms Westerdam sailing on January 17, 2015. Due to the number of guests

requesting dining at 8:00pm, open seating will be offered from 5:00pm to 6:30pm

only. Should you wish to dine later, complimentary dining will be available in

the Lido after 6:30pm, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations

at our Canaletto or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We sincerely regret any

disappointment this change may cause.

 

On our confirmation, it had us for "open dinning".

January 6, 2015

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

Wellllll... when we checked in, our room cards had us with dinning at 8pm, our whole group of 6. I thought, strange but hey go with it. Saturday night's dinner at 8 pm was slight CHAOS, mainly due to people not knowing which floor for their tables. It took a while to get everyone inside, but it all worked. There were some empty tables, but service, as usual was GREAT. Food flowed uninterrupted, in other words, NO PROBLEMS. Sunday was 1st formal night, so fewer people were at the dinner service. Rumor had it there was 700-900 people in the group.

Overall, we had a GREAT cruise, HAL had everything right and the panic that had started with the email, didn't slow us down.

THANKS HAL

Danny

[jhannah]

Glad your dining arrangements worked out for you.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I remember your thread from right before your cruise and the e-mail you had gotten from HAL.

Thank you for coming back and explaining that everything worked out for you.

Glad you had a great cruise.

[Hlitner]

Glad that it all worked out for you. But the post does really bring out another issue regarding large groups on cruises (there was another recent thread on this topic). HAL (and several other mass market lines) seem to have no problem booking large groups, even when it can have a negative impact on the remainder of the cruisers. What is maddening is that the cruise lines do everything possible to keep large group info from other cruisers. We have thought, for many years, that cruise lines should be obligated to inform all cruisers of the presence of any large group that can negatively impact available services...and let the cruisers decide if they want to stick with that cruise or consider other options.

 

Hank

[shrimp56]

glad that it all worked out for you. But the post does really bring out another issue regarding large groups on cruises (there was another recent thread on this topic). Hal (and several other mass market lines) seem to have no problem booking large groups, even when it can have a negative impact on the remainder of the cruisers. What is maddening is that the cruise lines do everything possible to keep large group info from other cruisers. We have thought, for many years, that cruise lines should be obligated to inform all cruisers of the presence of any large group that can negatively impact available services...and let the cruisers decide if they want to stick with that cruise or consider other options.

 

Hank

amen!

[puppycanducruise]

Glad everything worked out for you.

Thanks for letting us know.

[wander]

Glad it worked out for you OK. I must say that the e-mail would have concerned me as well.

 

I have been on several cruises where there was a large group onboard. In each case, except for their use of the Lido Pool area one evening for a party, and the assignment of all 8+ seat dinner tables, they in NO way affected my cruise experience. In fact they actually enhanced it by holding their sessions in the main Show Room during the day. This meant that the other public spaces were available to the rest of us and it was like the ship was only half full on sea days. (Ship speakers and Bingo were still held in the show room, times just different.) Now these were not groups known for wild partying so it would probably be different if they were.

Edited January 29, 2015 by wander

[kazu]

That is really good news :D

 

Thanks so much for coming back and letting us know.

 

If I remember correctly you were in a Neptune Suite and as such should have had preferred dining. I'm glad you got it:D

[PathfinderEss]

Glad all your worring turned out to be for not, yes I did remember your earlier thread. Good to hear you had a wonderful cruise on the Westerdam.

[propwash]

Glad that it all worked out for you. But the post does really bring out another issue regarding large groups on cruises (there was another recent thread on this topic). HAL (and several other mass market lines) seem to have no problem booking large groups, even when it can have a negative impact on the remainder of the cruisers. What is maddening is that the cruise lines do everything possible to keep large group info from other cruisers. We have thought, for many years, that cruise lines should be obligated to inform all cruisers of the presence of any large group that can negatively impact available services...and let the cruisers decide if they want to stick with that cruise or consider other options.

 

Hank

 

Hank.... I understand your point, however in my situation, we had made the cruise plans 10 months in advance, I couldn't make flight changes or sail a different date. I agree if the cruise lines KNOW of a large booking, something should be told.

Danny

[cruz chic]

Glad things worked out for you.

[Cruise4Sunshine]

I am really happy you came back and reported everything went OK with the dining times. I am a stickler for a 7:00-7:30 dinner time, otherwise I'm famished and get to bed too late for early shore excursions. (I know, I'm a lightweight!)

 

Just wanted to share OUR group nightmare that never materialized. My daughter and son-in-law got married on the Oosterdam Alaska sailing before the ship left Seattle, It was a year in the planning, went off without a hitch, all we did was show up with the bride in a dress & the groom in a tux. Photos, flowers, food, wine, perfect!

 

Halfway through the year we were advised there would be a VERY large "Twilight" Group on board, fans and some of the cast of the popular vampire movie series. We kind of panicked and thought about changing dates, but family was coming from all over the country to join us for the post wedding cruise to Alaska.

 

Luckily they had so many sea day events planned they were literally invisible to the rest of us. It was a much younger clientele than your usual Alaska sailing, which made the wedding party pretty happy in the Northern Lights Nightclub at night. But other than some rather gothic clothing and purple hair they were a pretty well behaved group of travelers.

 

So you just never know, and I would not panic again if I heard there is a group on board. HAL seems to accommodate all of their passengers during special circumstances.

[sail7seas]

So, some have followed my earlier post about fixed dinning not avaiable on my Westerdam cruise on January 17th. For those that hadn't, here's a summary;

 

January 6, 2015

We sail on Saturday January 17th, and today I got the following message;

 

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:

We would like to advise you of a change to the open dining option offered for

the ms Westerdam sailing on January 17, 2015. Due to the number of guests

requesting dining at 8:00pm, open seating will be offered from 5:00pm to 6:30pm

only. Should you wish to dine later, complimentary dining will be available in

the Lido after 6:30pm, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations

at our Canaletto or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We sincerely regret any

disappointment this change may cause.

 

On our confirmation, it had us for "open dinning".

January 6, 2015

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

Wellllll... when we checked in, our room cards had us with dinning at 8pm, our whole group of 6. I thought, strange but hey go with it. Saturday night's dinner at 8 pm was slight CHAOS, mainly due to people not knowing which floor for their tables. It took a while to get everyone inside, but it all worked. There were some empty tables, but service, as usual was GREAT. Food flowed uninterrupted, in other words, NO PROBLEMS. Sunday was 1st formal night, so fewer people were at the dinner service. Rumor had it there was 700-900 people in the group.

Overall, we had a GREAT cruise, HAL had everything right and the panic that had started with the email, didn't slow us down.

THANKS HAL

Danny

 

 

 

Were you seated on upper or lower level of the MDR.

My friends (in Neptune Suite) were confirmed for Main Upper Dining (8 P.M.) and when they arrived at the ship, they were told they would not have that seating. They were seated on the lower level despite the request for specific table upstairs. It worked out okay for them but I think it appropriate to say that same cruise, not all were provided with the seating they had been promised.

 

[sail7seas]

That is really good news :D

 

Thanks so much for coming back and letting us know.

 

If I remember correctly you were in a Neptune Suite and as such should have had preferred dining. I'm glad you got it:D

 

My friends, who booked months ago, were in Neptune Suite and they were not seated where they requested and had been confirmed. It did not work out fine for all. My friends rolled with it, were satisfied with their table and dining staff but it was not what they wanted or were confirmed.

 

I initially had booked this cruise to sail with them but canceled.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2015 by sail7seas

[RMLincoln]

Thanks so much for letting us know. Sounds like you made out ok with the arrangements but I wonder if there were some who were not accommodated. m--

[propwash]

Were you seated on upper or lower level of the MDR.

My friends (in Neptune Suite) were confirmed for Main Upper Dining (8 P.M.) and when they arrived at the ship, they were told they would not have that seating. They were seated on the lower level despite the request for specific table upstairs. It worked out okay for them but I think it appropriate to say that same cruise, not all were provided with the seating they had been promised.

 

 

We were seated in the lower dinning room at table 143 for 8:00 pm dinner. I seemed to notice that after the 1st night, there might have been open seating, because some the tables around us had different people every night. One thing I did noticed and forgot to mention was, there seemed to be diners that sat at the table WELL into the 8 pm service. After some thought, I guessed they must have been OPEN SEATING diners.

Danny

[kazu]

We were seated in the lower dinning room at table 143 for 8:00 pm dinner. I seemed to notice that after the 1st night, there might have been open seating, because some the tables around us had different people every night. One thing I did noticed and forgot to mention was, there seemed to be diners that sat at the table WELL into the 8 pm service. After some thought, I guessed they must have been OPEN SEATING diners.

Danny

 

You were definitely in open dining. That's ok, they reserved the table and gave you the time you wanted. I think that is a good thing. You got your fixed dining and the same waiters every night so it's all good IMO. The P'dam did the same thing for us when there was a complication on one segment. I thought it was a great solution.

[sail7seas]

Thanks so much for letting us know. Sounds like you made out ok with the arrangements but I wonder if there were some who were not accommodated. m--

 

:confused: Perhaps you didn't see my posts right above yours?

 

[propwash]

You were definitely in open dining. That's ok, they reserved the table and gave you the time you wanted. I think that is a good thing. You got your fixed dining and the same waiters every night so it's all good IMO. The P'dam did the same thing for us when there was a complication on one segment. I thought it was a great solution.

 

I really don't think I was in OPEN DINNING. The dinning room didn't open doors until 8:00pm and there was A LOT of people waiting to get in. My opinion.

Danny

[kazu]

I really don't think I was in OPEN DINNING. The dinning room didn't open doors until 8:00pm and there was A LOT of people waiting to get in. My opinion.

Danny

 

ok, the whole ship schedule might have changed with the group.

 

I have no clue on that.

 

But that level (lower) is traditionally open dining. You did state you were in the lower level? and that there may have been open "dinning". Lower level is typically open dining unless I have lost my memory. Al

 

no biggie - just glad you had what you wanted.

Edited January 31, 2015 by kazu

[RMLincoln]

My friends, who booked months ago, were in Neptune Suite and they were not seated where they requested and had been confirmed. It did not work out fine for all. My friends rolled with it, were satisfied with their table and dining staff but it was not what they wanted or were confirmed.

[my emphasis above m--]

 

 

 

:confused: Perhaps you didn't see my posts right above yours?

 

 

Sorry Sail,

Perhaps I mistook your comments, that your friends were satisfied though the arrangements were not what had been confirmed, as that they had been accommodated. And it seems that the OP was accommodated to their satisfaction. This all seems good, better than anticipated after the forewarning email. I was wondering if there were some guests who could not be accommodated to their satisfaction.

 

I sincerely hope that your plans for your next cruise do not have these types of complications. m--

[sail7seas]

My friends 'rolled with it' but should not have had to. They chose to be satisfied but they definitely were disappointed. They were in a Neptune Suites, have sailed HAL on other cruises and knew exactly where they wanted to be seated. They were denied that though it had been confirmed. They were assigned to something other than their choice. A large group was more important and others were displaced for the pleasure of the group. To me, that is a considerable inconvenience about an important part of lots of peoples' cruise..... dinner! :)

 

 

 

[RMLincoln]

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Guests should not be relegated because of a large group... the group should have to make adjustments. And most certainly after other guests have had their dining choices confirmed.

 

Is this special treatment of very large groups, to the detriment of previously booked guest, a new and recent way with HAL? It's not a good business practice for retention of past passengers. But my guess is that large groups bring in bigger revenue.... why else would HAL do it? m--

[sail7seas]

No, it is not new to HAL or to any of the other cruise lines. It happened to us on Ryndam in around 2000. I think it was the next cruise we sailed after b-to-b on Rotterdam for Millenium Christmas and New Year's Cruises.

 

We were denied use of Crows Nest the whole cruise; a sea day we were forced to leave aft pool on a beautiful day because the large group was having a private party and we were in the way; we did have our dining of choice on that cruise though. There were many interruptions to our enjoyment because of that huge group.

 

Indeed, those large groups bring in lots of money. The fares are higher and lots of 'added' revenue.

 

 

Edited January 31, 2015 by sail7seas