Why "Fixed Seating"?

[RevNeal]

I'm not surprised at either of these comments. I think most of our fellow cruisers are nice, interesting, friendly, people, out to have a good time on their cruise. They are more like us than not.

Yes, there is the occasional toxic person, but they are not the rule, and they can be avoided.

 

My Dearest Ruth, you are such a pleasure to dine with on every cruise ... you provide a "zing" to the evening and are, indeed, the best "Table Entreatment" I know! :D I am so looking forward to dining with you for 31 nights this April/May!

[RevNeal]

Regarding "Fixed Seating" vs "Open Seating" my nominal preference is for Fixed-late.

 

I've had Open Seating on more than one occasion, and each time I and my traveling companions made it work for us so that our experience was very little impacted by not being in Fixed-late seating. However, I found that it took more work for us to get what we wanted each and every night. A standing reservation wasn't possible (at least, not the times we tried on the ships we tried), and so somebody had to make our reservation each day for the time and location/table we wanted. On occasion we couldn't get quite what we wanted, and we didn't always have the same stewards, but we made it work.

 

Personally, I prefer not having to worry about making reservations for the MDR ... just simply knowing that we will have our table, every night, and the same stewards who will quickly come to know our preferences.

[George C]

We always do late sitting fixed normally a table for 2, been doing this for decades, did NCL once after open was only choice and will never do that again.

[RuthC]

My Dearest Ruth, you are such a pleasure to dine with on every cruise ... you provide a "zing" to the evening and are, indeed, the best "Table Entreatment" I know! :D I am so looking forward to dining with you for 31 nights this April/May!

Aw, Greg. You just made my day.

Thanks.

[Bramcruiser]

We normally select fixed seating - late. It all depends on what works for you.

 

Yes, I've heard the horror stories but we've actually met a number of nice people we actually like catching up with the next evening to discuss what we did during the day. In a few cases, we've kept friendships going on forward from the cruise that might never have developed.

 

We only had one table on one cruise where it was obvious the first night most of us around the table didn't care so much for this one couple but they changed tables and they were gone for the remainder of the cruise. And if we ever really had a "nightmare" table then we would just arrange with the maitre 'd to make a change. To date we have never done that.

 

Surprisingly we tend to keep to ourselves and are not people persons but fixed dining has worked for us.

 

We hardly ever see the shows anyway and tend to go to bed shortly after dinner so we look at it as the dinner is the only thing on the schedule that night.

[foodsvcmgr]

We prefer a fixed, late seating table for two, so compatibility with others is not an issue. in the late 70's and 80's when two tops were rather scarce, don't recall ever feeling the need to change tablemates at larger tables though.

 

For me the attraction of fixed is the familiarity with the servers and the lack of any stress in continually having to arrange a suitable time and table. Any desire of being able to eat a bit earlier or later on a whim is far outweighed by the utter simplicity of having agreeable arrangements made in advance. I have little patience waiting in restaurants on land, I have no desire to wait for a beeper to summon me to dine at sea. JMO.

[msmayor]

For my husband and me, fixed dining is one of the joys of a cruise vacation. I don't have to decide when or where to eat, and the amazing attentive service as we get to know the servers during the week makes the dining room one of our favorite places.

 

We do, however, prefer to sit by ourselves...not because we don't enjoy meeting others but because our cruises are our time to truly 'reconnect' with each other as we unhook from real life. We are happy to share a table if we have breakfast in the MDR but for dinner, every night is date night. :grin:

[tip]

Aw, Greg. You just made my day.

Thanks.

 

I know that I am high jacking this thread, but "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I stayed overnight in Warwick this past week and then visited the flower show in Providence. I think that Rhode Island is one of our nation's best kept secrets!

[RuthC]

I know that I am high jacking this thread, but "The One Who Must Be Obeyed" and I stayed overnight in Warwick this past week and then visited the flower show in Providence. I think that Rhode Island is one of our nation's best kept secrets!

Shhhh. Don't tell. ;)

Happy that you had a good time here. Considering where you're from, I'm sure that even our snow-lined streets didn't bother you.

[Folk Singer]

I have fixed late dining for my upcoming cruise ( whoooohooooo two weeks from yesterday ) . I had such a bad experience with both HAL's and Carnival's open seating I said never again.

 

My only concern is what if my table mates hate me, or me them? We asked for a large table as we do love meeting new people. If we hate each other what would we do to handle it without offending ?

 

We like the late dining as well. you will be fine. Have fun.

[IndyDenise]

For my husband and me, fixed dining is one of the joys of a cruise vacation. I don't have to decide when or where to eat, and the amazing attentive service as we get to know the servers during the week makes the dining room one of our favorite places.

 

We do, however, prefer to sit by ourselves...not because we don't enjoy meeting others but because our cruises are our time to truly 'reconnect' with each other as we unhook from real life. We are happy to share a table if we have breakfast in the MDR but for dinner, every night is date night. :grin:

 

 

My travel partners in crime ( mom and Cruella de Ville aka sister )are opposite.

 

We need late fixed dining because we are lazy. We need that late afternoon nap and we need to have preset plans otherwise we will end up at the buffet ( at closing). I'll be begging for a helping of mashed potatoes and cheese with prunes ( got your back, POA1). Or I'll order my 6th room service meal and blame it on the free drink package.

 

We need a large table filled with complete strangers. It keeps us on our best behavior. Otherwise I may think I'm at Hooters and dance on the table and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Another plus is having fresh conversation. We can only discuss each other's faults ( Cruella again ) before I'm ready to bash her face in and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Fixed, late dining is not negotiable, it maintains peace and harmony for us.

[Leejnd4]

My travel partners in crime ( mom and Cruella de Ville aka sister )are opposite.

 

We need late fixed dining because we are lazy. We need that late afternoon nap and we need to have preset plans otherwise we will end up at the buffet ( at closing). I'll be begging for a helping of mashed potatoes and cheese with prunes ( got your back, POA1). Or I'll order my 6th room service meal and blame it on the free drink package.

 

We need a large table filled with complete strangers. It keeps us on our best behavior. Otherwise I may think I'm at Hooters and dance on the table and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Another plus is having fresh conversation. We can only discuss each other's faults ( Cruella again ) before I'm ready to bash her face in and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Fixed, late dining is not negotiable, it maintains peace and harmony for us.

 

PLEASE tell me when your next cruise is! I wanna be at your table. :D

[Lizzie68]

My travel partners in crime ( mom and Cruella de Ville aka sister )are opposite.

 

We need late fixed dining because we are lazy. We need that late afternoon nap and we need to have preset plans otherwise we will end up at the buffet ( at closing). I'll be begging for a helping of mashed potatoes and cheese with prunes ( got your back, POA1). Or I'll order my 6th room service meal and blame it on the free drink package.

 

We need a large table filled with complete strangers. It keeps us on our best behavior. Otherwise I may think I'm at Hooters and dance on the table and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Another plus is having fresh conversation. We can only discuss each other's faults ( Cruella again ) before I'm ready to bash her face in and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Fixed, late dining is not negotiable, it maintains peace and harmony for us.

 

LOL! I sure hope I'm on the same cruise as you some day.:D

[solocanadian]

Since I cruise solo I prefer Fixed LATE at a table of 8 or 10. It is much easier to keep track of your bottle of wine. One bottle can last me 4 nights sometimes. I wish it were a tad earlier though. Normally a large table can give a good mix of people.

[summersigh]

My preference is fixed dining.

 

I like having the same table, waiter, assistant waiter and wine steward every night. I like having our wine bottles waiting for us when we arrive at the table. I like having the same dining companions each night so that we can catch up on what we have all been doing during the day.

:)

 

We feel the same. We always request a table for 8 and have not (so far) had the problem of having many empty seats at the table. Tablemates may not always be folks that you'd hang out with at home but on a cruise ship most are travelers and with a prompting question have lots of good stories and pointers on travel.

We also like late seating because we rarely miss sail away at a port because of an early dinner time :D If we get hungry late afternoon we may stop by the Lido or pool deck for a yummy snack to tide us over.

[babyher]

My travel partners in crime ( mom and Cruella de Ville aka sister )are opposite.

 

We need late fixed dining because we are lazy. We need that late afternoon nap and we need to have preset plans otherwise we will end up at the buffet ( at closing). I'll be begging for a helping of mashed potatoes and cheese with prunes ( got your back, POA1). Or I'll order my 6th room service meal and blame it on the free drink package.

 

We need a large table filled with complete strangers. It keeps us on our best behavior. Otherwise I may think I'm at Hooters and dance on the table and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Another plus is having fresh conversation. We can only discuss each other's faults ( Cruella again ) before I'm ready to bash her face in and blame it on the free drink package.

 

Fixed, late dining is not negotiable, it maintains peace and harmony for us.

 

*LOL*

 

 

Are you one of my other 2 sisters incognito ?????? *LOL*

 

Because it sounds like you are talking about "our" mother and older sister :)

 

 

Guess there is one in every family