Set dinning time vs. your time dinning

[ANK0529]

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. I am sailing on the Liberty, we are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

 

Thank you in advance for your time on this!!

[mst235]

We like any time dining. We see whats going on that day either at sea or on land, then you reserve a time you want. This way if you have early dinner your not rushed and the late seating may be too late to see the shows. We never wait long at all. In fact last year we just walked right up and was seated because we reserved the time while others were waiting to be seated Carnival Glory -4-4-15.

Good luck and have fun!

 

 

 

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. I am sailing on the Liberty, we are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

 

Thank you in advance for your time on this!!

[Eileenfa1]

I have done your dining twice. It's been great. Just 2 of us. Maybe 5 min max. We sat by our selfs. But, the tables are really close. We tend to eat late so we miss the crowds.

[cruiser fanatic]

I used to do YTD but not anymore. The tables were bad and I like having the same waiters and sitting with the same people every night.

[kona_wahine]

We have only done ytd. We try to go when the doors open and get a table for two. Yes, they are pretty close together but that's ok. I don't want to have a set time, or set people to sit with. I don't want an awkward time if I don't really care for them.

[xeroxme]

I have done early and late and anytime. Pros and cons with each. Once we have switched to anytime we have never switched back. We just like the flexibility.

[SadieN]

Assigned dining when with groups, Anytime Dining when traveling with family.

Depending on the other pax on your cruise you might or might not have to wait.

 

The hostesses seem to place us with the same waitstaff almost every night.

[carrieluvsgreg]

We have switched to exclusively "my time" dining. We previously preferred early seating, we still typically arrive early but we now have flexibility to stay in port later and not miss dinner. For us it is the best of both worlds. If we are held up or interested in anything aboard, we don't have to rush. We've never encountered a long wait, but we are always willing to be seated with others.

 

 

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[theriac]

I like anytine. Like others have said the freedom to eat when you want is great. I've also always had the same waiters and same table when using anytime dining. Only once did I get sat at a different table and section which was fine. I may be one of the few who have have been lucky with that. Also the longest I've ever waited was 10 minutes and that was the first elegant night. If anytime wasn't available I would probably pick early as late would take up most of my night. I also always request and get a table for 2. On The Pride it's nice cause the 2 tops are along the railway upstairs and you don't get crammed together with all the other 2 tops like on other ships.

 

This is all my experience and preference and others will have completely different experiences. Anything we as CCers can tell you is anecdotal when it comes to something like this.

[KroozNut]

I used to do YTD but not anymore. The tables were bad and I like having the same waiters and sitting with the same people every night.

 

We're with you on that one. We're long time cruisers (since the early 80's), and always enjoyed assigned seating. A couple cruises ago we decided to try YTD and it was okay, but we missed the set dining experience for the very reasons you mention above and others. We've decided to return to assigned (early) seating on our next cruise in 2016, and we're really looking forward to it! :)

[KroozNut]

I don't want an awkward time if I don't really care for them.

 

In our more than 30 years cruising, we've never experienced that. That kind of record has to be more than just luck. ;)

[Taylor95]

We had anytime dining and loved it. The longest we waited was 5 minutes and we went at all different times. We liked our server really well the first night so he told us to just request him. He was our server the entire week and treated us great! Yes you are close to other tables - some nights we had people that wanted to talk (which we enjoyed them all), and some nights couples kept to themselves.

[stargate fan]

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. I am sailing on the Liberty, we are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

 

Thank you in advance for your time on this!!

 

We've sailed with friends who liked early dining, but we hated it because it was too early. When we sailed alone, we requested late dining, which we loved for a while. Then we realized we were missing a lot of evening activities.

 

We switched to Your Time Dining four or five cruises ago and love it! We went to eat around 6:30-7:00 every night and never waited to be seated, even when we were three couples traveling together. We received excellent service from our wait staff and even requested the same teams every night of all our cruises. The teams learned our names the first night and what we liked to drink. Dinners took around an hour and a half so we could enjoy all the night time activities.

 

We'll never go back to assigned dining again.

[Caraec]

I'm catching onto the coat tails of this post with a question about Your Time Dining. Do you "reserve" specific times ahead of sailing (I seem to remember doing this on a girls' cruise with Royal Caribbean) or can you just show up at any time, any evening?

[trvlgirlmq]

We have only been cruising the last 4 years or so and have only done YTD. I don't go on vacation to make new friends and I find eating with strangers to be terribly awkward. I have cruised as 2 people and as 7 and we have never had long waits (at least not anything I would complain about). If you like the waitstaff you get the first night just ask for them.

[trvlgirlmq]

I'm catching onto the coat tails of this post with a question about Your Time Dining. Do you "reserve" specific times ahead of sailing (I seem to remember doing this on a girls' cruise with Royal Caribbean) or can you just show up at any time, any evening?

 

You do not make a reservation just show up. You may have to wait a bit if it's a prime time but just like a land-side restaurant will get a buzzer and can wander the lobby area until you are called.

[OCruisers]

We much prefer YTD ... so much more flexible. :D

[berrieh]

Both of the set times are awful times - I could maybe eat a full meal at early dining but DH hates eating that early and late dining is too late for me usually (unless lunch was WAY late or 2 lunches), plus you wind up feeling ready for bed after dinner (or we did) like there's not enough time to really do anything anyway if you have to be up for a port or it just wears you out (us at least). So we love YTD especially because we'd rather eat around 7-7:30 or so. We eat a little earlier sometimes and a little later others, but typically around 7ish.

 

We also like that we can sit just us 2 or sit with my parents if we're cruising with them but not always HAVE to make plans together. We definitely don't care for sitting with the same strangers nightly (I don't mind being seated with strangers at brunch or something; DH doesn't even love that). I had to do that a bunch when I was a kid and we cruised in the era before flexible dining and it was one of the things I really disliked (though I loved the MDR type places on ships because I had a fetish for meals served in courses as a kid and always asked my mom to make courses randomly). Anyway, that put me off it for good basically. I've had to try it again as an adult just once and it was no good - I wound up just getting snacks or room service half the nights for dinners to avoid it.

 

In our more than 30 years cruising, we've never experienced that. That kind of record has to be more than just luck. ;)

 

I think it's a personality thing for sure but can't see what's wrong with having a more introverted personality where dining with strangers is not a favorite.

 

I'm not the poster you responded to, but my feelings are the same. I'd even say MOST dining partners would result in awkward dinners if we had to sit with them nightly, but that's because I super don't WANT to get to know some random folks on my vacation who I can't escape any time I want easily. That sounds like work, as does small talk (Edit - I'm a teacher, so this is double if they happen to have kids! Which is super likely on sailings at peak times when we go because of my work). I just want to relax and be able to enjoy my meal, not worry about remembering strangers names, small talk on insipid topics that don't matter, etc. We have met people we clicked with and met up for dinner with them at ATD but that's a different thing. I like talking to people in some instances but not in such a controlled/forced fashion. And, really, I mostly like spending time with DH on the boat - not talking to strangers.

Edited October 29, 2015 by berrieh

[Taylor95]

I'm catching onto the coat tails of this post with a question about Your Time Dining. Do you "reserve" specific times ahead of sailing (I seem to remember doing this on a girls' cruise with Royal Caribbean) or can you just show up at any time, any evening?

 

 

When we cruised Royal Caribbean they liked for you to call ahead with a time. I didn't realize that and waited a really long time for a table one night (over a hour). Carnival (and NCL) have the anytime dining down much better - no reservations needed.

[KroozNut]

I think it's a personality thing for sure but can't see what's wrong with having a more introverted personality where dining with strangers is not a favorite.

 

Nothing wrong with it, it's just that our experience has always been that after the first night, they're not strangers anymore...but friends. In fact we still to this day correspond with some of the folks we met at our dinner table and made friends with on cruises years ago. It's great... and yes, it's probably a personality thing. ;)

 

I'd even say MOST dining partners would result in awkward dinners if we had to sit with them nightly

 

Just has not been our experience, that's all.

 

I just want to relax and be able to enjoy my meal, not worry about remembering strangers names, small talk on insipid topics that don't matter, etc.

 

We have always had very relaxing meals with like-minded cruise loving table mates. And our conversations are engaging and enjoyable.

 

And, really, I mostly like spending time with DH on the boat - not talking to strangers.

 

Always more than enough time to spend with one's DH/DW, or anyone else outside of the couple of hours each night spent in the MDR.

 

And as has been mentioned, it all comes down to personal preference. We just happen to love traditional dining! :)

[jnojr]

Most recent cruise was "my time". We usually got a table for two, which was actually a little disappointing... it's nice to meet new people at a big table! But it was very convenient. I usually find the early time is too early; and the late, too late. 7 is about the right time for me!

[rufflesmom]

In 2012 I did a cruise with my sisters. We did the anytime dining. After a couple of nights we had a really great waitstaff. After that we requested her table every night. She was fantastic. In 2013 we went back on the same ship with our husbands. We were very pleasantly surprised to see the same gal on the cruise again. We requested her table every evening and got it. My younger sister had broken her wrist 3 weeks before the cruise. The night she ordered steak, our gal cut up her meat for her. Needless to say she got quite a good tip from all of us!! I wouldn't do assigned dining any more. I love anytime dining.

[berrieh]

We have always had very relaxing meals with like-minded cruise loving table mates. And our conversations are engaging and enjoyable.

 

If we could go a cruise with like-minded people, that may be fun, but we rarely find the AVERAGE person on a cruise has the same hobbies or interests as us. Just not a lot of childfree 30-something gamers on cruises. I'm sure if you found the typical cruiser was similar to you, it'd be more enjoyable. Also probably more enjoyable for extroverts!

 

As to the always more time to spend with DH elsewhere - honestly, at ports, we usually do excursions (adventure or historical) and rarely just-us because of pricing (it's a better price for a group) so on port days, it's our primary alone time in the evenings.

Edited October 29, 2015 by berrieh

[ladygal4.4]

Love the YTD. it doesn't bother me that the staff doesn't know me, it's just like any other restaurant. And I prefer quiet dinners with just my husband, not a table full of strangers

 

 

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[lovestheH20]

We like any time dining. We see whats going on that day either at sea or on land, then you reserve a time you want. This way if you have early dinner your not rushed and the late seating may be too late to see the shows. We never wait long at all. In fact last year we just walked right up and was seated because we reserved the time while others were waiting to be seated Carnival Glory -4-4-15.

Good luck and have fun!

 

Where and how do you reserve your dining time?