Freedom dining - New Years Eve

[NauticalMiss]

Can anyone tell me if freedom dining operates the same on NYE? Last year we had booked XVII for NYE but whilst we had a wonderful meal, we felt it lacked atmosphere and is perhaps not the right venue (for us) on such a party night. So, is freedom dining altered to set times on that particular night, or is it 'business as usual'?

 

TIA

[Iron-Maiden's-No1-Fan]

I think I read it's restricted to two sittings that night but you have to choose once on board. .I may be wrong ..we have booked set dining in the MDR for 20.30 on our new years cruise next year ☺

[winniesbestm8]

Yeah I have seen from others on the forums that usually NYE has two sittings for freedom and you need to go to reception to specify. We are on 8.30pm sitting. Looking forward to it as we are as sea, but amber cove the next day i think there will be a few sore heads!

[HomelessBear]

We were on Ventura last xmas & new year (and the year before). They have 2 sittings on NYE - 6.30 or 8.30. You have to choose one and queue up on a specified date and time to book your table. You can ask for a table for 2 or to share, but be aware that tables for 2 may be gone if you're not early enough in the queue.

 

I personally find that this dinner feels "rushed" (the early sitting anyway), waiters seems harassed and it's more like something to "get through" for me personally. Its also a formal night. Last new year it was also extremely noisy in the dining room, as there were so many people there I guess. Some passengers also chose to "ignore" the 6.30 time and arrived whenever they felt like it (6.40, 6.50 and even 7.05pm), which then put the waiters out, as they want to serve all of their section together, and obviously can't when some folks are so late.

 

There was no buffet on this evening so dining choices were somewhat limited, but I think that the select dining was open as usual.

 

Happy cruising.

[kersh]

We generally book the Select Dining for Xmas Day and New Years Eve to avoid the MDR and queuing for to book a table. The Select are more expensive on that night but it is excellent.