Blech. First seating on Anthem is 5:30.

[Merion_Mom]

I like 8:00 for dinner since we always take late seating. But I can see why 5:30 is too early for some. Carol - I will be interested to see if anyone shows up at your table. In November I talked to 2 other solos who sat at a large table by themselves for the whole 12 days on Anthem. I had one other person show up for our table of 8. It was ok but I would have preferred more people. I felt guilty when I went to Jamie's and when I was invited one night to the suite restaurant leaving my table mate. Hope you have better luck:). Katherine

 

Table of 12.

 

12 were present tonight.

 

BTW, I am not sailing solo on this cruise. The table is a mixture of couples and singles.

[Merion_Mom]

And you didn't know this beforehand?

 

Nope.

 

The dining choices were:

 

Dynamic Dining

 

Classic 1

 

Classic 2

 

No further details, beyond knowing that "Classic" is a form of rotational dining.

[Merion_Mom]

Why not try dynamic dining if you're on the Anthem?

 

I thought that we would give it a try.

 

We are doing a B2B. Classic 1 on this cruise; Dynamic Dining on the next.

[Lady Hudson]

Table of 12.

 

12 were present tonight.

 

BTW, I am not sailing solo on this cruise. The table is a mixture of couples and singles.

 

That is great. I love a full table. Enjoy your time on Anthem.

[Coralc]

And you didn't know this beforehand?

 

Love the attachment about brown triangles. :D I just forwarded it to others, because I was describing it the other night...which led to the subject of dogs and peas. :D

[Merion_Mom]

I have had first seating on Grandeur and Freedom at 5:30. Didn't like it then, either.

 

But when the ship was set up that way, "cocktail hour" was 4:30 - 8.

 

Here on the Anthem, it's 5 - 8:30. Rather inconvenient when you have to be seated at 5:30 9 decks down.

[A&L_Ont]

5:30. :eek:

 

I'm surprised this has been shunted to the Anthem boards yet, never see the light of day again.

Edited January 16, 2016 by A&L_Ont

[LMaxwell]

I thought that we would give it a try.

 

We are doing a B2B. Classic 1 on this cruise; Dynamic Dining on the next.

 

Interesting. Sounds like a good mix. Will be interesting to hear your thoughts on one week versus the next and which method you end up preferring.

[BND]

Oddly enough, according to a conversation this evening in the CL, although "Classic1" is 5:30, "Classic2" is 8:30. :eek:

 

Oh well lol. I hope that doesn't mean dinner is going to take 2.5 hours+. I just booked our entertainment as it just opened. I booked WWRY during the day because of the showtimes interfering with dinnertime, but The Gift and Spectra's Caberet are at 7 so no interference. We've done 8:30 on most of our cruises and only had 8 a few times.

 

We're traveling with friends so we are guaranteed to have tablemates. We're with one other couple, but we always request an 8 top to meet new people so we'll see if we have more than 4. Every cruise we've been on without friends, we've been seated at an 8 top and have had at least two other people show up everynight and everyone most of the time.

[Hoopster95]

Oddly enough, according to a conversation this evening in the CL, although "Classic1" is 5:30, "Classic2" is 8:30. :eek:

 

Hope you're having a great cruise!! Thank for reporting this Carol :D

 

Guessing these time slots are to force the "traditional" diners to dine at the times where no one is booking Dynamic on line... I remember my pre-cruise planner on Quantum anything from 6pm-8:30pm was almost never available with the huge number of complaints from cruisers trying to book. I wonder if that's still happening? So my guess is RCL forces the classic diners before and after that heavy window of booking to ensure maximum availability of tables for Dynamic bookings & walk-ups. When I get on Q Class again I won't even bother trying Classic at these times. Have a superb rest of your cruise :D:D!

[Merion_Mom]

5:30. :eek:

 

I'm surprised this has been shunted to the Anthem boards yet, never see the light of day again.

 

I know. :rolleyes: I deliberately posted on the main board.

 

A year and a half after the advent of Quantum class.....it's time to close the separate forum.

[Biker19]

Predictably, the thread got moved to no mans land.:cool:

[emileg]

...my guess is RCL forces the classic diners before and after that heavy window of booking to ensure maximum availability of tables for Dynamic bookings & walk-ups. When I get on Q Class again I won't even bother trying Classic at these times. Have a superb rest of your cruise :D:D!

We were just off the Anthem yesterday. Each of the four themed main dining rooms have a separate section for classic and a separate section for dynamic. However, if a table is empty in the classic section, say if the diners are going to a specialty restaurant, they will seat dynamic diners at the empty table in the classic section to help get people seated more quickly.

[emileg]

I have had first seating on Grandeur and Freedom at 5:30. Didn't like it then, either.

 

But when the ship was set up that way, "cocktail hour" was 4:30 - 8.

 

Here on the Anthem, it's 5 - 8:30. Rather inconvenient when you have to be seated at 5:30 9 decks down.

If you are referring to cocktail hour for Diamond and above passengers, the Diamond lounge is located on deck 4 forward, starboard side, between the Royal Theater and the Music Hall. Please note, that Diamond and above passengers get three coupons on their SeaPass each night for use from 5:00 to 8:30 in any bar on the ship except the bionic bar and the restaurants. It is possible to have a couple of drinks before dinner and then get a glass of port (or any other listed beverage) as an after dinner drink.

 

Also, you are allowed to carry your drink into the dining room.

Edited January 16, 2016 by emileg

[Merion_Mom]

If you are referring to cocktail hour for Diamond and above passengers, the Diamond lounge is located on deck 4 forward, starboard side, between the Royal Theater and the Music Hall. Please note, that Diamond and above passengers get three coupons on their SeaPass each night for use from 5:00 to 8:30 in any bar on the ship except the bionic bar and the restaurants. It is possible to have a couple of drinks before dinner and then get a glass of port (or any other listed beverage) as an after dinner drink.

 

Also, you are allowed to carry your drink into the dining room.

 

I am struggling to understand why you posted this in response to what I wrote.

[John&LaLa]

I am struggling to understand why you posted this in response to what I wrote.

 

Probably not aware that you enjoy the rarified air of the SL and was helping you find a venue closer to the dining rooms

[ranchette]

My reservation says classic dynamic dining is at 6:00 not 5:30. Did they recently change the time?

[LMaxwell]

If they are utilizing the same staff to handle classic and dynamic that could be why they are allowing more time for classic; service may not be as structured if servers have to handle both setups.

[emileg]

I am struggling to understand why you posted this in response to what I wrote.

Because you mentioned that you have to go nine decks down for dinner after cocktails. I just was clarifying that the diamond lounge is on deck four. Two of the main dining rooms are on the same deck as the diamond lounge and one dining room is one deck down. In your post you didn't mention that you were going to dinner from the concierge club. I just took a look at the deck plans and realized that, yes, the concierge club is in fact located nine decks above the main restaurants. Sorry for the confusion. I should have realized that you meant you were coming from the concierge club. No problem.

[emileg]

My reservation says classic dynamic dining is at 6:00 not 5:30. Did they recently change the time?

As I mentioned on the parallel thread, our classic dining was at 5:30. So far no other posters who have actually cruised on the Anthem have indicated that they were dining at 6:00. TI checked my confirmation for that 1/3/2016 cruise and the dining time merely indicated Classic 1. I too assumed 6:00. When I asked if we could change to 6:00 from 5:30, I was advised that the early sitting was at 5:30. That's the best answer I can come up with as somebody who actually had this dining time.

[Esmerelda]

I agree, 5:30 is extremely early for dinner. At home we are more 6:30 -7pm time frame. We just do MTD and go when we like. That works really well for us.

[emileg]

I agree, 5:30 is extremely early for dinner. At home we are more 6:30 -7pm time frame. We just do MTD and go when we like. That works really well for us.

Unless people had reservations booked well in advance, often they could not be seated until about 8:30. My advice to you is if you want MTD is book the times weeks in advance of the cruise. We preferred the classic because we liked having the same waiter. But, 6:00 certainly would have been preferable. The good news is that on a couple of occasions we were able to skip dessert and make a 7:00 instead of a 9:00 show.