10/22 Oosterdam Dining Change - No, I'm not kidding...

[bepsf]

Amen to that Brian!

 

I do see some advantages to PC. I would much prefer to choose my dining companions than have them assigned.

 

I agree - I do the same thing no matter what ship I'm on - I always arrange for my own tablemates...

As I stated earlier, I sincerely doubt that the Maitre'd will deny reserving a table for two on the rail at 8, or a table for a group of 6 at 8.30, if requested.

We had a similar arrangement on our recent charter aboard Oosterdam, and it worked out very well - folks got to sit with whom they wanted or new people every night, we got to reserve specific tables for specific evenings and have regulars and "guests" at dinner. With a little planning, I'm certain one could still have their regular table at the window with the folks one would enjoy dining with all week long!

Personally, I'd prefer if they used the two levels separately, say upper as fixed seating and lower as open seating, but this is a test - I'm sure that there will be other variations on the theme. The good thing is that folks at late seating will never need to sit w/ anyone they don't like ever again, and the Maitre'd wont have to rearrange half the dining room to get you away from them! And it gets rid of the 4 separate dining times!

 

Before we all scream "Abondon Ship", lets wait and see if there really is a hole in the hull....

;-)

[Sierrachik]

Personally, I'd prefer if they used the two levels separately, say upper as fixed seating and lower as open seating, but this is a test - I'm sure that there will be other variations on the theme. The good thing is that folks at late seating will never need to sit w/ anyone they don't like ever again, and the Maitre'd wont have to rearrange half the dining room to get you away from them! And it gets rid of the 4 separate dining times!

 

Before we all scream "Abondon Ship", lets wait and see if there really is a hole in the hull....

;-)

 

I had understood it to be this way from Mr. Deering. I didn't not get the impression they were going to eliminate a seating entirely (both levels), though you are right about potentially testing several variations.

[stanford's girl]

Well, this is an interesting turn of events! I am on this sailing and have a confirmed 8:30 dinner time. I have a table for 8 with friends I chose to sit with. I am hoping that will still be possible even if the time has to change. I'll be sure to let you know how HAL handles all of this.

[maryland]

I have to agree with the majority here. One of the reasons I like HAL is the traditional dining. We really preferred the 2 dining times. Will try the 4 times in November on the Westerdam (was able to get the 8pm seating). We've cruised NCL w/Freestyle dining and I didn't care for it. Come on HAL-don't try to "fix" what's not broken. If people want a Freestyle/Personal option there are other cruise lines.

[peaches from georgia]

As I stated earlier, I sincerely doubt that the Maitre'd will deny reserving a table for two on the rail at 8, or a table for a group of 6 at 8.30, if requestedwould enjoy dining with all week long!

The people who are going to really suffer are those that want or need to eat before 7:30, but certainly not as early as 5:30. 5:30 is ludicrous. The 6:15 diner is at a loss here.

 

But for those who want to dine 7:30 or later I agree with Brian. The tables are not going to turn twice between 7:30 and closing, so each table is going to seat only one group of 2, 4, etc. I see no reason the Maitre d' therefore would not reserve a particular table for you at whatever time after 7:30 that you wish. You still could have 8 PM at your favorite table for 2 and also have the ability to sit with friends at a larger table some nights, also.

 

This is not all bad for the late diner; for the 6-6:30 diner it is horrendous. I can't imagine any cruiseline turning over 2 main dining rooms to a time as ridiculous as 5:30.

[gizmo]

Pass the beeper !:mad:

[sail7seas]

Anyone getting the feeling they'd just as soon not serve us dinner at all? It seems as though they keep trying to find ways to keep as many of us as possible out of the dining room.

Dinner at 5:30 is ridiculous IMO.....even for those folks who often have their dinner at home at 6:00 or a little before. They're on vacation. The day is hardly over and now they want to rush the evening.

 

Geez...what a nuisance. We all want to enjoy a nice dinner and a pleasant evening. Sorry to be so demanding.

 

I wonder if they've considered packing our dinners 'to go'....we could report to the dining room at a given time and pick up our dinners to take anywhere we choose to eat. Won't need to even bother setting the tables at all. Look how much they can save by not needing dining stewards.

 

Wow...they could do away with the dining room entirely!!! Now that's a thought. Wonder what money making things they could put in all that space.

 

 

 

[Sierrachik]

Anyone getting the feeling they'd just as soon not serve us dinner at all? It seems as though they keep trying to find ways to keep as many of us as possible out of the dining room.

Dinner at 5:30 is ridiculous IMO.....even for those folks who often have their dinner at home at 6:00 or a little before. They're on vacation. The day is hardly over and now they want to rush the evening.

 

Geez...what a nuisance. We all want to enjoy a nice dinner and a pleasant evening. Sorry to be so demanding.

 

I wonder if they've considered packing our dinners 'to go'....we could report to the dining room at a given time and pick up our dinners to take anywhere we choose to eat. Won't need to even bother setting the tables at all. Look how much they can save by not needing dining stewards.

 

 

 

This wasn't the impression I was left with, I think they're trying to add more options. If they eventually go with personal choice I think they will still have traditional.

 

Unfortunately in order to compete business must constantly change and that can lead to some customers being less than satisfied while making others more satisfied. Business owners and managers face these decisions every day.

[Guest Celestia]

If this becomes standard, HAL loses me as a customer.

 

I'm not fond of restaurant dining on dry land, I certainly would not book a cruise where I couldn't get traditional dining at a reasonable hour *for me* which is no earlier than 7:45 pm.

 

FW&FS,

 

Celestia, with dinner still in the oven at 6:53 pm

[mechcc]

I agree - I do the same thing no matter what ship I'm on - I always arrange for my own tablemates...

 

As I stated earlier, I sincerely doubt that the Maitre'd will deny reserving a table for two on the rail at 8, or a table for a group of 6 at 8.30, if requested.

 

We had a similar arrangement on our recent charter aboard Oosterdam, and it worked out very well - folks got to sit with whom they wanted or new people every night, we got to reserve specific tables for specific evenings and have regulars and "guests" at dinner. With a little planning, I'm certain one could still have their regular table at the window with the folks one would enjoy dining with all week long!

 

Personally, I'd prefer if they used the two levels separately, say upper as fixed seating and lower as open seating, but this is a test - I'm sure that there will be other variations on the theme. The good thing is that folks at late seating will never need to sit w/ anyone they don't like ever again, and the Maitre'd wont have to rearrange half the dining room to get you away from them! And it gets rid of the 4 separate dining times!

 

Before we all scream "Abondon Ship", lets wait and see if there really is a hole in the hull....

;-)

 

That's great for you to pick your table mates, that's what you enjoy and are able to arrange friends to dine with you. There is the group and probably large group who go on a cruise and know no one else except their mate and look forward to meeting new people from whereever and whatever background and establishing at least a brief relationship over being tablemates for the length of the cruise. Under this scenerio, that would only be possible at the 5:30 time. We have only cruised twice and both times we have been fortunate to have wonderful tablemates. And the greatest thing was that none, absolutly none, of the individuals would we have encountered in our day to day life even if we lived in the same town.

[peaches from georgia]

Don't Crystal, Radisson, Silversea, and Oceania- the cruiselines I consider in the luxury class- all have open seating dining. For those of you who cruise these lines, how does it work on those ships? Why should HAL have more of a problem than these lines, expecially if the early diners have eaten and are out of the way.

 

Just asking the question to see what the options are and how they work elsewhere. I just haven't heard friends who cruise Radisson and Oceania complaining about not having assigned tables and times.

[WillK]

 

Unfortunately in order to compete business must constantly change and that can lead to some customers being less than satisfied while making others more satisfied. Business owners and managers face these decisions every day.

 

Good point Sierrachik. I'd guess that this proposed "trial" is supported by legitimate market research. Doubtful that it's an arbitrary whim of an incompetent CEO . If the current dining system was working in terms of satisfying the market, I doubt that HAL would be doing this experiment.

[mechcc]

For someone that loves the traditional dining, the thought of eating at 5:30 on vacation is just plain sickening. But then again, thinking of the positive side, get back from shore exersion at 4:30, change for dinner between 4:30 and 5:30, eat at 5:30, go to free show at 7:30, go back to room and go to bed at 9:00 because I will be hungry for breakfast by 6:00 and need to get 8 hours of sleep before waking up and getting ready to go to breakfast. Okay, I have now missed a drink in a lounge upon returning from shore excursion, an hour to an hour and a half in the casino loosing untold amounts to the ship, then another predinner drink or two. Add all those relaxing drinks and the dinner wine and I have to pass through the gift shops? Well isn't that ring nice! Oh and nephew XX would like that t-shirt, and my co-workers would like to have a model of my cruise ship. Didn't I need to get something for the neighbor 6 doors down (don't remember her name) something. But alas, I'm sober and tired so sanity sets in.

WOW, if I had more vacation time, I could cruise more with all the money I'm saving on ship. But since I don't, I'll have to spend that money on something else. A maid sounds interesting - then I can pretend I'm cruising.

[WillK]

Peaches- I've never sailed on Silversea but my parents have. They did have open seating and loved it.

[Bramcruiser]

Well, let's wait until its official before we panic. However, after the war that broke out over the other thread about the larger group on the Oosterdam I think its painfully obvious that a change to the way dining is done on the ships is a hard sell.

 

Personally, I work late and am used to eating after 8 so a late reservation for dinner made sense for me when I last cruised. Strangely enough on the Oosterdam. I much prefer having the reservation and late time. 5:30 is just far tooooo early and a free-for-all after 7:30 sounds nonsensical. Its either going to be way too crowded or deadly empty.

 

I like to know who thinks of these things and just what goes through their minds when they do. HAve any of these planners ever taken a cruise?

[Joanandjoe]

We've had open seating twice, on Windstar in the Med., with supper starting at 7:30; amd with Radisson last month on a Canada/New England cruise (7 p.m.). We found there were distinct pluses and minuses, but feel that the minuses would overwhelm the pluses on HAL. In short, a bad idea.

 

Pluses: we got to eat by ourselves some nights, with people we met onboard or on CC on other nights, and with strangers just for a change. The flexibility was great. On the small ships on which we sailed (Wind Surf 308 PAX, RSSC Navigator 490 PAX), there was no problem accommodating everyone at times when they wanted to eat

 

Minuses: 7:30 is too late for dinner for us and we needed to have snacks before dinner. However, in the Med. we were too tired fom onshore activity most days to want to do something after dinner. On Radisson, 7 p.m. was about right, and we were never in the dining room later than 7:10 or so. However, entertainment started at 9:30 or 9:45: much too late for us. Despite the best entertainment we've ever had on a cruise (see our review when it comes up later this week), we missed several shows because we went to bed early. Service on both lines was excellent; but there's comfort in having the same waiter every night, so that he gets to know your preferences.

 

The HAL plan combines the worst of both worlds. Fixed dining is too early, flexible dining too late. Also, we think it works better on a small ship than a big one. HAL doesn't have sufficient alternative restaurant space to pull off truly flexible dining. Back to the drawing board, HAL!

[MBeamTX]

The HAL plan combines the worst of both worlds. Fixed dining is too early, flexible dining too late. Also, we think it works better on a small ship than a big one. HAL doesn't have sufficient alternative restaurant space to pull off truly flexible dining. Back to the drawing board, HAL!

 

I would have to agree with your conclusion. I'm trying hard not to get too up in arms without hearing how it actually works in practice ... BUT. This trial arrangement means that there is no dinner seating between 5:30 and 7:30 pm. I envision the Lido getting overrun during those hours - although maybe they have some plan to serve dinner to lots more people in that venue than they do now?

 

It seems to me that the dining room is going to get swamped as soon as open seating begins at 7:30 pm. If HAL advertises this as a "personal choice" of when and with whom you dine, they are simply not going to have the capacity to deliver that to everyone. How many people are going to show up at the dining room neatly organized into parties of 6 or 8 or 10? Unless they cajole strangers into sharing tables, they're likely to have 2 or 3 empty seats at lots of tables, and that cuts down on the dining room capacity. And as others have noted, there is no way to do more than one open seating per night when you're starting at 7:30 pm.

 

How are they going to serve everyone? HAL just doesn't have enough dining venues, in my opinion, to support a personal choice-type concept. And doesn't seem as if it would require more staff than the traditional fixed seating? I just don't get it.

 

Susan

[Bramcruiser]

HAL doesn't have sufficient alternative restaurant space to pull off truly flexible dining. Back to the drawing board, HAL!

 

I thought of that after my last post. Thanks for saying so. The HAL ships aren't designed with all the alternatives the new ships on the other lines have. All the plan can possibly hope to do is overwhelm the Lido deck and room service. Sure there is the Pinnacle Grill but that is just far too small a restaurant and I found it to be almost empty on my last cruise simply because no one wanted to shell out $20/person for dinner. I certainly would not want to confirm an early dinner in the main dining room so would have to take my chances with the open seating after 7:30. However, the configuration of the dining room is not made to allow a freestyle approach without chopping up the tables. We'd be right back to being placed at tables with strangers like they already do for breakfast and lunch. So we'd be back to a modied style of traditional seating.

 

I have no problem with the concept of freestyle dining as offered on the other lines. However, I have a hard time thinking this experiment will be a painless one at that - for HAL and passengers. Let's hope they work on it.

[kryos]

As someone on the 10/22 sailing, I don't really see this as problematic. Maybe HAL is testing the Princess PC concept?

That's the first thought I had too.

 

Several lines are going to the Personal Choice concept, because it seems to work well. I'm still not sure about it ... I kinda prefer the traditional fixed seating myself ... having the same tablemates, the same wait staff, etc. Makes life so much easier for the solo traveler. But, then ... sometimes traditional doesn't work out too great either ... especially if you have tablemates who don't always show up for dinner. You could easily wind up at a table alone several nights during the cruise.

 

I guess with Personal Choice, you can ask the matri 'd to seat you at a table with others? I take it you don't have to come to the dining room with your tablemates in order to eat at a table with other folks? I'm imagining that personal choice would be like breakfast and lunch in the dining room ... you are seated at a large table with lots of other people?

 

I've said it before ... the face of cruising is changing. Formal nights, traditional dining, jeans in the dining room, etc. Our whole society seems to be favoring this more "casual" approach to cruising. Other than my own personal dislike of "getting gussied up" for formal night, I don't know how I feel about these other changes. I always kinda liked the structure that traditional dining offers.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[dougnewmanatsea]

What does not seem clear to me is whether table assignments will still exist or if they are trying truly "open" seating (sit where and with whom you want).

 

It seems to me that it is possible that what they are trying for second seating is something like what Cunard have in their single-seating Grills (and Caronia on QE2)... Those restaurants have assigned tables, but one can arrive any time between 7:00 and 9:00.

 

This is very different from Personal Choice-style "open seating" in that one does have the same tablemates, stewards, etc. every night... However I still do not like the idea as it must be odd for some people to arrive at, say, 8:30 when others at the table are already 1.5 hours into dinner!

 

Those of us who want a fixed seating where everyone shows up at (roughly) the same time and who don't want to eat insanely early would be in a bit of a sticky spot, but open seating it isn't.

 

As for true "open seating", that would be a real mess I think... At least, if the only fixed seating is at 5:30. However, it would make no sense to have fixed seating at 5:30 and open seating only after 7:30... If they wanted to do the Personal Choice thing it would seem simple enough just to make the lower level have two fixed seatings (probably 6:15 and 8:30) and then make the upper level "open". And that would keep the traditional people relatively happy, I suppose. Certainly happier than forcing them all to eat at 5:30.

 

So my guess is that this is really a 7:30-??? seating that is fixed in terms of table assignments but flexible in terms of time - which is something nobody seems to be considering.

[Iggipolka]

That's great for you to pick your table mates, that's what you enjoy and are able to arrange friends to dine with you. There is the group and probably large group who go on a cruise and know no one else except their mate and look forward to meeting new people from whereever and whatever background and establishing at least a brief relationship over being tablemates for the length of the cruise. Under this scenerio, that would only be possible at the 5:30 time. We have only cruised twice and both times we have been fortunate to have wonderful tablemates. And the greatest thing was that none, absolutly none, of the individuals would we have encountered in our day to day life even if we lived in the same town.

 

I completely agree with the above. Also, as someone traveling solo, I was looking forward to having the same dining companions over the week, so that I would have some consistency and get to know them. I certainly don't want to eat alone every night.

[heavenly]

OH MY:eek: This does not set well with me. I love my 6:15 time 7:30 to me is too late and 5:30 is way too early:eek: I go back on the Oosterdam Feb 4th. Any word on how long this "TEST THING" will last? I have to admit this does upset me:mad:

 

No idea on length of the test, she did say if it worked well it would be spread through out the line...

[heavenly]

I would imagine that if you still wanted to reserve a specific table for 8pm or 8.30 w/ a group of folks, that one could still do so w/ a simple request to the Maitre'd.

 

Lisa--

 

From what I was told, this will not be possible, we probably will not know for real until a couple of weeks have passes and it all shakes out.

 

Regarding the 10/15 sailing, I asked about that while I had her on the phone; all groups had been notified, according to Ship Services, individual passesengers had not.:(

[RevNeal]

I hope HAL gets this idiotic "Princess bug" out of its system, and SOON. I'll be on the Oosterdam in January ... if this is in effect then, my review will be HARSH. AND, I'll make a special effort to publish is far wider than I normally do ... more than to just one or two review sites. I'll send it EVERYWHERE.

[heavenly]

I hope this also means no more getting interrupted halfway through dinner w/ the Baked Alaska Parade! :D

 

LOL Now that is an interesting way of looking at it! I, personally, do not like the change; put me in the "I like tradition and go to bed late" group...