anytime dining

[joeyancho]

I have requested atd for the first time out of 37 cruises. Since we are doing specialty dining 3 nights I didn't think it would be fair to other diners and staff to not be at the table so many nights. Please explain how it works. What are the hours? What are the peak hours? How long is the wait? Do I need a reservation? Is the service as attentive as fixed dining? How do I tipped extra if the service is exceptional? Thanks in advance for your answers.

[GUT2407]

I have requested atd for the first time out of 37 cruises. Since we are doing specialty dining 3 nights I didn't think it would be fair to other diners and staff to not be at the table so many nights. Please explain how it works. What are the hours? What are the peak hours? How long is the wait? Do I need a reservation? Is the service as attentive as fixed dining? How do I tipped extra if the service is exceptional? Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

No reservations needed.

 

Hours can vary be ship, but about 5:30 on.

 

Peak hours will vary by itinerary, but around 6:30-7:00 is often busiest.

 

Never made a booking, never waited more than a few minutes.

 

I found service the same as Trad, but I do ask to be seated in the same area each night.

 

How do you tip extra? Hand them the money.

[shredie]

There is a long thread currently open where this has been discussed in depth.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2405990

Edited September 27, 2016 by shredie

[wishfulone]

I have requested atd for the first time out of 37 cruises. Since we are doing specialty dining 3 nights I didn't think it would be fair to other diners and staff to not be at the table so many nights. Please explain how it works. What are the hours? What are the peak hours? How long is the wait? Do I need a reservation? Is the service as attentive as fixed dining? How do I tipped extra if the service is exceptional? Thanks in advance for your answers.

Anytime dining is the freedom to chose when you feel like dining. You can choose to eat alone or with a group and as already siad you never have to wait more than a few minute for a table.

[skynight]

Most ships will accept reservations for ATD, but reservations are for specific set times like 5:30, 5:45, 7:30, 7:45.

The passenger demographic determines how well ATD works. Generally ATD is most crowded between 5:30 and 6:00. If you like to dine 7:30 or later it has been pretty easy to get a table. Tables to share are normally easier to get than tables for two.

We always avoid the DR on boarding day. ATD is a little hectic in the early hours. Passengers seem to get into a routine starting the second day.

I have found that ATD works best on the Royal. I assume the same on the Regal but have not been on that ship.

We work our dining around the evening activities that we wish to attend and not the other way around. So sometimes we dine early and sometimes late. For example on production show evenings there may be 3 shows, 7:00, 8:15 and 10:00. We might choose to attend the 7pm show then go eat. The *:15 shows are the most crowded. There might be a comic in the Vista Lounge we wish to see, we will plan around that.

[PoohUnderstands]

After just coming off the Ruby, I highly suggest that if you care alot, make reservations for anytime dining as soon as you can when you board by calling the dining line, especially if you don't want to share a table.

 

Pooh

[TracieABD]

The other thought is to go with TD and then let the Maitre'd and your wait staff know when you will not be dining in the MDR-- then they can fill your table for those nights only.

[shredie]

The other thought is to go with TD and then let the Maitre'd and your wait staff know when you will not be dining in the MDR-- then they can fill your table for those nights only.

 

I have seen that happen. One question I have (and I don't think covered in the previous thread) is why people sign up for ATD in the first place if it poses so many problems for them. Yes, I imagine there are people who like it and have no complaints, but I don't think we often hear from them. What is so bad about TD that putting up with the problems in ATD make it worth the trouble?

[TracieABD]

I have seen that happen. One question I have (and I don't think covered in the previous thread) is why people sign up for ATD in the first place if it poses so many problems for them. Yes, I imagine there are people who like it and have no complaints, but I don't think we often hear from them. What is so bad about TD that putting up with the problems in ATD make it worth the trouble?

 

Unless I was absolutely forced (i.e I booked a cruise at the very last minute and there were long waiting lists for TD), I would never chose ATD. I don't want to have to worry about reservations, pagers, lines, being seated at a table for 10, long waits, etc... It is from these boards that I have formed this opinion- having never actually tried it.

 

You are probably 100% correct, there are most likely people who adore ATD- it is the few who do not who post here.

 

Even with that said... I am still not willing to try it.

Edited September 27, 2016 by TracieABD

[skynight]

I have seen that happen. One question I have (and I don't think covered in the previous thread) is why people sign up for ATD in the first place if it poses so many problems for them. Yes, I imagine there are people who like it and have no complaints, but I don't think we often hear from them. What is so bad about TD that putting up with the problems in ATD make it worth the trouble?

We have been selecting ATD for years since it was started back in the 2001 to 2003 time frame. We have developed a knowledge of how it works and seldom have any problems. As I stated in a previous posting we plan our dining around our evening activities, and not the other way around. It works well for us. We also take many longer cruises, and b2b's. ATD allows us greater flexibility. We also meet various people, not the same group every night. This is interesting for us. This past February we were on a b2b2b2b. We selected TD for the first time in many years. It wasn't so great. Within the first two 7 day cruises the Head Waiter switched our table 3 times. Many evenings we were the only ones that showed up at our table. After the first two cruises we asked the head waiter to switch us to ATD for the 3rd and 4th 10 day cruises. We were much more comfortable there. We could dine in alternate restaurants, the buffet, Alfredo's, or just grab a burger, whenever we liked without any need, perceived or not, to inform our waiter that we would not be there. In all these years we have never once been given a pager. We always have been seated. This is probably because we know how the system works and what times are best to show up, which are not the same on every cruise.

[littlecruise]

I have seen that happen. One question I have (and I don't think covered in the previous thread) is why people sign up for ATD in the first place if it poses so many problems for them. Yes, I imagine there are people who like it and have no complaints, but I don't think we often hear from them. What is so bad about TD that putting up with the problems in ATD make it worth the trouble?

 

With over 200 cruise days we have always had ATD and have waited (maybe 4-6 times). Most often 2-10 min. and we have been seated at Tbl for 2-4-6- what ever we have asked for. We have learned what time to go to the MDR so as not to wait and we still can eat early if desired or later if desired, our choice on a day to day agenda. It all depends on when we want to eat and what is our plans for the evening. I do not want to HAVE to eat an exact time every day, each day is different and I don't want to be tied down with my eating time if I am enjoying another activity at my dining time.

[shredie]

I do not want to HAVE to eat an exact time every day, each day is different and I don't want to be tied down with my eating time if I am enjoying another activity at my dining time.

 

Makes sense.

[caribill]

I have seen that happen. One question I have (and I don't think covered in the previous thread) is why people sign up for ATD in the first place if it poses so many problems for them.

 

Because for some people 5:30 is too early to eat and 8:00 is too late.

[caribill]

I have requested atd for the first time out of 37 cruises. Since we are doing specialty dining 3 nights I didn't think it would be fair to other diners and staff to not be at the table so many nights. Please explain how it works. What are the hours? What are the peak hours? How long is the wait? Do I need a reservation? Is the service as attentive as fixed dining? How do I tipped extra if the service is exceptional? Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

On the Grand Class and Royal Class ships there are two dining rooms used for anytime. Often one of the two is first used for an overflow early traditional and becomes anytime when that seating is finished.

 

You can dine in either of the anytime dining rooms (assuming the early TD is finished).

[shredie]

Because for some people 5:30 is too early to eat and 8:00 is too late.

 

So they're all down there standing in line from 6 to 7.

Edited September 28, 2016 by shredie

[Krozulo]

I only just booked my first cruise, but we (my party) all decided on Anytime dining. Our thoughts are that we don't want to be tied to a specific time to eat if there are shows or things to do, or because there are other places to eat and we want to experience it all. I read that there are sometimes "long" waits of up to 10 minutes, but where we live it's not uncommon to wait 20-35 minutes at a restaurant during peak dinner time. Anytime dining just seemed more versatile for us. I guess we'll see how that plays out or if we end up eating at a specific time anyway just to avoid waiting :)

 

Just some thoughts from someone who hasn't experienced either and the reasons for choosing one.

[catsdinner]

We have also been doing ATD for many years. After having one bad TD tablemate we never went back. We just did 21 days on the Royal and not once did we have to get a pager. We usually share and the largest table we had was a 8 seater. I think in all the years we have done ATD we may have had 2 or 3 pagers. The people that have to wait or get pagers are usually those who will not share. Several times we have been in line (around 7:30 or so) and they have asked if one or two couples will share and we got in ahead of those who would not share. We meet a lot of interesting people this way and really enjoy it. We work our dining time around our evening activities also. More often than not, we go to the dining room around 7:30.

 

Sarah

[OCruisers]

We love the convenience and flexibility of Anytime Dining and would never want to go back to Traditional (Set) Dining. :)

[DaisyRose]

The main reason we always select ATD is because we do not like to spend two hours in the dining room. We usually only select 2-3 courses (we are both trying to keep our weight down), and we like to get out of the dining room in an hour or slightly more. When we had traditional dining, we found that even when we got a table for two, the waiters brought everyone's courses at the same time. So, if we skipped the appetizers and the soup, we just sat there and waited while all the other passengers ate those courses. We once had an obnoxious passenger at our table. We also once had a tablemate who chewed every bite of food about a hundred times. It was the longest meal I have ever experienced.

 

Yes, the lines are annoying; Princess does not seem to have enough t ables for Anytime dining. But, we put up with it because with Anytime Dining, we can be assured of a table for 2 even though we might have a longer wait. We also can usually get out of the dining room in an hour or so,leaving more time to enjoy the evening activities we like.

[easyboy]

We just show up at the MDR ATD door between 7:30-8pm and request for a table for 2. We are seated in less than 5 min. most of the time. The longest wait we had was 30 min. Even then, we were seated at the IC with a beeper provided when seats are already available.