I<3Cruising4u Posted April 11, 2017 #1 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Hi, I need some help. I'm planning a cruise, but I want to understand what Your Time Dining is. How do you set up your time to eat in the dining room? I saw a line last time I was on the boat, I have multiple groups, which means multiple booking numbers. I want us to all be able to eat early together. Do we all have to stand in line or can just one person go stand in line and get the reservations for every night for all the booking numbers (groups)? Can anyone explain in detail how to set it up once on board? Also, what happens after I set the time for my groups? Do we have to go to this desk or do we just show up at the dining room when our time is up? Let me know.. Thanks everyone. Hope you can give me the advice I'm looking for.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hftmrock Posted April 11, 2017 #2 Share Posted April 11, 2017 I can give you some... YTD is that you go when you want to eat. there are no reservations. you all go at the same time (whatever time you choose) and they will seat you or give you a pager if they are busy and you have to wait for a short time. Benefits for YTD include being able to eat at different times depending on your activities and when you are hungry. You can get the same wait staff if you like them or get a different one if you don't. The downside is that sometimes during peak times there is a wait. they take down the room number so if you are several room numbers they will need them all but not everybody needs to approach the desk in order to wait for a table but you all should be there ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelleVeeSxm Posted April 11, 2017 #3 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Hi' date=' I need some help. I'm planning a cruise, but I want to understand what Your Time Dining is. How do you set up your time to eat in the dining room? I saw a line last time I was on the boat, I have multiple groups, which means multiple booking numbers. I want us to all be able to eat early together. Do we all have to stand in line or can just one person go stand in line and get the reservations for every night for all the booking numbers (groups)? Can anyone explain in detail how to set it up once on board? Also, what happens after I set the time for my groups? Do we have to go to this desk or do we just show up at the dining room when our time is up? Let me know.. Thanks everyone. Hope you can give me the advice I'm looking for.;)[/quote'] Here's a link that explains it in detail: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3439/~/dining-room-seating-options---dinner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted April 11, 2017 #4 Share Posted April 11, 2017 it's like a regular restaurant, except no reservations. We never waited one minute to be seated, although we eat between 8:30-9, same wait staff for 2 weeks, no problems at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisemom67 Posted April 11, 2017 #5 Share Posted April 11, 2017 If your group is large, you may have trouble with Any time dining. We usually won't do it if we have more than 8 in our group. Just like a restaurant, you may have to wait for a while. You might be able to set up a reservation if there are a lot of you. Typically, they don't want to seat you unless everyone (or almost everyone) is there. We have never really had to wait very long, but we tend to go before peak time (6:30-8). If you have a large group, you may want to plan to go before peak times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisemom67 Posted April 11, 2017 #6 Share Posted April 11, 2017 If you always want to eat early, why not just set up early seating? You will be able to eat together that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truecruiser Posted April 11, 2017 #7 Share Posted April 11, 2017 So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradUT Posted April 11, 2017 #8 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Wait times for ATD can be lengthy, even during non-peak times. When we were on the Imagination last August, we had waits of 20 - 45 minutes when we went to dinner around 8pm. (We chose NOT to wait when they said it would be a ridiculous 45 minutes to be seated. That would have meant we wouldn't have been served until after 9pm!) If I were traveling with a large group, I would choose fixed dining. That way, you know you will have a table ready and waiting for your entire group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truecruiser Posted April 11, 2017 #9 Share Posted April 11, 2017 If you always want to eat early, why not just set up early seating? You will be able to eat together that way. Early is too early, late is too late, which is why it was nice when it was a Platinum perk and only limited to the amount of Platinum guests on any particular sailing. From what I read above, with everyone having the option, some had been told 9:00. Carnival messed up with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schoifmom Posted April 11, 2017 #10 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Early is too early, late is too late, which is why it was nice when it was a Platinum perk and only limited to the amount of Platinum guests on any particular sailing. From what I read above, with everyone having the option, some had been told 9:00. Carnival messed up with this one. I was not aware that YTD had been a Platinum perk at any point. We first sailed in 2010, though, so I'm not aware of anything prior to that. YTD does not take reservations, and I don't believe that they ever have. If your group arrives together, they will be seated together. The larger the group and the more popular the time you wish to eat, the longer the wait for a table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinpsychRN Posted April 11, 2017 #11 Share Posted April 11, 2017 So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone? YTD was never a Platinum perk. Only perk was priority to get the time you want. The line on elegant night on Magic was a 40 minute wait. No booking number, cabin number. With a large group it'd probably be easier to do a set time with multiple tables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truecruiser Posted April 11, 2017 #12 Share Posted April 11, 2017 I was not aware that YTD had been a Platinum perk at any point. We first sailed in 2010, though, so I'm not aware of anything prior to that. YTD does not take reservations, and I don't believe that they ever have. If your group arrives together, they will be seated together. The larger the group and the more popular the time you wish to eat, the longer the wait for a table. Yeah, it was. So if you wanted to go at 6:30 or 7, etc. you were pretty much guaranteed to be seated when you showed up. It doesn't sound like that will ever be a possibility anymore as I have seen nothing which says it's open to all but that Diamond and Platinum get preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhsails Posted April 11, 2017 #13 Share Posted April 11, 2017 So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone? Huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schoifmom Posted April 11, 2017 #14 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Yeah, it was. So if you wanted to go at 6:30 or 7, etc. you were pretty much guaranteed to be seated when you showed up. It doesn't sound like that will ever be a possibility anymore as I have seen nothing which says it's open to all but that Diamond and Platinum get preference. The only instance recently where Diamond/Platinum get preference is on the Vista (and I'm sure the Horizon). They have a separate entrance to the YTD dining room. Otherwise Diamond/Platinum/FTTF get priority reservations in the MDR and specialty restaurants. What that means is, you get preference of dining choice, not preferential seating for YTD. YTD does not and never has taken reservations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABQrobin Posted April 11, 2017 #15 Share Posted April 11, 2017 We prefer the YTD....just 2 of us, and we like to eat early. We are always there when they open, have to stand and wait a max of 10 minutes before led to a table. Period. Formal nights there can be lines for longer, but that is because everyone goes to the formal nights...more people, longer lines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmith198025 Posted April 11, 2017 #16 Share Posted April 11, 2017 We did YTD on our two most recent cruises, and i would say that even on formal night when the line starts before they open, we were never in line waiting more than 5 minutes. Any other night we could just walk right in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted April 11, 2017 #17 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Wait times for ATD can be lengthy, even during non-peak times. When we were on the Imagination last August, we had waits of 20 - 45 minutes when we went to dinner around 8pm. (We chose NOT to wait when they said it would be a ridiculous 45 minutes to be seated. That would have meant we wouldn't have been served until after 9pm!) If I were traveling with a large group, I would choose fixed dining. That way, you know you will have a table ready and waiting for your entire group. Really? went to dinner around 8;30 every night, sometimes a little later and the DR was empty, as i said above we even had the same waiter for 2 weeks. We never even saw a pager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drrandall Posted April 11, 2017 #18 Share Posted April 11, 2017 I'll be on the Breeze July 9th with my 2 girls 7 and 12. We like the late seating. That way we can stay til 6pm on the island when at ports. Don't wanna be rushed back early to get dinner. We can always grab a snack at the other small restaurants if we get hungry while waiting. We normally eat at 730 at home anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger727 Posted April 12, 2017 #19 Share Posted April 12, 2017 If you group is 6 or larger, you would be better off with traditional dining. Large tables to sit everyone, table available when you go. ATD works really well for 2-4 tops but not well for groups. Imagine trying to go to a chain restaurant on a weekend night with a large group; and doing that every night. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sillyjilly Posted April 12, 2017 #20 Share Posted April 12, 2017 So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone? What has this got to do with what the OP said? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pellaz Posted April 12, 2017 #21 Share Posted April 12, 2017 I can give you some... YTD is that you go when you want to eat. there are no reservations. you all go at the same time (whatever time you choose) and they will seat you or give you a pager if they are busy and you have to wait for a short time. Benefits for YTD include being able to eat at different times depending on your activities and when you are hungry. You can get the same wait staff if you like them or get a different one if you don't. The downside is that sometimes during peak times there is a wait. Yep, this. We had a group of 9 on our last Conquest cruise and all of our staterooms had requested YTD. The first night, we all showed up at the same time -- we coordinated the time via FB Messenger -- and we requested to be seated together. We were accommodated at a 10-top and the hostess apparently made a note of our room numbers because the following night she already had them in her system. We DID have to wait that night for about 20 minutes, since it was Cruise Elegant Night, but we had requested the same dining crew and we were able to get them. The third night we couldn't -- someone had just been seated at "our" table :) -- so we had a different crew at a different 10-top. The fourth night "our" table had just been taken, but they were able to accommodate our group with our preferred MDR crew at some tables pushed together in a nearby section. In short, they really tried to work with us, despite our large group, and we were really happy with YTD. We've all requested it for our Vista cruise in October. they take down the room number so if you are several room numbers they will need them all but not everybody needs to approach the desk in order to wait for a table but you all should be there ready to go. Correct...and if the MDR host/hostess people are "on the ball" like ours were, you might only need to provide the stateroom numbers once. It's best to plan ahead with your group -- we used FB Messenger but the Hub Chat app might work for this -- and arrive at the same time. While you may have to wait a while -- especially for a large group -- there's always a chance you'll be accommodated immediately. We were, on a few nights during our cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I<3Cruising4u Posted April 13, 2017 Author #22 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Okay, you answered my question. It's sort of like breakfast. Now how do I set up a time? I saw that people went to a desk on the SunShine long before dinner and set up there time they wanted to eat. By what you are saying, I can just give the room numbers and that's all I need... Is this correct? I'd like to eat early, because the 8:15 dining is just way too late. I might have a group of 8-10 people with me. We can all coordinate quiet well to meet for dinner, we've done it for breakfast. You mentioned you can get the same waiters. How do you do that? Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it. I can give you some... YTD is that you go when you want to eat. there are no reservations. you all go at the same time (whatever time you choose) and they will seat you or give you a pager if they are busy and you have to wait for a short time. Benefits for YTD include being able to eat at different times depending on your activities and when you are hungry. You can get the same wait staff if you like them or get a different one if you don't. The downside is that sometimes during peak times there is a wait. they take down the room number so if you are several room numbers they will need them all but not everybody needs to approach the desk in order to wait for a table but you all should be there ready to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hftmrock Posted April 13, 2017 #23 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Im not sure on your particular ship but on the carnival cruises I have been on, you just go to the dining room and if there are available tables , you get in right away and if there isn't, they will provide pagers and you have to wait for the pager to go off for the same wait staff, all you have to do is get the head waiters/waitress name and then just ask for them when you get to the front of the line before you get a pager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistycruiser Posted April 14, 2017 #24 Share Posted April 14, 2017 I think you're missing the point of ATD. They don't take reservations it's first come first served just like a regular restaurant. You all show up together, give the hostess your room numbers, if they have a table available they seat you and if not they give you a pager that will go off when the table is ready. The open times will be listed in the daily Funtimes and is usually between 5:45-9:00 or 9:30 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted April 14, 2017 #25 Share Posted April 14, 2017 exactly, this is not rocket science, it's a restaurant that does not accept reservations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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