Carnival's Your Time Dining and How does it work?

[I<3Cruising4u]

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.;)

[hftmrock]

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.

[BelleVeeSxm]

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

[coevan]

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

[cruisemom67]

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.

[cruisemom67]

If you always want to eat early, why not just set up early seating? You will be able to eat together that way.

[truecruiser]

So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone?

[GradUT]

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.

[truecruiser]

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.

[Schoifmom]

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.

[crusinpsychRN]

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.

[truecruiser]

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.

[nhsails]

So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone?

Huh?

[Schoifmom]

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.

[ABQrobin]

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!

[msmith198025]

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.

[coevan]

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.

[Drrandall]

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.

[sanger727]

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.

 

 

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[Sillyjilly]

So another Platinum perk taken away and given to everyone?

 

What has this got to do with what the OP said?

[Pellaz]

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.

[I<3Cruising4u]

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.

[hftmrock]

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.

[mistycruiser]

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.

[coevan]

exactly, this is not rocket science, it's a restaurant that does not accept reservations.