Freedom dining

[Jac21]

Can anyone explain freedom dining to me. We are sailing on Azura can you book the same time every night when you first board and does this mean you can have the same table, restaurant and waiters.

 

 

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[Bronte30]

Freedom dining is being able to go down to dinner when you would like. It is not set dining times. And you can't book in advance. If you want to eat either 6.30 or 8.30 pm, try and change it when on board. I did freedom dining on Azura, and didn't have to wait many times to eat at the time, I chose to go and eat. You have a different table each night, and different waiters. You might be lucky and be seated on the same table a few times, but I always had different table every night. Always met different people each night.

 

 

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[Jac21]

Thanks didn't know how it worked we have cruised about twenty times but always had select dining on first sitting thought maybe 7pm would be more preferable to dine but I like having same waiters so maybe not going to be an option for us on future cruises

 

 

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[Bronte30]

I went down about 7.30, and didn't have to wait to long. You have to wait a little bit if you wanted a table for 2. I love chatting, so always went for any size table.

 

 

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[groovechick]

Can anyone explain freedom dining to me. We are sailing on Azura can you book the same time every night when you first board and does this mean you can have the same table, restaurant and waiters.

 

 

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If you want to have the same restaurant/table/waiters every night then you are better using what is known as Club dining, which is served in one of the main dining rooms (MDR), at fixed times of 6.30 and 8.30. You will have the same table and waiters every night and if you choose this option it applies for the whole of your cruise, although you can use the buffet (no booking required) or speciality restaurants instead (booking required). If you have already booked your cruise and would prefer this arrangement, but haven't stated it as your preference, then you might be able to change it beforehand by contacting P&O, otherwise you will have to request a change once on board, which they might or might not be able to accommodate.

 

Freedom dining is the opposite of this. You don't book in advance, you turn up at any time (within the restaurant opening hours) and request a table for 2, 4 or whatever and are allocated whichever table is available. If there are no tables available when you arrive you will be given a pager so you can go off and have a pre-dinner drink and will be paged when a table becomes available. If you end up eating around the same time every night then you might possibly be in the same section of the restaurant and have the same waiters; when you arrive you can possibly even request to go in the same section as the previous night, but there are no guarantees. The whole idea is that you can dine at flexible times to suit you.

 

I think I'm right in saying that if you have booked a Saver fare you are automatically allocated Freedom dining. I think it's possible to change to Club dining, you have to request it on the first evening once on board, they will make the change for you if they can.

[terrierjohn]

Thanks didn't know how it worked we have cruised about twenty times but always had select dining on first sitting thought maybe 7pm would be more preferable to dine but I like having same waiters so maybe not going to be an option for us on future cruises

 

 

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On some lines you can book the same table at the same time every night, even in freedom dining, I am not certain if P&O do this although I imagine they do. But really that totally defeats the benefit that freedom dining gives you of being able to choose your dining time to suit your mood or the occasion, and of course to fit in with your chosen evening entertainment. For us this benefit far outweighs having the same wait staff.

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

We had freedom dining on Arcadia. Great , especially on port days when we could pick our times. Never had a problem with getting a table as we were willing to share but some moaned because they had to wait for a table for two. Had different waiters each night and met interesting people but never sat with the same people twice.

Tried the buffet and the two speciality restaurants and room service as well

[harber78]

You can get same waiters on Freedom Dining by asking waiters which tables they look after and asking for those tables each day. Did that on Arcadia on part of world cruise and worked well. Never had to wait but wouldn't have had a problem if they asked us to wait.

 

Like Freedom but missed relationship with same waiters so worked for us as told by others that was what they did and head waiter was happy to agree to.

[Selbourne]

We switched from Club to Freedom dining some years back and haven't regretted it. The ability to dine as and when the mood (or sailway, or activities) dicates far outweighs the fact that you have different waiters. We also enjoy meeting different people and if any are a bit 'challenging' you only have them once rather than being stuck for a whole cruise. We thought it was amusing on Aurora recently that a queue for Freedom Dining (which opens at 6pm) commenced from 5.15pm each night. I just couldn't be bothered. If I was that concerned about eating early every night I would book first sitting Club dining and be done with it.

[Josy1953]

We switched from Club to Freedom dining some years back and haven't regretted it. The ability to dine as and when the mood (or sailway, or activities) dicates far outweighs the fact that you have different waiters. We also enjoy meeting different people and if any are a bit 'challenging' you only have them once rather than being stuck for a whole cruise. We thought it was amusing on Aurora recently that a queue for Freedom Dining (which opens at 6pm) commenced from 5.15pm each night. I just couldn't be bothered. If I was that concerned about eating early every night I would book first sitting Club dining and be done with it.

We have done freedom dining since it was introduced some years ago and the only time we have had club dining since on Adonia where there is only 1 MDR. I had never seen the early queues until we were on Oceana last December when for some reason we wanted an early dinner, when we went down at 5:55 pm the queue was round the atrium. We were told that this was the regular situation because a lot of people wanted tables for 2 so came down early to ensure that they got one. The dining room was actually half empty when we went in so I think that you can eat early on freedom with no problem if you don't mind sharing. I won't be bothering to go down before 6:15 if we want an early dinner in the future because I can't be bothered to queue just to get a table for 2. ;p

[HomelessBear]

We were on Azura for 16th June Iceland cruise, did freedom dining as we always do and request a table for two. The first evening we went down at 7pm and were told that the restaurant we were allocated to (Peninsular) was full. Even those wanting to share were also turned away with pagers.

Over the next few days we realised that many folks seemed to go to dinner when they opened at 6pm, so tables became available between 7.20 and 7.45pm. It got easier for folks wanting to share, but only one evening did we go straight in for a table for two.

 

It may have had something to do with the eclectic mix of nationalities on this cruise (it was lovely having a good variety of passengers IMHO), and many preferred eating early, as we've never had a pager so consistently on a P&O cruise before.

Not complaining - just saying how I found it. So you may be given a pager when you get there so be prepared.

[mandylennon]

If you particularly like your waiters ask for the same table and go around the same time and you may get it, we get asked if we would like the same table, but we are a family of 4.

[chris11256]

On Britannia last June we had a table for 2 at around 18:00-18:30 every evening with no problem. We were never given a pager. Although I understand Britannia has more tables for 2. We found that going at a similar time or using the same entrance resulted in getting the same waiters on some evenings.

 

Hopefully it's the same come October.

[john watson]

The big advantage of Freedom dining if you like to dine at the same time each evening is that you can schedule to be 30 mins ahead of second sitting and get to the theatre when good seats are available even for very popular shows.

 

Regards John

[the english lady]

On some lines you can book the same table at the same time every night, even in freedom dining, I am not certain if P&O do this although I imagine they do. But really that totally defeats the benefit that freedom dining gives you of being able to choose your dining time to suit your mood or the occasion, and of course to fit in with your chosen evening entertainment. For us this benefit far outweighs having the same wait staff.

Pando do not do this..you are either freedom or club.

[StLucia]

Freedom dining is being able to go down to dinner when you would like. It is not set dining times. And you can't book in advance. If you want to eat either 6.30 or 8.30 pm, try and change it when on board. I did freedom dining on Azura, and didn't have to wait many times to eat at the time, I chose to go and eat. You have a different table each night, and different waiters. You might be lucky and be seated on the same table a few times, but I always had different table every night. Always met different people each night.

 

 

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We did freedom dining for the first time we n our last cruise, worked well for us and we have got freedom on our upcoming celebrity cruise. You just go to eat when you are ready saves hanging around until you dining ti. We always got a table straight away though different diining companions every night.