Best time to arrive for "Your Time" dinning?

[LongHill44]

With most people picking the 6:00 or 8:00 set dinning time, I would think 7:00 or so would be a good option.

 

Or, does none of that have an impact on Your Time dinning?

 

What time do you usually go and find the least amount of waiting time?

[Megan_Strick]

We usually go right at 6 and never had to wait. You will likely be in a different dining room so you wont have to deal with the set dining people.

[cruziJenn]

YMMV but we often go around 7:15-7:30 and only once have we had to wait more than 5-10 minutes. And we always ask for a table for 2 which ofc can take a little longer.

[teknoge3k]

Keep in mind that set dining times and YTD are in 2 separate dining rooms so they have no impact on one another. You simply show up when you're hungry.

[Nuff_Said]

Keep in mind that set dining times and YTD are in 2 separate dining rooms so they have no impact on one another. You simply show up when you're hungry.

 

 

 

Not necessarily. It depends on the ship. On the Pride, for example, there is only 1 dining room and they put set time diners on the lower deck and YTD on the upper deck.

 

 

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[Djptcp]

DH and I always do YTD and go when it opens at 5:45pm and get a table for 2 right away. When we leave the dining room about 7-7:15pm there are always many people with pagers waiting. I don't like to wait for anything, so going when it opens works for us.

[schazzy]

The first time we did YTD was in 2010 on the Fascination and I remember no matter what time we went we were seated right away. Fast forward to 2017 on the Ecstasy, We ate Lido the first night, but the next night was formal night we got there about 7 and we waited a minimum of 45 minutes. Thinking maybe it was because it was formal night had something to do with it...Nope! 3rd night was just a little over 30 minutes wait. Apparently, most of the people with YTD on this sailing wanted to eat around 7, which is our normal dinnertime at home. So, after that we showed up at 5:45 just to see and we got seated immediately. So, we decided to to go with early seating for now on and be done with it.

[serene56]

DH and I always do YTD and go when it opens at 5:45pm and get a table for 2 right away. When we leave the dining room about 7-7:15pm there are always many people with pagers waiting. I don't like to wait for anything, so going when it opens works for us.

 

 

help me understand this-- why would a person take YTD and go at 5:45? Wouldnt early dining be the same? with people that take YTD and do this is because you were wait listed for early and didnt get in?

[wemjam]

help me understand this-- why would a person take YTD and go at 5:45? Wouldnt early dining be the same? with people that take YTD and do this is because you were wait listed for early and didnt get in?

 

We do the same thing most times too (we are earlier eaters at home and 5:45 is late for us to eat normally). The reason we do it is for the flexibility if we want it. There are times eating early doesn't suit the rest of the day we have planned and we have the ability to eat later, but still enjoy the MDR. Without YTD, we would be forced to eat elsewhere

[jmcancruise]

We choose your time dining partly to get a flexible meal time and partly because we don't want to feel any sort of obligation to show up. We do usually go early but always feel bad when we don't show up for a meal. I suspect some choose it because they don't want to leave an extra tip which is easier with ytd.

[serene56]

We choose your time dining partly to get a flexible meal time and partly because we don't want to feel any sort of obligation to show up. We do usually go early but always feel bad when we don't show up for a meal. I suspect some choose it because they don't want to leave an extra tip which is easier with ytd.

 

 

the hostess asks for your cabin number and your tips for that day go to the team that waited on you. On the days you do not dine in the MDR those tips for the day go to the buffet workers

[WomanOnAHill]

We switched from the late seating to Your Time Dining on embarkation day. We generally went at 5:45p, were seated immediately and done with our meal by 7:15p. There were a couple of nights we didn’t eat in the MDR, so it worked out well for us.

 

 

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[A&Jfamily]

The closer you get to the 630-7 time frame, the more likely you are to wait, especially if you have had a port day with people returning at 5 to the ship. There are also people that line up at 545 to go in; we are usually there around 6-615 and don't have an issue 90% of the time. If you do have to wait, they give you a pager and you can just grab a drink in the nearest bar.

[coevan]

We usually eat when we get hungry and is why we get YTD.

[Cuban23]

We used YTD on one cruise last year and found it to be even more inconvenient than picking a seating time . We always had to wait at least 30 minutes, in fact one night we waited for 30 minutes and gave the pager back and they said 20 more minutes. So we waited 30 minutes to go and eat in the lido .

[riclop]

615-630.

[G&TQ]

We always aim for 6:00 and yes same time as the early seating but we prefer YTD.

 

I hate being late but with YTD I am always on time no rushing and no waiting on tablemates to show or be no-shows. We have the experience of being with complainers and not so fun folks who thought since we dined together we were now the BFFs and it seemed like the stalked us. They didn't but always seemed to be where we were. Some folks were great some not so.

 

We started YTD when our son started cruising with us and it was just easier to do our own thing. When he was older it was one of the best things for us to reflect on our day and plan the next without disturbing or ignoring others. We really seem to connect over those dinners.

 

Then there is always the port days getting back on board watching the stragglers coming back to the ship at the last second and push off from the pier. Always hated rushing to get ready.

[naxer]

6, or after the opening line is gone. It's been the forward dining room for us, so we usually have a cocktail in the Atrium and watch for the opening line to disappear, then go right to a table.

[Lottacruises]

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of having your time dining?

[pacruise804]

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of having your time dining?

 

Not really. Your time dining gives me the freedom to show up (or not show up) at any time during the specified hours. I may opt to dine at 6:45 every evening (which would not work with fixed dining) or there may be late port days when I want a later dinner - or evening activities that I want an earlier dinner.

 

YTD also allows for flexibility with dining companions. You might be seated with others, but if you don't mesh with your table mates it is only for one meal. If I have traditional at a shared table I have the same people (unless they don't show) the whole cruise. If opt for traditional private table then we miss out on the opportunity to meet others.

[linbobky]

DH and I always do YTD and go when it opens at 5:45pm and get a table for 2 right away. When we leave the dining room about 7-7:15pm there are always many people with pagers waiting. I don't like to wait for anything, so going when it opens works for us.

to go in at 5:45 people start lining up 45 minutes before! i have always seen the line for the doors to open.

[lukeduke07]

We usually eat when we get hungry and is why we get YTD.

 

 

This^;)

[gamecockinnc]

In our experience if you go around 7:00 pm it is busy so we try to go before.

 

 

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[jsglow]

We typically find ourselves going around 6:30. And if we end up liking our waiters, we stick with them for the week. The nice thing about YTD is the ability to ask for what you want. Be it waiters, table size, whatever.

[Mysticks1]

help me understand this-- why would a person take YTD and go at 5:45? Wouldnt early dining be the same? with people that take YTD and do this is because you were wait listed for early and didnt get in?

 

We do the same thing because we have much better chances of getting a table for two. I like the flexibility of it in case we are late back from port and want to go at a different time. I am not an arrive late type of person so I don't have to worry about that with the YTD.