Dining Question

[ksmommy5]

I orginally booked a traditional dining time with a request for a large table. I have since changed that to MTD with the assumption and hopes that it would be an easier way to meet shipmates. I have only ever booked Traditional with crusing (with family), because they liked the idea of the same server every night. I am looking to meet people while on my solo trip and thought that MTD would be a good way to do this, but as I am reading the boards, it is suggested to stick to traditional. What do you do when travelling solo? Do you MTD and request the singles table or stick to traditional and hope you dont get stuck with awkward table mates? 

[mef_57]

I guess it depends on what cruise line.  I did 2 solo cruises within a few weeks of each other and they were vastly different.  NCL Caribbean didn't offer traditional seating, and I just asked for a table for 1 as I was really traveling for R&R not to meet people. That being said, there was a nightly solo cocktail hour and I always saw other singles that I knew attended in the line to dine with at least a few of the other singles.  They did one organized full solo dinner late in the cruise.

The second cruise was over Christmas on Cunard that only offers traditional dining.  They get a lot of solo travellers, particularly over the Holidays, and they make a point of seating solos together.  I actually enjoyed my table mates, but one or two asked to be moved and we received some other diners to our table later in the week.

So, you aren't 'stuck' with the same table mates if you don't want to be.  Just ask to be moved.  But I sure wouldn't assume they would  put all solos together at MTD.  Either name the cruise line here, or ask similar question on the cruise line/ship board.

[ksmommy5]

I am sailing with Royal. 

[resjes]

I am going on a Royal cruise too. However, when I selected "my dining" times for the free buffets, it did not give me any table options. Also a solo traveler...I didn't even think about dining and how the seating was arranged...following this topic for more info!

[rkacruiser]

I prefer fixed 2nd seating dining.  I have tried Anytime Dining (or whatever the cruise line calls it) on Princess, Carnival, and Holland America.  After my recent experience on Royal Princess:  I am done with that dining choice!  Didn't really like it on either HAL or Carnival, but I have always had my reasons why I used that dining choice rather than my preferred one.  

I always request a table for 6, preferably a round one.  I have been seated with a variety of people over the years:  some couples, some couples mixed with some singles, once with a family of adult cruisers and once with a family of 5 and I was the only solo traveler at the table.  (I was concerned about how those two situations would work during that first dinner.  They went well!)  I have never been seated solely with solo cruisers for dinner.  And, based on my experience with "solo cruiser get-togethers", I don't want to be.

 

Where to meet lots of friendly fellow guests?  Sit at the bar in a lounge.  Be a "regular" at that venue and one meets others that frequent that bar around the same time each day.  Easy to make conversations with them.  And, if nothing else, the bartenders will get to know you and most will be glad to engage in conversation with you.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

I'm on the "anytime dining" side of the fence.  When I booked my first cruise (Sep 2017), I asked my cruise consultant for the pros and cons of each approach (fixed vs anytime).  Yes, you get the same server for each meal (at least lunch and supper) with fixed, but you also get the SAME tablemates for every.single.meal that you consume in the main dining room.  I tend to take longer cruises (shortest was 14 days - my first; longest so far was 38 days last summer; upcoming cruise is 28 days, I have a 131-day trip and a 68-day trip on the books, etc.), and the thought of having to face a possibly annoying dinner partner for the duration of the trip was more than I wanted to tackle.  

 

"Anytime dining" solves that problem beautifully, and I can ask to be seated in "so-and-so's section" if I find a server that is particularly helpful.  Only once was I seated at a table with a particularly annoying pair of tablemates who berated the servers over nothing and complained about every single detail of the trip ad nauseam.  It was clear everyone else at the table was equally uncomfortable, and in the days afterward, I noticed that the couple were seated by themselves.  Had I been seated with them in a fixed dining scenario, I probably would have resorted to room service or the Lido buffet for the duration.  

 

Bear in mind I've cruised only on Holland America and Regent Seven Seas so far, so I'm not sure how it works on other lines.

[calliopecruiser]

I really like the "traditional" seating because I hate the idea of trolling for dining partners before dinner.  If I've met people on board and I can't (or don't want to) change to their dining time and table, there's still ample time (and other meals) to spend with them.  One trip we met for cocktails between the early and late dinner seating - it was after dinner for me, and before dinner for them.  If I found myself at a table with people I didn't like for one reason or another, I got the Maitre D' to switch my table.   My last cruise was open seating, and I didn't much like that; fortunately I had friends on board and ate most dinners with them, but the few times I didn't it was not handled well.....people arrived at the table when others had ordered or were already eating, etc.  I preferred to eat alone that have that situation when joining a table, but I didn't really want to eat alone either.  In those situations, I really wish I had a traditional seating table when we all were in sync in terms of our arrival, ordering, dining, etc. 

Alas, my preferred cruise line doesn't give me the option, so I make the best I can out of that unfortunate situation.

[titansrobin]

I’ve always had late traditional seating on Royal when going with family. My first solo 2 months ago I chose traditional. I’m booked on a B2B solo in January and have changed to My Time Dining. I decided that gives me the option of sitting with others or asking for a single table. I found that some nights I want to socialize with others but some nights I enjoy eating alone. 

[rkacruiser]

Having been seated at a fixed seating table for a long cruise and finding that some of the other guests, while nice people, were ones that became tiresome, and at at times annoying, I chose to remain at that table.  That was a major mistake.  That experience provided a negative memory for me that the cruise itself did not deserve.  I learned my lesson.  If I ever again find myself seated in such a situation, I will request that my seating assignment be changed.

 

Why did I not do so at the time because the thought was considered?  What will I say when I see them again?  And, being a "glass is half full" person, I kept hoping/expecting that the table's dynamics would improve.  (Sometimes, it did.  And, then, the dynamics would regress.)  Another consideration was that the table was in an excellent location in the MDR with a service staff that were exemplary.  I hated to loose the table's location and my Stewards! 

 

My advice:  if one finds oneself in such a situation, don't be shy about asking the Maitre d' for a table change.  You won't be the first that has ever done so.

[Traveling Mike]

I have started liking any time dining in the last few cruises.  I get to meet someone new every dinner and if they are bad I only have them for one night.  My last cruise on Princess Cruises I went to their afternoon Tea and loved it.  It was a great time to meet new people and just enjoy eating finger snacks and talking.

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, MikeAndNick said:

My last cruise on Princess Cruises I went to their afternoon Tea and loved it.  It was a great time to meet new people and just enjoy eating finger snacks and talking.

 

Not much is said about attending afternoon Tea as an opportunity to meet people.  But, you are correct.  This is an excellent event to have a "late lunch" and socialize with other guests who are there to enjoy the Tea.

[watson61]

Another vote for afternoon tea!  I was on the Regal Princess last fall and I went to one tea near the end of the cruise. I had so much fun that I wished I had done more of them earlier in the week.

[brillohead]

With Royal, you're not likely to find a "singles table" to join up with My Time Dining.  

I'd go with traditional dining and request a larger table.  If you don't like your tablemates, ask to be changed to a different table.