First Night Dining

[sugarmidge]

Does anyone know if you book specialty dining (Dinner) on the first night, Do you get a less than desirable spot in the main dining for the remainder of the cruise?  Will will be sailing on the Silhouette in March.

Edited December 18, 2019 by sugarmidge

[NHCRUISIN]

No, you are assigned a table a few days before cruise begins, that is your table the whole cruise whether you show up every night or not. Assuming you don’t have anytime dining.

[39august]

I assume you mean in traditional assigned seating? If so, no. You are assigned way before you board the ship. So where you eat the first night has no bearing on MDR seating. If you have open seating, again, no. 

[Luvcrusn]

We always visit the MDR upon boarding if we are dining there and check the location of our assigned table and to see that our request of a table for 2 (or more if travelling with friends) as been granted. If there is an issue (rarely) we ask for it to be changed. We almost always do specialty dining the first evening of our cruises and prefer to check on boarding rather than wait until the second night. If you do dine in a specialty restaurant the first evening it will have no affect on your table assignment for the remainder of your cruise.

[Prost Seattle]

So my reservation and my mother’s reservation are linked, I assume they will link our MDR assignment as well? 

[Luvcrusn]

7 minutes ago, Prost Seattle said:

So my reservation and my mother’s reservation are linked, I assume they will link our MDR assignment as well? 

Whenever we've traveled with linked reservations we have always been seated together, however I always check on embarkation day. You can either go to the MDR to do that or check that the table# assignment each of you receive in your cabin is the same. I'd still recommend checking the location of the table even if the table# assigned is the same to make sure you're seated at a table size that conforms to your request.

[Prost Seattle]

Thanks for the information.   I’m an extrovert, but my partner and mom are introverts, so I’d do fine at a large table, they’d probably be more comfortable with a small one. 

[sugarmidge]

What about if you have anytime dining?

[NMTraveller]

What happens to your table if you do not do MDR?  I always wondered.  We are assigned a table but always do specialty dining.  

 

Perhaps we should visiti our MDR table for a coffee some night.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by NMTraveller

[Luvcrusn]

30 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

What happens to your table if you do not do MDR?  I always wondered.  We are assigned a table but always do specialty dining.  

 

Perhaps we should visiti our MDR table for a coffee some night.

 

 

If you are in traditional dining (early or late seating) and you go to specialty restaurants your seats are empty. I've often seen tables for 6, 8 or 10 with only 2 people seated at them. It always looks so sad to me.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

7 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

What happens to your table if you do not do MDR?  I always wondered.  We are assigned a table but always do specialty dining.  

 

Perhaps we should visiti our MDR table for a coffee some night.

 

 

I would either switch to select dining or let the maître d know when you board that you will not be eating in the MDR.  That way, they have the freedom of reassigning your table. I agree with Luvcrusn that it looks sad when a large table only has 2 guests.

[dazey]

If you are asking about specialty dining where you are assigned for 1st night dining, you can go to the maître 'd at one of the restaurant upon boarding and change time or date.  If you purchased first night dinner at reduced rate than you have that time assignment.

 

We use to do early or late dining and enjoyed the company of many.  However, over the years it seems many people do specialty dining and the table has few people at it many nights.  We changed to open dining so that we could do specialty dining and not feel we were neglecting our table mates.  Also open dining gives you the freedom to dine whenever you want.  We dine later so we have never waited more then 15 minutes at most.

 

Going back to assigned specialty dining-I have found that the dining staff is very helpful and most willing to rearrange your reservations especially if you are somewhat flexible. Do this at the beginning of the cruise for best choices.

 

 

[ChiGal1962]

On 12/20/2019 at 11:22 PM, NMTraveller said:

What happens to your table if you do not do MDR?  I always wondered.  We are assigned a table but always do specialty dining.  

 

Perhaps we should visiti our MDR table for a coffee some night.

 

 

If you really intend not eating in the MDR, it would be nice to either ask for select dining (where you wouldn't have an assigned seat), or let the Maitre d' know on boarding that you won't be there.

 

Aside from the MDR team being able to juggle the wait staff table load, I mention this for selfish reasons 🙂 I travel solo and usually ask for traditional seating, as it's fun to get to know people over the course of a cruise. I did have one cruise where I was assigned a table of 8, and no one else showed up the first night. I figured people were either unpacking their luggage, getting a special discount on specialty restaurants, whatever - I had a nice meal by myself. Night #2 was evening chic, and again, I was the only person at my table of 8. I didn't even have to go talk to the maitre d' -- he came to my table during the meal asking me if I wanted to switch. I did, and ended up at a really fun table the rest of the cruise. And I noted that no one ever showed up at that original table. But if the other people had let the maitre d' know ahead of time, then I wouldn't have "wasted" the first two nights on my own.