YTD/panorama/hub app question

[Mistyhon]

Likely a very silly older question but I couldn’t find an answer searching since this is an older topic.

 

We always book early dining but are considering trying out ytd on our upcoming cruise. We’re bringing our exchange student with us and she’s not exactly punctual. 

 

How does check in work now with the hub app and ytd (on panorama.) 4/5 of us are platinum, does that help us get seated more quickly? Anything I should know before choosing?

 

 

thanks!! 

[Schoifmom]

It's simple.  When you are ready to go to dinner, simply check in on the HUB app.  This places you in the line to be seated (just like checking in at the hostess station in a land-based restaurant - or using call-ahead seating).  When your table is ready, the app will notify you and you have 10 minutes to be at the dining room.

 

Platinum does not help you get seated faster.  The "priority" that comes with Platinum is that you would be first off the waiting lists for your desired dining time (early/late/YTD).  It is not jump-the-line at YTD (even though some people seem to act that way).

 

Have fun.

[groundloop]

Being Platinum has no bearing on seating with YTD.

 

When you're ready to go to dinner you go into the Hub app and request your table.  When a table is ready a notification is sent to your phone and you're expected to be at the dining room within 10 minutes.  

 

We've done both YTD and early dining, I somewhat prefer early dining but there's really not a huge difference.  One nice thing with early dining is you'll have the same wait staff throughout the cruise, plus on average I'd say that fixed dining is usually quicker than YTD.

 

 

[MeganGC1983]

We had YTD on the Panorama a couple of weeks ago, and the wait was never over 10 minutes. 

[cruisinqt]

Same here the wait was never over 10 minutes and that was during peak dinner times too. We’ve found YTD to be consistently faster than the MDR on our past 3 sailings (Horizon, Mardi Gras, Panorama). And if you get a great waiter you can ask to be seated at his table every night. That way you have the same MDR waitstaff throughout the cruise, just like with the fixed dining. I like it better because I can eat when I’m actually hungry, not when I’m told it’s time to eat. 

[urbanhawk]

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I do have a question about the app. If I don't bring a device (a cell phone, tablet, etc.), will be I be able to just "show up", at the dining room, as I am signed up for YTD? Or, is this going to be a problem? Thanks in advance.

[nwcruiselover]

28 minutes ago, urbanhawk said:

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I do have a question about the app. If I don't bring a device (a cell phone, tablet, etc.), will be I be able to just "show up", at the dining room, as I am signed up for YTD? Or, is this going to be a problem? Thanks in advance.

If you don’t bring a device, you can just show up and the staff at the YTD restaurant will check you in.  Then you’ll wait near the restaurant for your table to be ready.  It’s more streamlined for everyone involved if you use the app, but they do accommodate those who don’t have devices.

[urbanhawk]

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

If you don’t bring a device, you can just show up and the staff at the YTD restaurant will check you in.  Then you’ll wait near the restaurant for your table to be ready.  It’s more streamlined for everyone involved if you use the app, but they do accommodate those who don’t have devices.

Thanks for your helpful reply. I remember  the "old days"-pre apps!, the hostess would give the guest a beeper, during busy dining times, to notify them, when seating would become available.

[jsglow]

The one thing I wish the App did have was to somehow a 'request same waiter' option right during the table request process.  Unless I'm missing something, that request requires the hostess to look things up.  We've taken a quick photo before at the table to quickly recall our waiter's name/location.  But it's still a bit manual.  Absolutely LOVE getting to know our servers.  In the early days of the restart it was very easy as the crowds were light.

[luvs to cruise]

Our first time using the YTD  was in October, we loved it, the convivence.  We never had to wait for more than 10 minutes, and when you do check in on app, you know your party is all ready to go.  Having the early or late seating, there were always people who would show up late and would completely throw the wait staff off their timing. (not our party) we know the importance of showing up on time for the early or late seating to keep the flow going for all tables. I will definitely use the YTD in the future.