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MDR Reservations/Anytime Dining

regan3

By regan3,
in Holland America Line

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regan3

regan3

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What are the options for dining in MDR? 

 

Can you only book a fixed dining time 3 days at a time or can you book it for the entire cruise (7 day cruise)?

 

How long is the wait usually if you choose anytime dining?

 

We would have CO if that makes a difference in selecting anytime dining. 

 

How likely would we be to get a table for two, would choosing one option over the other help with that?

 

Thank you!

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Cruise Suzy

Cruise Suzy

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If you have CO on a Pinnacle class ship, you will have a separate dining venue and cannot make reservations. On other ships, you will have a separate line for entry at the MDR. I am not sure if reservations are possible in that case.

 

Without CO but with "anytime dining": Once onboard, you can book a specific time for the MDR. As we found out on the Eurodam in January, how many nights you are able to reserve depends on which kiosk you visit. I was able to reserve a time every night of our cruise. Our son, who went to another kiosk, was only able to reserve for the first 3 nights. He then went to the one I had used and booked the remaining nights. You can also call Dining Reservations once onboard if you don't want to possibly wait in line. There was no line when I made reservations, but there were 4 people ahead of our son when he went.

 

Of course, you may select fixed dining - early or late. You will then have an assigned time and table. This must be chosen when you book your cruise.

 

On some cruises, folks have reported waits of nearly an hour if you don't reserve a time fir anytime dining.

 

Getting a table for two has not been a problem for us.

Edited by Cruise Suzy
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Banditswife Great Review Rare

Banditswife

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Slightly related question:  Can you make reservations on the Navigator app when you are assigned anytime dining?  We just want to make reservations an hour or 2 ahead, depending on our days schedule.  I couldn't figure out how to do this on a previous NS cruise- or maybe it was because the Wifi was really bad on that cruise.

   Carnival's HUB app is easy to request a table & for how many people, the the app alerts you when your table is ready.  This made it convenient whether we were getting dressed or hanging out somewhere on the ship.

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DaveOKC

DaveOKC

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1 hour ago, regan3 said:

Non Pinnacle class ship so it won't have a separate CO dining venue.

 

How long is the wait typically if you select anytime dining and use the CO line for a table?

 

We used CO for anytime dining on 4 cruises on Signature Class ships at just after 5 PM and never had a wait of more than 2 minutes (basically one person in front of us in line).  I do not think CO is selling well on the non-Pinnacle class ships.

 

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regan3

regan3

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1 hour ago, Banditswife said:

Slightly related question:  Can you make reservations on the Navigator app when you are assigned anytime dining?  We just want to make reservations an hour or 2 ahead, depending on our days schedule.  I couldn't figure out how to do this on a previous NS cruise- or maybe it was because the Wifi was really bad on that cruise.

   Carnival's HUB app is easy to request a table & for how many people, the the app alerts you when your table is ready.  This made it convenient whether we were getting dressed or hanging out somewhere on the ship.

Good question about the app, curious what others say. I like the idea of anytime dining as it is more flexible depending on our schedule for that day. 

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don731

don731

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Just showing up may incur a wait of 30 minutes or more.  During busy times you will be given a pager.  We are currently on NS, and were easily able to get a 7pm REZ in the MDR every night when not dining in a specialty restaurant.  Works out great for us.  Reception staff in the MDR are great!  They will do their best to accommodate you. 

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SeaCapt

SeaCapt

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Also, by selecting either early or late, table for 2, you get the same table and servers every night, who quickly get to know you and your preferences.

We choose late seating, and have had no issues arriving 15 minutes early or late, so there is still about a half hour of flex for our dining time.

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

Posted
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12 hours ago, don731 said:

We were easily able to get a 7pm REZ in the MDR every night when not dining in a specialty restaurant.  Works out great for us.  Reception staff in the MDR are great!  They will do their best to accommodate you. 

 

What is the best way to make those reservations?  From reading here it seems you cannot do it in advance. Is it better to call once onboard? Or if better to go somewhere, where will that be?  Near the MDR entrance?

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Cruise Suzy

Cruise Suzy

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18 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

What is the best way to make those reservations?  From reading here it seems you cannot do it in advance. Is it better to call once onboard? Or if better to go somewhere, where will that be?  Near the MDR entrance?

 

On Embarkation Day, there will be a podium/kiosk/table near the Pinnacle Grill where all dining reservations can be made. There will usually be another - sometimes near Canaletto. You can call, but normally there is a long time on hold that day.

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smokesmom

smokesmom

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18 hours ago, regan3 said:

Good question about the app, curious what others say. I like the idea of anytime dining as it is more flexible depending on our schedule for that day. 

We have never been able to use the HAL Navigator app to make dining reservations for the main dining room like you can with Carnival's app. I make the suggestion on every HAL survey that they need to copy Carnival's dining portion app because it is far superior to the Navigator app in this aspect IMO (since they are all Carnival Corporation)

 

We typically go to the HAL main dining room around 7:00 and usually wait no more than 10 minutes for a table (less if willing to share). Dressy nights can have a longer wait.

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smokesmom

smokesmom

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19 hours ago, Banditswife said:

Slightly related question:  Can you make reservations on the Navigator app when you are assigned anytime dining?  We just want to make reservations an hour or 2 ahead, depending on our days schedule.  I couldn't figure out how to do this on a previous NS cruise- or maybe it was because the Wifi was really bad on that cruise.

   Carnival's HUB app is easy to request a table & for how many people, the the app alerts you when your table is ready.  This made it convenient whether we were getting dressed or hanging out somewhere on the ship.

Love the Carnival HUB app for anytime dining. I have never been able to use the HAL Navigator app for reservations for main dining room for anytime dining. I have made the suggestion on every survey that since HAL and Carnival are all part of Carnival Corporation that HAL should copy this aspect of the Carnival app.

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Banditswife Great Review Rare

Banditswife

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3 hours ago, smokesmom said:

Love the Carnival HUB app for anytime dining. I have never been able to use the HAL Navigator app for reservations for main dining room for anytime dining. I have made the suggestion on every survey that since HAL and Carnival are all part of Carnival Corporation that HAL should copy this aspect of the Carnival app.

I agree.  The HUB app is a little more user friendly IMO.

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2inSETexas

2inSETexas

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We recently sailed on the Zaandam. We had Club Orange privileges with our Neptune Suite. In the MDR at dinner there was a separate line to enter the first floor of digging room, the same line as those with reservations. It was always much shorter than that for those without reservations. We were never seated in a dedicated section in the MDR as I had heard from this board - sometimes at the back near the rear windows, sometimes along the side, twice in the center section - but never in a dedicated section. We were given a Club Orange menu that had a special entree not listed on the regular menu. Only on Gala nights did everyone use the same menu. 

 

We did get priority seating and the Club Orange Menu, but that was all. 

 

We did miss the dedicated Club Orange dining room on the Rotterdam when we sailed on the 150th anniversary sailing last October.

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