Open dining - reservations

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

I am booked on the Rotterdam's nine-day Southern Caribbean cruise that departs on Nov. 24, 2023. Because it has been many years since I have cruised with Holland America, I have some questions concerning open dining. I have already made dinner reservations in three of the specialty restaurants. Is it possible to make reservations in the main dining room when you are assigned to open dining? I cruised on the Celebrity Beyond earlier this year and was able to make advance dining reservations for each night.

 

Also, I am booked on this cruise solo. If I am able to make a reservation in the main dining room, will I have choice of dining alone or joining another table?

 

Thanks, 

 

Chuck

[oakridger]

At this time they don't have advance open dining reservations.  You can go to the dining room desk after embarkation and make reservations for the days you need.  I doubt you can make a "sharing table" reservation though because they don't know who will be coming in during open dining at those times.  If you want a table for yourself, then no problem.  You can ask them at that time though about the sharing situation.  If you want to share, just show up at the MDR when you want and see if they are seating a sharing table at that time.

 

(I see you have sailed Crystal.  I'm happy they are back sailing again!  I sure loved them in the past.)

 

Have a great cruise,

~Nancy

Edited September 7, 2023 by oakridger

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Thanks for the information. I recently cruised aboard the Queen Elizabeth and had open dining. I was able to make reservations for each evening during the cruise on Cunard's app. When I arrived at the dining room each evening, I was asked if I would rather dine alone or join another table. It was nice to have the choice. 

 

Chuck

[Roz]

@seacruise9, I also sail solo.  You don't need a reservation for anytime dining.  Just show up at the host/hostess stand.  They'll ask for your room number and whether you want to dine alone or with others. 

 

I don't understand why Celebrity has you make a reservation.

[Roz]

Sorry,  meant to say Cunard. 

 

HAL will offer you the choice you're looking for. 

[Roz]

Now I'm confused. 😁  Celebrity,  Cunard, and Crystal are mentioned in the posts so I'm not clear on what dining system you're looking for. 

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Other lines (such as Celebrity and Cunard) with open seating allow people to make reservations so that they don't have to wait for a table. People are not required to make a reservation, but it prevents waiting for a table. On Cunard, there were separate lines at the open dining entrance for people with reservations and people without reservations. 

 

I asked if it is possible to make reservations on the Rotterdam so that I don't have to wait for a table. I am afraid that if I show up without a reservation, I will encounter a long line and need to wait a long time to be seated. 

 

In your experience, are there long waits on Holland America for tables? Should I try to dine before or after the peak dining time to avoid a wait?

 

Thanks,

 

Chuck

[VMax1700]

Recently on Nieuw Statendam (sister ship of Rotterdam) the Navigator app did offer the opportunity to make a reservation for the MDR, but only after 8pm

[jp12]

If you arrive right when the dining room opens, there is a line. Wait for 20 minutes and it's not bad. You can also make reservations - those with reservations go through one door and have their own line which isn't long either so it's up to you. You can call during the day to make a reservation, not sure if you can do it days before or not. We never had much of a wait but also said we would be ok with 4 or 6 person table. Those who wanted two-person table had to wait sometimes.

[Roz]

@seacruise9, I did open seating on the Oosterdam for 31 days back in the spring.  I generally got to the dining room around 7:30 and either got seated right away or waited only a few minutes.  No long lines.  You will be fine. 

[RuthC]

Arriving as a solo in open seating, and wishing to dine with others, makes it very easy. There are several large tables, and those are always being filled with others (not necessarily solos) who want to dine with other passengers. 
If you wish to dine alone, there may be a wait. In that case they will want to seat you at a smaller table, and if all the tables for two are occupied, you may wait. On those nights when you want to be alone it may be preferable to have a reservation. 

[pedirn]

We too are on the Nov 24 sailing.  I can speak from experience as we were on the Rotterdam in March this year.   We were unable to make any dining reservations during the whole cruise.  We went to dining room upon boarding  to try and schedule a time for that night.   We were told no reservations, you just show up.  But when we showed up and requested a table we were told that in would be 45 minutes or longer.   We tried multiple different times during the cruise staggering our arrival times.   Knowing this we booked early dining on upcoming cruise.   Really too early for me but the late dining time would not work for us as medically I can not eat that late.  

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Thanks for the information. On the bright side, this will only be an issue for me for six nights (it is a nine-night cruise and I have booked specialty restaurants for three nights). Hopefully, I won't have a long wait if I agree to join others at a table.

 

Chuck

[pedirn]

2 hours ago, seacruise9 said:

Hi, 

 

Thanks for the information. On the bright side, this will only be an issue for me for six nights (it is a nine-night cruise and I have booked specialty restaurants for three nights). Hopefully, I won't have a long wait if I agree to join others at a table.

 

Chuck

I hope you booked Tamarind.   Outstanding.   Pinnacle was good too.   Rudis was a disappointment.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

I booked Tamarind, Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto. 

[lf4UA]

We were on Rotterdam last year, and I was able to book reservations in the MDR via the Navigator app well in advance of our cruise.

[seacruise9]

22 hours ago, lf4UA said:

We were on Rotterdam last year, and I was able to book reservations in the MDR via the Navigator app well in advance of our cruise.

Hi, 

 

At this point, I am not able to book reservations in the Rotterdam's MDR using the Navigator app. However, I will keep checking. Maybe reservations will become available closer to the cruise.

 

Thanks,

 

Chuck 

[gameazel]

@seacruise9, On a sold-out cruise to Norway in August 2023, my partner and I generally walked in around 7-7.30pm daily and were seated at a table for two within five minutes. At the start of the cruise, we made MDR reservations by calling Reservations the day of but noticed that of the two queues at the MDR entrance, the queue for reservations was longer than the queue for walk-ins.

 

I agree that the option to make MDR reservations was not available via Navigator prior to and during the cruise itself - the only ways were to speak to Reservations onboard, either in person or via phone. In general, I don't think you should have an issue with waiting too long for tables; have a great cruise!  

[Cruise Suzy]

22 hours ago, lf4UA said:

We were on Rotterdam last year, and I was able to book reservations in the MDR via the Navigator app well in advance of our cruise.

 

This experiment ended late last spring.

[Expo67]

1 hour ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

This experiment ended late last spring.

👍

[Expo67]

HAL imo could learn from Celebrity with regards to reserved main dining. It was a bit convoluted on the VOV last month on the Zuiderdam. Probably because they had over 1200 in Open dining and only 600 in the early/late traditional dining. We opted after 3 failures to switch to late traditional and what a difference. Different strokes for different folks but have the same waitstaff each night and them learning our preferences by the second night for the remainder of the cruise best the mayhem in open dining. Just my opinion.