What to do? Received Limited Dining Email this Morning

[LonelySaxophone]

Hi all,

 

First time sailing aboard a HAL cruise this summer - it looks like there will be a large group aboard, hindsight is 20/20, etc.

 

I received this email this morning letting me know open dining would be limited during my cruise:

 

"We would like to advise you that open seating offered in the main dining room
aboard Eurodam may be limited at times during your cruise. Open seating will
be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine
at 8:00pm, available seating will be limited after 6:30pm. Should you wish to
dine later and space is not available in the dining room, complimentary dining
is available in the Lido Market. You can also explore our specialty dining
offerings at Tamarind, Pinnacle Grill, and Canaletto, which are available
for a fee."

 

Now, we are not really thrilled at the thought of having to eat that early, but also understand this is sometimes how things go! What options are available to me? Its just my wife and I, will it be impossible to eat in the MDR if we go to a late dinner (we don't mind waiting, just don't want to be turned away!), should we try to switch to traditional dining, etc.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts/experiences if you have dealt with something similar!

[cbr663]

If you want to dine in the MDR after 6:30 I suggest you try and get fixed dining.  I wouldn't risk the chance that I would be turned away.

[Haljo1935]

33 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

If you want to dine in the MDR after 6:30 I suggest you try and get fixed dining.  I wouldn't risk the chance that I would be turned away.

+1

[BetsyS.]

I agree about fixed dining.

[Eric from San Diego]

Sorry to read the email.  Be aware that not only will there be blockages in the dining room, but they will close the theater, crows nest and various bars and lounges for private events.   Plus all the people in the group will only talk to each other and mostly ignore everyone else. 

 

Affinity groups is one of the reasons I prefer cruises 14 days or more because they sually don't have these groups.   

[Torquer]

Interesting but I'm not sure if I understand what it is saying.  What does open seating have to do with "Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 8:00pm."  If it is 8PM, wouldn't this be affecting fixed seating not open seating?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?

[Tampa Girl]

8 minutes ago, Torquer said:

Interesting but I'm not sure if I understand what it is saying.  What does open seating have to do with "Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 8:00pm."  If it is 8PM, wouldn't this be affecting fixed seating not open seating?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?

 

Logical question:  Do these groups or their individual members have precedence over their dining preferences, or are they, as a group, assigned to a particular slot, like main dining?

[Eric from San Diego]

What is your departure date?

[LonelySaxophone]

1 hour ago, Eric from San Diego said:

What is your departure date?

 

July 13th out of Seattle - looks like its a Turning Point Cruise/Religious Group.

[Mary229]

Agree 100% - get fixed late dining. Nobody minds if you miss it a few times, just notify in advance if you can 

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, LonelySaxophone said:

First time sailing aboard a HAL cruise this summer - it looks like there will be a large group aboard, hindsight is 20/20, etc.

I received this email this morning letting me know open dining would be limited during my cruise:

We ate only in the Lido Market or specialty restaurants on our K'dam B2B last year. The food is mostly the same, and even more varied. The crowds were much less; we could almost always sit at distance from others as not catching anything was high on our list of things to do! AFAIK there were no major groups on board, but it was a full ship over New Years!

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Torquer said:

Interesting but I'm not sure if I understand what it is saying.  What does open seating have to do with "Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 8:00pm."  If it is 8PM, wouldn't this be affecting fixed seating not open seating?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?

Snip “?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?”

 

 

Thats the way I read it 

[KAKcruiser]

While the lido is adequate, it is not as nice as the dining room.  And, I wouldn't want to have to spend additional funds for specialty dining. I guess I would try to get main fixed dining.  If that doesn't work, I guess you could try the earlier times in the dining room. 

[Mary229]

19 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Snip “?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?”

 

 

Thats the way I read it 

If the group is that big I would reconsider rebooking to another date 

[BetsyS.]

LonelySaxophone - Were you told before you booked that there would be a large group onboard?

[KAKcruiser]

They never tell you if a group is onboard.

[AV8rix]

2 hours ago, Eric from San Diego said:

Sorry to read the email.  Be aware that not only will there be blockages in the dining room, but they will close the theater, crows nest and various bars and lounges for private events.   Plus all the people in the group will only talk to each other and mostly ignore everyone else. 

 

Affinity groups is one of the reasons I prefer cruises 14 days or more because they sually don't have these groups.   

Ya beat me to it, Eric!  That's exactly what I would have posted and it's TRUE!  So I, too, don't book short cruises (unless I can't help it and they're fillers between longer B2B2Bs) and I also follow the excellent thread authored by @VMax1700 that keeps track of most groups/charters/drydocks. 

[Eric from San Diego]

38 minutes ago, LonelySaxophone said:

 

July 13th out of Seattle - looks like its a Turning Point Cruise/Religious Group.

Turning Point Ministries is an evangelical megachurch in East San Diego.  There will be anywhere from 700 to 1000 people who will all eat together at 8 pm in the MDR using as many tables as they need on both levels.   It sounds like there will be very few other tables available at that time.   They will talk only to each other and stare straight ahead if they pass anyone who is not part of their group.  They will be wearing ID badges and probably matching t-shirts so they can recognize other people who are part of their group.  

 

They will have guest speakers and probably christian music groups  for which the theater and crows nest will be closed to other guests.   Expect a reduced schedule of regular events for cruisers not part of the group.  

[LonelySaxophone]

13 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

If the group is that big I would reconsider rebooking to another date 

This doesn’t really seem feasible for us at the moment given the proximity to the cruise, flights/hotels, taking off work, etc.

 

And yeah - would obviously have preferred we avoided the group altogether but doesn’t seem to be an option at this point - we are young and pretty flexible so hoping we can still have a good time! For those that have sailed with large groups, despite certain areas being closed for the group, did you find that places like the theater, specific bars, etc at least opened occasionally for folks not part of groups?

[LonelySaxophone]

10 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

LonelySaxophone - Were you told before you booked that there would be a large group onboard?

 And we were not - which I have learned is relatively typical?

[SeaMatesNYC]

6 minutes ago, LonelySaxophone said:

For those that have sailed with large groups, despite certain areas being closed for the group, did you find that places like the theater, specific bars, etc at least opened occasionally for folks not part of groups?

We were recently on a San Diego RT cruise where we were told that about one third of the passengers were with an LDS (“Mormon”) group.  
 

They did give that group prime Crows Nest space at San Diego sailaway that usually holds the “Singles” “Pride” and “Young Persons” meetups, relegating these meetups to the Arts and Crafts space.
 

And the self serve soda machine gave up the ghost midway through the sailing.

 

There were shorter waits at the bars. 

 

Just chance?  Who’s to say….🤣

[BetsyS.]

LonelySaxophone - HAL should tell anyone who is booking a cruise if there will be a large group onboard. Your experience will not be the same.  If people are told in advance about a large group, they can decide if they still want to book the cruise. It's very unfair to you in my opinion.

[crystalspin]

27 minutes ago, LonelySaxophone said:

we are young and pretty flexible so hoping we can still have a good time!

Do you have a cabin with a balcony??? If not, I suggest you or your travel agent call HAL (or call your PCC), and pressure them for an upgrade to at least a Verandah. Mention that it really should be no charge considering their shady dealing with not informing you until after final payment! (It probably will not be no charge, but it will make you feel better!)

 

That way you won't have to fight the crowd for a spot at the railing in Glacier Bay. The bridge will rotate the ship so everyone gets a view!

 

Keep in mind what I said about the Lido. You are more likely to get a table by a window, AND you won't bump into this lovely Christian group at dinner!

[cruisin_ppl]

The Eurodam seems to be this group's go-to ship.  We were on a Caribbean cruise on the Eurodam about 14 years ago and their presence was very noticeable.  Many venues were not accessible to the other guests.
If my memory serves me correctly, it was not the friendliest group of people and as someone mentioned, they didn't mix with the other passengers.  We made sure we were not on one of their cruises after that. It's been many years since then, so I hope it's different for you.

[tupper10]

We were on a cruise with a large group like this and I would never do it again. We also were not told about it. It was a Celebrity cruise. If at all possible I would contact corporate and ask for a different ship/ sailing. It does really impact your cruise.