Waitlisted for 1st seating....

[LFM]

We are waitlisted for 1st dining, but we requested 1st many months ago. What can we do about this? 8:00PM or 8:30PM is just not going to work. Any ideas from past cruisers on how to get the fixed?

[minitor]

You could call ships services and ask for the coordinator of your ship to help. Most act as though the ship has all the control. With that being said...as soon as you can get to the dining room manager on board the afternoon that you board and request a table. Good Luck and have a nice cruise.

[lippylulu]

You could call ships services and ask for the coordinator of your ship to help. Most act as though the ship has all the control. With that being said...as soon as you can get to the dining room manager on board the afternoon that you board and request a table. Good Luck and have a nice cruise.

 

I called ship services and they said I had to call my online travel agent. I haven't tried yet though we leave in 2 weeks. I just figure when we get there we will either get what we requested, or tip the maitre'd to make it happen.

[Underwatergal]

We are 'waitlisted' for early dining, lower level. Not being familiar with the lay-out of the HAL fleet...what is lower level:confused:

[peaches from georgia]

I called ship services and they said I had to call my online travel agent. I haven't tried yet though we leave in 2 weeks. I just figure when we get there we will either get what we requested, or tip the maitre'd to make it happen.

I would advise calling your TA and having him/her make the request now before tables and times have even been assigned. Don't know what you want as to table size, location, and time, but it is entirely possible that what you require will be completely assigned to others by boarding time and assignments already given out to other pax.

 

The maitre d' can only do what he can do and after boarding he's not going to put you at a table location already assigned another pax no matter how much you tip (read bribe) him. I'd make my wishes known now through your TA.

[Tricia724]

We are 'waitlisted' for early dining, lower level. Not being familiar with the lay-out of the HAL fleet...what is lower level:confused:

 

All HAL ships have a restaurant that are two "levels" or floors or stories....as you prefer. There is a circular staircase in the middle of the dining room connecting the two. You are waitlisted to dine on the first floor, or lower level, of the dining room.

[LFM]

Looking at the Volendam itinerary, I don't know which seating is best for the ports and excursions. The late seating seems to finish really late, but the early may cut into shore time. I guess that we should do some serious thinking this weekend and then call our TA on Monday. Thanks to all.

[minitor]

I have never eaten during an early seating. That's what we have for our next cruise, due to a group of 800 taking a late seating. I'm going to look forward to something different and if we don't like it or if we plan a late day excusion return- we'll just do room service, Lido or the P Grill. We end up doing that a couple or three of times each cruise anyway.

[LFM]

Question - I noticed in my Doc package that if I book and pre-pay for the P Grill, then the extra cost is $20.00 pp. - if I wait until we sail, then the price is $30.00 pp - is this correct? Is the P Grill worth paying extra for 2 people?

[minitor]

Not sure about $20 vs $30 but as far as your question about is it worth it. I have enjoyed the P Grill in the past. Some will tell you on these boards that the food is not much better than the Vista dining room. That's not so bad since the Vista food is very good.

 

You will have a good choice of steaks etc. and a more attentive staff. We will do one P Grill visit on every cruise. Hope you enjoy. If it is only $20 for a pre-book, I suggest you do it. Maybe on a non-formal night (not a sea day).

[Lp56]

We also are waitlisted for the 1st seating upper level. Our agent said that we were number 134 on the list so I seriously doubt that we will get early seating. We just made our reservations for the April 2nd cruiseon the Volendam two days ago. However, I read at the Holland America site that the Lido serves as a sit down dinner with tableclothes and cooked to order dinners at night. Has anyone tried that? Was their an extra charge for this? It seems like a good option if we did not want to eat at the late dinner.

Linda

[kakalina]

We also are waitlisted for the 1st seating upper level. Our agent said that we were number 134 on the list so I seriously doubt that we will get early seating. We just made our reservations for the April 2nd cruiseon the Volendam two days ago. However, I read at the Holland America site that the Lido serves as a sit down dinner with tableclothes and cooked to order dinners at night. Has anyone tried that? Was their an extra charge for this? It seems like a good option if we did not want to eat at the late dinner.

Linda

 

 

DH only eats in the Lido. The food and service are always wonderful. On formal nights there is candlelight and tablecloths. On other nights not, but the food is the same thing being served in the dining room the main difference is the number of courses. In the main DR you will be offered four soups, two hot, two cold. At the Lido the choice would be just two hot soups. The desserts are the other big difference. If you want the really good dessert for dinner you can't get them in Lido. At dinnertime at lunchtime it is a completly different scenerio.

[hammybee]

DH only eats in the Lido. The food and service are always wonderful. On formal nights there is candlelight and tablecloths. On other nights not, but the food is the same thing being served in the dining room the main difference is the number of courses. In the main DR you will be offered four soups, two hot, two cold. At the Lido the choice would be just two hot soups. The desserts are the other big difference. If you want the really good dessert for dinner you can't get them in Lido. At dinnertime at lunchtime it is a completly different scenerio.

 

As a cruise progresses, my dh is quite inclined to prefer the Lido for dinner and when we do,we tend to take it outside. ( can you tell the kind of cabin we sail in, when we do this :) ) Anyway, he has had good luck ordering desert form the Main Dining Room menu, from Room Service.

[hammybee]

In all the years reading on this board, I do not think I have ever read more posts about dissappointing dining times as I have this past year. I wonder why this is.

 

Are there more groups trumping pax?

 

Are more suite pax playing their well deserved card to obtain the seating of choice?

 

Are pax clearly prefering one seating over another?

 

Does what seems to be increasing pax preference for level and even table play into this?

 

The one thing that has not changed is that early is too early and late is too late for most pax.

[waiting2retire]

Good question Hammybee.

 

When I booked my Zaandam 01/07 sailing, I was waitlisted for late dining. I found this a little odd since my choice was early sitting. If I couldn't have early and was waitlisted for late, did that mean there was no room for us in the dining room?? When we got to the ship, we discovered we were at the very last 8:15 sitting. First thing we did was to go to see if we could be changed. We ended up being changed to the first late sitting at 7:45, which was a little better. We found out later that the very large group on board had taken most of the early sitting.

 

Looking on the bright side, I found out that I actually prefer the later dining time! It would have been a real rush to get through our activities on port days to be back in time for the early sitting; one day we almost missed the late sitting after having to return a rental car!

 

One of the things I was disappointed about when we were assigned the late dining was that I knew my mother would be too tired to stay up for the late show after dinner. It came as a lovely surprise that, on most nights, the show for late diners was held before dinner. It ended up being perfect for us.

 

The great thing about HAL is that there are so many great dining options that nobody need be terribly disappointed about not getting their preferred dining time. The same great food can be ordered from room service, or eaten in the Lido, and of course the Pinnacle is another good option.

 

But in answer to your original question, I believe in many cases it is the large groups that book their dining time together that is making it more difficult for pax to get the dining time of their choice. Perhaps the groups could consider splitting into two dining times, since there are likely some in the group who would prefer early and some who would prefer late?

 

As long as I am eating on the DAM ship, I don't really care any more :D !

[minitor]

I have enjoyed Room Service many times. Drop by the Vista late in the day and you can pick up a menu for the evening. That can all be ordered via room service!

As far as table size, I have never had my requested table size! Once we got on the ship we quickly figured out that....it is not real until it happens...and you just may have to talk with the dining room manager to get it done. Sorry, but that is the way HAL is and I'm not particularly happy about it, but after several HAL cruises....

[Tricia724]

In all the years reading on this board, I do not think I have ever read more posts about dissappointing dining times as I have this past year. I wonder why this is.

 

Are there more groups trumping pax?

 

Are more suite pax playing their well deserved card to obtain the seating of choice?

 

Are pax clearly prefering one seating over another?

 

Does what seems to be increasing pax preference for level and even table play into this?

 

The one thing that has not changed is that early is too early and late is too late for most pax.

 

 

Hammybee.....These are great questions which I think deserve a thread of their own. I fear they may get lost in the middle of this thread.

 

Pat

[hammybee]

Have your Doctor provide a statement that you must eat early dining due to medical problems. Tate the memo to the ships medical dept and /or the Front Desk. That should get results. Also to speed it up send it to the ship priority mail a month before you arrive.

 

I do not understand a medical need to eat at a certain hour of the day when on a cruise and surrounded by food all day and well into the evening. Those with true medical conditions work around this and have early snacks or very light late dinners. It seems to me that when one plays games like this they mess with the laws of karma.

 

And it would not surprise me to hear that one was #73 on the waitlist due to medical needs. In other words, I think the dining room has heard and seen it all before. If everyone wants early seating, half of them will be disappointed, no matter what.

[Lp56]

My TA called customer service to see why only the last late seating was open. She was told that a large group got most of the early seating. It seems like perhaps they should split such a large group so that others could have a chance at early dining.

Lp56

[lippylulu]

I do not understand a medical need to eat at a certain hour of the day when on a cruise and surrounded by food all day and well into the evening. Those with true medical conditions work around this and have early snacks or very light late dinners.

 

 

Well sometimes it IS more complicated. I am on a refridgerated injectible medication that must be taken 3-4 hours AFTER eating and up to 60 minutes before eating. Being surrouded by food day and night is certainly no help. A late dinner seating could mean taking my first injection mid day and then taking a refridgerated bag of meds to a beach or shore excursion. Not exactly a fun way to spend vacation when dining at 6 instead of 8 would make all the difference in the world. Perhaps there are some peole who use medical issues as an excuse, but there are some who really need a plan to stay healthy while away from home.

[Rahi]

I plan on using room service -dinning room menu , if we don't get early eating, and a table for two. I dount we will get that lucky to have both. In any case there is no way I could eat that late and sleep reasonable time , to wake for an early excursion. It is great though for those of us that like it early , that some like it late:)

[minitor]

After reading all these threads about dinner and the stress of when and where and what size table...two of the last threads convinced me not to worry about it.

 

One- someone may have a very legitimate reason for a particular seating time and should get the time- stress free. A real medical reason is very legitimate. If it is my table they get. Fine.

 

Two- If the rest of us don't get our way, we deal with and enjoy room service, lido or maybe even make some new friends.

 

I appreciate that everyone has many different reasons for their request and I respect that..totally. I could get worked up over my screwed up seating...but now I am not.

[jtl513]

All HAL ships have a restaurant that are two "levels" or floors or stories....as you prefer.

Except the Prinsendam, the only ship not built specifically for HAL.

Is the P Grill worth paying extra for 2 people?

This is another one of those hot-button topics that always provokes great debate. My two-cents is that we've tried the P.G. twice and have been displeased twice. Also, remember that the $30 pp does not include a tip, and unless you leave something the waiters are getting only a very small piece of the auto-tip. While I might agree that the meal there could be worth $70-$80 per couple in a land restaurant, remember that you are also paying for the meal that you're not eating in the dining room, so your true cost is more like $120! :)

[Cruisedelight]

We were onboard Westerdam last week and were wait listed for 1st dining. When we received out ship cards our table # and 1st dining was on the card. We didn't know for sure we had gotten it until then.

Lido does have tablecloths at dinner and when you go through the line you place your order for your entree and it is brought to your table. Very nice.:p

[lippylulu]

After reading all these threads about dinner and the stress of when and where and what size table...two of the last threads convinced me not to worry about it.

 

One- someone may have a very legitimate reason for a particular seating time and should get the time- stress free. A real medical reason is very legitimate. If it is my table they get. Fine.

 

Two- If the rest of us don't get our way, we deal with and enjoy room service, lido or maybe even make some new friends.

 

I appreciate that everyone has many different reasons for their request and I respect that..totally. I could get worked up over my screwed up seating...but now I am not.

 

 

Minitor---in the words of my grandmother--you're a mensch! I am sure you will have a wonderful cruise because you have such a positive attitude!