Leisure Dining Letter - Noordam 3/31/07

[dznygrl]

Aaaaaggghh! I'm so sick of these board errors! Posted this yesterday, got the white screen of death and timeout errors, saw the thread show up finally and thought everything was OK, only to find later that the thread was empty.

 

OK, rant over. Annnyyyyywayyyy, we got our cruise docs on Tuesday (hooray! :D ) and included was a letter about Leisure Dining, i.e.:

 

"We are excited to advise you of a new dining concept – Leisure Dining Service - that will be featured during this sailing. We have designed Leisure Dining Service to provide our guests with that extra flexibility that we all want on our vacations.

 

Simply stated, Leisure Dining Service means you do not have to arrive at the Vista Dining Room at a specific time. Instead, we have created two dining time windows which you can use as you please.

 

For those guests who have confirmed dining times of either 5:45 p.m. or 6:15 p.m., you may now come to the Vista Dining Room at any time between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. We do request that you arrive no later than 6 p.m.

 

For those guests who had confirmed dining times of either 8 or 8:30 you may now come to the Vista Dining Room at any time between 8 and 9. This is truly leisure at its finest.

 

No one has to make a special reservation for a certain time. Furthermore, the table previously reserved for you will still be your table.”

I'm just passing the info along. I have no experience with leisure dining and have no opinion yet, but will post our experiences after our cruise. Anyone have any comments???

[CruiseQueen13]

My TA told me they are featuring a program called As you Wish Dining. You can go eat anytime from 5:45 - 8:30. But, I recd the same ltr as you re: leisure dining. Interesting to see what's what.

[hammybee]

My TA told me they are featuring a program called As you Wish Dining. You can go eat anytime from 5:45 - 8:30. But, I recd the same ltr as you re: leisure dining. Interesting to see what's what.

 

The " as you wish" dining experiement was and maybe still is only on the Oosterdam.

[Winchester]

This is as it says AND IT WORKED NICELY FOR US over new years. You don't have to sit at a certain minute. You have 1/2 hour for 1st sitting and 1 hour window for 2nd sitting to come down to dinner.

 

If you are having a good chat before dinner or the Piano Bar is hopping, you can hang out a bit. If you got in from a port late and or did oyur drinking on shore, you can come right down for dinner. (I'm a 2nd sitting person)

 

This would be my preferred dining for all of HAL. You get your one table and dining room staff. Service was just fine with this set up.

[dolls4sell]

You might want to call ship services to confirm leisure dining.

Have A Wonderful Time

[In Toronto]

I can see this being good if you are sitting at a table for 2 or at a larger table but are with friends so that you are together before dinner having a drink. My husband and I are cruising just the 2 of us, but have requested a table for 6-8. Let's say we arrive at 8:00. Do we have to wait until the others arrive at 8:45? Do we have to feel guilty if we keep the others waiting? Or, are you served as you arrive? I really can't see this being better. Either have "freestyle dining", eating with others who have also arrived at that time or have a set time with the same people. Am I missing something here?

[Janet524]

I can see this being good if you are sitting at a table for 2 or at a larger table but are with friends so that you are together before dinner having a drink. My husband and I are cruising just the 2 of us, but have requested a table for 6-8. Let's say we arrive at 8:00. Do we have to wait until the others arrive at 8:45? Do we have to feel guilty if we keep the others waiting? Or, are you served as you arrive? I really can't see this being better. Either have "freestyle dining", eating with others who have also arrived at that time or have a set time with the same people. Am I missing something here?

 

I absolutely agree! We're on the 3/10 sailing of Noordam and got this notice with our docs. I have the same concerns as you since we've requested a large table (as we always do). I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I just can see all kinds of issues with this type of arrangement. If HAL wants to do some kind of "Leisure Dining" why not do it on one level of the dining room and keep the other level as standard early or main seating times.

[kiwichick]

We had leisure dining on the Noordam in August, and were sitting at a table of six, four of whom we didn't know prior to the cruise. We found that it worked fine - people were served as they arrived, so if anyone was late they didn't hold up the rest of the table. As previous posters have said, it was also great to have a bit of flexibility so that if we wanted to stay longer at pre-dinner drinks we could without worrying about missing our dining time.

 

Hope this helps - and have a wonderful cruise! :D

[SakeDad]

I think this is a wonderful solution to an age old problem! While I absolutely hate being at a table waiting on people I don't even know so I can start enjoying my meal I also hate being in the middle of enjoying a cocktail or conversation mid-ship and suddenly realizing I have a dinner table waiting for me NOW and must interrupt to appease people I don't even know who may be sitting staring at their food! At least this way if I am at a table and am served and my "table mates" aren't there yet I have permission to eat without delay. Also, if I'm enjoying a drink at sunset on a balcony or have realized my outfit was just "wrong" and needed to change I can be comforted knowing my table mates are not staring at their food with resentment towards me!

I say it's a GREAT policy and everyone should give it a chance!!!!

[Seago2]

It worked very well for us. After the CC Meet and Greet we decided to switch tables so that 6 of us could sit together (we had been at an empty table for 6- just us two, and the other two couples were either at an empty table or with people they felt they weren't going to "click" with). The first night together we agreed to always be there right at 8, which we were.

 

There were a couple of nights where people didn't show up right at 8, but the others would wait for a few minutes and then go ahead. We also skipped the Vista here and there.

 

We had CC friends at other tables, including one at a table for 8, and I could see people arriving and leaving at staggered times. It still seemed to work very well and for the bulk of the time everyone was at the table.

 

I think it is a great idea. It's wonderful to know that you don't have to rush and that people will not be waiting for you.