As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[cf_chuck]

And I am not even going to go into the stuck business about tablemates from hell-o.:o

 

Avoiding this is definitely one of the advantages of AYWD. The counterpart is also an advantage. I've met some very nice people that I would enjoy sharing the dinner experience with. Unfortunately, given the dining choices of the parties, making this connection in the dining room wasn't an option, and each of us preferred the dining room over the Lido. So meeting before dinner in the Ocean Bar was the call of the day.

 

Kim prefers to dine at an exclusive table for her party of 9. This is potentially ackward in either venue. None of us know what the dining dynamics are going to be on any cruise because we don't know or particularily care what the other 2000 passengers want/do. Maybe this can best be accomplished in fixed seating- maybe not. Given the children's ages, dining late may not be the best ooutcome for them, further reducing their options.

 

I agree. It's an early trip to the casino.

 

I guess my internal alarm went off that a seed was being planted that open seating is somehow inferior to fixed seating. When it's a closed group like Kim's, what matters most I think, is their ability to dine together, preferably at a time that works best for them.

 

I agree, I did not mean to imply that AYWD was inferior, it has its advantages and I've posted about my perspective of those advantages elsewhere on this board. I am glad that they have AYWD, I would much prefer this option than getting seated at a time I didn't want or with a table full of people I didn't want to associate with. And yes, this has happened in both cases.

 

And while I am probably one of the most prolific posters, in terms of AYWD, :rolleyes: I probably prefer fixed seating on a cruise with a lot of @ sea days. I need the discipline of having to be somewhere at a fixed time, else I might never get a move on.

 

Maybe you have arrived at a compromise. Fixed dining during sea days and AYWD during port days. Unfortunately, I think the confusion generated would be too much to handle for some.

 

I've found that it's not difficult to make the best of a situation that is not to my liking on a cruise. I was assigned to late seating on the cruise to / from Hawaii, not to my liking, but then I got to experience day after day of sailing into / away from the sunset. Had I had early dining, I would have missed this experience. Leaving port is another experience worthwhile, IMO. Often the ship leaves port near the time for the first call for fixed dining. Being able to experience that without having a deadline is a good thing, IMO. The cruise is what it is, and what you make of it is something entirely different. ;)

[Brad1185]

Boy, this thread has taken on a life of its own. Hadn't looked at it lately, but did want to add a note about my observations on Zuiderdam's introduction of AYWD on the March TA.

 

As regular readers of this post and the roll call thread may recall, I had a major battle with HAL to get confirmation of traditional dining. However, once on board I didn't notice any problems. It certainly had no effect on my upper level service, and I never saw any lines at the lower level open seating entrance.

 

People I met who had selected open seating were very pleased with it and the flexibility it offered. However, the one or two people I met who had been forced to accept open dining because traditional was full were not happy campers.

 

No doubt there were also some passengers who had wanted but been unable to get traditional , and then discovered that they liked the open seating. So, I continue to feel that the problem is not with the concept, but HAL's unwillingness or inability to confirm dining choice at the time or booking or shortly thereafter.

 

The inability to confirm dining choice for traditional has so far kept us away from HAL. I keep checking the HAL boards once in a while to see if something has changed. Looks like not. We tried open seating on NCL and Princess. Its not for us. If HAL would confirm traditional, we would cruise with them again.

[DesertDogs]

The inability to confirm dining choice for traditional has so far kept us away from HAL. I keep checking the HAL boards once in a while to see if something has changed. Looks like not. We tried open seating on NCL and Princess. Its not for us. If HAL would confirm traditional, we would cruise with them again.

 

Not sure what you mean by this. We have a confirmed early seating with a request for a table for 2 for both of our upcoming cruises. If you book early you should be able to get confirmed traditional early or late.

[PS23435]

Reply to JOELAMP... I understand your frustration at being waitlisted. I would be too. We sailed on the Zuiderdam, 4/26-5/8 and changed from traditional to AWYD to get the flexibility. While there appear to be some growing pains that HAL needs to work through, with respect to your concern over dinner reservations and waiting- we did not experience any problems in that regard. We never made a reservation and waited no more then 10 minutes on one evening (and that was because there were computer problems and they were assigning tables manually). Other than that one time, we never waited more then 2-3 minutes. Of course, we didn't really get to choose the table or how many others we would be dining with either. The issues we saw with AYWD were more along the lines of poor and slow service.

[tutak]

I guess my internal alarm went off that a seed was being planted that open seating is somehow inferior to fixed seating...

 

Why would you be concerned about this?

[hammybee]

Why would you be concerned about this?

 

Why not? :confused:

[AWED23]

Any revues as yet concerning how Prinsendam is handling AYWD ?:confused:

[Cruising-along]

We just returned from a Med cruise on the Rotterdam. We had open dining (our request) for our group of 4. The cruise was very port intensive, and the last thing we wanted was to be tied down to dining at the same time every night. Also the idea of making daily reservations wasn't pleasant, since IMO that defeats the purpose of just going when you feel like it. Who knows at 7am when they'll want to dine that night? We did change our minds about that later though!

 

The first night we got to the dining room about 7:30, asked for a table for 4, and were seated immediately. The second night was formal night, and we had about a 10-minute wait. We'd forgotten to ask for a table for 4, so the wait may have been longer if we had. We were seated with a family who spoke no English, not a good situation :(

 

The 3rd night we walked in about 6:30-7:00 and asked if we could be seated in Tommy's section (our waiter from the first night, who we all really liked). No problem, we were seated in his section with no wait. We did the same thing the next night. Four out of 6 nights we were able to just walk in, and get our desired table with usually no wait at all, and then never more than 5-10 minutes.

 

By the 7th night of the 15-day cruise we decided to do what we said we never would, make daily reservations. Why? We had all decided we wanted Tommy and his assistant Dadang as our servers every night, and if making a reservation every morning was the way to insure that, we'd do it.

 

We were able to make reservations any time between 7am and 4pm. This was perfect for us, as most days we were off the ship before 8am. On sea days we just called when we woke up, and being early risers that was never later than 9:00.

 

All in all we were very happy with open dining and won't hesitate to use it again. :)

[hammybee]

We were seated with a family who spoke no English, not a good situation :( /quote]

 

Back when, we spent a week dining with a family who only spoke Spanish and we did not. Bummer for them.:o

[Cruising-along]

We were seated with a family who spoke no English, not a good situation :( /quote]

 

Back when, we spent a week dining with a family who only spoke Spanish and we did not. Bummer for them.:o

 

I think I remember reading a post you wrote about that Hammy.

 

We tried very hard to include them in conversation, even trying our minimal French when we realized they could speak French to the servers (they were from Bulgaria). But it soon became apparent from their scowls and general lack of smiles that they had no desire so we just had two separate conversations at dinner.

 

Oh well, c'est la vie, it was only one night!

[GramaFran]

My wonderful parents are taking my brother's family and mine for a trip to Alaska on Westerdam. We will be a party of 6 adults plus 3 children ages 12, 8, and 6. We have As-you-Wish dining but I am wondering how this will work for a table of 9. Will we ever be able to sit together? Should we change it to fixed seating so we can make sure we get one of the few large 10-top tables? Also, am I right in understanding that you can make reservations for dining times outside of the peak but that all peak-times are walk-up only? Kimberly

 

We just got off the Oosterdam and as a family of 8 we were worried about AYW dinning too. But it worked out great. We called early 8am to make a set time - Normally 7:30 to 8 pm as we like to eat late. A couple of nights we did not have a reservation (forgot) and just walked up - We waited about 15 minutes or less for a table and never sat with anyone else. When we called for a reservation we also asked for table 308 with Moshi for our waiter and got it. We liked the AYW as we do not always want to eat at a set time and liked being able to walk up - I guess if you like earlier dining that might be a problem.

Francine

[brucory]

The inability to confirm dining choice for traditional has so far kept us away from HAL. I keep checking the HAL boards once in a while to see if something has changed. Looks like not. We tried open seating on NCL and Princess. Its not for us. If HAL would confirm traditional, we would cruise with them again.

 

Is AYWD really so bad?

 

When we tried FIXED, it felt a little like a wedding with the meals all coming out at the same time... With AYWD, it was more an individual feel with what you want, when you wanted it. Everyone coped and there was minimal drama...

 

So what is the big deal?

 

Things change over time and this is one of them... I read another post about being "stuck" with AYWD... Believe me, we would feel "stuck" if we were tossed into FIXED dining.

 

No thanks.... :D

[terrydtx]

The inability to confirm dining choice for traditional has so far kept us away from HAL. I keep checking the HAL boards once in a while to see if something has changed. Looks like not. We tried open seating on NCL and Princess. Its not for us. If HAL would confirm traditional, we would cruise with them again.

 

I personally loved AYWD on the Volendam last November, however I understand your reluctance to try it when you prefer fixed seating. I hate to see you stay away from HAL over not being able to get confirmed on fixed dinning. A very simple solution is to have a very good TA with an agency that sells a lot of cruises and thus has a lot of pull with the cruise company. I have a TA who fits this description and have used her for many years. Last year before AYWD she got our party of 8 confirmed at the 6:15 seating on the Volendam at a time when HAL showed it as not being available or sold out. BTW, after HAL announced the AYWD dining option last June we all made the decision to change from the 6:15 seating to AYWD and loved it. When you book your cruise have your TA book it on the condition that you get a confirmed fixed seating and that you will not accept being wait-listed or you will book with another cruise line, HAL will find a way to accommodate you rather than lose you as a customer. This is what our TA did to get us the 6:15 fixed dinning when HAL originally said it was sold out, as she told HAL we had the option of doing a similar cruise on Princess.

[RuthC]

So what is the big deal?

I'm sure you didn't mean for this to sound as it does. :confused:

It makes it seem like the poster you quoted, who has tried open seating on other lines and didn't like it, doesn't have a right to prefer not to have it again. And of course, the whole idea of as YOU wish is the right to different choices.

[archimedes]

We have just returned from a 12 day cruise on the Zuiderdam and it was wonderful. We were placed on open dining as we were on a wait list for the cruise and got on the only 4 days before sailing.

Open dining did not work well with many passengers arriving between 8pm and 9pm so they sometimes had a long wait. We booked a fixed time for the first couple of nights and were then transferred, at our request, to fixed dining at 8pm. The service we received there was outstanding - and we could not complain about the waiters on open dining on the first 2 days either.

We noticed that the waiters on open dining sometimes had to work very late to accommodate people who arrived late and were then given bleepers as at some restaurants. On one occasion a Spanish group (Spaniards eat late!) did not sit down until 9.45pm.

Our waiter in fixed dining did tell us that they have to swap with the waiters on open dining so that the opportunity to receive extra tips is shared around.

The maitre d'hotel is wonderful and works very hard to try to make the open dining system work. Unfortunately, he sometimes has to deal with passengers who expect to be given a table at whatever time they arrive and complain when they have to wait. If passengers want the option of open dining, they must expect the same problems they might have at a restaurant when they fail to make a reservation.

[hammybee]

 

On one occasion a Spanish group (Spaniards eat late!) did not sit down until 9.45pm. /quote]

 

It's interesting how early seating tends to fill first on cruises sailing with mostly U.S. passengers from U.S. ports and the opposite happens when Europeans sail from European ports. We have sailed with groups from Italy, Malta and Greece and they all prefer to dine late in the evening.

 

Anyway, glad you enjoyed your cruise and dining experience.

[FinelyRetired]

I agree, and I have no doubt that by next year, As You Wish Dining will be offered as an option on just about all HAL ships, with the possible exception of the Prisendam because of their smaller dining room. Prisendam will probably have to either stay totally traditional, or go 100% As You Wish. I can't see how they could offer both.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

As promised, I'm recently back to report from the Prinsendam's June 3rd cruise; its 2nd with the AYW dining. It seemed to go well despite tiny Prinsendam's "one floor plan" dining room. Some minor confusion 1st day or two. A few people made it into the Trad area and were wandering around looking for a table to join. They were quickly "picked up" by the staff and re-directed back to the the entrance to be placed in AWYW area. The side dining room was ALL AYW as well as a section of the outer (window) part of the main section. I was in traditional; my friends in the AWYW dining. They report that only once did they need to "wait with the beeper." That night didn't seem very "elegant," but they survived and were grateful for the flexibility as she is handicapped and they truly needed that. They enjoyed immensely the 1 or 2 times they were seated at large tables, but found they were most often seated at a table for 2 regardless of their request.

 

I was only slightly aware that some non-trad tables near me were changing up with diners. Not a bother at all.

 

Only heard 1 or 2 unhappy cruisers. Most others in Trad. seemed oblivious. All at my table had rec'd trad when they booked and they booked anywhere from 6-18 mos out. The ones least happy with the dining change are the crew. Spoke to several. Tips are sporadic. In fact, too easy to forego. My friends tipped a little each night when service was great as they could not commit in early AM to a set time reservation and so, seldom got the same waitstaff. They felt this was the fairest way to handle the situation.

 

The only thing I could find fault with was maybe that at least on MY side of the large dining area.....the traditional dining tables were more to the center of the room and the AWYW tables had the windows!!! Not a biggie......the DR is so small, no one's too far from a window anyway! :)

 

Martha

 

Martha

[Cruising Boomer]

We recently returned from a 31 day back to back cruise on the Statendam from Hong Kong to Vancouver. We had booked one of the two cruises over a year in advance and the other about 8 months before the sailing date. We always ask for early seating - my wife cannot eat late anymore for "medical" reasons - either that or she has to stay up for 4 or 5 hours after finishing dinner!!! We were surprised to have AYW dining on the first cruise.

 

At first, we were not concerned but then it really was an irritant for us. I think part of the problem is that we were a party of 5 which limited our options to tables of 6 or more. Calling at 8am is fine but this is vacation and we like to sleep in - but I got up early to call each day. On the second day on AYW, I called at 8:15 and all we could get was 8pm. They told us to just walk up and try. We did - at 5:45pm and were told the first opening was 8pm. So...the Lido was where we ended up. As someone else said, the Lido is good but not like the dining room. From another perspective, I really don't want to be bothered with calling everyday.

 

One of our major complaints about AYW dining is that we did not get to know our dining or wine steward since we were moving around all the time. One of the joys of HAL is the wonderful Indonesian and Filipino staff. On the second cruise of the back to back when we had early seating, my ice tea was at the table when I arrived, my decaf espresso arrived with dessert, and my wife's water with no ice was always there! The wine steward knew what we liked and we enjoyed getting to know our table staff. With AYW - there was no such rapport.

 

We also found out that the staff does not like AYW very well. At the end of the cruise, I was asked to a meeting with the Hotel Manager, Bev Manager, Cruise Director, and other staff. I had organized the CC meet and greets so they included me with the other "tour" leaders in a meeting to assess the cruise.

 

The staff does not like AYW for a couple of reasons - I think primarily due to the many complaints they get from passengers who do not like AYW. Someone on staff referred to it as - AS HAL WISHES DINING! It really isn't AYW as they point out. There are certain times you really cannot reserve or get immediate seating. With a full contingent of passegers, there are just so many seats for dining - and each seat really needs to be used twice during the evening - staff pointed out. If you want to eat at 7:30pm for example, they probably lose that seat for the whole evening - so the chances of eating at the time are almost nil. I noticed that when I called for a reservation I only had a few options around 6pm and 8pm. The stewards on AYW do not like it that well because the chance of getting an "extra tip" is reduced.

 

We were also told that the HAL ships were really not designed for AYW - dining rooms were not set up for it - and they are smaller than other cruise lines (I am not sure about this because we have only been on HAL and Royal Caribbean). I asked why fixed seating was on the upper level which has fewer seats. I was told that this is what the staff of the Statendam suggested but Seattle overrulled them for some reason. They could have accomodated more people in fixed seating by just reversing the AYW and fixed seating decks.

 

I realize that there are many who like AYW - to each his own. For us, we really do not like it and will think twice if we are forced into it again. Fortunatley our next three HAL cruises were booked early enough that we have first sitting. I think HAL really needs to re-engineer AYW.

 

Doug

[hammybee]

I think AYW tends to work better on port intensive cruises than longer voyages, as you were on. The latter tends to attract a more seasoned cruiser and dinner is often the highlight of endless at sea days.

 

Crews are rotated into and out of Open Seating on all ships so that the wait staff has an equal opportunity to serve in both dining rooms. This probably does not happen on longer voyages.

 

I am fasinated by the onboard management's portrayal of the crew's feelings about open versus fixed seating and tipping above and beyond the hotel surcharge.

 

Other dynamics at play here are that potentially more dinners are served in the Open Seating area by fewer wait staff because it's possible to turn some tables 3 times. More importantly, the hard working HAL crew is among the most poorly compensated in terms of hotel service charges.

Celebrity,Cunard, Disney, Oceania and Princess all charge more.

 

HAL's compensation is the same as NCL, RCL and Carnival.

 

Given the poor exchange rates of the USD, the crew is making less than they used to and potentially even less than that, given tipping above and beyond, may be one of those things that passengers skimp on, rather than forgoe the cruise until they can afford it.

[gizmo]

 

 

I am fasinated by the onboard management's portrayal of the crew's feelings about open versus fixed seating and tipping above and beyond the hotel surcharge.

 

Think about it. It makes perfect sense. Tips are going to be less. Prior to AYW there was a percentage of people who tipped extra because of the service they were receiving from the same person every night.

Some of these people are now doing AYW with a different server every night. How many that have AYW tip extra ? IMO the majority of extra tips are only being received in traditional. Sure, they take turns, but prior to AYW they all had an equal oportunity to receive extra tips on every cruise, not just when they work the traditional dining room.

[twinkletoes4445]

Think about it. It makes perfect sense. Tips are going to be less. Prior to AYW there was a percentage of people who tipped extra because of the service they were receiving from the same person every night.

Some of these people are now doing AYW with a different server every night. How many that have AYW tip extra ? IMO the majority of extra tips are only being received in traditional. Sure, they take turns, but prior to AYW they all had an equal oportunity to receive extra tips on every cruise, not just when they work the traditional dining room.

 

It does make sense. We've always tipped extra on the last night. I have read where other posters feel I am in the minority when doing this, but I do know others who've done what we do. Like you say, if you're doing AYWD, how many people actually leave an extra tip after each dinner? I'd bet not many. So it does make sense that the waiters wouldn't like this set-up because they're most likely not getting as much in extra tips, even when they are rotated back and forth (from AYWD to Fixed).

[TrinitySea]

I always pre-order from the vegetarian menu, I am assuming any special ordering such as this will not be available during the AYWD.

Does anyone have an insight on this?

 

 

I love the AYWD -- it gives you the flexibility to not have to plan your day around your dining times. I have always ordered from the vegetarian menus and on both the Noordam and Oosterdam, the AYWD procedure is similar to that of the fixed dining. That is-- your waiter brings you the menu after your current meal so that you can pre-order for the next night. When you call down to make your reservations, you just inform the operator that you have a "special meal". Once, we decided to just drop in instead of making reservations and when we spoke to the reservations clerk at the entrance, we just indicated that we had pre-ordered the night before. On both 10 day cruises, we never experienced a mix-up and were always seated at a table for 3 (which we requested). The folks at HAL are to be commended--they seem to have this complicated process down to a science.

[Cruising Boomer]

When you call at 8:15am and can only get 8pm dining, I am not sure what science that would be?? When you show up at 5:45 and can only get 8pm dining and are given a flashing/vibrating "alarm" like you get at Outback Steak House, I am not sure HAL has this down to a science. I thoroughly understand that some people like AYW but please recognize that it does not work for some of us. When you cannot eat late because you will be faced with a night of acid reflux, it is not a pretty picture.

 

Doug

[mancunian]

There does seem to be something wrong on the cruise you were on. Other posts and our own experience suggest that when you phone you are usually offered four times - two early and two late. I am at a loss to know how all the open diners could be accommodated at 8 pm. We personally never had trouble with this. We usually booked and were offered the four times, but a couple of evenings we went "on spec" at around 6 pm and were seated immediately.

 

You must understandably feel frustrated by what happened to you. On the other hand do not forget that many people in the days of traditional only dining found themselves on late sitting anyway and were unable to get early for the whole cruise.

[TrinitySea]

When you call at 8:15am and can only get 8pm dining, I am not sure what science that would be?? When you show up at 5:45 and can only get 8pm dining and are given a flashing/vibrating "alarm" like you get at Outback Steak House, I am not sure HAL has this down to a science. I thoroughly understand that some people like AYW but please recognize that it does not work for some of us. When you cannot eat late because you will be faced with a night of acid reflux, it is not a pretty picture.

 

Doug

 

Doug,

 

My post should have read "--they seem to have this complicated process of accommodating special meals orders down to a science."

 

My comments were in response to the "Special Meal" post. I, too, had concerns about how the AYWD would work for those who had dietary issues. I couldn't figure out how the staff could accommodate those of us who order from alternative menus. I believe the Noordam was the first HAL ship to test the AYWD and I was aboard during one of the earlier implementations. I changed my reservation from early seating to AYWD and was prepared to tough it out if things didn't work well. However, I was pleasantly surprised that things worked so smoothly with the special meals.

 

Although I had no problems getting my preferred times, I sympathize with those who are only able to get the "left over slots" and to those who had no choice but were "assigned" AYWD. I am, however, pleased that HAL is offering this option and hope that the bugs can be worked out so that passengers can continue to have a choice of dining options.