As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[MICHARCH]

[quote name='Cruizer Bill']Ray Mac,
Also, you can make no-cost reservations at the Italian Restaraunt called The Canalletto in one corner of the Lido area and it serves excellent Italian food. There are lots of dining options! Plus the Room Serivce is open 24 hours a day at no charge!
Bill[/quote]

When you say "no cost" do you mean that there is no additional charge when dining at this restaurant (The Canallatto)? Edited March 13, 2011 by MICHARCH

[Cruizer Bill]

That is true, the Canaletto is free, just like eating in the buffet except you need to make reservations. It is a good deal! We ate there and really liked it.
Bill

[Mediana]

I haven't read all the posts here so please forgive me if this is a repeat. I booked a HAL cruise to Bermuda and wanted to choose traditional sitting but that option was not available. Are there some cruises that only go with As You Wish Dining?

[Mediana]

[quote name='Mediana']I haven't read all the posts here so please forgive me if this is a repeat. I booked a HAL cruise to Bermuda and wanted to choose traditional sitting but that option was not available. Are there some cruises that only go with As You Wish Dining?[/QUOTE]

Just to clarify. It says open dinner on the ticket. I'm guessing it's the same thing?

[Mary Ellen]

[quote name='Mediana']Just to clarify. It says open dinner on the ticket. I'm guessing it's the same thing?[/QUOTE][SIZE="3"]AYWD is the term HAL uses for [U]all[/U] dining options on HAL ships. Open seating is for those who want to eat dinner in the Main Dining Room at a time of their choosing during the available hours.[/SIZE]

[Mediana]

AYWD is the term HAL uses for all dining options on HAL ships. Open seating is for those who want to eat dinner in the Main Dining Room at a time of their choosing during the available hours.

 

I would have prefferd a fixed table but I didn't get a chance to choose that. I don't get it. :confused:

[RuthC]

I would have prefferd a fixed table but I didn't get a chance to choose that. I don't get it. :confused:

Then you really didn't get As You Wish Dining, but got open seating instead. I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted.

When you board go to the appointed place and see if your dining assignment can be changed. Have them take your name/cabin number. In the first couple of days things might shake out so that there's an opening in the dining that you wish.

[Mediana]

Then you really didn't get As You Wish Dining, but got open seating instead. I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted.

When you board go to the appointed place and see if your dining assignment can be changed. Have them take your name/cabin number. In the first couple of days things might shake out so that there's an opening in the dining that you wish.

 

Thanks. I'll do that.

[JYGresham]

I wonder Ruth, if the day will come, that there will be more passengers opting for AYW and then having no choice but to accept traditional seating. Stranger things have happened.

 

 

I wish!

[mactig]

Dave:

 

Lisa, Tom, and I had early fixed seating, which was at 5:30 pm (the Alaska cruises have slightly earlier seating times). We did not do the As You Wish dining. However, Hammybee, who cruised on Noordam just a few weeks before us, did enjoy the As You Wish option. I'm sorry, but I don't have the specifics for you, but perhaps Hammy will see this thread and come help you out.

 

Karin

 

We had AYW dining on a cruise in January on Noordam. We booked by phone each day for a specific time. It seemed the maitre d would try to give us whatever we asked for in terms of table size or location when we turned up. Occasionally there would be a short queue but never anything major. Just be friendly, smile and ask is my advice.

[Winters in NZ]

We have been away from HAL for 5 years, but have been experiencing other cruise lines...mainly because of their itineraries. Open seating enables us to meet a greater variety of people. There are so many folks out there with such a fascinating variety of life experiences and stories to tell. Anyways, looking forward to getting re-acquainted with HAL aboard the Maasdam, May 7.

[PennyWells]

We just came off the Maasdam and had as you wish dining because we couldn't get the assigned seating. As far as I am concerned it does not work and it is not "as you wish". More like "as they wish". Times are still set. Early dinner was 5:15 and late dinner was 9:00. You could just walk in (at the set times) and be seated at whichever table was available or you could make a reservation for 5:15 or 9:00. The reservation was for the number of people you were seated with but was not guaranteed. Most of the time we ended up at a table for 4 whereas we preferred lots of people at the table. The assigned seating upstairs was for 5:45 and 9:45. We were talking with people who ate up there at 5:45 who said that half the tables were empty. Yet we were told that the waiting list to sit up there was so long that there was not much point putting our names on the waiting list. Totally frustrating.

[travelbug4]

I'm confused. We are booked on the May 28th Maasdam and have open seating. I assumed that meant we could go to the dining room whenever we wanted and get a table (like walking into a restaurant without a reservation and putting your name in). Does it mean that we have to eat at 5:15 or 9:00 and that's it? Just want to make sure I've figured this out before we board. We are so excited for this trip! Also, does anyone know when they assign cabins? We booked an inside guarantee and we are so excited to find out where we will end up!

[RuthC]

I'm confused. We are booked on the May 28th Maasdam and have open seating. I assumed that meant we could go to the dining room whenever we wanted and get a table (like walking into a restaurant without a reservation and putting your name in). Does it mean that we have to eat at 5:15 or 9:00 and that's it? Just want to make sure I've figured this out before we board. We are so excited for this trip!

You were right all along. You can make reservations for times between 5:15-6:30, or 7:30-9:00, or you can walk in anytime and ask for a table. There may or may not be a wait.

Also, does anyone know when they assign cabins? We booked an inside guarantee and we are so excited to find out where we will end up!

Cabins are generally assigned about 10 days before sailing. More or less. Plus or minus. Give or take.

It's not an exact science.

[travelbug4]

Thanks for all of the info! About 10 more days until cabin assignment.

[BellKat]

We just got off a 3 night cruise on the Zaandam. Any Time Dining was horrendous. People were waiting over an hour (us included). People became very frustrated. We did not talk to one person who had a positive experience.

 

One night they told us the wait would be up to 30 minutes & we were seated in less than 10. But the line was out the door the entire time we ate. We went a little earlier the next night & had to wait for over an hour. We were convinced we only got a table because my husband & someone unknown to us at the time got very irate. They quickly seated the four of us in our group & the other couple who were also upset together. There were ALWAYS empty tables upstairs in the fixed dining & downstairs in the open seating area. We never figured out why they made everyone wait. It was a chaotic mess.

 

The wait staff seemed to have no fixed agenda. The bus boys just wandered around looking at dirty tables & not clearing until they were told to (or so it seemed).

 

We did have a good time with all of the people we met at our tables so that was a positive for the open seating. But it did not quite make up for the frustration.

[Bearnaise]

That's too bad. On our recent 4-day Oosterdam cruise (May 3-7), we dined in the MDR on the 2nd and 3rd nights (reserved PG for the other two nights). The first time we showed up around 6:30 pm and were seated right away at a requested table for 2, but we were given the impression that we "lucked out" - also, we were seated upstairs where they were normally seating fixed-time tables. When I asked, we were advised by the maitre-d' that it was better to arrive before 6 pm in order to be assured of no wait, but when we arrived at 6:15 pm the next night, we again were seated without delay, this time on the lower floor.

 

Also, service was excellent both nights in the MDR as was the food for the most part. We almost decided to cancel the PG on our last night, but ended up going back for those sublime filets.

[kennicott]

After many years, in traditional assigned seat dining, on our voyages with Princess and HAL, (the days when alternatives weren’t available), we happened to do two cruises on Regent, where they don’t have traditional. Loved it.

 

So, last month we were back on the Rydam for three weeks. We purposely did not select traditional. No regrets. We like to eat dinner between 7 and 7:30. Never had a problem getting seated immediately. Ship was full too. Never made any reservations except for the Pinnacle and the Canaletto. Met nice folk at dinner every time we used the main dining room. Sure glad we weren’t stuck with the same tablemates for the entire three weeks. One time on we were on the Prinsendam for almost three months. New traveling companions on the second half were great. But I dreaded a repeat of the four weeks on the Amsterdam where we were stuck with three other couples who considered themselves the “aristocracy” politically and otherwise, funny though, on formal nights they hardly dressed up at all. One formal evening, the guy in the most expensive suite on the ship wore a Hawaiian shirt. We didn’t have to eat way early or way late either, as you have to do with traditional.

 

Another thing about this trip, the cuisine seemed, generally speaking, to be about the best we ever had. Since we were on our own we could enjoy all the different dining options without feeling guilty over not being at dinner with our assigned companions or insulting the table staff. Yes sirno sir, alternative dining is the only way to go.

[plattetrekkies]

We booked late with another couple and we weren't even waitlisted for assigned dining on the Zaandam last May. But the first night we asked to reserve a window table for 6 as soon as we could and received our request. Since we live in the central time zone, we wanted to keep eating close to normal time. The 5:15 time worked for us. We had a very good wait staff and by the end of the meal decided that we would try to get the same time and table following nights. It was almost like assigned dining, we just made sure to reserve at breakfast. The four of us would have a different twosome join us and we were able to meet interesting people. Our next cruise we will try for the assigned seating but found this to work for us.

[caudel]

We just got back from a TransAtlantic 23 day cruise on the Eurodam and had no problem getting seated at the time we wanted. We just showed up and they asked if we would like to join others. Most of the time we did but even the times we wanted to just have dinner together, we were seated right away.

[maeva1]

HAL does have anytime dining. I did not enjoy the anytime dining. This was the Oosterdam in Mexico. You may be seated with people eating dessert or they are ordering in the middle of your meal. So conversation is sort of hit and miss. With the regular dining you get to meet and come to know and enjoy your fellow table mates.

Also I found the staff a little frazzled with the mixed tables. Dessert was usually NOT OK, melted ice cream etc.

Also making reservations for anytime dining did not go smoothly, I got the feeling this was the first time they were doing this type of dining.

However on the Westerdam in Alaska we booked at the last minute and were assigned anytime dining. We were able to get the same table for the 4 of us every night and it was superb, just outstanding.

[kalvik]

Travelling on the Eurodam in November. Choice of "anytime" dining offered to us. In fact, unable to get set-dining as they were booked.

[sunnymarie]

My dining option on my confirmation says "open seating". Is this Any Way You Wish Dining?

[Mary Ellen]

My dining option on my confirmation says "open seating". Is this Any Way You Wish Dining?

Every passenger on every HAL ship has 'As You Wish Dining'. Some, like you, have Open Seating, where one goes to the lower level any time during the hours meals are served. Others have a selected dining time.

[sunnymarie]

Thank you for the clarification!