As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[GeriatricNurse]

We just came back from a cruise where there were 5 of us. If we knew the day ahead what time we all wanted to dine we would phone and try to make a reservation-we did that several times and it always worked out. You have to be a bit flexible because several times we dined at 8pm. If you can't get the time you want then you can just show up and they will seat you but it might be 10-15 minute wait. Hope that helps.

 

The advantage of dining in the Lido is that one never requires reservations! ;):):D

[cud b cruzn]

I used a Tux in the "70's...times have changed, now wear a dark suit.. just a little more comfortable...ladies seem to wear anything.....except shorts...

[GeriatricNurse]

I used a Tux in the "70's...times have changed, now wear a dark suit.. just a little more comfortable...ladies seem to wear anything.....except shorts...

Although I no longer pack formalwear (which added 10 pounds in weight to my checked baggage), or dine in the MDR, I have seen men entering the MDR on formal nights wearing dress slacks, short sleeve dress shirts, with/without a tie! ;) Apparantly, men are not required, necessarily, to wear either a dark suit or a tux to dine in the MDR on formal night(s)! :)

[Babs1121]

I have been reading the posts and I am really getting confused..The last Holland America Cruise we were on was in 2008 and we had As You Wish Dining..I called in the morning around 8AM and they asked what time we wanted to dine and we always took 5:45PM ..I had to do this every morning..Can you still do it this way or is there an easier way to get a reserved table for AYWD? Appreciate some info on this from someone that has just been on the Ryndam...Thank you very much.

[Mary Ellen]

AYWD is HAL's generic term to cover all dining options on their ships. We've found the easiest way to reserve a table is to have the traditional, fixed seating option of AWYD. For those with open seating, they can call for reservations. I believe one can do this for three nights at a time for the MDR. For other venues of AYWD, such as the Pinnacle Grill or Caneletto's, one can make reservations for any night during the cruise. Pinnacle Grill reservations can even be make prior to boarding either on-line or by calling Ship's Services.

[Harris Jeffer]

Well, I do NOT pack OR rent a tuxedo! ;) On formal nights I dress smart casual, dine in either the Lido or Canaletto and after dinner, walk about the ship in ALL public areas! ;) (And I do NOT feel out of place)! I do NOT concern myself with PEER pressure! ;)

 

 

I am with you on this 100% so dont feel alone !

[drcjvh]

Dress code? I haven't heard so much about a dress code since I was in high school. Hope what we are wearing isn't the focus of the cruise.

 

I was hoping for some discussion of the ports and what was worth doing in the Southern Caribbean.

[Boytjie]

Dress code? I haven't heard so much about a dress code since I was in high school. Hope what we are wearing isn't the focus of the cruise.

 

I was hoping for some discussion of the ports and what was worth doing in the Southern Caribbean.

 

Try the Ports of Call forum for that kind for information: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

[drcjvh]

Thanks, Peter, I found the descriptions of the ports and I have read about the shore excursions but wondered whether anyone had some experience with them.

[Mary Ellen]

As Peter said, that type of discussion will be elsewhere, not on this thread.

[undersail]

Just got back from a 12 day on RCI's Enchantment. First time experiencing the "my time" dining," and have to report I am not a fan. To explain: We had great table mates so chose to stay with a fixed eating time at 8:30, knowing that we had the option to go to the Windjammer or the specialty restaurant if we wanted to eat at another time. But the my time dining affected us anyway. Service was very uneven. Sometimes everything arrived at once. At others we were waiting for what felt like longish stretches. Staff never seemed to get into the rhythm that makes dining on a cruise ship so much fun. With traditional dining, by night 2, they know who drinks, who prefers iced tea, who likes extra bread. Meal service used to run like a well-oiled machine. That did not happen this time out. You could see they were trying hard (again, something you did not notice under the old way of serving), but I saw more than one near miss as waiters scrambled to cross empty stretches to wait on "my timers." That probably accounted for the slower nights for service to our table! The big, elegant dining room felt empty and flat. Noise from wait staff clinking and clanking dominated -- when the room is full of diners you don't hear that. Have to wonder if cruise ships are heading toward a day when there will be no more complimentary dining? I don't want to come off as a hide-bound traditionalist. I'm all for change, if it works, but the my time dining in the big dining room does not seem to be. They are trying to please everyone -- traditionalists and free stylers with the same amount of staff and someone is going to get short changed under this model.

[undersail]

Sorry. First time on this site and I guess I got confused!:)

[Porky55]

undersail - I don't think it matters what cruise line really, we just returned from 16 days aboard HAL's Vaandam cruising from Sydney to Singapore and had 'Open Dining' too. We experienced exactly the things you mentioned and were extremely disappointed in the whole experience, so much that we spent much of the remainder of our voyage dining in the Lido. :( By the way, the option for open dining was made by our travel agent and we weren't made aware of it until we picked up our tickets. I tried to change to fixed dining with Holland America but was told I couldn't change this service.

[HokiePoq]

undersail - I don't think it matters what cruise line really, we just returned from 16 days aboard HAL's Vaandam cruising from Sydney to Singapore and had 'Open Dining' too. We experienced exactly the things you mentioned and were extremely disappointed in the whole experience, so much that we spent much of the remainder of our voyage dining in the Lido. :( By the way, the option for open dining was made by our travel agent and we weren't made aware of it until we picked up our tickets. I tried to change to fixed dining with Holland America but was told I couldn't change this service.

 

Just got back from the Rotterdam and ditto. We ate the vast majority of meals in the Lido. As You Wish didn't work for us. We wished 6:45 and found that impossible. We seemed to only be able to get reservations for 5:15 (and miss our favorite activity) or 8:00 or after. Service in the main dining room was slow for everyone, apparently, taking two hours or more. We like to spend our time in activities and shows, not sitting at the table waiting to order, for service, for dishes to be cleared. Some complained and were told it was because of many new employees in the kitchen. However, on the day of King Neptune's crossing the equator ceremony, there were only a few new ones from culinary in the ceremony. On the plus side, the Lido staff and food were great. We would even have eaten there for the grand farewell dinner if we'd known they'd have the lobster tails which they did!

[1pinehurst]

We are booked on the Prinsendam for the November 29th Amazon cruise and were given the option of "At your Leisure dinning" and that is what we accepted.

[RuthC]

Again - the spelling / post police - nothing better to do with your time than check posts and see if someone is on the correct board, spelling the ships name correctly etc.; remember you corrected me over the ships name in your original reply! And yes I made a mistake and so ..... :confused:

You have taken something that should have been an enjoyable community noticeboard where I could get information about cruising and share my own experiences and have done your best to turn it in to a nasty experience, so please how about trying some positive replies instead of the constant negatives!! :(

Hi, Porky. I see you're new here, and want to welcome you. And give you a piece of advice.

As you read through various threads and posts you will get to know the cast of characters. Eventually you will learn to give each poster their due consideration, then move on to the next post.

 

Please give yourself some time here, and continue to participate. We would love for you to share your experiences, as we share ours.

[Roz]

Ruth,

 

Thank you for taking the time to post some very kind words. I myself was confused by which ship they were referring to, and asking for a clarification doesn't make a person bad or mean spirited. If it's simply a typo, I can figure it out. If it's a hybrid ship - Zaandam and Veendam combined - it's more guess work.

 

Roz

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Perhaps you are assuming that I regard the fashion police types as my peers. Sadly, they have not been elevated sufficiently to enjoy that status :)

 

Okay. I am just plain LOVING that view on life and I will be quoting you for years I'm sure! Thank you!!!:D

[SeaBlu]

WE DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL! We ended up eating 5 nights (7 night cruise) in the Pinnacle Grill.

[SeaBlu]

Thanks. We'll be on the Veendam next Feb. so maybe it'll be available there by then. We've gotten used to it on Princess and like it, as we often just want a table for two.

 

That is what we always want - a table for 2. So they told us "you should have made reservations!". WELL! If we need to make reservations, why not just give us the assigned dining time (late seating, table for 2) that we WANTED TO START WITH, that YOU said was not available?!" HAL SAID we HAD to do open seating, dine as you wish, WE did not want it! If everyone makes a reservations and "as a walk up we had to WAIT 30-40 minutes WHAT IS THE POINT OF OPEN DINING? DINE AS YOU WISH???? IT SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE IS EATING THE WAY THEY ALWAYS DID - IT IS JUST HARDER????

 

What IS the point???

[SeaBlu]

I was on the Noordam last week, and I understand that the "As You Wish" dining option was a popular one, so chances are you will see it on the Veendam. A lot of people like having more flexibility in their dining arrangements.

 

Karin

 

 

HOW? Everyone is making reservations in the MDR so when we were "walk-ins" we had to wait 30-40 min for a table for 2. What was the point! What is so popular about that? The entrance way to the MDR was jammed with people waiting and then we would get a table right next to the waiter's service station, so we asked if we could have a quieter table - they took us to the other deck - to a table next to the waiter's service station!! AFTER THAT WE ATE EVERY NIGHT IN THE PINNACLE GRILL - GOOD SERVICE, GOOD FOOD, QUIET!!!

[SeaBlu]

HAL can keep their "dine as you wish" ALL we saw was "dine as HAL wishes".

 

When we sail HAL again we will book EVERY NIGHT in the Pinnacle Grill - WELL worth the extra cost - BETTER FOOD, GREAT! - MUCH BETTER SERVICE, EXCELLENT! - MUCH BETTER ATMOSPHERE, QUIET AND HIGHER CLASS - DECOR LEFT A BIT TO BE DESIRED, BUT MAYBE THEY WILL IMPROVE IT ON A RETROFIT - MAITRE'D AND WAIT STAFF ALL REMEMBERED US AFTER ONLY ONE VISIT!

 

The buffet area was boring, routine, NON-imaginative, most food was tasteless!

[rotjeknor]

We were on the Rotterdam TA crossing july 2011 and booked As you Wish. We never experienced any of the troubles mentioned above . Dinner every night with other people, never boring or long waits.

Best night was getting an invitation for dinner at the Captain's table at the gala night. Nothing can beat that ! :D

 

We are leaving on the Rotterdam again, next saturday ( may 19) and booked as you wish again.

[Mary Ellen]

We were on the Rotterdam TA crossing july 2011 and booked As you Wish.

I've never seen As You Wish as an option on HAL. That is their generic term to cover all dining on board. The only options I've seen when booking have been either selecting a fixed time or going for Open Seating.

[Smithills]

If you want air conditioning that works, book on another ship. If you want a toilet that works, book on another ship.

 

If you want to join me on the "Sauna And Sh*T Tour...Ahh The Memories" when I travel to HAL's head office in Seattle, watch this space!

 

If my TA doesn't get the compensation amount increased A LOT...I'll be the Canadian that will be on KVOS and every social media site on the face of this planet letting people know just how HAL treats their "guests"!!:mad::mad::mad: