Dining time requests....do you get them?

[KYWEST1]

Can any of you seasoned cruisers tell me if you usually get your requested dining time? Last year our family of 5 requested the 6:15, but we got the 5:45 (I went to the Maitre D', and he told us to just come at 6:15 to the same table and dining room).

This year our family requested the 8:00 seating. We are traveling on the Freedom March 22nd. We booked in January and our cabin is at the front of the ship....in case these things matter. Does anyone know???? It's also Easter week so lots 'o kiddies.

We really want this seating. If we get something else, how likely will we get it changed? This is my 6th Carnival cruise. I think that should matter, but it didn't last year. (I know at 10 cruises you are guarenteed)

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.:)

[Max Circus]

On the five cruises I have been on, I've always gotten my requested time. Keep in mind that I have always requested late seating which is normally not as popular. That could be a factor.

[Frank12]

I too have always received my requested time (6:15).

[cantw82cruise]

We have always gotten our requested time for our 11 cruises. Most of the time we take the early but we have done the late a couple times. I think it's pretty rare to not get the time you want.

 

Good luck.....

[Caliber1]

We have always gotten our requested time also. And we also always request late. I think you stand a better chance with the late request. Good luck.

[KYWEST1]

Sorry to highjack my own thread, but I just learned how to FINALLY create a countdown clock, and I just wanted to share. Now I know I'm spending too much time on these boards!:)

[Bruce&Pam]

We have always gotten our requested time for our 11 cruises. Most of the time we take the early but we have done the late a couple times. I think it's pretty rare to not get the time you want.

 

Good luck.....

I'm afraid we've had the opposite luck. We normally request 6:15 and almost always get moved to 5:45. In fact we've only had what we wanted two or three times out of 10. Every time we've discussed this with the Matre' D we get told that there is plenty of room in late seating but too many booked early seating. They are eager to move us to late seating but won't move us from 5:45 to 6:15 like we prefer.

 

Next cruise we'll be platinum so we're supposed to get what we ask for. We'll see how that goes.

 

---Bruce

[poptart]

With 9 Carnival cruises under our belt--we got our requested dining time on cruises 1,2,3,4,5, & 6. No problem at all. Sometimes 6:15 and sometimes 8.

 

On cruises 7,8 & 9 we requested 8:00 all 3 times and we received 5:45, 8:30 and 8:30. And all 3 times the matri di claimed it couldn't be changed. (The 8:30 was no big deal--the 5:45 was the worst--1st time we ate dinner on lido several times)

 

Welp the good news is our upcoming cruise is the magic # 10!!! We'll see what happens

 

--and THIS time I actualy hope they don't give us what we requested :eek: my bil is diabetic and insists we need to have early seating so he can eat closer to his normal time--while I would prefer late seating due to the fact we have 4 port days. So I may be eating on the lido again :( they don't have chocolate melting cake up there!

 

BTW my dining time has never affected the amount of fun I had--it's all good!!!

 

happy sails!

[DGP1111]

For the last six sailings (all in '07 and '08), I've been initially assigned to the requested time only twice. One on Celebrity :) , and one on Disney :) .

The other four sailings were all on Carnival, and I did not get assigned to the time reguested. :( Oh, and by the way, I was Platinum on three of those. I found out the hard way that was not a 'definite 'perk' despite being listed as one. Oh, well, the food still tasted just as good (yum!) as at the requested dining time, but became a real personal frustration with CCL.

[dec2007w3boys]

We requested 6:15 on our first cruise and were assigned 5:45. It all worked out ok and I didn't ask to change it. This time I again asked for 6:15 as much earlier would drive my dad crazy. But the 8 is to late for the kids. So, we'll see what happens. I have a feeling that during Thanksgiving week it would hard to change. But with the kids, if we get a late one - I will have some issues as the boys love the shows and by 10 they are ready for bed....

[Sweetcharlotte30]

I wonder if booking your cruise earlier rather than later makes a difference. We requested the 6:15 tim for a party of 8, we'll see how this goes. Booked in October for a March cruise.

[onceagain]

When we were on the Destiny we got a different time but we checked out the table we were assigned and it was fabulous - 3 tables right at the back of the dining room surrounded by windows - so we kept it!! :D Normally, however, we've gotten our requested time.

[StephenNSamantha]

On our last cruise we requested 6:15 and got 8:00. We were told that since there were so many families on board with small children, they got priority for the early seatings.

 

We ended up snacking at the Lido buffet as soon as it opened and then going to our 8:00 dinner.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

Only one time out of 6 cruises across three different lines have I gotten my requested dining time. For us it doesn't seem to matter how early we have booked-anywhere from over a year out to six months out. The funniest time was our Celebrity five year anniversary cruise. We went with a group of 14 other folks and the whole trip was expertly arranged by a diamond member. Still didn't matter. The first night at dinner we were the only couple in the group not assigned together-time nor table!

 

What I have always wondered is how dining is assigned period. If not for early booking is it by cabin category? We have been in Cat 8s for the last 3 cruises and it didn't seem to matter. But the bigger question, not to hijack your thread OP, but how do you get a decent table? We always end up sitting by the galley entrance/exit or a serving station. The only time we get a good table is when we go to open seating breakfast or lunch in the main dining room and I ask for table with a view.

 

That all having been said, I am not complaining! I'm not cooking and I'm not cleaning so I'm verrrrrrrrry happy on a cruise!

-Jayne

[dec2007w3boys]

On our last cruise we requested 6:15 and got 8:00. We were told that since there were so many families on board with small children, they got priority for the early seatings.

 

We ended up snacking at the Lido buffet as soon as it opened and then going to our 8:00 dinner.

I'm sorry you didn't get what you asked for. But maybe that is good news for me with the three kids and wanting an earlier time. :rolleyes:

[StephenNSamantha]

I'm sorry you didn't get what you asked for. But maybe that is good news for me with the three kids and wanting an earlier time. :rolleyes:

I think it will definitely help. Our cruise was the first week of August right before school started back up. I think they said there were around 700 kids on that sailing.

[Elaine515]

The other four sailings were all on Carnival, and I did not get assigned to the time reguested. :( Oh, and by the way, I was Platinum on three of those. I found out the hard way that was not a 'definite 'perk' despite being listed as one. Oh, well, the food still tasted just as good (yum!) as at the requested dining time, but became a real personal frustration with CCL.

 

 

Don, I just have to tell you what happened to us last year when we did a Monday-Friday. We always ask for the 6:15 and this time we got the 8:00. Well, my parents & in-laws NEED (according to them!!) to eat early so we went to the Maitre'D very nicely and explained the situation... He stood firm, and told us NO, there is no room at the 6:15 dining. My husband then mentioned that we were Platinum and were suppose to be guaranteed the dining time we asked for. Again, he stood firm and told us NO.... So, after a bit of back & forth, my husband actually went up to the Lido Deck and called Carnival Guest Relations (now remember this was a Monday so they were open and there to take the call)... About 1/2 hour later we got a phone call in our cabin, and guess what....YUP.... the Maitre'D was able to find a table for us at the 6:15 dining... Can you believe it????

 

We also received complimentary champagne and out of this world great service that week.... Then we even got an apology letter from the Hotel Manager telling us that they Maitre'D was new and didn't know that Platinum Passengers were guaranteed to get the dining time requested... Now, of course, we didn't really believe that but YES, PLATINUM DOES get the dining time of their choice as a definite perk/priority... So, next time they don't give it to you... call or see the Hotel Manager... I bet you get it...

 

Sorry this story was so long.....

[Casey]

We have sailed Carnival 3 times, we got our requested time every time. Twice requested early and late requested once. We will see next week if our luck holds out.

[cinamongirl]

On our past three cruises, we have never received the dining time we requested. Once, we were able to change it from 5:45 to 8pm. My question is: I have looked on my edocs & the dining time is 6:15 - does this mean this is still our "requested" dining time or have we been assigned this time?:confused:

[SoonerOne]

We just got back from our first cruise and did not get our requested dining room or time:confused: but we went straight to the MaitreD' and got our dining room and time changed. :) And that was thanks to this forum where I got my information on what to do in case this happened. Thanks CC!!!!

[CwuzCwazy]

Since reaching Platinum status, we have gotten our requested dining time EVERY time, so the Platinum Guarantee works!

[FrannyK]

Can any of you seasoned cruisers tell me if you usually get your requested dining time? Last year our family of 5 requested the 6:15, but we got the 5:45 (I went to the Maitre D', and he told us to just come at 6:15 to the same table and dining room).

This year our family requested the 8:00 seating. We are traveling on the Freedom March 22nd. We booked in January and our cabin is at the front of the ship....in case these things matter. Does anyone know???? It's also Easter week so lots 'o kiddies.

We really want this seating. If we get something else, how likely will we get it changed? This is my 6th Carnival cruise. I think that should matter, but it didn't last year. (I know at 10 cruises you are guarenteed)

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions.:)

 

I don't think you'll have any problem getting your requested late seating this particular week. There will be lots of families/children who will all want the early seatings. Only twice did we not get the seating we requested. Once we had to wait until the second evening to be changed to the early seating we requested (had the kids w/us), the second time we didn't bother to change to the early seating and we ended up really enjoying late seating--and our kids, now that they are late teens enjoy it more too. Now we always request late.

[dkb363]

This is our 6th cruise and we have never not gotten what we wanted - we have had both early and late seatings - gotten what we requested. Also, we have always requested window seating and got it as well. I don't know how they decide what seating you are at.

[Grits53]

Coincidentally, I was just looking at my 5 S&S cards that I am collecting (in my quest to make Platinum). I chuckled to myself when I saw that we had been given late dining every time, although we had requested early dining. However, we have been able to change to early dining every time we've gone to the Maitre'D, once onboard. My PVP told me that you rarely receive your requested dining time when you book "late". Since most of our cruises were booked within 2 months of sailing, I guess that's why we never got our requested time. It will be interesting to see if we get it on our Oct. 08 Miracle cruise, which was booked one year prior to sailing.

[mom2girls]

Out of my 8 cruises there has only been 1 time I didn't get the requested time. (I booked about 6 weeks before the cruise.) It turned out ok, because the people that were with us also had kids, so the kids could talk to each other.