Flexible/Anytime Dining

[jff50]

We just changed from traditional to flexible/anytime dining for our 1/17 Liberty cruise. We've done anytime dining on Princess many times and love the flexibility it offers. Has anyone done this on Carnival, and how did you like it? Any comparison to how it works on Carnival versus Princess would be appreciated.

[zqvol]

We just changed from traditional to flexible/anytime dining for our 1/17 Liberty cruise. We've done anytime dining on Princess many times and love the flexibility it offers. Has anyone done this on Carnival, and how did you like it? Any comparison to how it works on Carnival versus Princess would be appreciated.

 

We did it on Legend in the summer and really enjoyed it. IMO early seating is too early and late is too late, so anytime works best for us. In addition we are not too worried about the servers knowing our likes and dislikes nor having to make small talk with strangers over dinner so we love it!

[Pegs222]

We were not offered that option and we would have not have chosen anytime dinning. We like eating at the same table every night with the same waiters and with the dinner companions. The waiters and the Matre D' on our cruise do not like it either.

[Kurbanfan]

We just changed from traditional to flexible/anytime dining for our 1/17 Liberty cruise. We've done anytime dining on Princess many times and love the flexibility it offers. Has anyone done this on Carnival, and how did you like it? Any comparison to how it works on Carnival versus Princess would be appreciated.

 

Unfortunately the ship we are sailing on does not have it as a option.......yet.

Let us know how it goes for you. We loved it on Princess and would love to have that option on Carnival too........

[elsplace2]

I didn't know Carnival was doing the flexible dining nowadays, is that on all Carnival ships? If so, does anyone know if there is a specific dining room used for this on the Freedom and if so are reservations required. When we went on NCL, that was the only way they did their dining, but it was always so busy in the dining rooms and reservations were recommended. But I still like the concept.

[happy flamingo]

Can anyone tell me if they have flexible/anytime dining on the Glory? If there's 2 dining rooms do they convert one to anytime dining and leave the other as is? Thanks.

[Kurbanfan]

I didn't know Carnival was doing the flexible dining nowadays, is that on all Carnival ships? If so, does anyone know if there is a specific dining room used for this on the Freedom and if so are reservations required. When we went on NCL, that was the only way they did their dining, but it was always so busy in the dining rooms and reservations were recommended. But I still like the concept.

 

Can anyone tell me if they have flexible/anytime dining on the Glory? If there's 2 dining rooms do they convert one to anytime dining and leave the other as is? Thanks.

 

As of right now, it is only being offered on the Liberty and Legend..........

[Tapi]

Did it on the Liberty on 11/01.

 

We absolutely, 100%, without a doubt........LOVED IT!!

 

As someone mentioned, early is too early and late is too late for us, so we were going to dinner whenever we felt like it, most of the time around 7:30pm.

 

On Carnival, it's known as Total Choice Dining.

 

On our sailing, it was offered on the upper level of the Golden Olympian Dining room only. There are no reservations. You just walk up to the hostess stand anytime between 5:45pm and 9:30pm and they either give you a table right away, or they give you a beeper so that you can go do something while a table becomes available.

 

Of the 5 nights we ate at the main dining room, we were seated immediately 3 times, and we were given a beeper the other 2 nights. However, both times we got a beeper, we walked away only to be called back almost immediately. Every single time we requested a table for two and that's exactly what we got.

 

You do get a different table and waiter every night, however if you do come across someone that you really like (in our case, we did), you can request a table in that waiter's section again. The times that we waited for a table were because we requested a specific waiter and location ("table for 2 on the balcony with waiter Pravit please!"). Another thing to keep in mind is that unless you time it perfectly, you'll never see the dancing waiters. We never did since we were going to eat right between the two traditional dining times.

 

Most of the people that we saw at Total Choice Dining were small groups (either couples, small families, or small groups). I don't think I saw more than 4 people eating together. The larger groups were seated downstairs in the Traditional Dining section.

 

Total Choice is great for people who don't like to be on a schedule, enjoy a more intimate experience, and don't care much for the dancing waiters or the "IT'S SHOWTIME!" announcement in the middle of dessert.

 

By the way, we also enjoyed Harry's (the reservations only restaurant offered for a $30 cover charge pp). Without a doubt, one of the highlights of our cruise! Completely worth every penny. The cuisine at Harry's rivals the one offered at high end steakhouses in major cities..!

 

I don't know if you're doing the Eastern Caribbean, but if you are, we had dinner at Parrot's Club in San Juan. Another wonderful experience! This Nuevo-Latino restaurant offeres great food and great atmosphere in South Fortaleza street, only a few minutes walking distance from the pier!