Question about early dining....

[2preschoolers]

We'll be on the Liberty (Western Caribbean) in January. I was looking on webshots at old Capers (I think from 2007!) and notice early dining is 545p in one dining room and 615p in the other. :confused: I was under the impression (from the brochure/book as well as the Carnival agent, etc) that it was at 6pm. I know - not a big deal to vary 15min one way or the other, but somehow the idea of having to be in the dining room by 545p seems VERY early. :D

 

Do they still have 545p and 615p or is it all just 6pm? If you end up in the dining room that is 545p, can you request to switch to the other? ORRR, if you are running a tad bit late, is there any problem with that? We'll be a party of 7 so I'd assume we'll have an 8top table to ourselves and hopefully won't have other people to think about if we happen to run a bit late.

 

Any thoughts on this? thank you!

[golfadj]

If you do not like the time go to the DR and visit MD according to time in the capers.

 

If you are going to be a little late not a problem expecially if your group will be the entire table. If more than a tad you might want to send someone to tell the waiter you are running late.

[pjtulsa]

I think Carnival has switched to just 2 dinning times Fleet Wide. We had 6pm on the Valor in May and while it was early our friends that had the later time were often still in the DR close to 10 pm which is just way to late IMO...

[KenMo]

When we were on Liberty last Sept., there were only two dining times.

 

We had early. I can't remember, for sure, what time it was....I think 6pm.

[sangoofy]

If you have booked your cruise already, dining time and whether or not you are confirmed for that time should be in your reservation info. We too are booked on Liberty for Sept 2009 Eastern Caribbean cruise and our res shows us confirmed for 6 pm seating.

Jan

[fofita01]

In the past, Carnival had 4 dining times (5:45, 6:15, 8 and 8:30) for ships with 2 dining rooms. The way it worked was the 5:45 and 8 pm times utilized the aft dining room and the 6:15 and 8:30 pm times utilized the midship dining room.

 

Sometime in 2008, Carnival made the change fleetwide to 2 dining times (6 and 8:15) and both dining rooms are utilized at the same time (i.e.both dining rooms are utilized at 6 pm)

 

Hope that clears things up!

[mosel]

There are now only two dining times. If you have early it will be 6 o clock. If you are going to be more than 15 minutes late in traditional dining you should choose to eat elsewhere. Although you might be the only ones at your table the kitchen and dining staff have a schedule for each course and if you come late and the waiter has to take your order and get your appetizers while other tables entrees are ready to be served it creates a problem for every one. We were in a section once where a table came a half hour late every night and our server was fantastic. He did tell us though how much the late comers throw off all the dining. Just wanted to pass on what our server told us. Have a great cruise. Cindy

[dan40]

We'll be on the Liberty (Western Caribbean) in January. I was looking on webshots at old Capers (I think from 2007!) and notice early dining is 545p in one dining room and 615p in the other. :confused: I was under the impression (from the brochure/book as well as the Carnival agent, etc) that it was at 6pm. I know - not a big deal to vary 15min one way or the other, but somehow the idea of having to be in the dining room by 545p seems VERY early. :D

 

Do they still have 545p and 615p or is it all just 6pm? If you end up in the dining room that is 545p, can you request to switch to the other? ORRR, if you are running a tad bit late, is there any problem with that? We'll be a party of 7 so I'd assume we'll have an 8top table to ourselves and hopefully won't have other people to think about if we happen to run a bit late.

 

Any thoughts on this? thank you!

 

 

Staggered early and late times ENDED about a year ago. Now there is one early and one late seating fleetwide. Soon there will also be a "Your Time" choice fleetwide too. [separate seating area] So choices will be Main, Your Time, or Late for the duration of the cruise. [no switching back and forth]

[katiel53]

As mentioned in a previous post, it is difficult for the others who are being served by the same waiter you are if you are late to dinner. Many times the waiter will wait until everyone is seated before starting service. So, everyone else has to wait for your table. Even if the waiter starts serving others, he still is out of sync and the others don't get as good a dinner service because the waiter needs to play catch up for you.

 

Please try to be on time, and sending someone to the dining room to say you are running late, still makes others service not as good as normal. Also, we tell our waiter if we aren't here within 10 minutes of the dining time, it means we won't be coming.

 

We haven't been late but at least we have told them so that service for everyone isn't held up because of us. (There are normally 5 or 6 of us and we have our own table as well.) We also tell the waiter that we won't be in the dining room the night before we go to the Steak House.

 

It just takes a little planning to be thoughtful to others. Enjoy!

[Scott_F]

On Ecstasy two months ago, we had 6:00 dining, but it was a table for 6 and just our party. We averaged getting there around 6:20-30. I'd have felt bad if we had been holding up people we didn't know. But, I'll be sure to let our waiter know in two weeks to not wait for us.

[Marietta]

I know that being late messes things up for everyone because of "playing catch-up", but what if you are late and just ask to start in wherever everyone else is? If they are eating apps, would it mess the waitstaff up if you just ordered your main dish so that they could bring it with everyone elses? We have never missed our dining time, yet, but are kinda worried about what to do with late ports and early dining in Alaska next month...

[Scott_F]

You won't be the first to be late to dinner. A good waitstaff knows how to deal with it and they're used to it.

[2preschoolers]

If you have booked your cruise already, dining time and whether or not you are confirmed for that time should be in your reservation info. We too are booked on Liberty for Sept 2009 Eastern Caribbean cruise and our res shows us confirmed for 6 pm seating.

Jan

 

OK thanks! Our confirmation definately says 6pm dining.

 

In the past, Carnival had 4 dining times (5:45, 6:15, 8 and 8:30) for ships with 2 dining rooms. The way it worked was the 5:45 and 8 pm times utilized the aft dining room and the 6:15 and 8:30 pm times utilized the midship dining room.

 

Sometime in 2008, Carnival made the change fleetwide to 2 dining times (6 and 8:15) and both dining rooms are utilized at the same time (i.e.both dining rooms are utilized at 6 pm)

 

Hope that clears things up!

 

Ahhh so that explains it! I'd never heard of that before so that is why I got all confused. Now it makes sense! Thank you!!

 

You won't be the first to be late to dinner. A good waitstaff knows how to deal with it and they're used to it.

 

Thanks! My hubby is notoriously late for everything! He's one of those people who just is always late, even if you tell him something is 15 min earlier than it really is! In anycase, the rest of our party do not like to be late so worst case - he'll be late on his own! haha But you're right, I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to be late and definately not the last.

[dan40]

OK thanks! Our confirmation definately says 6pm dining.

 

 

 

Ahhh so that explains it! I'd never heard of that before so that is why I got all confused. Now it makes sense! Thank you!!

 

 

 

Thanks! My hubby is notoriously late for everything! He's one of those people who just is always late, even if you tell him something is 15 min earlier than it really is! In anycase, the rest of our party do not like to be late so worst case - he'll be late on his own! haha But you're right, I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to be late and definately not the last.

 

One person or a couple being late is not that big a problem. A whole table showing up late is another story. Remember, all the waiters teams have multiple tables to serve. Being "out of phase" at one table can impact the service at all their tables.

[pjtulsa]

 

 

Thanks! My hubby is notoriously late for everything! He's one of those people who just is always late, even if you tell him something is 15 min earlier than it really is! In anycase, the rest of our party do not like to be late so worst case - he'll be late on his own! haha But you're right, I'm sure we wouldn't be the first to be late and definately not the last.

 

This worked for me one night on our last cruise... The Interactive TV will show the menu for the day so you can have pre-select what he would like to order and write it down... That way if he is late you can put in his order with the rest of the table and hopefully he will arrive about the time they begin to serve. Its takes the stress out of it for you.

[cruisingbajan]

We'll be on the Liberty (Western Caribbean) in January. I was looking on webshots at old Capers (I think from 2007!) and notice early dining is 545p in one dining room and 615p in the other. :confused: I was under the impression (from the brochure/book as well as the Carnival agent, etc) that it was at 6pm. I know - not a big deal to vary 15min one way or the other, but somehow the idea of having to be in the dining room by 545p seems VERY early. :D

 

Do they still have 545p and 615p or is it all just 6pm? If you end up in the dining room that is 545p, can you request to switch to the other? ORRR, if you are running a tad bit late, is there any problem with that? We'll be a party of 7 so I'd assume we'll have an 8top table to ourselves and hopefully won't have other people to think about if we happen to run a bit late.

 

Any thoughts on this? thank you!

 

There are only 2 dining times now. 6:00 - early 8:00 late

[2preschoolers]

This worked for me one night on our last cruise... The Interactive TV will show the menu for the day so you can have pre-select what he would like to order and write it down... That way if he is late you can put in his order with the rest of the table and hopefully he will arrive about the time they begin to serve. Its takes the stress out of it for you.

 

Ohhh excellent! Great info! Thank you!:)