Anytime Dining Question

[wanderingjew]

Is Anytime Only in 1 dining room or both?

[777mjrseb]

What ships are offering any time dinning?

[momofzeke]

What ships are offering any time dinning?

 

This link has a list of the ships that offer it now, and when the rest are scheduled to begin offering it:

 

http://www.bookccl.com/irman/bookccl/shipboard_knowledge/DiningRoomAssignedReservations.htm

[njmomof2]

We also just did the Anytime dining on the Sensation and actually did not like it. Even if you decide to dine alone, you will be sitting right beside another table so it is like eatting with them and they end up bringing your food together even if you did not order at the same time (happend to us last night - we were told they could not bring out 5 desserts at once - we could not figure out why he came over to tell us that - we had ordered 3 (my son ordered two melting cakes) - well the table beside us was having dessert too so that made 5. The tables are one inch apart so you really are eating with someone else even at a table of two.

 

We decided we would rather dine with the same people every night - even though we were anytime - we ended up side by side the same two people two nights in a row and in the dining room approximately the same time as the others we had dined with. We still ended up going to dinner between 6 and 6;30.

 

As far as tips - they ask for your room number when you enter so your room number is assigned for your tips that night. If you had great service, you could increase that night so the appropriate server got them. When we returned the next time they asked if we wanted the same server or a different one so they know who you had. We requested a server the last night.

 

We never had to wait for a table. Our only complaint ended up being the last night. Service was off for some reason. We ended up being the first in the dining room at 5;45 and were not the first anytime diners out (maybe it was the 5 desserts :D - read above it was only 3) but we could not get waited on or get our food. But the bar staff was very attentive to my son with his soda card. We even tipped her a couple of bucks. They even brought him one when we sat down without him ordering.

 

I think the waiters are more attentive when you are in regular dining or it could just be the staff on the Fantasy is better than the Sensation. That is my 13 year olds assessment. He is also comparing the Circle C staff - he thought Fantasy was better than Sensation. And he liked the CD on Fantasy - Big Tex - better than Stephanie on the Sensation. I agree Fantasy cruise rates better than Sensation - not sure why - we just had a better time.

 

We are on Sensation in November and early dining was waitlisted, so we booked Anytime. I have been wanting to try it and decided a short 3 night was a good way to see if it worked for us. Late dining is too late for my mom and my 2 boys so this provided the only viable option.

 

I'm hoping that we have a decent time with it. I don't mind sitting with others, so if they want to put the 4 of us at a larger table, we won't mind. For 3 nights, I'm sure we can deal with it. I also decided to pre pay my tips, so less on the S&S card at the end.

 

My kids have only cruised Royal so I'm hoping they enjoy Carnival, since prices are often much lower and I'd like the opportunity to try a 7 night at some point.

[rebric12]

Hi there,

 

I have been on only two cruises. The first with 6 pm dinning. To be honest, half the time I was still full from lunch, but 8 pm was too late for the kids. On the next cruise I choose anytime dinning, and it was fantastic. I was on the Fantasy, and there was never a wait at all, not even a minute. The lady would simply ask for a cabin number and then ask if we wanted to be seated solo or with company, and that was all there was to it. Unfortunatley the next cruise I am looking at doesn't offer anytime.

[lazydayz]

We tried Your Time Dining on the Inspiration and three of the four nights it was great. First night was lousy due to the wait team. The other three nights our servers were Antonio, Leslie and Sang. These guys are wonderful. We ended up tipping all three extra - they were that good. And we always got a table for two. Most we ever waited was five minutes, max. Another benefit of YTD on the Legend is that George the Greek is the maitre d for that dining room - he is our absolute favorite.

 

Still haven't decided if we will use YTD on our upcoming Legend cruise.

[Bunkie103]

We're trying YTD on our upcoming 4 day cruise. I hate having to leave sailaway so we can get to 6pm dinner and DH doesn't like late seating. Hopefully this will satisfy both of us and be more relaxing.:rolleyes:

[cajunchick]

My first cruise was on ncl and I like anytine dining, when I first booked this cruise wasn't aware it had this option so booked early but called my TA the other day and had her change it to ytd :cool::cool:

[mrsbean1990]

Yes, anytime means you can eat any time. the downside is the waiter is more rushed Iv heard, and doesnt get to know you and you usually have different people you sit with every night, unless you decide to wait for a table for 2 to open etc. I like traditional where you get to know your waiter and table mates.

 

It depends what you like.

 

We LOVED Anytime Dining.

 

I didn't feel rushed at all, and we had the same waitstaff for 3 out of the 4 nights.

 

We always had a table for just our family, and I liked that.

[FantasyLineAddict]

We did Anytime Dining on the Elation last month. I LOVED it. We always chose to sit alone but DID NOT wait for a table for our party at all! We went at different times eacy evening, depending on what we did that day; when and how much we ate for lunch, etc. We always were sat by the window and usually we were with the same dining staff as well. I really do not care for the idea of traditional time dining but we are stuck with it as the Valor does not have Anytime.

Give it a try if you do not like to schedule your meals. If you do like a schedule, stick with traditional.

 

I could have written this - feel exactly the same. I will never go back to traditional dining and won't book a cruise that doesn't offer anytime from now on. It was that great.

 

I met lots of nice people in other places on the ship. Dinner was still an "event" but one that didn't involve waiting for others and not knowing how many apps and entrees they would order at a time.

[helen haywood]

If I have ordered a bottle of wine thru Carnival and I don't drink it all the first night and I am doing anytime dining, will the dining room be able to find my bottle for me the second night when I will likely be at a different table with a different waiter?

[bjkTX]

If I have ordered a bottle of wine thru Carnival and I don't drink it all the first night and I am doing anytime dining, will the dining room be able to find my bottle for me the second night when I will likely be at a different table with a different waiter?

 

They put your cabin number on it - they'll find it :-)

[Oakman]

Jut off the Legend, and we LOVED Anytime Dining. We normally went around 6:30 every evening. We always received a booth for as requested for the 4 of us, and we never had a wait. We ended up sitting in the same 2 sections for the 7 nights, so we got to know the waitstaff very well. The service was outstanding, and our dinners lasted approx. 1.5 hrs. Out in time for the 8:30 or 8:45 show. This will always be our dining choice from now on.

[Unknotted]

We've done both and much prefer the "Anytime Dining." We've always gotten good service and the size table we ask for, which varies with our mood. We've had waiters who knew our names, without ever having waited on us before. I even had one who knew I wanted coffee, so a little bird (or our waiter from the night before) must have told him that.

 

I love meeting different people. And I don't worry when we get table mates that don't suit us because I know it's just for that one night.

 

Until Carnival started offering the anytime option I preferred NCL's freestyle dining, but now my loyalty is more equally divided between the two cruiselines.

[Unknotted]

If I have ordered a bottle of wine thru Carnival and I don't drink it all the first night and I am doing anytime dining, will the dining room be able to find my bottle for me the second night when I will likely be at a different table with a different waiter?

 

Yes, they will find it. We've done that and the second night our waiter already knew about it when we sat down and immediately asked us if we wanted it without us even mentioning it. Don't worry about it.

[richkinkade]

[quote name='cruiseawaits']On RCCL, when you make your cruise reservation and choose the "Anytime Dining" option, your gratuities are due. So, I made my reservation 100 days out and had to prepay my gratuties 100 days out along with my cruise reservation deposit. Each persons deposit was $250/pp(cruise reservation) + $70(prepaid gratuities). From what I've read, Carnival doesn't handle the gratuities in this manner. They keep to their charging your onboard account the $10/pp per day once you board. Is this correct?[/QUOTE]
We just got off the Legend this past Sunday. They charged our S&S card two $70 charges for tips on the first day of the cruise, instead of $10 a day.

[janermac]

You've convinced me! We are set for late but anytime is sounding much better now. How do we switch? Do I have to go through my TA, change when we get on the ship or just call CCL?
thanks,
Jan

[Bluemoon319]

Thanks for the link, Momofzeke. It bummed me out a little, though. I'm still debating between Glory or Valor for this Dec. & neither offer it yet. I reluctantly signed up for it on the Legend this past Aug. by my sister's request. I like when the waiters get to know the little idiosycrasies of what you like at dinner. I was so glad I did, though. It was so much more relaxed. All the open dining tables were in one area. I don't know how they did it, but our waiters always knew how we liked things. This was the 1st ship I've been on that offered open dining. I tought it was someting new for all their ships. Oh, well. Can't let that put a damper on things. Thanks again for the link.

[cruisegirl29]

[quote name='Bluemoon319']Thanks for the link, Momofzeke. It bummed me out a little, though. I'm still debating between Glory or Valor for this Dec. & neither offer it yet. I reluctantly signed up for it on the Legend this past Aug. by my sister's request. I like when the waiters get to know the little idiosycrasies of what you like at dinner. I was so glad I did, though. It was so much more relaxed. All the open dining tables were in one area. I don't know how they did it, but our waiters always knew how we liked things. This was the 1st ship I've been on that offered open dining. I tought it was someting new for all their ships. Oh, well. Can't let that put a damper on things. Thanks again for the link.[/QUOTE]

I would call Carnival directly & ask them if they have anytime dining on a particular ship as I notice the link is not up to date.

Just my 2 cents!
Happy sailing,
Sue

[gizfish]

Has anyone had experience with making a reservation for the same time, same table every night in anytime dining?