Yet another question about fixed dining...

[ekuhlman]

We are booked on a June 2nd Volendam southbound from Seward to Vancouver. It's the 2nd part of our 14 day cruisetour. We booked the cruisetour last July.
We are currently waitlisted (#1 on the list according to our TA) for a 5:30 seating time in the Upper deck of the restaurant.
My question is this... there are one or two days when we KNOW that we will not be back from our scheduled port excursions in order to make the 5:30 dinner seating.
How does that work? Do we have to notify (or should we notify out of common courtesy) the Mater'd to let them know that we cannot make our reservation on that evening?
Also, we are having a Vows Renewal ceremony... won't know the date or time until we board... but again, how do we handle our "fixed" dining time of 5:30 if it interferes with that?
Do we then just assume that we will dine in the Lido on those nights?
Is our fixed reservation for the remainder of the cruise affected somehow if we simply don't show up on those occassions when we cannot make it.

Thanks for any advice / tips here.
It is appreciated.

[jhannah]

... there are one or two days when we KNOW that we will not be back from our scheduled port excursions in order to make the 5:30 dinner seating. ...Do we have to notify (or should we notify out of common courtesy) the Mater'd to let them know that we cannot make our reservation on that evening?Yes. You can let the dining room manager (what HAL now calls the Maitre d') or your table mates. That way they won't be waiting for you.

[hammybee]

Is our fixed reservation for the remainder of the cruise affected somehow if we simply don't show up on those occassions when we cannot make it.

Thanks for any advice / tips here.
It is appreciated.

The best way to protect your seat is to let the dining room staff/manager know in advance, when you will dine elsewhere, for the evening.

Your alternatives include diningin the Lido, Room Service or a splurge in the Pinnacle Grill which might be nice following your ROV ceremony.

[Frosty 77]

I'm having trouble understanding this- if you have fixed dining and you miss your scheduled meal, then you can't eat in the dining room?

But if you have AYW, then you could eat whenever you please?

It seems to me that they could be flexible with the fixed people, but maybe they just aren't?


I don't know what we have- the q has been posed to the TA. But if we have fixed, is it relatively easy to switch to AYW?

[twinkletoes4445]

I'm having trouble understanding this- if you have fixed dining and you miss your scheduled meal, then you can't eat in the dining room?

When you have fixed (traditional), you have to show up at a specific time, and if you miss your time, you are out of luck eating in the dining room. However, there's always the Lido and room service.

But if you have AYW, then you could eat whenever you please?

AYWD is during certain hours. It's more flexible. If you want to eat one night at 7:00, you can do that...and if you want to eat at 8:00 on another, you can do that also.

It seems to me that they could be flexible with the fixed people, but maybe they just aren't?

I'm not sure how they could be flexible with fixed. That's why they have the AYWD...for those that don't want to be held to a specific dining schedule. We prefer fixed. We like having dinner at the same time, with the same people, and the same staff each night. Although, it sounds like you can get this by making "reservations" for AYWD.

I don't know what we have- the q has been posed to the TA. But if we have fixed, is it relatively easy to switch to AYW?

I think I've read that HAL will allow you to make one switch. It seems that it would be easier to go from fixed to AYWD. At least from what I have read, the fixed dining seems to book first.

As much as we want no part of the AYWD, there are people who feel exactly opposite of the way we do. It is nice to have choices. :)

[Frosty 77]

I'm not sure how they could be flexible with fixed. That's why they have the AYWD...for those that don't want to be held to a specific dining schedule. We prefer fixed. We like having dinner at the same time, with the same people, and the same staff each night. Although, it sounds like you can get this by making "reservations" for AYWD.


What I meant was, if you have fixed dining, but miss it, it would seem like no major effort to let you dine with the AYWD crowd. It seems like the options are: you must eat at the same time every night _OR_ you can eat whenever you want (specific to the dining room).

I'm not really a social butterfly, so the "making new friends" bit does not appeal to me. But you're right- it's good to have choices.

I am resolved not to worry about it and just deal with it when we get on the ship. The Room Service option sounds great!

[Bill S]

Frosty77: I agree with you that it would seem that HAL should be a bit more flexible in allowing guests who cannot make their assigned traditional dining time dine with the AYWD crowd.

But, on our last HAL cruise we had traditional early seating and we had tablemates who had a renewal of vows ceremony which conflicted with early seating. They asked the maitre'd if they could dine with the open seating group and were given a flat "NO". They were told they could have either traditional OR AYWD, not both. They were really miffed about it, and chose to eat in the Lido that evening. I wonder what would have happened if our tablemates had just advised the maitre'd or our table stewards that they would not be dining that night, and then showed up in the upstairs dining room with the AYWD folks. I do not know if the AYWD staff checks cabin numbers to determine if those diners have elected/been assigned to AYWD.

[Two if by Sea]

If they allowed people with Fixed dining to switch to Open Seating some night on a whim, then there would be NO advantange to signing up for Open Seating in the first place.

You would have EVERYONE sign up for fixed (if they let you) and people would be feeling even MORE put upon if it was full, and then a lot of those people would go downstairs, overflowing the open seating area and making it unmanageable and leaving Fixed dining half-empty every night.

[twinkletoes4445]

What I meant was, if you have fixed dining, but miss it, it would seem like no major effort to let you dine with the AYWD crowd. It seems like the options are: you must eat at the same time every night _OR_ you can eat whenever you want (specific to the dining room).

I'm not really a social butterfly, so the "making new friends" bit does not appeal to me. But you're right- it's good to have choices.

I am resolved not to worry about it and just deal with it when we get on the ship. The Room Service option sounds great!

Ahhhh....I see what you mean. The problem with doing that would be that I'd imagine they allow a certain number of people for both dining times and if they let one move to the other, it might cause a problem. Imagine if half the "fixed" decided to do the flexible. Probably wouldn't happen, but it could cause real issues in the dining room.

We're not big social butterfly's either, so we'd rather not meet new people each night at dinner. And I really don't want to have to "phone ahead" each day for reservations, so we'll stick with the traditional dining service.

But with HAL you do have other options, which is nice. We're going to dine in our cabin a couple of nights (on our next cruise). :) The room service is awesome...the menu pretty extensive, and being able to "write in" breakfast items is nice. Hubby loves eggs Benedict...

[hammybee]

I was on one of the first sailings with Open Seating, in Alaska. It was apparent, at that time, that more passengers opted for fixed seating than tables were available. And so, a part of the open seating dining room was designated as fixed seating.

As the cruise progressed, and people became aware of the Open Seating option, people were bolting out of fixed seating. It was obvious to the most casual observer, that the crew had no idea when or where people were going to show for dinner.

Imagine the potential mayhem if passengers continued to be allowed to tie up seats in the fixed dining room and opt in and out, at whim. Imagine the lines for Open Seating that would ensue. Imagine those passengers who really wanted fixed seating, looking at all the empty seats, in the fixed dining room.

When passengers with fixed seating dine elsewhere, it is basic courtesy to let the dining room know, in advance. Else it delays service for the tablemates who showed on time, for dinner.

One time accommodations in the Open Seating area, especially if dining late, might be possible ( you don't ask/you don't get) if such an accommodation does not inconvenience those passengers who have a permanent Open Seating assignment.

Those who want to dine at their whim are indeed best served in Open Seating and need not take a fixed seating assignment that could go to others who intend to stay put.

For adhoc dining, the LIDO can't be beat.

[Two if by Sea]

Or they could sail with half the passengers and let everyone have everything.

But the fares would have to be double. Or not just double but more than double to make up for lost revenue onboard.

Hmm. Sounds like another cruise line.

[kakalina]

On our last cruise I chose traditional dining, DH ate in the Lido, every so often we would gather some friends together and eat in the AYWD times. We had no trouble or bother swithching back and forth in dining venues.
They do keep track of your cabin number now no matter which venue you choose. The HotMan told us they were keeping track of who was eating where and when to give them a better idea of what the pax are really doing and when they are doing it for future reference.

[hammybee]

I think the smaller the ship and the longer the cruise, the more flexibility might exist.

7 days runs with 2000+ passengers are a different ball game.

Tracking what passengers really do versus what they perceive they want, is good stuff. :)

[TessM]

We are booked on a June 2nd Volendam southbound from Seward to Vancouver. It's the 2nd part of our 14 day cruisetour. We booked the cruisetour last July.
We are currently waitlisted (#1 on the list according to our TA) for a 5:30 seating time in the Upper deck of the restaurant.

We are on the same cruise. My TA says that HAL can't tell her where I am on the waitlist for Traditional dining.

Can anybody think of a reason why this would be the case?

And, you booked last July for a June cruise and you were on the waitlist for Traditional? - Wow! So how far in advance does someone need to book with HAL to ensure they get traditional? -- I'm a solo cruiser and traditional dining is important to me. (I've done both Anytime and Traditional.) In fact, I initially booked with HAL because I thought (wrongly) that they only did traditional.