Traditional Dining or Flexible Dining???

Just out of curiousity.....

What would you choose - Traditional Dining or Flexible Dining?

Traditional Dining - you are assigned a table for either early or late seating and sit at the same table nightly.

Flexible Dining - show up any time between 5:30 and 8:30 and sit where they seat you.

Traditional dining.

I want to get to know my wait staff and tablemates and I especially like it when my wait staff starts to learn my preferences and I don't have to always ask for things (e.g. lemon slices for my water, decaf cappuccino, etc).

We can have flexible dining anytime....traditional dining is one of those things that makes a cruise special (and my kids agree, so it's not just a generation thing, at least in our home).

You know you are asking most who have never tried it and don't want change. So I can pretty much tell you the traditional will win.

Now put this poll on a board that already has the choice and you will see a different outcome;)

I like the fact that I can wait in my cabin until almost time for dinner and then walk right in and sit at my table. No waiting in line for a table. I also like the same waiter each night. We get to know each other and I can depend on him to remember things like the cappucino and the chocolate melting cake.

Just out of curiousity.....

 

What would you choose - Traditional Dining or Flexible Dining?

 

Traditional Dining - you are assigned a table for either early or late seating and sit at the same table nightly.

 

Flexible Dining - show up any time between 5:30 and 8:30 and sit where they seat you.

It depends on the cruise and cruise line, but as a rule I choose traditional-late. I always request a large table, I enjoy getting to meet new folks and breaking bread with them. I find the service is often better and more fun as well.

That said, there are times when fixed dining does interfere with other activities. To handle that I let the table and staff know the night before that I/we will not be at dinner the next night and then show up at flexible dining as it suits my needs. It has never been a problem.

Two other points, when I do such I never deduct the extra per day tip I give the wait staff at my assigned table and I do tip the flex dining wait staff the evening I partake of their service as well.

You know you are asking most who have never tried it and don't want change. So I can pretty much tell you the traditional will win.

Now put this poll on a board that already has the choice and you will see a different outcome;)

Good Point. But now that Carnival is going to test the waters, I wonder how many people it will appeal to. I bet, if anyone, it will appeal to first time cruisers who do not want to stick to a schedule. For me, BTW, I would always pick traditional - it is one of those things that we enjoy the most about cruising.

Cat

We like the flexible dining option. We tried it on our Princess cruises and LOVED it. Our HAL cruise coming up in October offers it as well, which is one of the reasons we're trying HAL. Usually there will be 2 dining rooms. One traditional, one flexible - makes everyone happy.

Cathy

That said, there are times when fixed dining does interfere with other activities. To handle that I let the table and staff know the night before that I/we will not be at dinner the next night and then show up at flexible dining as it suits my needs. It has never been a problem. ]

With the new program, you have to let Carnival know BEFORE the cruise if you want traditional or flexible dining. You would have to stick with one for the entire cruise. This is for the dining room ONLY. You can of course, choose to eat at the Buffet at any time.

Cat

Good Point. But now that Carnival is going to test the waters, I wonder how many people it will appeal to. I bet, if anyone, it will appeal to first time cruisers who do not want to stick to a schedule. For me, BTW, I would always pick traditional - it is one of those things that we enjoy the most about cruising.

 

Cat

I think once they try it for themselves some will change their minds. Not sure why you think only first time cruisers would be interested lol! It's best of both worlds IMO!

I'll take flexible and 10 restaurants!:cool:

I did flexible on Princess and didn't like it as much because we had to reserve our table early in the morning for that night, so we had to tie ourselves down to a specific time anyway. If you don't reserve the time you want you may end up waiting, which we like even less.

With traditional you don't have to think about it, you don't have to reserve a time or wait. You show up when it's time, you get to know table mates as well as the wait staff. Works better for us and we did try both.

Having done both on different cruise lines, I would have to say traditional - for the reasons already stated. The main one is just being able to walk in and see the same staff every evening that already know your preferences - have your wine ready, etc.

Agree with the poster that mentioned you have to make reservations for anytime dining (at least on Princess) - which to me sort of defeats the purpose. Also, it took them a long time to find the wine from the previous evening since we weren't at the same table each night.

I like Traditional because you get to become good friends with the people you are with. Every cruise i've been on, we have become good friends with our dinner-mates.

I would choose traditional dining. We did have "Freestyle" dining on NCL, and we realized that one of our favorite parts of cruising is getting to know tablemates and having the same servers. We really missed that!

With the new program, you have to let Carnival know BEFORE the cruise if you want traditional or flexible dining. You would have to stick with one for the entire cruise. This is for the dining room ONLY. You can of course, choose to eat at the Buffet at any time.

 

Cat

You may need to pick BEFORE and I am fine with that, and want such. But regarding there is no option after the fact to swap a night from fixed to anytime... ok, if you say so. Like I said there has never been a problem. If you don't mind however, I'll stick to how I have been doing it for quite a while now and described in my post.

But regarding there is no option after the fact to swap a night from fixed to anytime... ok, if you say so. .

During the upcoming test on Legend, thats how it will work. Im guessing they want it fixed, so they can get a true gauge of how it will function. It woud be problematic to have people flip flopping from one night to the next.

I want traditional...late seating. Still have time for excursions and no rush before dinner. Had flexible on one of those "other" cruise lines and didn't like it at all. Seems as though everyone was hungry at the same time and we didn't take kindly to a waiting list :(

Agree with the poster that mentioned you have to make reservations for anytime dining (at least on Princess) - which to me sort of defeats the purpose. Also, it took them a long time to find the wine from the previous evening since we weren't at the same table each night.

I agree that would defeat the purpose.

We never waited for a table for dinner on Princess. And we never made reservations. We had a party of 6.

Not sure why they had a hard time finding your wine. They just asked our name. It was brought right to us.

I like Traditional because you get to become good friends with the people you are with. Every cruise i've been on, we have become good friends with our dinner-mates.

Then you are indeed lucky.

While there have been some cruises where we've met some wonderful people and had a lot of laughs at dinner, there've been some doozies along the way.

We've had one couple that hardly spoke a word. One couple that should have stayed in their room because they were all over each other every night. One couple who were the biggest bigots I've ever met. One guy who was such a wine snob that he put down the choices other people at the table made. One guy who flashed around tips so much that it got embarrassing, even for the wait staff. He was eventually told by the maitre d' to handle it at the end of the cruise.

After 40+ cruises, a table for 2 is mandatory and the only way that's guaranteed is with flexible dining.

We've done it on Princess, HAL & NCL and have rarely had the long waits people talk about. We get to the dining room between 8-8:30 and are normally seated immediately. Maybe once or twice during a couple of cruises we've had to wait no longer than 10 minutes. I can handle that.

And we haven't found the level of service or food quality to be any different.

During the upcoming test on Legend, thats how it will work. Im guessing they want it fixed, so they can get a true gauge of how it will function. It woud be problematic to have people flip flopping from one night to the next.

I see it now, the show or event you want to attend occurs during your seating time in the dining room (and NO they do not always have two shows or events nor do they always schedule them so not to conflict) and the crew that will bend over backwards to provide great service says "Sir, if you want to see the show/event that is occurring during your assigned seating you MAY NOT attend the anytime/flexible dining this evening and must go eat in the buffet or go with out" … OK, I see that occurring, yeah right.

Now I am not saying swap back and forth every other night. However, if you are trying to tell me there will be no allowance made to accommodate the situation… well, think whatever you must to keep yourself happy.

I would choose flexible if if were just 2 of 4 of us sailing together. If my group were 6 or more I would choose traditional.

Then you are indeed lucky.

 

While there have been some cruises where we've met some wonderful people and had a lot of laughs at dinner, there've been some doozies along the way.

 

We've had one couple that hardly spoke a word. One couple that should have stayed in their room because they were all over each other every night. One couple who were the biggest bigots I've ever met. One guy who was such a wine snob that he put down the choices other people at the table made. One guy who flashed around tips so much that it got embarrassing, even for the wait staff. He was eventually told by the maitre d' to handle it at the end of the cruise.

 

After 40+ cruises, a table for 2 is mandatory and the only way that's guaranteed is with flexible dining.

 

We've done it on Princess, HAL & NCL and have rarely had the long waits people talk about. We get to the dining room between 8-8:30 and are normally seated immediately. Maybe once or twice during a couple of cruises we've had to wait no longer than 10 minutes. I can handle that.

 

And we haven't found the level of service or food quality to be any different.

I don't get it, is it not the "doozies" that make a great story to tell for years after the cruise? Perhaps after 40+ cruises you have become a bit jaded even grumpy, persnickety? I am sure I will always hope you will get the table for two you require and never have to share a table with anyone else lest you become the story for others to tell in the years to come.

Definite vote for flexible dining. Tried it on Princess and NCL and it worked really well (and with various sized groups from 2 to 11). Rarely had to wait for longer than the time it took to set up a table. And on those occasions where a wait was involved, it was no more than a few minutes. Traditional dining doesn't appeal to me, never did really; though it obviously hasn't stopped me from cruising. :D

I'm not particularly anti-social, but I usually prefer to dine with my travel group. Unfortunately, when it's only two, that can be a problem with traditional seating. I know all too well that flex dining doesn't appeal to everyone, but personally, it makes for a much more enjoyable and relaxing cruise experience.