Dinner Time on River Cruises

We have been on two river cruises with Viking. Dinner was served on both at 7 pm.

I was wondering if that is the standard time for other river cruise lines?

Thanks for any information you care to share.

On our Uniworld Danube cruise, dinner was served at 7:00 pm.

Avalon was 7pm as well

and YES,7 is normal time. Ex.when shore excursions may cause to vary.Then may be early(6) or even late (8) depending on city,excursion time,et. But they do POST times every day.:)

Vantage dinner time is 7pm.

AMA dinnertime was nominally 7pm as well. There were some instances where it was a bit earlier (I think 6:30 was the earliest) or later (7:45 was the latest), to work around late afternoon or evening events.

7 pm is the norm ...

I thought it was open seating, come whenever you liked? Not a set time? We are later eaters, so would probably go towards the end of service.

I thought it was open seating, come whenever you liked? Not a set time? We are later eaters, so would probably go towards the end of service.

Not on Avalon, everyone is virtually served together, we were in the dining room till about 9.30 or a bit later. The only night that it wasnt at 7, was in Vienna when people were going on the concert tour.

Travelbug, set time for everyone but no reserved tables (open seating)

Okay, got it! So if you want certain seats, I guess you need to get there early! Does it become a scene like a line of cattle?

What happens if you arrive 7:15 or 7:30?

Okay, got it! So if you want certain seats, I guess you need to get there early! Does it become a scene like a line of cattle?

 

What happens if you arrive 7:15 or 7:30?

There's so few passengers that seating for dinner takes just a few minutes. There's no big line since everyone selects their own table and seats themselves.

On Uniworld, the cruise director would have a little update and short discussion about the following day (timing of arrivals, tours, etc) in the lounge around 6:15 or 6:30. Then dinner followed in the dining room.

If you arrive late and are sitting with others, the only downside is to the waitstaff trying to coordinate pacing of the meal for 2 or more parties at one table and having to remain on duty longer than normal--though we've never been run out of the dining room after dinner and have sat and talked with other passengers.

Okay, got it! So if you want certain seats, I guess you need to get there early! Does it become a scene like a line of cattle?

 

What happens if you arrive 7:15 or 7:30?

We ended up sitting with the same group of people most evenings (as did most other people), so even if one table isn't available, we were able to find another table so we were all able to sit together. One evening we were the first ones in our group to enter the dining room, but someone else was at the table we'd been using, so we just found another table. The nice thing about river cruising is there aren't that many people on the boat, so there's no crowd or cattle lines like there tend to be on regular cruises. We also had a night or two where other people joined our group (one night we were left without a place to sit), so we joined another table. With it being such a small group of people, you get to know most everyone. It's really fun.

:D

We ended up sitting with the same group of people most evenings (as did most other people), so even if one table isn't available, we were able to find another table so we were all able to sit together. One evening we were the first ones in our group to enter the dining room, but someone else was at the table we'd been using, so we just found another table. The nice thing about river cruising is there aren't that many people on the boat, so there's no crowd or cattle lines like there tend to be on regular cruises. We also had a night or two where other people joined our group (one night we were left without a place to sit), so we joined another table. With it being such a small group of people, you get to know most everyone. It's really fun.

You mean there were no " good nuts" on your cruise?:D

Terri

ON our AmaCello Rhine cruise last week, dinner time ranged from 6:30 to 7:30, if I recall correctly; it varied each day because of the daily itineraries.

For seating, it was never a problem. We preferred tables for 2. There were 9 of them and we'd cycle around the dining room. We always found one for each meal (including breakfast & lunch, that was probably 19 seatings allowing for lunches off the ship)

Interesting: so advice please. One of the things we greatly disliked about our only river cruise (Viking) was the fixed time for dinner. With a full ship, there was a line for dinner 10 minutes before that time, and a mad rush to grab tables for the "open" seating.

All our other cruises have been at sea, with truly open seating and flexible times - typically you can show up between 7 and 9.30 and have your choice of seating (actually be shown to a table by the staff).

Is there any European river cruise line that offers any flexibility of dinner time? Many thanks for your feedback.

:D

 

You mean there were no " good nuts" on your cruise?:D

Terri

No, not a nut in sight! lol We had a lovely time. Everyone was so friendly. It was such a pleasant experience. I am really looking forward to hearing about your upcoming cruise. :)

Interesting: so advice please. One of the things we greatly disliked about our only river cruise (Viking) was the fixed time for dinner. With a full ship, there was a line for dinner 10 minutes before that time, and a mad rush to grab tables for the "open" seating.

 

All our other cruises have been at sea, with truly open seating and flexible times - typically you can show up between 7 and 9.30 and have your choice of seating (actually be shown to a table by the staff).

 

Is there any European river cruise line that offers any flexibility of dinner time? Many thanks for your feedback.

Considering the small numbers on a River Cruise, I suspect that they all expect you to arrive within the first 15-20 minutes of dinner time. (Breakfast and lunch are flexible).

I had heard complaints about crowding on Viking, but on AMA there wasn't a big line-up (perhaps a dozen or so when they opened the doors) and it seemed that everyone was always satisfactorily seated as they arrived.

Can anyone comment on the dinner time on the Tauck cruises?

Thanks,

Terri

To be honest, I find it hard to imagine many situations where I'd have a need to eat more than 15 minutes after dinner time. In almost every situation, we'd be sailing anyway, and it's not as if there would be other conflicting activities aboard.

I'd assume that if you were to arrive more than 20 minutes after the start of service, you'd be seated with a table who are likely already eating. Your choice might be limited by availability, but I'm certain that the staff would do their utmost to accommodate you. (I'd expect a polite reminder of the request to arrive within 20 minutes might be proffered).

However, if you are planning on arriving late, I'm certain that alternative arrangements could be made - just with advance notice.

@MarkBearSF -- Thank you very much for the reply. It is the contrast with flexible dining in a sea cruise ship that is most striking. We are frequent floaters on a line that typically carries only 2-3 times as many passengers as a river cruise boat, and yet it manages to cope with flexible dining -- arrival any time from 7 to 9.30 is no problem. (Dinners there are also often "at sea".)

It's not that we are antisocial, but on Viking (our only river cruise in the last 10 years), the scrum for tables and standing in the long line every evening stretching almost the whole length of the ship really frustrated and annoyed us -- if no line offers anything different, it will make us think twice about a repeat.

There was a hint that Tauck might be different -- does anybody know?

"the scrum for tables and standing in the long line every evening stretching almost the whole length of the ship"

This is what I'm really not looking forward to. We will lag behind to avoid this.

"the scrum for tables and standing in the long line every evening stretching almost the whole length of the ship"

 

This is what I'm really not looking forward to. We will lag behind to avoid this.

There was nothing like this on the AmaCello a couple of weeks ago. Like I said, perhaps a dozen people at opening (divided up between 2 staircases and doors) and no rush or hassle as the passengers all arrived within a few minutes.

Over the past year, posts with these complaints seem to come mostly from passengers on Viking longships. I would not expect a scrum of any sort on Tauck.

We are on Viking, but not a long ship.

@MarkBearSF -- Thank you very much for the reply. It is the contrast with flexible dining in a sea cruise ship that is most striking. We are frequent floaters on a line that typically carries only 2-3 times as many passengers as a river cruise boat, and yet it manages to cope with flexible dining -- arrival any time from 7 to 9.30 is no problem. (Dinners there are also often "at sea".)

 

It's not that we are antisocial, but on Viking (our only river cruise in the last 10 years), the scrum for tables and standing in the long line every evening stretching almost the whole length of the ship really frustrated and annoyed us -- if no line offers anything different, it will make us think twice about a repeat.

 

There was a hint that Tauck might be different -- does anybody know?

We sailed with Tauck Amsterdam-Budapest in September 2011 on the MS Treasures with 106 other souls and never once saw any problems at dinner. The nominal times for dinner were usually 7-9.30 and no one frowned nor did the wait staff ignore you if you arrived after 7pm. There was no rush for tables and as an Aussie I can confirm there were no scrums. People usually move down from the bar to the dinning room as they finished their pre-dinner drinks, took a seat with new or old friends and started another fine meal. On one occasion a group of us had dinner in the Lido and had a magnificent evening.

I believe many of the "dining problems" come about because there are upwards of 160 to 200+ passengers on the boat. With Tauck you can relax knowing that currently their maximum is 118 passengers. Dining on a Tauck boat was not a hassle for us.