Set dinning time vs. your time dinning

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. I am sailing on carnival, we are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

Thank you in advance for your time on this!!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You may want to post this in the section for the cruise line you will be sailing with.

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. We are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

 

Thank you in advance for your time on this!!

Welcome to cruise critic. I preferred the way they did the anytime dining on Celebrity. They asked if you would like to join others. Some nights we did and some we didn't. This worked perfectly for us. We never waited long any time on any of the lines that we did anytime dining but one night we knew we would have because of our all aboard time so we booked a specialty restaurant for that night.

How do I post it under the cruise line? I am sorry this is the first time I am posting. I am cruising on carnival

Your time DINING is when you go anytime you want, within the open hours. However, if you want to see shows, it's up to YOU to schedule your meals around the show times. If you do traditional, the shows are scheduled around YOUR dining time! YTD is more like going to a land restaurant (although the menu is the same for everyone!)..you are seated with your own party at the next avail. table.

If you do traditional, your table is there, waiting for you.

Same menu, same service, same dress code.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215 < link to the carnival board

If you reserved a time in My-time dinning, so you don't have to wait..and it clashes with your show..just cancel the reservation and show up at a later time after the show or earlier..

We waited for 15 mins at most for a table when we didn't have reservation

We have cruised 4 times on Carnival and opted for Your Time Dining every time. It has worked perfectly for us. We have had to wait on a couple of occasions, but never for more than 15 minutes or so. They give you a buzzer that lets you know when your table is ready, so we always went and looked around the duty free shops while we waited.

Personally we much prefer traditional.

No need to book, no need to wait, same table, same waiter every night, fits prefect with show times. Fits us may or may not fit you.

We have done Anytime (or whatever the line calls it) on Norwegian and Holland America (and have it specified again on the HAL ship we leave on in a week). Obviously we like it.

If you are flexible about your seating, you will do fine and meet an assortment of people. We have never waited longer than it took a 'seater' to return to the podium to lead us in. Never even saw a buzzer. When the host/ess asks what sort of table you want, if you say "Whatever makes YOUR life easier" you will get the biggest smile on the planet.

If you want to make a set reservation for the same table and the same server, why not just do Traditional? That I don't get.

We have done Anytime (or whatever the line calls it) on Norwegian and Holland America (and have it specified again on the HAL ship we leave on in a week). Obviously we like it.

 

If you are flexible about your seating, you will do fine and meet an assortment of people. We have never waited longer than it took a 'seater' to return to the podium to lead us in. Never even saw a buzzer. When the host/ess asks what sort of table you want, if you say "Whatever makes YOUR life easier" you will get the biggest smile on the planet.

If you want to make a set reservation for the same table and the same server, why not just do Traditional? That I don't get.

Agree 110% and we like the same table and the same server, though I am having 2nd thoughts about how to handle it on a long ie over 10 weeks cruise, maybe even longer than 5 weeks.

We HATE Any Time! We won't cruise NCL because that's all they offer. Once we had to wait 40 minutes for a table, twice said we wanted to share a table and were given a table for 2. On Carnival's Sunshine I have seen a long (stopped counting at 50) line for people signing up for the time they wanted dinner.

We know we will sit down at our table at 8:15. After my husband tells the waiter he wants milk he doesn't have to ask again. The waiter knows and brings it each night. Same for those who want coffee. Our waiters have always called us by name each night. We have met wonderful people at our table and have cruised every year with our tablemates we met in 2006. If we only ate one night with them we wouldn't have gotten to know how much we enjoy each other's company. Three times they have driven from Flint, MI to our house on the NC coast then we drive together to a ship.

I do have to say we have changed tables once or twice. Once we were the only Americans at two tables of a family from India, some of whom didn't speak English. Other time we were with people in their late 70's and even 80's. All they talked about was their medication and what they were for. If you are unhappy with your table the maître'd will change tables for you.

We have done Anytime (or whatever the line calls it) on Norwegian and Holland America (and have it specified again on the HAL ship we leave on in a week). Obviously we like it.

 

If you are flexible about your seating, you will do fine and meet an assortment of people. We have never waited longer than it took a 'seater' to return to the podium to lead us in. Never even saw a buzzer. When the host/ess asks what sort of table you want, if you say "Whatever makes YOUR life easier" you will get the biggest smile on the planet.

 

If you want to make a set reservation for the same table and the same server, why not just do Traditional? That I don't get.

You don't get to pick your table or your server with traditional so that may be the answer to your question.

I always email the Maître'd and ask for the kind & size of the table we want and its location. I also ask for the age of our tablemates so we don't get 25 year olds or older than us. When we get on board we can see the Maître'd and ask table location & age of others at out table if we want to just to make sure we have what we want- always have! We have always had a good table and all of the waiters have been great!

Have to agree with BonnieJ, and that's the reason we won't go on NCL again. We ALWAYS got a beeper and waited anywhere from 15 to 4O minutes to be beeped for a table. The joke got to be that "Anytime Dining" meant anytime THEY were ready. Frequently when we're traveling in a small group, 4 or 6 we request "anytime", but same table, same time every night only because for us, the early sitting is a tad too early and the late sitting is a tad too late. If it's just us, we do prefer 2nd sitting as we like to sit at a larger table with the same table mates, and the same staff.

This is my first time posting I am sorry if this has been asked before. I am sailing on carnival, we are going back and fourth with the set dinning time vs. the your time dinning. I was wondering if any of you have done the your time dinning? If so, what did you think? Did you have long wait times waiting for a table? Did you get the same treatment as you would in the set dinning time?

I've always done Your Time Dining on my cruises. I think it works well for me and my preferences. I haven't experienced any long waiting times. I've never done set dining on a cruise, so I don't know for certain how different it would be. But by reading posts here and talking to others, I have some idea of how they would be different.

My suggestion is that you should be inclined to choose traditional dining if:

* You know you always want to eat at one of the times available

* You have a large group (6 or more)

* You want to dine with a large group of people you haven't previously met

* You want your wait staff to get to know you and your preferences

* You have a lot of preferences for your wait staff to get to know

* You want to spend a lot of time at the shows in the main theater

* You want to be sure to see the wait staff put on a show

And be inclined to choose Your Time if:

* You want to eat when you're hungry and not at some specific time every day

* You want to eat by yourselves

* You're not too finicky about where you sit or who serves you

* You don't mind waiting a bit to be seated

We love the flexibility of My Time Dining and would never want to go back to Fixed! :)

LuLu

I've done both, and I guess it all depends on how you feel about the flexibility anytime dining affords you. I myself prefer traditional dining, and enjoy having the same table and wait staff.