Your time dining or set dining?

What type of dining do you prefer and why? Last year we chose set dining but this year I have us down for your time dining. I know with this dining option we will not be seated with the same people or have the same waiter every night, but are there any other drawbacks?

Hi,

You CAN be seated with the same wait staff each night!

IF you find a server you like just ask to be seated in that same area of the MDR every night. We always do that and they get to know you just as if you had them in set dining.

We don't sit with other people unless we meet folks whose company we enjoy . Then we arrange to meet them at dinner to be seated together. Otherwise we like having a table for 2 each night. We will only sail these days with Anytime Dining!

I will only do your time dining. Our last cruise was on Disney which has set dining and that pretty much sealed it for me, not a fan.

And yes, you can get the same server every night. However, the last night of our 2013 cruise, we would have had to wait (5 minutes) if we wanted our original server so we opted for another area. And the new server was even BETTER!! Sad we didn't try it earlier in the week.

Hi,

You CAN be seated with the same wait staff each night!

IF you find a server you like just ask to be seated in that same area of the MDR every night. We always do that and they get to know you just as if you had them in set dining.

We don't sit with other people unless we meet folks whose company we enjoy . Then we arrange to meet them at dinner to be seated together. Otherwise we like having a table for 2 each night. We will only sail these days with Anytime Dining!

Thanks for your reply! Good to know that we can request to be seated with a certain wait staff if we choose.

You mention that you do not sit with other people unless you arrange to be seated together...does everyone have the option of sitting by themselves? I wasn't sure if maybe only smaller parties have that option.

If I was going with a larger group (8 or more) I would choose traditional dining to set a standard place and time to meet for dinner. I have seen larger groups have to wait for a table on anytime while we walked right in. Otherwise it is anytime for us. You tell them when you arrive how big a table you need and if you would prefer to sit in a particular area/wait staff area. You may need to get a beeper if you want that but we have never waited over 15 minutes (on elegant night) and have only received a beeper a couple times. I prefer the flexiblity of eating with just our group when we want to and not be trapped to a schedule. Especially on Port days.

We had the early seating and next time will go with anytime. It was stressful getting the kids ready at a certain time and most of the time, the youngest didn't make it through the whole meal anyway. Our waiter wasn't anything special, so maybe that colors my preference now too.

Dining is a very personal experience. We like set dining because we usually have a pretty large group, last time it was 18 and that is "our" time to get together and connect. Even though we changed "chairs" every night our wait staff got to know us and it was nice to get our food and drinks the way we like it without having to explain night after night. But then, we like our slow dinners...we were always the last group to leave since the teens had to wait until 10 anyway for their activities to open up.

For small families and couples I am sure anytime dining will work well. Just remember that ship board dining isn't a fast food restaurant that wants to turn tables every 45 minutes. The wait staff are often working with passengers they don't know so it does take more time. Remember that 2 tops are inches apart so that privacy doesn't factor in, and that 7 pm is choice seating and, though, you may get seated quickly it is the time when the dining room is full so things just won't be as speedy as they are at opening.

In the event you are unhappy with your wait staff you can also tell the hostess at the next meal to make sure you are not seated with him/her again.

Seating is done like in a restaurant on land. You walk up to the counter, give your cabin number and say ,Table for ----(insert the number in your party)

You are seated with the number of people you choose(2, 4, etc.) IF you are a large group then you should check to see if they can accommodate that size group at one table. You are not seated with other people unless you specifically ask for that option.

We've only done ATD and I wouldn't choose anything else. I am on vacation with my family and don't want to share dinnertime with anyone else. I don't want to sit with other people's children or hear about their day really. I don't mind small talk across the tables (they are very close together) but if I don't want to continue then the conversation can drift to an end without the awkwardness of being seated at the same table as the people you no longer want to converse with.

We've only done ATD and I wouldn't choose anything else. I am on vacation with my family and don't want to share dinnertime with anyone else. I don't want to sit with other people's children or hear about their day really. I don't mind small talk across the tables (they are very close together) but if I don't want to continue then the conversation can drift to an end without the awkwardness of being seated at the same table as the people you no longer want to converse with.

I agree with you on this! I know that some people are social and like this type of seating, but I want to feel relaxed at dinner and not feel as though I have to keep up a conversation. I am glad to know that we will be seated by ourselves with this style of dining!

Dining is a very personal experience. We like set dining because we usually have a pretty large group, last time it was 18 and that is "our" time to get together and connect. Even though we changed "chairs" every night our wait staff got to know us and it was nice to get our food and drinks the way we like it without having to explain night after night. But then, we like our slow dinners...we were always the last group to leave since the teens had to wait until 10 anyway for their activities to open up.

 

For small families and couples I am sure anytime dining will work well. Just remember that ship board dining isn't a fast food restaurant that wants to turn tables every 45 minutes. The wait staff are often working with passengers they don't know so it does take more time. Remember that 2 tops are inches apart so that privacy doesn't factor in, and that 7 pm is choice seating and, though, you may get seated quickly it is the time when the dining room is full so things just won't be as speedy as they are at opening.

I agree, if you have a large party, set timing is probably better. And we have kids. Getting the 4 of us ready to be at dinner at an exact time is just miserable to me.

We always sat alone, and most nights our kids ate in the club so we were a table for 2. One thing that I loved is that I would take my kids to eat with the club and THEN go back to my cabin to leisurely get ready with a glass of wine because we it didn't matter when we arrived at dinner.

After 33 cruises, DH and I finally tried anytime dining on the Sensation last week and we really liked it. We could still get a table for 2 and could still sit in the same section every night where our friendly waiter from a previous Legend cruise was working. Our bottle of wine we didn't finish the night before was easily retrieved for us. We ate between 6:30-7pm each night and didn't have to wait in line.

We've done ATD on both the Breeze and Legend and really liked it. No wait, always seated somewhere pleasant, all servers were fantastic. On our family cruise we did Late Seating because there were 15 of us and the Legend staff had kindly setup a single long table for our group. Last cruise on the Paradise we reverted back to ATD. What a mistake. 30 minute waits minimum. Showed up at different times, but did not seem to matter. Wait for Cruise Elegant night was so long we ended up in the Lido buffet. Upcoming Alaska cruise we are reverting back to Late Seating ... we'll request a large table and enjoy a more social experience. :)

Anytime dining fixed every negative I held over the traditional dining.

Now I can eat when I want and with who I want. No more eating at an assigned time even if I had been starving for hours with a group of strangers who want to keep of meaningless conversation.

When I go with my parents and siblings, we choose early seating. There are usually between 15-20 of us so it is difficult for us to get tables together with your time. When it is just DH and I, then we go with your time so we don't have to keep to a schedule.

I have only done late dining and I am sticking with it! We have met some wonderful people and I look forward to going to dinner to see what everyone did at port that day. The waitstaff gets to know you and your preferences too. I think eating alone gets boring.. We do that at home!

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Yourtime dining is my choice. I like to go as early as possible and get out quicker. With set dining, if one person is late they can throw off the service

I still cruise for Warm Chocolate Melting Cake (with 2 sugar-free vanilla ice-creams)

What type of dining do you prefer and why? Last year we chose set dining but this year I have us down for your time dining. I know with this dining option we will not be seated with the same people or have the same waiter every night, but are there any other drawbacks?

You can request the same wait staff each evening, they have almost always been able to do that for us. We by far prefer the flexibility of your time dining. Last year we booked at the last minute and were assigned early seating and found we never felt like eating at a set time.

We loved the freedom of anytime dining. We got hooked when we went on NCL. At first I was leery of it because trying to get everyone motivated to go to dinner might have been difficult if there wasn't a set deadline. However, it worked great on NCL. One major difference though. On NCL, if there was a wait they would give you a buzzer and a free glass of champagne. On Carnival, you just get the buzzer. Go buy your own drinks...

If I was going with a larger group (8 or more) I would choose traditional dining to set a standard place and time to meet for dinner. I have seen larger groups have to wait for a table on anytime while we walked right in. Otherwise it is anytime for us. You tell them when you arrive how big a table you need and if you would prefer to sit in a particular area/wait staff area. You may need to get a beeper if you want that but we have never waited over 15 minutes (on elegant night) and have only received a beeper a couple times. I prefer the flexiblity of eating with just our group when we want to and not be trapped to a schedule. Especially on Port days.

I would second this, except if my party is more than 4. ATD works great with 2 or even 4; when we have been 5 is has been a disaster - waits of 30-45 minutes many nights. Also, with the kids, they prefer the anytime as it is easier to get the same staff.And, they know that they have to be clean, dressed and ready to be in the dining room at 6.

We have done YTD since it came out. I hated getting corralled with a group of people I don't know and don't want to know. We have had excellent waiter with YTD. Love the freedom to eat when we want to and change wait staff if he mood strikes us. After doing YTD I would never go back to traditional dining and would opt for the Lido buffet if forced into it.

I prefer anytime dining. It's less stressful for me to get ready after being in port all day. Also, I don't feel so guilty if I choose to eat at the buffet one night. Our group of 6 had to get a buzzer once on our 7 night cruise and I'm not sure we even had a 15 minute wait.

A lot of people like set dining times, but I kind of like the your time dining. That way I don't feel hurried when I get back from a port, or I can eat when I'm hungry. But it's just a matter of personal preference I think.

A lot of people like set dining times, but I kind of like the your time dining. That way I don't feel hurried when I get back from a port, or I can eat when I'm hungry. But it's just a matter of personal preference I think.

Yes I like YTD. Wish we could still keep same waiter.