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Your Time Dining


grandmarnnurse
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Just a quick question. Thinking of booking on the Breeze for 2019. I haven’t sailed with Carnival since 2007, instead sailing with RCCL and NCL. We LOVE Freestyle Cruising with NCL, and dislike the set dining times and seated with other people on other lines. Can we avoid that by choosing YTD? Dining whenever we want and sit at only a table for two? Do we get to choose a different restaurant, like on NCL, or is it a set dining room. And is the dining room like a big banquet hall, or more like a restaurant, like we’ve had with NCL?

 

 

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Not like NCL , they advertise as 'Freestyle Dining', a different concept from CCL. Any time dining is in a set assigned dining room, but you can go eat at any time during the hours (typically 5:45-9:00 or so) and request whatever sized table you want. There are not as many 'for fee' restaurants and choices as there are on NCL. There are typically 2 main dining rooms on CCL ships - one larger one in the aft which is generally for set time dining and another DR in the middle of the ship for anytime dining which is smaller.

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Be warned that your "table for two" might be inches away from another Table for Two. Or, worse, it could be immediately adjacent to the traffic aisle between the hostess at the front desk and most seating (middle to back of restaurant). It was like dining on the racetrack at Indianapolis!

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Thank you, everyone, for your helpful answers. After trying NCL, and Freestyle Cruising, I can never go back to a set dining time. I like the freedom of going when I feel like it. Just too bad you don't have as big a variety of places to dine at for the evening meal, and I'm talking complimentary venues. And, yes, NCL offers a much bigger selection of Specialty restaurants, also. I'm not putting Carnival down--don't get me wrong! We always had a good experience on our Carnival cruises, but I guess we got spoiled by RCCL, and most recently, by NCL, and hoping we won't be disappointed by returning to Carnival for a cruise. The Breeze just looked like a neat, fun ship, and the price was right---not to mention I have some Carnival rewards I will be using towards this cruise. But for 2018 I will be setting sail on NCL again.

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Thank you, everyone, for your helpful answers. After trying NCL, and Freestyle Cruising, I can never go back to a set dining time. I like the freedom of going when I feel like it. Just too bad you don't have as big a variety of places to dine at for the evening meal, and I'm talking complimentary venues. And, yes, NCL offers a much bigger selection of Specialty restaurants, also. I'm not putting Carnival down--don't get me wrong! We always had a good experience on our Carnival cruises, but I guess we got spoiled by RCCL, and most recently, by NCL, and hoping we won't be disappointed by returning to Carnival for a cruise. The Breeze just looked like a neat, fun ship, and the price was right---not to mention I have some Carnival rewards I will be using towards this cruise. But for 2018 I will be setting sail on NCL again.

Just like RCI, and unlike NCL, the MDR menu varies every night, so there is no need of other specialty restaurants to have menu choices each night. Beyond a few staple like the shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, broiled chicken, flat iron steak, Indian vegetarian, and the warm chocolate melting cake, there will be no less than 4 different choices, both on starters and entrees, offered each night along with the chef's special port selection items. Even the desserts (beyond the clear favorite) rarely repeat, even on a 14 day cruise.

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Just like RCI, and unlike NCL, the MDR menu varies every night, so there is no need of other specialty restaurants to have menu choices each night. Beyond a few staple like the shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, broiled chicken, flat iron steak, Indian vegetarian, and the warm chocolate melting cake, there will be no less than 4 different choices, both on starters and entrees, offered each night along with the chef's special port selection items. Even the desserts (beyond the clear favorite) rarely repeat, even on a 14 day cruise.

 

 

 

The menu DOES change every night on NCL. Why would you think they offer the same things every night? Lol! They do offer "classics" every night, but they also have featured entrees--about 4 or 5--that changes every night. Just like any other cruise line! My hubby is one that relies often on the classic entrees, such as a steak, chicken, spagetti, since he is not very adventurous. My one pet peeve is that you can only get lobster by paying an up charge. [emoji22]

 

 

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The menu DOES change every night on NCL. Why would you think they offer the same things every night? Lol! They do offer "classics" every night, but they also have featured entrees--about 4 or 5--that changes every night. Just like any other cruise line! My hubby is one that relies often on the classic entrees, such as a steak, chicken, spagetti, since he is not very adventurous. My one pet peeve is that you can only get lobster by paying an up charge. [emoji22]

 

 

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Not in Savor nor Taste on the Breakaway same menu every night except for the (somewhat fresh) fish offering. It was nearly impossible to get into the Manhattan room because they provided dinnertime entertainment, so I can't vouch if their menu changed or not. On the Breakaway never saw spaghetti on any sit down menu, though the pasta station at the buffet did have it or linguine frequently. Just for variety we ate mostly at the Pub because they did do a different "special" every night. Also as far as Freestyle without reservations on the Breakaway expect to wait 45-90 minutes (2+ hours for Manhattan) for a table at the gratis restaurants.

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Not in Savor nor Taste on the Breakaway same menu every night except for the (somewhat fresh) fish offering. It was nearly impossible to get into the Manhattan room because they provided dinnertime entertainment, so I can't vouch if their menu changed or not. On the Breakaway never saw spaghetti on any sit down menu, though the pasta station at the buffet did have it or linguine frequently. Just for variety we ate mostly at the Pub because they did do a different "special" every night. Also as far as Freestyle without reservations on the Breakaway expect to wait 45-90 minutes (2+ hours for Manhattan) for a table at the gratis restaurants.

 

Totally different experience on the Getaway! Never had to wait for a table at Savor, Taste, or Tropicana Room. And all three MDRs offer the same menu, but it changed nightly.

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I will second that the tables for 2 are very close together. We prefer anytime dining because even though we will usually eat dinner early, there are some times that we may have had a late lunch and want to go later. Other times we may just grab a burger or pizza for dinner. With anytime dining, I don't worry that our waiter is wondering whether we are coming. I would hate to think that he had our drinks waiting for us and we didn't show up.

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When you book you can request mytime dining but if you book later you may not get it. It is not guaranteed. We were waitlisted. When we boarded we went to the restaurant and asked again. Luckily we got changed to mytime that afternoon.

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When you book you can request mytime dining but if you book later you may not get it. It is not guaranteed. We were waitlisted. When we boarded we went to the restaurant and asked again. Luckily we got changed to mytime that afternoon.

 

That kind of bothers me--that it is not guaranteed. Just praying this cruise works out. One more reason why we prefer NCL. But I'm the type of person that loves ALL cruises, and has the philosophy that any day cruising is better than any day not (if I was still working, I'd say it was any day better than a day at work!) It's just that once you find a cruise line that fits your lifestyle so perfectly, it's hard to leave it and go back to another line.

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We just did YTD on carnival valor and wanted table for two because it was a getaway vacation for my husband and I. We really enjoyed the dining room each evening, hit a table for two with no wait, except elegant night and the last night. Two of the four times we were next to another table and although close, we didn't feel we were in the middle of a crowd or that we couldn't enjoy private time, it was sufficient for us to enjoy conversation without being with other people. Sure, we could touch the next table but everyone was having their dinner and conversations and the noise and chatter throughout the dining room just blended in and it was not an issue. We will always get YTD from now on as we really enjoyed going to dinner when we wanted. Every meal was delicious, served hot and fresh and even when we went with the standard everyday items, like flat iron steak and grilled pork chop or chicken, it was still delicious . We got YTD immediately on this cruise but on my next cruise, we were wait listed but it was granted a few weeks after booking.

 

 

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You need to go on to MyCruise and select it now. Don't wait until you cruise.

we always do anytme dining and never have to wait more than 5 minutes. On the Breeze however, people start lining up before at least half an hour before the dining room opens so you either need to get in on that or wait until after 7. we usually want to eat around 6. The other thing we noticed is it is a very plain dining room and the tables are uncomfortably close. When people say 2 inches apart that is no exaggeration and it makes it uncomfortable for guests and difficult for the serves to serve.

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Just a quick question. Thinking of booking on the Breeze for 2019. I haven’t sailed with Carnival since 2007, instead sailing with RCCL and NCL. We LOVE Freestyle Cruising with NCL, and dislike the set dining times and seated with other people on other lines. Can we avoid that by choosing YTD? Dining whenever we want and sit at only a table for two? Do we get to choose a different restaurant, like on NCL, or is it a set dining room. And is the dining room like a big banquet hall, or more like a restaurant, like we’ve had with NCL?

 

 

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Carnival typically has 2 dining rooms dedicated to early and late assigned dining times, and 1 dining room dedicated to Your Time dining. You choose early, late, or your time dining when you book, and dining room assignment will be based on that. Your Time dining is typically the most popular on Carnival, and priority is given to Diamond then Platinum. Be aware that a table for 2 will likely be at a tiny table inches away from another tiny table for 2 if you prefer to dine alone with 2 people. So while you would be dining at your own table, it isn't private at all.

 

Carnival dining options have been evolving so what might exist on Breeze 2 years from now remains unknown. You'll likely have the option to pay an upcharge like you do now on NCL to enjoy for-a-fee alternative dining options. Right now those options are Bonsai Teppanyaki, Cucina del Capitano, JiJi Asian Kitchen, and the steakhouse.

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