recent Rotterdam cruisers - open seating?

We are on an upcoming cruise with the open seating dining option. We would like to go to dinner around 7 - we are a couple and fine with sharing. Can we expect this to go smoothly on the Rotterdam? We have had unpleasant experiences on Celebrity and Princess ships. At least on Celebrity they would hand us a beeper but on Princess, we stood in line! for maybe 20 minutes - not exactly what one would hope for on a fairly high end cruise line. So any hints or recent experiences would be appreciated.

HAL does have the beepers if a line should form.

But on deck 2, there really isn't any where to go -- there isn't a straight walkway to forward part of the ship. You either have to go up the stairs or use an elevator to go a deck and forward.

My friends did open dining on this ship and had no issues at all.

I suspect it depends upon the mix of who wants open dining and fixed dining.

One thing to keep in mind is that you can also get reservations at certain times. I think the latest for early type dining is 6:30 (no reservations in peak time). this can very from ship to ship and might well be worth asking when you are on board.

If you are willing to share a table and coming at a peak time of 7 pm, I doubt there would be much of wait. But, if there is, they will give you a beeper gadget that buzzes so there is no need to stand in a lineup.

Hope this helps.

7:00PM is prime time on most cruises...when it comes to open dining schemes. This includes HAL...although many on this cruise line prefer to have dinner earlier. We had no issues with Open Dining on the Rotterdam, but DW and I tend to eat after 7:45.

Hank

We are on an upcoming cruise with the open seating dining option. We would like to go to dinner around 7 - we are a couple and fine with sharing. Can we expect this to go smoothly on the Rotterdam? We have had unpleasant experiences on Celebrity and Princess ships. At least on Celebrity they would hand us a beeper but on Princess, we stood in line! for maybe 20 minutes - not exactly what one would hope for on a fairly high end cruise line. So any hints or recent experiences would be appreciated.

I just got off the Rotterdam last Saturday at the end of the 2018 Voyage of the Vikings, so I think my experience would qualify as "recent." :)

I had open seating and had to wait maybe 8-10 minutes one night (it was a Gala night, so attendance was higher). I usually ate earlier than you -- 5:30-6:00 -- but I can honestly say I never heard any complaints from friends who used open seating at a later time -- it just seems to run very smoothly. I'm single traveler -- maybe easier to seat than a couple, but honestly, it was quick and easy to get in.

Enjoy your cruise! The food is fabulous!

Lana in Bellingham

We were on the Rotterdam in July and had open seating. We did not see anyone wait for more than a few minutes, and those waiting wanted a table for 2. My guess is that share tables are readily available. But note that we arrived at 8:00 each night, somewhat later than your target time.