Need help with Anytime dining

I am booked on the Vista for Feb 10 and have signed up for anytime dining which I have never done before. Is there some special procedure I need to follow for each night as I didn't know if you just show up at the dinning room when ever you wanted to or what the process was. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Linda

Simple. Go to the dining room between (I think) 5:45 - 9:00, wait to be seated and enjoy your meal. Same menu as fixed time dining. We are converts from fixed dining and love the flexibility! Enjoy it!

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Hope its okay to piggy back on this thread. I am trying to decide between anytime dining and the early seating. Other than being able to sit with our friends if we choose the early dining, whats the perk to having a set time? It seems anytime would be the way to go. What am I missing?

Thanks I had thought I read on a review I had to go to a certain place and check in first

Set dining time you will likely be placed with tablemates. This can either be fun or very uncomfortable. This last cruise we went on was the first time we had tablemates that weren't our family or friends (complete strangers). We went into it with an open mind and enjoyed sitting with another couple.

Hope its okay to piggy back on this thread. I am trying to decide between anytime dining and the early seating. Other than being able to sit with our friends if we choose the early dining, whats the perk to having a set time? It seems anytime would be the way to go. What am I missing?

We recently went back to assigned seating after about 4 cruises of doing anytime dining. There are a few things that we like about assigned. First, it's fun to get to know your servers over the course of a week, and always have "your table" every night guaranteed without a wait. Just walk in, sit down, and your servers are waiting for you, calling you by name, and already knowing everything you like.

Second, and this is just me, I like having a set time to plan the rest of the evening around. With anytime, for us, it was always this conversation: "Well what time do you want to eat? If we eat now, we can go do this. Or wait till later, and we can go do that. I don't care, whatever you want to do. No, whatever you want to do" and It was always hard to get everyone on the same page. With assigned seating, it's already scheduled, and something to look forward to and plan on during the day.

Thirdly, an ideal time for us to eat is around 7. This is right between the assigned dining times though, which most of the entertainment is based around. We would always end up planning to eat around 7, so we'd get ready and head out around 6 to take a few pictures maybe, and listen to some music in the lobby. Unfortunately, at 6 the early seating just started, so the musicians were always on break, the photographers were always on break, and there was nothing to do. It's a very awkward time for the usual milling about and entertainment before dinner.

The downside to assigned, although some actually see it as a positive, is being seated with strangers. That was ok for a while, and we were usually seated with a compatible couple, but I'm tired of making small talk with people I don't know. I have to do that all the time at work, and I just want a meal with my wife and whoever else we're traveling with. The last few cruises have been with either a large group, or with my wife and two small children, so we've had our own table the last few years, so it hasn't been an issue.

I am booked on the Vista for Feb 10 and have signed up for anytime dining which I have never done before. Is there some special procedure I need to follow for each night as I didn't know if you just show up at the dinning room when ever you wanted to or what the process was. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Linda

You can either get a table for your group or you can ask to be at a shared table. If you arrive at peak dining time, you might get a pager. We've asked for shared tables and have been seated before people waiting for a table for their group

If you like the wait staff, you can ask to sit in their section the next time you go to dinner.

Special procedure is eat when you are hungry instead of a time when someone wants you to show up. It's great.

Hope its okay to piggy back on this thread. I am trying to decide between anytime dining and the early seating. Other than being able to sit with our friends if we choose the early dining, whats the perk to having a set time? It seems anytime would be the way to go. What am I missing?

You can sit with your friends if you do YTD as well, as long as they have it also.

Thanks I had thought I read on a review I had to go to a certain place and check in first

On most ships you check in at the hostess stand (just like in a land restaurant).

On a few ships, the check-in desk is located on a different deck, but is really not much different than going to the host(ess) stand. When your table is ready, they will give you a slip and instruct you to go to the dining room where another host(ess) will take your slip and seat you.

Check the Fun Times and it will tell you where to go.

Thanks I had thought I read on a review I had to go to a certain place and check in first

You don't have to "check in" at the start of your cruise if that is what you're thinking. YTD does have a different dining room though. So, anytime between 530-9p you go to that dining room and check in at the hostess stand and wait to be seated.

The biggest thing to know about YTD is that if you show up when they first open, just like a land restaurant, you get a table immediately. If you wait until all the tables are full, like an hour after they open, then you may have to wait 10-15 minutes. Longest we had to wait was when we got there late(7:30pm-ish), so they gave us a buzzer and sent us to the lobby bar to wait. It was about 20 minutes, then service was really slow, much slower than normal. We usually are there between 5:45-6pm every night and have fast service. Just keep that in mind.

robin

When I sailed the Vista over Thanksgiving, anytime diners had to check in somewhere on deck 5, and then go to the anytime dining room in the aft of the ship. There was much grumbling about the procedure, first of its kind on Carnival.

It's possible Vista has heard the grumbling and changed, and it's also possible it's still the same. Any recent Vista cruisers want to let us know the latest?????

Doesn't look like those already posting haven't sailed Vista, so they don't know about this.They are posting about Carnival ATD from their experience, which may or may not relate to Vista.

We were dedicated late dining people for our 1st. nine cruises.We switched to ATD for our last two and enjoy it a lot more. We head out to eat around 730pm which still gives us enough time to relax after a port day and not rush to dinner, which we did like about late dining.The longest delay we have had was about 10 minutes to be seated. If we like the wait staff we ask for them each night which could cause a longer delay for larger parties. We ask for a table for two which usually turned into a table for 4 or 6 with the tables so close together. Just show up between the YTD dining times, check in at the front desk, then enjoy your meal. Our two YTD dining experiences have been on Glory.

I used the search function and found this detailed description of Vista ATD from this past April by Maryred:

Just to let you know on the Vista YTD is run a little different than on other Carnival ships. First you report to deck 5, to the request desk between the Dream studio gallery and the specialty coffee bar. The line starts as building early as 5:15, for the tables that open at 5:45, often being as far back as the Alchemy Bar area till later (after 8). If a table to your specifications is available you will receive piece of paper to bring to the hostess desk on either deck 3 or 4 aft. If no table that suits you is available you are given a beeper, and told you can wait in any public area on decks 3,4, or 5, except for the comedy club, main show lounge, Havana pool/outside deck section (the Havana bar is OK), casino, and atrium/shopping area. Once you receive your party's seat assignment slip they direct you to use the aft stairs or elevator, as the forward and mid-ship elevators do not allow access to the aft dinning room on deck 3 (if told your table is on deck 4 you can connect from those elevator banks, but they still direct you to use the aft elevators). Once down at the proper deck for your table there is another line, in the small elevator bank passageway for the hostess escort to the table. The only exception to this multi-deck walk around (at least on my sailing of the Vista) was parties with a Diamond and Platinum passengers could report directly deck 3 aft hostess desk.

"First, it's fun to get to know your servers over the course of a week, and always have "your table" every night guaranteed without a wait. Just walk in, sit down, and your servers are waiting for you, calling you by name, and already knowing everything you like."

we have had YTD our last few cruises and always had the same server, knew us by name, and knew what we liked. YTD is served until 9:30 not nine. I believe the Vista abandoned their stupid experiment, it made no sense.

Our last trip on the Valor we used anytime dinning with no issues. Always had the same table and server. One night it took what seemed like forever to get our food, but we were there at about 7:30. Other nights, 6pm and we were in and out. I like the flexibility of eating early or later and still having a good sit down meal.

Hope its okay to piggy back on this thread. I am trying to decide between anytime dining and the early seating. Other than being able to sit with our friends if we choose the early dining, whats the perk to having a set time? It seems anytime would be the way to go. What am I missing?

It's personal preference. I tried YTD and I hated it. I am currently scheduled to go on a cruise Next April, and I am not happy that I was waitlisted for late seating. I am hoping that we get it. it just works better for our family.

When I sailed the Vista over Thanksgiving, anytime diners had to check in somewhere on deck 5, and then go to the anytime dining room in the aft of the ship. There was much grumbling about the procedure, first of its kind on Carnival.

That is not the first of its kind. The Sunshine has a check in desk on 5 and then you go down the aft elevators to 3 to be seated. No grumbling or complaining, either. There is simply not enough room in the lobby of that dining room to accommodate a line waiting to check in.

When I sailed the Vista over Thanksgiving, anytime diners had to check in somewhere on deck 5, and then go to the anytime dining room in the aft of the ship. There was much grumbling about the procedure, first of its kind on Carnival.

 

It's possible Vista has heard the grumbling and changed, and it's also possible it's still the same. Any recent Vista cruisers want to let us know the latest?????

 

 

Doesn't look like those already posting haven't sailed Vista, so they don't know about this.They are posting about Carnival ATD from their experience, which may or may not relate to Vista.

This wasn't the case when I was on the Vista in February, but it was on the Miracle last October. I waited in line about 20 minutes, only to be told I didn't have to because I had reached platinum status. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

This wasn't the case when I was on the Vista in February, but it was on the Miracle last October. I waited in line about 20 minutes, only to be told I didn't have to because I had reached platinum status. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

So the Vista had the check in desk somewhere on deck 5 during its original Med cruises, its TA and then the NY Thanksgiving repo sailing, but it eliminated that procedure for your cruise in February, but re-instated it by April for Maryred's cruise?

Curioser and curioser!

{apologies tol Lewis Carrol}

It's personal preference. I tried YTD and I hated it. I am currently scheduled to go on a cruise Next April, and I am not happy that I was waitlisted for late seating. I am hoping that we get it. it just works better for our family.

What specifically did you hate about it?

this will be our first time doing YTD.. this is the first cruise for my husband and I where the kids are old enough to stay home.. so its just going to be the two of us. How hard is it to get a table for two? Also.. with the YTD being in a seperate dining room, will there still be the dancing and singing that we love from the scheduled time dining?? I would hate to miss that..

yes, you will always get a table for 2 if requested.

Just got off of the Vista on Aug 20th. We are a party of 2. Just as Evan Bob stated, you go to Deck 5 as soon as you are ready to eat, next 2 coffee station, wait in a line, give them your cabin # and table request, we like dining alone at a table for 2. They then give u a ticket that u take to the Horizon dining room, some nights we were on Deck 4, some nights we were on Deck 3 of the dining room. 2 nights, a table for 2 was not available and we had to sit at a larger table with others. We were seated almost immediately upon arrival, but I personally found this additional step a P. I. T. A. Most nights me n my DH would take turns on who went to get the dining tix. My 2 cents....

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