Have confired seating; can I use "anytime" occasionally?

Sorry, but I was not able to find anything on this using Search.

Our party of four has confirmed early seating. That is want we want, so no issues there. My question is if once or twice we might like to eat a little later, like around 7PM. I know we would have to probably wait a bit for a table for four, but are we even "allowed" to elect to using anytime? I had a similar situation on the CCL Liberty years ago, and we were able to do so once or twice on a 2 week cruise, but when we checked for a table we got (somewhat) frustrated looks.

So, is it supposedly a no-no to show up for anytime if you already have confirmed seating? Not a big deal either way as the Lido deck buffet is always available, I am just curious and want to follow the rules.......:cool:

No, and you cant be late more than 15 minutes or you will need to find some where else to eat. Thank you for thinking of others, much appreciated.

Switch to anytime now so no disappointments

I had this question as well so thank you OP for asking. Is the menu the same for anytime dining? If so, what is the major difference aside from having a different wait staff every night?

Thanks!

Same menu. Difference being you can arrive anytime just like a restaurant and not within 15 min of your scheduled time as with traditional dining.

No, and you cant be late more than 15 minutes or you will need to find some where else to eat. Thank you for thinking of others, much appreciated.

Are you saying that you would be barred from that restaurant for the night by not showing up, or arriving on time ? That sounds extreme.

When my DH and I were on our first cruise on the Magic, we made some friends that had anytime dining and we had late seating dinner. We went with them to anytime dining twice. The staff did allow it, but they didn't look too happy. I think they did because we were eating with someone who already had anytime dining. This time we just choose anytime dining, because working around the set time was sometimes a pain.

Are you saying that you would be barred from that restaurant for the night by not showing up, or arriving on time ? That sounds extreme.

Yes, if you don't show up on time for fixed time din, it inconveniences everyone: servers, table mates, diners at the next seating (if you have the early time) and the galley. Please be considerate. If you don't think you can be on time, eat in a specialty restaurant or the Lido, or select YTD as your dining time.

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So, is it supposedly a no-no to show up for anytime if you already have confirmed seating? Not a big deal either way as the Lido deck buffet is always available, I am just curious and want to follow the rules.......:cool:

Dining is a choice. Early, late or YTD. If you chose early, that is what you get. If you want to eat later, the lido is your option. YTD is a controlled number of people, and cruisers who just show up throw off the numbers. It's pretty inconsiderate to those pax who chose YTD.

I would just check with the desk and ask them when you can show up to anytime. We had friends who ate with us one night in YTD. It's not always overbooked.

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If all of you have a fixed time. you will not be able to use the ATD. If you meet up with someone who has ATD you may be able to eat with them but that is not guaranteed to happen

Are you saying that you would be barred from that restaurant for the night by not showing up, or arriving on time ? That sounds extreme.

Not really. You get the choice of dining times when you book. If you want traditional seating they request you show up at the listed time. Otherwise the waiter is trying to get your drink and order taken while everyone else is having their appetizers served and cleared. While the kitchen is the middle of prepping entrees for everyone else someone will have to stop to prep your appetizer. With so many people eating at once they rely on their schedule to get everything done in a timely manner. You aren't barred from dinner, just the MDR; can still eat at the buffet or specialty dining.

We don't like the traditional schedule so we simply sign up for the anytime dining. Then you can show up for dinner at your leisure. If you don't feel like organizing your day around having dinner at 6 every night, this is the best option.

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I have a set time dinning when at home early, but on vacation i choose YTD because for one i know not from day to day what time i will be ready to eat no set schedule for me don.t want upset table mates.

Just try to sign up for YTD, then you can eat early when you want, and later when you want; just as a couple if you want, or the 4 of you if you want. It's the exact same menu. Why inconvenience the people who are expecting you to show, and the people who are not expecting you to show?

If you've done this or any variation of it and got away with it before, you were lucky and shouldn't expect the dining staff to accommodate that type of request. Of course they will most likely say yes. If they say no, imagine the reaction by the passenger asking in the first place. It's either fixed and please arrive within 15 minutes of your time - or anytime dining and your party can dine "anytime" between 5:30-9:30. One or the other. Not both. That's it.

I think if you want to dine at 7 you need to sign up for YTD.

If you have early traditional, you might be able to dine late i.e at 9 in YTD because it may be fairly empty. And you would not be impacting others, almost all cruisers will have been seated and wait staff get their tips from the pool if you are doing the auto tips. Note this might happen for you, totally up to the Maitrei'D.

Are you saying that you would be barred from that restaurant for the night by not showing up, or arriving on time ? That sounds extreme.

Yes that is correct they will turn you away. Its a rule.

Yes that is correct they will turn you away. Its a rule.

There is no rule that bars a party from the main dining room if they don't show up for dinner on any given night. In fact, they can eat at the table reserved for them every night or only one and the table is still theirs for the entire cruise. It SHOULD be the rule across the fleet that showing up past 15 minutes after the set dining time means you can't be served, but that is not the case. They may turn people away depending on the maitre'd, but people always arrive super late and get seated just the same unfortunately.

There is no rule that bars a party from the main dining room if they don't show up for dinner on any given night. In fact, they can eat at the table reserved for them every night or only one and the table is still theirs for the entire cruise. It SHOULD be the rule across the fleet that showing up past 15 minutes after the set dining time means you can't be served, but that is not the case. They may turn people away depending on the maitre'd, but people always arrive super late and get seated just the same unfortunately.

If a person is more than 15 minutes late on any given night they are turned away for that night. That is what I said, no where did I say they were banned for the entire cruise, please read the posts before posting the same info.

If you are late THEY ARE NOT SEATED. It was made clear a few months ago, show up on time or find another venue. They are no exceptions to the rule or everyone would make some lame excuse or whine because that person got in why cant I? Blah blah blah.

You can come back to your table on the following nights, just be on time.

This was posted on JH's FB a few month back and they have been enforcing it for a while now.

The doors to the MDR were closed after 15 minutes last month on Conquest and people were turned away. I had not seen that in quite a while.

Please look at the post you quoted, which asked this:

Are you saying that you would be barred from that restaurant for the night by not showing up, or arriving on time ? That sounds extreme.

To which you said:

Yes that is correct they will turn you away. Its a rule.

To which I said that is not correct. You are not barred from the main dining room for not showing up or arriving late. Doesn't happen. You may be turned away for the night if you arrive late but that is not consistent across the fleet. Everything I said in my reply to you was correct and I absolutely read what you wrote before I replied. I don't care what John Heald said on his facebook page. It is not a hard and fast, across the fleet rule that people arriving beyond 15 minutes late are turned away.

I wish just on the Vista 3 weeks ago and consistently saw parties arrive late. Whole parties and as well as individual members of large parties strolling in late whenever they felt like it. They were not turned away. And I'm quite sure I'm not the only person that can attest that Carnival does not abide by the rule consistently even though they totally should do so.

The doors to the MDR were closed after 15 minutes last month on Conquest and people were turned away. I had not seen that in quite a while.

We were in the reflections dining room on the Vista. That's the one midship right? Anyway, every single night the long table behind us had at least 3 people show up late by 25/30 minutes. I remember, because even though they were behind us, the latecomers drew my attention as they were always loud and obnoxious. One night one of the ladies jumped on the waiter who was trying to go around her to deliver drinks, because he accidentally bumped into her.

Same on the Magic last year, people in my own party saw no issue in arriving late way beyond 15 minutes. I tried to tell them but I guess they felt like it was o.k. because the dining room allowed it. Ridiculous.

No problem because life happens. The polite thing to do would be to notify the maitre d that you won't be dining that night so your table doesn't wait for you to show up.

Moonbmn53

We were in the reflections dining room on the Vista. That's the one midship right? Anyway, every single night the long table behind us had at least 3 people show up late by 25/30 minutes. I remember, because even though they were behind us, the latecomers drew my attention as they were always loud and obnoxious. One night one of the ladies jumped on the waiter who was trying to go around her to deliver drinks, because he accidentally bumped into her.

 

 

 

Same on the Magic last year, people in my own party saw no issue in arriving late way beyond 15 minutes. I tried to tell them but I guess they felt like it was o.k. because the dining room allowed it. Ridiculous.

Yes Reflections is the midship dining room.

That annoys the dickens out of me too because then it affects my service as well. I was very happy to see them shut the doors and not let people in. I think maybe Carnival needs to do a better job of letting people know they need to be there AT the designated time and that it’s not simply a suggestion or when the MDR opens up for them to stroll in later. I like to think people are oblivious to how it works vs just being that rude as to show up late and in many cases habitually so.

Yes, if you don't show up on time for fixed time din, it inconveniences everyone: servers, table mates, diners at the next seating (if you have the early time) and the galley. Please be considerate. If you don't think you can be on time, eat in a specialty restaurant or the Lido, or select YTD as your dining time.

 

 

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This is just not true, you will NOT be barred from eating. You can eat at the Steakhouse, Italian, or Chef's Table. We never eat in the MDR every night