A question about dining options.

[Travelbug 2]

I have just booked a 7 day Alaska inside passage cruise from Vancouver for Aug' 2012. (Volendam) I am taking my son (46) my neice from the UK (56) and her daughter (25) all first time cruisers, I am a young 75! ;) I booked a table for 4 in fixed dining,early seating as I can not eat late due to a medical condition. Now I am having second thoughts about having to dine at a specific time and place. I understand the "as you wish" dining is in the main level of the dining room so the ambience would be the same and if we were busy doing something else at 5.30pm it would be easy to go for dinner at 6 or 6.30.An example would be the sail away party which I would like them to experience. We could also choose either our own table for 4 or to be seated with other passengers if we wanted to meet new people.

 

My late wife and I always had early fixed dining on our cruises and we enjoyed that but my cruisemates this time are a mixed bag of ages and may prefer the as you wish option.

 

I would appreciate any tips or opinions, I really want this cruise to be memorable for my family. Because I am the only one who has cruised before I am the one saddled with the decisions., I would like to get it right. :eek:

 

Thank you in advance.

[Mary Ellen]

The As You Wish Dining is HAL's generic term to encompass all of their dining options. Thus, you currently have AYWD. Really there is no way to avoid it.

 

You currently have the traditional/fixed seating which is on the upper level of the MDR. The open seating option is on the lower level. The same decor, but we've found the ambiance more like a busy chain restaurant with the hustle and bustle of constant foot traffic by the table. You are correct that with open seating you can choose to dine at different times and/or table sizes each evening.

 

Don't forget that the speciality restaurants, Lido buffet, room service, burgers by the pool... are also options under AYWD dining.

[Beebob1]

We like open seating works better for us. We don't plan our day around when we should be hungry. Room service or grab on the go is great for the younger ones.

Happy sailing with your family :)

[KirkNC]

We have used open seating for the last 3-4 years and enjoy the flexibility it offers. We have never found it to be like a busy chain restaurant. The only down side we have seen but pretty much avoided is a line to be seated. If you avoid the 6:30-7:30 ttimeframe we have never had tow ait at all. Even within those time frames the wait is usually very short.

 

Kirk

[Krazy Kruizers]

The sail away party will be on the first day -- usually starts at 4:45 right after lifeboat drill.

Early fixed dinner is at 5:45 -- this was the first year that HAL didn't change the dining time to an earlier time for the Alaskan cruises.

The view leaving Vancouver is beautiful -- passing under the Lions Bridge - great. Going by Stanley Park and seeing the totem poles -- a couple of times we were very close.

The first night there will also be a BBQ by the Lido Pool.

Just reading your thoughts -- it does sound like Open Seating would be a good choice for all of you. It is open from 5:15 until 9 PM. You can just show up wheneve you are ready to have dinner. If for some reason one night you want to make reservations in the Open Seating -- the times are limited for this option -- reservations are only accepted between 5:15 - 6:15 and 7:30 - 9 -- and you can make them for 3 days at a time.

The Volendam has the Pinnacle Grill -- speciality restaurant -- $25 per person -- great food -- but sadly on this ship it is located inside without any views.

There is also the Lido buffet for dinner -- open from 5:30 - 8 PM.

And there is the Canaletto -- Italian food -- FREE -- open from 5:30 - 9:30 -- it's located in a section of the Lido -- nice views.

With 4 of you I would not suggest Cabin service -- can be very crowded.

[terrydtx]

What time is best for dinner will also have a lot to do with what shore excursions you do and when they return. On our last cruise to the Western Mediterranean we were with my parents (in their 80's) who insisted they have the fixed early seating. 4 of our shore excursions were all day affairs that got us back to the ship between 5 and 6pm. This left us no time to rest and get ready for dinner. We ended up having to eat in the Lido or room service 3 of the 4 nights. The nights we did eat in the MDR we also missed the sail aways from some fabulous ports. I will never do fixed dining again, early or late.

[RuthC]

Are all of you going to want to discuss "What time should we go to dinner?" every day? Will you all be able to agree easily?

If not, then having fixed seating that everyone works toward saves on the energy those little chats can take. If you don't mind deciding a-new every day, then open seating may be a better choice.

[SuitCaseBears]

I usually would like to dine with others, and my husband prefers we dine alone, so we've found anytime dining is great. We alternate - one night it's a romantic dinner for two; the next night it's meeting new people. He's even found he looks forward to joining others, knowing the next night we can be alone again.

 

Given the age range of the family, I think also allowing for the fact that maybe the 25 year old might meet some friends and want to dine with them - would you be offended if she preferred to do that one night? Maybe someone will want to ask a friend they met to join the family.

 

So without knowing you guys at all - I'd vote for anytime dining. But how about asking your family?

[eh2zed]

If there is a consensus on the daily dining time then I suggest the fixed option. If there are various opinions then you can mix it up every night to suit with the open option.

[fann1sh]

I've always had fixed time/table dining. On my next cruise, my table mates are curious about open dining.

 

However, posters here report it's easy to switch from fixed to open. I'm told it's (virtually) impossible to switch from open to fixed.

 

I know there will be people on a waiting list eager for your early table assignment. And maybe it's unfair to hold on to that assignment if you're certain you want to switch.

 

However, you might consider waiting until you board. Try early fixed, and switch to open if it doesn't work. That's our plan for main fixed.

[mor mor]

when we cruise with all 10 of us we have fixed dining so everyone knows where we can all meet up. that still leaves options for us to do something else if we are late getting back or if I book us all in a specialty restaurant for a change. This keeps all options open and allows everyone to do what they want all day (3 generations after all!) without checking in about when is dinner?

[Travelbug 2]

Thank you all for the info' and thoughts. I will discuss all options with my family and we will see where it takes us. We have lots of time to decide, Aug' 1st 2012 is a long way off!!

 

Anyone been on the Volendam recently? Just curious about what shape she is in. Is there anywhere I can find out about when the next refit is?

[RuthC]

Anyone been on the Volendam recently? Just curious about what shape she is in. Is there anywhere I can find out about when the next refit is?

I disembarked the Volendam last March 31st and she went in to drydock that day. I was perfectly happy with her before the refresh!