Anytime Dining Questions

[davis2nd]

Tell me your experiences with anytime dining. This seems like a good option for my wife and I but have a few questions. Will the quality be the same as the other options? How about the wait, we do not mind waiting but if it is 45 minutes or more we may not be interested. How about a table for two, is this something that will be an option? Any feedback is appreciated, I am new here and am getting quickly addicted!!

 

Thanks again,

Bobby Davis

[rufflesmom]

We did the anytime dining last year. I can't eat very late in the evening due to medical issues, so the later dining time was out. But most evenings we weren't ready to eat at 6 either. The food all comes from the same kitchen I think. The food was fine. And every evening we got a table for 2. You will quickly learn when to go to avoid the long waits. We never waited 45 mins to be seated.

[gone_cruisin]

The quality is the same. Food choices are the same as assigned dining.

 

If it is just the two of you, your wait time should be very limited. I have done any time dining when it was just the BF and I. It wasn't bad. I just prefer the assigned dining.

 

Here are my pros and cons for anytime dining:

 

PROS

1. No set dining time and can eat any time I am hungry. This comes in really handy with late port schedules.

2. Can plan dining schedule around activity schedules - like shows

3. No wait time. Assigned dining we were always waiting outside the dining room to get in.

 

CONS

1. I miss the personal touches from my servers that assigned dining provided. Like having my glass filled with ice tea even before I arrive at the table.

2. I miss getting to know my servers. They are all great people and it makes it easier for tipping. With anytime dining, I was having to carrying ones in my purse to tip each different server each night.

3. I did not like having another table only 4 inches away from mine. It really wasn't a private table. But we did have some good conversation with our dining neighbors.

[davis2nd]

So would the assigned dining have more of a private table feel? (Not as close to your neighbors) Is it even possible to get a table for two with assigned times? Thanks for the replies!

[gone_cruisin]

So would the assigned dining have more of a private table feel? (Not as close to your neighbors) Is it even possible to get a table for two with assigned times? Thanks for the replies!

 

If you are lucky enough to get assigned one of the very few 2 person tables, then yes. But chances are you will be put at a table with other couples.

[davis2nd]

Thanks Gone Cruisin.

[purplekisses]

We have done both late seating and ATD. We prefer ATD, most nights there was little to no wait and we had a lot of the same waiters each night. We didn't always go at the same time but we were generally seated in the same area, and the waiters from the previous nights said hello even if they weren't our waiter for that night. We like the fact that we can eat when we are hungry. Early is too early and we found with late that we speant time waiting in our cabin of dinner time after freshing up for dinner. ATD let us freshin up for dinner and go.

[Cayoooga]

We always do anytime dining. We usually go to dinner when the restaurant opens so there are no waits. We usually get to have a good selection of tables. If we find a table and wait staff that we particularly like, we will reserve it for the rest of the cruise. If we make good friends while onboard, we will make arrangements to have dinner together as well.

[Elmo31]

We have done anytime dining on several cruises. You will always be able to get a table for 2 but sometimes the table is only inches apart from the next table for 2. If you want a private table set apart further just request one when checking in at the dining room. Also depends what ship you are on to table configurements. We were on the Dream and requested a booth for just the two of us and it was granted. I think the longest we have ever waited for a table was 10 minutes. They will give you a beeper to carry around if there is a wait. Food is the same wheather you have a set time dining or anytime dining. When we went we tried to go during off times (not 6:00-6:30) to avoid rushes.

[bluehenfan]

I really like the anytime dining. I tried it for the first time right after they'd started offering it on the Pride and we had a 30 min wait one night. No more than 5 or 10 mins. after that and have used it on 2 more cruises with no long wait. We are always asked if we want to sit with others or alone - we've done both. On last cruise we loved our waitstaff and requested them every night. Food was great and it was nice to know we didn't have to rush to be at MDR at a certain time.

[bob7judy]

We just did ATD last week on the Magic. The only wait was in the line to be checked in. The area was never full at any of the times that we dined. Most tables for two are very close together. They actually put two together for the three of us. Sometimes others were close enough to talk to and other times not though we never asked to be separate.

[patticake1961]

We tried YTD last year and LOVED it, not once did we have to wait for a table and we had the same servers for five of the seven nights. :)

[ohio beach girl]

We did the anytime last December on the Freedom. I didn't have any problems. The only time we had a wait after checking in was the first formal night. I can't remember what time we went, we were given a pager and went to the lobby bar to get a drink. We hadn't finished the drinks before the pager went off. We were a group of 4 and always had a 4 seat table.

The first night seemed a little harried but I think our waiter was alone, his assistant wasn't there. The other nights we had both waiters and things flowed smoothly. We were seated in a few different wait staff areas.

[Banditswife]

We've done ATD for our past 2 cruises. We've waited for a table maybe 10 mins at the most twice. The rest of the time we've walked right in an been seated. Food is the same menu as set time dining, from some kitchen/gally- so the same quality. We've usually been given a 2 top, even tho we never requested 1. Yes, tables are a bit close together. It seems like you usually get the same server too.

[rnvattes]

Tell me your experiences with anytime dining. This seems like a good option for my wife and I but have a few questions. Will the quality be the same as the other options? How about the wait, we do not mind waiting but if it is 45 minutes or more we may not be interested. How about a table for two, is this something that will be an option? Any feedback is appreciated, I am new here and am getting quickly addicted!!

 

Thanks again,

Bobby Davis

 

We only waited once this time, and for under 10 minutes. We love YTD and will always choose that option when it's available and we are not with a big group.

[rnvattes]

 

CONS

1. I miss the personal touches from my servers that assigned dining provided. Like having my glass filled with ice tea even before I arrive at the table.

2. I miss getting to know my servers. They are all great people and it makes it easier for tipping. With anytime dining, I was having to carrying ones in my purse to tip each different server each night.

3. I did not like having another table only 4 inches away from mine. It really wasn't a private table. But we did have some good conversation with our dining neighbors.

 

 

I will say that the tables are very close together, and we too enjoyed some conversation with nearby tables a couple of times.

 

But as to not getting to know your wait staff, I disagree. We found a team we loved, fortunately on our second night, and requested them every night going forward. We found they actually seemed to know us better than some of the "traditional seating" teams we had in the past.

[gone_cruisin]

If the BF and I were to cruise alone again, we would probably do the anytime dining again.

 

When we bring the parents and/or teenagers, the assigned dining works much better. Everyone knows exactly what time to meet in the dining room and it guaranteed us that we always got a table all to ourselves.

 

We were looking to do anytime for our June cruise with the teenagers, but it was full and I didn't feel like wait listing. So we'll just do the late dining like we always do.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

 

CONS

1. I miss the personal touches from my servers that assigned dining provided. Like having my glass filled with ice tea even before I arrive at the table.

2. I miss getting to know my servers. They are all great people and it makes it easier for tipping. With anytime dining, I was having to carrying ones in my purse to tip each different server each night.

3. I did not like having another table only 4 inches away from mine. It really wasn't a private table. But we did have some good conversation with our dining neighbors.

 

 

We did Your Time Dining on our last cruise and our experience was very different. On the second night we loved our wait staff and asked to be seated there the next night. From that time on, we didn't even have to ask--we walked up to the desk and they knew where we wanted to sit and that we wanted a table for two. Tipping is the same whether you have assigned dining or YTD--with YTD whoever serves you gets your auto tip for that service so you don't have to carry cash with you. We were on the Spirit and our table for two wasn't next to other tables--they were along the railing on the second floor of the dining room across from booths that were about three feet away. Guess it depends on the ship. :D

 

We're on the Legend next, so expect YTD will be done the same. I guess we'll see!

[gone_cruisin]

We did Your Time Dining on our last cruise and our experience was very different. On the second night we loved our wait staff and asked to be seated there the next night. From that time on, we didn't even have to ask--we walked up to the desk and they knew where we wanted to sit and that we wanted a table for two. Tipping is the same whether you have assigned dining or YTD--with YTD whoever serves you gets your auto tip for that service so you don't have to carry cash with you. We were on the Spirit and our table for two wasn't next to other tables--they were along the railing on the second floor of the dining room across from booths that were about three feet away. Guess it depends on the ship. :D

 

We're on the Legend next, so expect YTD will be done the same. I guess we'll see!

 

However, we always tip extra. So having a different waiter every night made it difficult to tip extra without carrying the cash.

[ChefSusan]

We have done YTD on 10 of the 13 cruises we have been on, and each time it has been nothing short of fantastic. We "audition" the wait staff the first night, and if we like them, we request them for the rest of the cruise. If we have to wait, so be it - we'll take that pager and go to the nearest bar for a couple of cocktails!

 

We love the fact that we can eat on our schedule - if we feel like eating on the early side, we go around 6-6:30pm. If we feel like eating a little bit later, we go around 7:30-8:00pm. We have found the service to be the same, the food comes out on the quick side, and if we miss the singing and dancing one night, so be it!

 

If it's just my husband and me, we usually get a table for two, and don't mind if it's near anyone else. If we're traveling with another couple - or a group - we tend to do traditional dining as it is sometimes hard to get a 6-8 top via YTD.

[cat888]

. With anytime dining, I was having to carrying ones in my purse to tip each different server each night.>>>>

 

Really? I'm new to CCL and I have prepaid my tips, but I also always tip extra at the end of my cruise. So, do I need to tip every night to each different server??? And what does "each different server" mean? Huh? I don't understand? I've been on many cruises and I have never had to "bring ones" to dinner?? Please advise.

[gone_cruisin]

. With anytime dining, I was having to carrying ones in my purse to tip each different server each night.>>>>

 

Really? I'm new to CCL and I have prepaid my tips, but I also always tip extra at the end of my cruise. So, do I need to tip every night to each different server??? And what does "each different server" mean? Huh? I don't understand? I've been on many cruises and I have never had to "bring ones" to dinner?? Please advise.

 

If you are going to do anytime dining, there is a chance that you will get different servers every night. As others have stated, they will ask for the same wait staff, so that might help. We never put in any special requests....we just took first available seats.

 

If you want to just add extra to your sail and sign account, then what I believe will happen is that the extra money will be split amongst all the anytime wait staff. Since I like to tip my specific wait staff, I knew I would need to bring extra cash each night, since I had no way of knowing if I was going to be able to see them again before the cruise is over.

 

Anytime is not bad....it's just not my preferred method.

[ms.sunburn]

On our Freedom cruise two weeks ago we had the late dining time as Anytime Dining was not available when I booked. For half of the nights we sat at a table for 8 by ourselves. We weren't the only ones. Everywhere we looked there were a couple of people here and there at huge tables by themselves.

 

Anytime Dining has kind of wrecked the whole assigned seating thing, which is good because I think most people would rather go to the dining room when they feel like it and sit at a table that fits their party's size. Hopefully they'll scrap assigned seating altogether and allow everyone the Anytime Dining option.

[gone_cruisin]

On our Freedom cruise two weeks ago we had the late dining time as Anytime Dining was not available when I booked. For half of the nights we sat at a table for 8 by ourselves. We weren't the only ones. Everywhere we looked there were a couple of people here and there at huge tables by themselves.

 

Anytime Dining has kind of wrecked the whole assigned seating thing, which is good because I think most people would rather go to the dining room when they feel like it and sit at a table that fits their party's size. Hopefully they'll scrap assigned seating altogether and allow everyone the Anytime Dining option.

 

That's too bad! I would have loved to have had the tables combined so that I could meet new people. On my very first cruise, I met the greatest couple and have stayed in contact ever since. I wouldn't change the assigned dining. Maybe what Carnival should do, is on the ships with 2 dining rooms, turn one room into the ATD and the other into assigned. I know many people still love the traditional dining offered.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

.

 

Really? I'm new to CCL and I have prepaid my tips, but I also always tip extra at the end of my cruise. So, do I need to tip every night to each different server??? And what does "each different server" mean? Huh? I don't understand? I've been on many cruises and I have never had to "bring ones" to dinner?? Please advise.

 

 

No, you don't need to do that. I don't carry a purse on a cruise and often don't have pockets. LOL. If you want to tip extra to every person who serves you, I guess you'd have to bring cash with you then, but I wouldn't do this, personally. I don't plan ahead to tip extra--I do that on a case-by-case basis. If a wait staff was giving me such good service that I felt compelled to tip extra, I would ask for that same wait staff each evening and tip additonal at the end--that's what we did on our last cruise.