Your Time Dining?

[dolphiness]

Could you please explain how this works, and your experiences with it? Have always had set dining time, but thinking of trying this. Thanks!

[LVDFW]

Not much to it really. You show up when you want to. Just like a normal restaurant. You might be seated with others, but if you're willing to wait a bit, you can get a 2 top .

[snc_cam]

My wife and I have also always done the seated dining and tried the YTD on our last cruise (Dec 2013). For the most part, it went very well. Had at most a 15 minute wait during peak hours. Only other issue we had was our "beeper" didn't work. So, if they hand you one, make sure they test it first. :)

 

Ship was the Freedom. Will do YTD on all cruises from now on.

[KenMo]

You go to the dining room anytime between 5:45 and 9:30.

 

The hostess will ask if you want your own table or be seated with others.

 

I've had anytime dining the last several cruises and I really like it.

 

I don't have to rush back from shore to get cleaned up for my assigned dining.

 

I've only had to wait once. It was for about 15 minutes on the first elegant evening.

[lukeduke07]

This is the way to go if there are only two of you. If 4 or more, you may have to wait on a table.

[okgirl]

I prefer YTD for dinner because after sharing tables with strangers at breakfast and lunch I like for my sister and I to just be at a table by ourselves.

 

However, the 2 tops are only about 8" apart so they are in no way private. I always request a 2 tops with 2 chairs so I don't get stuck in the middle of those booth/chair combos.. They are really hard to get in and out of.

[tncap]

However, the 2 tops are only about 8" apart so they are in no way private. I always request a 2 tops with 2 chairs so I don't get stuck in the middle of those booth/chair combos.. They are really hard to get in and out of.

 

Alternately, we request one of table/booths on the end so at least you only have to deal with another table on one side of you.

[geoherb]

We enjoyed YTD on the Fantasy last year. It worked out well since my 86-year-old mother-in-law was traveling with us. We weren't tied down to a set schedule. The only night we had to wait longer than a couple of minutes was elegant night. It seemed like everyone on the ship went to dinner at the same time we did that night.

[Onceuponatime]

We had Your Time Dining on our last cruise on Legend in Dec. 2013. The first elegant night we made the mistake of going to the dining room at 7:00PM. We had to wait 50 minutes for a table, then it took another 2 hours for dinner. After that we just went around 8:00PM and never had to wait. There were 2 of us, but if we ever travel in a large group I don't think I would opt for YTD. I only noticed 3 tables in the YTD area that sat more than 6 people. I would imagine that larger groups would have had to wait.

[lovemylife0215]

The wife and I just got off the Sensation on the 12th. We really liked YTD. We had a table by ourselves every meal accept one breakfast when we requested a window seat. We only had to wait 2-3 mins max. We liked not having to be somewhere at a certain time. I highly suggest it. Oh and we are 40 yrs old.

[WAHMto5]

We wouldn't do it any other way! We have had ATD with 2 to up to 10 people and have never had a problem. The longest we have ever had to wait was one time for about 20 minutes and they sent us a small plate of chocolate strawberries to our room the next day with a note saying sorry for the wait. Didn't bother us;)

[mwood0612]

Our upcoming cruise will be the first time using YTD on Carnival. My question is, do you eat in the main dining room or a seperate dining room. We will be on Conquest and I noticed that the Renoir dining room was listed beside YTD. I love the looks of the main dining room (Monet)and hope we can eat in there!! Don't want to miss out on the festivities. The other cruises we have been on were with RC and on a small ship that only had one dining room.

[marshhawk]

We tried YTD OR ATD depending on what you want to call it on the Legend two years ago. It worked out well, as we aren't the type that wanted to sit by ourselves at dinner. We did that twice during the cruise, we also sat with friends we had made in our roll call, and we sat with total strangers. We went when we were hungry, and while we didn't end up knowing the wait staff well, we got good service.

 

On the cruise this past year, we were on the Fascination with friends, and the four of us were always seated together, which is what we wanted, BUT we did go at the same time every night-at 7, and we got the song and dance from the first seating, and the service post their dessert, and we were served as they were getting ready for the second seating, so that by the end of each meal the servers were more attentive, but not so much when we were being seated. This did not bother me. We never felt rushed. I hope you try it, if it doesn't work out, you can always take another cruise and go back to what you like.:)

[BeachLoverstoo]

One thing we really liked was that we could have the same servers every night, so we did get to know them and they learned what we liked, just like set dining.

[OCruisers]

Anytime Dining is extremely convenient for us. We'd never want to go back to Traditional Dining.

 

We're Easy -- will share a table and sit at any wait station. Even so, we are very often seated at a table for two. As mentioned, those tables for two are VERY close together.

 

LuLu

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[canadian85]

I was on the Legend couple weeks ago. Same dining room, but YTD is the 2nd level. Would never do assigned seating again. Felt alot less rushed. We usually went around 6 and most nights no wait at all, the other nights the wait was very short. We were table of 4 and weren't offered to sit with others (maybe since we had young kids). Usually had the booths, but the tables weren't that close together, most of the tables for 2 were along the railing with a path between so didn't feel like you were sitting with others. Last year assigned on the Freedom we were inches away from the other tables.

[carrieluvsgreg]

We have found the Your Time Dining to be the "best of both worlds"! We generally eat early, and try to keep it at the same time, just because hubby doesn't like to eat too late. This option does offer us flexibility (especially on port days.) If we happen to get held up for any reason, we don't have to miss dinner in the MDR. We have also found that if we really like our staff on any given night we can simply request to be placed in the same section the next evening. We have figured out that they still sing, dance and all like they do in the reserved seating, so it is really a bonus!