Any downsides to anytime dining?

[shof515]

7 minutes ago, skrufy said:

On the HUB app you can make a reservation each night, there’s no way to reserve a week in advance, you must do it each night. We switched to YTD and love it. Gives us more flexibility to do things. Most times we eat around 7pm ( this is the busiest time to go ). At 7pm we have been seated right away and also have waited up to 40 minutes to eat. The length of your wait if any has variables. The time your go, do you want the same waitstaff, do you want a table for two. If you are a large group, this could Cause you a delay eating. 

once nice thing with the app is it tells you the estimate time you have to wait. on my last carnival cruise i used the app on, the time estimate is pretty accurate

[stellarose]

we just did not like the wait time. sometimes we would put in at 5pm and it would be over an hour wait.  we got nervous at a 6pm - that one took 46 minutes.  after trying it on the Pride- we opted back to regular early seating on the Breeze Dec 2019.

 

[sprint180]

On Magic in January the app was varied on accuracy.  It would usually say 15 minutes but sometimes would take 45 minutes.  If we would ask if our time was soon as it always said 15 min. they would be crabby. 

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

- May have to wait if busy. 

- May not get the entertainment

- Not the same personal service due to different staff each night

 

[Gameck]

Wife and I love it - never have had to wait for over 15 min. Put it in, go to a near bar - get the message that your table is ready. Awesome.

[LadyMac72]

I like that I can eat early and BF can eat late.  He can come with me and get a bowl of soup while I eat and I can come with him and get an extra dessert and coffee while he eats.  Win-win for us!

[bar1068]

No downsides whatsoever to ATD. Will never go back to set times as long as ATD is available.

[simplelife]

On 1/17/2018 at 7:50 PM, cmichael1279 said:

My personal opinion - I feel like we get better service with set dining. The waiters and their teams are expecting you every night, so they'll pick up your preferences real quick.

 

I know you can request the same server every night with YTD, but there's no guarantee you're going to get them. I like building the relationship with the servers over the course of the week - some of the most memorable people you'll meet onboard.

I fully agree. One thing I love about cruising is not having to make decisions. There's no "what about dinner" discussion (which we have nearly every day at home); just show up at "our" table, no wait, and be  served by our familiar serves who anticipate all our needs and preferences. 

[Joebucks]

How I miss dinner time on the ship. Having tried all of the options (Early, Late, and Anytime), each has their pros and cons. Early dining is still our clear favorite. We have way more fun with the staff vs one we never truly meet. We still reference pictures with some of the staff and remember good times. We have the rest of the night to do what we want. We aren't waiting in line for a table. No need to doom and gloom that I am "rushing" from anything. Almost all ports we are back on the ship before 4:30. If anything, I appreciate that "hard" time, because when you have a group of people, you can waste a lot of time waiting on others. Once 7-7:30 comes, it is time to relax and enjoy the night!

[Cushing985]

I don't think there is a downside to YTD.  We always ask for a table for 2 and once we find a great service team we ask for them every night.  Longest I've ever had to wait?  I'd say about 10 minutes and while I'm waiting I'm working on a drink

[NIATPAC29]

YTD is the way to go. keeps things flexible. who wants to be on a tight schedule when on a cruise? Unless of course you have a need to bond or become pals with the waite staff

Edited October 28, 2020 by NIATPAC29

[Bgcruising]

On 1/17/2018 at 6:50 PM, cmichael1279 said:

My personal opinion - I feel like we get better service with set dining. The waiters and their teams are expecting you every night, so they'll pick up your preferences real quick.

 

I know you can request the same server every night with YTD, but there's no guarantee you're going to get them. I like building the relationship with the servers over the course of the week - some of the most memorable people you'll meet onboard.

 

 

I prefer YTD but this is very true!

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

As I cruise solo mostly the only downside for me is getting at to eat alone lol.  But aside from that not really I can eat whenever I want so I can catch or do an activity after that I wanted to do.

[indygirl76]

On 10/26/2020 at 1:06 PM, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

- May have to wait if busy. 

True.

 

On 10/26/2020 at 1:06 PM, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

- May not get the entertainment

True, but this is a positive for me. I try to plan my dinner for when I won't be there for "showtime." (I know that mileage may vary on this, just sharing my opinion.)

 

On 10/26/2020 at 1:06 PM, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

- Not the same personal service due to different staff each night

 

The only time this has been an issue, is one night on our last cruise when I was trying to get some food into bestie before seasickness knocked her out. "Our" servers' station had just filled with the first seating, so it would have been a lengthy ish wait time, and we settled for an adjacent station. I think they do a great job of accommodating requests whenever humanly possible; it's a win-win situation for the passengers and the staff.

[kelkel2]

We really like it. The main downfall I can come up with is the fact that if you want to eat right when the MDR opens there’s usually a line of people waiting for the dining room doors to open. Also, if you want a table for 2, there can be a wait.  But we really love it and always choose it for the flexibility! 

[Djptcp]

DH and I have been doing the Anytime Dining since it first started and we love it. We usually get there just as the dining room is opening and there isn't a wait. When we leave after dinner, however, there is usually a long line - about 7pm or so. We don't wait in lines so we go early. Not really much different than doing the set early dinner time, but we like the flexibility if we do decide to eat later. We always get a table for two and that's another reason for going when the dining room opens. It works for us as we've been on 55 cruises and we rarely get off the ships anymore or, if we do, we are back in the afternoon. My advice for ATD is either go early or go later. 

[zqvol]

On 10/3/2020 at 8:42 PM, stellarose said:

we did it on the pride . sometimes it was an hour wait (and we went at light 5)  but generally   longer . One time we had a 20 minute wait. now to be fair, we did have a party of 6.  after that, we stuck to early seating. my inlaws still love late seating.

 

it is really a personal preference.  we did not choose any time for Mardi Gras next December .  

 

 

IMO if you have a large party you are better off with fixed time dining. If you have a group of 4 or less we always pick ATD. The difference that I see is that with a party of 8 you are always going to be with your party, it is unlikely that strangers are going to be seated with you either with fixed dining or ATD, but with a smaller party you are likely to be put with strangers and if that is not something that you like then it can become uncomfortable.

Edited October 31, 2020 by zqvol

[teknoge3k]

1 minute ago, zqvol said:

IMO if you have a large party you are better off with fixed time dining. If you have a group of 4 or less we always pick ATD. The difference it see is that with a party of 8 you are always going to be with your party, it is unlikely that strangers are going to be seated with you either with fixed dining or ATD, but with a smaller party you are likely to be put with strangers and if that is not something that you like then it can become uncomfortable.

 

You can always tell them you don't want to sit with strangers, and they will accommodate you. We never sit with strangers.

[zqvol]

1 minute ago, teknoge3k said:

 

You can always tell them you don't want to sit with strangers, and they will accommodate you. We never sit with strangers.

I was talking about when you have set dining times. My experience on over 50 cruises is that with set dining they can't accomodate your desire to be alone. Of course, with ATD you can always pick your own table size and who you sit with. Sorry if I was confusing in my quoted posted.