Late dinner seating full 8 months out..

[wales4ever]

Booked late June/early July for our 14 day Nieuw Amsterdam in February. Was told then we were on a waiting list for late seating back then and contact HAL a bit closer to sailing. Have contacted HAL every month with the same reply. Had another email from them this morning to say " that you are still waitlisted for main dining, if this dining time becomes available you will be notified."

Rather suprised that is has been full for 8 months.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had that happen a couple of times for the early set dining.

 

You are on an Alaskan cruise and many people like to eat late as it is still day light that late in the evening in June and July.

[Homosassa]

4 hours ago, wales4ever said:

Booked late June/early July for our 14 day Nieuw Amsterdam in February. Was told then we were on a waiting list for late seating back then and contact HAL a bit closer to sailing. Have contacted HAL every month with the same reply. Had another email from them this morning to say " that you are still waitlisted for main dining, if this dining time becomes available you will be notified."

Rather suprised that is has been full for 8 months.

 

 

Isn't the early traditional seating the one usually referred to as "main" dining?

 

If so, you should check to see the time of the seating that you are waitlisted for?

[Scrapnana]

I had the same think happen on a cruise I booked 11 months in advance.  Turned out that there were a couple of groups on board although they were both fairly small ones.  Once I got onboard it took me about 30 seconds to get the fixed main seating table that I had requested and been denied for all those months.

[wales4ever]

It is the late seating we are waiting for.  Plus its for the Caribbean in February not Alaska

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 minutes ago, wales4ever said:

It is the late seating we are waiting for.  Plus its for the Caribbean in February not Alaska

That sounds like it could be because of a large group onboard. Is your cruise 14 days or two 7-day cruises booked together? Groups usually take 7-day cruises. Google your ship and dates and see if any groups come up.

 

[aa7yy]

We completely ignore what ever it says on out confirmation. When we get onboard my wife politely goes up to the man in charge and "things" are fixed. They will do pretty much anything to make you happy. Demanding or pestering are pretty low on there response list.

[wales4ever]

I looked at the list that gets posted here regarding groups. There is on the week before - feb 10-17 but nothing from 17 feb onwards

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

Isn't the early traditional seating the one usually referred to as "main" dining?

Not on Holland America. "Main" seating is late on all HAL ships.

[POA1]

If you call HAL, you can find out where you are on the wait list. This happened to us twice. The phone rep was able to guess our chances of getting main/late. In both cases we got it.

[TAD2005]

We usually call Ship's Services about 6 months out, and request the name and e-mail address of the Ship's Coordinator for the particular ship I'm on.   Then, I go to HAL Facts dot com and download the MDR table layout with table numbers.  It is a PDF.  I select about 10 or 15 table numbers in order of preference.   Then I e-mail my request for any of those tables on my list for the Main seating (late, usually 8:00 pm....you are correct Ruth).   Even when my TA tells me that the Main (late) seating is waitlisted,  I have always received a response from the Ship's Coordinator within a week and they always confirm one of my preferred tables.

But we always take long cruises of 21 days and up.  And those long cruises are not favored by large groups who will use their booking clout to carve out a sizable portion of the upper floor (fixed dining area) for their group.   So, if your Caribbean cruise is partially booked by a large group, that could be the reason for the MDR wait list. 

[kazu]

OP, I'm not sure if you are not a Collectors' cruise or not (basically a B2B with one booking #).  If the cruise is available in 2 different segments (two 7 day cruises in your case) then that may be part of the problem.

 

I have found that when I am on a Collectors' cruise, main dining is often wait listed but available to those who are on the 2 different segments.  I always ended up with the dining of my choice but it was wait listed until we boarded on several occasions.

 

 

[taxmantoo]

24 minutes ago, kazu said:

OP, I'm not sure if you are not a Collectors' cruise or not (basically a B2B with one booking #).  If the cruise is available in 2 different segments (two 7 day cruises in your case) then that may be part of the problem.

 

I have found that when I am on a Collectors' cruise, main dining is often wait listed but available to those who are on the 2 different segments.  I always ended up with the dining of my choice but it was wait listed until we boarded on several occasions.

 

 

That seems to be the way the system works.  We have been in that situation a few times. 

Depending on who you booked with, a good travel agent can usually get HAL to assign you the time you want and note it your booking even though their site says it is not available.  Ours always does   One phone call and the problem is resolved.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, taxmantoo said:

That seems to be the way the system works.  We have been in that situation a few times. 

Depending on who you booked with, a good travel agent can usually get HAL to assign you the time you want and note it your booking even though their site says it is not available.  Ours always does   One phone call and the problem is resolved.

 

Oh yes, I have learned that and mine are assigned now since I started using my PCC to book.  (I can transfer after 😉 ) Just wanted to let the OP know a possible reason for the waitlist.

[Mickb]

This has happened to us twice in the past. On both occasions, I went straight to the Maitre d upon embarkation. $20/30 solved the problem and we had a great table for 2.

 

[Hlitner]

I cannot believe that Late Seating is full 6 months out or even 6 days out :).  We are talking about HAL where folks are lining up for early seating (always full) by 4:30 :).   We tend to dine late (in our world that is after 7:30) and often feel like we are dining alone.

 

Hank

[TAD2005]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I cannot believe that Late Seating is full 6 months out or even 6 days out :).  We are talking about HAL where folks are lining up for early seating (always full) by 4:30 :).   We tend to dine late (in our world that is after 7:30) and often feel like we are dining alone.

 

Hank

We're both 70 years, and we hate early dining, so we always select late, (main) seating dinner.  We are off the ship most of the day, and when we get back, we like to relax in our cabin, shower, dress for dinner, and have a few pre-dinner cocktails before the guy with the chimes comes strolling through the deck announcing dinner at 8:00 pm.   You eat dinner at 5:30 and you get hustled out and then the 8:00pm show.   What do you do at 9:30 ??   Go to bed??  No way.   So we make a night of it, and we always make sure we have the Signature Beverage Package so we don't have to worry about the bar bill at the end.

[wales4ever]

17 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

We usually call Ship's Services about 6 months out, and request the name and e-mail address of the Ship's Coordinator for the particular ship I'm on.   Then, I go to HAL Facts dot com and download the MDR table layout with table numbers.  It is a PDF.  I select about 10 or 15 table numbers in order of preference.   Then I e-mail my request for any of those tables on my list for the Main seating (late, usually 8:00 pm....you are correct Ruth).   Even when my TA tells me that the Main (late) seating is waitlisted,  I have always received a response from the Ship's Coordinator within a week and they always confirm one of my preferred tables.

But we always take long cruises of 21 days and up.  And those long cruises are not favored by large groups who will use their booking clout to carve out a sizable portion of the upper floor (fixed dining area) for their group.   So, if your Caribbean cruise is partially booked by a large group, that could be the reason for the MDR wait list. 

Is there any way I can do this from the UK? The phone number on the HAL site for this is a US one. How can I get an email address for my ship's co ordinator from the UK?

[kazu]

20 minutes ago, wales4ever said:

Is there any way I can do this from the UK? The phone number on the HAL site for this is a US one. How can I get an email address for my ship's co ordinator from the UK?

 

Don't know of a number to call but, If you have a TA, I'd ask them to assist in this if not...

 

Use the contact button on the HAL site for email and choose the option of questions about your cruise (be sure to put in your booking number) and ask whom you can contact from the UK and how to secure your dining.

 

Alternatively as others have suggested, you can get this straightened out once you are on board if your dining assignment isn't main dining.

[Hlitner]

23 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

We're both 70 years, and we hate early dining, so we always select late, (main) seating dinner.  We are off the ship most of the day, and when we get back, we like to relax in our cabin, shower, dress for dinner, and have a few pre-dinner cocktails before the guy with the chimes comes strolling through the deck announcing dinner at 8:00 pm.   You eat dinner at 5:30 and you get hustled out and then the 8:00pm show.   What do you do at 9:30 ??   Go to bed??  No way.   So we make a night of it, and we always make sure we have the Signature Beverage Package so we don't have to worry about the bar bill at the end.

I hope we meet on a cruise, someday.   We have very similar likes.

 

Hank

[TAD2005]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

I hope we meet on a cruise, someday.   We have very similar likes.

 

Hank

Eurodam, March 9, 2019, 28 days R/T San Diego, Hawaii, Tahiti, Marquesas.   Crosby, Stills & Nash  Southern Cross will be our cruise theme song.  If you are onboard, I would love to tilt a few with you !!

[Shmoo here]

On 1/4/2019 at 6:17 AM, Scrapnana said:

Once I got onboard it took me about 30 seconds to get the fixed main seating table that I had requested and been denied for all those months.

Where do you go to do this?

[Scrapnana]

5 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Where do you go to do this?

The dining room.

[Shmoo here]

19 minutes ago, Scrapnana said:

The dining room.

Thanks.

[POA1]

53 minutes ago, Scrapnana said:

The dining room.

 

33 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

Thanks.

 

They were set up in the Pinnacle Bar on the Eurodam and in the atrium on the Zuiderdam. I made the mistake of high tailing it to the MDR on the Eurodam and had to back track to where they were set up. Now I know to look first or ask. You couldn't miss them on the Zuiderdam because they were right there when you walked onto the ship.