Dining advise.

[Nic6318]

4 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

What if you don't know in advance or change plans at the last minute? To each,  their own, I guess.

 

Hi

 

If you don't know in advance of a change of plans, that's one you obviously can't advise anyone in advance. Nobody is asking you to. The fact is that if the wait team don't know you aren't going to appear in what is considered a reasonable time then they will try to delay taking/making the orders, regardless of whether one was to insist on giving their order right away. That being the case, if in fact you do know in advance and have the opportunity to advise someone, but just can't be bothered because they are strangers, then that is considered rude. For that same reason it is also considered rude for someone to arrive consistently late.

 

I understand that it is common nowadays for people to not consider others, but it is one thing if you don't understand what you are doing and another if you do.

[grandmarnnurse]

10 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

Hi

 

If you don't know in advance of a change of plans, that's one you obviously can't advise anyone in advance. Nobody is asking you to. The fact is that if the wait team don't know you aren't going to appear in what is considered a reasonable time then they will try to delay taking/making the orders, regardless of whether one was to insist on giving their order right away. That being the case, if in fact you do know in advance and have the opportunity to advise someone, but just can't be bothered because they are strangers, then that is considered rude. For that same reason it is also considered rude for someone to arrive consistently late.

 

I understand that it is common nowadays for people to not consider others, but it is one thing if you don't understand what you are doing and another if you do.

And THAT is why set seating should be abolished, and only have YTD. People can STILL go at their preferred time, and they can STILL request their preferred waiter. Plus, if you STILL WANT TO SIT WITH STRANGERS YOU CAN IF YOU REQUEST IT. Set dining times with strangers, is so archaic, most cruise lines are beginning to wake up to that. NCL was the first one to make the bold move to Freestyle Cruising, and other lines, Carnival included, followed with YTD. Eventually, all dining will be YTD. No more having your preferred time denied, and placed in an unacceptable dinner time with obnoxious strangers. It’s only a matter of time before Carnival changes to total YTD. 

[desiree741]

Not really related but my first cruise I was on early dinning. I didn’t know you had to be there at 530 I just thought you had to be there before the late dinning time started. Needless to say I didn’t find out till after our cruise when I found this board. Thank goodness for it and all the knowledgeable people. 

[StolidCruiser]

16 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

I go further.  I avoid the MDR at all costs. 

 

We appreciate that immensely. 

[Joebucks]

I did 6 pm dining on my cruise last month. It is my favorite choice because I am nearly always back from port, showered, and ready to eat, my table is always ready, the rest of the night is mine, and I enjoy having the same server.

 

I believe our table could seat about 10 people. Every night, there was a different combination of people. Some showed up. Some didn't. Surprisingly, the wait staff functioned the same each night, taking orders around the same time. The only wrench was when people showed up very late. It's almost like they are aware that people aren't going to show up each night because they've done it hundreds of times. If it was so important for them to know that I would be at another dining venue, it doesn't seem that hard that they could be alerted of that.

[marshhawk]

Years ago when we took assigned dining, one group would always show up late at the table, we would get water and bread, and wait and wait.  But one night we waited for 35 minutes and finally the waiter told us he couldn't wait any longer. And took our orders.

 

The last night we ran into one couple and they told us they were not coming to dinner.  We told the waiter, and he just said ok and took our orders.  When the always late couple showed up, he took their order.

 

But it is a courtesy to the table and waiter if you know you wont be there the next night, tell the waiter.  You are assigned to that table, and that waiter is assigned to you.  Choosing an assigned time, means showing up at that time, not holding up the whole table because the world revolves around you.  (It doesn't)

 

Since that bizarre situation, we have always chosen Anytime unless we are cruising with friends, and dining with friends.  We love people, and if the opportunity arises that we can share a table with folks when we show up for dinner, we will jump at the chance- a way to make new friends.  But if it does not, then we get fed when we want to be fed, and where we want to eat.

[coevan]

3 hours ago, desiree741 said:

Needless to say I didn’t find out till after our cruise

 

 

Wouldn't you have known this on the first night

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, ray98 said:

Rude to strangers because you dine at other venues?

No, just a nice gesture so they do not wait to order .   

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

Why would the OP have to notify strangers of their actions? The tablemates are free to begin eating whenever they want.

Common courtesy 

[jimbo5544]

22 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

You don't owe anything to your assigned tablemates. They are strangers to you. They won't care. It's your vacation. Do what makes you happy.

Gotta love the “its tour vacation” logic, or lack there of.   
 

 

[linbobky]

22 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I don’t see it rude at all! It’s your vacation, not your table mates! Personally, I’d only choose YTD so that I never have to share my dinner and table with strangers. You can always request to be seated in the same waiter’s section, as I’ve done this. So, if you prefer to have a set dining time at a table with strangers, don’t worry about rudeness for dining elsewhere. I really don’t know how they handle that when someone dines elsewhere, as we don’t set at a shared table. Perhaps you just notify the matre D on nights your elsewhere so they aren’t waiting for you to arrive. 

its best to tell your waiter you are going to miss. 

[pbcbbc]

6 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

And THAT is why set seating should be abolished, and only have YTD. People can STILL go at their preferred time, and they can STILL request their preferred waiter. Plus, if you STILL WANT TO SIT WITH STRANGERS YOU CAN IF YOU REQUEST IT. Set dining times with strangers, is so archaic, most cruise lines are beginning to wake up to that. NCL was the first one to make the bold move to Freestyle Cruising, and other lines, Carnival included, followed with YTD. Eventually, all dining will be YTD. No more having your preferred time denied, and placed in an unacceptable dinner time with obnoxious strangers. It’s only a matter of time before Carnival changes to total YTD. 

I would be disappointed if set seating was abolished. Having the same table mates every night is as important to us as the waiters. We have made some good friends this way. I know it isn't for everyone, but it is for us.

[PhillyFan33579]

6 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

And THAT is why set seating should be abolished, and only have YTD. People can STILL go at their preferred time, and they can STILL request their preferred waiter. Plus, if you STILL WANT TO SIT WITH STRANGERS YOU CAN IF YOU REQUEST IT. Set dining times with strangers, is so archaic, most cruise lines are beginning to wake up to that. NCL was the first one to make the bold move to Freestyle Cruising, and other lines, Carnival included, followed with YTD. Eventually, all dining will be YTD. No more having your preferred time denied, and placed in an unacceptable dinner time with obnoxious strangers. It’s only a matter of time before Carnival changes to total YTD. 

I would be very surprised if Carnival got rid of set dining times any time soon. I know YTD is popular, especially with posters on this site, but on the majority of cruises set dining times, usually early, is the first to fill up. I don’t think Carnival would consider a change unless YTD started to be the first dining option to fill up on every cruise. 

[grandmarnnurse]

15 minutes ago, pbcbbc said:

I would be disappointed if set seating was abolished. Having the same table mates every night is as important to us as the waiters. We have made some good friends this way. I know it isn't for everyone, but it is for us.

But I think your going to find that you are actually in the minority. I believe a recent poll by John Heald showed that more people prefer the flexibility of YTD. 

[jimbo5544]

24 minutes ago, pbcbbc said:

I would be disappointed if set seating was abolished. Having the same table mates every night is as important to us as the waiters. We have made some good friends this way. I know it isn't for everyone, but it is for us.

While it may be a slight majority that wants YTD, there are ZERO plans to remove it, not to worry.

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

But I think your going to find that you are actually in the minority. I believe a recent poll by John Heald showed that more people prefer the flexibility of YTD. 

Quantum leap from there to actually making the change

[mojavetex]

We have always requested early dining. And always request a table for 2 and always tell them when we have reservations.  We don’t enjoy waiting for people who show up late or not at all But I keep reading about YTD to see if we need to change. So far I am only convinced that I like dining in the aft dining room so I will choose accordingly (like the Vista). Another consideration is being able to eat at 5:30 so we have more choices of what we want to do instead of waiting till 6:00. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by mojavetex
Wording

[desiree741]

2 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

Wouldn't you have known this on the first night

If I remember correctly the first night we sat at a table with others then by ourselves the rest of the cruise I didn’t understand why at that point. I guess they just made accommodations for us for whenever we arrived not knowing any better but no, no one ever told us 

[coevan]

In reading this board the majority of families prefer early. The older more adventurous like YTD. I don't think removing late dining would bother anyone as you can eat later than late dining if you choose. Logistically it could be a problem as they split the dining rooms. 

[grandmarnnurse]

16 minutes ago, coevan said:

In reading this board the majority of families prefer early. The older more adventurous like YTD. I don't think removing late dining would bother anyone as you can eat later than late dining if you choose. Logistically it could be a problem as they split the dining rooms. 

How would splitting the dining rooms be a problem? On NCL, we had 3 designated MDRs, but they were nothing like the huge banquet style MDRs of Carnival. They were more like restaurants. With NCL Freestyle Cruising, you choose not only whenever you want to eat, but wherever as well. Besides the MDRs, there is a sit down restaurant/Pub with a full menu, and open 24 hours, plus their buffet, which opened back up at 9:30pm to 11:30pm for late night snacks. We LOVED everything about Freestyle, but we loved everything else more so about Carnival, so we have to put up with just YTD. I only requested a set dining time for the second leg of our B2B cruise in April because I thought it would be easier for the possible 25+ of us (celebrating our 50th Anniversary). 

[ShakyBeef]

43 minutes ago, coevan said:

In reading this board the majority of families prefer early. The older more adventurous like YTD. I don't think removing late dining would bother anyone as you can eat later than late dining if you choose. Logistically it could be a problem as they split the dining rooms. 

 

Well, you think wrong.  It would bother my husband and me.  And many other people that I know who prefer Late Seating.  There are many of us who like traditional dining, have no interest in YTD, and don't want to eat early.

[schazzy]

23 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

How would splitting the dining rooms be a problem? On NCL, we had 3 designated MDRs, but they were nothing like the huge banquet style MDRs of Carnival. They were more like restaurants. With NCL Freestyle Cruising, you choose not only whenever you want to eat, but wherever as well. Besides the MDRs, there is a sit down restaurant/Pub with a full menu, and open 24 hours, plus their buffet, which opened back up at 9:30pm to 11:30pm for late night snacks. We LOVED everything about Freestyle, but we loved everything else more so about Carnival, so we have to put up with just YTD. 

 

We've been more happy with the YTD on Carnival than the traditional seating, and I feel that we'd enjoy NCL's freestyle dining concept. We've considered trying NCL for that reason, but since I haven't been able to find an NCL cruise that goes out of a port we can drive to during our preferred cruising time, it hasn't happened yet.

[lennythenose]

14 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

And THAT is why set seating should be abolished, and only have YTD. People can STILL go at their preferred time, and they can STILL request their preferred waiter. Plus, if you STILL WANT TO SIT WITH STRANGERS YOU CAN IF YOU REQUEST IT. Set dining times with strangers, is so archaic, most cruise lines are beginning to wake up to that. NCL was the first one to make the bold move to Freestyle Cruising, and other lines, Carnival included, followed with YTD. Eventually, all dining will be YTD. No more having your preferred time denied, and placed in an unacceptable dinner time with obnoxious strangers. It’s only a matter of time before Carnival changes to total YTD. 

I mentioned on another thread that NCL abolishing set time dining was THE reason we switched to Carnival. I  glad there is a choice now a don’t want them to abolish YTD because it is so popular with many. But if they ever do away with set time we will be changing lines again. Just personal preference.  No right or wrong choice. 

[coevan]

39 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

Well, you think wrong.  It would bother my husband and me.  And many other people that I know who prefer Late Seating.  There are many of us who like traditional dining, have no interest in YTD, and don't want to eat early.

 

 

but you can still eat at the exact same time, same server, you don't have to eat early. We had the same server for 2 weeks ate around 8:30-900 

[pacruise804]

On 11/2/2019 at 8:21 PM, simplelife said:

I was always taught  is common courtesy to let your tablemates and waitstaff know if you will not be dining  with them on a particular night. We show common courtesy to strangers in other situations, so why not this one?

 

I agree that we should show courtesy to others, and if you do it in other situations you should do it with dining too.  I don't think everyone shows common courtesy 😉 

 

On 11/3/2019 at 1:54 PM, grandmarnnurse said:

But I think your going to find that you are actually in the minority. I believe a recent poll by John Heald showed that more people prefer the flexibility of YTD. 

Not necessarily.  A post by John Heald indicating a preference for YTD merely shows that those who are inclined to see and answer his poll are also inclined to prefer YTD.  I never heard of the man before finding Cruise Critic, and I suspect there are many who cruise that don't view/answer his polls.  Statistics can be useful and even factual, but that doesn't always mean they represent the whole truth.

 

On 11/3/2019 at 10:06 PM, coevan said:

 

 

but you can still eat at the exact same time, same server, you don't have to eat early. We had the same server for 2 weeks ate around 8:30-900 

Traditional dining is about more than just eating food delivered by the same server.  It is part of a whole experience that isn't for everyone, but some do enjoy and look forward to.  Replicating portions is not the same as having the whole.