Feedback on Britannia restaurant open dining

[Bell Boy]

"Broken Supply Chains and any number of ingredients unavailable"  confirms exactly  the comment in a previous post I made  re; the lack of  Lobster Tail and Escargot post pandemic .

     

Edited February 27, 2023 by Bell Boy

[deck chair]

4 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

"Broken Supply Chains and any number of ingredients unavailable"  confirms exactly  the comment in a previous post I made  re; the lack of  Lobster Tail and Escargot post pandemic .

     

Hi!  I just returned from three weeks round trip on the SIRENA of Oceania cruises and there was no shortage of lobster tail.  I think Cunard just wants to cut costs and blames the pandemic. IMHO.

Deck Chair.

[Host Hattie]

Can we please keep this thread for feedback on open dining?

It's still new and of interest to a lot of us.

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for this information so far.  We are on our first Cunard TA in August and this is really good stuff.

 

Cheers

[elaine5]

At Open, do they make up "share" tables or you are seated only for the number in party (such as 2 can choose to join a table for 8 with other Open diners)? That worked well for us on Princess--we met lots of nice people and there was little to no wait for the share table.

Edited March 6, 2023 by elaine5

[elaine5]

Popping this to the top. Any more reports about how Open dining is working? 

[MrsPeel55]

thanks for the info,

and thanks @elaine5 for your question as we were asking ourselves same...

We booked directly with Cunard on the phone and were offered the option, we usually have diner quite late for the UK, and thought open dining could give us a choice to stretch to the later times, but yes, we were  wondering  same thing, after I mentioned to my daughter some of the reviews and posts I read here, if with open dining we would have to choose a table for 2 for the duration or could alternate and some days share bigger tables with other passengers? 

 

 

[WoorimBeachLady]

On 3/7/2023 at 12:29 AM, elaine5 said:

At Open, do they make up "share" tables or you are seated only for the number in party (such as 2 can choose to join a table for 8 with other Open diners)? That worked well for us on Princess--we met lots of nice people and there was little to no wait for the share table.

The tables for 2 are so close to other tables you can’t help but chat to your neighbours, so no real need to ask for a larger table unless you want to. We definitely prefer open dining to the fixed table, same time, same dinner companions, but glad that this option is still offered for those that don’t.

[Pushpit]

10 hours ago, elaine5 said:

Popping this to the top. Any more reports about how Open dining is working? 

I've done it on QE and QV, not yet QM2. On QM2 there were some adverse reports from the Coronation Cruise, but there were a variety of unusual factors to that event.

 

When I've done it I didn't use the App, though I am App savy on the whole, I just turned up roughly when I was ready and every time I've been led to a table for 2 (as a solo passenger) within a minute or two. Different table every evening and yes the tables are almost always such that you will have a conversation of some sort with your neighbour. Some tables good, right by the window, some times not so good. This was on Deck 2, which means you don't have Deck 3 promenaders walking past you.

 

So you turn up at the front desk, give your room number, they will look for an available table, s/he will announce the table number, then there is a queue of wait staff who will lead you to that table.

 

In my view it's best to use it to go against the flow of the 2 set timings, which in turn are designed to fit into the main Royal Court Theatre events later that evening. If you want to attend these events and you want to dine to fit into them, then you best choose a set meal time. But if you select around 19:00 hrs, give or take 20 minutes, then you're likely to avoid the crowds. As it happens that's my regular meal time anyway. You then can't do the early Royal Court event, realistically, but I see it as an  opportunity to go to the Queen's Room or Commodore, then if inclined be well placed for the late Royal Court event. 

 

Having said that, they don't seem dogmatic about anything here. You'll get a card in your stateroom inviting you to go (e.g.) 17:45 to 19:15 hrs, but if you turn up at 20:30 you'll get a table and will get fed. There will be tables available at some point, and the waiters are there anyway, so I wouldn't overthink it, since Cunard clearly makes it all work. Worst that can happen is a bit of a wait, but that's not happened to me. No-one starves on these vessels!

[elaine5]

So we just show up when we want to eat? Is there the option to make advance reservations for a specific time? What time are the shows/entertainment in the evening? Is there a main and late show? Is it the same offering? 

[bluemarble]

36 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

So we just show up when we want to eat? Is there the option to make advance reservations for a specific time? What time are the shows/entertainment in the evening? Is there a main and late show? Is it the same offering? 

 

With open dining, you may make dinner reservations for a specific time (at 15 minute intervals) using the My Voyage site.

 

Currently on board QM2, the evening theatre show times are 8:00pm and 10:15pm. Both shows times are the same offering.

Edited May 10, 2023 by bluemarble

[elaine5]

Do you make those dining reservations in advance? Winch as at 90 days out? 

[bluemarble]

1 minute ago, elaine5 said:

Do you make those dining reservations in advance? Winch as at 90 days out? 

 

You may make dinner reservations for the alternative extra charge dining venues (Steakhouse at the Verandah and Kings Court/Lido Alternative Dining) in advance beginning 14 days prior to departure.

 

You may only make reservations for open dining in the Britannia Restaurant once you are on board. If you have been assigned to open dining for your voyage, there will be a card in your cabin when you board listing a time that has been reserved for you for the first evening.

[elaine5]

Thanks. Can we change the 1st night if it is too late (for medical reasons)? 

[bluemarble]

1 minute ago, elaine5 said:

Thanks. Can we change the 1st night if it is too late (for medical reasons)? 

 

The My Voyage site does allow you to make reservations for the first evening. Assuming your desired time is available to reserve when you board, I presume that would work.

[exlondoner]

32 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

With open dining, you may make dinner reservations for a specific time (at 15 minute intervals) using the My Voyage site.

 

Currently on board QM2, the evening theatre show times are 8:00pm and 10:15pm. Both shows times are the same offering.

Pushpin above said s/he just termed up as s/he fancied, and it worked fine.

[bluemarble]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Pushpin above said s/he just termed up as s/he fancied, and it worked fine.

 

That does appear to be the case on the current voyage from our observation as well. We haven't tried turning up without a reservation, but there have been no apparent queues whenever we've arrived for our relatively later reserved times generally around 8:00pm.

[Host Hattie]

Thank you for the updates. It's good to hear that things have calmed down a bit after the Coronation Cruise. 

[Pushpit]

33 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

Thanks. Can we change the 1st night if it is too late (for medical reasons)? 

As mentioned above, I've not used the My Voyager App for Open Dining. I just turn up, but I avoid the obvious peak times. There are usually quite a range of entertainment options at different times in the evening - looking at the Daily Programme (see other thread, others visible via Google).  All the App does is try to manage any queues a bit, but as far as the front desk is concerned, you are a passenger that needs a table, they haven't really got the scope to do anything else.

 

So I wouldn't overthink this. Just turn up when you are ready to eat, if Open Dining is confirmed for you. And if Open Dining is not confirmed for you then they will still look after you in Britannia, it's the hospitality industry, not a prison. So it's quite OK to look at the programme and go when you are ready.

[Kynance]

I’m thinking of switching from late to open for our June voyage on QV. It’s just a week and we plan to eat elsewhere a couple of nights, so thought 5 days would be manageable if we find we don’t like it. I was wondering, however, what happens if you have a reservation for a set time one evening and turn up and find there is a long queue ahead of you.  Is there any signage directing people who have pre-booked or are you expected to join the one queue? Or just brazen it out and look like a queue-jumper by walking straight to the front? The latter doesn’t feel like an attractive option to me but if you had to join a long queue and missed your “slot”, the concept of using the app to book a time would seem rather pointless.  Any information on this scenario from those who’ve tried open dining would be most welcome. 

[techteach]

Great observation and questions @Kynance regarding the queue. I hope there is signage.

[Pushpit]

2 hours ago, Kynance said:

I was wondering, however, what happens if you have a reservation for a set time one evening and turn up and find there is a long queue ahead of you.  Is there any signage directing people who have pre-booked or are you expected to join the one queue? 

There isn't signage, since one level (deck 2 in my cases) is Open, and deck 3 is fixed. Everyone joins that single deck 2 queue leading to the front desk, and the only queues I saw were of short duration - a low number of minutes. I guess your options are to stay in the queue or simply come back later. You will get served and you won't starve or be forced to go to the Lido provided you get there before 20:50 hrs (the Daily Programme says 21:00 hrs). 

 

At the desk they are not reconciling your app booking, instead they are reconciling your stateroom number to a table. The App is just a theoretical queue manager (and probably designed for another Carnival brand's set-up, at a guess). After all they can't disadvantage those who do pre-book a slot over those who don't pre-book, and that latter group is I suspect the majority.

 

As to whether to do this or not, let's go through some of the disadvantages: your table will change every night, and on some days to less good locations by the luck of the draw; whereas on the fixed dining sittings you will know where to go and you have some say on that location. Open means you won't have continuity from the waiting staff, or the companionship of the same people every night. The fixed sittings dovetail into the evening entertainment set-up. And if you are an overthinker, then a fixed sitting time is one less thing to concern yourself about.  But having tried it three times on 2 vessels I've made all future bookings Open, it works for me, it won't work for everyone.

[Patria21]

I did open dining on a QM2 crossing in November and used it on occasion on a recent Queen Victoria voyage  - so here are a few more things you may want to think about.

 

The first is that open dining is new to Cunard and rules in place today may not be in place tomorrow. The QM2 experience was completely chaotic; by the Victoria, the staff seemed to be a bit more in control of the situation. The second is that on both ships, the maitre d' was willing to set aside the same table at the same time for each night, a kind of fixed/open hybrid. Nothing in the documentation says they will do that - but they did, perhaps because it meant fewer diners they had to fuss with every night. So think of that as a possibility, but not a guarantee. 

 

The third is completely subjective, so it may or may not apply to you. I liked some aspects of open dining, but what was lost for me was the sense of occasion you get dining in Britannia on the set seatings. On the set seatings, the dining room is full and lively and you're surrounded by people who are talking and (you hope) enjoying their meal. When we did open seating, particularly if we went later, we were mostly surrounded by empty tables - or by tables where everyone was finishing and getting ready to leave. That was particularly true on the Victoria where open seating proved to be hugely unpopular (in part because the front-of-the-house staff were not Cunard's finest) and the open seating part of the dining room was often mostly empty. Honestly, on some nights it was like eating in a tomb.

 

Anyway, if you're in doubt, you might consider taking fixed seating and asking to switch if you don't like it. Again, my experience may not hold, but on both the QM2 and Victoria trips it was easy to move from fixed to open seating and impossible to move from open to fixed. That may not be true of every voyage, but it did hold true on those recent ones.

[ex-koelner]

So, did I get it right, that on QM2 open dining is always on the lower level and fixed dining, both the early and late sitting, is always on the upper level? Or would I still have a choice? From that point of view, is one of the locations preferable over the other? Maybe better atmosphere, less disturbance, less cramped/crowded, better views, quicker service, calmer/more quiet?

A question by a future first-time solo cruiser who enjoys some company for dinner, i.e. opting for a table for 6 or 8 people.

[IB2]

Like Patria, I didn't like it on the trial last autumn, and I don't like what I am reading now.  Gone is the restaurant feel of meeting a group of people and enjoying the evenings with them through the crossing, and now it's a canteen where you queue in line and get put here there or anywhere.  For solo travellers or couples who enjoy becoming part of a larger group, the new scheme seems a real detriment to enjoying the TA.  And no-one's really focused on all the extra work for the staff - not just seating you but having to find out individual preferences or dietary restrictions afresh every single night, and the wine guys spending the first half hour of every sitting hunting out and retrieving diners' half-finished bottles from the night before.  If the staff are busy doing all this extra admin, it follows that you aren't getting the same service and attention at the table.

 

The other point which seems reasonably obvious is that the two-sitting system was designed to get everyone through of an evening.  Allowing significant numbers of people to start dining at a 'bridging time' of say 1930 means that table can't be used before or after, which must reduce capacity.  The only benefit for the kitchen is that the orders are spread more evenly through the night rather than all coming in at once.