Main dining room

[islander47]

Can this be done on the Navigator app, as well?

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, islander47 said:

Can this be done on the Navigator app, as well?

 

No

[jeh10641]

On 3/3/2023 at 5:20 PM, mcrcruiser said:

 Jim aren't the show times on the World Stage 6 & 8 PM  .if the ship has a show scheduled at those hours  ?

 

.We book with any time dining ,so we can work around the show times  . We too enjoy music walk ;but ,as you know not all ships have a music walk .

Cliff

Hi, Cliff,

We have been on Oosterdam, Westerdam and Rotterdam. They all had some version of the Music Walk. To be honest, I cannot remember the Main Stage times. I do agree with the posters who said it is possible to change MDR or Specialty dining times once on board. We do that frequently. Never had a problem pre- or post-Covid.

Jim

[Catlover54]

On 3/3/2023 at 5:20 PM, mcrcruiser said:

 Jim aren't the show times on the World Stage 6 & 8 PM  .if the ship has a show scheduled at those hours  ?

 

.We book with any time dining ,so we can work around the show times  . We too enjoy music walk ;but ,as you know not all ships have a music walk .

Cliff

 

I was on Rotterdam last month, and the World Stage shows were 7:30 and 9:30, so it may vary ship to ship and cruise to cruise.

On that cruise, Lincoln Center, which we liked,  did their performances in the afternoon when they performed , so we could see them  AND the World Stage (though I have learned on CC that Lincoln Center is moving to the World Stage sometime in the future, to allow more people to see them). 

 

As someone who rarely wants to eat a full meal before 6 or 6:30 unless lunch was missed (usually more like 7-8 but have flexibility) I personally liked this combination.  We could eat after 6:30 (spending more time in the suite recovering from a day's excursions, processing photos, etc., perhaps with some snacks to keep the wolf away), and still catch the show at 9:30.  Or we could catch the show at 7:30 (typically a 40-45 minute show) and then still be able to get in for a later sit-down dinner in either MDR or specialty, depending on reservations we had.

 

I have another cruise booked, but I cannot yet tell when the shows will be so it is a little trickier to plan specialty dining around them (I will just keep checking).

 

I am glad I don't typically want to eat at 5:30, as it seems liike a competitive and crowded time.

 

I've mostly been on smaller ships and it is nice having so many dining and entertainment options on HAL  (though we still primarily cruise for itinerary).

 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Catlover54
Typo

[Eaglecw]

We are cruising on the Westerdam in June. What are the hours that the MDR is open? Is there a door to the MDR on both deck 2 and deck 3?

[3rdGenCunarder]

There is an entrance on each floor. The dining room hours are usually 5:30-9:00. Early fixed dining is 5:30. I'm not sure what late is. Open dining is any time the MDR is open.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

There is an entrance on each floor. The dining room hours are usually 5:30-9:00. Early fixed dining is 5:30. I'm not sure what late is. Open dining is any time the MDR is open.

I think the open starts at 5:15.  I friend was on the Rotterdam about two weeks ago and early fixed was at 5:15.

[3rdGenCunarder]

It was 5:30 on Eurodam, and that's the opening time listed on the daily program. But I think people showed up at 5:15. I usually got to my table around 5:30 and there were people already seated and looking at their menus.

[Cruise Suzy]

35 minutes ago, Eaglecw said:

Is there a door to the MDR on both deck 2 and deck 3?

Deck 2 is for anytime dining. Deck 3 is for fixed-time dining.

[BarbandDaleT]

We are taking our first cruise with HAL and we are used to dining on other cruise lines without set dining times.  We basically eat when we are hungry, so this varies from day to day.  On other ships we usually head to the main dining room when hungry, ask for a table, and are seated.  We only plan ahead for specialty dining restaurants where reservations are necessary.  
 

Will this work on the Westerdam?  Do you think we will have issues without a reservation?

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, BarbandDaleT said:

We are taking our first cruise with HAL and we are used to dining on other cruise lines without set dining times.  We basically eat when we are hungry, so this varies from day to day.  On other ships we usually head to the main dining room when hungry, ask for a table, and are seated.  We only plan ahead for specialty dining restaurants where reservations are necessary.  
 

Will this work on the Westerdam?  Do you think we will have issues without a reservation?

Absolutely it works, last year we had the anytime dining on the Oosterdam and not once did we make a reservation. We usually walked in between 6:30 and 7:00pm and we were a group of 4, got seated right away with no problems. Not once on any cruise line have we made a reservation in the MDR with anytime dining and we have used anytime dining for the last 12 years.