Just Curious to see what Cruise Crtic HAL Board really Thinks about the Dining issue

[Tinknock50]

Lisa,

I kind of wish you had left the second half of the first question....'or cruise on a ship if I could not have this"

 

It sort of "muddies the waters" if you are seeking preferences between "Traditional" and "As You Wish".

 

For example, you could be one of the greatest fans ever for "As you wish", and still vote Traditional because friends or relatives you sail with love Traditional and wouldn't choose to "cruise on a ship that did not have this."

 

Also answering yes to the first choice could also be construed to mean you don't want Traditional to be totally abandoned......again, if you love As You Wish, you could still choose that...... Also be an "As You Wish" fan and still want the option of choosing traditinal on a particular cruise.

 

Have not heard anything about HAL considering doing away with Traditional entirely and going "As you Wish" totally.

 

I know I am splitting hairs, but it would be interesting to see the percentages with out the extra phrase.

[fsalzer]

Fred, Constuction Dude did not like the plan on the Oosterdam. I do not think he could have been clearer. You and your wife liked it and that's fine because that's your personal view. But you seem to be trying to pick apart every argument against it and I have to admit that's where I'm confused. Most of us stating our opinions here aren't questionning how others feel, but you do seem to be. It's such a highly personal thing!

 

It would definitely make it difficult for single cruisers. Some people are not as outgoing as others and are not necessarily comfortable trying to look for tablemates every night. They don't want to eat by themselves and they don't want to intrude. Unless they tweak it, I just can't see how any single person cruising could possibly like "As You Wish or As You Get" dining.

 

Heather, please direct me to one of my posts that question how others feel. It's never been my intent to question anyone's feeling and I agree that feelings are personal.

 

I argue that, from a passenger's point of view, open dining works. It may be very difficult for staff; I'm not in a position to know the problems or their solutions. There are inherent issues with open dining for those that want a specific table and/or a specific waiter at a specific time. As I overheard from Oosterdam staff, "That (Reservations) defeat(s) the purpose of open dining", or words to that effect. Perhaps, reservations shouldn't be available for open-dining.

 

Construction Dude and many others don't like open dining and I respect that. I have posted elsewhere on CC that I felt it was preferable to have a choice and have suggested ways to accomplish that. [http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=8804501 and http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=8805074] Unfortunately, CD didn't have a choice.

 

If I recall correctly, you have mentioned on other threads about, as a solo, having to look for tablemates and I have explained how (again, on this thread), based on our experience as a couple, one need not look for tablemates. On our next cruise, maybe I can talk DW into experiencing an evening of solo dining.

 

Fred

[fsalzer]

Fred, as a single cruiser, he did not have a good experience with it:rolleyes:

 

Of course not. From his post, it wasn't that he was a solo, it was that he didn't get what he wanted. Not only were there solos that didn't have a good experience with it, there were also couples that didn't have a good experience with it for exactly the same reason.

 

Fred

[Rglad]

We usually travel as a couple and have extremely enjoyed the company of our new friends at the table and the same wait staff. We get to meet people who we would never encounter on our own. We always request a large table and the later seating and it's worked out well. If you don't want to eat one day at that time...there are always choices...I don't get it. (We've traveled Princess, Celebrity and HAL)

 

I would not go on NCL just because of the free style policy...however, if and when we travel on one of the more exclusive smaller ships I might feel differently. From what I understand we would have no choice but the level of service and situation is quite different due to the smaller number of passengers.

[Copper10-8]

Of course not. From his post, it wasn't that he was a solo, it was that he didn't get what he wanted. Not only were there solos that didn't have a good experience with it, there were also couples that didn't have a good experience with it for exactly the same reason.

 

Fred

 

Fred, rumor has it, Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey," recently experienced "As you wish dining" as a single cruiser. He didn't like it and to make matters worse, upon his return home, he passed away, albeit peacefully at the age of 83. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in......... and then the trouble began

[ekerr19]

I bet you all thought I was joking or going way over the top everytime I brought up the beeper. :D

I was dead serious. My thinking was there was no way it could be done without it. Princess has to use them so it only made sense that Hal would have to use them too.

 

They have the BEEPERS!?!?! :eek:

 

gizmo, please, please tell me this is still a joke!

 

It gets worse every time I check back in on this thread...

[gizmo]

ekerr,

 

It is not a joke. There is a post on this board from a person who was handed a beeper on a Hal cruise. :mad: At the moment I can't remember who it was but it is here somewhere.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Just came off Oosterdam and here are my thoughts on As You Wish:

 

The positives: I like the flexibility. I was in a group of 6, and the majority of the group liked to eat early. (I prefer to eat later, but have learned to compromise). Still, there were several occasions where we would not have been able to make an assigned seating time. We would have been forced to eat in the Lido. So, the flexibility is a plus. Also, we never had to wait for a table. We may have just picked the right times, though, because there were a few nights where I saw people waiting for tables when we were leaving - including someone with the dreaded pager (!) We did not make reservations, so I don't know how that system worked. Also, even though we did not have the same waitstaff every night, the service did not suffer at all.

 

The negatives: I do prefer to have the same waitstaff each night; it was always fun getting to know the individual servers. Also, I can see that the open dining would be very difficult for solo travellers. They had Singles get-togethers every day on board, so you could meet people that way, but you would really have to do a lot of work yourself to get tablemates. But let's be honest - cruise lines have never been very accommodating to solo travellers. This is just an extra strike against them.

 

There were comment cards on the tables every night, so I am sure that HAL is relying very heavily on the responses they got on those cards. It will be interesting to see in which direction they go.

 

I bring up Nabby's excellent post, and have highlighted his/her allusion to the Evil Pagers.

 

Karin

 

So, do I cancel my upcoming solo cruise on Noordam, or not? This nervous mind would like to know......:cool:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

So, do I cancel my upcoming solo cruise on Noordam, or not? This nervous mind would like to know......:cool:

 

 

NO :D

[RevNeal]

So, do I cancel my upcoming solo cruise on Noordam, or not? This nervous mind would like to know......:cool:

 

Do you have Traditional Dining or "As You Wish." ? If you're scheduled for Traditional, there should be no problem. At least, that's how I understand it. As a solo, though, if I couldn't get Traditional I WOULD cancel. I don't like the ambiguity, uncertainty, and discomfort of wondering: (1) with whom will I eat tonight, (2) will I even get to eat with anybody at all?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Middle aged Mom

Karin - constructiondude posted several places about his solo experience on his Jan cruise on the Oosterdam with those pagers. I will try and find the posts/threads for you.

[Gsel]

I am trying to go into this with an open mind but it is very difficult! Will reserve final judgement after we try it on our Noordam trip. I am afrail HAL may have to give up many of their "old timers" (as if they really care!) if they continue with this.

[Gsel]

I am trying to go into this with an open mind but it is very difficult! Will reserve final judgement after we try it on our Noordam trip. I am afrail HAL may have to give up many of their "old timers" (as if they really care!) if they continue with this.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, no ... I won't do it for Cheesecake. If I want to go there, I just go early before the rush. In fact I'm going tonight!!! The restaurant I meant is called "Jetty's" in Jupiter right on the Intracoastal. We eat outside along the water. It's amazing. And they have a little cocktail area outside among the palms and flora where you can sit, have a drink and wait for your beeper to go off ... very civilized.

 

Also, not to be picky, but you keep talking about the S suite passenger and how they'll probably get what they want. Just remember that the majority of us poor cruisers are not in S suites.

 

Gizmo, I seriously thought you were pulling our leg with that one ... I know how you like to tease.

 

Sean, polls are always skewed depending on the pollster's viewpoint. I've done it myself here. I skew the poll's wording to try to get what I want from it. If Lisa just said "prefer traditional dining", the poll would be far more weighted on that choice.

 

Fred, just don't have the time to find your many posts on this subject on 3 threads, but every time someone said they didn't like the idea of "As You Wish", you basically said you couldn't understand that and questioned that person in some cases to a point where it was almost demeaning. I'm sure you didn't mean to do that and felt you were merely expressing your own view, but it doesn't come off that way.

 

For the record, I do not travel solo. My husband really likes to come with me. So I have never addressed travelling solo that I can recall except this one time on this thread .

 

John, !!!

 

Laura, Gizmo ... for the record, it's Post #86 by Nabby who just returned from an Oosterdam cruise and mentions the "dreaded pager". Whoops! Just saw that Karin quoted it for us.

 

The beeper/pager is simply the icing on an already very unattractive cake

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Do you have Traditional Dining or "As You Wish." ? If you're scheduled for Traditional, there should be no problem. At least, that's how I understand it. As a solo, though, if I couldn't get Traditional I WOULD cancel. I don't like the ambiguity, uncertainty, and discomfort of wondering: (1) with whom will I eat tonight, (2) will I even get to eat with anybody at all?

 

 

I'm currently waitlisted for main upper. I'm assuming at this time that it's "Traditional".

[ekerr19]

If you're scheduled for Traditional, there should be no problem.

 

In theory, there shouldn't. Although, I am seeing I am not the only one this has happened to recently.

 

"Confirmed" means little to me if there is the possibility it will be changed when the docs come in...

 

Worst case, I hope it's just a "glitch" in some system and they get it straightened out - people should be able to rely on their confirmations. :)

[Old As Dirt Mom]

.....

So, do I cancel my upcoming solo cruise on Noordam, or not? This nervous mind would like to know......:cool:

 

NO :D

 

 

Yes, ma'am! I mean, no, ma'am! Whatever you say, Lisa!:D

 

Karin

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Fred, rumor has it, Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey," recently experienced "As you wish dining" as a single cruiser. He didn't like it and to make matters worse, upon his return home, he passed away, albeit peacefully at the age of 83. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in......... and then the trouble began

 

Well, that's just about how I feel after going through this thread!:D Does the right leg at HAL Headquarters know what the left leg is doing????

 

Karin

[Tinknock50]

I think a lot of us have short memories. I recall back in the "good old days" when there were 2 seatings, seeing post after post about "I requested Early Seating and got stuck with Late and HAL wouldn't switch us back!"

 

Sure there are problems now.....just remember this is nothing new.:)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Also, not to be picky, but you keep talking about the S suite passenger and how they'll probably get what they want. Just remember that the majority of us poor cruisers are not in S suites.

 

Sean, polls are always skewed depending on the pollster's viewpoint. I've done it myself here. I skew the poll's wording to try to get what I want from it. If Lisa just said "prefer traditional dining", the poll would be far more weighted on that choice.

 

 

Heather, first be aware Tom and I want Traditional, as a matter of fact Tom is being very insistant about Traditional. But I also know that there could come a time like our up coming Alaska cruise where this might actually work better. I also know that from this poll there are obviously cruisers that do want it, while yes there is a large amount here that want tradtional there are just a couple of votes for those that want Dine As You Wish;) I was not trying to sway it any way. From what started out on late Saturday on these boards were posters that were insistant that they would refuse to cruise HAL if it was Dine As You Wish. I was just trying to let those cruisers vote. Then the second is I might like to try it or I really don't care either way. Then there are obviously those that would only take the Dine As You Wish. I honestly did not try to sway it one way or another. I personally think HAL is trying to please most of the line's cruisers and if they had not had any requests for this we sure would not be talking about it.

Now for the S Suite, this all started with Laura stating she had an S Suite for her upcoming cruise. All I am trying to say is if you do have an S Suite you are suppose to have you choice of Dining and I in the past have experienced a mess up on documents placing us in a dining time I did not want and it was quickly fixed by my TA who called in reminded them we are S Suite passengers and they then changed it with no problem when all other dining times were wait listed. As a matter of fact our Noordam cruise we are in a SY Guarantee NO S Suite.

Frankly like I stated many times before, we are all making way too big a deal out of this. None of this is set in stone, we have seen many times that things change as quickly as we heard about them. Life is just too darn short to get up set over this. We are talking about a cruise something that is suppose to be relaxing not a Life or Death moment. There will always be people that Dislike something, You cannot please everyone all the time.Personally I feel Life is about Change and it is something we cannot avoid.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Well, yes, perhaps we are making too big a deal of all this;) . (But I like brouhahas. They are the spice of life).:) I never cruised HAL when there were only two seatings, but that idea sounds so nice and simple. Why did they change it?

 

Karin

[Bill S]

If I want to be greeted with a beeper at the entrance of a dining facility, I could go to Claim Jumper down the street for a whole lot less money! I guess that's what happens when a cruise line wants to be all things to all people. Gee, this fun! :rolleyes:

[Tinknock50]

Lisa,

I hope you didn't think I thought you were wording your poll to sway votes one way or the other. Just wondering about the phrasing might unitentionally result in the first choice getting an inflated number.

 

I know you were just trying to get a feeling for dining preference.:)

[gizmo]

 

I argue that, from a passenger's point of view, open dining works. It may be very difficult for staff; I'm not in a position to know the problems or their solutions. There are inherent issues with open dining for those that want a specific table and/or a specific waiter at a specific time. As I overheard from Oosterdam staff, "That (Reservations) defeat(s) the purpose of open dining", or words to that effect. Perhaps, reservations shouldn't be available for open-dining.

 

Fred

 

Does "open dining works" include beepers ? It is a fact that Princess and now Hal have beepers.

 

I still say you cannot eat "when you wish", but only when tables are available which according to many on the Princess board is either very early or very late. In other words, it is not "when you wish".

[ekerr19]

Now for the S Suite, this all started with Laura stating she had an S Suite for her upcoming cruise. All I am trying to say is if you do have an S Suite you are suppose to have you choice of Dining

 

Lisa -

 

I have heard this too. Other than having some tables in "reserve" (which they may do and it seems I've heard this from a Maitre D), they would have to "bump" someone else and I'd feel sort of bad about doing that. If they actually do have some reserve tables then I can understand how they are able to make dining preference a Suite perk. :)

 

I won't be surprised if we board the Oosterdam on 3/3 and we are back to Main seating, lol!!!

 

We've decided we're just going to wing it & see what happens...