As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[medfordgirl]

 

But HAL has a lot of traditional type cruisers who don't want any parts of AYWD. For those staying in suites, they don't have to deal with it.

 

Actually not true, I booked my cruise last month, staying in a deluxe suite and I thought I wouldn't have a problem but I did. It took quite a few emails and phone calls to finally get my early upper fixed seating. So it appears that I shouldn't of had to "deal with it" but unfortunately, I did. But I did have to go to the "higher ups" to get it. Whom by the way, were very very gracious and accomodating. I was very pleased to deal with them, made the whole bad experience up til then go away and left me with a good feeling about HAL. Maybe it was just the couple of people I talked with at HAL in the beginning that didn't know any better? Of course I would have thought that my TA would have known better and expect they should have gone thru the hassel of getting it right, not me. So to sum it up, I don't know why or how they closed the fixed seating??

[James Russell]

We just finished two weeks on the Zuiderdam where they had AYWD dining from 5:00/5:30 to late in the evening. We went to dinner before 7:00 pm and always went right to a table. When we left the dining room was jammed and always a long waiting line. The upper deck had the optional fixed dining hours with set tables. If that is what you mean by AYSD, we had an uneven load in the dining rooms. Our meals were hot and served quickly, but one reviewer who ate later had longer waits, slow service, and colder meals.

 

How is that service different than anytime dining? Would the dining room be open all day? It was open at set times for breakfast and lunch on our cruise.

[kryos]

Actually not true, I booked my cruise last month, staying in a deluxe suite and I thought I wouldn't have a problem but I did.

If I were you, I'd be looking for a new travel agent then. You shouldn't have had to deal with it, plain and simple. She should have known what you wanted and that you had priority for it, and made sure it was waiting for you when you got onboard. After all, she got that nice commission on your luxury suite booking ... so she should have been more than willing to do a bit of work for it to make sure you had a stress-free vacation.

 

Blue skies!

 

--rita

[kryos]

Our meals were hot and served quickly, but one reviewer who ate later had longer waits, slow service, and colder meals.

 

...

 

How is that service different than anytime dining? Would the dining room be open all day? It was open at set times for breakfast and lunch on our cruise.

My guess is the other reviewer had an inexperienced waiter who was having difficulty keeping up the pace. If his meals were cold that means they were left sitting in the kitchen too long. Either his waiter had too many tables to serve, or was having difficulty doing his job.

 

I think ... and this is just a hypothesis ... that the service in AYWD would be faster than that in traditional simply because they would be trying to push people through so as to turnover tables. Also, since you have a different waitstaff each night, depending on where you sit, they probably don't take too much time talking and getting to know you. In traditional, you have the same waiters every night and you get to know them. There's more conversation and thus I would imagine the service would be a bit slower. Also, I get the feeling from my past several cruises that the kitchen prepares one course of the meal at a time. So if most people are on salads, and you aer finished with your salad and ready for the next course, you're gonna wait until everyone else catches up before they bring your next course. This could slow things down too. Also, if you order only a couple of courses ... say an entree and a salad, and others at the table are ordering all five courses, you are gonna have to wait to get your entree until the others have all had their soup, salad and appetizer. Again, this slows things down.

 

With AYWD, though, people at different tables will be on different courses, and I don't imagine the waiters will have to keep everyone on the same course. I would assume that if you just order a salad and an entree, they could bring your entree as soon as you were ready for it, even if the others were still having their soup or appetizer.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[medfordgirl]

If I were you, I'd be looking for a new travel agent then. to make sure you had a stress-free vacation.

 

Blue skies!

 

--rita

 

That is what my DH said too. So I guess next years cruise will be up for grabs. :)

[sauvichick]

Now this is something I find laughable. Why on earth should you have to make reservations ahead of time? It makes no sense. Isn't the entire purpose of flexible dining to be able to decide on the fly when you want to eat? You should just be able to walk into the dining room and request a table. Sure you might have to wait a few minutes, especially if you want a specific size or location of table, but otherwise HAL shouldn't even be taking reservations in flexible dining. It should be just that ... flexible.

 

I know that I have AYWD on my upcoming HAL cruise, and I have no intention of making reservations. HAL wants to stick me into AYWD, then I'm gonna make it work for me by giving myself total flexibility. When I'm hungry, I'll show up for dinner (within the set hours, of course). And since I have no problem sharing a table with others, I expect to be seated quickly as well.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

I absolutely agree about showing up to dinner when you feel like it. The only reservations we'll be making is for the specialty restaurants & that's if we feel like going to them.

[Artanis]

Now this is something I find laughable. Why on earth should you have to make reservations ahead of time? It makes no sense. Isn't the entire purpose of flexible dining to be able to decide on the fly when you want to eat? You should just be able to walk into the dining room and request a table. Sure you might have to wait a few minutes, especially if you want a specific size or location of table, but otherwise HAL shouldn't even be taking reservations in flexible dining. It should be just that ... flexible.

 

I know that I have AYWD on my upcoming HAL cruise, and I have no intention of making reservations. HAL wants to stick me into AYWD, then I'm gonna make it work for me by giving myself total flexibility. When I'm hungry, I'll show up for dinner (within the set hours, of course). And since I have no problem sharing a table with others, I expect to be seated quickly as well.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Hopefully, the "luck of the draw" (experience and professionalism) of the staff on board will be in your favor. :) Your posts are so great and informative -- thank you!

 

When we booked last year, the fixed dining was not available so we looked forward to AYW, figuring around 6:30 pm would be most ideal anyway (not too early, not too late.)

When we arrived, the maitre'd told us it would be a 45 minute wait and offered us a beeper, so we headed up to Lido instead. The menu items are the same up there, so we didn't miss anything all week.

 

When we did dine in the DR, we were not-so-politely rushed and regretted not just going to Lido.

 

We called in the am to make the reservation for the next night figuring service would be more normal if they were expecting us at a specific time, but the only times apparently available that week were 5:15; 5:30; or 8:00. Service (along with basic people skills) was quite strange so we went to Lido for almost every other meal because it wasn't as rushed and the crew was pleasant up there.

 

The literature may need some clarification because the letter in the stateroom says to "show up whenever you wish during dining room hours" but, perhaps, this may depend on the crew onboard, and their level of training and experience. We look at it as "luck of the draw" and have been on the "luck" end on cruises, so we were due for some glitches. :D

 

They definately had kinks to work out as far as training. People we spoke to raved about their service in fixed seating (this was Maasdam -- great ship, herself.) It looked as though they had to stick new crew with no experience on board in a pinch. The DR issues onboard the E-dam & N-dam parallel our AYW dining room experiences on Maasdam, so perhaps a bunch of our (scheduled) crew couldn't get flights due to Olympics as well, and new people ended up getting switched to different jobs onboard due to shortage?

[slotl]

We will be traveling on the Amsterdam Sept 19th on their 65 day Grand Asia/Australia voyage. There is NO "open" seating on that cruise.

 

We experienced open seating on the Golden Princess a few years ago and HATED it! We needed to make reservations EVERY evening and still needed to wait for a table. The service was "spotty" depending on what waiters were assigned to that table.

 

We experienced open seating on the Azamara Journey and LOVED it. Azamara is ALL open seating. We never waited for a table and the service was excellent!!

[kryos]

We experienced open seating on the Azamara Journey and LOVED it. Azamara is ALL open seating. We never waited for a table and the service was excellent!!

And I think herein is where HAL's problem is with their AYWD. They offer both formats, and are not truly equipped to do so.

 

Yes, Princess for years has offered both Anytime and Fixed Seating, but Princess has a SEPARATE dining room for each. On HAL, it's just a separate level, and from what I understand, if there are too many people in fixed to fit them all in the one dining room, they overflow them into sections of the AYWD room. So, you're sitting there enjoying your dinner and people are constantly walking by ... being shown to their tables or leaving after their meal. Not a very conducive environment for an elegant meal.

 

Now you get a cruise line like Azamara or one of the luxury lines that only offer open seating, and it works. That's because ALL dining options are on open seating. I doubt people wait very long for a table because there are plenty of them. On HAL, you only have 50% (at the most) of the tables in the dining room available for open seating and thus if everyone comes at the same basic time, obviously there are going to be waits. I would imagine the only way to make open seating work would be to eat at an unusual and less popular time ... like 5:30 or after 8:00 p.m. ... which means that AYWD is not really "As You Wish" at all, but rather "How it Must Be."

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

We experienced open seating on the Golden Princess a few years ago and HATED it! We needed to make reservations EVERY evening and still needed to wait for a table. The service was "spotty" depending on what waiters were assigned to that table.

I would imagine that was probably because the dining room was not big enough to support the number of passengers on the ship. I think with Princess, the trend is toward open seating ... at least that was my experience on the two cruises I took on the line. By the middle of the week, there were tons of empty spots in traditional dining as folks made friends onboard and decided they wanted to eat with them in open seating.

 

Perhaps if Princess sees that the overwhelming majority of their passengers are opting for open seating, they should maybe eliminate fixed altogether?

 

For open seating dining to truly work, your dining room must be big enough to accommodate the majority of the open seating passengers ... even if they all decided to come to dinner at roughly the same time. Obviously, Princess (and HAL) cannot do this due to the constraints of their dining room size. So people wait, while the diners currently seated are rushed through their meal. That's why you have waits. On Azamara I would imagine the dining room can accommodate the majority of the passengers, and hence no waits and people can enjoy a nice leisurely dinner without feeling rushed by the service staff who are being pressured to turn over that table.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

When we did dine in the DR, we were not-so-politely rushed and regretted not just going to Lido.

I'd love for them to try that with me.

 

I'm a slow eater to begin with. Rush me and I get even slower.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[katybird]

We just sailed the Volendam for 14 days and enjoyed the anytime dining. Since we wanted a table for 2 every evening we called for a reservation every day...usually in the morning. 3 times I called around 3:00 and I was told no tables for 2 were available at ANY time. Once I was told to walk in at 5:30 and a table would be "found" for us.The other 2 times we walked in and got a table with no wait. The strange thing is we saw several vacant tables for 2 at 6:00pm. Maybe they hold back some for the walk-ins without reservations?????

[neil5054]

Haven't read the entire Board, but just got back last week on HAL Zuiderdam. First few nights when people adjust to AYWD you need to avoid coming after 7pm when everyone shows up. Also, because HAL's shows are 7 and 9pm, you should avoid coming around 8pm when the first show lets out. Our first wait was 45 minutes. After that we found that the staff recommended that we come before 6:30 (which worked well). Reservations were not so easy as every time I called in the morning, I could only get limited times like 5:15 or 5:30. Two practical observations: This works better for early dining in all events, so if you can come before 6:30, then the wait is no more than a few minutes. Be prepared for longer wait after 7pm.

 

The thing that burned us was that we met a couple to was upset with AYWD and wanted a fixed table and waiter. They were told that the only way to assure this was "the old fashioned way" - bribe the maitre d'. They sliped him $20 and got a fixed table for the entire cruise. What can you do??

[serendipity1499]

Just got off the Veendam last week & had a similar experience of long wait times....On past HAL cruises, we've cruised with another couple & had Main fixed Seating at a table for 8..We've always enjoyed all of our tablemates..And after a few days, have had lots of laughs...We also enjoyed quite a few laughs with our Stewards..Never had a problem in fixed seating....

Last year on another Cruise Line, which only offers open seating, we again traveled with our Friends...We all enjoyed open searing as several times we could invite one or two more couples to join us..It was perfect..

This time our TA requested & got HAL to confirm Main Seating to us...

However, I've been itching to try HAL's open seating & because we had things planned in many ports thought open seating would give us more flexability...Boy was I wrong..:(

I convinced DH to let me cancel Main Seating..Big mistake! First formal night after the Captain's welcome party, there was an hour & a half wait unless you made Reservations early in the day..:( If we tried to make reservations in the afternoon, nothing was available between 6:30 & 7:30...Only available times were 5:00-5:30, or after 8...There went our flexability...

In order to be seated between 6:30 & 7:30 we dined with different people every night, some of which were very charming & enjoyable...

However, sometimes you are tired & hate to have to make the same ole small talk such as where are you from, is this our first cruise etc. etc. each night & it sometimes was a drag..

Our last night we requested a table for two about 8:p.m.,..

Personally don't feel that Fixed seating & Anytime Dining works very well together on HAL..Perhaps it was just that Ship, but believe it should be one or the other..

Again JMO...Please don't flame me for it....Cheers...:) Betty

[kryos]

Personally don't feel that Fixed seating & Anytime Dining works very well together on HAL..Perhaps it was just that Ship, but believe it should be one or the other..

Again JMO...Please don't flame me for it....Cheers...:) Betty

I would hardly flame you, because I agree with you. HAL is not set up to offer both forms of dining and that's why I think all the problems.

 

As I said before, I've never done open seating on HAL, but will during my upcoming Statendam cruise, but it would seem to me that HAL should have gone one way or the other ... either ALL fixed seating or ALL open seating ... because the way they are doing it now, everybody is probably having longer waits -- the ones in open seating to get a table and the ones in fixed seating to get their courses.

 

Princess even has problems with open seating, and they have a dining room dedicated to it. HAL doesn't have that luxury and has to mix both in one two-tier dining room. If fixed seating has to overflow into the open seating dining room, it ruins the ambience of the meal because there are people walking in and out while the fixed seating folks are trying to enjoy their meal.

 

Open seating works great on the smaller luxury line ships because the dining room can handle ALL the passengers, even if they all decided to eat at the same time. No way can a mass market line do that, and therein lies your long waits for a table, especially if you want to dine only with your spouse or group.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

The thing that burned us was that we met a couple to was upset with AYWD and wanted a fixed table and waiter. They were told that the only way to assure this was "the old fashioned way" - bribe the maitre d'. They sliped him $20 and got a fixed table for the entire cruise. What can you do??

First of all, I'd bet they slipped him more than a $20 to make that work. Probably more like a hundred.

 

Second of all, I'd have reported the matri 'd to the Hotel Manager. That is not fair. Supposedly who gets those fixed seating assignments when they are rare is determined by order of booking, after groups and suite passengers. Giving someone a coveted slot in fixed dining just because some money changed hands isn't kosher ... not on a ship where everyone pays their passage. Now if we were talking something like a special table by the window or something like that, maybe I could understand a tip getting you that ... but not an assignment in the dining room of your choice. I thought this new program was called "As you Wish," not "As you can Pay?"

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Cruising-along]

First of all, I'd bet they slipped him more than a $20 to make that work. Probably more like a hundred.

 

Second of all, I'd have reported the matri 'd to the Hotel Manager. That is not fair.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

As always I agree 100% with you Rita. That is NOT fair. The day I'd pay the maitre d' for special privileges is the day I'll stop cruising. :mad:

 

I'm starting to wonder if we were just lucky or if it was a fluke, but our open dining worked great on our Med cruise on the Rotterdam this year. All these reports of the opposite are making me worry about our upcoming cruise on the Zuiderdam in April. We never had to wait for a table, even when we did NOT make a reservation. We were always able to get our favorite waiters, every night. And we dined around 7pm. I don't know what it was like around 8pm, but that's later than we like to eat anyway.

[powderhorn]

Actually not true, I booked my cruise last month, staying in a deluxe suite and I thought I wouldn't have a problem but I did. It took quite a few emails and phone calls to finally get my early upper fixed seating. So it appears that I shouldn't of had to "deal with it" but unfortunately, I did. But I did have to go to the "higher ups" to get it. Whom by the way, were very very gracious and accomodating. I was very pleased to deal with them, made the whole bad experience up til then go away and left me with a good feeling about HAL. Maybe it was just the couple of people I talked with at HAL in the beginning that didn't know any better? Of course I would have thought that my TA would have known better and expect they should have gone thru the hassel of getting it right, not me. So to sum it up, I don't know why or how they closed the fixed seating??

 

I am going through a similar experience at the moment. We had a great experience in the past with ship services where we asked for a specific fixed seating time and table number and guests joining us by booking number and the arrangements were confrimed in literally minutes from my e-mail..... this time I am told we are waitlisted and we are not sailing until February...and have a suite! AYWD has put HAL in an awkward position of how to deal with what should be a reasonable request without being able to react to the overall demands of the passengers....who wants AYWD, who wants early sitting, late sitting, and where etc. Why don't they just go with first come first served? Then they can't figure out how to respond to such a request honestly. They reference me to my agent...she gets no where, then I go back to HAL with a customer service issue and they tell me to fax my request into them......what a run around....noone is being honest about the extreme line on waitlisting everyone including people who sign up for cruises six months in advance.....nope.....not like they used to run this part of their business....how many more guest relation or company management will I have to tell this story to before I get results such as medfordgirl? Any suggestions on what shortcuts I could take to get this resolved?...or do I have to go on screaming or threaten to go elsewhere with my business?

[jwindham]

We have a Deluxe Verandah Suite in November. We were waitlisted but when we made our final payment, we were allowed to get the fixed seating the next day. They may just be waiting on the suite guests until they are sure that they are going. It worked for me!!

[powderhorn]

We have a Deluxe Verandah Suite in November. We were waitlisted but when we made our final payment, we were allowed to get the fixed seating the next day. They may just be waiting on the suite guests until they are sure that they are going. It worked for me!!

 

Well that is interesting. I can only believe that is a policy decision on HALS part....why should the final payment trigger anything?...they might not get my final payment if they can't assure me my request will be handled. If their issue is that maybe someone from the penthouse might want the same table, then I am fine with them moving me based on that reality.....but for now, if noone is asking for table 78 upper, early dining on that cruise, they should put my name on it, with a proviso that they reserve the right to change it. At least that would give me some sence I am being served....seems simple to me! Do they know how much anxiety they are creating by waitlisting everyone?

[deletepoof]

Just got off the Eurodam which had just you wish dining. It worked fine even without reservations we went right in.

[~Jo~]

Just booked the Westerdam last week for April '09 and we are confirmed for 4 for late seating. I was a little worried thinking we were booking so late and wouldn't be able to get fixed seating. We were actually confirmed for the early but we changed it to late a couple of days ago. I hope that "confirmed" really means CONFIRMED!!! Looking forward to this cruise, never sailed Hal before.

~Jo~

[hammybee]

Just booked the Westerdam last week for April '09 and we are confirmed for 4 for late seating. I was a little worried thinking we were booking so late and wouldn't be able to get fixed seating. We were actually confirmed for the early but we changed it to late a couple of days ago. I hope that "confirmed" really means CONFIRMED!!! Looking forward to this cruise, never sailed Hal before.

~Jo~

 

With more than 1 million passengers a year, sailing more than 500 intineraries, experiences will vary.

[Akheila]

well we are cruising in January and decided to just go and make our final payment and be done with it....we were on the AYWD and thought we should change it. Dh is a celiac and thought that with his special needs with his diet having the same person would be better for us.

 

We wanted the early but would be waitlisted...but they could confirm us in the late at a table for 2...so we took it.,

[DrKoob]

I am sorry, I can't search all the pages of this sticky. Can anyone tell me how you handle tipping with anytime dining?