As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[RuthC]

lyon of the sea, first, welcome to Cruise Critic and to the HAL board. I see that you are new here. Second, I found this post very difficult to read.

I very much want to hear what you have to say, but I need to be able to read it (these old eyes, ya know).

Would you please not underline everything when you post? That would help. And if you could leave a space after each sentence, and begin new sentences with a capital letter, it would be easier for me. And I'm betting for many others, too.

Thanks.

[geshaw30]

Regarding Anytime Dining on the Noordam: don't let anyone here tell you that this program is lousy or doesn't work. Trust me they could not be more wrong as it applies to this ship. We NEVER waited for a table and I never saw anyone walking around with a pager or beeper thingie. In fact I'll let you in on a little secret if you folks haven't discussed this already (I haven't read all these posts). Here's what you do- find a nice table you like (example #132 right along the aft windows) then call down in the morning and simply ask "what times do you have open for table 132?". You'll, more than likely, get your favorite table every time if you can be a little flexible. We never had a problem and were seated all nights at 8pm but easliy could have been earlier.. For those of you who have this dining option rest easy- you probably have it better than those locked into structured seating times and you can gather your own tablemates if you so desire. Often times it was just the wife & I at our table for 4.The days of unpleasant dining experiences are over with this format. We just got off her on the 10/28 and the system works----hands down.

[imae39]

We will have AYWD dining on our cruise 11/27. Could someone recommend a table for two in nice location with great wait staff. If you know the table # I'd appreciate knowing it so we can request it. Thanks.

[imae39]

Just posted question and forgot to say what ship. We will be on the Noordam.

[kruznkanuk]

At least 5 different people at HAL told me, when I was calling trying to get traditional seating for our 20 day B2B coming up, that the move to AYWD is "based on customer demand". The fixed seating was full 13 months before sailing. After multiple calls, I was able to get waitlisted (hooray! what a victory!) for traditional, and finally last week confirmed. It seems to me that if there is a huge demand for traditional, and you are trying to meet 'customer demand', you would offer more traditional and less AYW. If you are changing to cut costs, just be honest. But don't tell me that customers are clamoring for AYW and yet traditional is so popular that you can't even get on the waitlist. It is insulting.

 

Kind of like the taxman telling us that income tax forms are more complicated because people were complaining about their simplicity :D !

Judy

[geshaw30]

We will have AYWD dining on our cruise 11/27. Could someone recommend a table for two in nice location with great wait staff. If you know the table # I'd appreciate knowing it so we can request it. Thanks.

 

As I mentioned we grabbed #132 on the Noordam (dead center along the aft window) every night we ate down there. It is a table for four but 3 nights it was just the two of us. Right next to it however, just a bit away from the window, is a table for two. Suggestion- take a walk around the dining room before dinner on day one. Find your spot. Then simply call in the morning to request that table for that night. Be a little flexible on your time and you should be just fine.

[CroneWynd]

When we sailed on Princess, we had the Anytime Dining.

However, since we had special dining requests (Vegan), the head waiter was very happy to assign us to a particular table (for 2!), with the same waiters, at the same time each evening, in order to be able to coordinate the kitchen's efforts to accommodate our dietary restrictions.

 

This worked out very well for us.

 

I had/have the view that Anytime dining is very similar to eating in nice restaurants. Reservations are not required, but are very good to have, if you want to eat at a particular time!

[hammybee]

 

Regarding Anytime Dining on the Noordam: don't let anyone here tell you that this program is lousy or doesn't work. Trust me they could not be more wrong as it applies to this ship. We NEVER waited for a table and I never saw anyone walking around with a pager or beeper thingie.

 

I am also a fan of open seating and do the " walk in " thing. We did not incur a wait or see a pager.

 

I also know that if I had arrived an hour earlier or sailed another week, I might have had a very different experience.

 

Getting what you want, when you want it, is a function of how many others onboard want what you want, when you want it, regardless of fixed or open seating.

 

Service levels, regardless of fixed or open seating vary by server team and what's going on behind the scenes and perhaps more importantly, your expectations. Dinner takes to long for some. Dinner seems rushed for some. And some find most things just about right. With 2000 passengers all they can do is shoot for " just about right" most of the time, for most of the passengers.

[lilrainy]

Hi all, I have read that if you book a sc suite you get your choice of dining options, does anyone know if this would include others in your party ,I have also booked 3 inside one ov and one vc cabin for family members. my reservation says I am waitlisted for late seating, does anyone have any experience with anytime dining when traveling with a large group, there are 14 of us all together.

one of the reasons I chose HAL over NCL was I did not want anytime dining, wanted to be able to eat with family and while I know we wont be at the same table at least we can be next to each other. my other concern is my grandson who has a lot of food allergies I dont really want to go through the list every night. any info would be

appreciated.

loraine

[pms4104]

Hi all, I have read that if you book a sc suite you get your choice of dining options, does anyone know if this would include others in your party ,I have also booked 3 inside one ov and one vc cabin for family members. my reservation says I am waitlisted for late seating, does anyone have any experience with anytime dining when traveling with a large group, there are 14 of us all together.

one of the reasons I chose HAL over NCL was I did not want anytime dining, wanted to be able to eat with family and while I know we wont be at the same table at least we can be next to each other. my other concern is my grandson who has a lot of food allergies I dont really want to go through the list every night. any info would be

appreciated.

loraine

While an SC guest may be more likely to get their chosen dining preference, there are no guarantees. As to the extended family in non-suite categories ... I sincerely doubt that HAL would grant the same dining preference perk that it extends to suite guests. It would not be fair to other guests, suite or not, who booked prior to your group and got waitlisted for their desired dining. If dining together is important to your group, it may be necessary for all of you to sign up for open seating, or to speak with the dining room manager after embarkation.

[wdw1972]

Years ago my teen son & me were in an SA and a friend & her teen son were in an SS. We asked if they would be permitted to join us in the suite perks at all, and the only thing allowed I think was letting us board at the same time. So, I doubt they'd let non-suite cabins get priority for dining - and they shouldn't. The person in the suite has the option of following the non-suite rules/priveleges so the party can remain together - but they can't join the suite person.

 

My friend did attend the suite luncheon with me, but only because my son was more interested in doing stuff with the other teens on board. So, we had 2 passengers booked in my cabin, and 2 passengers attended the luncheon....I don't see anything wrong with that. It would have been wrong (and I wouldn't have tried) if me, my son, AND someone else tried to attend.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam 2/08/09

[navybankerteacher]

I'm sure anumber of posters have already expressed frustration at their inability to get fixed seating -- far more, it seems than those who applaud AYWD. Those who want flexibility are generally able to get their assigned seating changed - and there were always a few open spots due to people using room service, the Lido, or premium restaurant; those who would like assigned seating have to accept what thy get. I hope HAL reconsiders the whole program - or at least arranges for just a small area to be set aside for AYWD. HAL: do you read these posts?

[wdw1972]

I'm sure anumber of posters have already expressed frustration at their inability to get fixed seating -- far more, it seems than those who applaud AYWD. Those who want flexibility are generally able to get their assigned seating changed - and there were always a few open spots due to people using room service, the Lido, or premium restaurant; those who would like assigned seating have to accept what thy get. I hope HAL reconsiders the whole program - or at least arranges for just a small area to be set aside for AYWD. HAL: do you read these posts?

 

Keep in mind that people are more likely to speak up if they're complaining - so you can't take the % of negative vs positive replies on a message board as a true indication of how people in general feel.

 

I thought I would hate it too - but I decided to give it a try (since I had no choice). I absolutely LOVED the freedom to eat whenever I felt like it, and meet so many more people on the ship. The one real dud I met at dinner I didn't have to see every night for the rest of my vacation. I met lots of people doing anytime dining, and not a single person had anything negative to say about it. How can you be sure you're going to hate it, and isn't it a little ignorant to insist it's awful until you've given it a fair try?? Oh, I also never had to wait for a table, and usually showed up around 7pm....sometimes closer to 6:30. Nobody was waiting - they were being seated promptly, and this was the first week the anytime dining was in effect for that particular ship.

 

When I booked our Feb 2009 cruise, I knew without a doubt I'd only be booking anytime dining from now on. I want to eat when I get hungry, or when it's convenient based on what else I want to do. I don't want to "have to" eat at some specified time 7 nights in a row, and have no interest in eating dinner in the Lido.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam 2/08/09

[STEVENJAN]

Frankly it was disappointing.

The servers were disinterested at best.

The first formal night the server knocked over a glass of water all over Janet.

It was like he didn't know what to do. He barely got napkins to wipe up the spill. He didn't offer to take care of anything. He got the napkins after I made some comments but went about his business. Finally I asked another server to ask the Manager to come see us. The manager came over and I told him about the situation and he was very apologetic and offered dry cleaning service which we used for her dress.

Other times with AYWD we were seated over in a corner next to a table. We couldn't get out because of the configuration. The night of the Copper Canyon trip we showed up for dining and we were seated upstairs and had a much better experience. We sat by the string quartet at a table for two. It was much better service. We spoke with another couple that had their dining room changed to the fixed time. They said they had much better service. We tried the AYWD for lobster night and it was a wonderful experience. I was salting my lobster and the top came off. I said oh no!

The server noticed right away and within 5 minutes he brought an entirely new meal. Which by the way was surf and turf. I ordered two lobsters and they bring out two complete dinners and add the meats from both plates to one plate. So, other then the ruined lobster I had four meals brought to the table. I ended up with three lobsters and four tenderloin medallions.

I shared with my wife. All in all. I prefer fixed seating.

[sdcruiser]

We tried AYWD for the first time, in over 20 cruises where we've always had fixed dining, and it was disappointing. This was on the HAL Zuiderdam this past week. The service was VERY slow. Out of 10 nights, we only ate in the dining room 2 evenings. Both were slow service.

 

We will be going back to fixed dining from now on..

 

SDCruiser

[Jana White]

My husband and I just got off the Zaandam two weeks ago. For us Anytime Dining is the only option. We love the flexibility to eat when we are hungry and when we are ready. We usually ask for a large table to meet new people every night, however if we want to sit alone we can do that too. We found the service wonderful and were always seated immediately, we never made a reservation. We found a particular waiter we liked, and just asked to be set in his section, not a problem. Every new tablemate had a wonderful story to tell and we made lots of new friends. I can understand if you are a large group, then fixed seating could be preferable, but for the two of us Anytime is better.

[Kween Karen]

I am still thinking I would like to try the any time dining.....seems it would fit my flexible style and also allow me to meet more people as a single travelor. I haven't been able to find out for sure if that is even an option on the Grand Voyages......some say yes and some say no.

[cruiserfromohio]

Here's a part of a review I posted on the HAL board. It deals with our experience with AYW dining.

The ship was in code red status for a majority of the cruise. The code red status impacted some items of food service – no bread baskets or butter on the table, you had to be served these items; the service in the Lido slowed down. Code Red really didn’t impact the dinning room service. That said our service experience in the dinning room varied from horrible to excellent. We were assigned open seating dinning, or as HAL refers to it “As You Wish Dinning.” As implemented on this cruise it should have been called “As We Wish Dinning.” As reservations were only allowed very early (5:30 – 6:30) or very late (8:30 – 9:00). If you wanted to eat at 7 or 7:30 you had to show up in the dinning room and wait on line for a table. Then you got a table that the dinning room staff assigned to you, not necessarily the type of table you wanted. In our case we had a party of 4 and could never get a table for 4. The two nights we tried it HAL’s way and showed up at 7:30 we were assigned to tables of 8 and 10. In both cases the service was terrible - 2 ½ hours for dinner, cold food, order your meat medium rare and have it come out cooked way over well done, wait a ½ hour to have the table cleared, etc. The first night I complained to an assistant dinner room manager; while apologetic he admitted the area of the dinner we were seating in was understaffed! We partially broke the code when we started to call and reserve a table for four at 8:30 – the earliest HAL would allow us to book a table for four. One night we lucked into a table served by Buddy and his assistant, Boy. The service here was excellent – orders filled correctly, no cold food, no excessive waits for service. From then on we called and “reserved” that table every night. Soon we learned that we could reserve the table two nights ahead. It was too good to be true, and it was. HAL had their revenge. At the bottom of the reservation card you get every day is printed a statement that tables are subject to availability. The last four nights we eat in the dinning room, we presented ourselves at the dinning room desk with a reservation card that was for a table for four in Buddy’s service area, only to be told the table was not available. The staff had either seated another party at the table at 8 o’clock or had it reserved at 9 o’clock. The service at the alternate tables was poor at best. “As We Wish Dinning” is not well done to say the least. The staff on the dinning room front desk seems to be slaves to their computers and has no idea how to run a restaurant dinning room. Further there are “rules” about table reservations that can only be learned by experience. The “rules” aren’t published or made known to passengers at large; you stubble into them. HAL needs to improve their service for their “As You Wish” passengers or junk the entire concept and go back to fixed seating times. This experience soured my wife on ever taking another HAL cruise where we were forced into “As You Wish” dinning. But just so you don’t think service was bad only for “As We Wish Dinning;” it was also bad for breakfast and lunch in the dinning room – long waits, cold food, low staffing levels

Edited December 3, 2008 by cruiserfromohio

[babykins]

Again, I have to say while I love the concept of Anytime Dining, when it doesn't work it is murder. Sapphire Princess had FOUR large alternate DR's in addition to a large traditional DR, & they still couldn't accommodate us unless we ate before 5:30 or after 8:30 every single nite. And they've been doing Anytime Dining for a long time. Off hand, I would say, at the very least, the "AD" will be a zoo for a couple months at a minimum.

We were on the Sapphire Princess three times and never had a problem getting the time we wanted. We were also on the Crown Princess and had no problem getting what we wanted. Three out of 4 of these ships were full. We usually eat around 7:30pm...that may have had something to do with it.

We absolutely love anytime dining and are so glad that HAL has it now.

 

babykins

[hammybee]

I am still thinking I would like to try the any time dining.....seems it would fit my flexible style and also allow me to meet more people as a single travelor. I haven't been able to find out for sure if that is even an option on the Grand Voyages......some say yes and some say no.

 

There has not been Open Seating on a Grand Voyage, yet. This could change, especially in response to passenger requests for it.

[cruzincurt]

Here's a part of a review I posted on the HAL board. It deals with our experience with AYW dining.

That said our service experience in the dinning room varied from horrible to excellent. We were assigned open seating dinning, or as HAL refers to it “As You Wish Dinning.” As implemented on this cruise it should have been called “As We Wish Dinning.” As reservations were only allowed very early (5:30 – 6:30) or very late (8:30 – 9:00). If you wanted to eat at 7 or 7:30 you had to show up in the dinning room and wait on line for a table. Then you got a table that the dinning room staff assigned to you, not necessarily the type of table you wanted. In our case we had a party of 4 and could never get a table for 4. The two nights we tried it HAL’s way and showed up at 7:30 we were assigned to tables of 8 and 10. In both cases the service was terrible - 2 ½ hours for dinner, cold food, order your meat medium rare and have it come out cooked way over well done, wait a ½ hour to have the table cleared, etc. The first night I complained to an assistant dinner room manager; while apologetic he admitted the area of the dinner we were seating in was understaffed! We partially broke the code when we started to call and reserve a table for four at 8:30 – the earliest HAL would allow us to book a table for four. One night we lucked into a table served by Buddy and his assistant, Boy. The service here was excellent – orders filled correctly, no cold food, no excessive waits for service. From then on we called and “reserved” that table every night. Soon we learned that we could reserve the table two nights ahead. It was too good to be true, and it was. HAL had their revenge. At the bottom of the reservation card you get every day is printed a statement that tables are subject to availability. The last four nights we eat in the dinning room, we presented ourselves at the dinning room desk with a reservation card that was for a table for four in Buddy’s service area, only to be told the table was not available. The staff had either seated another party at the table at 8 o’clock or had it reserved at 9 o’clock. The service at the alternate tables was poor at best. “As We Wish Dinning” is not well done to say the least. The staff on the dinning room front desk seems to be slaves to their computers and has no idea how to run a restaurant dinning room. Further there are “rules” about table reservations that can only be learned by experience. The “rules” aren’t published or made known to passengers at large; you stubble into them. HAL needs to improve their service for their “As You Wish” passengers or junk the entire concept and go back to fixed seating times. This experience soured my wife on ever taking another HAL cruise where we were forced into “As You Wish” dinning. But just so you don’t think service was bad only for “As We Wish Dinning;” it was also bad for breakfast and lunch in the dinning room – long waits, cold food, low staffing levels

 

We just got off the Westerdam and couldn't agree more. HAL cannot break free of the "old" ways. It is "As they wish dining".

 

First night we showed up at 7:30 requesting a table for 2. We were willing to wait and were given a beeper. After an hour of waiting and no others waiting I was able to convince them to seat us at a unused table for 4. They claimed there were no 2's available...that's true because they were refusing to put place settings at the twelve vacant 2's we passed going in finally. They lie; they just want to use those 8's that are already set to even the waiter load. A note of apology and a dish of chocolates was sent to our room the next day.

 

Second night, tried it their way but could not make a reservation. They claim they save half of the 2's for walk-ins. Upon arriving at 8:00 as walk-ins, I shamed them into putting us at a table set for 4. Same thing, lot's of 2's not reset.

 

Third day, I did it their way by calling for a reservation. Why is it called "anytime" if they will only book tables for certain times such as 5:15 and 7:30???? Well they punished us by assigning us a table for 2 in the rear corner over top of the engines. Since the ship was running at full speed, one could not eat at that table due to vibration and noise. We walked out and made it to the Lido with 5 minutes to spare, upon which they had already begun to shut down service.

 

That was our last visit to the dining room.

 

That was it for us, 25 cruises and never had such a poor service response or have ever dined in the Lido for dinner. Speaking of the Lido, I'll post those comments elsewhere.

 

They need to take a cruise on other lines. They offer true "anytime" reservation dining and have separate dining room staff to turn the tables.

 

Our future cruise dollars will go elsewhere.

Edited December 7, 2008 by cruzincurt

[bksunbuddies]

There has not been Open Seating on a Grand Voyage, yet. This could change, especially in response to passenger requests for it.

 

This past summer, the 35 day Grand Voyage of the Vikings, allowed open seating as well as the option to eat at the Lido restaurant every night. No reservations were needed. The Lido sometimes had to extend its hours because so many people skipped formal nights and chose to eat there.

[bobbylou]

We got off the Statendam a week ago. When we boarded we changed from early seating to AYWD and had a 5:30 reservation for the first night. We met a nice couple, had a great waiter & liked the location. The other couple and we agreed to meet the following night, got along so well, that we continued to eat with them at the same table the whole cruise. We were at a table for 6 so did get to meet others each night. During the second half of the 26 day cruise we had another couple join us and the 6 of us really enjoyed each other's company. Our waiter was attentive and knew our likes and dislikes and always called us by name. It worked very well for us.

Sorry to hear so many people had less than happy experiences.

[RuthC]

This past summer, the 35 day Grand Voyage of the Vikings, allowed open seating as well as the option to eat at the Lido restaurant every night.

Although it is decidedly a long cruise, The Voyage of the Vikings isn't considered a "Grand" cruise.

There are no special pillow gifts, nor is there the increased deposit if it's booked on a prior cruise.

[drdoug]

The dine as you wish is a joke on the Ryndam. We were on a Thanksgiving cruise and they have a way to go to actaully get it right. If you did not want their standard seating times, you were given a pager and told to wait. This lasted for up to an hour for us and one poor couple wanting a table for 2 had been ther waiting 15 minutes when we got there and were still waiting when we got our table for 8. Maybe HA need to take a look at how NCL does their seating since we have NEVER had more than a 15 minute wait on their ships. i expressed my displeasure to the dining room manager and tothe front desk staff and suggested that if they cannot actually provide the service they should NOT advertise it. the food was only mediocre at best during our cruise. By the time we returned to San Diego the dining room was almost vacant due to stomach virus raging through the ship.