As You Wish Dining - What and How

[cruz chic]

Lorekauf. It is certainly worth a try. After two bad experiences with traditional (though I admit before this all had gone well with traditional) we went with open. Would not go back. Our two bad experiences were somewhat different. One for the first time we had a dreadful couple on the table - the husband who rarely spoke to us but spent time snarling at wife and waiters. They also came to meals late so our table always last to be served. The second time on a table of 8 - two couples - not sure if they were together or not - did not get the sitting they wanted so did not come even once to the table but ate upstairs in the self service. A table for 8 occupied by 4 looks and feels a little sad over a 2 week cruise.

 

We thought with open we would avoid those risks and so it was. I know you can ask for a change of table but I always have this terrible feeling that if you do you will move somewhere already vacated by someone who had asked to be moved - if you see what I mean - and it might even be out of the frying pan into the fire.

 

Except for one night on open with HAL we went along the booking by phone in a morning. On only one occasion was the phone engaged - they seemed to have two phones operating. We had a super waiter the first night on one of the aft tables and liked it so much we always asked for that table and waiter whether we went early or late. The two other biggest bonuses however, were that we met so many more people and some you chose to meet up with again another night. We also found that if you made friends away from the dining room and they were on anytime dining you could easily share a table with them. This is of course impossible with traditional.

 

Give it a try.

I think I may try it at some point especially if it's a short cruise. I'm not sure at this point whether I will sail with HAL anytime in the near future. Thank you for your input.

[fun_seeker]

This is addressed to anyone who knows the answer.

We are sailing on the Eurodam from Copenhagen on May 13. For dining, we originally requested Late Seating, Traditional. There was only traditional dining on our last HAL cruise in 2005 and the confirmation said "Early Seating/Upper Level." Our Eurodam dining confirmation says that we have been "Confirmed Main/Upper." Does anyone know whether that means AYWD or Early or Late Traditional Dining?

 

[RuthC]

This is addressed to anyone who knows the answer.

 

We are sailing on the Eurodam from Copenhagen on May 13. For dining, we originally requested Late Seating, Traditional. There was only traditional dining on our last HAL cruise in 2005 and the confirmation said "Early Seating/Upper Level." Our Eurodam dining confirmation says that we have been "Confirmed Main/Upper." Does anyone know whether that means AYWD or Early or Late Traditional Dining?

 

It means you will dine as YOU wish---late traditional. Congratulations on getting what you wanted.

[fun_seeker]

It means you will dine as YOU wish---late traditional. Congratulations on getting what you wanted.

That's great! Thank you for your prompt reply. We really appreciate it.

 

Steve and Avra

 

[Cruising-along]

I for one would like to take this opportunity to thank Hammybee for setting up this thread. She not only got it started, but she has contributed greatly, and helped so many of us in the process.

 

Hammy, I just wanted to let you know I appreciate your level-head, humor, and knowledge! (and I like your new avatar) :)

[albertiger]

I'm a newcomer to HAL and unfortunately do not have time to read all 16 pages of this thread so I would appreciate any help I can get with this question.

I am booked on Ryndam, 11/29/09 and have requested fixed early dining. Where can I go on HAL website to see if my request was granted? My TA says yes but I'd like to see it in black and white. (or salt and pepper!;))

[RuthC]

Where can I go on HAL website to see if my request was granted? )

You can't. If you booked through a TA you can't access much on the HAL website. This is one of the items you can't access.

However, it should be on the written HAL confirmation that your TA can provide to you.

 

Be aware, however, that there have been instances of people confirmed for their choice of a fixed dining assignment who boarded to find they had been switched to open seating. Be sure to check your dining assignement when you board to see if it is as promised.

[Mary Ellen]

Be aware, however, that there have been instances of people confirmed for their choice of a fixed dining assignment who boarded to find they had been switched to open seating. Be sure to check your dining assignement when you board to see if it is as promised.

Yep - this happened to us. Definitely, NOT as we wished. I noticed this when checking in at the pier. I pointed out to the person checking us in that our in-hand docs showed Confirmed Main Upper. Not that it did any good. :rolleyes: We still had to take care of straightening this out on the ship.

 

Thank goodness it did get straightened out before dinner the first night. At 8 when we went to be seated, the lower level was PACKED with passengers wanting to be seated (back well into the elevator lobby). Those we saw departing with a pager in hand had been told to expect at 45-min wait. The CD made daily announcements that, to avoid long lines at dinner, it was suggested passengers dine before 7:15. Since this was an European cruise, preferred dining times could differ on other itineraries.

[fun_seeker]

Thank goodness it did get straightened out before dinner the first night. At 8 when we went to be seated, the lower level was PACKED with passengers wanting to be seated (back well into the elevator lobby). Those we saw departing with a pager in hand had been told to expect at 45-min wait. The CD made daily announcements that, to avoid long lines at dinner, it was suggested passengers dine before 7:15. Since this was an European cruise, preferred dining times could differ on other itineraries.

Hi Mary Ellen,

 

When you say "it did get straightened out before dinner the first night." Do you mean that they straightened it out without you having to do anything? :rolleyes: If not, what did you have to do to get it straightened out? We are going on a European cruise on HAL in May and have a "confirmed" late fixed dinner assignment.

 

Steve

 

[albertiger]

Thanks for the answer RUTH!;) I also emailed the same question to HAL to test their customer service and received a personal answer in 1 day, sweet!:D

[RevNeal]

Typically because the cost of doing so exceeds the benefit. In this specific case, using up more room in a (new) ship to account for a less efficient allocation of 2-tops and 4-tops is the cost, and the benefit would only be the amount of extra revenue a cruise line would get from making that one change. I suspect too few people actually place so much stock in dining room table size, to the extent that they're willing to pay an extra premium on their cruise fare to account for it. And those that are, are typically also interested in other superior amenities, and therefore are willing to pay for cruises on higher-graded cruise lines.

 

Hello, bicker! Long time no "see." Welcome back to CC.

I trust things are well with you and yours?

[LolaLemon]

I am curious. I was able to get confirmed early traditional for our upcoming cruise. The other two rooms I booked say early waitlist. If we all show up to the dining room, will they accommodate our party? :)

[Seayalater]

we just got off Oosterdam yesterday. We got assigned open seating, which we did not want, so right after we boarded we were told we could get a 5:15 or 8pm. We chose 5:15. That night they led us to table 127, (for 2) at the very back of the ship with a full window of the ocean. We were kind of hidden away, but that was fine with hubby & me. We then had to call every day to request that specific table. We got it everyday but one.

[RuthC]

I am curious. I was able to get confirmed early traditional for our upcoming cruise. The other two rooms I booked say early waitlist. If we all show up to the dining room, will they accommodate our party? :)

The arrangement you described won't be the same when you board; the folks waitlisted for early will either have cleared the list, or been assigned to open seating.

If they cleared the list, and your bookings are linked, then you should be assigned to the same table. That needs to be double checked, as mistakes happen.

If they did not clear the list, then, no, you can't all arrive at fixed seating and expect to be accommodated, as the other seats at your table will have been assigned to others.

In that case, when you check you assignments with each other, you can go to the Maitre d' and get one party or the other changed. It's easier to get the fixed seating party changed to open seating than the other way around.

[hammybee]

 

Hammy, I just wanted to let you know I appreciate your level-head, humor, and knowledge! (and I like your new avatar) :)

 

Thank you. It's a challenge to keep a level head when wearing a pineapple. ;)

[hammybee]

I know you can ask for a change of table ( fixed seating) but I always have this terrible feeling that if you do you will move somewhere already vacated by someone who had asked to be moved - if you see what I mean - and it might even be out of the frying pan into the fire.

 

I had not considered this possibility, before. There might be a good reason why there is a sudden vacancy at a table. :eek:

[LolaLemon]

It's easier to get the fixed seating party changed to open seating than the other way around.

 

That's unfortunate. We HAVE to dine early because we have the baby with us this time around. She goes to bed at 8 p.m. If we have to wait around for open seating, we will likely have a squirmy, screaming baby. :-( No one wants that!

 

We hope we're able to dine with the others in our party since we're all celebrating our birthdays on this cruise. Plus, two in our group have never cruised before.

 

I guess only time will tell how it comes out. I will have to report back. :)

[Twickenham]

I thought I'd post about our recent dining experience on the Noordam. As previously stated in this thread, obviously circumstances vary according to ship and sailing. We've experienced both assigned and open seating on previous cruises, and definitely prefer open seating. This also allowed us to try out all the other dining possibilities on board.

 

Main dining room: the entrance to the dining room is divided into 2, each door having its own host. The nights that we dined here, we arrived anywhere between 7 and 8:30. On 3 occasions we were given a pager, but never had to wait more than 10 minutes for a table - this was for a request for a table for 3 alone. The other times we were seated immediately. Service was generally very good, some waiters being more outgoing than others. Meals were served uniformally fast - indeed, it almost approached too fast.

 

Room service: As my mother was sick, we decided to order dinner in our room one night. As I had heard that you could order from the main dining room menu during opening hours, I went down to the dining room to request a copy of said menu. Not only was it given to me without problem, the dining room manager told me if I wanted to do this another evening I could just call the dining room and they would deliver a menu to our cabin. I have to say, this option turned out beautifully, although negociating the piles of dishes in our cabin was most interesting! Although everything comes at once (including water, bread basket and salt & pepper shakers), hot dishes come on metal warmers, so everything was the right temperature. We even had a flower!

 

Lido deck: A selection from the main dining room menu each evening is also available at the Lido Restaurant. I actually enjoyed this option much more than I thought I would. You line up for your appetizer/soup/salad, and at the point of the buffet where they serve the main course, they set up a podium with a waiter taking your main course order. Another waiter then takes you and your tray to a table, whose number is noted so they can later serve your main course. A nice, casual option that works well.

 

Pinnacle Grill: A nice surprise when we arrived at our cabin was 2 free dinners at the Pinnacle Grill. We dined there on the second formal night. I'm slightly of 2 minds on this experience. The atmosphere was much quieter than the bustle of the main dining room, but the muzak was slightly odd considering the availability of classical music in other areas of the ship. The service was good, if noticeably slower than the dining room - although that can probably be attributed to things being cooked to order, rather than mass-produced. The chef coming out at the end was very nice, especially as he's cute as a button!:D And the food was excellent... but at $20/person, was it worth the extra cost? It was with 2 freebies, but I'm not sure I'd pay again...

[twinkletoes4445]

I hate to admit this, because I was one that was sure I'd not like AYWD, but we tried it and liked it (quite a lot). We ended up dining most evenings in the Lido and loved it, but I wanted to try AYWD just once, so we did. We arrived at 6:30 and we were seated immediately. We had wanted a table for two, but for that, we would have had to wait a few minutes, so we decided to sit with others. I looked around and there were a few other couples standing in the general area, but no one had a beeper, and from what I could hear being discussed by these people was that they were waiting for their friends to arrive.

 

We were seated at a table where a mother/daughter were sitting (they were so nice and we had a wonderful evening with them). Within a few minutes we placed our orders and everything arrived on time, and as we ordered it. The staff was attentive and very friendly. We chatted a bit and I asked them if they'd been doing the AYWD the entire time, and they said they had, and they loved it. They were always seated promptly, and had wonderful service.

 

I can't say what went on the other nights, as far as service or people having to wait, or even later in the evening when were there, but I can say I really do like the flexibility that AYWD offers. I never thought I'd be saying this...really, it came as a shocker to me! :) I know that we'll do the Lido and AYWD on our next HAL cruise.

[Koshlong]

We just finished a cruise as AYWD walk-ins, and it went off without a hitch. No waiting, table for 4 as requested. Now....If we could just find a way to arrange for the same servers every night????????

[Bocaken3]

The anytime option is not offered by HAL on the World Cruise or Grand Voyage sailings. this is the information my TA got from the World Desk.

We will be on the Rotterdam March 29th from Dubai.

 

The online HAL documentation states "As You wish dining is currently available on each of our ships". But apparently it is not available on all cruises or cruise segments. This is a disappointment.

 

Ken Head

[Pettifogger]

Ken: I wish we could exchange with you, but unfortunately we're on a different cruise. You have what we and many others desperately want as indicated by RuthC's "It's easier to get the fixed seating party changed to open seating than the other way around." You don't want to got to Hawaii instead of Dubai, by any chance?

[Kenato]

Hi, Sorry I have not read all 17 pages of replies and not sure what to search for so this question may have been already discussed.

I am booked on the Maasam, late April and have requested "As You Wish Dining". Am I correct in thinking from the messages I have read that there are actually specific reservation times and that you can not reserve a table in advance between 6:30 pm and 8:00. While we were open to booking at different times based on the days activities we had expected to be able to reserve between 7:00 and 7:30 most days. From what I read, the only way to do that is to to turn up after 6:30 and request a table at 7:00. Is that correct?

Thanks for any help and advice you can offer.

Ken

[hammybee]

Kenato:

Generally speaking, you cannot reserve a table during prime time although walk-ins are accommodated. If you have a Deluxe Suite, the fine folk in the Neptune Loung can take care of your dining needs.

 

There have been many reports from passengers who have been able to reserve a table, many days in advance. This may be a function of how full the ship is and cabin status. Be flexible and ask. I am sure if they can accommodate you, they will.

[topcop]

We were on the Westerdam for 14 days and never had a problem getting a table between 6 & 7.