Flexible Dining: Does it Belong on Carnival?

[pungo3]

This is really hard because traditional is great due to having the same tablemates and servers for the entire cruise. However, not having to dine at the same time every night also has it's perks. I've done both and honestly have to say, I like anytime dining the best. That said, my anytime dining was always with just two people and we NEVER had to wait to be seated. A large group could have trouble as could a small group that did not want to sit with other guests.

[halos]

Unless they give you 8 different dining room/restaurant options like NCL, NO. I don't think Traditional lines are meant for anytime dining just because they aren't properly set up for it.

 

I'll wait and see how this works out on CCL ships before being totally negative about it, but I just can't see it being efficient.

[KroozNut]

Have any of you sailed NCL? Princess or any other line that offers any time dining? How did it work for you?

 

Yes, NCL...and it DIDN'T work for us, we hated it. :o That's why we've sailed Carnival exclusively since then, for the traditional dining (among many other things). And before anybody jumps to conclusions about our experience; in addition to NCL and Carnival, we've also sailed HAL and RCCL; so we do have a good feel for what's out there.

 

We'll see what happens as Carnival continues to roll this out fleetwide, but hopefully they'll retain a traditional dining option; understanding that many of their loyal customers prefer it..

[G'ma]

If they can implement this flexible dining program while still maintaining the traditional dining, I don't have a problem with it.

 

From other boards, there are many problems with some of the programs. Long wait times, not being able to get reservations for preferred dining times, priority reservations offered to premium cruisers, VIP's, Platinum members, those in suites and balconies. This seems to lead to resentment to those who are not in any of these categories.

 

Frankly, I agree with some others here....there are enough alternative dining programs on Carnival already. If it works, don't fix it.

 

Personally, I won't wait in line to dine. I don't do it at home and I won't do it on vacation. The nice thing about traditional dining is not having to "make plans" for dinner; don't have to make reservations and anticipate standing in line waiting for a table. I can do that at home. I also like having the same wait staff and the same table.

 

Please, please Carnival. Keep it real....keep it small. Don't do away with the traditional dining experience.

[Wennfred]

Not that I wouldn't be open to it because I have never tried Flex Dining, but I prefer Traditional dining because you get personalize service from your waiter. Whats the difference between Flex dining and Lido Decks buffet???

 

 

 

Fred

[NowVoyager908]

I love flexible dining. I've sailed on both Princess and NCL. In fact, I picked Princess back in 2002 specifically because of anytime.

 

I've read that some have had problems with long waits, etc. on both lines, but I never experienced any of that. In fact, on one NCL cruise I was traveling with a group of 11 and we had to wait one night for a total of five minutes while they set up a table for us. It was "lobster night" and in retrospect, we could have made a reservation. We tended to eat late (8:00 or later), so perhaps that made all the difference.

 

I'm sure Carnival will never give up on traditional dining; too many pax look forward to it. But if they at least offer the option to those of us who love the flexibility, I think everyone will be happy.

[Stockjock]

Carnival has always had anytime dining. Its called the Lido deck buffet.

 

I like having the same wait staff and same table and table mates every night.

 

Thats just me.

 

If they want to offer anytime dining fine' date=' but I also want them to offer traditional which I will continue to choose.

 

NCL has been doing anytime dining for years and according to some people, they still can't get it right. There seems to be problems with having to wait long periods of time to get seated. Of course the common response from the cheerleaders is that they shouldn't show up during peak times. Um...anytime dining means you can show up and eat at anytime. Right? :confused:

 

Of course I have only read of these complaints on NCL having not actually sailed that line. But I would think that a line that prides itself in the leader of "freestyle" could get it right.

 

Have any of you sailed NCL? Princess or any other line that offers any time dining? How did it work for you?[/quote']

 

I've done mostly traditional dining and back in Feb, I sailed on the NCL Sun and did their flexible aka freestyle dining. I much prefered freestyle.

 

In terms of long waits, I experienced that exactly zero times in 7 nights. Everything flowed very smoothly. There were some nights where we wanted to eat early, other nights we ate late, and a few nights we ate very late. It was never a problem.

 

In terms of the Lido deck buffet, I think you know that the buffet food quality is usually not up to the dining room's standards and it's an altogether different experience, so that's not such a good option.

 

I can deal with either, but I do prefer the flexible option. Until I experienced it firsthand, I would probably have voted for traditional dining.

[DarthGrady]

I dig the traditional setup, I don't care what NCL tells me I should like.

[AberAlex]

Just my opinion but I'm all about Tradition. I enjoy getting to know my servers and sitting at the same table each night. If you're sitting at a table you don't like you can always request a table change with the maitre d. ;)

[IKE]

We love the Flexible Dining Option. We did it many times on Princess Ships and it was great. Many times, We were so happy with our Table and Waitstaff, We reserved the same table for a certain time every evening with them and there was no wait. We didn't have to rush at all to get ready for dinner especially after being off the ship in Port and doing a tour. We were able to return to ship and relax for awhile before getting ready for dinner. Also you dress the same way as Traditional Seating so Formal Nights are no different when You select this option. Then there is still the Traditional Dining for passengers who prefer to dine this way. It makes it nice for everyone on Vacation.

[CruizinMom2c]

yeah, I agree about having the same wait staff...I enjoy getting to know them. I would just like to choose to eat with only our family and not others... JMO

[denrides]

We will be sticking to traditional dining as long as it is offered. Did anytime dining on other lines. Never had a long wait...5 to 10 minutes tops at peak times.

 

We found service to be lacking, never get to know the wait staff and they don't get to know your likes and dislikes, different people every day..........I like to get to know the people we are dining with. We have made some life long friends with our dinner tablemates.

 

Pros of anytime dining was we didn't have to wait till 8:30 pm to eat when we were hungry at 7 and didn't have to rush to eat at 6 when we weren't hungry till 8.

 

I think that the ships need to have more time choices for traditional dining like 1st seating 6:00, 2nd at 7 and late at 8 or 8:15...........stager the tables but keep your set time, tablemates and wait staff.

[LHP]

We prefer traditional because of our son's autism.

 

Eating at the same time, same table and same staff is imperative for us. It is still hard to get him to go to the formal dining room as it is now. I can't imagine if it were "open seating".

[enjoyinglife]

If Carnival will still allow people that like traditional dining to have it, I am all for it and long as there is an option. The two choices, flexible and traditional, may be a good compromise. Some of my cruises have been with relatives of all ages and i like when we eat together at night. I am wondering if there would be a problem with person 1 wanting to eat at such and such time, while person 2 wants to eat later, and person 3 wanting in between. At to that Granny who wants this, and yeah and hubby who wants that, well, it changes the dinner time dinning. With traditional, we all have the same table, mates, waiters, and no ifs, ands, or buts, and everyone (in my family) has enjoyed it!

[bella54]

One of the memories I have of sailing on Carnival Spirit this past May to Hawaii then Alaska was meeting up with friends at the end of the day to share our experiences, especially if it was a port day. One of our new friends was not well, sometimes needing a wheelchair, and we did fuss over him, making sure that they both could be included in anything we were organising. Eg, Showtime, trivia etc. It was good for them knowing that at the end of the day they could meet up with us all and share without worrying about having to make "new" friends all over again. If either of them did not make dinner, we made sure, with a quick phone call, all was well with them. And if he needed to rest in his cabin, we made sure that she was not left alone roaming the ship knowing she could relax with friends over a quick coffee and chat. Give me Traditional dining any time!!

 

janette:D

[dan40]

WHY is this subject even an issue???????????

Only one mainstream line [the LEAST IMPORTANT AND MOST DESPERATE ONE, NCL] offers ANYTIME DINING only, NO traditional.

ALL THE REST are talking about/or do offer THE CHOICE of flextime OR traditional. No cruiseline, RCL, HAL, PCL, or CCL is remotely talking about doing away with traditional dining. They all are offering the choice of flex dining in addition to traditional, if you want it. I like traditional but have sailed with the either/or choice. While I'm sitting at my assigned table, why should I care that somewhere else there are people waiting in line to eat in a restaurant just like any one on land at home. They want to make believe they're eating at a nice Denny's or Applebee's back home, let 'em. I don't care.

 

Could this change in the future? Of course it could, everything changes. And the pendulum swings too.

 

Dan

[LAMAX]

Since the ship has 2 dining rooms why can't one be traditional and the other anytime. Would this not solve the problem? I prefer traditional becauce I likje having the same waitor staff and the same people at the table. But if others like the anytime it could be offered by dividing the 2 dining rooms. But you would have toi decide this when you sign up for the cruise. And I don't see where you need more food choices when you have so many to choose from now. We didn't get to try everything our last cruise.

[Mikel1733]

Since the ship has 2 dining rooms why can't one be traditional and the other anytime. Would this not solve the problem? I prefer traditional becauce I likje having the same waitor staff and the same people at the table. But if others like the anytime it could be offered by dividing the 2 dining rooms. But you would have toi decide this when you sign up for the cruise. And I don't see where you need more food choices when you have so many to choose from now. We didn't get to try everything our last cruise.

 

It will be a balancing act for the staff each cruise as one week you may have 3/4 of the passengers wanting freestyle and the next week 3/4 wanting traditional. I would hate to sign up for traditional and then be told that section is full and I will be relegated to freestyle. I can't imagine CCL will be immune to the long waits that are reported on other cruise line threads. And how this all affects being able to attend the evening shows will play into it for me. I am all for both being offered if they can balance it properly, have smooth service, and decent service.

[dan40]

Since the ship has 2 dining rooms why can't one be traditional and the other anytime. Would this not solve the problem? I prefer traditional becauce I likje having the same waitor staff and the same people at the table. But if others like the anytime it could be offered by dividing the 2 dining rooms. But you would have toi decide this when you sign up for the cruise. And I don't see where you need more food choices when you have so many to choose from now. We didn't get to try everything our last cruise.

 

That IS how its done, one room for trads., one for flexys. Or one floor for trads., and one floor for flexys when there is only one dining room. As I said in my post above, NONE of the lines are replacing traditional dining, they are adding a choice of flexible dining. And a passenger CANNOT move back and forth between the 2 choices. The one you pick is it for that cruise.

 

Dan

[scperk]

I prefer the traditional dining. I tried the "flexible" dining on NCL and was just not impressed. :(

I'll second that, I hated the service on the NCL Pearl..I like traditional dining were they seem to remember that I want iced tea...I've gone for the last time on NCL.......Dennis

[doe326]

We sailed on the Grand Princess two years ago and they had both traditional and any time. We had asked for 2nd seating and didn't get it. We don't like to eat that early so we opted for any time. We absolutely loved it. We met so many nice, funny, and interesting people. One night we even had a table of all Texans! It was also a help when you get back from a late excursion and don't want to hurry up and get ready to eat.

Sure beats being stuck with people that don't talk, won't get involved in coversations, like on the next cruise. It was so bad we had to ask to be moved to another table, which was not a whole lot better, but decided to stick it out. I realize you can go to the Lido deck or order pizza, etc. but I really love to sit down and have someone wait on me for a change.

If Carnival can have one restaurant traditional and one any time dining that would definitely be a plus.

[ellagrl]

I'll second that, I hated the service on the NCL Pearl..I like traditional dining were they seem to remember that I want iced tea...I've gone for the last time on NCL.......Dennis

 

We sailed on NCL Pearl for the first time this past January and the alleged "freestyle" dining was the worst. We ate in the buffett 5 of the 9 nights on our cruise because the wait for a table at every restaurant was minimum 45 mins. When we did actually eat at one of the restaurants we found the waitstaff to be unattentive and a few times just rude. This experience alone was enough to keep from sailing NCL ever again.

 

We are sailing on the Miracle this September and can't wait. It is our first Carnival cruise and we've heard such great things about the food and service!

[Georgiagolfer]

I don't care if Carnival offers Flex dining as long as they also keep traditional. I like the same wait staff, same table, and same tablemates each evening. As another poster stated, it is great to share activity and excursion experiences with tablemates at dinner. This is 1 of the ways we have found out about excursions we have later tried.

[hankidic]

After experiencing flexible dining on NCL, I definitely prefer traditional dining. I don't like having to bothering making reservations or waiting 30+ minutes for a table.

[Cruzman]

I don't mind if they offer it as long as I can get traditional dining. I like having the same waitstaff, the same table and the same tablemates. I understand that it makes more sense for some people to be able to eat when they want to eat, but I do think they need to offer both options.

 

Problem is, once it's implemented, chances are you won't be able to opt for traditional. This happened to us on Princess in May; we requested traditional, but forced to accept "Personal Choice". We are still trying to figure out how this was our choice.