Your time dining.........

breadman1112 · #1 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 04:52 PM

Interested in hearing how the "your time dining" is going........I understand you can request a table for two.......Thanx for any info.....

johnthed0g · #2 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 05:00 PM

Hi & welcome to the site...this form of dining is gaining popularity, it usually takes a bit of time to get going but eventually seems to work, never done it ...yet.

skymaster · #3 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 05:39 PM

It seems to be catching on very well. Depending on which class ship you're doing, there are lots of tables for two available. The Conquest Class ships have the second level of the mid ship dining room set aside for "your time dining", and there are always lots of folks there I've noticed, and many at the small tables next to the railing, overlooking the lower level.
Have a GREAT cruise.

"SKY"

nlb1050 · #4 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 07:26 PM

We did it in the Legend in Jan and it worked fine. We normally sit with others but on gthe first night the hostess missed undersood and gave us a table for 2, that was the only night we had to wait but were given a buzzer and waited about 15 minutes. All other nights we were seated immediately.

mustang sally · #5 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 07:49 PM

We have opted for any time dining this time too, for the first time.
My question is ....well I have two.

First - Since you probably will not have the same waiters from night to night- are the waiters as attentive as they are when you have a fixed dinner time with the same waiter every night? Do you miss that personal touch?

Second - I hear they hand out pagers. We will be sailing on the Dream. Is there a bar outside the dining room where you can wait and have a cocktail?

Whoops! One more question. We are booked on an Aft balcony. Is it true that passengers who request any time dining must dine in the forward dining room? I thought I read that somewhere.

billt · #6 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 07:50 PM

just came back from the Liberty(sailed May8th), and had the your time dinning. this was the first time that we have had this, and we really liked it. You can request the table size, table location,(by a window), and waiter. I think that we will use this whenever we can.

Mike M · #7 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustang sally

We have opted for any time dining this time too, for the first time.
My question is ....well I have two.

First - Since you probably will not have the same waiters from night to night- are the waiters as attentive as they are when you have a fixed dinner time with the same waiter every night? Do you miss that personal touch?

Second - I hear they hand out pagers. We will be sailing on the Dream. Is there a bar outside the dining room where you can wait and have a cocktail?

Whoops! One more question. We are booked on an Aft balcony. Is it true that passengers who request any time dining must dine in the forward dining room? I thought I read that somewhere.

I found the waiters to be just as attentive but they don't know your name or drink preference so it is less "personal". I only miss the personal aspect if I am with a group. If it's my wife and I then I could care less.

They can give you a pager if there isn't a table available. You have a better chance of being immediately seated or less wait if you are open in your table size and don't go at the prime times. It seems that even though people take open seating they still want to eat around 6:30 and 8:00. Try dining between 7 and 8 or around 9 and you will have a good chance of immediate seating.

Only one dining room area is designated as Your Time Dining.

Take care,
Mike

mustang sally · #8 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 09:32 PM

Thanks Mike. We are excited to give this a try. Really hoping it is a possitive experience.

Fern · #9 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 09:47 PM

We're just off of Carnival Conquest. We chose "Your Time Dining". It was very good and worked very well! There were many table's for two in the dining room, (although they'd really be tables for four!) !

As Mike said, thing's are not as personal as they would be if you booked a specific dining time. The waiter's were fine, though.

Your Time Dining, IMHO, is a wonderful concept!

by_the_board · #10 (**permalink**) May 24th, 2010, 11:16 PM

On my recent Liberty cruise (May 1) Dw and I were served on the third night by a team that knew how to treat their customers. The next night and each night there after we requested that area (table 172, 174, 176) and the hostess had no problem with our request. For the rest of the week we experienced that personal service that cruisers really enjoy. The hostess received the maitre d' tip since she actually provided us with a service.

We dined @ 6:45 each night and never had to wait for a table. An hour and a half later as we were leaving the MDR there was a line to get a table.

On the Liberty there are many tables for two.

mustang sally · #11 (**permalink**) May 25th, 2010, 06:14 AM

Most people are reporting a great experience with any time dining. That is good to hear.

FlightCenter · #12 (**permalink**) May 25th, 2010, 12:07 PM

While I think it's certainly romantic to have a dinner for 2, I think the dining preference should be group, or at least seated near others. The experience of a cruise is much more than A - B relationship between yourself and your partner. Everyone, and everything is intricately involved and leads to a much richer experience.

by_the_board · #13 (**permalink**) May 25th, 2010, 03:21 PM

On our Liberty cruise DW and I enjoyed sitting at a table for two located in an area where each table had a bench seat and a chair seat. These tables were close enough to the next table that a conversation with a couple sitting at the table beside yours was possible. So a table for two could actually be viewed as a table for six with a little more room for the dinners to enjoy their meal. With the bench seat running a distance of 60 ft or more these tables could and sometimes were pushed together to make several larger tables for multiple dinners.

Someone was thinking when this seating arrangement was designed.

mustang sally · #14 (**permalink**) May 25th, 2010, 05:36 PM

By the board...I like that idea too. We had a seating arrangement like this on our last cruise on the Liberty. Three separate tables , but close enough for conversation which we did. But somehow with it like this, we did not feel like we had to include them in every conversation my dh and I had, although we were all fast friends by the end of the cruise. Great concept!

johnthed0g · #15 (**permalink**) May 25th, 2010, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlightCenter

While I think it's certainly romantic to have a dinner for 2, I think the dining preference should be group, or at least seated near others. The experience of a cruise is much more than A - B relationship between yourself and your partner. Everyone, and everything is intricately involved and leads to a much richer experience.

Welcome & I totally agree, a cruise is a very sociable occasion.

billt · #16 (**permalink**) May 30th, 2010, 10:15 AM

personally, I don't want to eat with other people. I want to enjoy my time with the people I came with, not strangers.

johnthed0g · #17 (**permalink**) May 30th, 2010, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billt

personally, I don't want to eat with other people. I want to enjoy my time with the people I came with, not strangers.

Surprised you enjoy cruises so much then, confined to a ship with 2,000 + people you don't know, hardly ideal.

grammy sammy · #18 (**permalink**) June 6th, 2010, 07:28 PM

Does anyone have any feed back on a table for 10? We will be on Fantasy 7/17/10 and would like to try to eat together since it's a family reunion type cruise. We chose anytime dining because we have 5 yo twin grand kids and never know if they will make it if they have to wait. Thanks any input wil be appreciated

Mike M · #19 (**permalink**) June 6th, 2010, 08:58 PM

There is nothing wrong in preferring to eat with your significant other or your group. It's one of the great things about cruising. You can be as sociable as you wish. If you want to dine with others you can or you can dine by yourself.

I love cruising. There is something for everyone.

There may not be a 10 top available. You may have to go with two six tops.

Regardless, I would contact the maitre'd as soon as you board and let him know about your situation and what can be done to accommodate you.

Take care,
Mike

fourxbusymom · #20 (**permalink**) June 7th, 2010, 07:48 AM

We chose to go with the traditional dining on our upcoming cruise. We have 14 people going, and figured it would be the best way to be able to eat together. Maybe our next cruise we will try the anytime dining...

M n O · #21 (**permalink**) June 9th, 2010, 08:20 PM

We always try to get the Anytime Dining. And we do ask for a table for two. The last time we did this we were always sat in the same area and did get the same waiter most of the time, who always remembered us.
Back when dining was all Traditional we met so many different types of people. Most have been very nice. A few not so. But we found that dining takes way too long when sitting with others. By sitting as two we get in and out and sooner to the shows, etc. Soon our 25th cruise will be here and we have already booked another cruise for two months later that has no choice but Traditional Dining. It's been a long time since we did that.

mclinns04 · #22 (**permalink**) June 9th, 2010, 11:46 PM

We are just back from the Ecstasy cruise. We were confirmed for early seating, but were given Anytime upon arrival. It worked once our group of 7 figured out where and when we were going. Having said that, I really prefer the regular seating. I really missed having a regular waiter. It could be an advantage if you were seated with a group that didn't work well, otherwise I'd like to go back to the old way.