your time dining

melissaj426 · #1 (**permalink**) October 6th, 2011, 10:22 PM

What have been your experiences with this? On our last cruise we were waitlisted with this and ended up with late dining and even putting in requests with the dining room we were still stuck with late dining. On our currently booked cruise i went with the your time but my question is on the last one they said sometimes you have to wait with this dining option is that true and if so was it a long time?

fun2cruiz · #2 (**permalink**) October 6th, 2011, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissaj426

What have been your experiences with this? On our last cruise we were waitlisted with this and ended up with late dining and even putting in requests with the dining room we were still stuck with late dining. On our currently booked cruise i went with the your time but my question is on the last one they said sometimes you have to wait with this dining option is that true and if so was it a long time?

Lottsa factors in how long you may have to wait.... what size party ? What time you arrive? Prefer to be seated with other groups ? Prefer to be seated with only your group ?

You could be seated immediately and maybe not, as the factors above play a big role in answer to your question.

Mike M · #3 (**permalink**) October 7th, 2011, 08:07 AM

We had a family group of six on our last cruise on Carnival Liberty. We found it to be a great option. On all seven nights of the cruise we never had a wait.

A lot of this had to do with the fact that we usually ate relatively early. Usually around 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m..

We had the same servers, because we were seated in the same area. The six and eight tops were in the same area. The service was excellent and our waitstaff were as good or better than others we've had in traditional seating.

With any open seating system the amount of time you wait is going to be dependent on when you eat and if you want to eat by yourselves or with others. If you show up at the "traditional" dining times and are a party of two who wish to eat alone then there will be a wait. I doubt it will be much more than thirty minutes. You will also receive a pager that will let you know when your table is ready. It's a great opportunity to go, kick back and have a before dinner drink. If your pager goes off before you finish your drink you can take it with you into the dining room. BTW: I'm from Minnesota where waiting for a table isn't something we're used to.

On all lines I prefer open seating over fixed seating and I haven't had a bad experience or long wait (over 30 minutes) on any line. Carnival has been doing this for a while now and has most of the "kinks" worked out.

If you go at off times you and/or you are willing to sit with others your wait will be non-existent or far shorter.

Have a great cruise and enjoy!

Take care,
Mike

azpilot · #4 (**permalink**) October 7th, 2011, 09:30 AM

We have been lucky I guess, with 2-4 guests we have never waited on any of our cruises yet. We usually get to the dining room about 15 min before dinner and get right in each time. I'm sure that luck won't stay forever!

Cruznut2 · #5 (**permalink**) October 7th, 2011, 10:47 AM

I did "Your Time" when I was on Liberty last year. I travel alone and have a desire to meet many people. I thought instead of having to sit with the same folks every night I would enjoy this. Boy! did I ever! I had a wonderful time meeting great folks every day. I am going with a couple of friends next month on the Inspiration and we will do this again.

Laura

Fern · #6 (**permalink**) October 7th, 2011, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissaj426

What have been your experiences with this? On our last cruise we were waitlisted with this and ended up with late dining and even putting in requests with the dining room we were still stuck with late dining. On our currently booked cruise i went with the your time but my question is on the last one they said sometimes you have to wait with this dining option is that true and if so was it a long time?

Hi Melissa, if there's any wait it won't be any longer than a hometown restaurant. We've booked Anytime Dining ever since it's been available and love it

. When we want to sit with other's we're seated almost immediately. When we ask for a table for two, we sometimes wait for 5 or 10 minutes.

Katiel53 · #7 (**permalink**) October 8th, 2011, 03:30 PM

We did My Time Dining on Dream and were a bit disappointed. There were 4 of us and we loved our wait team. On the 2nd night we went to the dining room at 7 and had to wait, but I thought that it was lobster night, so I could understand that more people were there earlier. (We went at 7 night one also.) On night 3, we again went at 7 and had to wait about 30 minutes. I asked the Maitre D what would be a good time to come and get the same servers without having to wait 30 minutes. He said come about 6:15 or 6:30. Although this is earlier than we would like, we agreed to do so.

Night 4, we got there about 6:15 and still had to wait about 30 minutes. Night 5 we tried 6:30, same thing. I am sure if we changed tables/area we probably wouldn't have to wait as long, but we loved the servers. Nights 6 and 7 we went at 7 knowing we were going to have to wait, we might as well go when we wanted. Same wait times.

We are going on Dream again in Febraury, but this time it's just DH and I. We are going to try the 7PM again and see what happens. I guess we won't care if we get different servers every night. If we get someone we like night 1, we will probably ask for that group again, but if it means a 30 minute wait, then we will take whomever.

I wish that Carnival there was a set seating time of 7PM. That's about when we eat at home and if we had to choose a dining time we would choose late. The people we travel with don't like to eat that late, so that's why we tried the my time.

Mike M · #8 (**permalink**) October 8th, 2011, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katiel53

We did My Time Dining on Dream and were a bit disappointed. There were 4 of us and we loved our wait team. On the 2nd night we went to the dining room at 7 and had to wait, but I thought that it was lobster night, so I could understand that more people were there earlier. (We went at 7 night one also.) On night 3, we again went at 7 and had to wait about 30 minutes. I asked the Maitre D what would be a good time to come and get the same servers without having to wait 30 minutes. He said come about 6:15 or 6:30. Although this is earlier than we would like, we agreed to do so.

Night 4, we got there about 6:15 and still had to wait about 30 minutes. Night 5 we tried 6:30, same thing. I am sure if we changed tables/area we probably wouldn't have to wait as long, but we loved the servers. Nights 6 and 7 we went at 7 knowing we were going to have to wait, we might as well go when we wanted. Same wait times.

We are going on Dream again in Febraury, but this time it's just DH and I. We are going to try the 7PM again and see what happens. I guess we won't care if we get different servers every night. If we get someone we like night 1, we will probably ask for that group again, but if it means a 30 minute wait, then we will take whomever.

I wish that Carnival there was a set seating time of 7PM. That's about when we eat at home and if we had to choose a dining time we would choose late. The people we travel with don't like to eat that late, so that's why we tried the my time.

Wanting the same waitstaff was what caused your wait. The more flexible people are the lower chances of waiting. If your maximum wait was 30 minutes that isn't too bad to get the same waitstaff.

Take care,
Mike

Spartan kent · #9 (**permalink**) October 8th, 2011, 07:07 PM

My time/ your time/flexible dinning what ever you want to call it.

On ships you have first and second sittings, very nice unless you get stuck on a table that wants to play musical chairs.
Sounds nice to all move around until you find that your partner is at the other end of the table, as some control freak has taken it upon themselves to spoil your holiday.

Flexible is much better although you may need to wait at peek times, often you can prebook a time and table size.

I often book five to seven cabins for my family holiday each year, taking both our parents and our kids and now grand kids normally around our wedding anniversary.
I speak to the head waiter to arrange a couple of large tables 10+ for formal nights with a time normally around 19.45-20.00 hrs this is just after the rush and we are still enjoying drinks and cheese board when the restaurant is nearly empty one waiter to get more drinks or coffee is all you need just look after him/her and they will more than look after you.
The other nights each couple goes to dinner when they are ready sit with other family members or just turn up and mix with the next share table it is a much better way of dinning. Easy to make small talk for an hour or two but he same crowd for two weeks plus they may want to know to much of your business.

Next trip from Quebec to Miami next Friday, should be a good trip flexible on princess mainly US passengers so little chance of problems with Mrs Bucket

The cruise should really rock over 100 now for meet and greet

johnthed0g · #10 (**permalink**) October 8th, 2011, 08:08 PM

Whatever suits....we rather like forming a connection with folks at the table & have been lucky so far with table companions, look forward to meeting up with them most nights....our last cruise was 28 nights & the company was great.

Dwayne · #11 (**permalink**) October 9th, 2011, 06:44 PM

My experiences with Your Time Dining have been good. Didn't have to wait at all. Now that is going to vary with what time you go. The earlier it is seems like the busier it is. I go around 7:45 - 8:00 and have been immediately seated. Some guests did tell me they had to wait a bit when going a little after 6:00. I like that I can go when and if I choose.

melissaj426 · #12 (**permalink**) October 9th, 2011, 10:43 PM

thanks everyone for your help we went with the your time dining and I think its the best choice we will be traveling with our 2 year old daughter so we will need the felxibility and if we have to wait then so be it depending on her moods we will probably choose a table just for our party i just dont want her to fuss and interupt others dinner if we were to sit at a larger table.

colorcrazie · #13 (**permalink**) October 10th, 2011, 03:50 PM

Melissa,
Thanks for being so considerate of your fellow passengers. While I love kids, a cranky one can be a bit much at dinner and too many parents seem to ignore it. And, there is a reason they call it the terrible two's. Our neighbor has a 2 yr old and the child is a hoot, but I think that's about the time when kids realize that they have a mind of their own, are now mobile and ready to take on the world.
Marty