Dining times?

Ok...one more cruise thing to learn.... dining times! So.... on various sites I'm noticing either an option for early,late,or whenevr you want dining..... does this mean you eat at your time choice every night? What happens if you go out in a port and don't get back in time? and any advice on eating whenever rather than picking a time? anyone here have opinions on the choices? ( itend to lean towards anytime,rather than fixed time but I need advice)

Traditional dining usually means you eat at one of two fixed dining times, at the same table, with the same dining companions and the same wait staff.

"Whenever you want" means you can eat anytime the dining room is open. This obviously gives more flexibilty, but you may have to wait for a table. Also, if you want the cruise line to assign others to your table, it can be more difficult to do that with anytime dining.

Ok...one more cruise thing to learn.... dining times! So.... on various sites I'm noticing either an option for early,late,or whenevr you want dining..... does this mean you eat at your time choice every night? What happens if you go out in a port and don't get back in time? and any advice on eating whenever rather than picking a time? anyone here have opinions on the choices? ( itend to lean towards anytime,rather than fixed time but I need advice)

You definitely should post this on the CC subforum for YOUR cruise line.

You can find the list with links here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/

And you might find a lot of useful information in some of the other subforums.

The answers will vary by cruise line, but in general, if you are in port late and miss your assigned tie, you would need to go to the buffet, call room service or go to a specialty restaurant.

From my experience, "anytime" does not mean eating whenever I want when the main dining room is open. It means eating when they have space for you. We waited as long as 45 minutes for a table. I much prefer a fixed time where I can have the same servers and table each night and get to know my table mates.

We, too, prefer traditional/fixed. No guesswork, no waiting...and to be honest, there is seldom a port that will interfere with dinner! You have to be ON the ship 30 mins.. prior to spillway....not a huge rush!!

I, too, prefer a fixed dining time. I like having a particular table, getting to know my table mates, as well as the dining Stewards. In turn, the Stewards get to know me and that improves the service, I think.

I have tried Open dining on a 7 day cruise. It was "OK", but nothing more. I am going to sail on a 4 day Bahamas cruise in 2017 and have chosen Open dining for this one. Why? I know I will be dining in the Steakhouse at least one evening. For the other evenings, I simply want to do "something different" from my routine since this is a short cruise.

I prefer Anytime, Freestyle, Select, My time Dining as opposed to Traditional Dining early or late seatings. This is due to the flexibility it provides and I can generally eat whenever we want and with whoever we want. Note that sometimes, you may need to wait for a specific table but rarely if you share. The longest I have waited is around 30 minutes with a pager but that was for a table for two at a very busy time (6.45 pm).