We love fixed dining for a variety of reasons, and have had this option on all of our cruises over the years. We enjoy getting to know our table mates, our servers and dining staff. The dining staff gets to know us too, including our likes, dislikes and preferences. As just one example, having your favorite glass of wine delivered to the table as soon as you're seated before even ordering it.
We get to know them by their first names, learn about their lives and families back home, etc. And they get to know us the same way.
I could go on and on, but all of this interaction results in wonderful dining experiences for the cruise, and long-lasting memories.
In more than 25 years of fixed dining cruising, we have only 'not connected' with our table mates on one occasion, and were quickly switched to another table after consulting with the dining room manager...no problem.
We highly recommend traditional, fixed dining 🙂