Open dining - dining times

We sail on the Westerdam next Sunday. We have open dining. We normally sail Royal and I hate it on Royal. Please tell me it is better on HAL. Can we just show up and actually get seated within 15 minutes? I don't want to have to make reservations in advance. If we are having fun in town we don't want to have to rush back for dinner. A few nights we are in port late - how late do they serve dinner in the MDR?

TIA

Kathy

I haven't sailed on RCI in years, so no way can I tell you HAL is better.

It is possible you may have to wait if you show up at a busy time, just like any other restaurant. That is unavoidable. How long that might will of course vary by day and time. There are many threads discussing this here, and I can't recall anybody really complaining about long waits. So I think 15 minutes would probably be a fairly rare event.

I am not sure how late they will seat you...I think it is 8:30 or 9.

We sail on the Westerdam next Sunday. We have open dining. We normally sail Royal and I hate it on Royal. Please tell me it is better on HAL. Can we just show up and actually get seated within 15 minutes? I don't want to have to make reservations in advance. If we are having fun in town we don't want to have to rush back for dinner. A few nights we are in port late - how late do they serve dinner in the MDR?

We have done OPEN dining a couple of times and usually go around 5:30-6:00 PM. Never experienced a wait of more than a couple of minutes, as long as we were willing to dine at a large table (6 or more).

I like OPEN dining as I get to dine when I feel like eating, plus I get to meet new people. The only negatives I have experienced is that the waiters do not get to know you and your preferences and if you purchase a wine package and have an already opened bottle it can take some time for the wine steward to find you and then find the bottle.

Thanks for bringing this topic up. We sail on Westerdam June 10. I assume if we want a table for 2 there may be a little wait. Enjoy your cruise!

Tables for 2 on late nights are harder to come by.

The last seating in Open Seating is 9 PM -- but beware -- some managers will close a few minutes before that.

Tables for 2 on late nights are harder to come by.

The last seating in Open Seating is 9 PM -- but beware -- some managers will close a few minutes before that.

Generally, we dine on the early side (6:30 or so) but it's our first cruise, so who knows? Thanks.

For what it is worth, we received the following from the cruise line a couple of months before the cruise:

"IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION: We would like to advise you of a change to the open seating option offered in the main dining room aboard the ms Nieuw Amsterdam sailing on June 30, 2018. Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 5:30pm, available seating will be limited until 7:30pm. Should you wish to dine early and space is not available in the dining room, complimentary dining is always available in the Lido Market, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations at our Canaletto, Tamarind or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We regret any disappointment this change may cause. If you have any questions please contact Ship Services at 1-800-541-1576."

Obviously this will vary from voyage to voyage, but clearly sometimes there is a long wait for anytime dining.

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For what it is worth, we received the following from the cruise line a couple of months before the cruise:

 

"IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION: We would like to advise you of a change to the open seating option offered in the main dining room aboard the ms Nieuw Amsterdam sailing on June 30, 2018. Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 5:30pm, available seating will be limited until 7:30pm. Should you wish to dine early and space is not available in the dining room, complimentary dining is always available in the Lido Market, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations at our Canaletto, Tamarind or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We regret any disappointment this change may cause. If you have any questions please contact Ship Services at 1-800-541-1576."

 

Obviously this will vary from voyage to voyage, but clearly sometimes there is a long wait for anytime dining.

 

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That sounds like the message others have posted when there is a large group/charter onboard. According to VMax's list, you do have one:

N. Amsterdam : 30 June 2018 -07 July 2018 : Alaska : Christian Insight for Living : Inspiration cruisesgroup

I doubt groups aboard are the only reason why they are ever waits for tables. It does help with getting advance notice though.

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We have done OPEN dining a couple of times and usually go around 5:30-6:00 PM. Never experienced a wait of more than a couple of minutes, as long as we were willing to dine at a large table (6 or more).

 

I like OPEN dining as I get to dine when I feel like eating, plus I get to meet new people. The only negatives I have experienced is that the waiters do not get to know you and your preferences and if you purchase a wine package and have an already opened bottle it can take some time for the wine steward to find you and then find the bottle.

I will miss the waiters getting to know us. I love that in the Caribbean. But with this Alaska schedule I think the open seating will work best.

Kathy

. We will have the wine package. If we don't finish the bottle of wine are we allowed to bring it back to the room with us? Oh who am I kidding we will finish the bottle of wine. So, if every night we have a different bottle of wine does it still take them a long time to find it?

 

I will miss the waiters getting to know us. I love that in the Caribbean. But with this Alaska schedule I think the open seating will work best.

Yes, you can take the partial bottle with you to your cabin, and even a public area to consume (as I understand). And no, there is no issue with the wine steward finding you a fresh bottle (of course), but be sure to remind him that you have a wine package (he will then ask for your cabin number to confirm the details of it).

I will miss the waiters getting to know us.

Yes, you can take the partial bottle with you to your cabin, and even a public area to consume (as I understand). And no, there is no issue with the wine steward finding you a fresh bottle (of course), but be sure to remind him that you have a wine package (he will then ask for your cabin number to confirm the details of it).

Perfect. I have a feeling most nights after dinner I will just want to go back to the room, have a nightcap and go to bed. Although some of the music venues on the Westerdam sound amazing.

Kathy

I doubt groups aboard are the only reason why they are ever waits for tables. It does help with getting advance notice though.

 

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We’ve never had a wait when we arrive at 5:30 for open dining. I would say that the group has requested early dining and they have had to use both upper and lower dining rooms to accomodate them. If I wanted to eat early on this cruise I would be there when the doors open.

Off the Oosterdam from a Med cruise recently. We had anytime dining and the nights we went to the MDR we went around 6 pm. Our only wait was to get up to the podium to request a table. This was anywhere from no wait to 3 minutes. We were always seated at a table for 4 immediately. We left around 730 to 8 each time and saw no one waiting to be seated. Matter of fact each night we saw empty tables going in and out. I agree, it must depend on the ship, the cruise and the make up of the passengers. We had a great experience.

Off the Oosterdam from a Med cruise recently. We had anytime dining and the nights we went to the MDR we went around 6 pm. Our only wait was to get up to the podium to request a table. This was anywhere from no wait to 3 minutes. We were always seated at a table for 4 immediately. We left around 730 to 8 each time and saw no one waiting to be seated. Matter of fact each night we saw empty tables going in and out. I agree, it must depend on the ship, the cruise and the make up of the passengers. We had a great experience.

Thanks. I think we will tend to eat later on this cruise as we will be in port so late. Hopefully, everyone else won't be doing the same thing!!

Kathy

We had open dining on our Rotterdam cruise last month and showed up in the dining room within 15 - 30 minutes of it opening every night, requesting a table for 4. It was quite difficult and usually involved a wait. We were actually traveling with my parents and would've rather had a table for 6, but that was hard too. I detailed a bit of this in my review (find it in my signature). We've booked the Nieuw Statendam and decided on early dining just to avoid the frustration. We're frequent cruisers and LOVED HAL, but this is one issue that disappointed us. Also, on day 2 of our cruise I attempted to make reservations for remaining nights and was told nothing was available...

We had open dining on our Rotterdam cruise last month and showed up in the dining room within 15 - 30 minutes of it opening every night, requesting a table for 4. It was quite difficult and usually involved a wait. We were actually traveling with my parents and would've rather had a table for 6, but that was hard too. I detailed a bit of this in my review (find it in my signature). We've booked the Nieuw Statendam and decided on early dining just to avoid the frustration. We're frequent cruisers and LOVED HAL, but this is one issue that disappointed us. Also, on day 2 of our cruise I attempted to make reservations for remaining nights and was told nothing was available...

Although I prefer fixed dining so that we have the same waitstaff and don’t have to “check in’ every evening, I like having some flexibility but after a number of cruises I still have not figured out how to make their reservation policy work for me. When they are so busy I don’t like to have to “discuss” our table issues at the entry station. There seems to be an inconsistency from ship to ship as to how reservations are handled. If you can make reservations up to three days in advance then on the second day of your cruise something should have been available. These are the issues that have me asking for the dining room manager!

For what it is worth, we received the following from the cruise line a couple of months before the cruise:

 

"IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION: We would like to advise you of a change to the open seating option offered in the main dining room aboard the ms Nieuw Amsterdam sailing on June 30, 2018. Open seating will be offered as normal; however, due to the number of guests requesting to dine at 5:30pm, available seating will be limited until 7:30pm. Should you wish to dine early and space is not available in the dining room, complimentary dining is always available in the Lido Market, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations at our Canaletto, Tamarind or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We regret any disappointment this change may cause. If you have any questions please contact Ship Services at 1-800-541-1576."

 

Obviously this will vary from voyage to voyage, but clearly sometimes there is a long wait for anytime dining.

 

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Wow, based on this notice it sounds like people may as well reserve late, Traditional Dining which is at 7:45 - for this sailing at least. This would guarantee the type of table they want and secure that it will be available at the same time each evening, with no waiting.

Early or late; if you get that message for your cruise it seems to me that you don't want to do anytime dining.

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I understand the fixed times for early or late seatings. However, I'm confused about Open Seating reservations. Do you have to make those after boarding? How many days in advance can you book your reservation? We will be on a long cruise so want to mix things up a bit.

1 hour ago, islander47 said:

I understand the fixed times for early or late seatings. However, I'm confused about Open Seating reservations. Do you have to make those after boarding? How many days in advance can you book your reservation? We will be on a long cruise so want to mix things up a bit.

You can book your reservation at only specific times - usually from 5:30 to around 6:15 or 6:30 and then after 8 pm.  Check when you are on board and they will let you know.  Normally you can book up to 3 days in advance.

Not sure what you mean by mixing things up a bit.  To be clear, you can’t do both fixed and open seating.  It’s one or the other.

You can mix things up a lot with specialty dining.and even the Lido or room service if you are so inclined.

You don’t have to make reservations at all if you are in open seating but can if you choose to.  Usually it’s only for the next three nights and must be made onboard.  If you like you can make a reservation for one night and just show up when you want on another night.  We seldom make reservations but are always in open seating.

I know this is an old topic but did not want to start a new one. Does anyone know the dining times for Alaska on the Niew Amsterdam? We booked open seating but might change to early fixed.