Conquest + Anytime dining + long waits?

[Luluwa]

With all the talk about long waits for the anytime dining, I'm interested in knowing how well it's working on the CONQUEST only. (I don't' care about any experiences with NCL, or Princess or Royal Caribbean.)

So if you have experience on the CONQUEST + anytime dining let's talk! Thanks. ;)

[zqvol]

Well you didn't want to hear about other lines but I can tell you that after two crusies on Legend with any time dining we never waited for a table, and we typically go to dinner between 7 and 7:30.

[idlenote]

We were on the Conquest in September. We had the Anytime Dining, and we normally went about 7.00 p.m. There were four of us, and we never waited more than about two minutes. Over the week we had three different teams of waiters. I made a friend of the drink lady on the first night, and always asked for her by name, so we never waited for drinks.

 

I have absolutely no complaints about the food, it was always hot, and we never had to send anything back for being incorrectly cooked. One of the waiters made a couple of stupid remarks, if he had done it again I would have reported him to the Maitre' D, but I think he got the message.

 

For us it made for a great dining experience, eating at 8 is to late and 5:45 is to early, especially if you're late back from a shore excursion. We've booked the anytime again on our next two cruises.

[waiting4acruise]

We had anytime dining on the Conquest at the end of September. We went to eat between 6:30 and 7. We never had to wait.

[tximprov]

We were on the Conquest in Oct 09 and had anytime dinning. We usually ate between 7:45 and 8:15 and we were seated imediately every time. We loved it.

[Peddler&Tass]

I see a lot of "PROS" but no "CONS" ... it really can't be all that great, can it? We have always enjoyed the traditional dinning with the same wait staff that we can get accustomed to.

Later

Jim

[StillPooh]

I see a lot of "PROS" but no "CONS" ... it really can't be all that great, can it?

Yes it can. I will never sail on a ship that only has traditional dining again.

 

Waiting tables isn't exactly rocket science, but you can have the same staff with YTD if you insist. You might have to wait for a table to open up in their section, though.

[Luluwa]

Thanks for the info from the one's that actually answered my question = idlenote, waiting4acruise and tximprov.

I think I'll stay with the Anytime dining on the Conquest.

Again, thanks! :p

[suzy1212]

I'm on the conquest now. First night we went about 8:00 and were seated immediately. Last night (cruise elegant) we got there about 6:30 and were told we could sit at a table for 4 with another couple. We walked around for a little while, came back about 6:50 and were seated at a table for 2. Only trouble was the waiter was the worst I've ever had anywhere. I guess he was just slammed, but it really didn't look like it. We left without looking at the dessert menu. I'll ask for anyone but him tonight.

[Luluwa]

Thanks Suzy1212 have a wonderful cruise. :p

[salty dingo]

With all the talk about long waits for the anytime dining, I'm interested in knowing how well it's working on the CONQUEST only. (I don't' care about any experiences with NCL, or Princess or Royal Caribbean.)

 

So if you have experience on the CONQUEST + anytime dining let's talk! Thanks. ;)

It depends on when you like to go. The later you go, it seems, the less chance of a wait.

 

We only got a pager once on our recent Miracle cruise, and were seated in a couple of minutes after getting the pager. The anytime dining area often appeared to have available seats.

[suzy1212]

Just got off the Conquest yesterday. Other than the first 2 nights mentioned above, we also ate in the dining room the last night. We got there about 7:00 and were seated immediately.

[Uff'da]

We were on the Conquest Nov. 8-15th and had anytime dining. We were always at a table for two. We were asked a couple times if we would like to sit with others but declined and it was fine with them, they just put us at a table for two.

 

We dined at a variety of times and never had a wait, even on elegant nights. It was nice to be able to leisurely go to dinner at our pace and not to have to be there at "X" time or not be served. I really liked that. It's nice not to have to rush to get ready for dinner.

 

Here's another thing I liked about it. Since you are not waiting for a table of 8-12 to finish each course before the next one comes, your next course comes when YOU are ready. You get to eat at your pace, not someone elses. You can speed it up or slow it down depending on your mood or your schedule for that evening.

 

I liked it enough that I probably won't use traditional dining ever again. You can still have the "social" aspect of traditional dining if you want by dining with others, but if you prefer a more intimate dinner you can have that too. You can also request the same wait staff every night if you want (we didn't and it was fine) so that it feels more traditional.

 

I found no downside to anytime. I hope you enjoy it too.