anytime dining....

[kirasmom]

When I reserved our cruise they had a wait list for early seating so we went with anytime dining instead. have you done this? what was your experience?

[Frank12]

It's personal preference. I did not like it. I prefer having an asssigned table with the same waitstaff each night.

[kirasmom]

It's personal preference. I did not like it. I prefer having an asssigned table with the same waitstaff each night.

 

that is totally my initial feeling. we are travelling with our 4 year old and i do not want ot wait til 8:15 for our seating. ugh.

[salty dingo]

We loved it. We literally walked to the head of the line one evening, just before late seating. Everyone in line was waiting for their assigned time to arrive, and we strolled up 5 minutes before then and went to the hostess and were seated immediately.

 

We loved the flexibility and convenience. We had a table for 2 each night.

[steveNcindy]

When I reserved our cruise they had a wait list for early seating so we went with anytime dining instead. have you done this? what was your experience?

 

We had Your Time Dining this cruise and loved it. First 2 nights there was a wait - 15 mins for a table for 2 which we requested. We could have been seated right away but chose to wait. The last 4 times (we ate at the supper club twice) we were seated immediately at a table for 2.

 

Wait times seem to be half of what they tell you if the table you want is not immediately ready.

[cruznluvr]

We love the anytime dining. Our 3 year old loved dressing up every night & we loved getting through dinner in an hr. or less. We were always seated promptly & had great service every night. The early dining is too early for us, especially on port days & the late dining ends way too late for a toddler.

[klmorg]

Loved, loved loved anytime dining. So flexible... you can go to dinner when you're hungry, and when everyone is ready, anytime between 5:45 and 9:15 (as I recall). You can have the same wait staff if you want, and they srill do the entertaining if you're into that. Service was fantastic, food always warm... our dining choice from here on out.

[zqvol]

When I reserved our cruise they had a wait list for early seating so we went with anytime dining instead. have you done this? what was your experience?

 

You will love it!.

[GinDon]

Now that we have tried the Anytime Dining, we are hooked on it! So convenient. I am one who likes to be on deck to watch sailaway from the ports, and first seating always conflicted with that. The ONLY time I would prefer the regular seating times, is with a group. Then, it's fun to all gather back at the table and hash out our days together.

[crabbdock]

I picked the anytime dining on our first cruise in September on the Liberty. My thinking is, I would rather plan my dining around all the other activities I want to do, then plan all other activities around a set dining time.

[Chowder_17]

We had anytime dining on the Legend and we loved it! We always got a table for two with no waiting and we could request to be put in a certain section if we wanted.

 

We didn't want other tablemates and the freedom of not having to go a certain time was great!

[LC Crusader Dad]

We had the 1st seating on the Carnival Glory last summer and that worked for us. We liked the diversity of our dinning partners. We sat at a table for ten and had a terrific time catching up on everyone's day at sea or in port. We enjoyed getting to know our wait staff and the service was prolly a 8 out 10. After dinner my wife and I went to the show and my 14 yr old son went off to find his new buddies from the Circle C club.

 

We just booked the Carnival Triumph for a 5 days out of NOLA in June. The 1st seating was wait listed. No good. 2nd seating not our thing. Soooo, we had our TA sign us up for the anytime dine. Others....Is the service less then great when you do not have a regular server team? Do you generally dine with others? Please share the pros and cons.

 

Thanks!

 

Respectfully,

 

LC Crusader Dad

[zqvol]

We had the 1st seating on the Carnival Glory last summer and that worked for us. We liked the diversity of our dinning partners. We sat at a table for ten and had a terrific time catching up on everyone's day at sea or in port. We enjoyed getting to know our wait staff and the service was prolly a 8 out 10. After dinner my wife and I went to the show and my 14 yr old son went off to find his new buddies from the Circle C club.

 

We just booked the Carnival Triumph for a 5 days out of NOLA in June. The 1st seating was wait listed. No good. 2nd seating not our thing. Soooo, we had our TA sign us up for the anytime dine. Others....Is the service less then great when you do not have a regular server team? Do you generally dine with others? Please share the pros and cons.

 

Thanks!

 

Respectfully,

 

LC Crusader Dad

 

IMO the service is MUCH better with anytime dining. You can always get the same wait staff night after night by just asking. With anytime while it is possible to sit with others usually it is just your group.

 

We have had anytime the last three cruises and there is no way that I will EVER go back to traditional dining.

[uppitycats]

Another voice supporting anytime dining. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes, and that was our fault..we went at a "peak time" (around 7 p.m.) one night. We'll not go back to traditional dining.

[shadoo]

Love anytime dining and would not go back to assigned, EVER!

[serene56]

that is totally my initial feeling. we are travelling with our 4 year old and i do not want ot wait til 8:15 for our seating. ugh.

 

 

with a 4 year old anytime dining would be better.

What if they were napping for a 6pm feeding time? this way you can go to dinner around their schedule.

Anytime dining runs from 5:45 until 9:30

[mskaufman]

We did it on the Pride and it worked great. After the first night we requested a specific waitress and we never had to wait.

[kujobie]

We're trying it for the first time this year. Seems to be not to bad to get a table for 2 which we prefer. We're also gonna try and time it between the two seatings in order to miss the stupid song and dance crap. I hate that. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.

[lablover61]

Did Your Time Dining last week on the Inspiration it worked perfect. We ate at various times ( between 6:15 and 8:45 PM ) and NEVER had to wait. Always got a table for 2 near a window and had excellent service every night. Loved the flexiabilty of it. We would seriously consider not booking a cruise if this type of dining was not offered. The only draw back I see is you can miss some of the DR/waiters shows if you get there between them.;)

[cruiselover999]

My feeling about Anytime Dining comes from the other side...from those of us who chose Regular Dining. Several times during our cruise, the MDR second seating was up to 20 minutes late opening the doors for us. It seems that they sat Anytime diners later than they should have, and we had to wait until they finished before ANY of us could sit down. That really stunk. I would suggest perhaps reserving part of the dining room for Anytime dining only, and not seating Anytime diners in the Regular diners' sections.

[elcuchio24]

We've been on a few Carnival ships, but this will be the first time with ATS when we cruise in May. I look forward to it. Last time our table mates where just the most boring drones in the world, it was brutal. I wanted to choke on a prawn and end my misery. Last year we cruised NCL with the biggest selling point being no assigned dine time/tablemates. I am pumped Carnival has rolled this Anytime Dinning out, there is no longer any reason for us to cruise with a competitor.:)

[WhenD]

My feeling about Anytime Dining comes from the other side...from those of us who chose Regular Dining. Several times during our cruise, the MDR second seating was up to 20 minutes late opening the doors for us. It seems that they sat Anytime diners later than they should have, and we had to wait until they finished before ANY of us could sit down. That really stunk. I would suggest perhaps reserving part of the dining room for Anytime dining only, and not seating Anytime diners in the Regular diners' sections.

 

That seems odd. I know on the Legend anytime dining is on the 2nd floor of the dining room, while Early/Late dinners take the 1st floor. This was also how it was done on the Liberty. (Those are the only two ships I can speak for). It might have been a problem with some Early diners arriving late to dinner and waiting for them to finish.

 

W.

[klmorg]

My feeling about Anytime Dining comes from the other side...from those of us who chose Regular Dining. Several times during our cruise, the MDR second seating was up to 20 minutes late opening the doors for us. It seems that they sat Anytime diners later than they should have, and we had to wait until they finished before ANY of us could sit down. That really stunk. I would suggest perhaps reserving part of the dining room for Anytime dining only, and not seating Anytime diners in the Regular diners' sections.

 

They do separate the anytimers from the traditionalers... or at least they did on the Legend. Anytime dining was on one side of the dining room, and there's a separate line for them at the dining room entrance.

[frankhouse]

When I reserved our cruise they had a wait list for early seating so we went with anytime dining instead. have you done this? what was your experience?

 

Just did it yesterday! :) We were confirmed for early seating on the Splendor for next October and since it's just me and my wife we decided to try anytime dinning. So yesterday I sent an email to our Carnival PVP asking if we could to that, and within 5 minutes he replied with "it's done" and we're confirmed! :D I replied back and told him he was the best. And he is.

 

Anyway, I guess I won't know till then. Sorry

[serene56]

My feeling about Anytime Dining comes from the other side...from those of us who chose Regular Dining. Several times during our cruise, the MDR second seating was up to 20 minutes late opening the doors for us. It seems that they sat Anytime diners later than they should have, and we had to wait until they finished before ANY of us could sit down. That really stunk. I would suggest perhaps reserving part of the dining room for Anytime dining only, and not seating Anytime diners in the Regular diners' sections.

 

 

Anytime dining is from 5:45 until 9:30 and its a seperate area.

I dont know how anytime dining could affect those that have traditional seating