Your Time Dining vs Set Dining Time

[TikkiTembo]

I'm a first time cruiser and am curious about the Pros and Cons of a set dining time vs. Your Time Dining. I chose the Late Dining because we tend to eat late at home. Are there any benefits in choosing one over the other?

[tracyanns]

I'm a first time cruiser and am curious about the Pros and Cons of a set dining time vs. Your Time Dining. I chose the Late Dining because we tend to eat late at home. Are there any benefits in choosing one over the other?

 

Just the flexibility...if you want to eat earlier one day you could...you do not have to wait until a certain time...I enjoy the set dining times better as you get the same servers all week and that adds to the dining room experience.

[CruizeLuvr]

It also depends on the number of people in your party. If it's 2-4 people then Anytime Dining works pretty well and you rarely have much of a wait for a table. If you have 6+ in your party then you can expect to wait 20-60 minutes for a table. We had 8 in our party on NCL and the wait was always 30+ minutes (longer on lobster night!). I tend to prefer the assigned dining times since I can wait in line for a table at a restaraunt at home anytime I want!;) But that's just my personal preference.

[bright eyes]

It also depends on the number of people in your party. If it's 2-4 people then Anytime Dining works pretty well and you rarely have much of a wait for a table. If you have 6+ in your party then you can expect to wait 20-60 minutes for a table. We had 8 in our party on NCL and the wait was always 30+ minutes (longer on lobster night!). I tend to prefer the assigned dining times since I can wait in line for a table at a restaraunt at home anytime I want!;) But that's just my personal preference.

 

I prefer the assigned dining times also. Helps me to plan my day.

[golfadj]

We only do the set time.

 

Like to get to now the others at our table and our waiters.

 

Just plan our evening around our dinner time.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

I prefer assigned dining. We always choose early dining. I like it because your dining staff, really gets to know you and you them.

[morganboys]

I originally thought the mtd was not a good thing. on our last cruise my wife and I tried it. Since it was just the two of us it worked great. We could plan our evening activities and then make our reservation for dinner. It also made dinner about an hour or so instead of the typical 2 hours. However if we would have had our kids or a group of us I would go back to one of the regular dining times.

[idiebabe]

We like set times as well...same table and Servers. Did "anytime" on NCL and didn't enjoy it as much. My son likes "anytime" because he has two young children and can work out going to dinner around when it's better for the kids.

[LemurCat]

Flexibility, plus the ability to time my dinner around the waiter parade. (Not a fan.)

[tak81288]

I also loved the flexiblity of anytime dining. We never had to wait and had the same wait staff every night.

 

There were only two in our party.

[trace2010]

While this is out -- I have signed up for YTD as well for our cruise in Sept and I read on one of the post that the menu was different than what was being served in the main dinning room... which confused me since I have never heard anyone say anything about that -- could someone confirm or deny this? Thanks so much!

[uppitycats]

While this is out -- I have signed up for YTD as well for our cruise in Sept and I read on one of the post that the menu was different than what was being served in the main dinning room... which confused me since I have never heard anyone say anything about that -- could someone confirm or deny this? Thanks so much!

 

The menu is exactly the same. You eat in a main dining room .. just one (or a section of one) that is assigned to the YTD.

 

I'll never choose traditional dining if there is a flexible dining program. I hate the pretense of "waiters getting to know me", or deciding..before I get to the table..what I might want to drink, or any of that. I LOVE the flexibility of choosing when *I* want to eat, not some arbitrary time established by the cruise line,

 

and eating with whom I want to eat..not a table-ful of strangers, whose only commonality is that we are stuck to eating together!

[okgirl]

While this is out -- I have signed up for YTD as well for our cruise in Sept and I read on one of the post that the menu was different than what was being served in the main dinning room... which confused me since I have never heard anyone say anything about that -- could someone confirm or deny this? Thanks so much!

 

That's not correct. It is the exact same menu as assigned dining. Someone else commented on "making a reservation", but you don't do that either. You just show up when ever you choose between 5:45 and 9:30.

 

We really like it, it's just my sister and I and sometimes we like to eat early and sometimes we prefer to have cocktails and sushi up on the Promenade then sit down for a later dinner if we still want anything.

 

I love the appetizers, soups and cheese plates in the MDR, so often we'll have sushi 1st then some late night appy's along with a free Cappucino.

[WAHMto5]

Some people like to eat at the same time every night and others like to just go at their own time. Our last cruises didn't have the your time dining, but our up-coming Dream cruise does and we cannot wait!! I LOVE the flexibility, espeically while I am on vacation;)

[*Mach*]

I often sail with a group of friends, sometimes a large group of friends, so Your Time Dining simply won't work for me. Imagine 60 or so folks showing up at the same time asking for tables in the same area... ain't gonna happen.

It seems that many folks who are new to cruising prefer the Your Time Dining option as they aren't familiar with traditional ship board dining. For me, part of the cruise experience is meeting friends at dinner, chatting, and getting to know the folks who are our wait staff.

Some very experienced cruisers, like Janey above, prefer YTD as they have other activities that they want to participate in that assigned dining makes difficult.

If you want a statistic... 15% of dinners elect for YTD over traditional.

Either way, you'll love the Main Dining Room experience!

:)

[DEBnGAB]

 

If you want a statistic... 15% of dinners elect for YTD over traditional.

 

Either way, you'll love the Main Dining Room experience!

 

:)

 

 

But what is the capacity for Anytime Dining slots? From what I understand, they can only accept a certain amount, therefore capping the percentage.

[TikkiTembo]

It also depends on the number of people in your party. If it's 2-4 people then Anytime Dining works pretty well and you rarely have much of a wait for a table. If you have 6+ in your party then you can expect to wait 20-60 minutes for a table. We had 8 in our party on NCL and the wait was always 30+ minutes (longer on lobster night!). I tend to prefer the assigned dining times since I can wait in line for a table at a restaraunt at home anytime I want!;) But that's just my personal preference.

yes, we'll have a party of four. Based on the replies, set seating may be the way to go for us....

[Liffey]

We like YTD because then getting a table for two is a hassle-free sure thing. No mad rush to the maitre d' on embarkation day, no begging John Heald and hoping he sees the message in time and can help. (I'm so grateful to him for his help on our last cruise.)

 

My husband and I love the MDR experience, but we also like having that time together as a couple, so a table for two is a dealbreaker. We would even pay extra for it. (Not to give Carnival any ideas! Actually, scratch that, I'd love for Carnival to take up this idea.)

 

In fact, we've been wanting to indulge in a last-minute cruise on Splendor, spa cabin and everything, but YTD is waitlisted, it's a little late to contact John Heald, and like I said, the stress of the maitre d' rush is so unappealing and anything could happen.

 

Anyway, that's the big advantage to us - getting the table size we want. (I think we're in the minority on this being such a big issue - lol - but the OP did ask about any other advantages. :) )

[blindrid]

The menu is exactly the same. You eat in a main dining room .. just one (or a section of one) that is assigned to the YTD.

 

I'll never choose traditional dining if there is a flexible dining program. I hate the pretense of "waiters getting to know me", or deciding..before I get to the table..what I might want to drink, or any of that. I LOVE the flexibility of choosing when *I* want to eat, not some arbitrary time established by the cruise line,

 

and eating with whom I want to eat..not a table-ful of strangers, whose only commonality is that we are stuck to eating together!

 

Total agree. In my experience, the waiters don't become "buddies" and if I find a server I enjoy, I simply ask to be seated in their section. I get to select who I eat with, when I want.

 

Regarding the 15% number, that is a bogus number as they will only accept so many. Or, as DebNGab said: "But what is the capacity for Anytime Dining slots? From what I understand, they can only accept a certain amount, therefore capping the percentage."

 

Never again with standard dining.

[DEBnGAB]

Total agree. In my experience, the waiters don't become "buddies" and if I find a server I enjoy, I simply ask to be seated in their section. I get to select who I eat with, when I want.

 

Regarding the 15% number, that is a bogus number as they will only accept so many. Or, as DebNGab said: "But what is the capacity for Anytime Dining slots? From what I understand, they can only accept a certain amount, therefore capping the percentage."

 

Never again with standard dining.

 

 

Exactly...so saying that only 15% "elect" seems a bit misleading of they can only accept 15%.

[dmdiver]

We did anytime dining on our Liberty cruise only because we weren't able to get 6pm dining. I'm really glad that we did. It was so much more relaxing knowing that we didn't have to rush to get to the dining room on time. It was just the 2 of us, so it was easy to be seated. They mark where you sit & ask if you would like the same waiter, so you could conceivably have the same waitstaff every night. We actually preferred to be at various tables around different people each night. You get to meet more people that way. I recommend it if you are not with others - those who had 5 or more people did have to wait a few minutes for their tables - not sure how long.

[*Mach*]

But what is the capacity for Anytime Dining slots? From what I understand, they can only accept a certain amount, therefore capping the percentage.

 

 

It's about 15%... the numbers really don't matter. If the requests for YTD exceed the capacity the folks who requested and did not get YTD are assigned traditional dining...

[pokergirl34]

Just the flexibility...if you want to eat earlier one day you could...you do not have to wait until a certain time...I enjoy the set dining times better as you get the same servers all week and that adds to the dining room experience.

 

Having experienced both your time dining and set dining, we agree, and now only choose set time dining. We did not, however, care for early time. We'll do late from now on.

[*Mach*]

Total agree. In my experience, the waiters don't become "buddies" and if I find a server I enjoy, I simply ask to be seated in their section. I get to select who I eat with, when I want.

 

Regarding the 15% number, that is a bogus number as they will only accept so many. Or, as DebNGab said: "But what is the capacity for Anytime Dining slots? From what I understand, they can only accept a certain amount, therefore capping the percentage."

 

Never again with standard dining.

 

The numbers that you're concerned with vary dramatically from class of ships to class of ship. !5% on the Fantasy is not equal to 15% on the Dream. The number makes no difference... it's a percentage of capacity...

:)

[*Mach*]

Exactly...so saying that only 15% "elect" seems a bit misleading of they can only accept 15%.

 

 

The percentage alloted is based on Carnival's experience. On some voyages there are less than 15% that request YTD, on others there is more but as it requires physical changes to the dining area they have elected to stay at approximately that level. They seem to have pretty good confidence in the exact precentage they have settled on...

:)