Your Time Dining vs Set Dining Time

[paulandfran]

I know what you mean. I am also very outgoing and talk a lot to everyone. But though I am friendly to staff and tip well, on cruises I try to be cognizant of the fact that they are at work. I think when you have very friendly, talkative passengers, the staff, especially the cabin steward ,will feel that they have to be super friendly and interested in personal conversations as not to offend. When they really have a lot of cabins to clean and other places to be, and excessive socializing slows them down. Imagine if when you were working, everyone wanted to stop you to discuss personal things. I also realize that at the end of the week, I am getting off and going home and they will start all over again with a new group of passengers, who will ask the same questions. Week after week, after week....

 

All I really need from waitstaff and cabin stewards is for them to do their job well. It doesn't bother me at all if they don't remember my name or speak to me in the hall, or anticipate my needs. But I guess that's just me. Everyone wants to get a different experience out of cruising.

 

I agree with you I don't care if they know my name or not either. And we don't excessively socialize. Typically conversations start with something about where they're from. Sometimes conversations last 1 minute and sometimes longer. I've noticed when we have a more experienced cabin steward they are the ones who seem to crave the interaction more as I suppose they are better at their job and have the free time. Honestly they seek my husband out. I think you underestimate the lonliness that some of these people feel being apart from their families and how much some of them appreciate someone showing interest in them as human beings instead of just as workers. The waiters are the ones we talk the least with and typically we talk with them on nights when the dining room is less full, usually the last evening of the cruise. I think you have the image that my husband and I pin the workers down and try to be friends with them. Totally not the case, my husband is simply a genuinely kind and warm person and people open up to him and for some reason I've always attracted people too though I used to be more shy. Now I'm pretty open too.

 

We moved into a new neighborhood a few years ago. We know every one of our neighbors on our street. My neighbor next door who's lived in the neighborhood 35 years only knows 2 of the neighbors. What's the difference? We work in the yard and smile when people pass by. As a result EVERY neighbor has either stopped their car and rolled down the window to talk or come over to our yard to introduce themselves and talk. Now we have neighbors who stop by regularly and some who merely smile and wave. We don't force ourselves on people, we're just open and friendly. :)

[chachi]

I got anytime last year on a cruise to Alaska. I wasn't happy that I got it, but ended up loving it. My last 4 cruises have been anytime, and I have one more next month. I love going when I want. I only waited for a table once, and the wait was minimal. Dinner goes a lot faster when you don't have to wait for the entire table.

[jetengines]

We are cruising the Dream this August with first dining. I chose this because we will have four children in tow and I did not want to wait for a table. Since we booked, we have added three more to our group and now there are nine. So I feel that for a larger group and our kiddos, set dining was a better option.

 

We cruised last year on Princess and did the anytime dining with just my husband and I. I definitely liked the flexibility to eat closer to 7pm versus 6pm or 8pm. We wanted to meet more people on the cruise so all but one night we chose to sit at a larger table. This was ok?!?! Some nights worked better than others. What I did not like was that if you were the first to arrive at the larger table you had to wait until the table filled to order. A pro that I would agree with on YTD is that you can see the sunset versus first seating.

 

Back to set dining...while I am not looking to become buddies with our waiter, I do have some expectations. With kiddos, it will be niche to have their drinks already there (or on their way) and perhaps their favorite appetizer ordered as I know they will be hungry after a full day. My kiddos are particular about they eat so I doubt they will vary much each night.

 

Have a terrific cruise,

[candfandm]

With Anytime Dining, if you are only two, could you ask for a table for 4 or 6? I would like the flexibility of anytime dining but also like the idea of meeting new people. I am assuming the wait would be longer. Also, if they sit you at a larger table, will you need to wait until it is filled up to order?

[DEBnGAB]

With Anytime Dining, if you are only two, could you ask for a table for 4 or 6? I would like the flexibility of anytime dining but also like the idea of meeting new people. I am assuming the wait would be longer. Also, if they sit you at a larger table, will you need to wait until it is filled up to order?

 

 

Yes, they'll ask if youd like to be seated with others. Nope, you can order right away.

[cbpanda]

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!

 

My sentiments EXACTLY. These are the reasons we always choose the flexible dining option as well.

[elcuchio24]

With Anytime Dining, if you are only two, could you ask for a table for 4 or 6? I would like the flexibility of anytime dining but also like the idea of meeting new people. I am assuming the wait would be longer. Also, if they sit you at a larger table, will you need to wait until it is filled up to order?

 

They'll always offer you a family style table with other folks, unless you tell them expressly you wantto be by yoursleves...

[elcuchio24]

My sentiments EXACTLY. These are the reasons we always choose the flexible dining option as well.

 

1000% yes, anytime dining is why we are cruising with CCL again. Period.

[paulandfran]

I haven't tried Anytime Dining but I love it already because it's going to make set Dining so much better since there's now a choice and no one has to choose it so the only people I'll be sharing a table with are people who want that same experience. I love being greeted by the same wait staff and having them know our preferences. The more I read about this I'm thinking I may not even try the Anytime Dining after all. :)

[dmdiver]

They'll always offer you a family style table with other folks, unless you tell them expressly you wantto be by yoursleves...

 

They never asked us if we wanted a larger table - always automatically put us at a 2 top.

[DEBnGAB]

They never asked us if we wanted a larger table - always automatically put us at a 2 top.

 

 

We were asked the first night or two....and then they stopped asking since they figured the answer would be no again.

[elcuchio24]

I haven't tried Anytime Dining but I love it already because it's going to make set Dining so much better since there's now a choice and no one has to choose it so the only people I'll be sharing a table with are people who want that same experience. I love being greeted by the same wait staff and having them know our preferences. The more I read about this I'm thinking I may not even try the Anytime Dining after all. :)

 

Unless they're people who got waitlisted for Anytime and stuck with traditional...:)

[paulandfran]

Unless they're people who got waitlisted for Anytime and stuck with traditional...:)

 

Nahhh... the people who really hate traditional would kick up such a fuss they'd get changed to the Anytime. Thankfully!

[5o'clocksomewhere]

Unless they're people who got waitlisted for Anytime and stuck with traditional...:)

 

And there is many as anytime fills up really fast.........

[elcuchio24]

Nahhh... the people who really hate traditional would kick up such a fuss they'd get changed to the Anytime. Thankfully!

 

All kidding aside, there really aren't enough anytime slots for the amount of people who are applying. I have had 2 family members (on different ships) in the past 6 months who tried to get Anytime, got waitlisted, and never got it. Gotta reserve early I guess.

[DEBnGAB]

All kidding aside, there really aren't enough anytime slots for the amount of people who are applying. I have had 2 family members (on different ships) in the past 6 months who tried to get Anytime, got waitlisted, and never got it. Gotta reserve early I guess.

 

 

Reserve early... and being Platinum helps too ;)

[5o'clocksomewhere]

Reserve early... and being Platinum helps too ;)

 

Yep I know I will get what I prefer:D

[paulandfran]

I was going to try Any Time but I think I won't since there seems to be a shortage and I'd hate for someone who really wanted it to not get it just because I was trying it out. But if traditional was full I'd take Any Time. I'm not that picky. Either one would work for me.

[laumicmah]

I got 'your time dining' for our cruise in 8 days. We are a party of 6 and have friends going on the cruise too (who is a party of 3). We all got YTD. I figure we will rarely go to MDR with all 9 of us (5 kids may want to eat at buffet and go hang out in club) and we could ask for 2 tables as well. Hopefully we won't have long waits.

 

On our other 2 cruises we did early seating once and late seating once and HATED the late seating(interfered with our evening fun) and will NEVER do it again. 6:30-7:00 is the perfect time for us, so with YTD we can do that.

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

We did mtd for hte first time on our cruise to Bermuda last year and LOVED it. In fact, that was why we chose NCL. We were considering going with NCL again this year but when we found out that Carnival now offers the same thing we decided to go back to Carnival. I hate sitting around waiting for dinner time, or rushing through what I"m doing to get to dinner in time for our seating. My life is pretty structured all year round so on vacation I like to not have a schedule.

[Kathy0418]

Yes they have tables for two......normally it is three 2 tops positioned next to each other (separate tables).......ask for a table on the end and you will be fine......

Normally the least they will put in a 4 top is three people.....the 4 tops are booths.......

 

 

We were on the Glory in May and had ytd and there were two of us. Sometimes we had a table for two next to other tables of two but three separate times we had a booth that could have accomodated four that the removed the two extra place settings. We had a different waiter the second night but liked our first waiter so much better that all the following nights we requested her section. A couple of times we were given a pager but it was never more than 10 minutes before it went off.

 

 

This was our 10th cruise and we have always done early seating because late is too late but we were able to have sushi a couple of nights that we've always missed because with early dining there just isn't a time that makes sense.

 

Also a couple of port days we were able to take a nap before dinner so we had a fresh start on our evening. we loved ytd.

[5o'clocksomewhere]

 

 

We were on the Glory in May and had ytd and there were two of us. Sometimes we had a table for two next to other tables of two but three separate times we had a booth that could have accomodated four that the removed the two extra place settings. We had a different waiter the second night but liked our first waiter so much better that all the following nights we requested her section. A couple of times we were given a pager but it was never more than 10 minutes before it went off.

 

 

This was our 10th cruise and we have always done early seating because late is too late but we were able to have sushi a couple of nights that we've always missed because with early dining there just isn't a time that makes sense.

 

Also a couple of port days we were able to take a nap before dinner so we had a fresh start on our evening. we loved ytd.

 

Wow that's awesome........maybe you came at a slow time? I would love to be in a booth with 2.....we didn't see that on our Glory cruise....

We were on the Glory in May too......

[laumicmah]

Wow that's awesome........maybe you came at a slow time? I would love to be in a booth with 2.....we didn't see that on our Glory cruise....

We were on the Glory in May too......

Speaking of slow times...what times are slower (since our group may be on the large side for doing YTD)?

[Kathy0418]

Wow that's awesome........maybe you came at a slow time? I would love to be in a booth with 2.....we didn't see that on our Glory cruise....

We were on the Glory in May too......

 

They told us if we could to avoid, I think it was, 7-8pm because that is the longest wait. But once or twice we got there that time anyway so I am guessing those were the nights we got the pager.

 

We are going on a European cruise next year and have ytd which will be great as some of the ports have a later departure time than the Caribbean. Don't know if we'll even be hungry when we get back onboard but at least we won't have missed dinner if we are hungry.

[Newcruiser65]

I agree with you I don't care if they know my name or not either. And we don't excessively socialize. Typically conversations start with something about where they're from. Sometimes conversations last 1 minute and sometimes longer. I've noticed when we have a more experienced cabin steward they are the ones who seem to crave the interaction more as I suppose they are better at their job and have the free time. Honestly they seek my husband out. I think you underestimate the lonliness that some of these people feel being apart from their families and how much some of them appreciate someone showing interest in them as human beings instead of just as workers. The waiters are the ones we talk the least with and typically we talk with them on nights when the dining room is less full, usually the last evening of the cruise. I think you have the image that my husband and I pin the workers down and try to be friends with them. Totally not the case, my husband is simply a genuinely kind and warm person and people open up to him and for some reason I've always attracted people too though I used to be more shy. Now I'm pretty open too.

 

We moved into a new neighborhood a few years ago. We know every one of our neighbors on our street. My neighbor next door who's lived in the neighborhood 35 years only knows 2 of the neighbors. What's the difference? We work in the yard and smile when people pass by. As a result EVERY neighbor has either stopped their car and rolled down the window to talk or come over to our yard to introduce themselves and talk. Now we have neighbors who stop by regularly and some who merely smile and wave. We don't force ourselves on people, we're just open and friendly. :)

 

LOL! I didn't mean that I thought you forced yourself on people. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression.

 

I simply meant to comment that I also am a big talker and love talking to new people. My boyfriend's favorite comment is, " I don't have to talk in social settings. You talk enough for the both of us." And he is right.

 

With that in mind, I just meant that I have to consciously tone it down because they are actually at work and not on vacation like me. Given the chance, I can talk for hours.

 

I'm sure you are right about the loneliness though. I could not imagine being away from home that long. Must be pretty hard on them.