Dinner Seating - Likes/Dislikes

[Tbay-eh]

I realize you are in the same dining room, but do they do their song and dance the same time every evening or does it change? Do they even do it every night?

 

Good question because I have always had a specific dining time. I don't think they did it every night (I like it but not that much) If you really like the dancing and such ask the Maitre d and dine as you see fit.

[capndinghy]

We prefer the Late Seating in the Main Dining Room. Everyone has different tastes. I enjoy not being rushed, having time to sample a bit of sushi and a before dinner Martini before dinner.

The down side is I am sleepy right after dinner, but on the other hand I sleep well and seldom wake up with a hangover from being up all night drinking and carousing! :D

[silverado44]

A newbie to carnival. We are booking the Dream for 1/8/10, and have to decide between early, late or open. :confused: I'd love you likes or dislikes about seatings. Its me and my wife, plus our 2 kids (12 and 9). We ate at the early seating on Disney Criuise, but that was 5 years ago so everyone is now older.:eek:

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!! :D

 

You're about 8 months too late for this sailing.

[shof515]

You're about 8 months too late for this sailing.

its a TYPO, look at their countdown clock in their signature :p:rolleyes:

[ChefSusan]

We like the flexibility of Your Time Dining - we get to eat when we want to, and not when the ship tells us to eat. Depending on whether or not we are in a port, we usually will get ready for dinner around 5:30pm, grab a bite at the sushi bar, and then meander our way to the Dining Room.

 

One thing we learned this time around is that if you like the wait staff the first night, you can request their section for the rest of the cruise. Upside is that the wait staff will (sort of) know your quirks, and be prepared for you when the see you being escorted to their section. Downside is that if there are no tables available, you will be given a pager and you will have to wait to be seated. This usually is not a problem, as we would fill this time with a quick drink at the bar (or take pictures on the Promenade).

 

The YTD wait staffs are not compelled to join in the singing and dancing - I have seen them partake if they are not busy serving the people in their section.

 

So for me it is the best of both worlds - getting to eat when I want, and sitting in the section that I want.

 

Hope this makes sense!

[ajmac01]

Good question because I have always had a specific dining time. I don't think they did it every night (I like it but not that much) If you really like the dancing and such ask the Maitre d and dine as you see fit.

 

 

I don't think I would care to see it every night, but I think the kids would enjoy seeing it once. Asking the Maitre' d is a good idea to find out when it is done then we can plan dinner maybe once to see it.

[kml2000]

I haven't cruised when anytime dining was offered. When I booked our cruise, I didn't hesitate when I asked for early seating. I don't want to eat as late as the late seating. In thinking about anytime dining, I remembered how much I enjoyed having our wait staff getting to know us. We haven't had any issues with early seating so I just chose that again.

 

Maybe I will think about anytime dining, but will probably keep it just like it is....

[zqvol]

By doing the anytime dining, do you miss out on the cruise dining experience (the sing and dancing waiters)? For some I'm sure this is a good thing.

 

With anytime dining you can time your dinner just like you want. if you like the "show" you can make it a point to be in the dining room when they do their show. If you don't like them you can make it a point to be finished before they start.

 

I can't see why you would miss out on the entertainment, you are seated in the same dining room - your wait staff just aren't dancing. . . . .

 

The wait staff who take care of anytime dining also participate in the "show" (at least ours have in the past).

[SynPanda]

TOTALLY a matter of preference! Though Im swayed JUST a bit to open dining and here's why. Early's nice but if your like me and a sushi fan, its like RIGHT after the bar opens and im usually full on sushi to eat the meal. So we tried late, thats nice but your so full even by bed time you feel junky going to sleep on a full tummy.... At least with Anytime, your more flexible to do things, only problem is making sure the big shows you want to see that usually have early AND late seating shows you schedule your dining to hit the one you want.

[lillian marie]

We love anytime dining for the flexibility and the fact that we don't have to make small talk with other cruisers.

[Securityman]

We will take the early seating; hate the full stomch feeling when going to bed

[laumicmah]

We had anytime dining on the dream. That is the way to go for us. We got to choose wait staff and seating every night. We always went with the same wait staff, since we were happy with the service. On some nights we chose different tables. The kids like a booth, the booths are on the inside next to the railing over looking the downstairs dining. Except on formal nights we chose table seating. Like hanging dinner jacket on the back of chairs.

 

Pros:

Choose table mates.

Time of Dining.

Choose servers and table location(within the anytime area)

 

Cons:

Can't have your favorite drink waiting on you at your table.

Sometimes a wait.

You may not be able to do this, unless you don't mind waiting. We liked our server the first night and asked for her the second night and was told we'd have a good wait. And not too sure you can choose a table. The first 3 nights, when we went (@6:30-7:30) it was pretty busy. The 4th night we went @ 8:30 and it was pretty empty, so we may have been able to choose a table.

[laumicmah]

I don't think I would care to see it every night, but I think the kids would enjoy seeing it once. Asking the Maitre' d is a good idea to find out when it is done then we can plan dinner maybe once to see it.

We saw it 2 of 4 nights and that was plenty. You do, however, want to make sure you get your main course well before (or anytime after) the show. So asking what time the waiter shows are is a very good idea.

[SMSACE6]

I started out with my first few cruises going with early seating at 6pm or thereabouts. It was fine, until I took a cruise a few years back, where the port times were arriving late morning, and leaving port at 6pm or so. then I tried for the first time late seating, because I didnt want to rush back on board just to get to the dining room on time for dinner, and I liked it. Last time I did late dining, I found I didnt like it as much, as we found that we more often than not didnt jive with the times of the evenings shows that we wanted to see. Next cruise, I try, my time dining for the first time. So I will having something else to compare to.:)

[onthehighseas606]

A newbie to carnival. We are booking the Dream for 1/8/10, and have to decide between early, late or open. :confused: I'd love you likes or dislikes about seatings. Its me and my wife, plus our 2 kids (12 and 9). We ate at the early seating on Disney Criuise, but that was 5 years ago so everyone is now older.:eek:

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!! :D

 

I think that depends on when you normally eat at home. Can your kids wait until the late seating to eat? We always go for the late seating and it's just me and DH. We like to have a glass or two of wine before dinner and relax and listen to music. If it were me, I would try to keep the same eating schedule as you do at home.

[WOWGirl]

We just recently did late seating, missed out on a few things we wanted to do. I noticed early seating misses out on a few also. I would say, anytime dining is the one we will chose next to do. Just my opinion.

[shortstop95]

We stayed away from the any-time dining- because we prefer the continuity and bond you build up with the same wait staff team over the course of a cruise. Ususally by night 2 our likes/dislikes have already been committed to memory and it makes for a very pleasurable dining experience. We could also give you pros and cons of both early and late- but have recently settled comfortably into early seating as our preference. We've found that with late seating- while not rushed- we end up eating more. When it's 3:30 4:00 in the afternoon and you're sportin that buzz from a few DOD's 8:15 dinner seems a long way off- so we end eating at 4ish and again at dinner. May sound silly- but it's true. With early when we get the munchies at 4:00 we can more easily tell ourselves that dinner's not that far off.