Tried "Your Time" dining on the Dream 11/20 - NEVER AGAIN! (Chef's Art letdown also)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

What time where you at the dining room for the YTD?

Just wondering if it is busy early on and better later.

 

 

 

...

 

Our first night in the MDR (Crimson, deck 4) was on the second night of the cruise. That was the first "Cruise Elegant" night, so on went my tux. I was apparently the only one, in that dining room at least, who felt "elegant" might imply a tux. This thread though is NOT about that! - back to the main topic... That evening we arrived at 7 PM and were immediately seated at a reasonably private table for two. Good service, food and wine made for a nice dinner.

 

Our second night trying the YTD was last night (final night of the cruise). We arrived at 6:50 with a chilled bottle of wine and was told that we would need to wait...

 

Tom

 

By the time we left (9 ish?) it appeared that things had settled down quite a bit.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

In (my) ideal world Carnival would offer a 7 PM (assigned table) dining option, as 6:00 is too early, and 8:15 is too late.

 

I suppose that would make 7 PM our "Goldilocks" time! :D

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Off to Publix to grab a fresh turkey to cook on the grill as a belated family Thanksgiving meal (they might even be on sale now)! When in Chef's Art on Thursday, I opted for the Surf and Turf --- not a particularly well known holiday meal, but GREAT nonetheless! :D

 

 

Tom

[MenBobbyMcGee]

In (my) ideal world Carnival would offer a 7 PM (assigned table) dining option, as 6:00 is too early, and 8:15 is too late.

 

SOOO TRUE! Can you have Mach send that idea up the line too???

[klmorg]

Sorry to hear about your dining disappointments. We've had YTD on both the Legend & Destiny so far and had such a GREAT experience, we will never choose traditional dining again. Always great service, no wait, perfect table locations, delicious food, everything was wonderful for us. Much better experience thatn traditional dining, hands down.

[serene56]

Keep in mind that there are many on here who LOVE YTD. Perhaps on some ships they do it right... not sure. I just know that I am not going to "chance" it again. FOOD/DINING is one of the MAIN reasons we enjoy cruising!!

 

Tom

 

 

I think there are many out there NOT happy with it and will not post that fact.

I am one of those. (LOL_ sorry)

I hated everything about the my time stuff and after waiting and waiting for a table of two and getting exactly what you described. It would not been bad had we been the table on either end--but being put in the middle.

 

We tried it two nights. Both times asking for a booth and was told no- they are for families of 3/4 people.

 

On Carnival- NEVER again for us.

 

What folks here also should remember is that cruise critic people are less then 1% of the sailing public. We saw many people with beepers on the two nights we tried to head to the dining room. (I also wondered if they were allowing people with traditional to dine here on some nights.)

[bigcraig]

Off to Publix to grab a fresh turkey to cook on the grill as a belated family Thanksgiving meal (they might even be on sale now)! When in Chef's Art on Thursday, I opted for the Surf and Turf --- not a particularly well known holiday meal, but GREAT nonetheless! :D

 

 

Tom

Darn you had to say Publix:(, we moved away from Florida in June to Northern Virginia and miss it dearly. The grocers up here are not so good

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Darn you had to say Publix:(, we moved away from Florida in June to Northern Virginia and miss it dearly. The grocers up here are not so good

 

Yes, it's easy to get used to a quality shopping experience... though I will occasionally make the trek to Wal-Mart to save some big $'s. For fresh meats and produce, it's hard to beat Publix (quality wise, not usually $ wise).

 

We were looking for a fresh turkey. Unfortunately they only had TWO. One was a 12 pounder (perfect for us) but was "Organic" meaning that it was SIXTY BUCKS! :rolleyes:

 

The other was a Butterball weighing in at 24 pounds. Much larger than we wanted, but at $39, it "fit the bill" better - and will give lots of extra hormone packed protein leftovers to boot! :D

 

Sadly - that means we will be enjoying LATE SEATING dinner tonight for sure! :eek:

 

Tom

[Pee-ah]

We had a not-so-good experience at Pinnacle on the Splendor last month. It was a huge difference from our experience in the same steakhouse a year and a half ago. Very disappointing.

 

I have done the Steak House on the Spirit (amazing) and also on the Glory (DISAPPOINTING and not worth it) would i do it again.. Nope.. Not ready to spend the extra money to take a chance at being frustrated...not something i need to pay for;)

[quickrate]

One of the couples at our table on the legend had tried any time dining the first night and waited way over an hour. they went to guest services and asked to please be moved to late seating as they just couldn't deal with that every night. We knew the maitre'd and he asked us if we minded another couple at our table-no problem, the more the merrier! I think we will stay with late seating!

Pat

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I would like to add that Alexandria (Steakhouse Hostess) was very helpful prior to the cruise in assisting with making our reservations in Chef's Art (dates, time, and even table!) along with two nights booked for CC'ers in our roll call for the Chef's Table. That was pretty much a CC takeover... so much so that they opened up a third night on that sailing for the event for the general cruising public (and it IS an event - NOT to be missed)!! Also, my thanks to Ante (Maitre d') who helped out with arrangements for a dozen or so cruisers (some early, some late, some small table, some large) -- PERFECT! It was also my pleasure to see that another of our favorite Matire d's (Goran) came onboard the same day we did! The Maitre d' we had in the Crimson dining room (his name currently escapes me) although we were only there two nights - did come through with a couple of surprise dishes when he saw us the first night and once for lunch. A very friendly and capable fellow, though tasked with a difficult (Your Time) job!! I don't envy the Maitre d' to begin with - having to try and please everyone, but when you add in long waits, they must take a hit in the "tips" as well as the Blood Pressure departments! :eek:

 

I just wanted to give (extra) credit where it was due - as there are some splendid people there.

 

Tom

[GlendaleCruiser]

Thanks for the review, Tom.

I am a fan of early dining and I think that must be where I belong, certainly not in ATDining.

 

I am dismayed to hear of your experiences in the MDR, too. We had a good experience on the Dream on her first voyage, but I did notice that the wait staff had smaller station areas from which to stage their services. It sounds like they must have also cut back on the number of staff if they are so disorganized (bread) and lackadaisical (creamers).

 

It really concerns me because I am going on the Magic next May and taking a first time cruiser with me. I don't want her to be so unimpressed with the service that she won't ever want to cruise again.

:(

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

On one cruise in the past we did opt for the Supper Club (that's what it was then) every night. We had great service when, and where, we wanted it. Yes, that added $50/day (again, then) to the S&S tab, but for us it was worth it. I would not hesitate to "solve" the problem with YTD that way in the future if I felt that the service was not continuing to slip.

 

We have ONE more Carnival cruise booked at this point (we have never had this few on our "to do" list), and am somewhat concerned with what we will find there.

 

Tom

[UpstateCruizer]

No flaming here as we too have noticed a significant decline in the dining room with service. We tried the anytime dining one night on our first Miracle cruise. I had heard so much hype about how great it was we just had to try it. Luckily the Maitre`D was able to switch us back to early assigned for the remainder of the cruise. We were not the least bit impressed although many said it was new to the Miracle at that time.

 

On our last cruise on the Miracle we saw exactly what you are referring to with the staff being stretched. We were usually amoung the last of the early diners leaving the dining room. We could see other waiters at nearby tables conversing with the guests and laughing while serving them. Our servers were distant and rarely seen once food was brought. They did not return to inquire as to wether anything else was needed etc. Finally I asked the gal who was the assistant if she talked as we had never heard anything other than "bread?" Her reply was "I'm far too busy to talk" That floored us but she did loosen up after that and was more outgoing. Our waiter had no clue what our names were on night 3. Again he loosed up apologizing after that. He blamed the service on fellow guests at other tables who consistantly arrived late throwing off the service. I took it all with a grain of salt as what he did bring was exactly as ordered and hot. We learned if there was anything additional needed such as ketchup, creamer etc you had to ask when you ordered or you wouldn't get it.

 

This wasn't an example of an employee that was new to his job as this waiter was a supervisor on the Lido deck during lunch :) He was very friendly and apologetic for being so rushed in the dining room when I saw him working the Lido.

 

We are hoping that staff isn't being stretched to the point that eating in the dining room is a turn off for many. I know the lido deck serves many of the same dishes offered each night in the dining room.

 

Our experience on the Dream in the supper club was excellent but I would not have enjoyed it had it been anything like yours.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

...

I am dismayed to hear of your experiences in the MDR, too. We had a good experience on the Dream on her first voyage, but I did notice that the wait staff had smaller station areas from which to stage their services. It sounds like they must have also cut back on the number of staff if they are so disorganized (bread) and lackadaisical (creamers).

 

...

 

Not only there, but also in the the bands on some ships (Trumpets being cut, leaving a Sax as the only brass... OK... WIND instrument) as well as the numbers of dancers (cut 2 female and 1 male) according to what Don told me he observed and heard. Don knows shows and choreography much better than I do, and pointed out some differences between his previous two Dream sailings and this one. Again, to those who are not very observant, or those who had not sailed previously would be oblivious to these things.

 

WHERE is this all going... what is the end game? Deliver the lowest bar product which is acceptable to the masses?

 

Granted, I understand that the Celebrity product I have mentioned previously is becoming watered down as well - ever since it was bought by RCCL. We never knew the Pre-RCCL days, so to us it is still an impressive product - though many of the previous faithful continue to tell of the "good old days".

 

WHY does it seem like there is a steady downward trend... is this due to competition? To please the board and shareholders? It does not seem to be geared to the overall quality of the experience. Yes, they have added in great slides... yes, the Magic will now have a second pay (Italian) dining venue. So it appears that more things are being added (obvious things), but it's the core behind the scenes (or right under our eyes/noses) which are slowly taking hits.

 

:(

 

Tom

[camper49]

In (my) ideal world Carnival would offer a 7 PM (assigned table) dining option, as 6:00 is too early, and 8:15 is too late.

 

I suppose that would make 7 PM our "Goldilocks" time! :D

 

Tom

Totally agree!!! Have always done early seating until last cruise...did YTD on the Inspiration and it worked out great for us. We have YTD on our Jan. Dream cruise..sure hope things get better!!!! What cabin did you have???

[Name Of The Game]

Would 7:00 PM be the early or late seating? What time do you suggest the other seating should be?

[Koshlong]

I, too, love anytime dining. But I think our reasoning is a bit different. We've found that we love to sit at 6 to 8 tops with a lot of different people. No 2 dinner conversations are similar, all are fascinating, and I'm the only one cringing when my husband tells the same story for the 5th time. We also like being able to choose our dining time based on the day's activities and what we want to do in the evening.

 

That said, I believe that people who insist on tables for 2 will find it a bit of a trial, with long waits. We've always been seated quickly (I think 20 min on a late formal night was the latest), but it just doesn't happen that way for 2 tops.

[Tapi]

We've only done YTD and the Steakhouse a handful of times, but thankfully the experience has been excellent every time. Every night, we requested a table for 2 right on the balcony railing, and every night, we had our table within 5 minutes!

 

We've selected YTD for our next cruise. Let's see how it goes!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

No flaming here as we too have noticed a significant decline in the dining room with service. We tried the anytime dining one night on our first Miracle cruise. I had heard so much hype about how great it was we just had to try it. Luckily the Maitre`D was able to switch us back to early assigned for the remainder of the cruise. We were not the least bit impressed although many said it was new to the Miracle at that time.

 

On our last cruise on the Miracle we saw exactly what you are referring to with the staff being stretched. We were usually amoung the last of the early diners leaving the dining room. We could see other waiters at nearby tables conversing with the guests and laughing while serving them. Our servers were distant and rarely seen once food was brought. They did not return to inquire as to wether anything else was needed etc. Finally I asked the gal who was the assistant if she talked as we had never heard anything other than "bread?" Her reply was "I'm far too busy to talk" That floored us but she did loosen up after that and was more outgoing. Our waiter had no clue what our names were on night 3. Again he loosed up apologizing after that. He blamed the service on fellow guests at other tables who consistantly arrived late throwing off the service. I took it all with a grain of salt as what he did bring was exactly as ordered and hot. We learned if there was anything additional needed such as ketchup, creamer etc you had to ask when you ordered or you wouldn't get it.

 

This wasn't an example of an employee that was new to his job as this waiter was a supervisor on the Lido deck during lunch :) He was very friendly and apologetic for being so rushed in the dining room when I saw him working the Lido.

 

We are hoping that staff isn't being stretched to the point that eating in the dining room is a turn off for many. I know the lido deck serves many of the same dishes offered each night in the dining room.

 

Our experience on the Dream in the supper club was excellent but I would not have enjoyed it had it been anything like yours.

 

I think that it puts enormous pressure on the staff. More and more is expected from less people. The quality HAS and WILL CONTINUE to SUFFER. To think that creative re-working of certain job descriptions (cover) will suffice is foolhardy. Can their profit margin be so tight that they must do this? I think that it's easier to let things go to hell, than it is to get them back in shape once the problem is identified... so hopefully they will act sooner rather than later. Or in all likelihood, I am wasting my breath --- the machine is too big to really understand or care. After all, they are continuing to make $$$ so they must be doing something right. :rolleyes: Perhaps it is just a coincidence that the comment cards are thing of the past, and that only a small % of recent cruisers have received the email link to give feedback on their sailing. Shouldn't they try to get as much feedback as they can so that corrective action can be taken? We have sent in letters of praise as well as points of concern numerous times. I have the feeling that a lot of what people send in just generates standard form letters in response rather then being analyzed for useful data.

 

We have talked privately with numerous long term employees over our many sailings - getting to know some fairly well - and can say that Carnival has lost a lot of good people who can no longer tolerate the changes. You could say that "they were simply not up to it" - but these were some pretty talented people. My fear is that in the end they will have a large % of sub-par staff who are capable of putting up with unreasonable expectations... who are themselves unaware of the lower bar, or just need the job.

 

Will they still have a profitable product? I am sure that they will not let anything get in the way of of profit, but they are letting profit get in the way of quality I fear.

 

My commentary is not meant to come across as a DOOM AND GLOOM kind of thinking, I am simply an observer watching helplessly (thrashing about a bit) as the trend continues. There is a chance that I am wrong, but apparently others see some of the same signs.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Totally agree!!! Have always done early seating until last cruise...did YTD on the Inspiration and it worked out great for us. We have YTD on our Jan. Dream cruise..sure hope things get better!!!! What cabin did you have???

 

We were in an aft-corner cabin -- #6492.

 

Tom

[RMM34667]

I had anytime dining on 4 of my 5 cruises (2x Princess & 1x NCL). And on the Legend on 11/14. We never had to wait, until last week on the Legend. One night it was 40 minutes. We figured out towards the end if we show up at 6:30 to 6:45 it was fine. It was on the nights we said meet at 7 that it was a problem.

 

I also agree the MDR was LOUD. Unlike anything I've experienced on a cruise. And service was hit or miss.

 

I also was thinking that the Legend had a coffee shortage since getting a cup for dinner was a challenge. You had to practically hound the staff for coffee. We ate in the Steakhouse the first night of our cruise. My father (83) like coffee WITH his meal. He did get it after three requests, however we didn't. We ordered coffee, deserts and after dinner drinks. We received our drinks and desert, however no coffee. By the time they came to pour the coffee I was done with both my desert and grand mariner and didn't want it!

[afcj1]

We too experienced poor service at the Chefs Art, the sailing before yours. This was my 2nd sailing on the Dream.

 

There were 15 of us CCer's that made a reservation well in advance, though nobody in Miami was able to confirm it. A week before we were to leave I sent an email to the reservation group, still trying to confirm, but never heard from anyone. I then called the Events Group in Miami and was told that since there were more then 10 of us,

 

1) the reservation would require payment in advance, from each person:eek: ARE YOU KIDDING ME:rolleyes:

2) since I booked through Johna, then she'd need to make the reservation for us, HUH!:mad: Well, that really got me po'd because I had exchanged emails about this with Johna months earlier and she told me that I'd need to take care of the reservation.

3) the day before I left, I received a confirmation for the steakhouse:confused: So what changed??

 

Once on board, my new CC friend, Ward, and I went to Chefs Art to verify if we did or did not have a reservation. Lo and behold we did...thanks for the additional STRESS Carnival.

 

We went to dinner and had 2 long tables next to each other, which was fine. One of our tables were served lickity split and there we sat and sat and sat, while our other table finished 2 courses. Really...we just sat there. One person at our table had to leave after 1 1/2 hours, having only received his starters, because he was in a BJ Tourney. His folks took his dinner to go! Our other table kept wondering what was up, as they devoured their meals.

 

Anyway, we were there for 3 hours...way too long in my opinion. It's one thing if you keep receiving courses, but we waited a minimum of 45 minutes, just sitting, for our main course to be served.

 

As for the MDR, I had late seating and was rarely offered a beverage, other then water. I had a soda card and needed to ask for it every night. I never heard ice tea being offered and we needed to ask for coffee after dinner, it wasn't offered.

 

I think it's a shame that a ship, only a year into service, has declined so steadily.

[*Mach*]

Absolutely not a problem Mach - my goal is not sinister in nature here, but rather how can they "fix" a problem that they are not aware of?

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

 

I don't doubt your motives in the least. If there's a systemic problem I'm sure that Carnival would want to know about it.

:)

[shadoo]

Forgot to add that our one time in the Steakhouse on the Valor was absolutely exquisite. The service, the food, the atmosphere, everything top to bottom was delightful and wonderfully educational. It was a memorable evening for us.