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Ins and Outs of Your Time Dining

kjblovestotravel

By kjblovestotravel,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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o2banotter

o2banotter

Posted
Posted

I'm going with a group but since I booked late, I ended up on a "wait list" which is kind of like ATD, isn't it? I have absolutely no problem if I end up with people I don't know but aren't people kind of not wanting some random person sitting at their table?

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Mamma Jamma Cruiser

Mamma Jamma Cruiser

Posted
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We previously sailed with NCL exclusively because of the "freestyle" dining.. and not having to "dress up". (We are not "formal dress up" kind of people). This cruise with friends on Carnival we agreed to ONLY if we could have YTD (and it helped when they told us DH didn't have to wear a full 3 pc suit! ;) )

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momof3cruisers

momof3cruisers

Posted
Posted
I'm going with a group but since I booked late, I ended up on a "wait list" which is kind of like ATD, isn't it? I have absolutely no problem if I end up with people I don't know but aren't people kind of not wanting some random person sitting at their table?

 

No, that means that you are on a list to be placed Into your preferred dining time if space opens up but for now, you are assigned a different dining time.

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o2banotter

o2banotter

Posted
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No, that means that you are on a list to be placed Into your preferred dining time if space opens up but for now, you are assigned a different dining time.

 

How do I know what that different dining time is? On our last cruise, we had several people missing from a few tables, ours and a couple next to ours. I can't imagine there not being room somewhere.

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rtw68

rtw68

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On our first two cruises we did ATD and it was great!

 

On the Dream, our head waiter Joel and asst waiter Marvin were the best! We were able to be seated in their section (same table in fact for the 6 of us) each time we went to the dining room.

 

Never had to wait, we normally went between 6:30 and 7:00PM each night.

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pafam4

pafam4

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Wow- I had no idea you could request a table for two! I thought we had to sit with a group of random people like we had to when we dined in the dining room for lunch.

 

Did they give you a hard time about requesting a table for two?

 

As everyone has already stated, you can request a table for two, and request the same wait staff each night, if you wish.

 

Also, if dining in the MDR for breakfast and lunch, you can be seated at a table for two. All you have to do is ask, we had no problem at all.

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sewut

sewut

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I think the reason people are waitlisted for dining times is because Platinum guest get first choice. They wait until the Platinum requests are filled and then fill in the others' choices.

 

Sewut

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kroozers

kroozers

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How do I know what that different dining time is? On our last cruise, we had several people missing from a few tables, ours and a couple next to ours. I can't imagine there not being room somewhere.

 

If you are not given YTD, your dining room, time and table number will be printed on your S & S card.

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jenninlaca

jenninlaca

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We just got off the Dream and had ATD with our 2 boys (ages 6 and 2). We liked it. We did not want to be tied down to a set dining time because there are so many variables with kids and we like to be flexible and eat when we are hungry. We went to dinner at various times ranging from 6:30-8:15. We ate in the MDR (Crimson upstairs) with our kids every night. We were seated right away every night except the 2nd night of the cruise (the first formal night). For whatever reason that night the dining room was really backed up and we ended up waiting for 35 minutes to be seated. There was a little library room right next door where we waited with a pager. We were not thrilled about the wait but that's life. We had arrived just before 7 that night. We never complained about the wait, but shortly after returning to our stateroom that evening we got a delivery of some little dessert sampler treats and a note of apology about the wait, which was nice.

 

The servers were very friendly on both sides. We could have requested the same server each night and been accommodated. Every party seemed to be seated just with themselves. There were very few large tables in the ATD section. For parties of more than 8, I don't think ATD is a good choice for that reason, because you could encounter longer waits.

 

We would definitely do ATD again.

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blondietink

blondietink

Posted
Posted
We are doing ATD for the first time this May-what time are you assigned to see the shows in the evening with ATD?

 

You are not assigned a time to see the shows with ATD. You can go to which ever time the shows are scheduled that you want to see.

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aggieastrosfan

aggieastrosfan

Posted
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After 16 Carnival cruises, DH and I are signed up for YTD for the first time in May.

 

We've done it on Princess for our two cruises with mixed results. First cruise we found a fantastic waiter and booked him for the week, second time we just couldn't find anyone we truly enjoyed, so we just went true anytime and dined with whoever was available when we went.

 

We tend to travel with groups of people on Carnival, so we always opt for a specific time so we can sit with our friends and family. This time, however, we will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and in all honesty, this will be the first time we have cruised with absolutely no one else since our honeymoon. (What in the world will we do for 4 days?) ;)

 

I'm encouraged by the tales of no problems with seating for 2, as that's exactly what we'll be looking for every night. The concept of unknown tablemates for an entire cruise is obviously not new to us, but given that we have the option this time, we'd rather not have to make small talk with strangers this trip given the whole point is to celebrate our time together. :)

 

And I could care less how close the tables are, really. They're not at the same table, so we won't be expected to carry on a conversation with them throughout dinner. Sure, there may be the few pleasantries/comments scattered here and there, but no commitment of extended conversation. We're social people, but nothing wrong with wanting some alone time. :)

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SMSACE6

SMSACE6

Posted
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I have also always done fixed time dining, early or late, and sometimes I cruise solo, sometimes with family, or friends. But first time I got the opportunity to try anytime dining was in September 2010, which happened to be a solo cruise. Since it was available, as I was booking early, I took it, but was a little worried, that I would stick out as being alone. I like time to myself, and dont mind eating alone in a restaurant. Make a long story short, I love the flexibility of anytime dining, arrive when you want. I usually arrived earlyish and had no problem being seated right away, and also got the same great wait staff that I had first night. ( If you are not impressed with you servers first night, you can be seated in a different section) I stayed with my great wait staff all week. I just booked my next cruise, and since I do so early on, I still chose anytime dining. Im going solo again, and didnt hesitate to book anytime again. You can be to yourself/yourselves, or if you click with those at next table, you can be sociable. I dont think I could go back to fixed time dining. Just me.:)

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live2cruise2011

live2cruise2011

Posted
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I'm glad to hear this! I was wondering about requesting a table for 2. We are doing "your time dinning" for our upcoming cruise. The reason we are doing this is because we want to be able to go when we want not at a set time every night. Also because on our last cruise we missed the first night in the MDR & it seemed to upset our waiter. For the rest of the week he made "jokingly" comments like "ahh… so nice of you to show up tonight" & "I'm glad you took the time to join us" even though he was saying it with a smile, it made me feel a little uncomfortable!

 

Happy anniversary to you ours will be two years on 4/28 many happy more to come for all of us

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kjblovestotravel

kjblovestotravel

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Happy anniversary to you ours will be two years on 4/28 many happy more to come for all of us

 

I booked the June cruise to celebate our 35th. Happy Anniversary to us all! We are looking forward to having the flexibility with YTD to spend more time together alone if we choose.

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momof3cruisers

momof3cruisers

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I think the reason people are waitlisted for dining times is because Platinum guest get first choice. They wait until the Platinum requests are filled and then fill in the others' choices.

 

Sewut

 

Really? I was able to choose my dining time at the same time as I made my reservation back in August.

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