"Your Time Dining" Is Broken . . .

[kidz_rn]

. . . and needs to be fixed!!

 

Just returned from 5 nights on Glory to Canada, Signed up for "Your Time" dining option, since the fixed MDR dining times were either too early or too late. We showed up between 7:00 and 7:30 most evenings; they gave us one of those flashing beeper pagers, and on two nights the wait was 45 minutes to an hour for a table for two. Unacceptable! Carnival needs to implement a reservation system for flexible time dining, like they have on other cruise lines.

 

Now, about those l-o-n-g buffet lines . . . :-)

[arpie05]

Sounds like you requested seating for 2. Makes sense you had to wait.... Next time take First available and probably not so long to wait.

 

But on the Glory with a 6 pm seating/early seating we never got our dinner before 7:00 anyway not sure I shouldn't recommend Early Seating.... :rolleyes:

[drosphot]

. . . and needs to be fixed!!

 

Just returned from 5 nights on Glory to Canada, Signed up for "Your Time" dining option, since the fixed MDR dining times were either too early or too late. We showed up between 7:00 and 7:30 most evenings; they gave us one of those flashing beeper pagers, and on two nights the wait was 45 minutes to an hour for a table for two. Unacceptable! Carnival needs to implement a reservation system for flexible time dining, like they have on other cruise lines.

 

Now, about those l-o-n-g buffet lines . . . :-)

 

7-730 has been the peak time when we have sailed the last three times using YTD, you can expect a wait just like on land. That is a popular dining time.

 

So out of 5 nights 2 were long how was it the other 3 nights? What time was that at for those nights?

[djwood24]

we had 6-8 for dinner...we didn`t mind the wait when they told us it would be 40minutes to an hour....our issue was being told 15 minutes and waiting an hour

 

 

we went with late seating our next cruise

[okgirl]

I wouldn't expect it to be any different even for a land based restaurant. Go during peak times and you are going to have to wait......

 

It's not broken and doesn't need to be fixed.

[ready2cruzagain]

It's not just Carnival...happened to us on NCL, every night 45 minute wait.

 

Not a fan of ATD after that experience.

[susie8862]

Why is it that so many people swear by it then? It sort of defeats the purpose to me. I would prefer having a "reservation".

 

What happens if you had planned on seeing a show and you had a 45 minute wait for your table?

 

Sticking to "late" dining. Has worked for "us" for years for a lot of reasons. :o After reading this thread, I would not even give it a shot.

[MrPete]

Always funny reading people suggesting eating earlier or later than peak periods.

 

That's not anytime dining!

 

"Try eating at 6 or 8:30".

[sra12574]

It sucks to wait but be realistic. there are only so many tables available . If you go to any restuarant anywhere there are only so many seats available. On a cruise where some tables are assigneed to specific dining times those tables will be reserved for the late seating even if some passsengers from the early sitting are finished. that means the remaining tables are first come first served.

 

some anytime dining guest go when the MDR opens but many give the MDR staff a chance to sit those that arrive for the early seating and then go . A lot of people go from 630 on . If you go 7pm to 730 your most likely going to have to wait for some people to finish thier meals just like any restuarant that has a limited amount of seating .

 

My outlook on Anytime dining is that it gives you an option to not be locked into a particular seating time . If I get the chance to go early I try to if not Theres the option to wait or go to the llido or even or room service.

[golfadj]

we had 6-8 for dinner...we didn`t mind the wait when they told us it would be 40minutes to an hour....our issue was being told 15 minutes and waiting an hour

 

 

we went with late seating our next cruise

 

That would sure be annoying

[sweepergh5]

If you are going to dinner with 6-8 people you should expect to wait about 45 minutes to get a table. It sounds the same as if you were on land going out to dinner at prime time. Also, its not like the rest of the people on the ship had the choice to go to a different city or drive down the road to a different restaurant. Its like going out in your town at prime time on a friday or saturday night, you should expect to wait. I Bet if it was only 2 of you trying to get a table, you would have been seated very quickly. Not trying to be a jerk, but it bugs me when people complain about little things like this before sitting back and thinking about the situation.

[MrPete]

It sucks to wait but be realistic. there are only so many tables available . If you go to any restuarant anywhere there are only so many seats available. On a cruise where some tables are assigneed to specific dining times those tables will be reserved for the late seating even if some passsengers from the early sitting are finished. that means the remaining tables are first come first served.

 

some anytime dining guest go when the MDR opens but many give the MDR staff a chance to sit those that arrive for the early seating and then go . A lot of people go from 630 on . If you go 7pm to 730 your most likely going to have to wait for some people to finish thier meals just like any restuarant that has a limited amount of seating .

 

My outlook on Anytime dining is that it gives you an option to not be locked into a particular seating time . If I get the chance to go early I try to if not Theres the option to wait or go to the llido or even or room service.

 

Then they either need to increase the amount of tables, or decrease the amount of ATD diners.

[jonbgd]

It's not just Carnival...happened to us on NCL, every night 45 minute wait.

 

Not a fan of ATD after that experience.

I agree didnt like it on NCL but on RCCL they let you make reservations if you want for MTD

[HarpHarp]

It's not just Carnival...happened to us on NCL, every night 45 minute wait.

 

Not a fan of ATD after that experience.

 

Wow, what ship?

We've waited 30 minutes on the first night of one cruise, but they were passing out free champage so it was all good. The other times we waited no more than 15 minutes, usually wiating in the lounge listening to the singer or pianist play.

[zqvol]

. . . and needs to be fixed!!

 

Just returned from 5 nights on Glory to Canada, Signed up for "Your Time" dining option, since the fixed MDR dining times were either too early or too late. We showed up between 7:00 and 7:30 most evenings; they gave us one of those flashing beeper pagers, and on two nights the wait was 45 minutes to an hour for a table for two. Unacceptable! Carnival needs to implement a reservation system for flexible time dining, like they have on other cruise lines.

 

Now, about those l-o-n-g buffet lines . . . :-)

 

 

Go at the busiest time of the night and that is what happens. If you had gone earlier or later you would not have had that issue.

[rferr]

On the Victory recently we had atd. We got the beeper a few nights. The first night the wait was around 45 minutes. At the Outback by my house I have waited longer than that many times. In fact I get handed a beeper at just about every restaurant I go to on a Friday or Saturday night around here so it was par for the course for us.

 

We just went to the bar and relaxed and had a couple of drinks. Carnival sent a tray of candy to our room the next morning with an apology and we had never complained about that wait to anyone. The next nights the waits were in the 15-20 minute range and the last three nights no wait at all. I would much prefer having a drink at the bar waiting for my own table to sitting for two hours making small talk with people I don't want to. We enjoyed having a drink or two before dinner and chatting anyway. It was very relaxing. We did notice a lot of people in the line that seemed very upset about waiting though. In fact their "vibe" was kind of disturbing to tell you the truth. They should just relax a bit I thought.

[mrpayroll]

After reading so many " Never had to wait for more than 5 minutes " threads on here i am quite surprised.

[sra12574]

Then they either need to increase the amount of tables, or decrease the amount of ATD diners.

 

I'm sure they would get more complaints from people not being able to get anytime dining if they limited it more .

 

As far as increasing the amount of tables , I'm not sure that could be done without some major renovations . they would have to increase the staff to serve those tables but maybe thats something they should do to some extent to get a faster turnover .

 

If I was givin a choice between waiting for anytime dining or not having the option of ATD , I would gladly wait . Theres times the port schedules or entertainment for the evening may not be convienent with a set time to eat .

[plywood12]

You have "your time dining" back home also. However, go at peak hours and you will run into the same problem you complain about on the ship, particularly with 6-8 people. There are also 2-3 thousand people going to the same venues to eat. I'm not sure why you would expect Carnival to be able to do what popular restaurants can do to seat all peopple quickly during rush hour.

[Feelin' Nauti']

For those who "never had to wait long" what time did you arrive?

[big_duck]

After reading so many " Never had to wait for more than 5 minutes " threads on here i am quite surprised.

 

Probably Families of 4 or 6, lots of tables no waiting.

 

There are limited tables for 2. The options are don't eat a peak times; be willing to seat with others, or wait. Shows and activities are still timed based on the set dining times, so as long as you are in before late seating you'll get the shows.

[andrzej5914]

We love MTD and would never go back to traditional dining. We don't care about any wait times although we never had to wait more than about 10-15 minutes for a 2 top and it was during peak times. Most of the times we had the same staff serve us.

 

To each his own I suppose, but we love it.

 

And finally, we don't think the system is broken. We understand the limitations, the wait time, but if you want everything at the snap of your fingers, then go back to traditional system.

[SnowWhiteNYC]

We had assigned dining on the Magic last week, but always saw a line waiting for seating for the AnyTime Dining...

[CoconutJD]

OP's experience is completely contrary to my experience on the Triumph 2 weeks ago. We only had a lengthy wait on Elegant night, and that was only maybe 20 minutes. We went around 7 every night as well. There were a couple of nights we were given the pager, but by the time we sat down in the Atrium lobby, it was already going off and our table was ready.

[SMSACE6]

. . . and needs to be fixed!!

 

Just returned from 5 nights on Glory to Canada, Signed up for "Your Time" dining option, since the fixed MDR dining times were either too early or too late. We showed up between 7:00 and 7:30 most evenings; they gave us one of those flashing beeper pagers, and on two nights the wait was 45 minutes to an hour for a table for two. Unacceptable! Carnival needs to implement a reservation system for flexible time dining, like they have on other cruise lines.

 

Now, about those l-o-n-g buffet lines . . . :-)

 

Sorry you didnt enjoy YTD. Nothing is perfect. There are pros and cons to fixed time dining, both early and late seatings. Also same for YTD. I did enjoy my one experience with YTD, but did always arrive at the dining room during the first half hour of opening. I did find the service a tad bit slow, but still enjoyed the experience.

 

I guess the negative, or the con, for YTD, is that there is a busy time, and that being 7 to 7.30pm. Just chalk it all up to experience, and perhaps might be better to settle for fixed time dining in the future. Hope you enjoyed your cruise though.:)