Late for dinner

[shebubbles28]

How late can you be for your dinner time before they give your table away?

[golfadj]

If you have traditional dining they dont give your table away but it is considered bad form to be more than a few minutes late.

[KenMo]

If you have assigned seating, you are assigned a table for the duration.

 

They will not give it away.

 

If you're going to be late, there are other places to eat.

 

The waitstaff are serving many people. They have it down to a science. When people are real late, it throws off the service for others.

[deladane]

On my December cruise, one woman showed up 40-45 minutes late EVERY night! She never said anything about it, but by the 3rd night in a row that it happened, the rest of us at the table grew to expect her to show up late. Since no one knew if she was coming or not, we all just ordered our food without her. The amazing part was that even though she got there so late, the wait staff was able to put in her orders and serve her food so quickly that she caught up to us and was served dessert at the same time we were! I guess it helped that we were all ordering multiple items for each course (3 appetizers, 2 entrees, etc.) and she just got one thing for each course ;)

[springs741]

Interesting post. I have often wondered why there are not more posts about people being late to assigned dine time. I have had serveral people tell me they thought they could arrive anytime between the stated times. One friend with early seatting and he was planning on going to eat about 7:30. I explained that my feeling was that they needed to get there within about 10 minutes or so of the assigned time. Staff needs to clear room for the next sitting.

[chill6x6]

If you have assigned seating, you are assigned a table for the duration.

 

They will not give it away.

 

If you're going to be late, there are other places to eat.

 

The waitstaff are serving many people. They have it down to a science. When people are real late, it throws off the service for others.

 

^^^^This.

[CWcruisers]

Back in the good old days, they shut the dining room doors after 15 minutes. I wish they would go back to that method.

 

If you can't be on time, choose Your Time Dining so you are not disrupting other passengers and making the staff's job even harder then it already is.

[Moobaby214]

Nothing bothers me more than people showing up late. Just don't do it. You know your dinner time, so be there at your dinner time. If you are going to be more than ten minutes late, don't even come. It ruins dinner for everyone else at your table.

 

 

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[Quilting_Cruiser]

Back in the good old days, they shut the dining room doors after 15 minutes. I wish they would go back to that method.

 

If you can't be on time, choose Your Time Dining so you are not disrupting other passengers and making the staff's job even harder then it already is.

 

 

Yep. x2

[CruiseNAngie]

back in the good old days, they shut the dining room doors after 15 minutes. I wish they would go back to that method.

 

If you can't be on time, choose your time dining so you are not disrupting other passengers and making the staff's job even harder then it already is.

 

LIKE :)

 

I agree 100% ... if they closed the doors, MAYBE, they would get the hint :D

[CRUZBUDS]

We had a table in our section once that was always late, somehow they would be served their dessert right after we were. The only way that could happen is our service was slowed until they were caught up with us. :mad:

 

It is very rude to be late consistently, it's a way of saying your time is more valuable than everyone else's.

[TMWTim]

^^^^This.

 

 

^^^^^Yep.

[TMWTim]

Lately we have been doing YTD. We like it on port days so we aren't rushed but we miss meeting new people with assigned dining. Take the good with the bad I guess.

 

 

At the same time being late is one thing. Ordering every dang thing on the menu and taking one bite of each serving is another. Give me someone who is late over someone who just HAS to order everything available then waste it by taking one bite. I hate that.

 

All 12 of us at the table. We all order at the same time. We all eat at the same time. Desert comes at the same time. HOWEVER, nobody wants to get up and continue their night as it would be rude because one person has to keep ordering from the menu and only takes one bite before ordering again. Hence we moved to YTD.

[kingoftheicedragons]

Personally, I would be embarrassed to walk in late....especially if it's by more than 10-15 minutes. At that point, I would say forget it and go to the buffet on Lido (for the first time ever for dinner).

[ready2cruzagain]

Back in the good old days, they shut the dining room doors after 15 minutes. I wish they would go back to that method.

 

If you can't be on time, choose Your Time Dining so you are not disrupting other passengers and making the staff's job even harder then it already is.

 

Nothing bothers me more than people showing up late. Just don't do it. You know your dinner time, so be there at your dinner time. If you are going to be more than ten minutes late, don't even come. It ruins dinner for everyone else at your table.

 

 

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My sentiments exactly! Had a waiter once that would not serve anyone until everyone was there and there was a couple that was at least 20 minutes late every night. Talked to the couple about it...they did not care. Ending up saying something to the maitre'd...after that did not have to wait for the couple to order but the waiter made it where we still ended up getting our food together.

 

Very inconsiderate IMHO.

[golfadj]

We had a table in our section once that was always late, somehow they would be served their dessert right after we were. The only way that could happen is our service was slowed until they were caught up with us. :mad:

 

It is very rude to be late consistently, it's a way of saying your time is more valuable than everyone else's.

 

Exactly

[Tahmay]

To be honest, my husband and I usually will make it in around the 1st 30 minutes of our dinner time, and always make it out before even the people who were there right on time. I think nothing of it. We are on vacation, there is no need to rush. I think if anything it will give the waiters time to organize so that they won't get bum rushed right at the beginning of service.

 

I can see why it would be rude if you sat at a table with other people, but we always get table for two. So again, unless you are affecting anyone else at your table, why is it anyone else's business when you come "late" to dinner?

 

So here is my question, does the wait staff appreciate guests who are in an out, (within 45min without rushing them) or the guests who get there on time but linger around for nearly 2 hours eating dinner?

[MrPete]

Back in the good old days, they shut the dining room doors after 15 minutes. I wish they would go back to that method.

 

If you can't be on time, choose Your Time Dining so you are not disrupting other passengers and making the staff's job even harder then it already is.

 

X 3 4 and 5.

 

Yet they reward these dolts by serving them course after course to catch up, which actually benefits them, while us schnooks are held up.

[CRUZBUDS]

To be honest, my husband and I usually will make it in around the 1st 30 minutes of our dinner time, and always make it out before even the people who were there right on time. I think nothing of it. We are on vacation, there is no need to rush. I think if anything it will give the waiters time to organize so that they won't get bum rushed right at the beginning of service.

 

I can see why it would be rude if you sat at a table with other people, but we always get table for two. So again, unless you are affecting anyone else at your table, why is it anyone else's business when you come "late" to dinner?

 

So here is my question, does the wait staff appreciate guests who are in an out, (within 45min without rushing them) or the guests who get there on time but linger around for nearly 2 hours eating dinner?

 

Take a look around. You are negatively affecting your service team and every table in their section. If you don't care to make an effort to arrive on time, switch to anytime dinning or use the buffet.

 

I'm not saying you are rude or selfish, perhaps you just don't understand the way things work.

[golfadj]

To be honest, my husband and I usually will make it in around the 1st 30 minutes of our dinner time, and always make it out before even the people who were there right on time. I think nothing of it. We are on vacation, there is no need to rush. I think if anything it will give the waiters time to organize so that they won't get bum rushed right at the beginning of service.

 

I can see why it would be rude if you sat at a table with other people, but we always get table for two. So again, unless you are affecting anyone else at your table, why is it anyone else's business when you come "late" to dinner?

 

So here is my question, does the wait staff appreciate guests who are in an out, (within 45min without rushing them) or the guests who get there on time but linger around for nearly 2 hours eating dinner?

 

The system is set up for them to order everyones dinner at pretty much one time. When people come in at 6 30 they do throw timing off for the section.

 

Why not just do anytime and come as you please?

[bythehex]

To be honest, my husband and I usually will make it in around the 1st 30 minutes of our dinner time, and always make it out before even the people who were there right on time. I think nothing of it. We are on vacation, there is no need to rush. I think if anything it will give the waiters time to organize so that they won't get bum rushed right at the beginning of service.

 

I can see why it would be rude if you sat at a table with other people, but we always get table for two. So again, unless you are affecting anyone else at your table, why is it anyone else's business when you come "late" to dinner?

 

So here is my question, does the wait staff appreciate guests who are in an out, (within 45min without rushing them) or the guests who get there on time but linger around for nearly 2 hours eating dinner?

 

It depends on whether you have early or late seating. If you have early seating, remember that there are people lined up outside the doors waiting to get in when it's time for their seating. And they won't let anyone in until your table is cleared and set up for the next folks who are using it. Therefore, it DOES affect other people. So all those folks who are waiting to get in to eat their dinner are inconvenienced by a few who think it's not anyone else's business.

 

If you have late seating, remember that those waiters, busboys, assistant waiters, etc., are ready to set those tables up for breakfast the next morning and get to bed themselves. Or, they might have other assignments they have to go on to in a timely manner.

 

Either way, it absolutely affects other people in a negative way. If you choose to go to dinner at a time other than is set for traditional dining, then you should change to anytime dining. That's what it's there for. Otherwise, show up on time.

[cruzinlisa]

Interesting post. I have often wondered why there are not more posts about people being late to assigned dine time. I have had serveral people tell me they thought they could arrive anytime between the stated times. One friend with early seatting and he was planning on going to eat about 7:30. I explained that my feeling was that they needed to get there within about 10 minutes or so of the assigned time. Staff needs to clear room for the next sitting.

 

I could see this maybe for the inexperienced cruiser, ONCE. But in the example given by one poster of a lady that was late EVERY NIGHT, I have to wonder. Once you sit down at the table late and realize that there are other people there wouldn't you realize that it was not an open time! Maybe she thought it was cafeteria style. ;) Personally I wish that they would not seat people if they are more than a certain amount of time late (maybe 20 minutes). I would never dream of showing up late knowing that I was sitting at a table with others. We do ATD now, so we can eat when we want, but the times that we had set dining, we were always on time.

[rjackieb]

Nothing bothers me more than people showing up late. Just don't do it. You know your dinner time, so be there at your dinner time. If you are going to be more than ten minutes late, don't even come. It ruins dinner for everyone else at your table.

I agree with this completely, although on our last cruise it would have meant that my mother, my hubby and I would have been eating buffet every night. My mother is in a wheelchair and it normally took us until 6:15pm, at the earliest, to get her in an elevator to get to the dining room. Thankfully, our wait team was very understanding about it, and we'd get settled at our four-top, and order immediately so they could get everything back on track.

 

So here is my question, does the wait staff appreciate guests who are in an out, (within 45min without rushing them) or the guests who get there on time but linger around for nearly 2 hours eating dinner?

I'm guessing you meant guests who come late but are still in and out for the first part of your question. If I'm wrong, please excuse me.

Not all guests who arrive on time will linger after their meals; in fact, most people who are that conscientious of their arrival time aren't the type to linger past their welcome. Also, the waiters can work around some lingerers, and then they're trained to courteously let diners know it's time to close the room.

I can't pick one or the other in your question, because I don't believe many guests would linger for hours, but I'm sure it's possible. The best answer I can give is that servers would still be more appreciative of people being on time for dinner.

[emelvee]

This is a big pet peeve of mine...being late. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but people that are habitually late in situations such as this are being inconsiderate IMO. I'm the opposite extreme...I'd rather be 30 minutes earlier for something than 5 minutes late.

 

I was panicking on our last cruise to Bermuda. We took a taxi tour around the island. Departure had been moved up an hour earlier than normal. We scheduled the taxi ride to get back to the ship about 45 minutes before departure. I knew that we were cutting it close. Turns out the driver didn't know the departure was earlier than normal. We ended up boarding the ship about 20-25 minutes before departure (and 5-10 minutes after "all aboard); I felt bad about that - that was the first time we've been late for anything on a cruise.

[rjackieb]

This is a big pet peeve of mine...being late. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but people that are habitually late in situations such as this are being inconsiderate IMO. I'm the opposite extreme...I'd rather be 30 minutes earlier for something than 5 minutes late.

I'm always early for everything else in life and it nearly drove me bonkers knowing we were late for dinner every night because of the elevator situation. We were leaving for dinner about 30 minutes early every night, it just took that long to get her in an elevator. The last night was so embarrassing we almost didn't go, but wanted to say goodbye to the team and give them some extra tips. We were trying, once again, to get an elevator about 20 minutes early and ended up getting there 25 minutes late.