Late for dinner

[ncshp955]

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.

I could not agree more with your post. After 10 years in the Army and retiring from the Highway Patrol it was inbred in me that it is much better to be 10 minutes early than 1 minute late for any meetings and believe me the Highway Patrol was a stickler for this. I can not stand to be late for anything now. I even scheduled our night in the Steakhouse for our upcoming cruise for the evening that we leave port late so we wouldn't have to cut port time short or chance being late for dinner.

[golfadj]

I could not agree more with your post. After 10 years in the Army and retiring from the Highway Patrol it was inbred in me that it is much better to be 10 minutes early than 1 minute late for any meetings and believe me the Highway Patrol was a stickler for this. I can not stand to be late for anything now. I even scheduled our night in the Steakhouse for our upcoming cruise for the evening that we leave port late so we wouldn't have to cut port time short or chance being late for dinner.

 

Couldnt agree with you more

[Djptcp]

DH and I were recently on the Fascination and we had our favorite table for 2 in the Sensation Dining Room for early dinner. Out of the 4 nights, passengers at 3 neighboring tables for 6 showed up for dinner around 6:30pm and later every night. I was so tempted to say something about their rude behavior and total lack of consideration for the wait staff and wanted to suggest they do anytime dining. They represented all age groups. At one of the tables on elegant night, they wanted to add 2 more people to an already crowded table and treated the wait staff terribly who tried so hard to be kind and fit two more places in. Entitlement and rudeness go hand in hand these days I guess:mad:

[quickrate]

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.

I'm with you on this!!

Pat

[golfadj]

DH and I were recently on the Fascination and we had our favorite table for 2 in the Sensation Dining Room for early dinner. Out of the 4 nights, passengers at 3 neighboring tables for 6 showed up for dinner around 6:30pm and later every night. I was so tempted to say something about their rude behavior and total lack of consideration for the wait staff and wanted to suggest they do anytime dining. They represented all age groups. At one of the tables on elegant night, they wanted to add 2 more people to an already crowded table and treated the wait staff terribly who tried so hard to be kind and fit two more places in. Entitlement and rudeness go hand in hand these days I guess:mad:

 

I would have thought MD would have said no to fitting in two more places. Bet the servers didnt get anything extra for their extra work.

[quickrate]

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?

I think the point you are missing is you are making it harder on your servers. the way the kitchen works is they have apps up at a certain time on the line and then switch to entrees. You are throwing off the whole rotation for your team of servers. If you can't be there at the set time, do any time dining!!

Pat

[CheckersMidwest]

We had a table for 10 on our last cruise. None of us planned on eating in the dining room on the Cozumel night due to time back on board, etc. We all told our waiter that none of us would be there that night so they knew not to expect/wait for us.

 

I see the assigned dining the same as having a reservation at a restaurant. If it's 6:00.....then it's 6:00. Pretty sure if you're late other places that they give your table away & you're just out of luck !

[Disneynutbsv]

Can I hijack your thread for a moment? Thanks:)

We are going to be on an excursion in cozumel and will not return until after our early seating time...Can we still go to dining room, or is there a buffet somewhere else?

[golfadj]

Can I hijack your thread for a moment? Thanks:)

We are going to be on an excursion in cozumel and will not return until after our early seating time...Can we still go to dining room, or is there a buffet somewhere else?

 

Lido deck has a buffet.

[rjackieb]

Can I hijack your thread for a moment? Thanks:)

We are going to be on an excursion in cozumel and will not return until after our early seating time...Can we still go to dining room, or is there a buffet somewhere else?

Yes, there is always the Lido buffet.

 

I do have to ask though, is this an excursion booked through Carnival or independently? From my stops in Cozumel, we're usually sailing or close to it by early seating. If you have an independent booking and you're getting back after 6pm, I think you're going to be running too late.

[ready2cruzagain]

I would have thought MD would have said no to fitting in two more places. Bet the servers didnt get anything extra for their extra work.

On our last cruise on the last night a woman brought a man with her that she had just met to dinner. I thought this was inconsiderate considering the table was already crowded...10 at a round table. The waiters never said a word.

 

Was an inconvenience to everyone but the ones that was doing it.:rolleyes:

[Disneynutbsv]

Yes, there is always the Lido buffet.

 

I do have to ask though, is this an excursion booked through Carnival or independently? From my stops in Cozumel, we're usually sailing or close to it by early seating. If you have an independent booking and you're getting back after 6pm, I think you're going to be running too late.

 

Booked through Carnival, it leaves at 2 and is 5 hours long. So we will not arrive until 7 and then by the time we drop stuff off and change, it will be late. They are in Cozumel until 10pm that night.

[rjackieb]

Booked through Carnival, it leaves at 2 and is 5 hours long. So we will not arrive until 7 and then by the time we drop stuff off and change, it will be late. They are in Cozumel until 10pm that night.

I'm sorry, excuse my mistake. After I posted that, it occurred that this might be a later port than ours have been. I was concerned, that was all. :)

[ncshp955]

Can I hijack your thread for a moment? Thanks:)

We are going to be on an excursion in cozumel and will not return until after our early seating time...Can we still go to dining room, or is there a buffet somewhere else?

It looks like you will be on the Imagination for your cruise. I am not sure what time you will get back on ship but if you really don't want to worry about rushing to make it to the MDR then you still have several options. The Imagination does not have a Steakhouse but it will have the buffet or you could even relax more and order in room service and just enjoy the evening meal in you cabin and then go out and enjoy the rest of evening on board. As you can tell by this thread most people don't like people being to late for dinner. A couple of minutes fine but more than 10 minutes to me is to much. Heck you can even grab a pizza and beer and enjoy the evening watching everyone else rush like crazy.

[Disneynutbsv]

It looks like you will be on the Imagination for your cruise. I am not sure what time you will get back on ship but if you really don't want to worry about rushing to make it to the MDR then you still have several options. The Imagination does not have a Steakhouse but it will have the buffet or you could even relax more and order in room service and just enjoy the evening meal in you cabin and then go out and enjoy the rest of evening on board. As you can tell by this thread most people don't like people being to late for dinner. A couple of minutes fine but more than 10 minutes to me is to much. Heck you can even grab a pizza and beer and enjoy the evening watching everyone else rush like crazy.

 

No worries :) Buffet is fine :)

[teetee6263]

On my last cruise the table next to ours was late every night by 30-45 minutes & even then only half showed up the rest rest followed by 10 -15 minutes. Our waiter was so annoyed & said he wished that the Maitre d would turn them away, but that never happened. Some nights they came in while we were having dessert. It got to the point where our waiter was making bets with us as to what time they show up.

 

TeeTee

[Txcruzer46]

Unfortunately we are always late, those dang photographers.Jk. Not more than 10 minutes but in hind sight we should do my time dining. But, I have to say the staff never acted as though it was an issue and were always very nice and accommodating. We just waited patiently until they were able to serve us and we did not hang out forever, usually we left before other diners. We dined at our own table of 4 so we didn't hold up anyone else at the table. There were people that walked in much later than us. But next we will do your time, so we don't feel we're being timed. A vacation is suppose to more relaxed but we do think its a good experience for our daughters to eat in the dining room.

[emelvee]

10 minutes is one thing...45 minutes is another. I think we showed up 10 minutes late once, maybe twice over the years. I'm not easily stressed out, but that changes when I'm running late for something. lol

[golfadj]

We always ask for ealry seating.

 

Once or twice when we knew we would be running late the next day we asked head waiter if he had room for us during late seating and explained why.

 

If he did we came than if he didnt off to lido buffet for us.

[WhoDat2009]

Serious question: why would anyone NOT do anytime dining? Other than large groups of course. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a table.

 

Dont taze me, I really don't understand

[onthehighseas606]

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.

 

I agree it is rude to be consistently late for dinner. After the 8th cruise, we decided to just get a table for 2 and any time dining, and not be bothered with waiting for other people who may or may not show up.

[Disneynutbsv]

I actually just changed ours to "your time dining". We've always done the early dining, but I think this will be fine :)

[golfadj]

I agree it is rude to be consistently late for dinner. After the 8th cruise, we decided to just get a table for 2 and any time dining, and not be bothered with waiting for other people who may or may not show up.

 

We have found most people are considerate. Rare to find people (at least at our table) to be consistantly late all cruise.

[SadieN]

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.

 

When elevators are really crowded sometimes it can help to go in the opposite direction.

[emelvee]

Serious question: why would anyone NOT do anytime dining? Other than large groups of course. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a table.

 

Dont taze me, I really don't understand

 

I love the feeling that I'm going to "my" table each dinner, and knowing who my server is going to be. I love when they anticipate what I want to drink, or have as a starter, etc. I realize it's possible to get this with anytime dining, but you're not guaranteed to have the same wait staff. We only did the anytime dining once, on NCL (that's all they offer) and it was the least enjoyable of our cruises - the staff was not nearly as friendly as the ones we've had on Carnival and RCI (I realize this might have been unique to our crew or ship; we're open to trying NCL again some day).