Your Time Dining?

[taffy12]

I'm sure this has been discussed plenty of times before, but if you would, please humor me and give me your insights. My family of four - my mother and three grown/almost-grown daughters - has ALWAYS gone the traditional route, generally enjoying the continuity of it all, having the same waiters who know our preferences, etc. But having an assigned dining time, especially the 6:00 PM time we prefer, can get mighty stressful, especially when we have to rush in from a port or rush off after dinner for a show, so we're thinking about trying YTD next year on Dream. I've heard talk that wait times for a table can get pretty long, but I know little else. What are your thoughts? What are some pros and cons? What has your experience been?

[OCruisers]

We'd never go back to TD. YTD is great! :)

 

Love having the flexibility of going to dinner at various times and never feeling rushed.

 

LuLu

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[Bunkie103]

We've done YTD almost since it's inception and haven't had a problem. Most of the waiting time appears to happen if you pick the popular time of 7:15-7:30, at least in our experience and also on "Formal" nights. We try to work around that time and arrive around 6:45 usually without a wait. Now there are exceptions to every rule. If we like the wait team on the first night we will request them again and usually are accommodated. On our Valor cruise last year the team we picked was VERY popular and some nights we had to wait 10 minutes or so.

[erby2283]

I've done YTD on both Carnival Cruises and have never waited longer than 10 minutes and that was on formal night.

 

Like Bunkie, if we get a good waiter on the first night, we ask to sit in their section every night. We are also early eaters and are usually in there by 6:15-6:30 so we can enjoy the night after that.

[pmcantrll]

I did ytd and I love it you don't have to rush and me and my baby only had to wait one day while we was on our cruise and the wait time was only ten minutes

 

 

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[KOOLBEANS]

I wouldn't even dare go back to specific dining times. It's vacation, I rush for work, I don't rush for vacation. Also, I have never waited more then 10 minutes max. Luckily, I have only had great service with every waiter and never needed to ask for a specific section. I like meeting the new and/or have repeat servers. It's all good as long as you enjoy yourself!!

[saltybones]

YTD is great, never had the wait that long, even when we are waiting on a specific waitstaff group! Hate having to rush on my vacation too!

 

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[ano]

Its great. They should just do it for everyone like they do for lunch.

[kona_wahine]

We are early eaters. Always there about 5:45 and other than a small wait for the line in front it went very quickly.

[wrigley80]

We were like you.....we had always gone with traditional dining (late seating) but on our last cruise on the Carnival Freedom in March we went with Your Time Dining.....we will NEVER go back to traditional dining

The YTD gives you so much flexibility. After the first night we had such an amazing wait staff that we asked for their section every night. We never had a problem getting seated in their section. We always went around 6:00 or so and never had to wait in line to be seated....I'm sure that varies on each ship

[jkrislc]

We had YTD a couple of weeks ago on the Glory. We only had a wait once and that was at most 15 minutes and at 7:00 pm.

[T. Advisor King]

I wouldn't even dare go back to specific dining times. It's vacation, I rush for work, I don't rush for vacation. Also, I have never waited more then 10 minutes max. Luckily, I have only had great service with every waiter and never needed to ask for a specific section. I like meeting the new and/or have repeat servers. It's all good as long as you enjoy yourself!!

 

Great post. Sums up my feelings exactly.

 

In addition, I think some people who comment that they have to "rush back" for early seating don't realize that part of the rush is simply dealing with the pressure of having to be on someone else's schedule. They "rush back" because they absolutely can't be late, so they build in time for anything that could go wrong. If the same people had ATD and were merely "aiming" to get to the MDR, they might spend another 30 to 60 minutes in port and would still get to the MDR at 6:00.

[G-Luvs2cruise]

We have always done YTD. I really like it. I don't like to feel rushed to get back and eat. One time in our two cruises did we have to wait. There was 8 of us and we waited maybe 10 mins. That was the only time. The next day Carnival sent both families a tray of treats & apologize that we had to wait for dinner. We thought that was great even though we did not wait that long. We also almost every time got a table by the window. My friend loved that. She said when they had a scheduled time dining that she was always in the middle of the dining room.

 

We leave for a cruise in Oct and plan on doing scheduled dining. We thought we would try it and see if we could meet people. After reading all of this I may switch back.

 

Have fun!

[serene56]

It is a lot easier for a family of 4 to do any time then it will be for a family of 8. So when you are reading the reviews compare apples to apples. read regarding the families of 4. there are more tables for 4 then there are any other tables.

[CatlinSTJ]

We switched and love it. No rushing and you can eat when you want. Sometimes you're hungry earlier, sometimes not so much because of that late snack you had in port. It gives you the freedom to enjoy yourself and you can always ask to be seated with others if you would like to meet people. (My DH and I still swear that dinner with Joey and Mary was the absolute highlight of our Canadian cruise!) Of course, on this cruise we chose it so as not to subject a random couple to dinner with our 4 daughters. We get to enjoy family dinners every night without worrying about anyone feeling awkward.

[Bobbyjean]

For a party of three ...

 

if you do NOT want to share a table with others, is it better to choose YTD

 

or traditional ... and ask the Maitre D to change your table when you board?

[serene56]

For a party of three ...

 

if you do NOT want to share a table with others, is it better to choose YTD

 

or traditional ... and ask the Maitre D to change your table when you board?

 

 

you do not have to share tables. if you pick traditional go to the dining room when you arrive and check your assigned table if its not to your liking see the maitre de.

 

I prefer traditional so my waiters can get to know our likes and dislikes. if you are traveling with kids-- traditional works better so they are not missing out on camp activities

[YadaYadaJodi]

We switched and love it. No rushing and you can eat when you want. Sometimes you're hungry earlier, sometimes not so much because of that late snack you had in port. It gives you the freedom to enjoy yourself and you can always ask to be seated with others if you would like to meet people. (My DH and I still swear that dinner with Joey and Mary was the absolute highlight of our Canadian cruise!) Of course, on this cruise we chose it so as not to subject a random couple to dinner with our 4 daughters. We get to enjoy family dinners every night without worrying about anyone feeling awkward.

 

So you can request to be seated with others?! Going on a cruise with my DD20 and looking forward to trying the YTD for the first time. The only thing I was worried about was missing out on meeting people. Not that we have such a great track record from our prior cruises :o, but I like the thought of it! It's one of the things that makes cruising unique from other vacations. Since there's just 2 of us I'm hoping it will be easy to be added to another table.

[092306]

We love it too and wouldn't go back to traditional dining. It's great, so glad Carnival offers it!

[ccruisequeen]

We line up in the ATD line early, and get in right away. Our hostess/host has always given us the same table and staff and they get to know us as much as assigned dining.

 

If you have a food allergy, there is a staff person assigned to discuss this with you. They will help you with the menus and make sure that the selections go to the proper table, even if you've moved.

[High Seas Texan]

I prefer traditional set dining times (late seating) but one time had to do YTD as that was all that was available when I booked late. I enjoyed it, and have considered doing it again. I like to dine late, and with YTD I could go in sbout 8:30 and be seated right away. The wait staff was winding down and were more relaxed, so we got to chat more with them. We leet them know not to worry about us, go on with their closing duties, and they allowed us to linger over coffee at the table. Very relaxed. I think you will like it. I usually have such a good time with my table companions that I prefer the traditional dining. One one cruise however, I met up with a couple who were on YTD when we were late seating, and they allowed us to alternate back and forth on the nights we all wanted to dine together in both dining rooms. Just talk to the host.

[cruse2loose]

We had YTD on the Magic in March. Enjoyed the first night, second night, formal night, we had terrible wait staff. After that we asked for the waitstaff we had the first night. We always got them, never had to wait and really enjoyed being able to go when it fit in our schedule.

[SeagoingMom]

So here is my question on this topic, as it seems most of you have used both fixed and flexible dining -- what about making "friends" at dinner? Did you all sit just with your cruising companions, or did you meet new people at dinner? We are considering flexible dining because we have gotten "stuck" with some fixed seating companions we were not too thrilled with. We wonder if flexible dining might give us a chance to meet some nice people without having to be committed to a particular group through the whole cruise (or be forced to change tables). We cruise as a couple, never with friends or family (well, at least so far) and have always requested a large table at dinner.

 

Have any of you met interesting people at dinner whom you have agreed to meet with again, for dinner, drinks, etc? Any made longer-term friends?

[High Seas Texan]

So here is my question on this topic, as it seems most of you have used both fixed and flexible dining -- what about making "friends" at dinner? Did you all sit just with your cruising companions, or did you meet new people at dinner? We are considering flexible dining because we have gotten "stuck" with some fixed seating companions we were not too thrilled with. We wonder if flexible dining might give us a chance to meet some nice people without having to be committed to a particular group through the whole cruise (or be forced to change tables). We cruise as a couple, never with friends or family (well, at least so far) and have always requested a large table at dinner.

 

Have any of you met interesting people at dinner whom you have agreed to meet with again, for dinner, drinks, etc? Any made longer-term friends?

 

Oh yes! Some times with the YTD we were set at a table just for two, but sometimes if others were arriving at the dining room at the same time, we would be set together. You can request seating with special people, or join others. It is very flexible. For traditional dining however, I find sitting with the same people for several days is an opportunity to get to know them better, and share adventures. Bottom line, give it a try. I doubt you will regret it, and then in the future, make yuour choices for what suits you best for that cruise!;)

[taffy12]

What if we DON'T want to sit with other people. We're a family of four; are there enough small tables that we should be ok getting one to ourselves?