Dinner Time

[elliair]

Come on people, you know when dinner time is scheduled. If you can't get you and your family in gear to be on time, then select anytime dining. I disagree with the original poster -- No, arriving at 6:15 or 6:30 is not okay - not okay for your wait staff or for your fellow passengers who will suffer for it.

 

I suggest that they eat in the buffet if they can't be on time. Many times that's where we eat if we don't like what's being served in the MDR--which is often.

[hdowney]

I'm with the majority here, arriving late is disruptive and unacceptable. Either plan properly and arrive on time, use ATD or eat elsewhere on the ship such as the buffet. It is not fair for the other diners to be inconvenienced by you or your children IMHO.

 

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[jackparts]

I agree that being late is not right as it doesn't affect just your waiter, but the waiters other diners as well. There is a schedule that the waiters have to try and follow and when someone is late, serving times are bolluxed up. As for the other poster who thought it was ok to be late, it's not. It's rude.

[Ehpride]

There are certain time schedules on the ship hat having small children simply isn't an excuse for. Traditional dining is one of those things. I'm sure you're used to planning your time at home without being late. Just pretend it's like school, work, a class or a restaurant reservation at home. Or choose ATD if you need flexibility in dining times.

[Spiralshell]

I think Any Time Dining is perfect for you. We did this and had fantastic service, with the same dining team every night. They were extremely attentive, remembered our names and preferences, and took fabulous care of us and our son (then 2.5). We typically showed up early as the doors opened, but loved that we had the flexibility to show up later if we needed to. I spend so much of my life hustling people into their clothes and shoes and out the door for school and work, I do NOT want to have to be anywhere at a specific time on vacation! :D

[Max Circus]

If I was sharing a table with you and your family and you showed up 30 minutes late each night, I hope you wouldn't find it rude that I had already ordered and were probably almost done with my entree. If that doesn't matter to you, show up whenever you want. Although you may get the wrath of your waiter.

[Almost Packed]

I'm a big planner and always on time, so I'm used to people coming after me, maybe it wasn't as much later as I thought. I have requested our own table. I've heard not so great things about ATD. What are your opinions on that? On port days I don't know if we'll make it back, so I figure there would be 2 nights we'd be in the buffet, but maybe ATD would be a better option. We should show up around 6:30 then if we want the kids to see the wait staff perform at 7?

 

I did do ATD once and never will again. Personally I felt like I still had to wait for the tables around us. I just prefer the nice personal attention from the same staff (yes, you can request the same staff ATD) but it's not the same IMO.

 

I would go with assigned dining and just make sure everyone is ready on time...ie early.

[GTO-Girl]

We always do Any Time dining and we love it! We can request the same waitstaff if we choose, have no problem getting our table for two and have the flexibility to dine when we are ready.

 

I'm glad they have this option.....

[TeresaJ]

15 minutes might be ok but not 30 minutes. See if you can switch to anytime dining. On our first 2 cruises with our kids we were always 10-15 minutes late for early dining. The last cruise we switched to anytime and we loved it. We will not go back to assigned dining because we like the flexibility of anytime dining.

 

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