Open Dinning

[propwash]

We sail on Saturday January 17th, and today I got the following message;

 

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:

We would like to advise you of a change to the open dining option offered for

the ms Westerdam sailing on January 17, 2015. Due to the number of guests

requesting dining at 8:00pm, open seating will be offered from 5:00pm to 6:30pm

only. Should you wish to dine later, complimentary dining will be available in

the Lido after 6:30pm, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations

at our Canaletto or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We sincerely regret any

disappointment this change may cause.

 

On our confirmation, it had us for "open dinning", so should I have requested at specific time? Do I still have time to make diner arrangements for 7:30-8:00 dinning? Surely it would be bad to miss main dinning and have to settle for the Lido. :(

 

Thanks for the help

Danny

[kazu]

We sail on Saturday January 17th, and today I got the following message;

 

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:

We would like to advise you of a change to the open dining option offered for

the ms Westerdam sailing on January 17, 2015. Due to the number of guests

requesting dining at 8:00pm, open seating will be offered from 5:00pm to 6:30pm

only. Should you wish to dine later, complimentary dining will be available in

the Lido after 6:30pm, or for a nominal fee we invite you to make reservations

at our Canaletto or Pinnacle Grill Restaurants. We sincerely regret any

disappointment this change may cause.

 

On our confirmation, it had us for "open dinning", so should I have requested at specific time? Do I still have time to make diner arrangements for 7:30-8:00 dinning? Surely it would be bad to miss main dinning and have to settle for the Lido. :(

 

Thanks for the help

Danny

 

This is the first time I have seen this:eek:

 

If open dining is only available until 6:30 pm and you prefer to eat later try to see if you can get in for the 8 pm fixed dining. Either call HAL (if you booked through them) or have your TA call and see if it can be done.

 

It nearly sounds like you have a group on board but I don't see this cruise on the list that is kept.

 

Hopefully others can offer other suggestions.

 

That's a shame.

Edited January 6, 2015 by kazu

[propwash]

This is the first time I have seen this:eek:

 

If open dining is only available until 6:30 pm and you prefer to eat later try to see if you can get in for the 8 pm fixed dining. Either call HAL (if you booked through them) or have your TA call and see if it can be done.

 

It nearly sounds like you have a group on board but I don't see this cruise on the list that is kept.

 

Hopefully others can offer other suggestions.

 

That's a shame.

 

Kazu.... Thanks for the idea,seemed very strange to me but we haven't sailed for 8 years so anything is possible in this day and age

Danny

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sadly there will be no dining options from 7:30 - 8 in the main dining room.

You can try and request a fixed dining time of 8 -- but reading what the notification says -- many people have already requested that time. So it might be difficult.

That is why they suggested the Lido -- which closes at 8 or one of the 2 pay for restaurants.

Otherwise you have to be in Open Seating by 6:30 at the latest.

[Lizzie68]

Oh my, that's awful! Open dining as long as you dine by 6:30 - that's just so not right.

[Cruising-along]

As someone who prefers Open Dining on all my cruises, this is not good!! This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this. I sure hope it isn't a glimpse of the future. :(

[propwash]

I've emailed my HAL PCC to ask why and what's next. I said that after paying full list price for 2 Neptune suites, it is a BIG BLOW to our cruise. Need to see reply.

Danny

[kazu]

I've emailed my HAL PCC to ask why and what's next. I said that after paying full list price for 2 Neptune suites, it is a BIG BLOW to our cruise. Need to see reply.

Danny

 

If you are in a Neptune Suite, you are supposed to get preferred dining.

 

That might open the door for you to get fixed dining at 8 pm.

 

You can always get a few snacks from the Neptune Lounge to hold you over if you are hungry :)

 

Do let us know how you make out please?

[peaches from georgia]

Maybe I'm missing something, but this makes no sense to me. I don't think HAL has told the whole story about what's going on. Is it just this one cruise? :confused:

[VTcruisenut]

Sadly there will be no dining options from 7:30 - 8 in the main dining room.

You can try and request a fixed dining time of 8 -- but reading what the notification says -- many people have already requested that time. So it might be difficult.

That is why they suggested the Lido -- which closes at 8 or one of the 2 pay for restaurants.

Otherwise you have to be in Open Seating by 6:30 at the latest.

 

So do I understand this right- if you choose open dining, you have to go before 6:30? So if we want later, we should choose the late dining option? We haven't cruised since 2011 and I am sure a lot of things have changed!

[cbr663]

So do I understand this right- if you choose open dining, you have to go before 6:30? So if we want later, we should choose the late dining option? We haven't cruised since 2011 and I am sure a lot of things have changed!

 

This change is for the ms Westerdam sailing January 17, 2015 only. The rest of the fleet and sailings are business as usual.

[buckirj1]

So, according to HAL, open dining means the paying customer can eat whenever she wants, provided it's within two 90-minute windows of the cruiseline's choosing? This is unacceptable, and could very well be a dealbreaker in any decision I might make regarding sailing HAL should this become a regular occurrence. For now, I'll chalk it up as a one-off on one particular cruise, but will be watching closely to see if this nonsense is repeated.

[sppunk]

I'd cancel this cruise immediately. Or at least demand a very large OBC.

 

Is there a large group on Westerdam? This is flat-out absurd. And makes no logical sense. Fixed dining can only seat xx people, regardless of how many request it. When it's full, it's full and everyone gets pushed to open dining.

 

Something's not right here. At all.

[LoveyHowell]

Many report that Lido stops replenishing by 7:15-7:30 timeframe as they start to break it down that early. So realistically unless you are at the Lido by 7PM you aren't likely to get freshly prepared food and have a relaxing dinner without being rushed out.

 

Maybe they could start offering blue plate specials at specialty from 3PM - 430Pm to entice people in early.

[sppunk]

Many report that Lido stops replenishing by 7:15-7:30 timeframe as they start to break it down that early. So realistically unless you are at the Lido by 7PM you aren't likely to get freshly prepared food and have a relaxing dinner without being rushed out.

 

Maybe they could start offering blue plate specials at specialty from 3PM - 430Pm to entice people in early.

This is true; by 7:30 they begin shutting down. On our September cruise on Rotterdam we wanted to grab an appetizer one night and went up at 7:40 or so and there was only an entree and desert open. It's absolutely absurd of a solution. Again, something's not right here.

[PathfinderEss]

Oh my, that's awful! Open dining as long as you dine by 6:30 - that's just so not right.

 

I agree.

[peaches from georgia]

Is there a large group on this cruise that may be taking over the open dining MDR level at 8pm? That's what it sounds like to me. Otherwise that level would be empty from 8pm on after the 5-6:30 open dining diners have finished their meal if no further pax can do open dining. And since it's only this one cruise I will bet that regular pax are again being terribly inconvenienced for the benefit of a group and sent to the Lido. Is anyone booked on this cruise demanding some answers? :mad:

[MarshDwellers]

We are on the Jan 17 sailing, open dining, and did NOT receive the message.

[kazu]

We are on the Jan 17 sailing, open dining, and did NOT receive the message.

 

Not good. Did you book with HAL or through a TA? If through a TA you might want to make sure they are not in possession of an email that they haven't sent you yet.

[propwash]

I've emailed my HAL PCC to ask why and what's next. I said that after paying full list price for 2 Neptune suites, it is a BIG BLOW to our cruise. Need to see reply.

Danny

 

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

WHAT BS!!!!! I paid full list price on 2 Neptune Suites and this is what I get?

I'm REALLY peeved.

Danny

[propwash]

Is there a large group on this cruise that may be taking over the open dining MDR level at 8pm? That's what it sounds like to me. Otherwise that level would be empty from 8pm on after the 5-6:30 open dining diners have finished their meal if no further pax can do open dining. And since it's only this one cruise I will bet that regular pax are again being terribly inconvenienced for the benefit of a group and sent to the Lido. Is anyone booked on this cruise demanding some answers? :mad:

 

 

Please see my response above

Danny

Edited January 7, 2015 by propwash

[cruz chic]

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

WHAT BS!!!!! I paid full list price on 2 Neptune Suites and this is what I get?

I'm REALLY peeved.

Danny

 

I don't blame you. That's total bs. Nice way to treat people :rolleyes:.

[hmorrow]

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

WHAT BS!!!!! I paid full list price on 2 Neptune Suites and this is what I get?

I'm REALLY peeved.

Danny

 

I'd be talking to someone up the "food chain" ha ha

 

We're on a 31 day cruise in April and are wait listed for main(8pm), but currently have open

I don't want to eat at 6:30 or in the lido

It IS bs

I hope you can get it resolved

Helaine

[bshow]

Why does a huge group need to have same dining time? Do they all go to some other special meeting before or after dinner? I wonder what else is disrupted?

[kazu]

Here's the reply from my HAL PCC;

 

I am sorry Danny this is the 1st I am hearing and yes as I just called the ship services department they are saying a huge group is taking up the entirety of the restaurant, you can make reservations when you get on the ship for 6:30 with the concierge but that is the latest for the restaurant area. I have never seen this happen, very sorry Danny!

 

WHAT BS!!!!! I paid full list price on 2 Neptune Suites and this is what I get?

I'm REALLY peeved.

Danny

 

I don't blame you one bit. I'd be peeved too.

 

I'd probably be more than peeved and I would probably be complaining to a higher authority.