Time to get organized HAL

[1of4]

Booking a cruise a year in advance and on e-docs we are still waitlisted for early dinner. The e-docs say anytime dining. :mad:

 

We were told that they always waitlist and as the cruise gets closer they assign tables. Apparently not.

 

We had anytime dining on Princess and hated it. Now I was pregnant at the time and had to eat early. The service was awful (we were ignored while waiters sat at tables around us and talked). I left in tears most nights and we were in no way demanding.

 

So that tainted me for anytime dining. I hope HAL does it better. But I am bitterly disappointed that we will not know until we board. I am usually stressed by just flying to the USA and this will just add to it.

[jtl513]

You can turn Open Seating into Fixed by making reservations. On some ships we've had to do it every 3 days, but on our last cruise (on the Nieuw A) after the 2nd night they automatically sent us a card every day that the table was "assigned but not guaranteed" (or something to that effect) even on nights when we had told them in advance that we would be going to a specialty restaurant instead.

 

In our experience service in Open seating is no better or worse than what we had in Fixed in the past. We haven't done Fixed in six years and would never go back to it. :)

 

Edited February 21, 2015 by jtl513

[POA1]

Booking a cruise a year in advance and on e-docs we are still waitlisted for early dinner. The e-docs say anytime dining. :mad:

 

We were told that they always waitlist and as the cruise gets closer they assign tables. Apparently not.

 

We had anytime dining on Princess and hated it. Now I was pregnant at the time and had to eat early. The service was awful (we were ignored while waiters sat at tables around us and talked). I left in tears most nights and we were in no way demanding.

 

So that tainted me for anytime dining. I hope HAL does it better. But I am bitterly disappointed that we will not know until we board. I am usually stressed by just flying to the USA and this will just add to it.

I'd call. We were wait listed many months out, but when we called, we got our desired late fixed seating.

[Cruising-along]

We do the same, and our experience is the same as jtl's. We love open seating! Service has been just as good, and we get to know our servers. We haven't done fixed dining since HAL started Open Dining.

[jtl513]

We do the same, and our experience is the same as jtl's. We love open seating! Service has been just as good, and we get to know our servers. We haven't done fixed dining since HAL started Open Dining.

Seems to me that you and I agree on a lot of things! :D

[jhannah]

The service was awful (we were ignored while waiters sat at tables around us and talked). I left in tears most nights and we were in no way demanding.

Wow! I thought this would get the stewards fired. We have a friend (dining room steward) on Princess who was extra caution about joining us (when off duty) for a visit. This person wouldn't sit down to not appear too "casual" in front of guests.

 

Did you speak with the dining room manager, or higher, about your issues?

[solocanadian]

I'd call. We were wait listed many months out, but when we called, we got our desired late fixed seating.

I agree with POA1. Call Mariner's Society today 1-800-547-9139. West Coast Gail.

[1of4]

Wow! I thought this would get the stewards fired. We have a friend (dining room steward) on Princess who was extra caution about joining us (when off duty) for a visit. This person wouldn't sit down to not appear too "casual" in front of guests.

 

Did you speak with the dining room manager, or higher, about your issues?

 

This was 10 years ago so I hope we hit a quirk. We had assigned dining and it was confirmed in writing but when we got our room cards it was written as open. We went to the dining room manager and he said there was nothing he could do, even when I explained that I was 10 weeks pregnant (we wanted to cancel when we found out as my pregnancies were high risk but Princess would not allow us). He told us to come to the dining room at 5:00 and wait.

 

Since this was our anniversary we wanted a table for 2 since it was open dining. They made it difficult and made us wait and then sat us in an empty part of the room. It looked like a closed section. It was insulting. Nobody would help until the people on the balcony above us told us they had two empty seats at their early set table. They checked for us and then invites us to join them.

 

Now DH is angry as I just told him. So it is just not me who had a bad experience. We bought the platinum insurance and he is thinking of cancelling. That is how bad our experience was.

 

POA thank you. I will call.

[shanni-shanni]

Booking a cruise a year in advance and on e-docs we are still waitlisted for early dinner. The e-docs say anytime dining. :mad:

 

We were told that they always waitlist and as the cruise gets closer they assign tables. Apparently not.

 

We had anytime dining on Princess and hated it. Now I was pregnant at the time and had to eat early. The service was awful (we were ignored while waiters sat at tables around us and talked). I left in tears most nights and we were in no way demanding.

 

So that tainted me for anytime dining. I hope HAL does it better. But I am bitterly disappointed that we will not know until we board. I am usually stressed by just flying to the USA and this will just add to it.

 

Something is missing here.

 

I booked the same cruise a month ago and got assigned fixed early dining immediately. My personal cruise consultant arranged that.

 

I would definitely check with whomever you booked the cruise with.

 

Tom

[Cruising-along]

Seems to me that you and I agree on a lot of things! :D

 

It does seem so! :D Guarantee cabins, open dining, just off the top of my head. :D

[1of4]

I'd call. We were wait listed many months out, but when we called, we got our desired late fixed seating.

 

I agree with POA1. Call Mariner's Society today 1-800-547-9139. West Coast Gail.

 

Who to call on the weekend? I called both the Mariner's Society and Ship Services and was told their hours are Monday to Friday?

[CowPrincess]

Who to call on the weekend? I called both the Mariner's Society and Ship Services and was told their hours are Monday to Friday?

 

Did you book with a TA? If so, see if the TA is working today.

 

Good luck! I completely understand your desire to have a fixed dining time.

 

BTW, I've never been told everyone gets waitlisted, and then assigned when the cruise date gets closer. Sounds like a bunch of hooey ;)

[summer slope]

We booked in January for a March 2016 cruise and have confirmed seating. As others have said, call Monday and verify.

[Boytjie]

We just got off the Regal Princess and for our charters all dining rooms are open seating. There were no problems with the service, even in the dining room that is usually fixed dining.

The same holds true for HAL where both levels are open dining for our charters.

[1of4]

I called HAL's general number (the only one that answers on the weekend) and was told early fixed is waitlisted and has been closed for some time.

 

I asked why, when we booked in early December 2013, we are still waitlisted. Telling me it is closed tells me that it was open to booking at some point.

 

I was told to call ship services on Monday.

 

Huge disappointment.

[dodo bird]

I just booked a 14-day cruise on the m/s Koningsdam for July 2016 and we are also on the waiting list for first seating. I am not impressed. :mad:

[boards]

We like opening seating and on our last cruise we went to dinner around the same time every night and we got the same table every night. It worked out very well for us, our servers and wine steward.

Edited February 21, 2015 by boards

[Stratheden]

We have booked with a TA over a year in advance and have always been able to select our preferred dining choice. Sounds a bit "off" to me. I would be having words with my TA.

[ithaca gal]

This was 10 years ago so I hope we hit a quirk. We had assigned dining and it was confirmed in writing but when we got our room cards it was written as open. We went to the dining room manager and he said there was nothing he could do, even when I explained that I was 10 weeks pregnant (we wanted to cancel when we found out as my pregnancies were high risk but Princess would not allow us). He told us to come to the dining room at 5:00 and wait.

 

Since this was our anniversary we wanted a table for 2 since it was open dining. They made it difficult and made us wait and then sat us in an empty part of the room. It looked like a closed section. It was insulting. Nobody would help until the people on the balcony above us told us they had two empty seats at their early set table. They checked for us and then invites us to join them.

 

Now DH is angry as I just told him. So it is just not me who had a bad experience. We bought the platinum insurance and he is thinking of cancelling. That is how bad our experience was.

 

POA thank you. I will call.

 

It sounds as if you are getting off to a bad start with this cruise. Perhaps it might not be a bad idea to cancel this one and start fresh with a new one. With "huge disappointment" and "angry" already into play, it doesn't bode well for a happy experience from the start.

[kazu]

I agree with POA1. Call Mariner's Society today 1-800-547-9139. West Coast Gail.

 

I think you mean shipboard services. They take care of this stuff

 

 

It sounds as if you are getting off to a bad start with this cruise. Perhaps it might not be a bad idea to cancel this one and start fresh with a new one. With "huge disappointment" and "angry" already into play, it doesn't bode well for a happy experience from the start.

 

Seriously? I am on the roll call for this cruise and I know how much work 1of4 has put into planning, creating and how much they have been looking forward to this cruise that had been planned for such a long time.

 

anyone is going to be upset at the beginning. It doesn't mean it will remain and tarnish the cruise. I'm glad 1 of4 got constructive advice from others and I agree with them. I think the dining aspect can be taken care of, now or onboard.

 

We're looking forward to cruising with the 4of4

[4friends]

We booked our upcoming April cruise 9 months in advance, directly with HAL. We were wait listed for late fixed dining. We have checked in recently and told we are still wait listed and will have our seating assignment when we board. This is the first time this has happened so I guess we will see how it goes.

[tamsno]

I also just booked Konigsdam August 2016, a one time Iceland cruise. The ship is quite full already and both early and my preferred late fixed dining were waitlisted. Only open dining was available. Was told it was a "short list." We'll see. This is by far the earliest I have ever booked.

[PathfinderEss]

Booking a cruise a year in advance and on e-docs we are still waitlisted for early dinner. The e-docs say anytime dining. :mad:

 

We were told that they always waitlist and as the cruise gets closer they assign tables. Apparently not.

 

We had anytime dining on Princess and hated it. Now I was pregnant at the time and had to eat early. The service was awful (we were ignored while waiters sat at tables around us and talked). I left in tears most nights and we were in no way demanding.

 

So that tainted me for anytime dining. I hope HAL does it better. But I am bitterly disappointed that we will not know until we board. I am usually stressed by just flying to the USA and this will just add to it.

 

I truly hope that you get the dinning time you want. I really don't get why Hal is wait listing this when you booked a cruise so early. To me it is just not feasible that they would wait list a cruise a year in advance for dinning. Just seems wrong to me. I do know on the first day of the cruise you can go see the dinning room manager and change your dinning to what you want, but why does Hal put its customers thru all this, is really beyond me.

[Hlitner]

We do not understand why HAL is doing this "wait listed" game. For us, it does not matter since we like to dine late (no earlier than 8pm) and used to Open Dining. But if we were trying to book a cruise and were not able to get what we wanted we would quickly not book (or cancel) and look elsewhere. There are many cruise lines in the world (we have only tried 14) and they all have their pros and cons. But booking a cruise and being unhappy before they even get your final payment is just being a bit of a masochist. So call HAL, tell them you want Early Seating (and you want it confirmed in writing) or you will immediately cancel the booking. If they accommodate your request then all is well, otherwise, find something else that is more responsive to your wants.

 

We have never understand those that complain but then continue to complete their booking. If you are not satisfied look elsewhere. In our case we are very unhappy with the HAL balcony smoking policy so decided to cancel an expensive booking and not consider any future bookings. It is called "voting with your dollars" and that is a language that most businesses understand.

 

Hank

Edited February 22, 2015 by Hlitner

[jkadventures]

I also just booked Konigsdam August 2016, a one time Iceland cruise. The ship is quite full already and both early and my preferred late fixed dining were waitlisted. Only open dining was available. Was told it was a "short list." We'll see. This is by far the earliest I have ever booked.

 

We also were looking to book a summer 2016 sailing on the Konigsdam and found open seating as the only option. I called Seattle and was told this was due to that sailing being part of a longer voyage. Further checking, however, revealed every sailing we looked at had the same open seating result. My guess is that HAL does not yet know how many tables will be available so everyone is pointed towards open seating. We are going to wait until construction is further along before putting any money down.