YTD vs Assigned Seating on the Pride

[DonAntonio]

Hello! I'm will be going on my third cruise aboard the Pride at the end of May (Yay!). I'm pretty excited, but I did have a question about dining options. I've read a few posts by people who have been aboard the Pride recently who have talked about their experiences in the dining room. They mentioned that the service for Your Time Dining was a bit lacking for them. There is only one dining room aboard the Pride, with two levels. It sounds like the assigned seating diners are on the lower level, while YTD is on the upper level. People have said that the waiters focused most of their time on the lower level, which meant that the YTD diners on the upper level sometimes had long wait times to see menus, get refills, etc.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has a similar, or different, perception? Cruisers who have been on the Pride, what was you experience? Did you do YTD or assigned, and how was the service?

[SadieN]

Problem with the Spirit class MDRs is that they are two stories and the galley is below them. The lower level waiters go down one set of escalators, the upper waitstaff goes on two.

 

Another thing to consider is when you go to dinner. Do you go when the lines are crowded? We've had not much of a wait when we go at an off time, ie we're ordering when the assigned pax have already been served.

 

A third issue is when 5 couples sit at tables of two at the same waiter station. The waiters will treat it as one table, lengthily the meal.

Edited April 3, 2015 by SadieN

[lettienets]

I just got off 14 day Pride cruise on Sun, Tampa to Baltimore. Had late fixed dining at 8:15 pm, table with 7 people. We were usually were done by 945pm. (entertainment usually started between 10-10:30) Two of our waiters were table dancers in dining room and had to hurry. We had Ken Byrne the singing maitre d too. Some men at our table had 2-3 starters and 2 dinners. I thought our waiters were really quick under the circumstances. It was fine with us.

Edited April 3, 2015 by lettienets

[south-carolinagirl]

We had ATD earlier this month on the Pride. I thought service was good and fast, only thing I didn't care for was when the waiters dance they do so downstairs only, so we would get up and look down over the railing to watch. Also, didn't care for the closed in booths, felt kind of claustrophobic.

[bigdog1958]

I just got off 14 day Pride cruise on Sun, Tampa to Baltimore. Had late fixed dining at 8:15 pm, table with 7 people. We were usually were done by 945pm. (entertainment usually started between 10-10:30) Two of our waiters were table dancers in dining room and had to hurry. We had Ken Byrne the singing maitre d too. Some men at our table had 2-3 starters and 2 dinners. I thought our waiters were really quick under the circumstances. It was fine with us.

 

We were also on he 14 day pride cruise and we had 8 at our table, and most of the time we were done in 1hr and 30min.. we did not see any issues with getting our food. Also, our waiters also danced some nights, so the dancing does not just occur on the lower level. Overall, I did not see any difference in service between the your time dining and assigned dining I have had in the past. In fact on our last cruise with assigned dining, we did not care for our wait staff, but were stuck with them all week. At least with your time dining, you can change wait staff each night, or request the one you like.

[angela12345]

We were on Pride at the end of Feb with any time dining. Unfortunately, our group always wanted to go at one of the most popular times to dine, right about 7:30-ish usually. Plus we always had a big group, from 6-12+ each night. Btw, there are no tables that seat that many, the most we had was one night with 10 at an 8 top. They asked us if we didn't mind being a little closer they could add 2 chairs to an 8 top round. It was fine, I didn't feel overly squashed. Our wait to be seated was anywhere from 10-30 mins, sometimes almost immediately.

 

I thought the dining service went pretty fast. But honestly, I did not keep up at all with how long the total service time was. Our menus were given to us as we were seated. I don't remember ever being out of water. I did not order any mixed drinks or wine with dinner, I would bring my own glass with me into the dining room. We were rarely waiting more than a few minutes in between courses. (also, I am not one of those super fast eaters)

 

Your waiters will only be waiting on your section, they will not have tables both upstairs and downstairs. So, no worry about them focusing on their downstairs tables more.

 

We loved Ken, thought he was great. He has one 'schtick' ... Frank Sinatra style. If you don't like Sinatra, you won't like his singing. We do and did. Some of our waiters that we really liked were Sean John (sp?) he was our favorite. He waited on us at the 8/10 top near the entry door. Ken told me later in the cruise that he always gets lots of positive comments. We really liked Haylee, and also liked Elder, they waited on us by the windows. There was only one we didn't like very much, don't remember his name.

[audcc77]

Does anyone have a fast and/or favorite ATD wait team on the Pride ?

 

Thanks :)

[DonAntonio]

Thanks all for the replies! I think the GF and I will stick with YTD. It sounds like the service can be kind of hit or miss, but that can also be the case with assigned time dining. Plus, we're going to be on a cruise, it's not like a slow dinner would ruin the trip :D

 

And while I don't know that I would wait longer to be seated with a particular staff, I would be curious to know if anyone developed a favorite, as audcc77's is wondering.

[BigRed93]

How long is Ken Byrne going to be on Pride? I thought he was just on for the repo, but it seems like longer. Will I still get to hear him sing at the end of May?

It's still a long way away for Vista. LOL

 

 

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[BigRed93]

DonAntonio, sorry I went off track.

I think you will be fine with whatever option sounds best to you. I personally like late assigned seating, but have done ATD, and it was fine. The flexibility of eating when you are ready and not when you're told, and also deciding whether to eat alone or with a large group both have their draws.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[KatRat416]

It's been almost a year since I was on the Pride, but we did YTD and didn't have problems. One night was a little slow but the waiter was apologetic and it wasn't that big of a deal, we had nice conversation while we waited and since it was our last night anyway we weren't in any hurry.

[cb at sea]

The food and service is really about the same...no matter which type of seating you choose. You're on vacation! So far, I've never had to miss anything due to dinnertime! Sometimes we linger and chat with our table mates (yes..we enjoy others!)...and still, we have plenty of time to do everything we want! There's no rush...it's all good!

Edited April 4, 2015 by cb at sea

[Izzybee]

As for waiting for a particular service crew when doing ATD, we did this on the Pride last year. The whole service crew was awesome, fun loving and treated my 12 year old daughter like a princess. We ended up asking to be in their section every night, and by the third day we didn't even have to ask. We made sure they got extra money at the end of the trip, since they really made our vacation special.

[Kel040]

How long is Ken Byrne going to be on Pride? I thought he was just on for the repo, but it seems like longer. Will I still get to hear him sing at the end of May?

It's still a long way away for Vista. LOL

 

 

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Yes, we are on the Pride next week and I asked JH the same question and was told Ken will be on the Pride till September ! We are looking forward to hearing him too !! :D

[audcc77]

I am on the Pride tomorrow. That's why I wanted to know a good team.

 

We were last there 5 years ago and that is what made me schedule your time dining. We had assigned seating 5 yrs ago and the service was awful and we were stuck with cold and slow food every night, despite my talking to the maitre'd. I finally just gave up. I vowed never to do assigned dining after that.

 

I have requested specific waiters thanks to people here who have made suggestions and have had some pretty great wait teams.

[josmith77]

Our group of 8 did any time dining and rarely had to wait more than 20 minutes. They gave us a buzzer and we walked over to the bar which made the time fly by. There was one night where they had to split our group up into two nearby booths, but they delivered free desserts to our room the next morning with an apology note. None of us had even cared!

 

We were very happy with any time dining and would do it again.

[KevInPitt]

How long is Ken Byrne going to be on Pride? I thought he was just on for the repo, but it seems like longer. Will I still get to hear him sing at the end of May?

It's still a long way away for Vista. LOL

 

 

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Yes, we are on the Pride next week and I asked JH the same question and was told Ken will be on the Pride till September ! We are looking forward to hearing him too !! :D

 

I will be sad to miss Ken if he is indeed moving on after September. He has been very cordial and helpful, both on our cruise last year and in plans for our upcoming cruise this October.

[mitsugirly]

We just got off the Pride 2 weeks ago and we didn't find that the staff was lacking in the YTD areas. I guess I wasn't even aware that they had to go down 2 flights to the galley to get things. They had the timing right on just about everything and the food flowed nicely. I have to admit, they were even quick with our drinks too (unlike NCL).

 

Each staff is assigned an area and they wait on that area. So if you have a staff covering your area, they are not also running down to wait on people in the dining below you. So that's not an issue of giving more attention to them. We would watch our waiter at the booth and running back and forth. He would scan the area in between serving to see if anyone needed help. He was great. :) Even spoke to us and called us by name when we seen him outside of the dining room.

[audcc77]

Does anyone have a fast and/or favorite ATD wait team on the Pride ?

 

Thanks :)

 

I'm back to answer my own question. We were fortunate to have 2 very wonderful waiters a few weeks ago.

 

2 names are "Elder" and "Stanimir" a/k/a Stan. Both did a great job. Food was hot and we had hardly any waiting at all. Our water glasses were filled without asking.

 

My absolute favorite was Elder b/c he was singing all the time & very happy.

[angela12345]

I'm back to answer my own question. We were fortunate to have 2 very wonderful waiters a few weeks ago.

 

2 names are "Elder" and "Stanimir" a/k/a Stan. Both did a great job. Food was hot and we had hardly any waiting at all. Our water glasses were filled without asking.

 

My absolute favorite was Elder b/c he was singing all the time & very happy.

 

Some of our waiters that we really liked were Sean John (sp?) he was our favorite. He waited on us at the 8/10 top near the entry door. Ken told me later in the cruise that he always gets lots of positive comments. We really liked Haylee, and also liked Elder, they waited on us by the windows. There was only one we didn't like very much, don't remember his name.

 

We really liked Elder too !