Early Dining and Port Times

[apatchetear]

We have early dining at 6 on the Dream in November. My concern is that some of our port times are from 10-6. Do they allow flexibility for those that make use of all available port time and still have to have time to get ready for dinner?

 

I know an option is Your Time Dining, but can anyone give advice on if it is good or bad?

 

We like the personalized services in the traditional fixed time dining: your waiters know you by name, know what you like etc. Do the services compare in the Your Time Dining option?

 

Suggestions?

[barneco]

Just a quick comment. If the ship is supposed to leave at 6:00 PM, then they request everyone be back on by 5:30 PM. You might be a bit rushed, but you will usually have time to get ready for dinner.

 

Barry

[ready2cruzagain]

We have early dining at 6 on the Dream in November. My concern is that some of our port times are from 10-6. Do they allow flexibility for those that make use of all available port time and still have to have time to get ready for dinner?

 

I know an option is Your Time Dining, but can anyone give advice on if it is good or bad?

 

We like the personalized services in the traditional fixed time dining: your waiters know you by name, know what you like etc. Do the services compare in the Your Time Dining option?

 

Suggestions?

 

There is no lee way given for ones that stay at the port till the last minute then want to go to early dining.

 

 

If the ship departs at 6pm and if your dining time is at 6pm then you should be at the dining room at 6pm. Give or take a couple of minutes is okay but to make others wait, (if you are sitting at a table with more than just you), is rude. Also, if you are at a table for just the two of you, you will throw your waiter off if you show up 30 to 45 minutes late.

 

Been through this several times where people at our table would show up 30 to 45 minutes late. Not fair to the ones that make it on time.

 

I would suggest that if you do not like ATD to go with Late Seating.

[riffatsea]

Hi,

We only do Your Time Dining these days.

IF we like the wait staff the first night then we ask for them every night after that. On our last cruise we had the same table and the same staff every night.

They got to know all of our little preferences and were quite wonderful! We have done this for our last 3 cruises and were always able to get the same staff . You just ask for them either by name or by the number of your table and you will have them too.

That way you don't have to worry about being exactly on time from port for early dining.

On the other hand when the ship is in port until 6PM you don't have to stay on land that whole time. You can come back earlier so you won't be the last ones back on board!

[apatchetear]

Thanks for the comments. We knew we had to be back on board at 5:30. I was just unsure of how the ordering and such went in the set dining time. We have been on time and others came in late and the waiters just took our order, then got the others orders when they came in. I really didn't know how all that worked.

 

We do like to be punctual and not late. I always say if I am going to be late, I will just not go.

 

We do not like to eat late either so the late dining won't work for us.

 

We may try Your Time Dining this time and see what it is like.

 

Can you get a table for 2 at Your Time Dining? Is Your Time Dining similar to the setup for Sea Day Brunch?

[barneco]

I certainly agree about being late for dinner. Of course, it does depend on how large a table you are at. We had one time in Curacao where our excursion got back late. We were at a table for 4 with my brother and his wife. I went to tell them (my wife was getting dressed), right at 6:00, we would just eat on Lido. Our waiter said he could take care of us, so we got there around 30-45 minutes late.

 

Luckily, for us it worked out, but we would definitely not want to inconvenience others and the wait staff.

 

Barry

[riffatsea]

Yes, we always get a table for 2 for ourselves at YTD.

You can either get the table for 2 or ask to sit with others or choose to sit with folks who you meet during the cruise.

We like to socialize on board but we prefer to eat by ourselves. It is like going to a restaurant anywhere. You come to the restaurant and tell the person who will seat you what sort of table you want. They will ask for your cabin number so they know who you are. You will have to get YTD instead of early as you cannot change back and forth.

Edited April 8, 2015 by riffatsea

[ccruisequeen]

I was lucky. I was seated with a couple who was also doing YTD, and we got along so well, we sat together the entire cruise!

 

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[Sparky2]

If you have assigned dining and will be late due to a port, you can always go to the buffet for that one meal.