HAL considering no longer offering set seatings at dinner

[Topsham]

It's only on Quantum class ships and will not be deployed on any other ships. The "set" times in those ships is called. Dynamic Dining Classic. It involves prebooking in a set order rotation amongst complimentary restaurants.

 

 

QUOTE]

 

 

 

Call it a different name but in fact all it is call it FIXED DINING. Duh!

 

Do the same thing on HAL..... call it any name.... in the end... if you can pre-book then it is FIXED DINING! All it does is put in your requested table... but in any dining room... and everyone sitting at your table get up and leaves and new diner comes to you table while you are dining? Yuk! They had better make all tables to table for two! It become a mess. If your veggie and meatloaf are cooked at 5pm and you MIGHT get your at 9.30. Nice and fresh!!!!

 

If you are going to have all of these options.... you need many dining options, not just Pinnacle, Tarindnd MDR. You need at least several... and smaller rooms. Take the MDR and change it as P&O have done on STATENDAM to PACIFIC EDEN. That makes sense.

[sppunk]

If you can make a standing reservation, I don't see the big deal.

[3rdGenCunarder]

It's only on Quantum class ships and will not be deployed on any other ships. The "set" times in those ships is called. Dynamic Dining Classic. It involves prebooking in a set order rotation amongst complimentary restaurants.

 

 

QUOTE]

 

 

 

Call it a different name but in fact all it is call it FIXED DINING. Duh!

 

Do the same thing on HAL..... call it any name.... in the end... if you can pre-book then it is FIXED DINING! All it does is put in your requested table... but in any dining room... and everyone sitting at your table get up and leaves and new diner comes to you table while you are dining? Yuk! They had better make all tables to table for two! It become a mess. If your veggie and meatloaf are cooked at 5pm and you MIGHT get your at 9.30. Nice and fresh!!!!

 

If you are going to have all of these options.... you need many dining options, not just Pinnacle, Tarindnd MDR. You need at least several... and smaller rooms. Take the MDR and change it as P&O have done on STATENDAM to PACIFIC EDEN. That makes sense.

 

My understanding is that Dynamic Dining classic is a way to reserve the same time throughout the cruise, but they send you to different restaurants each night (on a 4-night rotation). I don't know if your whole "table" travels as a group. Somebody who's been on Disney told me they have a version of this, and you go to a different restaurant each night (I don't know how many) and everyone at your table will be together every night and your waiters move, too. So you have the variety of different restaurants and can still have your same waiters every night. I find this hard to believe, but that's what I was told. (I would think it's a lot easier to just change the menu each night, but what do I know??)

 

BTW, the friend who sailed on Quantum said it was the best cruise food she'd had. She thought that since there were multiple kitchens for multiple restaurants more food was cooked to order, less pre-cook and hold.

[boscobeans]

 

BTW, the friend who sailed on Quantum said it was the best cruise food she'd had. She thought that since there were multiple kitchens for multiple restaurants more food was cooked to order, less pre-cook and hold.

 

It would be hard to provide cooked to order meals for one, two or three hundred diners without pre-cook and hold meals without huge kitchen staffs that most cruise ships do not have.

 

Consider the Quantum of the Seas and how it can feed over 4,000 passengers. Hard to imagine no heat lamps keeping lines of pre-plated meals hot for waiters gathering 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 different orders for the same table to be served at the same time..

 

OMO

 

bosco

[POA1]

If you can make a standing reservation, I don't see the big deal.

Isn't that just a variation on fixed dining? Call it "I want to eat at a specific time every night, just not one of the two standard ones." That's probably a little long. How about "Floating Fixed," or "My Way Dammit." :D

Edited August 19, 2015 by POA1

[sppunk]

Isn't that just a variation on fixed dining? Call it "I want to eat at a specific time every night, just not one of the two standard ones." That's probably a little long. How about "Floating Fixed," or "My Way Dammit." :D

 

Works for me! Making standing reservations is ideal as you can work around entertainment. Eating at 5:30 is insanely early, eating at 8 makes you miss most showroom entertainment times.

Edited August 19, 2015 by sppunk

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Is HAL considering doing away with the set seating dinner option?

 

Right now early seating is typically 5:45 p.m with main seating at 8 p.m.

 

We are scheduled on the Koningsdam next year, and were told our only option right now is open seating.

 

So I asked HAL last week and the reservationist said they were considering only having As You Wish open dining, and were considering just trying this out on Koningsdam next year before rolling it out across the fleet, but of course that could change.

 

Has anyone booked on Koningsdam in 2016 been given either early or main seating in the MDR?

 

We like the set 8:00pm dining because we always have a table waiting for us, but confess to doing open seating on all other cruise lines.

 

HI Jade to Answer your question or at least the question you are trying to ask with all the other topics happening in this tread.... Most often on any HAL cruise if your cruise is part of a Collectors Series such as you are doing a 10 out of a 21 day...or many of the Europe cruises that people do combined segments ALL dining is only available in the beginning for OPEN only and at that time you place your preference. You will later be assigned your preference. It is easier for HAL to see what is being preferred in advance and assign accordingly later. I have yet to see someone NOT get their dining choice. When the sailing was release there was never a choice. This has been common practice of HAL for about 3 years now.

[sail7seas]

It's only on Quantum class ships and will not be deployed on any other ships. The "set" times in those ships is called. Dynamic Dining Classic. It involves prebooking in a set order rotation amongst complimentary restaurants.

 

 

QUOTE]

 

 

 

Call it a different name but in fact all it is call it FIXED DINING. Duh!

 

Do the same thing on HAL..... call it any name.... in the end... if you can pre-book then it is FIXED DINING! All it does is put in your requested table... but in any dining room... and everyone sitting at your table get up and leaves and new diner comes to you table while you are dining? Yuk! They had better make all tables to table for two! It become a mess. If your veggie and meatloaf are cooked at 5pm and you MIGHT get your at 9.30. Nice and fresh!!!!

 

If you are going to have all of these options.... you need many dining options, not just Pinnacle, Tarindnd MDR. You need at least several... and smaller rooms. Take the MDR and change it as P&O have done on STATENDAM to PACIFIC EDEN. That makes sense.

 

I never thought I'd be among those who liked Freestyle but I surprised myself by really enjoying going from one restaurant to another on Dawn. We dined in the Italian, French, Steakhouse, MDR........ We had reservations at varying times and I really liked it. We were seated promptly on arrival and the variety was good. :)

 

I cede my former position as the person who would be last to prefer Late Traditional. Someone else must take up that rally now. :)

 

[JB&JLG74]

They tend to do this for cruises that are still far from sailing. I have been in that position twice and our travel agent was still able to get us confirmed for late seating and sent me the HAL confirmation (from their own internal system) even though their website still showed us as Open Seating. At some point later and closer to the cruise, the correct seating just showed up our reservation page.

 

I agree. We always book our next cruise while onboard to get the OBC. Late seating is a deal breaker. If the system shows only open seating available, we require the FCC to contact HQ ad confirm late fixed before we book. I think that initially there is a limited number of fixed and then the system only shows open available even though there is still (unallocated) space for fixed.

[POA1]

I cede my former position as the person who would be last to prefer Late Traditional. Someone else must take up that rally now. :)

 

 

Consider it covered. :)

Edited August 19, 2015 by POA1

[Cruising-along]

Works for me! Making standing reservations is ideal as you can work around entertainment. Eating at 5:30 is insanely early, eating at 8 makes you miss most showroom entertainment times.

 

Exactly. "My Way Dammit" works for me too.

[dakrewser]

I cede my former position as the person who would be last to prefer Late Traditional. Someone else must take up that rally now. :)

 

 

I'll take it up. Fixed dining means one less thing to worry about. Late/main dining is closer to my choice on land. They'll have to drag me, kicking and screaming, from the upper level MDR....;)

[wander]

When I am cruising alone or with only my DH, while I prefer fixed seating, the open seating option was fun as well. However, when cruising with a group of 4-8 who want to eat together, fixed works much better IMO. Yes you can request a set time for each day, but it is still more of a hassle in my experience. PLUS - just think if everyone had to do Open Seating the competition for certain times and/or certain table configurations on a daily basis could be quite difficult.

[solocanadian]

Isn't that just a variation on fixed dining? Call it "I want to eat at a specific time every night, just not one of the two standard ones." That's probably a little long. How about "Floating Fixed," or "My Way Dammit." :D

I really like the "My Way Dammnit".:D

[solocanadian]

I find it strange that my May 2016 cruise Vancouver/Seward/Vancouver (14) days say my dining preference of main is waitlisted.:mad:

Edited August 19, 2015 by solocanadian

[Boytjie]

I cede my former position as the person who would be last to prefer Late Traditional. Someone else must take up that rally now. :)

 

Welcome to the Dark Side! :D

[edgeman61]

We booked the Koningsdam 11N S Caribbean Wayfarer for 3/1/2017.

 

The only dining option was open but the agent waitlisted us for late traditional. We'll see what happens as we get closer to the sail date.

[LMaxwell]

I doubt they are getting rid of fixed dining times. Maybe juggle times, have 3 staggered seatings instead of 2 back to back ones. But not eliminate

[POA1]

I doubt they are getting rid of fixed dining times. Maybe juggle times, have 3 staggered seatings instead of 2 back to back ones. But not eliminate

There used to be 4 fixed seating times, but none were between 6:30 and 7:30. Apparently there's a large contingent that want those time slots. And they don't mind a wait.

 

Nationally, 7 o'clock is the most popular restaurant reservation time.

[retiredkid]

 

My understanding is that Dynamic Dining classic is a way to reserve the same time throughout the cruise, but they send you to different restaurants each night (on a 4-night rotation). I don't know if your whole "table" travels as a group. Somebody who's been on Disney told me they have a version of this, and you go to a different restaurant each night (I don't know how many) and everyone at your table will be together every night and your waiters move, too. So you have the variety of different restaurants and can still have your same waiters every night. I find this hard to believe, but that's what I was told. (I would think it's a lot easier to just change the menu each night, but what do I know??)

 

BTW, the friend who sailed on Quantum said it was the best cruise food she'd had. She thought that since there were multiple kitchens for multiple restaurants more food was cooked to order, less pre-cook and hold.

 

Kathy, Disney Cruise Line is our favourite line because of the rotational dining. It is fixed dining (early or late) and they have three themed dining rooms. When you board, the dining rooms are listed on your room card. Your servers and table mates travel along with you. The menu changes each night, but is the same in all three dining rooms. Several evenings, (remember, this is Disney) there is some sort of show with the servers or Disney characters. We travel just the two of us (73 & 66) and smile the entire time.

Edited August 19, 2015 by retiredkid

[rafinmd]

It seems very often that many cruise lines (including HAL) will only offer flexible seating, even way in advance. Usually a chat with the dining room manager will find a place in fixed once on board. That happened to me on my January Maasdam cruise.

 

Roy

[USN59-79]

While we always choose fixed early dining, lets consider this from the position of the wait staff. Don't you think they can perform better and are much more likely to get extra tips if they serve the same people at the same table every night?

[cruz chic]

While we always choose fixed early dining, lets consider this from the position of the wait staff. Don't you think they can perform better and are much more likely to get extra tips if they serve the same people at the same table every night?

 

I don't think there would be any reason to preform better. I've had some very good waiters in open and some poor ones in traditional. They do rotate them often. I do agree that they are likely to get more additional tips in traditional.

[Hlitner]

HAL has never been known as an innovator or quick decision maker :). So if they are "considering" a move to a total Open Sitting model one suspects that it might happen by the 22nd century (which is probably when they will ban smoking). But seriously, we think it would be an awful idea for the longer cruisers that tend to attract an older (an understatement) crowd. Many of these folks would probably start queuing up by 3:30 so they could be the first to eat dinner (at a time the Spanish eat lunch).

 

What we find interesting is that on HAL Grand Cruises they line traditionally does not even offer any open sitting option.

 

Hank

[zackiedawg]

I cede my former position as the person who would be last to prefer Late Traditional. Someone else must take up that rally now. :)

 

I'll take that position, and might indeed be the last to want and defend late traditional fixed dining. I have no interest in freestyle/et al...I get that at home, and when I go out to restaurants, or travel off-ship - when I'm on a cruise, I love that fixed late seating dining. And always late - because I hate coming back from various ports or stops where you board the ship or sailaway is in that 4pm - 6pm range, which is probably a large majority of them especially in the Caribbean, and having to sit at dinner for sailaway, or rush back from a port to make the dinner time - the late seating works much better for me, is more relaxing, and lets me have cool-down and changing time after a day at the ports before thinking about dinner...and I'm a late nighter anyway, so I rarely go to bed before 2am.

 

 

If you can make a standing reservation, I don't see the big deal.

 

Well, for me the big deal is this: I don't just want a standing reservation for a certain time in a dining room where everyone around me will be different every night...I like the overall atmosphere of having the same people at my table, all of whom often become friends or contacts after the cruise, I like seeing the same people at the tables around me, especially if they're funny, I like having the same waitstaff that gets to know my drinks, my preferences, things on the menu I don't eat, etc. So just having a standing reservation for 8pm every night still takes away those other aspects that I thoroughly enjoy about fixed seating dining rooms.