Any time dining or not for a group

[Mliddon]

I was not sure what size group we would have when I booked my cruise and selected ATD option. Now it looks like we might have as many as 8-10 people in my group. Is it easy to get a large table at any time dining? We are sailing on Carnival, if that makes a difference.

 

thanks for the input

[SuiteTraveler]

In general, on Carnival, this should not be a problem, but the bigger issue is how are you going to let everyone in the group know when dinner is? For that reason, a set time may be preferable or make a daily set time with the Anytime Dining room by letting the Maitre'd know when you will be dining there the next night. IMO, the only issue with Anytime Dining on Carnival is that the waiters dance at specific times and if you go anytime, you may actually completely miss this. But if you don't care about that, then Anytime Dining should be fine.

[Mliddon]

Those are good points. I should ask everyone what they prefer. I appreciate the input.

 

mich

[SadieN]

Always easier to do assigned dining with a large group. No waiting for tables.

[Roz]

Does your group have to eat together every night? ATD can be a better option if some people want to go off on their own or if your group has widely varying preferences as to when they want to eat.

 

Roz

[STBMrsP]

Newbie question.... can you choose what dining time? I noticed that when we booked our cruise a few days ago, that it says "Early Dining". We never saw an option for that when we were booking.

[Roz]

You can choose early or late, assuming both are still available.

 

Roz

[STBMrsP]

Is this something that can be done after fact? Do you know what the standard times are for early or late? The cruise line website is not so user friendly with these kinds of questions.

[GTO-Girl]

Newbie question.... can you choose what dining time? I noticed that when we booked our cruise a few days ago, that it says "Early Dining". We never saw an option for that when we were booking.

 

If your are assigned Early Dining then you do not have Anytime Dining. This means you will go to dinner every night at the same time.

[crystalspin]

@STB

 

It sounds like you made your own booking with the cruiseline -- call them up and ask -- both about your own dining time and after you have asked your group, about linking all that want to, at one table. You'll need their room numbers, possibly even their booking numbers. But probably just the rooms.

 

If you booked through a travel agent or cruiseline person other than just the operator who answered the phone -- go through them to make the requests.

 

I was the coordinator for eight (total) family members, and we had our own table with the same servers during early seating each night. Previously with just the two of us or three with my mom, we had open seating and that was fine, got to meet different people, but with the group it was better to sit together and catch up on the day.

[arkiesgirl]

In my experience, with anytime dining your entire party must be present before you're seated. We had to wait for a table to accommodate our group.