Fixed dining and tables for 2

[Florry]

Hello Presto2

So far we have had no issues getting able for 2 fixed dining we prefer 8.30 but we tend to

Book 12/18 months ahead hoping this helps guarantees us our choice if we have a booking for Sindhu or Lime lounge out of courtesy we tell our wait staff we will not be in the following evening, saying that our daughter booked 6 weeks saver fare for Caribbean and were keen to have table for two and 2nd sitting they got their first choice I think many prefer 1st sitting as they can get to see many more shows on ship on a evening and get a early seat in a venue, if your request is not meet pop down to your allocated restaurant on the day you board I hear they are very open to changing table size etc

 

Mrs Blue Sky

 

 

 

On the occasions I have booked on day 1 of opening I have got a table for 2 [emoji1360]

 

 

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[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I have never booked Freedom. Please could I ask do they check who you are when you arrive. If not what is to stop a Club person having a Freedom evening for a change. Freedom people may then struggle to get a table and they cannot go Club for the night.

 

Just curious.

 

Thank you, Stephen.

 

 

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[Presto2]

I have never booked Freedom. Please could I ask do they check who you are when you arrive. If not what is to stop a Club person having a Freedom evening for a change. Freedom people may then struggle to get a table and they cannot go Club for the night.

 

Just curious.

 

Thank you, Stephen.

 

 

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On the first night we tend to take the card they leave in the cabin. After that though they always ask your name and cabin number when you arrive to 'check in' for your meal. Am guessing that the system shows up if your are Club dining or Freedom and if you are in the right restaurant.

[Presto2]

Thanks to everyone for the replies today. We always book very early so hopefully would get what we wanted.

If we tried it and had not got the table we wanted could we swap from Club to Freedom Dining?

 

Thanks again

[Selbourne]

Thanks to everyone for the replies today. We always book very early so hopefully would get what we wanted.

If we tried it and had not got the table we wanted could we swap from Club to Freedom Dining?

 

Thanks again

 

Not necessarily. On our last Britannia cruise there were signs outside the Freedom Dining restaurants stating that Freedom dining was full and requesting that Club diners did not enquire about swapping.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

On the first night we tend to take the card they leave in the cabin. After that though they always ask your name and cabin number when you arrive to 'check in' for your meal. Am guessing that the system shows up if your are Club dining or Freedom and if you are in the right restaurant.

 

 

Thank you. That sounds very sensible.

 

 

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[Presto2]

Not necessarily. On our last Britannia cruise there were signs outside the Freedom Dining restaurants stating that Freedom dining was full and requesting that Club diners did not enquire about swapping.

 

Thanks, am twitchy now - may not give it a go and stay with what we know.

Thanks everyone, your help has been really useful.

[Selbourne]

Thanks, am twitchy now - may not give it a go and stay with what we know.

Thanks everyone, your help has been really useful.

 

Probably wise. Although we miss having the same waiters (assuming that they are good), we have found that all other aspects favour Freedom dining. We like having complete flexibility as to when we dine, not having the awkwardness of the same difficult dining companions night after night (which we had on 3 cruises in a row, hence the switch) and the ability to dine on your own or with others as you see fit every night. On our recent 17 night cruise on Aurora it worked brilliantly. We decided to share a table each night so were always seated immediately. We enjoyed the company of our dining companions every night bar none, a few of which repeated. We even got to know quite a few of the waiters. We had tables for 2 for breakfast and most lunchtimes but by the evenings were keen to talk to other people! It's nice to know, however, that if you do fancy a table for two in the evening you can always get one, if you are prepared to wait. We found it amusing how many people started queuing for the Freedom dining restaurant over half an hour before service commenced. I couldn't be bothered. Life is too short. If I was that desperate to eat early every night I would opt for Club dining first sitting and wander down at 6.30pm on the dot!

[smokey01]

Ventura we have never had an issue with Traditional Dining 2nd seating getting a table for 2. We have been allocated a couple of times a larger table but a request to the maitre d normally sorts this out prior to dinner.

Oceana we swapped to Freedom very few tables for 2

 

 

I second this, we have never had a problem getting a 2 table on late sitting. We book late and saver or early saver fare. If you are not allocated what you want just see the maitre 'd on the first day. We have always been able to change and we have never been told 'but you booked a saver you have to take what was allocated'.

[Saintston]

I second this, we have never had a problem getting a 2 table on late sitting. We book late and saver or early saver fare. If you are not allocated what you want just see the maitre 'd on the first day. We have always been able to change and we have never been told 'but you booked a saver you have to take what was allocated'.

 

I think it's important to recognise the difference between a goodwill gesture and a change due to policy.

 

If you book a saver fare, there is no guarantee that you will be able to switch what you are given, once on board.

 

People shouldn't be booking these fares with an expectation that they can switch to whatever they like once on board, as they will be incredibly frustrated if it isn't possible for them.

 

Some restaurant managers may be prepared to make switches where capacity permits, but there is nothing they can do if capacity has been met.

[terrierjohn]

I think that freedom dining is now the most popular choice, therefore wanting to switch to this from fixed dining may be problematic.. Second sitting fixed dining now seems the least popular so switching to this will be easier, and of course tables for 2 will be more possible.

[LondonTowner]

terrierjohn

 

I think you are right . We were on Britannia a couple of weeks ago and there were lots of empty seats at the tables for second sitting.

 

The mealtime was 20.30 with it being 20.45 on the first two nights. Maybe a bit late for some people, but fine for us.

 

 

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[smokey01]

I think it's important to recognise the difference between a goodwill gesture and a change due to policy.

 

If you book a saver fare, there is no guarantee that you will be able to switch what you are given, once on board.

 

People shouldn't be booking these fares with an expectation that they can switch to whatever they like once on board, as they will be incredibly frustrated if it isn't possible for them.

 

Some restaurant managers may be prepared to make switches where capacity permits, but there is nothing they can do if capacity has been met.

 

It goes without saying that if there is no capacity then of course a change cannot be made. I am just saying that in the 3 cruises I book a year over countless years I have never not got a table for 2 on 2nd sitting. I go with the knowledge that a table for 2 is not so important to me as to want to pay considerably more for a cruise by booking a select fare just in the off chance that capacity is not there. But changing dining room/table allocation is a common practice and not precluded if you are on a saver fare.

[Saintston]

IBut changing dining room/table allocation is a common practice and not precluded if you are on a saver fare.

 

It's not permitted; that's the nub of it.

[my marina bay]

We booked a saver fare for Azura. On boarding we found we had been allocated 2nd sitting which we didn't want. I went to see RM but was told we couldn't change to Freedom or 1st. I wrote him a letter the day after explaining why we wanted to eat earlier but we still didn't get moved. We spent the rest of the hol eating in alternative venues but mainly the buffet and glasshouse.

 

The moral of the story is do not take it for granted that you can swap.

[terrierjohn]

It's not permitted; that's the nub of it.

I don't believe that is strictly true, with saver fares I think there is no choice of dining at booking, although I think that maybe a preference can be expressed. However once on board everyone is treated the same, except for paying for shuttles, so if the Maitre D' can switch dining arrangements he will, although some do have their head stuck so far up their a**e that maybe they cannot hear.;p

[groovechick]

We rarely go on a P&O ship without meeting staff who have served us before. It's one of the pleasures of cruising

 

I'm sure you do Dai, but you also cruise much more frequently than us (once every 1-2 years). My point was not so much about encountering the same staff, but about different passengers' varying experiences of the service they receive on the same ship. We've only once had waiters who I would call poor - surly, aggressive and inefficient - but the rest have been fine. Anyway, we always go to enjoy our holidays and it takes a lot to spoil our hard-earned treat. I'm a "glass half full" girl!

[Saintston]

I don't believe that is strictly true, with saver fares I think there is no choice of dining at booking, although I think that maybe a preference can be expressed. However once on board everyone is treated the same, except for paying for shuttles, so if the Maitre D' can switch dining arrangements he will, although some do have their head stuck so far up their a**e that maybe they cannot hear.;p

 

 

A preference can't be given with Saver Fares. You just get a card in your cabin saying what you've been given. Unless they have changed it recently anyway, because the two cruises I most recently booked were using Select Fares instead as they worked out cheaper.

[Presto2]

terrierjohn

 

I think you are right . We were on Britannia a couple of weeks ago and there were lots of empty seats at the tables for second sitting.

 

The mealtime was 20.30 with it being 20.45 on the first two nights. Maybe a bit late for some people, but fine for us.

 

 

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Suits us too and we always book as soon as the brochures come out and a select fare. :)