Traditional Dining vs. Flex

[DaisyFire]

First time sailing with HAL...

I will be sailing with a large family group (20) people and am trying to figure out dining arrangements.

 

3 folks have said they prefer dinners in the buffet - so that cuts us down to 17.  Now here's where it get's tricky.  13 have indicated that they would like the early traditional dining seating - which seems easy enough, but the other 4 have said they want to do flex most days - but would like to dine with the entire group on the first night and the last. 

 

I assume that traditional dining tables are likely grouped together - so the flex people would not be able to just show up on those two days and hope to get tables near the rest of us.

 

So I am thinking that it might be best to just get 2 10-tops reserved for early dining - and those 4 folks would just do their own thing the other 5 nights. (Also thinking that the 3 who like the buffet may also like to join us for those nights as well - even though they did not specify.)

 

Does anyone see any problem with this?  Will refuse to seat you for Flex if you have an assigned traditional time slot?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

 

 

[faerievert]

The first day is easy, have everyone do assigned seating, then switch the diners wanting flexibility to open. I would expect you’ll have to ask onboard for an accommodation for the last night. No idea if it would or could be granted. Or if there’s such thing as a 10-top table (I see no reason two tables couldn’t be adjoined, but i’m sure there’s rules about whether that’s allowed.

[RuthC]

People can't utilize open seating if they have a fixed seating table. They would have to switch out of fixed seating to go to open most of the other nights, but then they wouldn't have their fixed seating table on the last night.
In addition to that, it would be very unfair to fixed seating people to tie up a table for a full cruise when they know they don't want to use it for 5 out of 7 nights. Fixed seating at two-tops are prime locations with great demand.

Why not consider booking a specialty restaurant for everybody on the first and last nights? There is usually a separate room in the Pinnacle that could be reserved for your party. Or they could have an area of Canaletto. I don't know what ship you are on, but some of them also have a Tamarind, which should also be able to accommodate your group.

[kazu]

Ruth C has given good advice on the specialty dining.

 

I will add that if you most want early dining you can inquire about a reservation on board for OPEN dining at a set time, set table with the same waiters.

 

that, in essence is like fixed dining but gives you a bit of leeway for the others if you need an additional table.

 

Do tell us what ship you are on as I don’t recall seeing a lot of 10 tops - usually 8 is the largest.  But, it does depend on the ship.  Check out the dining room layouts on halfacts dot com.  that may help too.

[richwmn]

If you booked this as a group, the group coordinator might be able to offer you additional options.

[sammiedawg]

Fixed dining is the epitome of a banquet experience and I would never recommend it.  I would do open dining, six top maximum.  Encourage the group to mix and match people on various nights.  

[DaisyFire]

Thanks for the input and recommendations.  I like the Specialty Dining suggestion - but suspect that would not be very popular with many in my group who see cruising as an all inclusive experience and they would not want to pay extra. 

 

All want to dine fairly early - so perhaps we just go with flexible dining and hope for the best for seating arrangements. I know that popular dining times depend a lot on itinerary. Can anyone who has sailed HAL in Alaska weigh in on how crowded 5:30-5:45 would be for flexible dining?

[OlsSalt]

We love late fixed dining. Truly intimate, serene and efficient. Your dining stewards get to know you right away and it feels so welcoming right from the start. They are always eager to accommodate any special requests.  And it appears more people dress up for Gala Nights too. Across the fleet, late fixed dining is always our only choice.

[grsnovi]

2 hours ago, DaisyFire said:

how crowded 5:30-5:45 would be for flexible dining

In my experience the earlier times are easy to get. It's when we like to eat and we generally never have to worry about a wait beyond simply having a few folks in front of us being immediately seated.

That said, we also always agree to be seated at a table with others.

[TAD2005]

I'm with Old Salt.   Late (Hal calls it Main) fixed seating is always the best.  We are off the ship on shore excursions, and we get back onboard around 4:00 pm.  We like to head to the cabin, review our pictures,  relax for a short time,, then shower, and dress for dinner.  We usually head to the Ocean Bar around 6:30 for a few pre-dinner cocktails, and wait for the chimes of the Yum-Yum Man passing through the public areas, announcing dinner.   When we get to the MDR, we walk right in, no lines, no pagers, no questions about which table, which waiter, and we walk right to our pre-selected table.  Our waiter is there to greet us with our usual beverage and basket of rolls.  The waiters get to know your favorites, and how we like our steaks, salads, etc.   We are not rushed at dinner, because there is not another wave of guests coming in, and there is plenty of time to make the 10:00 pm show.

[DaisyFire]

Thanks TAD2005 and Old Salt.  I agree about the benefits of fixed seating.  Unfortunately - with a group of 20, it's hard to get consensus on dining arrangements. When doing flex dining on a recent cruise with Celebrity (just me and my husband for that one), I found that we were seated in the same section with the same waiter each night (not necessarily the exact same table) - so we still had a similar experience.  Can anyone tell me the best way to juggle dining time with show times on HAL?