second thoughts about Any Time Dining

[bury me at sea]

I understand what you are saying and nonetheless am still glad you have the choice of YTD.

 

I want the choice of set dining.

[coevan]

It works quite well with NCL Freestyle. We thought the Carnival MDR was better. They had 5-6 relatively inexpensive pay restaurants, quite good. 

[Organized Chaos]

54 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

As I said, it’s because they have a habit of not always granting people their dinner choice, and giving one that you did not choose. If it was all YTD, this would not happen. But if they could keep assigned dining AND YTD, and honor everyone’s choice, then that would be fine. It’s just not what usually happens. If everyone was YTD, then they could just go when they choose. Now do you understand what I was trying to say? I just don’t think it’s right to deny someone’s choice. If they can’t honor it, make it all flexible. 

 

We cruised on the Valor earlier this month. We booked in late July, which is much closer than we normally book. Usually we do it at least a year out, so there's never been any worry about getting YTD, which is what we prefer. When we booked Valor, we got waitlisted for YTD and assigned late dining. Well, we definitely didn't want late dining because we knew it'd interfere with too many of our activities, so we changed it to early and just hoped that we'd eventually get YTD. I never knew you could get waitlisted for YTD. I mean, it's a 4 hour window to eat your meal when you have YTD, how does that fill up? Luckily, about 3 months later, we got confirmation that we had been switched to YTD.

 

I can see early or late filling up. Those are just two set dining times per night with a set number of tables. But with YTD and its 4-hour window to eat, I never would've imagined it'd fill up. It goes to show you how many people choose YTD nowadays.

 

Side note: that's the most I've ever written YTD in a single post. 😜

[coevan]

I have never seen the MDR full for YTD and never seen the Steakhouse full.

[Organized Chaos]

50 minutes ago, coevan said:

I have never seen the MDR full for YTD and never seen the Steakhouse full.

 

I didn't say the MDR was full. I said YTD had so many people assigned to it that we got waitlisted for it.

[coevan]

us too, but I was pretty persistent and platinum, fixed dining to not acceptable to us, we eat between 8-9 when we are hungry

[will88]

Just finished Glory Dec 22 7-night trip. I must say YTD was NOT very good for at least 2 nights. The first night right after safety drill there was an incredibly long line for YTD and early dining. 2nd day YTD still took a while. Later days were fine. When having fixed dining, I never had lines as long on any ship. So clearly how well YTD works is YMMV.

[virginiab]

I have generally enjoyed fixed-time dining, but on our most recent cruise, on the Legend, it was too noisy to hear each other, except for the person seated right next to you. The maitre 'd didn't have another table that was is a quieter location, but when we said we'd be happy to try YTD, he was happy to set that up for us. At least on that ship, fixed time diners are on the lower floor and YTD folks on the floor above, where it turned out to be significantly quieter. 

[216Cruiser]

Separate question: Are you able to ask for tables for just 2? We like to eat by ourselves. 

[grandmarnnurse]

3 hours ago, 216Cruiser said:

Separate question: Are you able to ask for tables for just 2? We like to eat by ourselves. 

Definitely! That’s all we ever ask for, except when we are traveling with others. On our next cruise, there will be 5 of us, as we are traveling with our daughter and her family. So, we will just ask for a table for 5. 

[grandmarnnurse]

10 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

We cruised on the Valor earlier this month. We booked in late July, which is much closer than we normally book. Usually we do it at least a year out, so there's never been any worry about getting YTD, which is what we prefer. When we booked Valor, we got waitlisted for YTD and assigned late dining. Well, we definitely didn't want late dining because we knew it'd interfere with too many of our activities, so we changed it to early and just hoped that we'd eventually get YTD. I never knew you could get waitlisted for YTD. I mean, it's a 4 hour window to eat your meal when you have YTD, how does that fill up? Luckily, about 3 months later, we got confirmation that we had been switched to YTD.

 

I can see early or late filling up. Those are just two set dining times per night with a set number of tables. But with YTD and its 4-hour window to eat, I never would've imagined it'd fill up. It goes to show you how many people choose YTD nowadays.

 

Side note: that's the most I've ever written YTD in a single post. 😜

I’m glad you got what I was trying to say. Thank you. On this site, you have to be so careful, as people get their feathers ruffled so easily. Especially if they think your trying to take something away from them. 

[grandmarnnurse]

11 hours ago, coevan said:

It works quite well with NCL Freestyle. We thought the Carnival MDR was better. They had 5-6 relatively inexpensive pay restaurants, quite good. 

Yes, Freestyle does work great. But we actually thought Carnival’s food was better. NCL also has a great 24 hour sit down complimentary restaurant with a full menu! All you can get past a certain time on Carnival is pizza. But since we are never up that late anyways, Carnival still works for us. We enjoyed NCL until they started raising their prices to compensate for the Free At Sea promotions. When it started, we still paid a decent price for our cruises with a drink package included. Not so, anymore. They priced themselves right out of our retirement budget. That is, if we want to cruise often. I have 3 cruises coming up, one very soon on February 2, and a B2B in April for our 50th Anniversary. I could not do that at NCL prices. But Freestyle Cruising concept is fabulous! When I saw that Carnival now offered YTD, I said “finally! They get it!”

[res2cue]

21 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

I've done both, and nowadays I just don't care a lot for Your Time Dining - especially with younger children like you have. With traditional seating, the wait staff is much more efficient, because they are taking all tables orders at the same time, delivering appetizers, etc., at the same time. So everything just goes more smoothly and they get you in and out of the dining room in a more orderly fashion.

 

YTD is great if you don't want to have to show up at a particular time, but you have to sacrifice the efficiency of the wait staff. And for me, that's just not worth it.

taking orders together and delivering the food is exactly the same with YTD and assigned time dining.  There is absolutely no difference in the level of service.

[res2cue]

11 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

We cruised on the Valor earlier this month. We booked in late July, which is much closer than we normally book. Usually we do it at least a year out, so there's never been any worry about getting YTD, which is what we prefer. When we booked Valor, we got waitlisted for YTD and assigned late dining. Well, we definitely didn't want late dining because we knew it'd interfere with too many of our activities, so we changed it to early and just hoped that we'd eventually get YTD. I never knew you could get waitlisted for YTD. I mean, it's a 4 hour window to eat your meal when you have YTD, how does that fill up? Luckily, about 3 months later, we got confirmation that we had been switched to YTD.

 

I can see early or late filling up. Those are just two set dining times per night with a set number of tables. But with YTD and its 4-hour window to eat, I never would've imagined it'd fill up. It goes to show you how many people choose YTD nowadays.

 

Side note: that's the most I've ever written YTD in a single post. 😜

the popularity of YTD continues to grow and the popularity of traditional dining continues to decline.  Cruise lines will recognize this and adjust the seating accordingly.  I suspect in the not too distant future only half of 1 dining room will be designated for assigned time dining as YTD continues to grow in popularity.

[grandmarnnurse]

24 minutes ago, res2cue said:

the popularity of YTD continues to grow and the popularity of traditional dining continues to decline.  Cruise lines will recognize this and adjust the seating accordingly.  I suspect in the not too distant future only half of 1 dining room will be designated for assigned time dining as YTD continues to grow in popularity.

This is exactly what I predict. The majority of people want a more casual, flexible vacation, and cruise lines are not stupid. They hear you. That is why NCL Freestyle is so popular. Assigned seating will be fazed out eventually, is my prediction, or as you said, just a small portion of dining room set aside for assigned. It’s just a whole societal mind set change. And my hubby and I are not some young kids trying to stir up trouble—LOL! We are senior citizens! Hubby is 70, and I’m 66. Now, don’t get me going on MDR dress code for Elegant Night! Another hot button topic for those resistant to change. 🤣🤣

[grandmarnnurse]

36 minutes ago, res2cue said:

taking orders together and delivering the food is exactly the same with YTD and assigned time dining.  There is absolutely no difference in the level of service.

That is true. Absolutely no difference. And those that want the same wait staff each night can request them. We did. Actually, flexible dining times is much easier with kids. Sometimes trying to get everyone ready and out the door at a specific time can be stressful. No need to worry with YTD. 

[mouche]

I personally would never go back to assigned dining, I love the freedom of eating in the MDR at the time we want. Longest wait was about 20 min or so.

[coevan]

4 hours ago, res2cue said:

taking orders together and delivering the food is exactly the same with YTD and assigned time dining.  There is absolutely no difference in the level of service.

 

 

Have you dined in YTD, not at all how it works. We NEVER order with anyone else, because there was no one there with us. We found the service much more personalized.

[ibarrio]

We also got anytime dining but I'm thinking of switching it since I was able to score faster to fun. Any advice? This is our first cruise 

[ray98]

I would never go back to assigned dining.  For many years it was a lackluster experience for us overall due to a variety of reasons.  The biggest was a 50/50 chance of miserable table mates, the second was there was a good chance that I would not be hungry or would be absolutely starving when it was our time to eat.  Our schedules vary so much on the ship that one day could be an early lunch and the next a very late lunch which is no good for set dining times.

 

NCL changed the game and now it has changed the industry.

[cruisingguy007]

Love anytime dining. Would never do set dining. I don't like schedules in real life. On vacation? Forgetaboutit!  

[grandmarnnurse]

34 minutes ago, ray98 said:

I would never go back to assigned dining.  For many years it was a lackluster experience for us overall due to a variety of reasons.  The biggest was a 50/50 chance of miserable table mates, the second was there was a good chance that I would not be hungry or would be absolutely starving when it was our time to eat.  Our schedules vary so much on the ship that one day could be an early lunch and the next a very late lunch which is no good for set dining times.

 

NCL changed the game and now it has changed the industry.

Exactly! Very well said! And NCL DID change the industry with the Freestyle Cruising, and they discovered soon enough that it was a hit. Believe me, Carnival is aware of this. YTD was their way of easing into it. Today’s cruiser wants a more casual, flexible vacation. Strict dinner times, formal attire, and sharing tables with strangers are all archaic vacation models, and will be gone before long. And  as Ive said numerous times, I’m not some youngster trying to upset the Apple cart that so many long term cruisers want to remain the same. I am a senior citizen. The old cruise model no longer works, and cruise lines know it. 

[grandmarnnurse]

1 hour ago, ibarrio said:

We also got anytime dining but I'm thinking of switching it since I was able to score faster to fun. Any advice? This is our first cruise 

What does FTTF have to do with a dinner choice? YTD is the best choice. I’d never switch. 

[ibarrio]

7 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

What does FTTF have to do with a dinner choice? YTD is the best choice. I’d never switch. 

I think FTTF works the same as YTD but you can set reservations with FTTF. Maybe I read it wrong. From the Carnival website regarding FTTF. I probably won't bother changing it 

 

"Dining Reservations

Priority Main Dining Room and Specialty Restaurant reservations (excluding Your Time Dining)."

[SERK]

We've thought about YTD but since we normally like to eat early (between 6:00 and 6:30) and go to shows and comedy club later, we just stick with the early dining.  Plus, the wait staff gets to know what we like and have most things ready to go when we get there.  I definitely see the pro and con for both.