Select dining

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, davecttr said:

how do they police this

When you enter the anytime dining restaurant, you are asked for your cabin number. Your cabin number is then checked to ensure that you have freedom dining.

[davecttr]

Panic over, I just checked and am allocated freedom

[AndyMichelle]

17 minutes ago, Hampshire Steve said:

I doubt if it can be policed, perhaps that's why there is often a queue at Anytime. Perhaps that's why they are changing the options on the Iona when launched?

 

I have not tried to "buck" the system on this but perhaps someone else can advise. I wonder if they would only know if you ordered drinks at the table? would they do anything about it?

 

It is a bit like allocated disembarkation times, I am certain lots just get off when they want to but it doesn't help with the queues

Because of the popularity of freedom, if they didn't police it, it would be mayhem. 

They definitely check cabin numbers, but this probably won't be necessary on Iona as there will be no set dining for anyone. 

Andy 

 

[Clodia]

The information you've been given may reflect the fact that Arcadia is different in design from the other mid sized ships. She has one huge main restaurant; upstairs is freedom dining and downstairs is Club. Arrangements are the same as on the other mid sized ships except for this.

[terrierjohn]

54 minutes ago, davecttr said:

So if you are allocated fixed dining you can't use anytime dining?

 

how do they police this?

You have to give your room number as you check into the freedom dining MDR, if you are down as fixed dining they could turn you away.

[chismrules]

19 hours ago, the english lady said:

Arcadia has 2 main dining rooms. 1 freedom and 1 set dining with 2 sittings. Anytime dining equates to freedom dining on pando (turn up anytime between 6.30-9.30pm..i think those are the times) If you didnt book freedom dining on booking you are highly unlikly to be able to change to it. It is very popular. So your TA isnt very knowlegable about pando ships..or even the line itself. When you booked the cruise what did they say about the dining options?

 

 

We are from the states and only one company will sell P&O, and I found it thru much searching, most have not heard of it. And she told us that it only has set times and the buffet, but I know most have freedom dining. We did the cheapest, only way we can go so can not pick. We do not like to eat late because my husband has acid reflux problems etc. She told us probably not a problem because most English like to eat late, like she knows. But we try to go with the flow so we will see. We are doing a Norway fjords trip and normally leaving port 5:30-6:30 so will prob. want to be on deck watching so prob. will not be wanting to be in dinner at 6:30 either. 

[Selbourne]

On 1/11/2020 at 8:25 PM, welshwizards said:

Thank you all so much for your views. We have selected club dining late sitting. That way we know exactly where we are, we will tailor our evening accordingly. If our plans don't fit in well for an evening or two we will go to the buffet or a select dining venue. 

 

Thank you all again

 

It might be important for you to know that selecting Club Dining does not guarantee you a table for 4 for the sole use with your friends. You may end up having to share a table with the same (other) passengers each night of your cruise. Getting confirmed status for 2nd Sitting Club dining merely guarantees you space at that time every night on the same table. Table size is a ‘preference’ and is not confirmed until you board. You will hopefully be lucky but there is a risk. The only way to guarantee a table for 4 for sole use is to book Freedom dining and be prepared to wait a short while if you go at a peak time. 

[AndyMichelle]

6 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

It might be important for you to know that selecting Club Dining does not guarantee you a table for 4 for the sole use with your friends. You may end up having to share a table with the same (other) passengers each night of your cruise. Getting confirmed status for 2nd Sitting Club dining merely guarantees you space at that time every night on the same table. Table size is a ‘preference’ and is not confirmed until you board. You will hopefully be lucky but there is a risk. The only way to guarantee a table for 4 for sole use is to book Freedom dining and be prepared to wait a short while if you go at a peak time. 

Good point Selborne. 

For select fare, it seems to be done on a first come first served basis, so if you book at launch and don't change your preference, you have a good chance of getting what you want. 

Still no guarantees, but that is the way it seems to work. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

5 hours ago, chismrules said:

 

We are from the states and only one company will sell P&O, and I found it thru much searching, most have not heard of it. And she told us that it only has set times and the buffet, but I know most have freedom dining. We did the cheapest, only way we can go so can not pick. We do not like to eat late because my husband has acid reflux problems etc. She told us probably not a problem because most English like to eat late, like she knows. But we try to go with the flow so we will see. We are doing a Norway fjords trip and normally leaving port 5:30-6:30 so will prob. want to be on deck watching so prob. will not be wanting to be in dinner at 6:30 either. 

Unfortunately, you will probably be allocated 8.30 on a large table as, I think, freedom is the most popular followed by early sitting as many passengers don't like eating late. 

We find this OK for us, we just plan our days accordingly, usually involving afternoon tea at 4pm, then late show after dinner and a few nightcaps allows plenty of time for the food to digest. 

Andy 

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

On 1/25/2020 at 6:54 AM, Hampshire Steve said:

Freedom dining is an option for you to pre book, it's part on the select price option, if you have booked a saver fare then you will be allocated one of the fixed options, speak with your TA to check or change if you need to. 

 

Your other options on Arcadia are staying with whatever you have booked so far and then on nights you do not want to use that option you can use inclusive Buffet, for a very small fee a limited Room Service hot & cold menu, for a little more the Ocean Grill or Sindhu restaurants.

 

If you are in a suite the full restaurant menu is available free on room service via your butler.

 

Arcadia is a little tired in places but also has it's own charm, handles well (not that you are likely to expect issues in the summer) and is one of our favourites, enjoy your trip to the Fjords.

Re freedom if you book an early saver you can put in a request for the dining option you want and that includes freedom (which I have requested and got many times). Lots of  people on saver fares get freedom dining so it is not exclusively for select, just more likely.

 

So Saver fare guests are not automatically allocated one of the fixed dining times, they are fitted in around select requests so that could mean early, late or freedom depending on the preferences of other guests. While freedom is becoming much more popular now at one time the early dining slot was seen as the most desirable.

 

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

18 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Re freedom if you book an early saver you can put in a request for the dining option you want and that includes freedom (which I have requested and got many times). Lots of  people on saver fares get freedom dining so it is not exclusively for select, just more likely.

 

So Saver fare guests are not automatically allocated one of the fixed dining times, they are fitted in around select requests so that could mean early, late or freedom depending on the preferences of other guests. While freedom is becoming much more popular now at one time the early dining slot was seen as the most desirable.

 

 

 

Probability, with the increase in popularity of freedom dining and more people booking on release, I think it is unlikely nowadays, but, as you say, possible. 

Early saver, which we often do, seems to get some of the benefits of select that saver doesn't. 

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

Probability, with the increase in popularity of freedom dining and more people booking on release, I think it is unlikely nowadays, but, as you say, possible. 

Early saver, which we often do, seems to get some of the benefits of select that saver doesn't. 

Andy 

I was simply pointing out that the information posted was not accurate.

 

Freedom dining is popular with the folks on this board however we are not completely representative of cruisers in general. More traditional cruisers tend to prefer fixed dining.

 

As you know the newer ships will be all freedom so eventually everyone will be on it.

[AndyMichelle]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

I was simply pointing out that the information posted was not accurate.

 

Freedom dining is popular with the folks on this board however we are not completely representative of cruisers in general. More traditional cruisers tend to prefer fixed dining.

 

As you know the newer ships will be all freedom so eventually everyone will be on it.

I wasn't disagreeing with you. 

My opinion on Freedom dining does not come from this site, it is experiencing the queues and discussions with other passengers as most we encounter seem to have requested freedom dining. 

It is probably down to the change in demographic, new cruisers do not particularly want to eat with strangers and many of the experienced cruisers don't want to eat with the new type of cruiser like me.. Can't say I blame them.😊 

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, AndyMichelle said:

I wasn't disagreeing with you. 

My opinion on Freedom dining does not come from this site, it is experiencing the queues and discussions with other passengers as most we encounter seem to have requested freedom dining. 

It is probably down to the change in demographic, new cruisers do not particularly want to eat with strangers and many of the experienced cruisers don't want to eat with the new type of cruiser like me.. Can't say I blame them.😊 

Andy 

I didn’t,t think you were disagreeing Andy, sorry if it came across that way.😀

 

I don’t mind dining with anyone if they have reasonable table manners. I think people are losing something if they don’t mix with others, over the years we have met many very interesting people whom we would never meet in any other way.
 

it’s down to personal choice of course.

 

 

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

2 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

I didn’t,t think you were disagreeing Andy, sorry if it came across that way.😀

 

I don’t mind dining with anyone if they have reasonable table manners. I think people are losing something if they don’t mix with others, over the years we have met many very interesting people whom we would never meet in any other way.
 

it’s down to personal choice of course.

 

 

 

 

That's what I was trying to say. 

On our first cruise, we made sure we (as best we could) had a table for 2 on early sitting as we had no interest in sharing. 

On our second cruise, we booked early saver and got allocated a table for 8 on late sitting and never looked back. 

We tried freedom for the first time recently and didn't like it at all but, as you say, each to their own. 

Andy 

 

[terrierjohn]

16 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

That's what I was trying to say. 

On our first cruise, we made sure we (as best we could) had a table for 2 on early sitting as we had no interest in sharing. 

On our second cruise, we booked early saver and got allocated a table for 8 on late sitting and never looked back. 

We tried freedom for the first time recently and didn't like it at all but, as you say, each to their own. 

Andy 

 

Remind me again Andy why you disliked freedom dining?

[AndyMichelle]

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Remind me again Andy why you disliked freedom dining?

It is more that it reminded us how much we like club dining. 

Knowing our table will be ready for us, getting to know our waiters and them getting to know us and our little quirks. Same with our table companions, we have met some fantastic friends and had some great laughs. 

Unlike most people, we like to know what time we are eating and build our day around this. 

We tried freedom at New Year. Unless you arrived very early, there was a large queue to even get a buzzer. The waiters seemed disinterested as they have very little chance of earning a tip. Meeting different people every night becomes a chore, having that awkward first night conversation every evening doesn't appeal to us..

Dont get me wrong, I do understand why freedom dining is popular, just didn't suit us. 

Andy 

 

[Josy1953]

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

I wasn't disagreeing with you. 

My opinion on Freedom dining does not come from this site, it is experiencing the queues and discussions with other passengers as most we encounter seem to have requested freedom dining. 

It is probably down to the change in demographic, new cruisers do not particularly want to eat with strangers and many of the experienced cruisers don't want to eat with the new type of cruiser like me.. Can't say I blame them.😊 

Andy 

 

Edited January 26, 2020 by Josy1953
Someone else has made a similar comment to mine.

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, Josy1953 said:

I can't speak for new cruiser preferences (it's a long time since I was one) but why would you think that experienced cruisers wouldn't want to eat with newer cruisers?   I agree that more people seem to want freedom dining now, when it was first introduced on ships with 3 MDRs there was only 1 used for freedom dining. 

 

We enjoy eating and talking with most people, we have often shared with newer cruisers and have been able to give them pointers about various things that are not always clear to newer cruisers.  We usually roll up to the MDR and ask for a table for 2 but are always happy to share if there are none available.  We started cruising in the 80s when there was only club dining and very few tables for 2 so are used to sharing.  Over the years we have met many interesting people and are still in contact with some of them.

My comment about experienced cruisers not wanting to eat with the newer type of cruiser was only based on comments on here on how the demographic has changed for the worse and you don't get the class of cruiser from previous years. 

I was just trying to justify why freedom dining has become more popular and stated this as one of the possible reasons. 

Like you, we enjoy dining with any type of cruiser, so it is not based on personal experience. 

Andy 

[terrierjohn]

42 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

It is more that it reminded us how much we like club dining. 

Knowing our table will be ready for us, getting to know our waiters and them getting to know us and our little quirks. Same with our table companions, we have met some fantastic friends and had some great laughs. 

Unlike most people, we like to know what time we are eating and build our day around this. 

We tried freedom at New Year. Unless you arrived very early, there was a large queue to even get a buzzer. The waiters seemed disinterested as they have very little chance of earning a tip. Meeting different people every night becomes a chore, having that awkward first night conversation every evening doesn't appeal to us..

Dont get me wrong, I do understand why freedom dining is popular, just didn't suit us. 

Andy 

 

On our early cruises, before Pauline was in a wheelchair, we did some large tables in club dining, but mainly did tables for 2 on Princess where we switched to anytime dining. We did have some reasonable table companions, but not such that we would want to share a table with them for a 2 week cruise.

We now still choose freedom dining because of the convenience, but prefer to share a table and avoid the need to take a pager, and are quite happy to have new companions every night, although if you dine at similar times each night you do sometimes see the same people from time to time.

We rarely encounter long queues and have only once been given a pager on P&O.

[AndyMichelle]

3 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

On our early cruises, before Pauline was in a wheelchair, we did some large tables in club dining, but mainly did tables for 2 on Princess where we switched to anytime dining. We did have some reasonable table companions, but not such that we would want to share a table with them for a 2 week cruise.

We now still choose freedom dining because of the convenience, but prefer to share a table and avoid the need to take a pager, and are quite happy to have new companions every night, although if you dine at similar times each night you do sometimes see the same people from time to time.

We rarely encounter long queues and have only once been given a pager on P&O.

Each to their own John. 

Perhaps we have been lucky, but we haven't had one bad companion yet, quite the opposite, they have all been a delight in different ways. 

Andy 

[Britboys]

Once again, this thread shows how different we all are.  My earlier cruises were all before 'freedom' or 'anytime' dining even existed!  When I travel solo, I don't even consider Freedom dining as the thought of having to meet new dining companions every night would fill me with dread.  In fact, if P&O abandoned Club Dining across the fleet, I would no longer cruise with them.  I enjoy building up a rapport with my table companions and waiters and like Andy, I quite like knowing what time I am going to eat every evening.

On Princess in Alaska last year, I was sailing with a friend and we chose 'Anytime' dining as we thought at times there might be things we wanted to see from the ship in the evening.  Anytime worked okay for 7 nights and oddly, the dining room staff always seated us at a table for two - we were never asked if we wanted to share.

[wowzz]

In our limited experience of P&O, we have only had a buzzer once, and never queued for more than a couple of minutes. We enjoy meeting different people every night, and because we tend to eat at roughly the same time each night, we normally have the same wait staff throughout the cruise. So all the benefits of club, but without the drawback of having the same table companions every night . 

[AndyMichelle]

30 minutes ago, wowzz said:

In our limited experience of P&O, we have only had a buzzer once, and never queued for more than a couple of minutes. We enjoy meeting different people every night, and because we tend to eat at roughly the same time each night, we normally have the same wait staff throughout the cruise. So all the benefits of club, but without the drawback of having the same table companions every night . 

That's where we differ Wowzz. 

We don't see any drawback in eating with the same people every night, quite the opposite, but haven't done any over 19 nights yet. 

Andy 

 

[jeanlyon]

I had the same experience until our last but one cruise.  We had the worst, rudest people who took the mickey out of my husband's name and we and our friend who travels with us were moved.  Problem with the second table was there was only one lovely couple but they often ate in Sindhu or elsewhere, so we had a table for 8 on our own.  No fun there, so we decided to try Freedom.  Had some super tables.