First night dining.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

We have an March cruise planned on the Eurodam.  I have read that on the first night the main dining room and the Lido can be noisy and chaotic.  We have reservations during the cruise for Pinnacle and Tamarind but are wondering if we should make an additional reservation for the first night.  We were talking about Canaletto but were concerned that the noise and activity from the Lido would spoil the experience.  Perhaps we should add a second Tamarind for on the first night?  Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 

[High Flyer]

That's exactly what we would do.  A much better start to your voyage with quiet beverage and stellar service.

[marshhawk]

If you have assigned dining, I would suggest that you go to the MDR for dinner your first night, and meet your table mates.  If you have the anytime dining, no big deal.    That's just a suggestion.  Enjoy your cruise.

[Cruise Suzy]

15 minutes ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

We were talking about Canaletto but were concerned that the noise and activity from the Lido would spoil the experience. 

 

If our first night is on a Sunday or Wednesday, we dine at Canaletto. Have never noticed any noise from the Lido on Rotterdam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam or Westerdam.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

7 minutes ago, High Flyer said:

That's exactly what we would do.  A much better start to your voyage with quiet beverage and stellar service.

What restaurants do you recommend for the first night?  Have you been to Canaletto the first night?  We have MDR assigned table for two.  Should we let the MDR know the days we have specialty dinning or do they already have a link to our reservations?

[Midwest Sunseeker]

2 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

If our first night is on a Sunday or Wednesday, we dine at Canaletto. Have never noticed any noise from the Lido on Rotterdam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam or Westerdam.

Thank you.  That information is so helpful.  We liked the thought of trying the special that night. 

[High Flyer]

25 minutes ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

What restaurants do you recommend for the first night?  Have you been to Canaletto the first night?  We have MDR assigned table for two.  Should we let the MDR know the days we have specialty dinning or do they already have a link to our reservations?

I was referring to the Tamarind.  I have not been to the Canaletto on boarding day.  DW gave a little note to the waiter and our table mates noting the evenings we would be absent starting on day 2.

[FlaMariner]

If you have fixed sitting and you want to go to the MDR for dinner on the first night, this is our strategy (works if it is just your party at dinner, not good for shared tables):

 

• once onboard, find your table number on your key card and go to the MDR and find your table. Now you know where it is and you can skip the line of newbies once dinner time
• once onboard, find the bartender table with the sommelier package listing and study that prior to arriving at dinner (if you are buying a wine package, of course)
• once onboard, check out the MDR dinner menu on your in room TV (or navigator) and have an idea regarding what you will be ordering
• arrive at the MDR at the appropriate time and skip the line and just go to your table
• introduce yourselves to your waiters and order your wine and let the waiter take your menu
• Enjoy your first evening meal onboard....and we have found that first in, first out is a good strategy for evening 1 

 

Without this strategy, it would be better to go surcharge dining on night 1 because we have found it to be the most chaotic evening in the MDR and the quietest at the $$$ restaurants.

 

(Roadblocks might be similar to one recent cruise when we went to our table (for 2) on evening 1 and another couple hijacked it.....the head waiter did not want to disrupt that so he quickly sent us to a nice table for 2 that became our table)

Edited January 7, 2023 by FlaMariner

[Torquer]

Frankly, I have never found the MDR to be chaotic and noisy the first night of a cruise.  We always have anytime dining and a reservation, so it might be different in fixed seating.

[robotpony]

We have been enjoying trying the uncharge restaurants on our first night, as walk-ins are usually available. In November we did Nami when we found the sushi bar was empty. It was quiet and relaxing, and the crew were appreciative to have someone to serve.

[Lizard13]

Our first time on Holland America.  We have anytime dining.  A few questions related to comments above.  Can we make a reservation for our dining time?  Why go to Cannaletto the first night only if cruise begins on Sunday and Wednesday?.  Thanks and can’t wait for our cruise! 

[canadarocks]

11 minutes ago, Lizard13 said:

Our first time on Holland America.  We have anytime dining.  A few questions related to comments above.  Can we make a reservation for our dining time?  Why go to Cannaletto the first night only if cruise begins on Sunday and Wednesday?.  Thanks and can’t wait for our cruise! 

There was a time last year when anytime diners could pre-reserve MDR times. Unfortunately HAL has done away with that. Many here report that you can reserve times once you are onboard, I've read up to three days at a time but I have no firsthand experience to back that up. 

 

The Sunday and Wednesday comment was probably based on the daily specials that Canaletto offers. Personally, my choice would be Saturday.

 

Here's the menu to explain all :

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Canaletto.pdf

Edited January 8, 2023 by canadarocks

[Cruise Suzy]

45 minutes ago, Lizard13 said:

Can we make a reservation for our dining time?  Why go to Cannaletto the first night only if cruise begins on Sunday and Wednesday?.

 

Once onboard, you can reserve a time for open dining - same time every day or different time each day. Can do in Navigator, at the kiosk or by phone. Canaletto had a special entree each day, we like the ones for Sunday and Wednesday.

[Wakepatrol]

We ate at Canaletto on our first night last week on the Zuiderdam. It was not crowded and super relaxing and glad we did it.

[TexasBrit]

29 minutes ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

Once onboard, you can reserve a time for open dining - same time every day or different time each day. Can do in Navigator, at the kiosk or by phone. Canaletto had a special entree each day, we like the ones for Sunday and Wednesday.

Could not do open dining reservations on the app on our recent NS cruise. Only by telephone or at the booking stand. However popular dinner times get filled up quickly especially for 2-tops, we could never get one. It seems they can only reserve 50% of the available tables. But there was no waiting for a table after the first night which was quite chaotic. 20-30 minute wait in the Ocean Bar with a buzzer, after a slow line to get to the host desk at the door. Several people got fed up of waiting and decided just to go to the buffet instead asking nearby people to return their buzzers for them!

[Cruise Suzy]

I used the Navigator on my PC to make reservations in November. Yes, there is a PC version of Navigator onboard.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I like to dine in the Tamarind the first night. Usually very quiet as most have not yet discovered it.

[KroozNut]

6 hours ago, High Flyer said:

I was referring to the Tamarind.  I have not been to the Canaletto on boarding day.  DW gave a little note to the waiter and our table mates noting the evenings we would be absent starting on day 2.

 

We have found that simply verbally letting our table mates and servers know the night before, that we'll be absent the following night (dining at a specialty restaurant) is adequate notification.