Ordering all courses at once

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Holland America and Disney also seem to be able to manage it.

Only knew about the lines we've sailed on. 😉

[Torfamm]

8 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Holland America and Disney also seem to be able to manage it.

Yes, traditional dining is still offered by many lines. A consistent challenge is empty seats at tables when people choose to eat elsewhere. 
 

Passengers who like shared tables can be disappointed to find that they are alone at a large table on the evenings that the others assigned to that table don’t come to dinner.

As an example, Celebrity used to fill those spots with people who had select dining as they walked up, but some passengers feel that’s not the traditional dining experience of eating with the same people every night and were unhappy with having the same “get to know you” small talk when meeting strangers every night.
 

I’m not saying it’s impossible, it’s just more challenging to offer people a traditional dining experience when there are so many options available for dinner. I’d be curious to know what percentage of passengers eat in the MDR every night today. 
 

 

 

[stevenr597]

At times it seems as if the waiters are serving the dishes too quickly. Dinner in the main dining room is supposed to be one of the experiences of cruising.  

If we are in a hurray, we go upstairs to the buffet. 

[capriccio]

On 5/5/2023 at 6:21 PM, wowzz said:

Never been on a Princess ship with a 7:30 show. They are normally later than that.

Just off 28 days on the Coral Princess in Australia.  The 'early' show was always 7:30 and the late show was 9:30.

Edited May 7, 2023 by capriccio

[wowzz]

40 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Just off 28 days on the Coral Princess in Australia.  The 'early' show was always 7:30 and the late show was 9:30.

I think it has been agreed, more or less, that on UK and European cruises,  the shows are  later.

Just because shows in Australia are at 7:30 does not mean that the same times are adhered to throughout the world. 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I think it has been agreed, more or less, that on UK and European cruises,  the shows are  later.

Just because shows in Australia are at 7:30 does not mean that the same times are adhered to throughout the world. 

Nor did I think I even implied that.  I just added another data point.

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

At times it seems as if the waiters are serving the dishes too quickly. Dinner in the main dining room is supposed to be one of the experiences of cruising.  

If we are in a hurray, we go upstairs to the buffet. 

I've never been on a cruise where the waiter serves food to quickly. To us, any time over 1 1/2 hours is much to long.

Having to sit there for 15 minutes waiting for the next course can be boring. 

The only time we go to the buffet is when the items offered in the DR are terrible and when we do go to the buffet it only takes us 30-40 minutes. 

[Dunk]

In the Princess app, under Preferences >Dining, you can note the speed that you prefer to dine. Whether they look at that or not, who knows. 

[GoDucksNation]

The problem we have had with a ship that has had both traditional and any time dining is that when a traditional dining guest has missed their appropriate time (due to a ship, excursion, or whatever) they end up at the dining rooms for any time dining, which, then in turn, makes it more crowded for the rest of us

[wowzz]

42 minutes ago, Dunk said:

In the Princess app, under Preferences >Dining, you can note the speed that you prefer to dine. Whether they look at that or not, who knows. 

And no one has ever taken any notice of it whatsoever. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

Nor did I think I even implied that.  I just added another data point.

Yes, sorry if I came over more blunt than usual ! 

[BamaVol]

34 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And no one has ever taken any notice of it whatsoever. 

If they can’t get the bed configuration right, I don’t expect them to note my dining style either.  We got the beds sorted right away.  I suppose we could have asked the server to slow down or speed it up as well. We just tend to go with the flow in the MDR.  We don’t really make plans on a cruise, outside of daytime excursions.  We finish dinner and look on the app or patter to see what our next options might be.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, Dunk said:

In the Princess app, under Preferences >Dining, you can note the speed that you prefer to dine. Whether they look at that or not, who knows. 

 

I choose the fastest time and it makes no difference. Most waiters seem to go at one speed and if they are also assigned a table for 8 or 10, forget about it. 

We always pick a table far away from the large tables. 

[Guest ldtr]

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

I think it has been agreed, more or less, that on UK and European cruises,  the shows are  later.

Just because shows in Australia are at 7:30 does not mean that the same times are adhered to throughout the world. 

Currently on Regal Princess doing a UK cruise the showtimes are 7:30 and 9:30.  On the transatlantic  the times were 7:15 and 9:15. Have done 8 cruises on Princess over the past year. The earliest I have seen the early show start is 7. The latest is 7:30. Have not done the Med in the past year.

 

From what I recall from the last one I did the Med cruises tend to be later than other places because of the travel times for several of the ports mean that many excursions get back late (6pm or so). As a result they tend to put the night programs later then in other areas. 

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, BamaVol said:

If they can’t get the bed configuration right, I don’t expect them to note my dining style either.  We got the beds sorted right away.  I suppose we could have asked the server to slow down or speed it up as well. We just tend to go with the flow in the MDR.  We don’t really make plans on a cruise, outside of daytime excursions.  We finish dinner and look on the app or patter to see what our next options might be.

You are my kind of cruiser! 

So many people seem to have a flow chart,  timed to the minute, telling them where to be.

Just seems to ignore any thought of spontaneity. 

[BamaVol]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You are my kind of cruiser! 

So many people seem to have a flow chart,  timed to the minute, telling them where to be.

Just seems to ignore any thought of spontaneity. 

That’s why sea days are the best!  Lots of options and we don’t have to choose any of them if we’d rather just walk the promenade and then sit at a bar.

[DallasGuy75219]

5 hours ago, GoDucksNation said:

The problem we have had with a ship that has had both traditional and any time dining is that when a traditional dining guest has missed their appropriate time (due to a ship, excursion, or whatever) they end up at the dining rooms for any time dining, which, then in turn, makes it more crowded for the rest of us

Carnival supposedly got stricter about people arriving late for traditional dining, because it screws up the service flow for both other pax and the crew.  They close the MDR doors 15 minutes after seating time and send them to the buffet.  Of course, some probably still go to the ATD MDR and try to find a sympathetic hostess or Maitre D.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

we’d rather just walk the promenade and then sit at a bar.

Amen to that! 

[wrongwaywatson]

On 5/5/2023 at 5:21 PM, wowzz said:

Never been on a Princess ship with a 7:30 show. They are normally later than that.

They have been at 7:30 and 9:30 on our past 3 cruises.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

They have been at 7:30 and 9:30 on our past 3 cruises.

Indeed, but you were not on the cruises I have been on.

[wrongwaywatson]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Indeed, but you were not on the cruises I have been on.

 

I just finished reading the thread.  I thought there was only one page, LOL   I guess the 7:30 and 9:30 are for US based sailings.  We usually go in around 5:15 and are out about 6:45, table for 4 or 6, people that we cruise with.   Waiting for other people to finish was one of the reasons we didn't like sitting at a table with others.   We almost always go to the 7:30 show and either a game, movie or music after that.

[wowzz]

27 minutes ago, wrongwaywatson said:

 

I just finished reading the thread.  I thought there was only one page, LOL   I guess the 7:30 and 9:30 are for US based sailings.  We usually go in around 5:15 and are out about 6:45, table for 4 or 6, people that we cruise with.   Waiting for other people to finish was one of the reasons we didn't like sitting at a table with others.   We almost always go to the 7:30 show and either a game, movie or music after that.

If I may say so, a fairly typical American timing.

We wouldn't even think of eating until around 20:00. 

Neither timing is wrong, but I do think that some Americans do not realise that much of the rest of the world eat dinner  a great deal later than 17:15.

Edited May 7, 2023 by wowzz

[memoak]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I've never been on a cruise where the waiter serves food to quickly. To us, any time over 1 1/2 hours is much to long.

Having to sit there for 15 minutes waiting for the next course can be boring. 

The only time we go to the buffet is when the items offered in the DR are terrible and when we do go to the buffet it only takes us 30-40 minutes. 

We sail in suites so we eat in club class we often have to tell the waiters to slow it down

[SCX22]

26 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If I may say so, a fairly typical American timing.

We wouldn't even think of eating until around 20:00. 

Neither timing is wrong, but I do think that some Americans do not realise that much of the rest of the world eat dinner  a great deal later than 17:15.

 

Not speaking for all, but I feel like Americans eat dinner early because they are used to going to bed early and rising early to go to work.  For some of us, we have to factor in the commute and traffic, which adds an hour to our morning.  American cities are pretty much dead (except for New York) after 8:00 pm, unlike in Europe where cities stay vibrant with people late into the night.

 

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Not speaking for all, but I feel like Americans eat dinner early because they are used to going to bed early and rising early to go to work.  For some of us, we have to factor in the commute and traffic, which adds an hour to our morning.  American cities are pretty much dead (except for New York) after 8:00 pm, unlike in Europe where cities stay vibrant with people late into the night.

 

Fair point - mind you, I spent many years leaving home at 6am to drive 60 miles to my office in London, so I understand the issue.

But, when on holiday, why not change your habits?  When we go to Spain, we eat at 22:00 like the locals. 

Just because you eat at 17:15 at home, doesn't mean you need to eat at the same time on holiday.  Live a little, have a beer and watch the sail away at 17:30 , and eat at 19:30 !