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anytime dining

nancy1031

By nancy1031,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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wemjam

wemjam

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Posted (edited)

Your dinning room will still be assigned to you.  Your time dinning is still a specific assigned dinning time it will be on your sail and sign card which dinning room you are  in.

 

You will need to go down and physically check in with one of the hosts at the door.  They will log you into the system since you do not have a phone and can't do it yourself.

 

BE prepared though.  This likely means you will have a longer wait standing around at the door.  With the Hub App you can check in from your room and then wait there or go hang out somewhere like a bar and have a drink and wait and it will alert you when your table is ready and then you have 15 minutes to show up.  You will need to wait by the door for them to call you.  If it is really busy, this could be 15, 20, 30  minutes or more.

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wemjam

wemjam

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Your dinning room will still be assigned to you.  Your time dinning is still a specific assigned dinning time it will be on your sail and sign card which dinning room you are  in.

 

You will need to go down and physically check in with one of the hosts at the door.  They will log you into the system since you do not have a phone and can't do it yourself.

 

BE prepared though.  This likely means you will have a longer wait standing around at the door.  With the Hub App you can check in from your room and then wait there or go hang out somewhere like a bar and have a drink and wait and it will alert you when your table is ready and then you have 15 minutes to show up.  You will need to wait by the door for them to call you.  If it is really busy, this could be 15, 20, 30  minutes or more.

PS:  It isn't too different from the old days, other than you don't line up in a big line outside the dinning room.  People are just mulling around waiting for their alert to go off that their table is ready, or to be called if they checked in with the hostess in person (like you will).  The difference is, all the people you can't see that are ahead of you in line now because they checked in on the app before you checked in in-person.  They will come walking up and be seated right away while you stand and wait, as they have been waiting elsewhere on the ship but were in the que before you.

 

Formal nights will be the worst, and if you are wanting to eat around 7pm... that's kind of in the thick of it.

Edited by wemjam
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lazydayz Great Review Rare

lazydayz

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This is just my opinion, but if you aren't willing to use a smart phone on a Carnival vacation, I recommend you pick one of the set MDR times.  Otherwise you will have to go to the restaurant you want to eat at that particular night, they are likely to be somewhat blunt ("you need to check in on the app", but will eventually add you to the wait list), and you could be in for a long wait, standing near the restaurant waiting for a table to be ready.  Just doesn't seem worth the hassle, especially if you plan to eat in the MDR a few nights. 

 

And in my experience, if you are on one of the Excel Class ships, unless you show up before opening for anywhere but Pig and Anchor, you will be in for a wait - it could be ten minutes or it could be over an hour.  This was true for all five of our MG cruises and one Celebration cruise.  These are great ships, but I would skip anytime dining if I didn't want to use a smart phone (or tablet). 

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Lee Cruiser

Lee Cruiser

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Posted
5 hours ago, nancy1031 said:

life was sooo much easier when we had to go the mdr for dinner in the old days!!!

The app has made it so much easier than before.  We've done it both ways and prefer the app so much more than having to go wait in line to check in.

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Lee Cruiser

Lee Cruiser

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5 hours ago, nancy1031 said:

so if i want to dine at 7pm- get to  either the festival or carnivale  by 6:45pm to check in  - correct? 

The 6:30-7:30 time frame is a pretty busy time, so just be prepared to wait after you check in. Was there a particular reason you chose YTD?  Since you can't check in on the app, it would be much easier to do an assigned time.

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odis

odis

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14 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

The app has made it so much easier than before.  We've done it both ways and prefer the app so much more than having to go wait in line to check in.

I concur. Allows you to check-in from anywhere instead of making 2 trips to the maître D's desk. The app also gives you an estimate of how long the wait is.   

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hard_eight

hard_eight

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Posted

I'd buy/borrow an old phone from someone and just connect to the wifi and use the app. Can't imagine not having it. I used to enjoy locking the phone in the safe and not seeing it until debark but, those days are over. I no longer take a camera either.

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latebloomer56

latebloomer56

Posted
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1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

This is just my opinion, but if you aren't willing to use a smart phone on a Carnival vacation, I recommend you pick one of the set MDR times.  Otherwise you will have to go to the restaurant you want to eat at that particular night, they are likely to be somewhat blunt ("you need to check in on the app", but will eventually add you to the wait list), and you could be in for a long wait, standing near the restaurant waiting for a table to be ready.  Just doesn't seem worth the hassle, especially if you plan to eat in the MDR a few nights. 

 

And in my experience, if you are on one of the Excel Class ships, unless you show up before opening for anywhere but Pig and Anchor, you will be in for a wait - it could be ten minutes or it could be over an hour.  This was true for all five of our MG cruises and one Celebration cruise.  These are great ships, but I would skip anytime dining if I didn't want to use a smart phone (or tablet). 

We always have early seating but didn't book until six months out and have been waitlisted. Still on the list but have two weeks until we sail.

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lazydayz Great Review Rare

lazydayz

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7 minutes ago, latebloomer56 said:

We always have early seating but didn't book until six months out and have been waitlisted. Still on the list but have two weeks until we sail.

If you go to the main dining room as soon as you embark, and explain your situation, I am sure they will find a place for you in an assigned dining time slot.  We can done this several times, and have always been successful in getting a switch.  Best of luck and enjoy your cruise! 

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latebloomer56

latebloomer56

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1 minute ago, lazydayz said:

If you go to the main dining room as soon as you embark, and explain your situation, I am sure they will find a place for you in an assigned dining time slot.  We can done this several times, and have always been successful in getting a switch.  Best of luck and enjoy your cruise! 

Thank you that will be our first stop, good tip.

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wemjam

wemjam

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2 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

Would these answers be true of all Carnival ships? Our phones are not comparable with the app, they are older and just for emergencies. We will be on the Venezia if that would make a difference?

Yes, this is how they do dining in the main dinning room now.  You check in on the Hub App or in person... and then it will be as I described in detail above.

 

The only exception is for restaurants where you pay and have formal reservations (like on land).  Those you just show up at your reservation time.

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FastShip24

FastShip24

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7 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

Would these answers be true of all Carnival ships? Our phones are not comparable with the app, they are older and just for emergencies. We will be on the Venezia if that would make a difference?

It's not a big deal.  Check in. If it's not busy they will seat you fast.  If it's busy, you will have a wait

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