Dining time question

[wesnliz]

We booked a last minute cruise, the only option available is 8:15. With a 3 year old and 5 year old, thats not remotely realistic. I’m pretty disappointed needless to say, not being able to have any meals in the dining room will be pretty frustrating. What’s the experience with the wait list? Does it help that we’re platinum and also in an excel suite?

Edited September 29, 2023 by wesnliz

[Sjdcella]

Once you board, go to the MDR and speak to the Maitre D. They might be able to get you an early seating. I am not sure if Platinum will help, but it wouldn't hurt to ask!

[Hogbay]

36 minutes ago, wesnliz said:

We booked a last minute cruise, the only option available is 8:15. With a 3 year old and 5 year old, thats not remotely realistic. I’m pretty disappointed needless to say, not being able to have any meals in the dining room will be pretty frustrating. What’s the experience with the wait list? Does it help that we’re platinum and also in an excel suite?

You will have priority boarding as platinum and dining room reservation priority too . Go straight to restaurant and ask .

[Hogbay]

24 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

You will have priority boarding as platinum and dining room reservation priority too . Go straight to restaurant and ask .

[wesnliz]

17 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Right it show’s priority reservations for main dining, but how can i take advantage of thst perk? There’s no option available for me to select an earlier dining time. Just wait list 

[Hogbay]

45 minutes ago, wesnliz said:

Right it show’s priority reservations for main dining, but how can i take advantage of thst perk? There’s no option available for me to select an earlier dining time. Just wait list 

You get priority bording , go in person to see them .

[Despegue]

Alternatively, you could have an early kids dinner in the Lido buffet so they won’t need to wait till 20:15h., followed by a show with them. There is also I think the kids club for them during your meal time.

Personally, our kids would not think of eating as early as Main seating (18:00h) and would just be ready for dinner around 20:00h, but they also don’t go to bed before 22:30h. On vacation (3 year old), but we are European 🙃😄

[wesnliz]

5 hours ago, Despegue said:

Alternatively, you could have an early kids dinner in the Lido buffet so they won’t need to wait till 20:15h., followed by a show with them. There is also I think the kids club for them during your meal time.

Personally, our kids would not think of eating as early as Main seating (18:00h) and would just be ready for dinner around 20:00h, but they also don’t go to bed before 22:30h. On vacation (3 year old), but we are European 🙃😄

 

This is not really helpful. If I wanted to do buffet instead I wouldn’t have posted the question. The initial question was solely about the waitlist and how I could go about trying to secure a time more applicable to my children, so that they can have a successful time, without issues from exhaustion. Bed time is irrelevant to your nationality, IMHO.

[jsglow]

8 hours ago, wesnliz said:

Right it show’s priority reservations for main dining, but how can i take advantage of thst perk? There’s no option available for me to select an earlier dining time. Just wait list 

It doesn't 'show up' on any booking info. It just means that the Maitre D will give you 'priority' over the Blue/Red/Gold cards when you go to the dining room first thing after you embark. As others have indicated, try to be one of the first on the ship and try to be one of the first requesting the change once onboard. Good luck.

 

DO maintain that 'Waitlist' selection for now. Depending on how last minute you actually are, you may get reassigned. It does happen. What doesn't happen is that anyone with a confirmed dining slot gets 'bumped' in your favor. But I do think some open slots are retained, mostly available to last minute Diamond cruisers who are guaranteed any time slot they want. It's good that you're a party of 4. I've literally seen folks on here wonder out loud if their party of a dozen can be accommodated.  Um, no.

Edited September 29, 2023 by jsglow

[Amyracecar]

Getting to the dining room early after embarkation and getting on the list is your best option, as others have said. In my experience many people change their dining options after the first night, so tables do become available pretty quickly. Unfortunatley if it's a last minute booking then it's never 100% guaranteed as if it's booked up already they can't exactly kick people out, however I think you'll most likely get something sorted. 

[odis]

When we cruised and our daughter was young (about 7 years old), we found late dinner to be preferable. She could run around most of the day, take a nap about 4 or 5, and then be ready for dinner at 8. 

[ray98]

Good luck.  A good portion of the people assigned to late dining will also be trying to swap.  We have been successful in the past but we've also been denied.

[jsglow]

I'm sure Carnival continues to discuss the tweaking of the two fixed seating times. If I'm not mistaken it's typically 6:00p and 8:15p. Most Americans in just about any time zone usually eat dinner at home in the 5:00p to 7:30p range I'd guess. I know there's routinely a big group right at 5:30p for YTD, ourselves frequently included.  And I also know that they've adjusted Fixed by a little on certain cruises where there's a more 'seasoned' passenger mix.

Just thinking out loud.... I wonder how a schedule of Early Fixed - 5:30p; YTD beginning - 6:00p (so as to spread out for galley considerations); Late Fixed - 7:45p might be received? No slot can ever be perfect but it might increase demand for Late.

[Journey11]

“Guaranteed Main Dining Room time assignment” is also an Excel Suite perk.

This should help when making your request to the Maitre’d once on board.

[happy cruzer]

32 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I'm sure Carnival continues to discuss the tweaking of the two fixed seating times. If I'm not mistaken it's typically 6:00p and 8:15p. Most Americans in just about any time zone usually eat dinner at home in the 5:00p to 7:30p range I'd guess. I know there's routinely a big group right at 5:30p for YTD, ourselves frequently included.  And I also know that they've adjusted Fixed by a little on certain cruises where there's a more 'seasoned' passenger mix.

Just thinking out loud.... I wonder how a schedule of Early Fixed - 5:30p; YTD beginning - 6:00p (so as to spread out for galley considerations); Late Fixed - 7:45p might be received? No slot can ever be perfect but it might increase demand for Late.

Your suggestion is kinda like what Royal does; but they can't start YTD until 7p.  Early dining is around 5:15p.  And a reason that we and lots of others do not like the way Royal does it - 5:15 is too darn early. On Royal we do anytime and stand in a line if we go earlier than 7:30 or do the Unlimited Specialty Dining Package.  The way Carnival does it makes traditional dining our choice. 

 

Hopefully the OP can get either changed to early dining or get anytime set to be earlier than 7.  I would bet that the Matrie D can make them happy.

 

Lots of different choices.

[shof515]

59 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Your suggestion is kinda like what Royal does; but they can't start YTD until 7p.  Early dining is around 5:15p.  And a reason that we and lots of others do not like the way Royal does it - 5:15 is too darn early. On Royal we do anytime and stand in a line if we go earlier than 7:30 or do the Unlimited Specialty Dining Package.  The way Carnival does it makes traditional dining our choice. 

 

on royal what makes YTD much harder and causes long waits/lines is that there is only one dinning room that is only 3 levels mixing the fixed time and YTD crowd together. this is why YTD has a late start

 

the best thing about carnival is that ship has two dinning rooms (mid ship and aft). one dinning room is used for fixed and the other for YTD. This reduces the wait times for dinning by half compare to royal 

[ninjacat123]

11 hours ago, Despegue said:

Alternatively, you could have an early kids dinner in the Lido buffet so they won’t need to wait till 20:15h., followed by a show with them. There is also I think the kids club for them during your meal time.

Personally, our kids would not think of eating as early as Main seating (18:00h) and would just be ready for dinner around 20:00h, but they also don’t go to bed before 22:30h. On vacation (3 year old), but we are European 🙃😄

Well, that schedule is what my DDs did from ages 4 & 6 on up.  Late dinner seating and then go to the show.  They would usually fall asleep😅

Edited September 29, 2023 by ninjacat123

[rizkeeper]

are you able to switch to any-time-dining and use the app to check in?  Is this an option? 

[Tennessee Rose]

On 9/28/2023 at 8:45 PM, wesnliz said:

We booked a last minute cruise, the only option available is 8:15. With a 3 year old and 5 year old, thats not remotely realistic. I’m pretty disappointed needless to say, not being able to have any meals in the dining room will be pretty frustrating. What’s the experience with the wait list? Does it help that we’re platinum and also in an excel suite?

To try to cut down on your worry time, I think I'd just call Carnival right now (or your PVP if you have one) and tell them your dilemma with having 2 very young children and needing the assigned early dining time. Then, I would ask them how your Excel Suite reservation and Platinum Status affects your ability to get your preferred dining time. At least for now, keep your confirmed late time, and try to get wait listed for the early time. If you don't get what you need, as others have said, go straight to the Main Dining Room as soon as you board and speak directly to the Maitre' de. They will do their best to accommodate you and your family. If Early is simply impossible, they get them to change you to Any Time Dining, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Just make sure you have the Hub App so you can enter your dining time request each day. Above all.....have fun!

[pcvtmom]

I understand your frustration, but I'd like to share our experience this past June. We had 2 two year olds in our family group, with late dining.  It worked SO well!  They played until exhaustion during the day, took a later-than-usual nap (4:00 or so), and did GREAT at dinnertime.  They also slept really well, since their bedtime was later than they were used to at home. It was a win-win for parents and grandparents!

[highSeas22]

On 9/28/2023 at 6:45 PM, wesnliz said:

We booked a last minute cruise, the only option available is 8:15. With a 3 year old and 5 year old, thats not remotely realistic. I’m pretty disappointed needless to say, not being able to have any meals in the dining room will be pretty frustrating. What’s the experience with the wait list? Does it help that we’re platinum and also in an excel suite?

Not trying to be funny but you did book last minute.  They will try to accommodate you

[highSeas22]

On 9/29/2023 at 8:49 PM, Tennessee Rose said:

To try to cut down on your worry time, I think I'd just call Carnival right now (or your PVP if you have one) and tell them your dilemma with having 2 very young children and needing the assigned early dining time. Then, I would ask them how your Excel Suite reservation and Platinum Status affects your ability to get your preferred dining time. At least for now, keep your confirmed late time, and try to get wait listed for the early time. If you don't get what you need, as others have said, go straight to the Main Dining Room as soon as you board and speak directly to the Maitre' de. They will do their best to accommodate you and your family. If Early is simply impossible, they get them to change you to Any Time Dining, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Just make sure you have the Hub App so you can enter your dining time request each day. Above all.....have fun!

If her preferred time is full, how can her status help her. ?

[highSeas22]

On 9/29/2023 at 9:22 AM, Journey11 said:

“Guaranteed Main Dining Room time assignment” is also an Excel Suite perk.

This should help when making your request to the Maitre’d once on board.

It was last minute.   If it's full it's full.  You just don't bump people

[jsglow]

11 hours ago, highSeas22 said:

It was last minute.   If it's full it's full.  You just don't bump people

Someone said Excel gets the 'guaranteed' perk just as Diamonds do. So there's no doubt some tables in each dining pool are held back even though it says full. However you are totally correct that nobody ever gets bumped.

[highSeas22]

3 hours ago, jsglow said:

Someone said Excel gets the 'guaranteed' perk just as Diamonds do. So there's no doubt some tables in each dining pool are held back even though it says full. However you are totally correct that nobody ever gets bumped.

I could see that.  But what table size.  They are either for 2 or groups are they not?