Feeling Dumb . . . Do I Need Reservations for Every Meal?

[JerseyGirl1007]

Total newbie to this (except for one ill-fated very short cruise where everything was handled by someone else) -- we're on HAL during an Alaskan cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam.  I've made reservations for our "special" dinner night, but do I need to make reservations for every dinner before we go?  Am I making a mistake to wait until we're on board, thinking that we just aren't going to know what we'll want until we get there?  We're pretty casual people and aren't interested in eating in the super fancy places every night.  Thank you for any help.  I tried searching the boards for this and I apologize if I overlooking the answer!

[Ferry_Watcher]

For a regular meal in the Main Dining Room, no reservations are needed.

[JerseyGirl1007]

Thank you so much!  

[shipgeeks]

Does your booking show your dining assignment?  There could be Early, Late, or My Time.  If you have Early or Late, the exact time will be on your ship card, along with the table number.  If you have My Time (or whatever name HAL uses), you can just show up, or you can reserve times in advance.

[Mum2Mercury]

I have never sailed HAL, but on Royal Caribbean /most other mainstream lines you do one of two things: 

 

- Choose Early or Late Traditional dining, and that sets your dinner reservations for the whole cruise. 

- OR choose My Time Dining, and you reserve your specific time for each evening.  You can just show up, but you'll get in more quickly with a reservation.  

 

But that may or may not be true on HAL.  

 

 

Edited March 17 by Mum2Mercury

[CruiserBruce]

You will have lots of other questions. Come over to the portion of Cruise Critic devoted to Holland America, located here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/103-holland-america-line/

 

More info there than you will ever need.

[JerseyGirl1007]

4 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Does your booking show your dining assignment?  There could be Early, Late, or My Time.  If you have Early or Late, the exact time will be on your ship card, along with the table number.  If you have My Time (or whatever name HAL uses), you can just show up, or you can reserve times in advance.

Our dining is listed as "Open Seating."  That's all it says.

[crystalspin]

44 minutes ago, JerseyGirl1007 said:

Our dining is listed as "Open Seating."  That's all it says.

Open Seating means you can go to MDR or Lido "As You Wish", or $pecialty dining, and no one will miss you!  Some people, those who wish to eat at a fixed time but not THE fixed times, will make reservations for MDR which they can do a few days at a time. But you don't need to make reservations for MDR. 

 

You can see the menu vs offerings at the Lido, ahead of time on the Navigator app, if you install it on your cell phone.

[Nebr.cruiser]

5 hours ago, JerseyGirl1007 said:

Our dining is listed as "Open Seating."  That's all it says.

That means you can go when you want, within dining hours of course.  Without a reservation you may have a wait at busy times, usually before 7 or so. Even with a reservation there may be a short wait.

 

We hardly ever have reservations and the wait is usually a couple of minutes up to ten: however, we don't want to eat early and usually eat after the first show, say 8ish.  

Edited March 18 by Nebr.cruiser

[JerseyGirl1007]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

You will have lots of other questions. Come over to the portion of Cruise Critic devoted to Holland America, located here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/103-holland-america-line/

 

More info there than you will ever need.

Thank you very much!

[JerseyGirl1007]

Thanks to everyone for all your help!