Can't decide if Anytime dining or Fixed Dining is for us

[sofietucker]

On 6/1/2024 at 4:08 PM, tbmrt said:

 Does the deck location for Anytime vs. Fixed matter?

 

Plus or minuses for both please.

Yes and no. No: Just another stop up or down on the elevator.

 

Yes--depends on what you're doing before hand! We like to grab a glass of the "good wine" at Cellar Masters on deck 5--outside the entrance to fixed dining--and listen to whatever solo or pair of musicians are playing there. But the casino, martini bar and rendezvous lounge--a bigger band, for dancing--are on deck 4, outside the anytime entrance.

 

So if you tend to prefer one type of activity, it's a slight advantage to eat on the same deck, and avoid having to wait for an elevator or scamper the stairs while possibly holding a cocktail. That's all.

[the penguins]

55 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

We've never HAD to sit with anyone else in fixed dining. Pre Covid, we requested large tables (8 or so). Sometimes they would put us with 6 or 4. In anytime (over the years), we usually preferred to have a 2-top--it would be a lot of work to get to know a new table each time as someone else noted. We also requested a 2-to in fixed the year we had a family death right before our holiday cruise--not up to needing to be cheerful that time. On our first post-covid cruise Edge's first trip out in June 2021), they wouldn't let folks sit together unless family...

 

I know people who arrange  "fixed seating" in anytime dining--they reserve the same time, same table each night for the duration of the cruise. And heaven knows X pesters us to death to set this up before the cruise! (Along with reserving specialty restaurants, of course.)

 So I think you could ask to be seated with the same folks each night in anytime dining--if everyone else agreed to eat at the same time each night (in which case, why not just switch to fixed --where you can also ask for a specific table).

To be clear:

1) for us one of the great things about cruising is sharing tables at dinner in the MDR - we eat as a couple every night at home.

2) With set dinning once you have been allocated a table be it for 2, 6, 8 or whatever those people are your companions for the rest of the cruise.

3) Any Time gives us the opportunity to share with different people which we enjoy. Normally this would mean moving tables but, because of my wife’s mobility/pain issues , X kindly allows us to have the same table of 6 (in fact the same seats) which works out well for us, the servers and the other diners.

4) the time we choose fits neatly with not having to rush if we have been ashore and yes when you are managing pain/mobility/medications 30 minutes can make a lot of difference. 

On our first few cruises after the restart we accepted all the restrictions including not sharing tables, only being allowed off the ship in organised groups etc but those days are long gone.

There is no right or wrong we choose what works best for us and everyone else should do the same.

 

 

 

[sofietucker]

Points well taken, the penguins. And the ability to always eat at say, 7:30--a time not offered in any cruise line's fixed dining--certainly trumps everything.