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How strict are dining room times?


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If you are not going to eat in the dining room, it is good manners to let the waiter and/or your tablemates know so that they will not wait for you to arrive, which will slow down their serving process.

 

On the nights when we have 'spontaneously' decided not to dine there, one of us will still run down and let the waiter know.

 

When we make reservations at an alternative restaurant, we always let everyone know ahead of time. It is the correct thing to do.

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Quick question since I just saw this topic.... if you choose not to use the Main Dining Room for the entire cruise, are you still supposed to pay the tips for the waiters?

 

I'll be a first-time RCI cruiser this May and I don't intend to skip dining in the main rooms, but just curious since one poster here mentioned he never used the dining rooms. I understand there are service personnel in the Windjammer as well, but certainly not to the extent of a dedicated waiter.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Yes you should still tip because these are the same people who work the buffets, etc at other times during the day.

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And if you don't tip, most likely Royal Caribbean will follow the other cruise lines and implement the dreaded automatic surcharge. When it comes to the point where no one tips, or most don't, just to keep their employees Royal Caribbean will be forced to implement the automatic tip, or have no employees.

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We had a table for 8 on the Adventure. We and two other great couples had to wait for a couple that was habitually late, and some nights would not show up. This slowed down our service. It would have been proper for the other couple to at least let the waiter know when they had made alternative dining plans. If we are going to Chops or Portifino, we always let our table mates and wait staff know.

 

As for tipping, it should not matter whether you eat in the dining room or not. The servers rely on tipping. Again, it is your vacation, but it is also their livelyhood. So please tip fairly.

 

Eric

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On our Monarch cruise last year we had a table for 4. The other couple was 15-30 minutes late every night. The night they were 30 minutes late we started without them. When they arrived they appeared very offended that we were eating already.

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Thanks for everyone's info - This will be our 1st cruise so I'm just trying to figure everything out. We are 8 adults so our table will probably be just us. I am NOT a habitually late person, in fact I am a habitually EARLY person. But because we are travelling with 3 other couples I wanted to know how strict they are. I'm glad I asked because now I realize I should inform the waiter when we won't be there. I wouldn't have even thought of that.

To LeoandHugh - why do you have such a bad attitude towards me when I asked a very simple and honest question? I thought these boards are a place to get info - not to be talked down to! As I said, I have never been on a cruise and just want to know what is acceptable. I could do without your nasty attitude!

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We always ask for a large table. Fortunately only once did we have the issue of another couple coming in late. Yes it does delay when you eat and it also makes an already long day for the wait staff even longer. On one of our trips one of the couple always announced when they would not be there. This was appreciated by everyone.

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With our kids being younger on past cruises, we unfortunately have some experience with this. I have found that when you are over 20 minutes late, you pay a price in more than one way. We now use 20 minutes as our personal cutoff in which we must go to Windjammer.

 

When you realize that each meal is almost a choreography of steps by the staff for a huge number of passengers with a wide variety of requests... one small deviation can get magnified in effect. One cruise, I thought one server became a little cool after the frequent tardiness of one teenager.

 

On our last cruise, the tablemates were always there on time, and we never had to wait... I must say that our tired, hungry family appreciated them. But I did not even think about this until reading this thread.

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the worst is being at a large table & having to wait--it is inconsiderate-- we now ask for smaller tables--fortunately it works better but I would not wait more than 10 minutes--if we are skipping the dining room we always let the dining room know so others won't be held up--

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Best advice is: don't be late!

 

On Formal nights, the line for pictures can slow things down a bit and the waiters usually know how to handle it. I haven't seen if anyone else suggested it, but let your waiter know if your not going to make a particular night. I've been told that they are notified if you reserve in one of the specialty restarurants.

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We will wait 15 minutes past the scheduled time before we ask the waiter to take our order. I have observed that it's usually the first time cruisers (or first time away from an Anytime cruiseline) who tend to be late (by late I mean they arrive after the crush has subsided, which can take 15 minutes or even longer on the first night). There are usually several tables that are already full, so the waitstaff can add our items to those (it's amazing how much stuff they carry:eek: ) and we keep pace with them.

 

If we know we're not eating in the DR we tell the waiters the night before. If it's spontaneous, we will try to duck in during early seating to let them know. If we decided to stay in port at the last minute, there's nothing to be done. You can only do what you can do. (Deep thought for the day).

 

Disneygirl8, enjoy your cruise! Tell the latecomers that you get their appetizers if they don't show on time!:)

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Tony,

on my last cruise I felt sorry for the waiter next to us since he had 2 tables of 8 that only showed up one night out of 7 and tips mean a lot to the servers.

 

It is my understanding that if you do not ever eat in the dining room, you still tip the staff the suggested amount. I'm sure people use this as an excuse to stiff them though.

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I agree....if you are sitting with other passengers and you are going to be late or dining elsewhere you should let them know.

 

I keep hearing if you don't want to do that ask for a small table...well that is not so easy. You can ask all you want but in the end you may have to fight tooth and nail to get it.

The alternative is not to eat at the buffet....Everyone pays for their cruise and everyone should be able to eat where they want and with whom...there should be more small tables for those that may be 10 minutes late...for those that don't want to wait .. for those that want family time..etc.

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Tony,

In your case it would be helpful to go to the dining room the first day and let them know you will not be dining there. That way if they need to switch people there will be more available seating. I wish there was a better way to work out the dining details because on my last cruise I felt sorry for the waiter next to us since he had 2 tables of 8 that only showed up one night out of 7 and tips mean a lot to the servers.

 

Let's hope those two tables of 8 tipped the servers, as they should have. We eat less than half the time in the dining room, but we do tip the full amount (as we should) and we do try to tell them the night before we won't be showing up. When we have tablemates, we always tell them "if we don't show up in 5 minutes, we won't be here."

 

On our upcoming 14 night cruise, we plan to eat in the dining room only 5 times, alternative 6 times, and the rest on shore or in the windjammer.

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[quote name='mozfoz']If you needed to ask, does that imply it is probable that it will occur happen? Maybe a later dinner time would relieve you of your concerns.[/QUOTE]


I agree as many of us at the first seating are going to the show after dinner. If there is a delay getting served, it becomes rushed if you want to go back to your cabin first. I myself do not like to rush when on a cruise, I do enough of that at home. There are some people that are chronically late, and they would be at a later seating also.

Tasha
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I agree that it is rude to be late for dinner on a nightly basis. On our Brilliance cruise, there were two couples with very young children (2 years old or so) who had late seating and every single night they were at least half an hour late for dinner. They allowed the kids to run around and disturb everyone, but it didn't bother the parents at all.

On Celebrity, I think they have the right idea. The dining room doors close 15 minutes after the scheduled dining time. This encourages people to be on time and therefore the food is not delayed for everyone else at the table.

We go to the specialty restaurants on our cruises and always tells the waitstaff and tablemates that we won't be at dinner the following night. I wouldn't not just show up.

I know there are people who don't plan to eat any dinners in the dining room, but never tell the maitre'd. Had they told him/her the first afternoon/evening, perhaps someone who wanted to eat at that seating could have been given the spots at the table. Not everyone gets his/her choice in seatings. There are always waitlists for one or the other.

I think common courtesy goes a long way on a cruise, just as it does in other aspects of life. Be kind and think of others rather than just yourself and you will enjoy your cruise more.


Katie
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For ships with traditional dining it's pretty simple, 10 minutes is the number we use. We don't always know what will happen, where we will be etc. We mention to our waiter, and tablemates (if they are interested :)) if we're not there 10 minutes after the time, count us out.

As for tips for the wait staff, they are for the sailing, not the dining room. Simple as that. The only way I could see anyone not paying them is if they don't eat, period.

Having said the above, we really have to give cruisers new to cruising and/or traditional dining a bit of a break. They just don't know the drill. In the old days they got it, usually the first night...the doors used to be closed after a certain amount of time went by and they didn't get in. I don't think most lines do this anymore, do they?

This is just another area where I don't think the lines do a good job of making sure passengers "get the drill". It certainly isn't up to me and I wouldn't dare tell others what the drill is.
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[quote name='MavisMarie']
On our upcoming 14 night cruise, we plan to eat in the dining room only 5 times, alternative 6 times, and the rest on shore or in the windjammer.[/QUOTE]


Wow! Talk about having your trip planned to the last detail.
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[quote name='disneygirl8']If dinner is at 6:30 and I arrive at 6:45 will I still be seated or did I miss it?[/quote]


On the AOS last month, our table mates were routinely late - up to one hour. Our wait staff did not delay us while awaiting the arrival of any of our table mates. One meal everyone was finished eating before one couple arrived.
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Put me in the catagory of the over planner. The first day on the ship(typicaly within an hour of boarding) my wifes spa reservations are made(happy wife, happy life), and my altenative dining reservations are made. We can then inform the waitstaff and fellow table mates as to the night(s) we will not be there so they can plan accordingly( and we still tip in full). That is just being polite. We also have 2 kids who, even though they are older, want to finish and get to the kids programs a.s.a.p. so they are a bit anxious and we are puntual to dinner, we feed them and get them on their way so we can enjoy our meal and not disturb others. We have had the late ariivers either at our table or part of our waiters group, without much of a hint, the waiter took excellant care of us and others and made the late arivers wait. If someone is going to be "fashionably" late to dinner, do it on the late seating schedule. IMHO
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When we were on our Disney cruise, the very first night our waiter stated that he would be more than happy to speed up or slow down our dining according to our wishes.

Since we are not 2 1/2 hour dinner people typically and we had somewhere we wanted to be, on the 3rd night we asked if he could please make our dinner go faster. They did a wonderful job accomodating us, but I still felt a little awkward since we were eating dessert while the others at the table were still eating dinner. We then got up and left before they were finished.

Did we do something wrong by taking him up on his offer? This will only be our 3rd cruise and on Princess we had anytime dining.

Thanks again for the helpful info.
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[quote name='pegatha']As barnbob stated you will be seated but keep in mind that these servers have 20-30 people to serve and your late arrival may impact the service to the other tables they are working. Best advice would be to check with your servers and see how it will impact them.[/quote]

NO, BEST BET IS BE ON TIME!

You really disrupt the meal of everyone at your table, and effect the service of all the other tables your waiter has to cover.

A few minutes is not a big deal, 10-15+ is.
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[quote name='xamsx']On the AOS last month, our table mates were routinely late - up to one hour. Our wait staff did not delay us while awaiting the arrival of any of our table mates. One meal everyone was finished eating before one couple arrived.[/quote]

They should have eaten at the Buffet.

Very Rude!
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