PG 6/25/2008 Tahiti

[twin123185]

Except - I always get a table for 2 or 4 depending on if I am travelling with my kids - on the Azamara cruise there was no "connecting' with a waiter - most just went through the motions and did not give a s... Some were great, yes but.....

Plus - I would rather eat early if we have to be on board the ship by 5 and then have time the rest of the night to gamble, be entertained and possibly eat some more !!

 

Larry

[KLG]

We've done dining both ways, and we much prefer open seating. We usually ask for a table for 6 or 8, which allows us to meet other passengers. And we can eat when we're ready, generally around 7:00. When we've had traditional dining we'd have to go at 6:00, which is too early, or at 8:15 or 8:30, way too late for us. (NOTE: Larry, I've followed the discussion on the Azamara board and I am aware that we'll need to beat the 7:00 pm rush if we don't want to wait.) Our experiences with 'bonding' with the waitstaff have never made enough of a difference to matter, and we've only been on one fixed-seating cruise (out of 8) where we wanted to spend time with our dinner companions outside of dinner. I'm not counting the cruise we took with relatives in that total. :-) By contrast, we're coming up on our 5th open seating cruise, and won't consider a line with 'traditional' dining any more.

Karen

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I'm with you, Karen! We also ask for to share a table with others most nights--I find a table for 6 is the best, since that way everybody tends to talk to everybody else. A table for 4 can get dicey at times, and a table for 8, unless you're all friends already, tends to turn into two tables for 4!