As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[judycruiser32]

I'm wondering if any of you have noticed that the passengers are getting ruder?

 

Sorry to harp on the As You Wish dining but on two instances came up where I feel I have to relay to you. (1) an elderly couple with many, many cruises behind them showed up at their assigned table at their assigned dining time only to find 4 "table crashers" already seated. When the waiter and then assistant matre'd told them that they were in the wrong dining room and at the wrong table, they refused to budge. The elderly couple demanded, and were finally given, a table at the Pinnacle Grill (free of the extra surcharge). (2) A family of three were seated at a table for six in the As You wish dining room. When a waiter brought 2 more people to the table, the father of the family jumped up and demanded that the new couple be removed from "his" table.

 

What's going on here? Has the Noordam turned into a saloon in Dodge City? I'm sorry, but I think the traditional cruise experience suffers when you try to be all things to all people. As You Wish doesn't mean just me and the hell with everyone else. Assigned seating had a certain cache. People behaved better.

 

By the way, the Thanksgiving holiday cruise I took was sold out but 10 cabins had no shows on the day of sailing so the ship wasn't filled to capacity (this was told to me by one of the future sales consultants).

[FinelyRetired]

I just returned from a 10 day cruise to the Caribbean on the Noordam. HAL instituted the As You Wish dining a few weeks prior to my cruise on this ship. I think it's a disaster. Only one floor of the dining room (deck 3) had assigned dining. Apparently many people requested assigned seating because you could barely move or seat yourself at your table because there were so many tables shoved into the dining room. Almost all the round tables were replaced by long rectangular ones, making it impossible to talk to anyone more than a seat or two from your left or right. It looked like a mess hall or school cafeteria. We hardly ever saw our waiter because he was forced to wedge himself between the tables, standing behind us to take our orders. Forget a little small talk. He was too busy. By setting up assigned seating on only one floor, HAL has basically provided only 1/3 of its seating arrangements for assigned seating (if you count the second deck and the Lido deck casual dining option). HAL has been my favorite cruise line for over 25 years. I've just switched my preference to Celebrity. Hopefully HAL will reconsider it's new policy (I doubt it) and Celebrity will NOT change it's dining arrangements.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

Well, now that you've vented, welcome to Cruisecritic! I see this is your 2nd post and you're a new member.

 

So sorry to hear about your awful dining.

 

HAL's been your favorite for 25 years? But.....now, you're switching to Celebrity after one poor dining experience?

 

Incredible.

[terrydtx]

Hopefully HAL will reconsider it's new policy (I doubt it) and Celebrity will NOT change it's dining arrangements.

 

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with AYWD on the Noordam, which was the first HAL ship to make the switch last summer in Alaska. We loved it on the Volendam last month and I did not hear of one case of anyone who wanted fixed seating not getting accommodated, in fact in the lower dining room 4 tables were converted from open to fixed seating for the 8pm seating for the overflow from the upper dining room.

 

I have some potential bad news for you, Celebrity is considering offering a very similar open dining arrangement on their ships next year and I hope they have the switch by the time we sail on the Century in September.

[onthegogirl]

Our first experience with AYW was a mixed bag. Really enjoyed our table mates each evening. Traveled with my sister-in-law and she found our fellow diners interesting and fun as well.:) :)

 

The service, however, was not up to HAL standards. Perhaps it was because the supervision was lacking. The white coated gentlemen were absent from the room. While we had excellent service at tables aft port side, the service at tables in the center raised section around the staircase was slow and inattentive. I can't explain the difference. I also missed getting to know our stewards. :( :(

 

On the whole, I am now torn as to whether to continue with traditional seating on my long solo adverture in March or switch to AYW to meet more of my fellow passengers. :confused:

 

Isn't it great to have to make such dicisions???:D

 

Carole

[hammybee]

Our first experience with AYW was a mixed bag. Really enjoyed our table mates each evening. Traveled with my sister-in-law and she found our fellow diners interesting and fun as well.:) :)

 

The service, however, was not up to HAL standards. Perhaps it was because the supervision was lacking. The white coated gentlemen were absent from the room. While we had excellent service at tables aft port side, the service at tables in the center raised section around the staircase was slow and inattentive. I can't explain the difference. I also missed getting to know our stewards. :( :(

 

On the whole, I am now torn as to whether to continue with traditional seating on my long solo adverture in March or switch to AYW to meet more of my fellow passengers. :confused:

 

Isn't it great to have to make such dicisions???:D

 

Carole

 

Carole,

You may have hit a chord here and that's inconsistentcy, the hallmark of mass marketed cruising, which in itself has strengths and weaknesses.

 

Within fixed seating, same ship, same sailing, it is not uncommon to read two posts with very different perceptions of dining service. This can be attribted to the posters having different standards as well as the posters being served by different teams/times.

 

The strength of open seating is that it is substantially easier to be seated in a different area if service is lacking or lock into a better area by requesting the same station/team on the subsequent evenings.

 

And sometimes, for reasons we do not understand, regardless of fixed or open seating, there seems to be a log jam, somewhere in the pipeline of food preparation/delivery, that defies an obvious reason.

 

Mass marketed cruising is always an adventure and requires tolerance for inconsistentcies.

[Shaco]

My TA phoned me to say she gave the letter I wrote outlining our miserable AYWD experience on our recent Noordam cruise to her HAL rep. The rep had dropped by to deliver Christmas cookies. After the rep read my letter, she told my TA that indeed AYWD was a "fiasco" (supposedly her word), but HAL is committed to it because of Princess and Norwegian.

 

The rep did say that the copy of the letter I sent to Seattle was sent to the correct person and would be answered.

 

I intend to let everyone know the rest of the story when or if I hear anything more.

 

Sharon

[asailingnowwego]

I hope that when they get the kinks out all will be happy. Change is difficult and it will take awhile before the new concept settles in... :confused:

[ron46936]

We were on some of the early sailings on NCL with the Freestyle dining and it took a while to work out the kinks. They have it pretty well down pat now. Sounds like HAL is implementing the concept in much the same way as Princess. The main thing that has going for it is that you don't get stuck with Late Dining when you prefer Early.

 

It will make me more likely to consider HAL in the future.

 

Now if they could take another hint from Princess and restrict the dress codes to two Formal and Smart Casual.

[RuthC]

The main thing that has going for it is that you don't get stuck with Late Dining when you prefer Early.

There's still a finite number of seats in the dining room. If the number of people wanting those seats exceeds the seats available there is going to be disappointment. What AYW does give is a better shot at getting those seats at least some of the time.

 

Now if they could take another hint from Princess and restrict the dress codes to two Formal and Smart Casual.

HAL's been there for quite a while now. The challenge now is to get some people to go with the program.

[terrydtx]

There's still a finite number of seats in the dining room. If the number of people wanting those seats exceeds the seats available there is going to be disappointment. What AYW does give is a better shot at getting those seats at least some of the time.

 

Ruth, it sounds like you are softening your take on AYWD somewhat, you have been so much against it in the past.

Thank you for your well thought out and very good and informative postings to this forum. I do not allways agree with you but I will have to admit when it comes to anything about HAL you do know your stuff.

 

Terry

[RuthC]

Ruth, it sounds like you are softening your take on AYWD somewhat, you have been so much against it in the past.

Softening? No, not really. I'm against AYW for me as long as I travel solo. I understand perfectly why it's just as right for some people as it is wrong for me.

I just think it's fair to point out the ups and downs all around.

And thank you for the compliment. :) I've been very fortunate, and love to spread the good news about cruising.

[FinelyRetired]

Softening? No, not really. I'm against AYW for me as long as I travel solo. I understand perfectly why it's just as right for some people as it is wrong for me.

I just think it's fair to point out the ups and downs all around.

And thank you for the compliment. :) I've been very fortunate, and love to spread the good news about cruising.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. When solo, traditional works best for me. So happy I nailed down traditional on the Prinsendam June '08. It will be their 2nd week with AYW dining. I must admit that I'll be interested to see how it goes on Prinsendam.

 

For the life of me, though, I still don't understand all the traditional "waitlisting." Since HAL doesn't have dining rooms to "fill" that are specifically & separately "dedicated" to either type dining couldn't they just give everyone their choice pre-cruise and divide up the dining rooms accordingly toward the end? They have to anyway since there they only dining rooms they have to work with?

[mrblack]

Now if they could take another hint from Princess and restrict the dress codes to two Formal and Smart Casual.

 

One of the things I like about cruising is dressing up. It gives a little glamour to the holiday. Now a days no one dresses up for anything. You have people show up for church events such as christenings in Tshirts with vulgar sayings and then it turns out they are one of the God parents.

[onthegogirl]

For the life of me, though, I still don't understand all the traditional "waitlisting." Since HAL doesn't have dining rooms to "fill" that are specifically & separately "dedicated" to either type dining couldn't they just give everyone their choice pre-cruise and divide up the dining rooms accordingly toward the end? They have to anyway since there they only dining rooms they have to work with?

 

 

I was told that they wait list in case a large group books and wants traditional dining. They would be given their preference. I also am assuming that those passengers who have paid top dollar would also be moved "up the list" even if they booked late.

 

It is not first come first served. I book a March 2008 cruise last April and am still waitlister for traditional dining. Like you I am traveling solo so I really hope to be accomodated.

 

Carole

[bUU]

I also am assuming that those passengers who have paid top dollar would also be moved "up the list" even if they booked late.

After all, they say that Holland America is still very traditional in some ways.

[O2B@C]

... Sounds like HAL is implementing the [AYW] concept in much the same way as Princess. ... It will make me more likely to consider HAL in the future. Now if they could take another hint from Princess and restrict the dress codes to two[:] Formal and Smart Casual.

 

Done! In fact, that IS the current dress code system on HAL. The old three-level system is a thing of the past, and has been for a while.

 

Whether they ought to do a better job of communicating the meaning of the current dress codes, and enforcing them, is another topic, which I will not get into .... it has been done to death on other threads, and does not belong on this one.

[Williebill]

My DW and I have become used to the Traditional dining and will not change, but we are glad that HAL has adopted the As You Wish Dining for those who want it; everyone should be able to enjoy every aspect of their cruise. I for one enjoy having the same waitstaff who learn after the first or second night certain things that I like; such as, since I don't like the strong iced tea served on board, they will have a half glass of iced tea and a glass of water that I use to weaken the tea. This is one example of why I enjoy the way dining has always been.

[kennicott]

Thanks copper 10-8. There were some new ones there.

 

It's nice to have familiarity at some point in the day. I'm not looking forward to the "where are you from?" and "what do you do?" at every meal. I'd rather get into politics and religion.:eek:

 

After about 20 years of cruising we have found many friends, some we still exchange Christmas cards with. A lot of those folk we met at traditional dinner arrangements. A lot of good people sail on these ships. However, and most probably, due to the extreme polarization of political views in the US today, I wish traditional dining was no longer the only option for dining room service, particularly since we are booked for a 73 day voyage in a few months where we still have no alternative other than traditional or the buffet. We just disembarked from a 34 day venture and my first order of business after getting home was to request two seat dining for this next cruise, first time we ever did that. I am not one to sit at a table when some red faced hard nosed ideological idiot shoots his face off dinner after dinner after dinner about political beliefs that in his mind we should all subscribe to. I might as will eat the plate as to enjoy the meal. So, when I make up my mind to take this dude on, that is the end of congeniality at that table for the rest of the voyage. I am certain others at the table didn’t pay the kind of dough they did to listen to this sort of discourse and I know my wife sure didn’t. So give us an option to still have dinner in the dining room but don’t nail our feet to a floor where we have to listen to the same naive political diatribe every evening.

[Roz]

I don't know whether this has been discussed or not. If it has, please excuse the repetition, but I don't feel like going back over 55 pages :eek: of posts.

 

I'm wondering if AYWD will result in less tips for the servers. Assuming I get good to excellent dining room service, I give my servers something extra on the last night in addition to the auto tips.

 

If I get AYWD dining and have different servers every night, I don't think I'm going to carry money with me every night to the dining room, nor am I am going to run around the DR on the last night trying to track down everyone who waited on me.

 

Roz

[Kathyh1313]

When DH and I have done Anytime Dining on Princess or Freestyle on NCL, we carry a small amount of cash to dinner and give an extra tip in the moment if the service warrants. No different than dining in a restaurant.

 

We carry small bills everywhere and will tip the Bar waiters and Bartenders in the moment too.

 

Happy cruising, Kathy

[FinelyRetired]

When DH and I have done Anytime Dining on Princess or Freestyle on NCL, we carry a small amount of cash to dinner and give an extra tip in the moment if the service warrants. No different than dining in a restaurant.

 

We carry small bills everywhere and will tip the Bar waiters and Bartenders in the moment too.

 

Happy cruising, Kathy

 

I would do this as well if I ever land in AWD. I would hope others would as well. If not, service levels may likely decline?

 

I've noticed sometimes in the Speciality Restaurants that some waiters are "over the top," rather ingratiating, etc because we're one timers who may forget to tip or use the opportunity to not tip?

 

I really wonder if taking "charge" of a set group of the same diners over a week or so doesn't foster a certain amount of effort to make sure they're well-served & cared for. If it's a "slap-dash" one-night stand....will service suffer?

 

Martha

[Connecticutnewcruiser]

I'm leading a group of 23 friends on the Oosterdam on January 12th which will be the O's 2nd week of starting the AYWD program. We did not get traditional seating as we'd hoped. What I'd like to do is speak with the Dining Room manager/Maitre'D as soon as I board to ask about giving us a set time/reservation for the whole week so that we can have perhaps 3 tables of 8 at the same hour each night - frankly, I think that we'd be doing them a favor to make that kind of arrangement instead of having a large group just show up randomly each night?

 

Thoughts on whether I'll be successful in such a request? (my TA has asked ship services and they couldn't commit).

 

Thanks in advance for your advice! Happy New Year to all! ERIC

[Two if by Sea]

From what we've heard so far of the rules, you should be able to make that happen if you want to eat very early (5:45) or very late (8:30) but not necessarily if you want to eat in between those hours.

 

On the other hand, if you're defined as a group (is 23 enough for group status? Do you have at least 10 cabins between you?) then maybe you can call the group reservations line and get all sorts of special amenities -- even close off the Crows' Nest for your special functions :) :).

[Connecticutnewcruiser]

Thanks for your thoughts - we are indeed classified by HAL as a "group" - you only need 8 cabins/16 people for that. We had a long choice of amenities from which to choose - our group chose a private premium wine tasting with food pairings hosted by the ship's "cellarmaster". But HAL could not guarantee our dining choice of time. So I guess I'll make nice with the dining room manager as soon as we embark - I really think I'm doing them a favor to let them know we're a group of 23 and we'll be in the dining room every night at a certain time, right?

[Two if by Sea]

I really think I'm doing them a favor to let them know we're a group of 23 and we'll be in the dining room every night at a certain time, right?

 

Well, it certainly seems that way to ME. But I've never been a dining room host so I don't know what they might think.

 

I suppose, trying to think like a dining room host, I might be worried only that you would end up tying up three tables for 8 and then not showing up as planned.

 

But judging by the number of people who want tables for 2, I'd also think they would be THRILLED to have their large tables spoken for. Now if you wanted 12 tables for 2, they'd probably go nuts.