As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[hammybee]

On the question of long and short cruises I would have thought it was the people on the longer cruises that would prefer open sitting not wishing to be stuck with the same people for a long time but preferring to make friends and then elect to sit with them on open sitting.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

I never thought of it this way but you may be onto something I had not considered. It seems to me that those on World Voyages seem to look forward to getting to know new tablemates on each segment. It also seems to me that there are more opportunities to meet others outside of dinner while on a longer cruise and having the flexibility to dine with who you want/when you want may be an advantage for some.

 

Thanks for spinning this the other way. :)

[Mary Ellen]

On the question of long and short cruises I would have thought it was the people on the longer cruises that would prefer open sitting not wishing to be stuck with the same people for a long time but preferring to make friends and then elect to sit with them on open sitting.

This doesn't appear to be the case. Checking HAL's Grand Voyages, only the 'Traditional' seating is offered. 'Open Seating' isn't listed as an option. I'm sure HAL knows what their long cruise passengers want. There are a number of passengers who have done multiple RTW cruises.

 

We wanted a table for 2 on our first cruise, very apprehensive about dining with 'strangers'. Thankfully, our TA talked us into a large table. We loved it and have never looked back.

 

Even checking on your upcoming 16-day cruise, only 'open' is still available. One can't even waitlist for traditional. Obviously, even at 16-days, the 'traditional' was VERY popular.

 

We've always had wonderful tablemates and have never felt "stuck" at dinner. It has only been at the open breakfast and lunch seatings we've felt "stuck" with less than desirable tablemates. Who knows, if we'd had more meals with them we could have liked them.

[Deb&GarySD]

This viewpoint is from one who has always enjoyed late traditional dining. We recently had our first experience with traditional dining after the implementation of the “as you wish” dining concept on the Volendam holiday cruise.

 

First of all, we were unable to get confirmed for late traditional even though we booked almost a year in advance. After upgrading to a Superior Suite our status immediately changed from “waitlisted” to “confirmed” for our dining choice. However, our other family members who were not in a suite were “waitlisted” until they received their cruise cards upon boarding.

 

Dinner was supposed to be at 8:00 each night; but we were never allowed into the dining room before 8:20. When we arrived at our table, the servers and assistants were still trying to get the tables set up. Three nights in a row we had to ask for salt and pepper (we were not under code red, they just were so busy they forgot). Service was really lacking even though the wine stewards, section managers and even the Yum-Yum man were pouring water, clearing tables, chasing after food and anything else they could to do help. Our assistant waiter disappeared each night during the meal as he was summoned downstairs to help out in the “as you wish” dining room. Our dinners took at least two hours each night and we usually had to wait 20 to 30 minutes for coffee after dinner. The third night I realized it was because they were waiting for coffee cups to come through the dishwasher. They were so hot when they arrived that you couldn’t touch them. None of the aforementioned problems were due to the staff being lazy or negligent. They are just plain overworked!

 

“As you wish dining” has, in my opinion put a real strain on all aspects of the dining room service and the quality of the food. For years Holland America has offered four dining times and they know how to do that well. Getting 1,200 – 2,000 complex meals out in a four hour time period requires a finely choreographed kitchen routine and well trained and efficient wait staff. What we experienced was chaos. I’m glad that those enjoying “as you wish dining” don’t have much of a wait because we, as traditional diners, sure did. We never made it to the late show on time after dinner.

 

I realize that things are always more hectic on a holiday sailing, but this was far more taxing on everyone than it needed to be. HAL needs to realize where their strengths are and stick with what works. I vote for leaving the “Freestyle” cruising to NCL.

[cruz chic]

We've always had wonderful tablemates and have never felt "stuck" at dinner. It has only been at the open breakfast and lunch seatings we've felt "stuck" with less than desirable tablemates. Who knows, if we'd had more meals with them we could have liked them.

 

I find the same thing. The people that I have met during open seating at breakfast and lunch a lot of times have been strange to very rude. Maybe I just haven't been lucky. I've heard stories about gory pet operations, pet barfing stories and have also been insulted. Don't recall a situation like that happening very often with fixed dinner seating.

[mancunian]

Mary Elllen I was slightly worried by your reply. Your bold type - which I think in any post is unnecessary - appears to be telling me off. I think my points of view are as valid as anyone else.

 

If you read my second paragraph you will see that I am actually criticising the fact that HAL finds it difficult to give everyone who wants traditional their choice. I am somewhat flummoxed by why they are finding this a problem.

 

I don't know whether HAL knows that the world cruise people would prefer traditional. I don't think they know either unless they have actually asked these people. Perhaps they have.

 

We have now done 27 cruises - 8 open sitting and the rest traditional though never on a ship with the two mixed. We are actually happy whichever comes up and it would never sway us whether to take a cruise or not. On balance we have always preferred traditional but on the 8 open sittings we have been on there have not been problems and the passengers generally have seen this as being a great selling point of the cruise.

 

It is true we have taken a change of heart and opted for open on our March cruise on Rotterdam. You have certainly been lucky never to have had problems with tablemates. We would have said the same until this year. We had one bad set and yes I suppose we could have asked for a change, but the second cruise sealed it for us when we did not see three members of our table once during the cruise and many other tables were the same. We do not like sitting as four on an 8 table, and I think as cruising is getting more informal more people are choosing to eat away from the dining room, particularly if they have not got their first choice of sitting.

 

Your comments about our upcoming cruise are noted but really confirm what I have been saying in my second paragraph. The only other thing I would say about this cruise is that when we booked several months' ago AYW had not been heard of so everyone who booked early was down as traditional and HAL have never asked us if that is what we want. This must distort the figures considerably. We actually read about it on the board and asked to be changed. I think a lot of people still don't know they have a choice.

[Mary Ellen]

I'm sorry mancunian feels that my being able to stress any point is unnecessary. To me is was necessary and I certainly wasn't telling you off. There is a reason the CC has made it very easy to use bold, underline and italics and it most certainly isn't to tell anyone off. We've been cruising since 1980 and never was definitely something I wanted to stress. We've also never had to request a table change but wouldn't hesitate a moment to do if the need arose.

 

I also feel my points of view are as valid as anyone else. I NEVER (I hope that is ok) said you were wrong. I expressed my (insert stress here) viewpoint.

 

Yes, HAL does do surveys of passengers, not just the end of cruise comment cards.

 

Also, this thread about the open/AYW seating started over 6 months ago in June, 2006. If your TA didn't tell you about the availability when you booked your cruise several months ago...... However, my point was that even on a 16-day cruise, traditional is so popular that it is closed. It is not an option for those who'd want it. That would be deal breaker for us.

[hammybee]

I find the same thing. The people that I have met during open seating at breakfast and lunch a lot of times have been strange to very rude. Maybe I just haven't been lucky. I've heard stories about gory pet operations, pet barfing stories and have also been insulted. Don't recall a situation like that happening very often with fixed dinner seating.

 

I have always thought that if I have not met a few odd folk on a cruise, chances are I am the oddball, everyone else is avoiding.:p

[PalmBeachMom]

I have always thought that if I have not met a few odd folk on a cruise, chances are I am the oddball, everyone else is avoiding.:p

 

Hammybee, your comment reminds me of a great line from the movie Rounders which is about playing serious poker. The narrator says "if you can't figure out within ten minutes who the sucker is at the table, then you are the sucker."

 

Piece of advice for solo cruisers: if you want late traditional dining, ask your TA to request a seat at the Hotel Manager or Chief Engineer's table. The officers are only there on formal nights, but you generally get an interesting table.

[Odd Ball]

I have always thought that if I have not met a few odd folk on a cruise, chances are I am the oddball, everyone else is avoiding.:p

 

And I thought it was only me..............LOL :D LOL:D

[hammybee]

And I thought it was only me..............LOL LOL:D

 

Now this was good. :D :D :D :D

[C5R]

We will be on the Oosterdam next month. Fortunately, we prefer to eat early so I do not expect any problems with our choice of AYW dining. Hopefully the service won't be slow as I don't like sitting for 2 1/2 hours eating dinner.

[gentlemancruiser]

When talking with my TA about 'begging to get' our traditional late seating from HAL, we mentioned the possibility of canceling our upcoming cruise.

I know this sounds extreme, but one reason we like cruising is because of the food, and the dining experience.

So we told our TA, tell HAL if they cannot confirm our request for traditional dining then we'd cancel and book with another line. The response from HAL via our TA was to 'talk with dining room manager on board'. This has made me completely mad..... If we ever booked a cruise and were told that we would find out when boarding the ship where my cabin would be located, I'd tell them forget this!

My point here is that people enjoy cruising for various reasons, so of which might happen to be the formal dress, 4 course meals, the tradition, the ports, nightly entertainment, etc. So when you start to 'mix things up' you are going to have problems.

I can't understand why HAL cannot figure out in advance with 2000 passengers on a cruise who wants what and when???? It's simple, you have a limited numbers of seats in a dinning room (including various sizes), just as you have a limited amount of cabins in various categories. When a cabin category is sold out you start a waiting list. If it's that simple for the cabin selection, then why can't it be that simple for dining arrangements???

[caribbean girl]

Ladies and gentlemen, I have to admit that after reading pages 1 - 3 and skipping around the last page of this thread, I am wondering how we'll feel about all the changes when we cruise on the Westerdam in March. I am going on this trip with my usual attitude of 'we'll have fun no matter what' but I must say that I was a bit surprised not to have been asked our dining time choice at booking. It's almost a ritual part of the reservation process...nice to have options and to know the routine. My husband and I have enjoyed meeting our table mates over the years and, even though our longest cruise has only been a 10 day trip, it is true that one becomes attached to the group with whom dinner is shared and part of the fun becomes sharing one another's daily plans and trip experiences. It's hard to know if this 'as you wish' dining style will work for us but I hope that we can find a way to be open minded, meet new people and enjoy our trip. The last thing we want to do on our vacation is worry about getting in line on time and waiting to be seated. The whole concept of knowing what to expect where dinner is concerned is part of what I have enjoyed in our cruising experience. I'll share with everyone how things work out for us when we get back home.

[hammybee]

I must say that I was a bit surprised not to have been asked our dining time choice at booking.

 

Did you use a travel agent or book directly with HAL?

[caribbean girl]

Did you use a travel agent or book directly with HAL?[/quote

 

 

We booked with a travel agent, as we always have in the past. When we asked why we hadn't been asked about our time preference, I was given the 'as you wish dining' spiel.

[Roz]

Caribbean Girl,

 

That's interesting. I just booked a cruise Jan. 8 (only 60 days in advance), and for the first time I did the booking entirely online, without speaking to a real live TA. The computer prompted me to select a dining time/option. AYW wasn't the only option available to me.

 

Roz

[mafig]

hmmm.

 

I just booked Eurodam for December, and after speaking with my TA I realized she didn't ask me my dining preference. I called her back, got a "sorry about that" and did get confirmed, early, upper.

 

Do you think they purposely don't ask?

[RuthC]

Do you think they purposely don't ask?

A cynic would wonder if HAL has asked that open seating be pushed---or at least defaulted to. A real cynic would wonder if there's a little something in it for the :rolleyes: TA to "forget".

[cruz chic]

A cynic would wonder if HAL has asked that open seating be pushed---or at least defaulted to. A real cynic would wonder if there's a little something in it for the :rolleyes: TA to "forget".

 

Funny!:D

[gentlemancruiser]

A cynic would wonder if HAL has asked that open seating be pushed---or at least defaulted to. A real cynic would wonder if there's a little something in it for the :rolleyes: TA to "forget".

 

If that IS the case, our TA just lost a client of 8 years...

[caribbean girl]

Caribbean Girl,

 

That's interesting. I just booked a cruise Jan. 8 (only 60 days in advance), and for the first time I did the booking entirely online, without speaking to a real live TA. The computer prompted me to select a dining time/option. AYW wasn't the only option available to me.

 

Roz

 

Roz, I appreciate this tid bit. I will place a call to my TA on Monday.

 

I wonder more and more why HAL has opted to change things. Undoubtedly there must have been some interest by the public which is perplexing since most of the opinions I've read on CC seem to point to the fact that the majority of HAL diehards prefer the traditional style of preset dining times. Perhaps we're all part of an experiment of sorts...the good news is that it's all taking place on board a cruise ship and that can't be all bad (she said, putting on her optimist hat.:rolleyes:)

[Two if by Sea]

Undoubtedly there must have been some interest by the public which is perplexing since most of the opinions I've read on CC seem to point to the fact that the majority of HAL diehards prefer the traditional style of preset dining times.

 

It may be that the people speaking out the most are the ones who don't like the new changes. People who are happy with an arrangement tend not to speak out as much.

[Two if by Sea]

As of right now, on the June 28th Maasdam cruise, the following are listed on the HAL website:

Early Upper Dining: Closed

Early Lower Dining: Available

Main Upper Dining: Closed

Main Lower Dining: Available

Open Seating: Available

 

This set of options seems strange to me. It suggests one of two things: either the Open Seating will be on the UPPER level (whereas most people have reported that it is on the lower level) or else they are putting Open Seating folks together with traditional on the lower level, and all the upper level traditional dining is so oversold that they can't even waitlist people for it.

 

Any other ideas?

[gentlemancruiser]

Upper is traditional and lower is open seating. I have found the HAL website to be VERY misleading. If you haven't heard of AYW, when you first look at the website you would think that your choices were dining at either 6pm (early) or 8pm (main) in the Upper or Lower levels.

 

I believe that HAL has gotten the idea for AYW open seating from their marketing department. The marketing departments of cruise lines regularly host focus groups with consumers who haven't cruised before and ask them 'why don't you cruise' It's probably because many of them said they don't want to have to eat at specific times.

 

HAL should be listening more to the devoted mariners. I am predicting that this will be one very bad decision on their part.

 

 

As of right now, on the June 28th Maasdam cruise, the following are listed on the HAL website:

 

 

This set of options seems strange to me. It suggests one of two things: either the Open Seating will be on the UPPER level (whereas most people have reported that it is on the lower level) or else they are putting Open Seating folks together with traditional on the lower level, and all the upper level traditional dining is so oversold that they can't even waitlist people for it.

 

Any other ideas?

[gentlemancruiser]

Two if by Sea,

The open seating is clearly being pushed right now. As I mentioned in the last post, what you can't tell by reading is that the lower dining room is for AYW open seating.

Last week we wanted to book the Rotterdam for June 24th and were told only open seating is being confirmed, unless of course you purchase a suite.....

It appeared that HAL was forcing all new bookings into open seating, so I thought I would investigate a little further. Here's an online booking I tried for Feb 1 2009!!!! More then a year in advance and you'd be wait listed for the traditional early seating.

 

Early Upper Dining: Waitlisted

Early Lower Dining: Available

Main Upper Dining: Available

Main Lower Dining: Available

Open Seating: Available

 

 

 

As of right now, on the June 28th Maasdam cruise, the following are listed on the HAL website:

 

 

This set of options seems strange to me. It suggests one of two things: either the Open Seating will be on the UPPER level (whereas most people have reported that it is on the lower level) or else they are putting Open Seating folks together with traditional on the lower level, and all the upper level traditional dining is so oversold that they can't even waitlist people for it.

 

Any other ideas?