As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[dutchess43]

We had anythime dining on NCL. DH hated it so much he told me never to book another NCL cruise. He is strictly traditional dining all the way. I won't even tell him about HAL's new policy.

[terrydtx]

I agree...However it applies equally to those who have never experienced Freestyle, Anytime, AYWD, etc...In over 40 years of cruising I have done both, though the majority has been traditional...In my opinion each has it's good and bad points...When I first started cruising I accepted Traditional bcause that was all that was offered on most cruiselines...We now have choices which we never had before...I now prefer Anytime...Others prefer Traditional.

 

Opinions, well stated, I too have experienced both and my DW and I prefer open dining but accepted traditional in early cruises because that was all that was available. HAL is doing something no other cruise line is, giving its passengers the choice of either traditional or open dining seating. Why so many posters here are against this amazes me, the only conclusion can be, that they want to impose their “choice” on the rest of us or are just against change. Comparing the freestyle cruise of NCL to HAL’s AYWD is ludicrous, that’s like comparing The Sizzler Steak house to Morton’s steak house. Both serve steaks but one has a much better product and service. If you can have the choice of steak at the Sizzler or a prime streak at Morton’s for just a few dollars more, what would you choose?

[terrydtx]

We had anythime dining on NCL. DH hated it so much he told me never to book another NCL cruise. He is strictly traditional dining all the way. I won't even tell him about HAL's new policy.

 

Tell him that he can still choose traditional seating dining!!!! HAL still has that as a dining option and for those of us who prefer open dining we have that option too!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Opinions, well stated, I too have experienced both and my DW and I prefer open dining but accepted traditional in early cruises because that was all that was available. HAL is doing something no other cruise line is, giving its passengers the choice of either traditional or open dining seating. Why so many posters here are against this amazes me, the only conclusion can be, that they want to impose their “choice” on the rest of us or are just against change. Comparing the freestyle cruise of NCL to HAL’s AYWD is ludicrous, that’s like comparing The Sizzler Steak house to Morton’s steak house. Both serve steaks but one has a much better product and service. If you can have the choice of steak at the Sizzler or a prime streak at Morton’s for just a few dollars more, what would you choose?

 

We've experienced both, too ... on sea and every day of our lives on land:D .

 

I could have missed it, but I didn't see anyone complaining about having a choice. We said we would complain if we couldn't get our choice ... very different.

 

I haven't seen anyone saying they're against choice. Where do you see those posts? Totally possible I missed them.

 

But how can you say you can't compare NCL "freestyle" to HAL's "AYW"? Since HAL hasn't even rolled out AYW fleet-wide yet, we have no idea how well it will work or compare to NCL. Time will tell on that.

 

The most important point to make here is that the problem at issue is that at this point in time people who prefer Traditional are being waitlisted for that choice even when booking a year out. That is the whole problem ... not the choice of AYW!!!!

 

For some reason that point keeps getting lost here. Absolutely no one is suggesting that those of you who want to wander into dinner at leisure shouldn't be able to do that.

[Odd Ball]

Opinions, well stated, I too have experienced both and my DW and I prefer open dining but accepted traditional in early cruises because that was all that was available. HAL is doing something no other cruise line is, giving its passengers the choice of either traditional or open dining seating. Why so many posters here are against this amazes me, the only conclusion can be, that they want to impose their “choice” on the rest of us or are just against change. Comparing the freestyle cruise of NCL to HAL’s AYWD is ludicrous, that’s like comparing The Sizzler Steak house to Morton’s steak house. Both serve steaks but one has a much better product and service. If you can have the choice of steak at the Sizzler or a prime streak at Morton’s for just a few dollars more, what would you choose?

 

This concept is not new. Princess has been doing this for a couple of years. I think they started off calling it Personal Choice, then went to Anytime Dining. There are mixed reviews. Some people love it, others hated it. One thing that I read very often is Traditional fills up fast and there is a long waiting list. People do get stuck with Anytime when that is not their choice.

Another issue that Princess seems to have is people that get Traditional decide to jump ship and try out Anytime. Recently they started to check cabin numbers on some ships.

I don't think anyone is trying to impose their "choice" or are they totally against choice. If you want to believe those that want Traditional are trying to impose their choice, it is a 2 way street. You can interpret AYW fans doing the same thing. I feel most are expressing their views on why they like Traditional or AYW.

I do agree that comparing NCL's Freestyle to Hal's As You Wish is ludicrous. It is a totally different ballgame.

[terrydtx]

But how can you say you can't compare NCL "freestyle" to HAL's "AYW"? Since HAL hasn't even rolled out AYW fleet-wide yet, we have no idea how well it will work or compare to NCL. Time will tell on that.

 

.

 

Heather I think you missed my point, HAL with AYWD as a choice is still a much better product for the money than NCL with their Freestyle cruising. For those of us who preferr an open dining option NCL and recently Princess have been the only choices open for us. We can now get what we want as an option and not have to settle for an inferior product (NCL).

 

And you are correct about all the wait listing for traditional dining on upcoming cruises with HAL. From the information I have gathered from reliable sources this has resulted from the change over and how it has affected those who booked before HAL announced their changes. We booked our cruise on the Volendam last January and got confirmed at the 6:15 seating for a table of 6. If I had not inspected the paperwork from my TA in April we would not have noticed that we were changed to the 5:45 seating until we most likely got closer to departing. We received nothing from Hal (WHICH WAS VERY WRONG OF THEM TO DO) informing us about the change to AYWD. My first inquiry to the TA about the change came back that HAL had eliminated the 6:15 seating on their cruises. It wasn’t until I found this forum that I found out about the AYWD change. After my TA confirmed that AYWD was now available and that we could not do AYWD and keep a traditional seating, we opted out of our 5:45 seating for AYWD. What HAL did for announcing the changes was very little and confusing. Many booked passengers with confirmed 6:15 and 8:30 seating were switched to 5:45 and 8:00 causing those times on many upcoming cruises to be immediately waitlisted. From what I have heard as more booked passengers find out about AYWD and choose to opt out of their confirmed seating more traditional seating will become available. The first afternoon on departure day these booked passengers will be given more details on the AYWD and a chance to opt out of their traditional seating, which will also open up more traditional seating for those who prefer that option and are waitlisted.

[terrydtx]

This concept is not new. Princess has been doing this for a couple of years. I think they started off calling it Personal Choice, then went to Anytime Dining. There are mixed reviews. Some people love it, others hated it. One thing that I read very often is Traditional fills up fast and there is a long waiting list. People do get stuck with Anytime when that is not their choice.

Another issue that Princess seems to have is people that get Traditional decide to jump ship and try out Anytime. Recently they started to check cabin numbers on some ships.

I don't think anyone is trying to impose their "choice" or are they totally against choice. If you want to believe those that want Traditional are trying to impose their choice, it is a 2 way street. You can interpret AYW fans doing the same thing. I feel most are expressing their views on why they like Traditional or AYW.

I do agree that comparing NCL's Freestyle to Hal's As You Wish is ludicrous. It is a totally different ballgame.

 

The same thing happens when you want to book an early seating, after it has filled up, and have no choice but to accept a late seating. That’s not much different than having traditional full and having the AYWD dining as your only option.

 

On the cruises this summer on the Noordam crossing over from traditional to AYWD was a problem leaving empty tables in the upper dining room during the traditional seatings. I have heard that HAL will begin checking to make sure those passengers with traditional seating do not cross over. Only those with the AYWD option prior to departure will be able to make reservations.

[Odd Ball]

But how can you say you can't compare NCL "freestyle" to HAL's "AYW"? Since HAL hasn't even rolled out AYW fleet-wide yet, we have no idea how well it will work or compare to NCL. Time will tell on that.

 

The most important point to make here is that the problem at issue is that at this point in time people who prefer Traditional are being waitlisted for that choice even when booking a year out. That is the whole problem ... not the choice of AYW!!!!

 

For some reason that point keeps getting lost here. Absolutely no one is suggesting that those of you who want to wander into dinner at leisure shouldn't be able to do that.

 

This big difference with NCL's Freestyle is there is no choice. Everything is Freestyle. There are lots of lines and running from one dining room to the next to try and get seated.

The waitlisting for Traditional that is almost a year out is a good point and I agree that is a problem.

[HeatherInFlorida]

..............

 

I don't think anyone is trying to impose their "choice" or are they totally against choice. If you want to believe those that want Traditional are trying to impose their choice, it is a 2 way street. You can interpret AYW fans doing the same thing. I feel most are expressing their views on why they like Traditional or AYW.

 

.........

 

Exactly!!! .... except that it seems that the people wanting Traditional are being a bit maligned for being out of date, inflexible, and not capable of change.

 

.......... It wasn’t until I found this forum that I found out about the AYWD change. After my TA confirmed that AYWD was now available and that we could not do AYWD and keep a traditional seating, we opted out of our 5:45 seating for AYWD. What HAL did for announcing the changes was very little and confusing. ...............

 

You make an excellent point! Imagine the 98% of cruisers who don't come to message boards. They are in for a big surprise onboard if they don't read their documents carefully.

 

HAL really dropped the ball on this one. Everyone booking should have gotten a letter explaining the changes.

 

This big difference with NCL's Freestyle is there is no choice. Everything is Freestyle. There are lots of lines and running from one dining room to the next to try and get seated.

 

The waitlisting for Traditional that is almost a year out is a good point and I agree that is a problem.

 

I see what you're saying. And it raises my concerns that it's only a matter of time before HAL goes to AYW exclusively. I think providing the choice in the same dining room is going to prove difficult. If they had 2 dining rooms it would be different.

 

As I say so often .... only time will tell.:)

[Opinions]

 

When I sailed on NCL we had the choice of making a reservation...No running around...On your cruise on NCL didn't they allow you to make a reservation for dinner?

[RuthC]

I could have missed it, but I didn't see anyone complaining about having a choice. We said we would complain if we couldn't get our choice ... very different.

You didn't miss it Heather---it was never said. Yet there are people who continue to argue that it was. :confused:

You are correct---those who want traditional dining for themselves are only making that very point.

[HeatherInFlorida]

You didn't miss it Heather---it was never said. Yet there are people who continue to argue that it was. :confused:

You are correct---those who want traditional dining for themselves are only making that very point.

 

Oh good, Ruth!:) At least I still have my wits about me ... you just never know. A few posters brought it up so often that I thought perhaps I was mistaken;) .

[Robin7]

I can't possibly go back and read all of the posts in this thread, so I apologize if this has been mentioned by someone else, but I wanted to tell you our experience.

 

We booked the New Zealand/Australia Volendam cruise for 24 October 2008 yesterday. Well over a year in advance. While my dh and I (and my BIL and SIL who will also be with us) are not opposed to AYW Dining, my 74-year-old father-in-law IS. So we all said, fine, we don't care so Dad can have it how he wants it. Then I called HAL and booked the cruise. Guess what? The traditional dining times are both waitlisted! Even this far in advance.

 

Personally, we'll have AYW on the Volendam in November, I've tried it on Princess and liked it, so we expect to have a good experience with it. But Dad is NOT happy. I told him maybe some of the traditional times will open up after final payment date (late July) and we'll be bumped up to confirmed. And if it doesn't happen, then I think we'll talk him around to AYW. At least by then I'll have experienced it on a HAL ship and can tell him the pros and cons.

 

I just thought it was very interesting that even this far in advance, I couldn't get a table for six confirmed traditional dining.

 

Robin

[RuthC]

Thank you for letting us know, Robin. This certainly doesn't allay my fears! :eek:

[Robin7]

Thank you for letting us know, Robin. This certainly doesn't allay my fears! :eek:

 

Sorry, Ruth.:o I did ask the woman at HAL if she had more comments complaining about AYW or in favor of AYW. She may have been spouting the 'party line' but she said most people are really happy when they find out there's AYW on board. Hmmmmmmm. "So, why," I asked, "Are the traditional times already full then???" She had no real answer, and neither do I. :)

 

Robin

[hammybee]

We booked the New Zealand/Australia Volendam cruise for 24 October 2008 yesterday. Well over a year in advance. The traditional dining times are both waitlisted! Even this far in advance.

Robin

 

Let's think about this. The cruise is almost 14 months into the future. It is selling for about 40% less than the same 2007 intinerary. This implies that supply of cabins for this sailing, at this moment, is greater than the demand.

 

And yet, it would appear that both the early and late fixed seatings, representing about half the passengers, are full. How is this possible?

 

I think it safe to assume that HAL is holding back on most, if not all, dining requests. Speculation as to the why they are doing so, is potentially endless.

[HeatherInFlorida]

................

I think it safe to assume that HAL is holding back on most, if not all, dining requests. Speculation as to the why they are doing so, is potentially endless.

 

And I think you're right, Hammy!!!:) And we have a long time to speculate, don't we???;) It's what we do best anyway.

 

Seriously, it is a puzzle. I almost have to wonder if they're waiting to see if they can just switch it all over to AYW by then and don't want to give anyone Traditional if it's not going to exist. Hmmmmm......

 

Although I will say that I had "confirmed" Traditional when I booked Eurodam for next October. I have since cancelled that cruise, but when I booked it about a month ago, I did get confirmed.

 

Robin, so glad you made your decision!!!! And what a great cruise:) You'll have a terrific time.

[cruz chic]

I've got a cruise booked for Nov. 08 and I was worried about getting traditional. It was looking like the traditional was starting to fill up so I wanted to get it and I booked in July 07. This is so riduculous as I did not want to book so far ahead. I cruise solo so I am am not interested in AYW dining. It's an expensive cruise and I would rather not tie up the money that soon for something that is so far in advance.

[mancunian]

I think HAL has got themselves into a mess on this and may well be just waitlisting everyone. On most of the ships many people have booked already before AYW was announced and made a selection which they may well wish to change. HAL does not seem to have got round to notifying everyone of the change and asking whether the people already listed wish to change. They must do this eventually because unless they have been on here most people who have booked still do not know. We were booked on our cruise for late sitting upper tier, but after we saw Rotterdam's date for change on here we immediately contacted them through our TA to say we wished to switch to AYW.

 

For what it is worth I think it will sort out once they tell everyone. After all they do not need the same number of tables AYW on every cruise. Surely they will balance the books accordingly. I am sure there will be a small proportion of people who will not get what they want - that happens now with first sitting - but I cannot see why HAL will not be able to please at least as many people as previously with their choice. It will at the end of the day be as before - if you book early you will get your choice.

[cruz chic]

I think HAL has made a mess of this AYW dining as well. One thing I forgot to mention in my posts was that my travel agent didn't know that HAL was going to anytime dining. She argued with me on the phone for 15 minutes saying that I was confused with other lines. Pretty bad that HAL has not made this clear to people.

[terrydtx]

I think HAL has made a mess of this AYW dining as well. One thing I forgot to mention in my posts was that my travel agent didn't know that HAL was going to anytime dining. She argued with me on the phone for 15 minutes saying that I was confused with other lines. Pretty bad that HAL has not made this clear to people.

 

That’s pretty much the same experience I had with my TA, who works for agency that is one of HAL’s biggest bookers. On the Volendam in November, I was originally confirmed on the 6:15 seating and was changed to 5:45 2 months later. When my TA called HAL in April to inquire about our time change they told her that HAL was eliminating the 6:15 and 8:30 seating on the Volendam. It wasn’t until I found this forum that I found out what was really going on and about the same time HAL finally informed my TA about it too. HAL really dropped the ball on this, its almost like they decided to make the change on the spur of the moment with no thoughts about how to inform or treat those of us already booked on cruises affected by the change.

[Orlandocruiser]

I agree with Terry. I am on the same cruise as he and have heard nothing from my TA regarding this. I wonder how many people will be surprised with this when they board the ship. Just think of all those older Mariners (who typically are a large part of Florida sailings in November and December) who will "discover" this to their dismay when they board. Now that we are past final payment I would love to get something from HAL that is not buried in their website (not everybody scans the website) or is hidden in the "Know before you go" (how many veteren HALers really read through that). While I love traditional dining and will be disappointed to get AYW (we booked before they made the change) I will try to keep an open mind. My biggest concern is how much of a mess this will be (we will only be the second cruise on which this is in effect). I will be VERY unhappy if this results in long lines or multiple phone calls trying to make a reservation.

[hammybee]

The travel agent's job description is to counsel passengers and sell cruises. I think it is incumbent upon the travel agent to know their product, read the press releases, frequent the message boards, visit the web sites and cultivate relationships, within the cruise lines. We are talking about an investment of an hour +/- a week, into their own product knowledge.

 

Instead, the majority of travel agents are passive, often part timers, who have never cruised, who clerk the booking.

 

The easiest thing for a travel agent to do is blame the cruise line, any cruise line, for what they do not know. AYW is not a secret. If we know, the travel agent should know. It's hogwash for a travel agent to whine

" no one spoon fed me the information".

 

We consumers love to talk about the lack of customer service/ product knowledge. And yet we allow it to happen again and again. Not knowing about something like AYW is the basis for termination of the agency relationship, in my book.

[mamaofami]

Let's think about this. The cruise is almost 14 months into the future. It is selling for about 40% less than the same 2007 intinerary. This implies that supply of cabins for this sailing, at this moment, is greater than the demand.

 

And yet, it would appear that both the early and late fixed seatings, representing about half the passengers, are full. How is this possible?

 

I think it safe to assume that HAL is holding back on most, if not all, dining requests. Speculation as to the why they are doing so, is potentially endless.

 

 

Hammy, I think you are right. HAL is holding back on cruises far out because they probably don't know what they are going to do. I thought AYWD was supposed to be an "experiment", first on the Noordam and then on all the ships. Perhaps it has gone better on the Noordam than any of us who post here know, and they are keeping their options open to switch everything over. I certainly hope that there will still be a choice for those of us who prefer traditional dining, but only time will tell.

[cruz chic]

The travel agent's job description is to counsel passengers and sell cruises. I think it is incumbent upon the travel agent to know their product, read the press releases, frequent the message boards, visit the web sites and cultivate relationships, within the cruise lines. We are talking about an investment of an hour +/- a week, into their own product knowledge.

 

Instead, the majority of travel agents are passive, often part timers, who have never cruised, who clerk the booking.

 

The easiest thing for a travel agent to do is blame the cruise line, any cruise line, for what they do not know. AYW is not a secret. If we know, the travel agent should know. It's hogwash for a travel agent to whine

" no one spoon fed me the information".

 

 

We consumers love to talk about the lack of customer service/ product knowledge. And yet we allow it to happen again and again. Not knowing about something like AYW is the basis for termination of the agency relationship, in my book.

 

I agree. The problem in Calgary where I live jobs are plentiful and to say the economy is booming would be a huge understatement. The fact that my agent argued with me for 15 min. and also told me I'm confused about AYW dining shows how little they really know. Why would I go to such an agent you ask. She's the best of a bad bunch!