As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

[Copper10-8]

This has sure become and "entertaining" thread in a hurry. Can't find this much bickering, oops sorry, "differences of opinion" at your average hockey game:rolleyes:

I think I'm just going to wait until I experience "AYW dining" before making any more comments. That way I can speak from "experience" instead of from "speculation" and "hear say"

 

In the mean time, some questions to ponder, perhaps?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. but it's only

a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny

going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

 

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured

out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

 

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when

babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

 

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put

money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a

stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all

fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made

from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come

from morons?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

 

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?;)

 

 

 

[Brahmama]

terrydtx,

Thanks for the reply and also the suggestion. I will call Customer Service and see if we can get on a early dinner waitlist. It seems like (on the Eurodam) there are two different times for early dinner - and either one would be great with us.

 

I agree. Ask them to put you on the 5:45 waitlist. Your cruise is pretty far out and I imagine you will get it from what has been discussed on this thread.

 

I was on the Ryndam when AYWD went into place in Oct.07 and people were as dressed up as usual on a formal night. I wonder myself as time goes by if that will change.

 

lorekauf,

I always wonder that myself. Seems like the dress code is the first thing to go as a cruiseline starts to spiral downward. Just my opinion. We enjoy all aspects of cruising. We also have cruised on Oceania which doesn't have any formal nights. We enjoyed that also. Actually, all our cruises have been excellent and some of those were drop-dead fabulous!

 

Thanks again for the replies; I don't know why I'm a little anxious about HAL and the new dining policy. :D

[RuthC]

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

I hope he doesn't consider it stuck! I buried my husband in his white dinner jacket w/tuxedo trousers and red/white/blue tie & cummerbund set.

 

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Almost, but not quite. (And no, I didn't need to sing the songs to figure it out. ;) )

[SharonN]

I hope he doesn't consider it stuck! I buried my husband in his white dinner jacket w/tuxedo trousers and red/white/blue tie & cummerbund set.

 

I don't think mine would think he's stuck either. He's buried in blue dress pants, shirt, and his Dodger's Jacket. He also has a view of the lights of the stadium (but it didn't help them out much this year:( ).

 

copper10-8 - Thanks for lightening up this thread. It needed it:D

[ldog]

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

 

All of this is speculation until we try it. We are waitlisted late on the Statendam in Feb 08 and the Prinsendam in Nov 08. It's not a deal breaker but we have always enjoyed our dinner companions and servers. 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:

[FinelyRetired]

My, my this thread has gotten terribly long. Too much to read!

 

So......if this request/suggestion has already been voiced on behalf of us Solos, I apologize. And would be grateful to hear from you that it has.

 

I'm an older married person who by necessity must often travel Solo if I'm ever to see the distant places I long to go. DH & I have cruised together.......both with "anywho" and "trad" dining with an eye on cruising's potential as a safe mode of travel for me alone to get to the farther desitinations he is unable to do.

 

I view this whole discussion of dining from my solo perspective. For me, being able to be in traditional dining comes down to two main issues: First & foremost priority is SAFETY. 2nd, a pretty close 2nd, is SOCIAL.

 

SAFETY: It is very important/comforting to me to be "assigned" to a set table/tablemates each evening. I'd like to know that someone will "raise the alarm" shortly after a port if I'm not at dinner, rather than wait for the cabin steward to miss me mid-morning the following day.

 

SOCIAL: While I love to meet people & find it easy to do so, I have found that DH & I, or I alone, have been enriched by getting to REALLY know some fellow passengers that a consistent dining experience provides, not just a mere "drive by" relationship via fun day on a bus trip or at the buffet table.

 

My first SOLO cruise was this summer on Princess. An 8 top with ALL Solo cruisers as it happened....could as easily been couples. The result was they were from all over the world, each different, each interesting & 2 I'm keeping contact with. If any of us knew for sure we were dining elsewhere the next night....I had dinner with some CC Roll Call folks one night...we mentioned it. There was NO need to share our privacy or our cabin numbers; if anyone had gone "missing" the maitre d' would have that info and dealt with it.

 

Several months ago, when the "anywho" dining came up for HAL, I called and voiced my safety concerns for myself, spoke to a supervisor (who knows for sure? :) ) and was assured I would get assigned seating on Prinsendam next June on their 2nd voyage with the "anywho" dining. I'm hopeful, but if NOT, I plan to double-check & press the issue, if need be, when I board. My alternative plan, should I find communications broke down & I don't get traditional, would be to ask, again from a safety standpoint, that I at least be guaranteed a set dining time, set table in "anywho" so at the VERY least I'd have some comfort in a consistent wait-staff that might notice I'm not there. Not my first preference, but it could allow me to continue to comfortably cruise should traditional go "by way of the dinasaurs!"

 

Soooo...my request is pretty simple. Whatever your dining preference is, would you be so kind as to express on your cruise comment card that you would certainly hope that the cruiseline you choose to sail on is one that actively accommodates the particular safety/social/dining needs of its Solo travellers?

 

They read those cards!

 

Martha

 

Thanks hammybee, HeatherInFlorida, Frick & Frack and revneal!

 

I appreciate not only your kind words and support, but also the empathy from some of you who aren't even solo cruisers!

 

Let's hope that HAL is successful in their attempt to accommodate the diverse dining needs of all of us! I can well understand why either the trad or AWD is appropriate for some but not others. Many cruisers need flexibility, families need flexibility, late shore excursions need flexibility. Some of us need/prefer consistency, set dining times due to physicals needs, social/enrichment needs, safety needs. None is really more important than the other.

 

As I'm reading some of this thread, it occurs to me that maybe one tiny, unexplored, additional reason HAL is introducing AWD conveniently deals with those few, very few people/couples we sometimes see who can't seem to "get along" with anybody? They are few, far between...but many of us have encountered them. The ones who complain, prattle, can't get along etc. It sure is one way HAL can ensure that NONE of us, or the wait-staff has to put up with them more than 1 night. Kind of like "spreading out" the pain? Blessing in disguise?:D

 

Martha

[hammybee]

As I'm reading some of this thread, it occurs to me that maybe one tiny, unexplored, additional reason HAL is introducing AWD conveniently deals with those few, very few people/couples we sometimes see who can't seem to "get along" with anybody? They are few, far between...but many of us have encountered them. The ones who complain, prattle, can't get along etc. It sure is one way HAL can ensure that NONE of us, or the wait-staff has to put up with them more than 1 night. Kind of like "spreading out" the pain? Blessing in disguise?:D Martha

 

Martha, I love your unique take.:D

[mamaofami]

Martha, I agree with Hammybee. Very good thought indeed.

 

Along the same line, I haven't read this thread in a long time, and my take on it is that sometimes it's just best to ignore those remarks that you(anyone) finds offensive. The more you respond, the more it just goes on and on.

[penk99]

I just wanted to post a quick reply to Brahmama's questions.

 

We just returned from an 11-day cruise on the Noordam. Originally we had requested fixed seating but were given AYWD instead. I decided to have an open mind and just take things as they came ~ after all, any time on vacation is better than work or cooking for myself!

 

We were traveling with another couple on this cruise, but I think we only had a table for 4 one night. The other nights we showed up and were usually given a table for 6 and a few times a table for 8. If other patrons showed up and wanted to be seated immediately and didn't mind sitting with others then they were seated at our table. We had the pleasure of being served by different dining stewards and eating with interesting people each night.

 

On our first night we were lucky to meet another couple that were traveling on their first cruise. We hit it off and they dined with us on several nights.

 

I also liked the fact that if you found a table and/or dining steward that you liked, you could make a reservation for that same table the rest of the nights. That being said, we had excellent service every evening with nothing lacking. We never had to wait more than a minute or so to be seated on any night.

 

On formal nights, the dress code was followed ~ at least all the people I noticed were dressed up. There were plenty of tuxedos and all others were in dark suits. From what I could tell, AYWD did nothing to detract from the 3 formal nights.

 

I went into the cruise wishing I had fixed dining, but I left the cruise very pleased with the AYWD experience. When given the choice in the future, I would choose AYWD. The service was excellent and we enjoyed meeting various staff members in the dining room.

[Frick_&_Frack]

I also liked the fact that if you found a table and/or dining steward that you liked, you could make a reservation for that same table the rest of the nights. That being said, we had excellent service every evening with nothing lacking. We never had to wait more than a minute or so to be seated on any night.

 

Hi Penk99

 

Glad you had a great cruise! My parents were on board as well with AYWD and they had to make a reservation each day to get the same waiter for that evening (or, they were told, they may have to wait to see if anything was available when they got to the dining room). They also were told to call each day for a reservation - none would be taken unless it was "day of".

 

Is that what you were told too?

 

They, too, had wonderful service.

 

Thanks!!

[hammybee]

 

Copper,

 

Torrance is fortunate to have you.

 

-hammybee

( who is singing Twinke- Twinkle)

[Djptcp]

I just read that HAL will institute the AYW dining fleet-wide in 2008. DH and I used to sail NCL only until they started "freestyle cruising". Our last cruise on NCL was freestyle and we hated it. Long lines for the popular dining times and it was not explained to us until several days into the cruise that we could make a reservation for a particular time -- we did that and at least could go to the front of the line. If I want to have to make reservations for dinner every night at a different restaurant, I could stay home and do it. Who wants to have to bother with that nonsense on a cruise? We are two professional people who cruise for total relaxation and to be pampered and not have to think of anything.

 

We also didn't enjoy the casual atmosphere of freestyle. DH and I live in Florida and take alot of beach vacations and those are definitely casual, just as everyday living in FL is much more casual than living in NYC. On a cruise, however, we like the more formal aspect of dining.

 

At least HAL will also continue the traditional dining experience if you want it. NCL did not -- it was freestyle or nothing. We felt the dining service was not good because we had different waiters every night; they didn't seem to care since they thought they probably wouldn't see you again another night. DH and I enjoy the traditional dining eating with the same passengers each evening and establishing a rapport with them. Dining on NCL's freestyle ship was boring, eating with strangers every night, and less than perfect waitstaff service.

 

I love HAL and hope to cruise again on a HAL ship and you can bet we will still opt for the traditional dining service.

[terrydtx]

I just read that HAL will institute the AYW dining fleet-wide in 2008. DH and I used to sail NCL only until they started "freestyle cruising". Our last cruise on NCL was freestyle and we hated it. Long lines for the popular dining times and it was not explained to us until several days into the cruise that we could make a reservation for a particular time -- we did that and at least could go to the front of the line. If I want to have to make reservations for dinner every night at a different restaurant, I could stay home and do it. Who wants to have to bother with that nonsense on a cruise? We are two professional people who cruise for total relaxation and to be pampered and not have to think of anything.

 

We also didn't enjoy the casual atmosphere of freestyle. DH and I live in Florida and take alot of beach vacations and those are definitely casual, just as everyday living in FL is much more casual than living in NYC. On a cruise, however, we like the more formal aspect of dining.

 

At least HAL will also continue the traditional dining experience if you want it. NCL did not -- it was freestyle or nothing. We felt the dining service was not good because we had different waiters every night; they didn't seem to care since they thought they probably wouldn't see you again another night. DH and I enjoy the traditional dining eating with the same passengers each evening and establishing a rapport with them. Dining on NCL's freestyle ship was boring, eating with strangers every night, and less than perfect waitstaff service.

 

I love HAL and hope to cruise again on a HAL ship and you can bet we will still opt for the traditional dining service.

 

In my opinion NCL is a basic lower market cruise line to begin with and HAL is going to take one small portion of their Freestyle and make it better. Unlike NCL there will still be a required dress code with designated formal nights. The open dining will be in only the lower main dining rooms with the upper DR designated for traditional 5:45 and 8:00 seatings. We usually cruise with one or two other couples so having the same tablemates every night is of no importance to me. In fact I have had in the past several terrible tablemates that after a couple of nights I was ready to throw overboard. I also do not like having to either eat as early or late as the traditional dining times. The ability to eat when I want is of major importance and gives us much more flexibility on port intensive cruises.

 

The new AYWD is new and to date only 3 of HAL’s ships have been converted. So far reports posted here from actual people who have experienced AYWD have been much more positive than negative. Reports of long lines or waits have not surfaced and most post that at the most desired dining times of 6-7:30 the waits have been no more than 5 minutes. Also no reports of poor service or food quality have been reported as well due to AYWD. With HAL, cruise passengers can have the best of both dining options both a traditional and open seating.

[bUU]

Long lines for the popular dining times

This was my mother's biggest concern. Happily, as hammybee has noted several times, folks are reporting wait times of about 5 minutes at the most popular dining times. Hammybee lifted this excerpt from Retired Mustang's observations of AYWD within his recent review of the Noordam Panama Canal sailing:

We talked to another CC couple who had changed from confirmed to AYWD and they loved it. They reported that the only time they had to wait was the night of the big production show, and the wait even then was only a few minutes.

 

Here's a link to the thread for discussing actual experiences with AYW: As You Wish Dining - What and How

 

and it was not explained to us until several days into the cruise that we could make a reservation for a particular time

This is one of the best things about these forum -- that we have the chance to learn the best practices from folks cruising on voyages before us.

 

We also didn't enjoy the casual atmosphere of freestyle.

As I understand it from reading the As You Wish Dining - What and How thread, what folks are actually encountering is no substantial difference in the atmosphere between AYW and traditional. You may be very much pleased by reading the reports about AYW from folks who have actually experienced it, as we were.

[funlady&bama]

We did ONE cruise on NCL (trans-atlantic) and hated the free style dining. The luxury of your service staff getting to know your preferences and the ability to get your food at a good temperature were lost. Also there were dishes being served at all times during your meal.

The formality of cruising is being slowly eroded and the free style dining is just a symptom the problem

[welove2cruise232]

I just read that HAL will institute the AYW dining fleet-wide in 2008. DH and I used to sail NCL only until they started "freestyle cruising". Our last cruise on NCL was freestyle and we hated it. Long lines for the popular dining times and it was not explained to us until several days into the cruise that we could make a reservation for a particular time -- we did that and at least could go to the front of the line. If I want to have to make reservations for dinner every night at a different restaurant, I could stay home and do it. Who wants to have to bother with that nonsense on a cruise? We are two professional people who cruise for total relaxation and to be pampered and not have to think of anything.

 

We also didn't enjoy the casual atmosphere of freestyle. DH and I live in Florida and take alot of beach vacations and those are definitely casual, just as everyday living in FL is much more casual than living in NYC. On a cruise, however, we like the more formal aspect of dining.

 

At least HAL will also continue the traditional dining experience if you want it. NCL did not -- it was freestyle or nothing. We felt the dining service was not good because we had different waiters every night; they didn't seem to care since they thought they probably wouldn't see you again another night. DH and I enjoy the traditional dining eating with the same passengers each evening and establishing a rapport with them. Dining on NCL's freestyle ship was boring, eating with strangers every night, and less than perfect waitstaff service.

 

I love HAL and hope to cruise again on a HAL ship and you can bet we will still opt for the traditional dining service.

 

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy NCL's freestyle -- we happen to love it, and rarely were subject to the waits that you say you were. You say if you wanted to make reservations every night, you could do that at home -- isn't that what you do when you book a fixed dining time? :cool: Anyway, we also enjoyed AYW dining on HAL -- one of the reasons we're cruising for a second time on the Noordam in March. Yes, I will admit, NCL is much more casual than HAL -- but we usually dressed up every night similar to the way we did on our last Noordam cruise and did not feel at all uncomfortable (nor do I pay much attention to how other passengers are dressed -- I just don't CARE how they're dressed, to be perfectly frank :cool: ).

 

As far as HAL's AYW dining, the first two nights we went to the lower dining room and asked for a table for two, we were told there would be a "wait" but not how long, and were asked if we wanted to sit with other passengers. We said, sure, why not. The first night we sat with two other couples. It was okay, but we still prefer to have a table for two. The next night, same thing, and we were seated again at a table for six, one couple from the night before -- we had to hear his same stories from the previous night.....:rolleyes: After that, we made a reservation at 7:45. Our server was SOO nice (Ketut) that we reserved his table every night (actually, HE reserved it for us) for the rest of the cruise. It worked very well for us. I will say, we do the same thing on NCL -- get friendly with our waiter and then make sure we have his/her table every night for the duration of the cruise, except when we have reservations in one of the specialty restaurants. I thought I'd miss the different dining venues that NCL has, but there was such a variety of food on the menu in the main dining rooms that we were perfectly happy to take all our meals (except for one night in the Pinnacle Grill -- we'll do two next time) in the main dining room.

[welove2cruise232]

In my opinion NCL is a basic lower market cruise line to begin with

 

I disagree -- our recent HAL cruise on the Noordam was comparable in many ways to our NCL cruises -- with the exception of the entertainment -- here NCL is head and shoulders above HAL.

 

Of course, that's just my opinion...;)

[hammybee]

I disagree -- our recent HAL cruise on the Noordam was comparable in many ways to our NCL cruises -- with the exception of the entertainment -- here NCL is head and shoulders above HAL.

 

Of course, that's just my opinion...;)

 

If it sails and is reasonably affordable, chances are I have cruised with it. Each mass marketed cruise line is different, not better or worse than another. Like you, I generally found the entertainment better on NCL than on HAL. Having said this, HAL is home to me because I prefer the overall HAL experience and ship size. This personal preference does not however, make NCL inferior.

[judycruiser32]

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.

[Odd Ball]

judyscruiser,

Your dining AYW dining experience sounds like a disaster. Those long rectangular tables remind me of a school cafeteria too.

[hammybee]

Judycruiser:

 

Sorry to hear about your dining experience. Since its inception on the Noordam, last May, the upper dining room has been reserved for fixed seating while the lower was assigned to open seating.

 

It sounds to me like you got fixed seating but the table configurations had changed to rectangles. This is so different than anything that has been reported here before. I wonder if the ship was sailing at substantially more than 100% capasity ( filling all berths) due to the holiday.

[welove2cruise232]

If it sails and is reasonably affordable, chances are I have cruised with it. Each mass marketed cruise line is different, not better or worse than another. Like you, I generally found the entertainment better on NCL than on HAL. Having said this, HAL is home to me because I prefer the overall HAL experience and ship size. This personal preference does not however, make NCL inferior.

 

Exactly! Well said, Hammy! To be honest, if they could just liven up the evening entertainment a bit more, HAL could be our cruiseline of choice!

[terrydtx]

Here is an exerpt from the Volendam review I just submitted on another thread about AYWD we opted for on our cruise.

We returned yesterday Dec 3rd.

 

"AYWD and the Main dining room for Dinner:

We all opted for AYWD and contrary to the fears about this we never really heard any complaints the amounted to much. The first night we arrived at the lower dining room at 7 pm and got sat immediate at a table for 6 next to the aft windows. The next night we had to wait about 10 minutes for a table at 7pm, which was Ok by us. Again we had a table at the aft windows and both nights we were very hot up next to those windows. We were not overly impressed with the service we had from the dining stewards the first 2 night either. The Maitre D told us that the middle of the dining room was cooler than being next to the windows so on the 3rd night we requested a table in the middle of the dining room and had to wait about 15 minutes for table 307 in the middle of the dining room, this was the best decision we made the whole cruise as we had the most fantastic service staff, Apep, Kiki and our wine bar steward Eduardo. We opted for the rest of the cruise to make a reservation at 7:45 for table 307.

 

With out the AYWD option we could have been stuck for the entire cruise at a hot table with not as great service as we had at table 307. It only took us 3 night to find this table and serving staff that we loved. The service from day 3 to day 10 was just like traditional dining. Apep, Kiki and our wine bar steward, Eduardo knew exactly what we wanted every night down to after dinner drinks and espressos and cappuccinos. Unlike traditional seating we did not have to wait for the tables around us to finish their courses before our next courses were served. The food was always served promptly and as ordered. Meats like the steaks and prime rib were served as ordered every time. Apep also made recommendations every night on what starters and entrée to order, and he was almost always right on with his recommendations. We all found the selection of food and the taste, quality and presentation to be superior to past cruise experiences."

[Cruising-along]

Terry thank you so much for telling us about the AYW dining on your cruise. We hope to be doing the same thing on our cruise in May. There will be 4 of us, on a port-intensive cruise. Early traditional is too early for us and late is too late. 7-7:30 is just right. :)

[terrydtx]

Terry thank you so much for telling us about the AYW dining on your cruise. We hope to be doing the same thing on our cruise in May. There will be 4 of us, on a port-intensive cruise. Early traditional is too early for us and late is too late. 7-7:30 is just right. :)

 

You are welcome, you will love AYWD. On the Volendam, the last 7 nights we booked a 7:45 reservation for table 307 everyday as late as 3:00 in the afternoon. We showed up at 7:30 every time and were immediately seated to our reserved table. This was the equivalent of a 7:30 traditional diner seating (same table and service staff) and it worked perfect for our party of 6. With all the time zone changes on this cruise 7:30 was either 6:30 or 5:30 back home and we didn't miss any of the port sail aways either