Open Dinner Seating ?

[Jimjam]

My TA has informed me that there is NO assigned dinner seating on the Noordam for the March, 2008 sailing. It's ALL open seating.. We could ask to be seated at the same table each evening if we find a table to our liking but otherwise we would not have the same table or waiters etc. I thought the upper level dinning would be assinged seating. Any news on this change?

[cruz chic]

I am thinking because the traditional is all full. Half of the dining room is set aside for traditional and Mar.08 isn't that far off. I had a bit of a hard time getting traditional on a cruise that was more then a year out.

[hammybee]

I am thinking lorekauf hit this nail on the head. The word "available" seems to be missing from your TA's perception of the situation.

 

Chances are, Traditional Seating is full and open seating is all that is left.

 

From the reports made thus far, it appears that it is possible to reserve daily, the same table, provided it is for a time, outside peak hours. Peak hour dining is reserved for walk-ins, to give each passenger the same shot at their preferred time. Accommodations seems to be on a first reserved/first served basis.

 

Fortunately, you are being made aware of this, well in advance and have the ability to cancel your cruise/get your deposit back, if the dining arrangements are not to your liking.

[RevNeal]

You might ask your TA if there's a waiting list for Traditional, or if it's fully closed. According to HAL's website, on the March 8 sailing the Early Upper and the Main Lower are both "waitlisted." On the March 19th sailing they list both Early Upper and Lower as being wait-listed, while both Main seatings are closed. Again, this is according to HAL's website.

[bUU]

You travel agent may be mistaken. Rather, it is possible that there is GUARANTEED traditional seating left. HAL has been leaving things open until they have a better idea what percentage of guests want AYW dining, and then setting the proportions for each cruise based on that.

[cage keeper]

We are on the March 19th sailing and were told we would be wait listed for traditional dining. When we got our conformation it said we had the late seating we had asked for.

[RevNeal]

We are on the March 19th sailing and were told we would be wait listed for traditional dining. When we got our conformation it said we had the late seating we had asked for.

 

This is basically what I've been hearing to be the case on most occasions. The wait-listing process is how HAL is dealing with most people while they sort out the dining requests and availability.

[Jimjam]

Thanks everyone for your responses.. The cruise is more important than the seating arrangements. We are with another couple and I am sure we will do OK. We prefer early seating and we will take whatever we can get..

[NHBob]

Thanks everyone for your responses.. The cruise is more important than the seating arrangements. We are with another couple and I am sure we will do OK. We prefer early seating and we will take whatever we can get..

 

Or, you could do what I did for my March Zuiderdam transatlantic: write to HAL management telling them that you will neither make final payment nor board if there is any chance of being relegated to open seating (particularly important for me as a solo traveler). Worked for me -within 10 days I had both a phone call and e-mail from Guest Services confirming traditional assigned seating.

 

HAL's botched handling of this whole AYW dining introduction has turned off this third-generation HAL fan. Only reason I haven't canceled the Zuiderdam TA is that it features the Harry James Band, one of my favorites. After that, it will be Crystal for me - it's worth the higher cost to be treated like a welcome guest instead of self-loading cargo!

[SF49erfan]

We were on the Ryndam last week and had "As You Wish" dinning. We didn't like it at all, but managed to work around the system. We call each morning to make a reservation and asked for a specific time, table, and table steward. Worked every time, except the morning I forgot to call at 8:00:( .

Anyway, our table steward said that some ships - I think he said the Westerdam and the Nordam were going completely AYW. Also that HAL was looking to have all ships AYW. He said that it's not a good thing for the smaller ships, like the Ryndam, because there is only one kitchen and service would be slower with people coming in at all different times. Also, the dinning stewards don't like it because they like getting to know people and their special wants and you can't do that with different people each night.

[RevNeal]

Anyway, our table steward said that some ships - I think he said the Westerdam and the Nordam were going completely AYW.

 

This is the first we've heard of this. Completely AYW?

 

Also that HAL was looking to have all ships AYW. He said that it's not a good thing for the smaller ships, like the Ryndam, because there is only one kitchen and service would be slower with people coming in at all different times. Also, the dinning stewards don't like it because they like getting to know people and their special wants and you can't do that with different people each night.

 

Well, 'tis true that the whole fleet is in the midst of transitioning to AYW, but did he mean that the whole fleet will eventually go to only AYW (as per your prior sentence)?

 

Thanks for the report on how you made it work. It will be annoying to have to call to make a reservation every day, but I suppose if that is what we have to do to have the experience we want, then ok. Sadly, such really won't help those of us who are cruising Solo.

[jhannah]

We call each morning to make a reservation and asked for a specific time, table, and table steward.

Having to call every day to get your seating? No thanks.

 

Also that HAL was looking to have all ships AYW.

This wouldn't surprise me at all.

[RuthC]

Anyway, our table steward said that some ships - I think he said the Westerdam and the Nordam were going completely AYW. Also that HAL was looking to have all ships AYW.

I sincerely hope your steward was mistaken, or, that HAL reconsiders.

If I'm cruisinging solo, I'm dining traditional, late sitting. If I'm with friends, then someone else will need to make the AYW reservations---I don't get up early enough to call at 8:00.

[abrauns783]

we had as you wish dinner on the noordam. this worked very well for us. got to meet a lot off nice poeple. also we didn't have worry about being late for dinner. the food was severed hot.

[pms4104]

Maybe it's all about semantics ... but I think that HAL calls this whole new ball of wax As You Wish Dining and means that you may enjoy either fixed/traditional or open/anytime dining. Meaning: HAL lumps both options as AYWD.

[RuthC]

Maybe it's all about semantics ... but I think that HAL calls this whole new ball of wax As You Wish Dining and means that you may enjoy either fixed/traditional or open/anytime dining. Meaning: HAL lumps both options as AYWD.

Let's hope you're right. :)

[mamaofami]

I would feel very pressured to have to get up by 8am and make that call for reservations. Some days I might be up, but what if I want to sleep late? It would make me very unhappy.

[cruz chic]

Maybe it's all about semantics ... but I think that HAL calls this whole new ball of wax As You Wish Dining and means that you may enjoy either fixed/traditional or open/anytime dining. Meaning: HAL lumps both options as AYWD.

 

I tend to agree with you. I think the traditional is pretty popular and I can't imagine why HAL would want to flush it away. Look at Princess....it still has both.

[bepsf]

There's alot of misinformation floating around regarding this, and many TA's aren't helping the matter any - another reason a responsive and well-informed TA is worth his/her weight in gold.

 

I would not hesitate to cancel a HAL cruise if I were not guaranteed Traditional seating with my travel companions - I think if I were in his position, NHBob's strategy is perfectly reasonable.

 

Expecting me as a passenger to do anything other than roll-over by 8am each morning is perfectly unreasonable.

[hammybee]

There's alot of misinformation floating around regarding this, and many TA's aren't helping the matter any - another reason a responsive and well-informed TA is worth his/her weight in gold.

 

I would not hesitate to cancel a HAL cruise if I were not guaranteed Traditional seating with my travel companions - I think if I were in his position, NHBob's strategy is perfectly reasonable.

 

Expecting me as a passenger to do anything other than roll-over by 8am each morning is perfectly unreasonable.

 

Brian, if we believed half of what onboard crew told us, the Prinsendam would have been sold 10X. ;)

 

I have no idea what HAL's plans are relative to moving towards eliminating Fixed Seating. My sense is that this would be a very premature move on their part.

 

Having said this, longer term, the only way to obtain the true traditional sail experience, may be to pay for it, upfront and sail with a cruise line, like Crystal.

 

The analogies between mass marketed cruise lines and domestic airlines is stunning. When consumers make decision based upon price, we get what we pay for.

[pms4104]

My reasoning, as mentioned above, is based on a press release on HAL's site. Here's the link: http://www.hollandamerica.com/media/newsRelease.do?fileName=/200707/16_Corporate_01.xml

 

Indeed, it appears that HAL uses AYWD to cover all options in the main dining venue.

[bUU]

Yes, you're correct. So all the earlier hemming and hawing about the "As You Wish" moniker was off-target: "As You Wish" refers to the passenger having a choice between "traditional" and "open" just like they've always had the choice between "early" and "late" seating in the past (and identically subject to capacity constraints).

[RevNeal]

My reasoning, as mentioned above, is based on a press release on HAL's site. Here's the link: http://www.hollandamerica.com/media/newsRelease.do?fileName=/200707/16_Corporate_01.xml

 

As I said a very long time ago, it's mostly been a nomenclature problem. As recently as this month, on the Volendam, a HAL employee was talking about "As You Wish Dining" and "Traditional Dining" as if they were two separate things. When I asked for clarification, I was told something like: "the program is called As You Wish, but when it was first conceived we were told that it was just the open seating component that was to be called As You Wish. That usage has stuck, even though that's not how its being implemented." That is how confusion begins.

[jhannah]

The same thing happened when Princess went to "Personal Choice" dining. Lots of people referred to "personal choice" and "fixed dining" as separate things. Personal choice simply means you can have it whichever way.

[pipedreams62]

This AYW dining drives me crazy. If it's such a great idea, why isn't there a waitlist for this?????? Yes for those who thinks it's a great idea,that's fine,but people who want traditional diningshouldn't be forced into accepting this or be on a waitlist. How come there never was a waitlist before?

 

I just went on 2 Princess cruises with this newfangled AYW dining. We never formed a rapport with any waiters and the anticipation and fun of dining with your waitstaff was gone.

 

We ended up eating in the specialty restaurants 3 times on a 7 day cruise. On Holland America with traditional dining and our great waitstaff we wouldn't even think of going to the specialty restaurant,for we would miss "Our Guys"

 

"If It Aint Broke Don't fix It"