Singles and As You Wish Dining

[u4ea]

[quote name='revneal']the struggle and frustration with not being able to get your dining preference locked down until you actually get aboard -- that is the focus of much of the consternation. I wish HAL could make it less troubling.[/quote]

One again, you've hit the nail on the head. When on vacation, sometimes some people don't want to "deal" with getting their preference (like me;)), especially, when in the past, you didn't get bumped from traditional. As I said, I voted against it. But as they say in New Jersey:
"Ah, whatta ya gonna do";)
Mark...(no longer in NJ):cool:

[RevNeal]

[quote name='docksider21']But, as a parish pastor, you only need 4 maybe 5 days off to be off a whole month, right?:D [tehe, tehe][/QUOTE]

Hardy har har!!! :D ;)
LOL
heck ... if you add it up by just those hours spent wearing the vestments ... about 14 or 15 hours should do it for a whole month!! :D

[kryos]

[quote name='revneal'] How about 2009 or 2010? I'm thinking about doing the Vancouver - Hong Kong crossing in the Fall of 2009 or 2010. :D That's 30 days.[/QUOTE]
Darned! 2009 is not gonna work out then either. I am tentatively scheduled for the Grand Pacific Voyage in 2009 ... 67 days on the Amsterdam. I say tentatively because there are big changes at my job right now and I don't know whether or not I'll be employed by then.

But 2010 is wide open. Maybe we could work together to find something we would both enjoy ... or maybe you can swing the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand grand voyage in 2009? It's a fantastic itinerary ... I think you would enjoy it. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

[quote name='revneal']The [I]Rotterdam[/I] has 36 Suites and 4 Penthouses ... for a total of 40 cabins that have Dining Priority.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, but can't you buy those ammenity packages in other accommodations, that give you some suite privileges ... like dining preference?

Who knows how many people had that package and thus bumped to the head of the dining request line?

Blue skies ...

--rita

[hammybee]

[quote name='u4ea'] But as they say in New Jersey:
"Ah, whatta ya gonna do";)

Mark...(no longer in NJ):cool:[/quote]

Me either. Maybe we are split personalities/different screen names. Who knew?:eek:

( who knew is another joisyism)

[jerseygirl3]

I'm actually relieved that HAL instituted AYWD. We're traveling on the Westerdam next month with my sister, BIL, and their 7-year-old twins. My sister is notoriously late for everything, and on other cruises, it has been embarrassing sitting at a table with traditional dining waiting for her to show up. It has caused some heated discussions between us. And not only is she late, she then has the nerve to ask the waitstaff to "slow it down" if they are serving too quickly (to make up for the time they lost waiting for her). Anyway, with AYWD, my husband and I can get ready for dinner, go have a predinner cocktail, and when my sister shows up, we go to dinner. No more aggravation!LOL Don't get me wrong...I dearly love my sister, but her tardiness drives me crazy!

And since we'll be sitting at a table with just the 6 of us, it won't be awkward trying to get to know new people each night.

[RevNeal]

[quote name='kryos']But 2010 is wide open. Maybe we could work together to find something we would both enjoy ... or maybe you can swing the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand grand voyage in 2009? It's a fantastic itinerary ... I think you would enjoy it. :)[/QUOTE]

I would, and I would LOVE to ... but ... sadly, I'm not going to be able to take that many days off in 2009. Not at that time, at least.

I'm actually looking at, and thinking about, either a Prinsendam crossing in the Fall of 2009 or, perhaps, the Voyage of the Vikings in the summer of July.

[kryos]

[quote name='jerseygirl3']No more aggravation!LOL Don't get me wrong...I dearly love my sister, but her tardiness drives me crazy!

And since we'll be sitting at a table with just the 6 of us, it won't be awkward trying to get to know new people each night.[/QUOTE]
Exactly the joys AYWD is designed to deliver!

LOL ... your sister sounds a lot like me. I am late for work so often dad tells me that he would fire my a** if he were my boss. :) But then, of course, he's not taking into account how often I get stuck staying over at the end of my shift ... half an hour here, an hour there, 15 minutes here. This time is usually for short meetings or to link up with people ... so it's not picked up by overtime. So, in the end, it all works out. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[tchix]

[quote name='gizmo']Ruth, I agree with you. There is NO evidence that we are not a true sample. There is a lot of speculation and preaching on the subject on this board.

[/quote]

Having never been on HAL (only a few more days til I go) I have no opinion on AYWD. I do tend to think that those on this board would not necessarily be a representative sample for a bunch of reasons - 1) folks who frequent this board are more likely to have selected and cruised on HAL before (often several times), meaning they specifically chose a line that did NOT have AYWD and enjoyed it, 2) folks who frequent this board often do so to share information and to get information on planning their next cruise, and it is more likely that such a person would want control over their mealtime (and other aspects of their cruise), which the AYWD limited availability and waitlists prevents, 3) folks who frequent CC are more likely to be avid, experienced cruisers who like "traditional" aspects of cruising, which includes fixed seating.

So on this board, you are less likely to have:
- folks who chose HAL for the first time because they added AYWD
- folks who usually cruise other lines because they enjoy freestyle dining but are cruising HAL because of a specific itinerary, family trip etc
- folks who have never cruised before and don't know enough about fixed seating to be missing it, or
- folks who are super laid back about their cruising and don't really care about planning or the details.

All of those types of people would probably be less likely to be critical of AYWD....

Not to say that there aren't ANY of these kinds of people on this board, just that statistically there are fewer and thus the views expressed here are not necessarily representative.

[RevNeal]

[quote name='tchix']Having never been on HAL (only a few more days til I go) I have no opinion on AYWD. I do tend to think that those on this board would not necessarily be a representative sample for a bunch of reasons - 1) folks who frequent this board are more likely to have selected and cruised on HAL before (often several times), meaning they specifically chose a line that did NOT have AYWD and enjoyed it, 2) folks who frequent this board often do so to share information and to get information on planning their next cruise, and it is more likely that such a person would want control over their mealtime (and other aspects of their cruise), which the AYWD limited availability and waitlists prevents, 3) folks who frequent CC are more likely to be avid, experienced cruisers who like "traditional" aspects of cruising, which includes fixed seating.

So on this board, you are less likely to have:
- folks who chose HAL for the first time because they added AYWD
- folks who usually cruise other lines because they enjoy freestyle dining but are cruising HAL because of a specific itinerary, family trip etc
- folks who have never cruised before and don't know enough about fixed seating to be missing it, or
- folks who are super laid back about their cruising and don't really care about planning or the details.

All of those types of people would probably be less likely to be critical of AYWD....

Not to say that there aren't ANY of these kinds of people on this board, just that statistically there are fewer and thus the views expressed here are not necessarily representative.[/QUOTE]

hmmm ... interesting thoughts. Some thoughts that might serve to mitigate your points:

--HAL has the highest repeat-passenger rate of any Mass-Market Line.
--Hence, on any given cruise one is more likely to find that one's fellow passengers have cruised HAL before.
--The longer and more exotic the cruise, the higher the Mariner census.
--And HAL has more longer and exotic cruises than most other Lines.

Hence, you might say that HAL is the cruise line that most reflects at least a segment of those who post here. :) ;)

[Mr Veendam06]

Hi i love anytime dinning .Just got off the Noordam .I retied last year at the age of 50 .This was my 2nd solo cruise .My wife is 49 and dosn't want to retied yet . And my oldest son will be off to the Navy academy .in 09 and my youngest has 2 years left in hight school .We have been cruising since 1980 this was my 70 cruise .I tried going solo last year on the Empress of the seas .and love it .So i picked the Noordam this year .7th time with HAL and by far the best cruise with them .Now when it's just my family i alway take a table for four .If"s it's just me and my wife we always get a table for 2 .Not that we don"t like dinning with other .It"s just that we have had alot of bad tables in the past .We don"t need that on vacation !! It"s a crap shoot at best !!So anytime worked out great .I got to the dinning room between 8 & 8:30 and always got the table i wanted .Some nights with people i met on the cruise other nights by myself a table for 2 it was great . Never wait to get a table .I must say i found the food to be the best i've ever had on HAL .On other cruises i would have dinner in the Lido a few nights .Not on this cruise .I always like the food on HAL .But thought it to be on the blend side in the main dinning room .Not now .maybe some of the best dinner i've had on a cruise in sometime . I also find anytime dinning so much better then the way it's done on Princess we didn"t like it at all on Princess ! Alot of people were mad about HAL pulling out of NY .I told the furture HAL booking agent i would have giving her bookings for the same week jan .09 feb. 10 .I liked the cruise that much no flying .I still think HAL has the friendliest crew afloat !!And i love the pool areas .The pool in the back is the best .You feel like your on a cruise you can see the ocean !1 Most cruise lines have done away this this pool area .That"s a big reason we like HAL .Also it's great seeing everybody get dress up most nights . On most of our cruises i bring a Tux & suit . But not having to fly .I had 5 suits and a tux .and use all of them .So it looks like i will be back on the Noordam with my wife in jan .09 .I took the future booking for that cruise .And it was good to be on a well run ship !!