"As You Wish" Dining?

[DeRon]

Is the HAL version of anytime dining working out well? We personally like anytime dining, so that is a huge plus to us.

 

Is it working smoothly?

[O2B@C]

Opinions vary widely. Read the two extensive sticky threads on this topic and see what you think.

[DeRon]

Oops, didn't see that. Sorry

[sassyredhat]

Just got off the Zaandam, traveling with boccismom (Phoeb).

 

We had traditional dining--always do---but Phoeb had AYW dining. They loved AYW.

 

In talking with some of the dining staff, I learned that most of them don't like AYW. They prefer the "old" way.

 

Phoeb said it was great, though.

 

Pat

[jhannah]

In talking with some of the dining staff, I learned that most of them don't like AYW. They prefer the "old" way.

I can understand why they feel this way. AYW, generally speaking, does away with the concept of getting to know your guests so you can not only meet but anticipate their needs. That's one of HAL's hallmarks that AYW will send down the tubes. It will likely affect their total tip collections, too.

[innlady1]

We enjoyed Open Seating on our Noordam cruise this winter...but, then, we booked the same table/same stewards each night, so it was like Fixed Seating. They knew our names 2nd night out, knew what we liked and what we did not. It was great.

The Fixed Seating component of As You Wish Dining is the same as it always was. The Open Seating that's similar to Anytime Dining on Princess.

Our dining steward did not like it at all; neither did the wine steward. We tipped them well; as did others in our "section" who were there same as us each evening. But about half their tables were different each night. So their tips have to be affected by this.

[pipedreams62]

I can understand why they feel this way. AYW, generally speaking, does away with the concept of getting to know your guests so you can not only meet but anticipate their needs. That's one of HAL's hallmarks that AYW will send down the tubes. It will likely affect their total tip collections, too.

 

On AYWD

[DeRon]

We have stuck with Princess in the past because of Anytime Dining. It is a matter of persoanl choice. When me and my wife are on vacation, we want to spend time with each other.

[O2B@C]

We have stuck with Princess in the past because of Anytime Dining. It is a matter of persoanl choice. When me and my wife are on vacation, we want to spend time with each other.

 

So do my DH and I, but this has nothing to do with traditional dining vs open seating. HAL has quite a few tables for 2, in both sections of the dining room. You don't have to choose open seating to dine with just your spouse. Just ask your TA to get you a table for 2.

[hammybee]

 

You don't have to choose open seating to dine with just your spouse. Just ask your TA to get you a table for 2.

 

There is no certainty that you will get the table size you want in fixed seating, just as there is no certainty you will get the seating you want.

 

It all depends on how many other people want what you want, when you want it.

 

If you sail in a Deluxe Suite and/or book very early, you have a better shot.

[kryos]

In talking with some of the dining staff, I learned that most of them don't like AYW. They prefer the "old" way.

LOL ... I don't doubt it. I am sure the tips for the waiters in AYWD are far, far less than for those assigned to traditional dining.

 

I think Freestyle on NCL only works out so well because on NCL your tips are a "service charge" and cannot be reduced or eliminated. This way the dining room staff knows they're getting the money from you regardless of how well you enjoy the service.

 

But on HAL, I could well imagine the dining staff in traditional making a lot more money in tips than the folks in AYWD simply because in traditional they can develop closer relationships with their passengers. Probably many people in traditional slide their dining room stewards extra money at the end of the week, whereas in AYWD they do not.

 

This has to create some problems and the stewards assigned to AYWD probably hate it. Who could blame them.

 

I would imagine the AYWD stewards are also probably the least experienced ones onboard as well, or the ones who have some performance issues which got them stuck in AYWD "hell" as a punishment.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[hammybee]

I would imagine the AYWD stewards are also probably the least experienced ones onboard as well, or the ones who have some performance issues which got them stuck in AYWD "hell" as a punishment.

 

Blue skies ...--rita

 

 

According to the multiple waitstaff we had, waiters are rotated between fixed and open seating.

[peabody99]

I like As You Wish (open seating) because I DO NOT Wish be stuck at a table with others 2 hours a day for a week. Granted so far on fixed seating ships it went fine, but prefer not to take chances. If I could get a two top, then it would be fine.

[Halfmoonfan]

I would imagine the AYWD stewards are also probably the least experienced ones onboard as well, or the ones who have some performance issues which got them stuck in AYWD "hell" as a punishment.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Do you not think “hell” is a little extreme? We are talking about a dining room on a cruise ship.

[hulamoon]

On our upcoming Zuiderdam cruise the traditional seating was sold out so we will try the AYWdining. I was told we can choose a time a watier and make it work to our benefit. Personally we think it will be fine as we have such about a 12 hour time change. We just won't know when we will want to eat dinner.

[hammybee]

 

 

I like As You Wish (open seating) because I DO NOT Wish be stuck at a table with others 2 hours a day for a week.

 

And this is one of the blessings for the waitstaff, too. Rotating into Open Seating means they too will not have to be stuck for the duration of the cruise with the occasional ( :rolleyes: )passenger who cannot be pleased.

[RevNeal]

I was of the understanding that staff rotation occurs BETWEEN cruises, not during cruises. Waiters in Traditional stay in Tradition for the duration of a cruise; waiters in Open stay in Open for the duration of a cruise. They don't rotate until the change-over.

 

Under the Open scheme, a waiter may get the same crabby passenger day-after-day if that passenger has made a reservation for the same table, same time, in the area where that waiter is assigned.

[jhannah]

Gee. I can't imagine any HAL cruiser being crabby! :D

[hammybee]

I was of the understanding that staff rotation occurs BETWEEN cruises, not during cruises. Waiters in Traditional stay in Tradition for the duration of a cruise; waiters in Open stay in Open for the duration of a cruise. They don't rotate until the change-over.

 

 

We have the same understanding. The change usually occurs on turnover day.

 

Having said this, on the shorter 7 day runs, the crew is often spontaneously allocated where they are most needed, on any given day. It all depends on where/when passengers show and on some sails, especially Alaska,the real crunch may occur in the LIDO.

[RevNeal]

Having said this, on the shorter 7 day runs, the crew is often spontaneously allocated where they are most needed, on any given day. It all depends on where/when passengers show and on some sails, especially Alaska,the real crunch may occur in the LIDO.

 

Makes sense.

[CCaroleAnn]

But on HAL, I could well imagine the dining staff in traditional making a lot more money in tips than the folks in AYWD simply because in traditional they can develop closer relationships with their passengers. Probably many people in traditional slide their dining room stewards extra money at the end of the week, whereas in AYWD they do not.--rita

 

 

This describes us to a "T". We always use to tip extra to our dinning stewards when we had Traditional/ Fixed seating. This past cruise when we had AYWD we never had the same waiter twice and the service often left much to be desired. So, of course we did not give any extra tips to our AYWD staff.

 

 

[cruznana]

We just returned from the April 13 Westerdam and we had open seating. Everything went very well. We had a reservation the first evening at 7:45- walked right in a bit early and waited a few minutes for our tablemates to join us. We did try to get a reservation again, but was not happy with the times available, so decided to just go without a reservation. We went to the dining room most evenings between 6:16 - 6:45 and walked right in. We requested a table for 6, we always felt that would be a safe number. We had the same table twice and then the next table over another night. I believe we had the same servers 3 nights.

 

Everything went extremely smooth, we never saw long lines and everyone seemed to be pretty happy!!:D

 

I would definitely go with open dining again, it worked for us.

[sassyredhat]

We have the same understanding. The change usually occurs on turnover day.

 

Having said this, on the shorter 7 day runs, the crew is often spontaneously allocated where they are most needed, on any given day. It all depends on where/when passengers show and on some sails, especially Alaska,the real crunch may occur in the LIDO.

 

True~~We had Pinnacle Stewards serving in Lido because we were under Code Red and passengers were not allowed to touch anything.

 

I'm sure they were soooo happy to do that ! :)

 

Pat

[billroddy]

Post has Official Document from HAL with questions and answers.

Bill

 

Is the HAL version of anytime dining working out well? We personally like anytime dining, so that is a huge plus to us.

 

Is it working smoothly?

[boccismom]

Just got off the Zaandam, traveling with boccismom (Phoeb).

 

We had traditional dining--always do---but Phoeb had AYW dining. They loved AYW.

 

In talking with some of the dining staff, I learned that most of them don't like AYW. They prefer the "old" way.

 

Phoeb said it was great, though.

 

Pat

 

 

It did work out well for us. We found a table with stewards we really loved on the second night and reserved that table every night except for 2. On those 2, we knew we'd be onshore and wouldn't make it back in time....I'm diabetic and have to eat pretty much on schedule. And those 2 were great...very entertaining and wonderfully friendly.

 

Sometimes we had the same tablemates, sometimes other people. It was fun. We would probably do AYW again. As with everything else, it is what you make of it.