FLEXIBLE SEATING - my review of open dining on the 8.31.08 sailing of the Legend

[pungo3]

I've only done open seating on Princess and never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table there. I'm hoping Carnival gets their open seating better organized for a shorter wait. I love being able to dine when I want to, rather than having a fixed time. But, DH would never wait 30 minutes to be seated. He'd drag me up to the Lido.:eek:

 

Thanks so much for posting your experience.

[xntric1]

I had also read the review that the poster was always seated within 5 minutes, so that is what I was expecting. I don't know if we had an unusual experiences or if as more people learn about it, more are choosing and the waits are getting longer.

I like it that Carnival is giving options - even within the flexible dining.

[Carolyn1950]

I so wish this option was available on the Miracle right now!!!!! 5:45 is too early for me but 8:30 is too late LOL!

 

Thanks for the review! I wouldn't mind the wait each night either - my S.O. and I love to have a cocktail and BS for a while before dinner. ;)

 

My problem to a tee... At home we eat around 7:00, I have had 5:45, way too early.. This time I have 8:00.Seems late but will see how it goes..

[sheri18]

not sure if I would like it.....but i know my DH would...that is one of his complaints.....

 

can allways try it.....what is the worse that could happen.....

[poptart]

thanks for the review!

 

We want to try the open seating IF we remain a group of 4 but if a 3rd couple joins us (they say they are but haven't booked yet) then we'll remain with traditional--I just think it will be easier than "polling" our group to see what time we want to eat every day.

 

Since we're platinum (:D 1st time) Doesn't that gives you preference with reservations?

[krissy72]

I tried the traditional dining on our Legend cruise the week of 8/17. We had 5 in our group. When all of us ate in the dining room our wait was also about 30 mins. On the first formal night we waited 2 hours. No joke. On the second formal night we called to make reservations. We were told they could not seat a party of 5 this night as all the tables for 5 were booked.

 

When just some of us ate in the dining room there was no problem at all getting right in.

[Vanessa L]

Thanks so much for this review. I agree with others, we are used to eating around 7. Five forty-five is wayyyyy too early, especially if we've been on a tour that day. I absolutely HATE to rush to get ready for dinner. It is hard to enjoy the experience if I am stressed before I even get there. Eight is too late and 8:30 is awful. I hope they open the entire fleet to open seating. It definitely gives one more options and if you don't want to wait, make a reservation for the time you want to eat. If the dining room is open from say 5:45 to 9 I don't see how taking away the "fixed seating" is going to be that big a deal. Just go at 5:45 or 8:00 like you would without the open seating. With open seating everyone can be happy. Fixed times limits those of us who want to eat when we want to eat, not when we're told to eat.

[gusrip98]

I was on this cruise as well (my first). I was traveling with my pregnant wife and flexible dining was a must. It worked pretty well for us. We ate there 5 nights and only 3 without reservations. The first time we were seated immediately. The second, I had about a 5-10 minute wait. The last night, I had just sat down with my drink when the beeper went off. The bar right there is perfect and really worked out well.

 

I found on my first cruise that sitting in the very aft of the ship did not sit well with my stomach. We were seated in front of the restaurant the next night and I was fine. When I made reservations or when I got my beeper, I asked to sit towards the front and was easily accomodated each time. This also worked out to have the same great wait staff each time too (highly recommend Gerrard and Haydee).

 

My wife liked this dining option because there were times we had a late lunch in port or just weren't that hungry at 6ish. But when a pregnant wife says I am hungry, get dressed, we could go right down.

 

We were seated in the upper section (deck 3) the entire time and only ate with another couple one time. I really liked this option, but will probably try a mix next time to meet some other people on the ship.

[Carnival Game]

I don't know how people can wait til 8:00 for dinner unless they've eaten pizza at 5:00 to hold them over. Instead of doing that, why not just have dinner at 6:00? :D

 

If I signed up for flexible dining, I would walk in when I'm hungry so being made to wait a half hour is unacceptable, IMO. And if I had a drink while waiting I'd be ready to eat a horse when they called me!

[Mikel1733]

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of flexible dining:confused: If you make a reservation you have to be there at a specific time...same as traditional.

I don't think they should allow reservations for anytime/flexible dining......I think that just messes things up.......

If you can't be flexible then traditional is the way to go.......

 

So does 30 + minutes waiting time bother you?

[bguppies]

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of flexible dining:confused: If you make a reservation you have to be there at a specific time...same as traditional.

I don't think they should allow reservations for anytime/flexible dining......I think that just messes things up.......

If you can't be flexible then traditional is the way to go.......

 

The difference is, that the cruiser makes the resevation to be there when THEY want to eat, NOT when Carnival feels like serving them dinner.

I agree with the many others who have already stated the problems with Carnival's fixed dining times.

 

The 2 early seatings are too early, unless you are in your 80's and used to early dinners at the local all you can eat buffets.(and impossible to enjoy if you are in port that day)

 

The 2 late seatings are too late, unless you flying in from Pacific time zone.(or are young and still used to the nightclubbing lifestyle.)

 

Bill

[Carnival Game]

The 2 early seatings are too early, unless you are in your 80's and used to early dinners at the local all you can eat buffets.(and impossible to enjoy if you are in port that day)

 

Bill

 

Not always.

 

Even the "early" is later than I'm used to. At home I have dinner at 4:30 because I don't want lunch. I also don't like to consume so many calories late in the evening or they don't get burned off.

[mom2tcdx2]

I too would love to see the flexible dining option. Just because you make a reservation doesn't make it like traditional. Same for us 5:45 is too early and the 8:30 too late, I prefer to eat around 7 as that is generally what time it is at home everyday. I get off work at 5 by the time I pick up kids from daycare and get home it is 6 and then still have to cook so we generally eat about 7. When we sailed on Princess I loved their anytime dining as we made reservations each evening for between 6:30 and 7 for our group of 8 and it worked perfectly.

[finoky]

Thanks OP for a very detailed and informative review of this process.

[Kurbanfan]

So does 30 + minutes waiting time bother you?

 

 

Nope I am flexible:D I am on vacation and I am in no hurry:D As long as we can get ready when we want I am fine with that..........

It is not like I am going to be starving;)

[CEWayfarer]

We're sailing on the Liberty in November and requested the Flexible dining.

 

To be really honest, I really don't need to be friends with the servers; as long as they are competent, I'm happy. So, if we get a different server every night, that's fine with me.

 

As far as the wait time, I live in Los Angeles; even with a reservation, you can still wait 30 minutes for your table, so that isn't a big deal, either.

 

I like the option of being able to make a reservation if I want. Say it's a port day, and I know we sail at 5:00, I can pretty much calculate how long I'll need to shower (maybe a quick nap!) and get ready for dinner.

 

Plus, we really just want a table for two (I sound anti-social, but I'm really not! I just REALLY enjoy being able to spend quality time alone with my Sweetie without any distractions!).

 

I think it'll be great for us, but I can see how some people will still stick with the traditional dining.

[kelz66]

My husband and I opted for "Open Dining" for our cruise last week on the Legend. Though the experience was not flawless, we do hope the choice will be available on our next cruise.

For those of you not familiar with "Open Dining", Carnival is doing an experiment on the Legend and soon to be expanded to another ship (Liberty?). In addition to the early and late fixed table seating, you can choose the Open Dining option. With this, you show up at any time between 5:45 PM and 9:15 PM (or similar times - I may be off slightly on the times) or you can call up till 4 PM and make a reservation. When making a reservation you can request a particular waiter and or table.

 

The first night we went down to dinner about 15-20 minutes after the Legend cleared the Sunshine Bridge. Having cruise out of Tampa before, we did not watch the passing. When we arrived (we didn't make reservations) we were told the wait would be about 10-15 minutes and were given a pager. We went to the bar outside of the dining room and enjoyed a drink. The seas were quite rough that night (Gustav) and it was interesting watching people try to walk a straight path. Our pager went off after about 30 minutes. We went back to the hostess stand and the two of us were seated at a table for four. We were not sure at that point if we would be having others join our table. We did not. We had a friendly and efficient wait team. We were pleased with our service.

 

Night two: we had been in Key West that day, it was an itinerary change due to the hurricane. We went down about 7:30. We were told we would have about a 15 minute wait. Once again we enjoyed a drink prior to dinner. The pager went off about 25-30 minutes later. We were seated in the same general area as the night previous, but had a different wait staff. Again, they were friendly and did a good job.

 

The third evening was our first "elegant" dinner. I called about 3:30 and made reservations for 8 PM. I did not request a certain server or table. We were seated immediately upon our arrival. Again, in the same general area, but we had another waiter. He got a lower grade that the two previous waitstaff groups. He never introduced himself or his assistant to us. There was no effort on his part to "connect' to us. We did not really lack for anything service-wise, but his personality was somewhat off.

 

Night four we went down, without reservations, about 7:15 PM. We had a long excursion in Cozumel and were looking forward to an early evening. Many of the tables appeared to be set and empty, but we again were told it would be about a 10-15 minute wait. It was at least 30 minutes. Once called we were seated at the same table we had the first night, with the same servers as the first night. They recognized us and called us by name. Again they were friendly and efficient.

 

Night five, we had reservations with others from our CC Roll Call. We left the reservation setting to others. They had a waiter they really liked and wanted to be seated in his section. We had a group of 7, but they were not able to accommodate all of us at the same table. They gave us 2 tables, back to back. We had the 'desired' waiter, the other table had another waiter. The requested waiter was excellent. He and the assistant were very personable and he went out of his way to make us feel welcomed to his section. I can understand why our friends requested him as their server each evening.

 

The next night, six, was our second elegant dining evening. Again, we did not make reservations. We went down around 8 PM and were told we had about a 15 minute wait. Of course, by this time, we realized that meant 30-ish minutes. Just right to have a leisurely drink in the bar, finish it and long enough to start wondering if you had time for another before your pager would go off. We were seated in the section of our second night waitstaff's area. She greeted us warmly and welcomed us back. It was a table for two this time. The only night we were seated at a two-top table.

 

The final night, we again had reservations made by our friends, in 'their waiters' area. Conrado is a true asset to Carnival.

 

We liked the "Open Dining" option. Yes, it has some 'warts', but it fit our style well. The approximate 30 minute wait each night was okay with us. I would have preferred a more accurate disclosure of the true wait time and anything longer that the 30 minutes would have been excessive. We did not mind having time for a drink prior to being seated. We enjoyed chatting with Adam, one of the bar/dining room waiters each evening. We could have easily made reservations each night. However, what suited us so with the flexible dining is not having to be ready for dinner at a precise time. We got dressed for dinner when we wanted to, at our own pace. We actually enjoyed the pre-dinner drink. Also, we did not have children to keep occupied while waiting for our table. It was nice having the option to dine with friends when we desired. Something we did miss about this choice was meeting tablemates. On most of our cruises, we have enjoyed our tablemates. (Yes, we have had tablemates from hell and most of that cruise we dined outside of the regular dining room.) At the end of our cruise we were given a separate comment card for the "Open Dining". We made the suggestion that when checking in with the hostess, we would have liked the option of private dining or mixed dining.

 

We hope Carnival expands this option across the fleet. We do not wish to see assigned seating go away, but adding this as an option is a definite plus to us.

 

 

I'm glad you liked it...but personally when I am on a cruise ship I don't want to be treated like I'm home at a local restaurant and waiting with a pager.

 

But I am so glad that they offer both. It gives people more choices to customize their cruise experience and that is a good thing!!!!

 

:D

[Gayle V]

Hello xntric1, Thank you for the review. Very informative.

 

I'm wondering, had you wanted to eat at, say...7:00 everyday, could you have reserved that for the entire week, with just the one phone call on the first day ? Or do you have to call daily?

[lauderdalebob]

I also would like flexible dining. I prefer late dining but having the option is even better. Sometimes at the end of the day I feel like I'm dragging myself to dinner (after a late nap) and wish we could just set our own schedule. Well, now we could. Suits me fine. However, a previous post asked about tipping. Not the automatic tipping, but with our assigned seating and time each cruise we always tip the waiter extra. How would you do that if you have a different waiter each night? Leave a cash tip on the table after dining after each meal if you felt it was deserved? Hmmmmm. We are currently booked on the Freedom this Nov. and also the Liberty next May, so if Liberty is offering it I guess I should call my PVP and make the change. I'm currently down for late dining.

[woodey]

I do like the Option...and I hope they keep it as a Option....I dont like the 30 minute wait...i hope they can tighten that up a bit

[dan40]

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of flexible dining:confused: If you make a reservation you have to be there at a specific time...same as traditional.

I don't think they should allow reservations for anytime/flexible dining......I think that just messes things up.......

If you can't be flexible then traditional is the way to go.......

 

K,

You took the words right out of my keyboard!

 

Dan

[runningradical]

Thanks for the review. I do have a question I have done open dining on NCL and are given a choice do you want to dine with others or alone. On Carnival you don't have that option and you are seated with just your party?

[cathyoo]

I don't see how taking away the "fixed seating" is going to be that big a deal. Just go at 5:45 or 8:00 like you would without the open seating. With open seating everyone can be happy. Fixed times limits those of us who want to eat when we want to eat, not when we're told to eat.

 

We enjoy the fixed time and hopefully flex dining doesn't become the only option. We enjoy interacting with our staff, we like how the staff knows our preferences by day two, we like not having to decide amongst ourselves who wants to eat at 6, who wants to eat at 7, etc.

 

I don't want to worry about tipping the waiters every night, don't like worrying about whether I'm going to wait 15 min or 30 min and what if I miss an activity or have to hurry my dinner.

 

Getting one of those pagers would make me feel like I was at Olive Garden. (I do like Olive Garden but I'm cruising to get away from my everyday life)

[cathyoo]

sorry double

[rivercruiser]

Thanks so much for all the info and opinions. Open dining wasn't offered to us when we booked our forthcoming Halloween Legends cruise last May.

 

It seems this could solve some of the problems we've had on previous cruises on the Miracle. Unlike those of you who like to eat at tables for two or just with your group, we like to sit at a big table with lots of new people to meet. But we always get the 4 of us put at a table for 4. Of course, with open dining, we'd have to put our own group together.

 

Also, on one of our trips on the Miracle we had a perfectly horrible, inattentive waiter team. Open dining would allow us to move.

 

On the other hand, I think I'm happy with fixed dining. No, I don't need to be chum-buddies with my wait staff -- but after the second day, the good ones will be attuned to your likes and dislikes -- little things that make you feel they want to make you happy, e.g., on the second day they came with the tea chest after dinner without my telling them I wanted tea. Also -- if you're fifteen minutes late getting there, so what? You still have your seat and your waiter.

 

I really don't like to eat early: 5:45 is really too early to eat. But it's not too early to sit down for a leisurely multi-course dinner that takes an hour and a half (or more.)

 

All that said, I think the open dining is a good thing, especially for those who don't care to go to the shows.