? About dining time preferece??

[motherchic]

I booked my first Carnival cruise on Friday.

We will be sailing on the Valor this summer.

The TA I spoke with told me that I could not have confirmed seating, for 1st or 2nd seating.

Is this true?

We wont be on the ship till about 2pm, to go to the dining hall to make a request. How hard is it to get late seating? What do you seasoned Carnival cruisers think?

I have some back issues and after spending time at a port I will need to ice and rest my back. That will be very hard to do if we have to have the 6pm seating.

Thank you much

Nadine

[Catrin]

You should be able to request late seating when you make your reservation.....

 

but if you do not get it, then you DO have time that first day... usually the dining room is open in the afternoon for requests.

 

Some may disagree, but I think late seating is often "easier" to get than early seating. It really depends on the mix of passengers.

 

Good Luck!

Catrin

[mom2girls]

Out of my 11 cruises there have only been 2 times I didn't get the seating I wanted. Just go to the Maitre D if this happens. He'll do his best to switch you.

[motherchic]

So is it true, Carnival wont tell you right away if you got the seating you want?

[mykiddiewinks]

You will find out your dining time when you check in the day of departure.

[momofzeke]

I agree with Catrin.....I think if you want late seating, you have a very good chance of getting it. The early seating is usually the more popular.

 

We always request late seating, and have gotten it every time. Make sure your TA knows that you want to request late seating. It will show up on your documents as "late seating" but it is not guaranteed. Your assigned dining time, dining room and table number will be on your S&S card when you check in for your cruise.

 

As others have said, if you do not get the time you want, then go to the dining room once onboard and speak to the Maitre D' about changing times.

 

The Valor is a great ship......enjoy! :)

[goldencruiser]

I also agree that late seating is much easier to come by. We always request early seating and have always gotten late seating when we arrive at the ship. We immediately go to the dining room and they have been able to move us to early each time except once. Usually a few dollars helps!!

[grandmato4]

So is it true, Carnival wont tell you right away if you got the seating you want?

 

That is correct. Carnival does not do confirmed seating at the time you book your cruise. You will not know for certain until you check in for your cruise at the terminal which seating you have.

 

With that said, if you've booked your cruise far enough ahead you will very likely have the seating that you requested. If you're booking your cruise at the last minute then there is a greater chance you may not have the seating that you requested. Every cruise is different, but often it is first seating that fills up first so if one wants second seating more often that one won't be a problem.

 

As other's have said, if you don't get the seating that you want you should go see the matre'd and ask if its possible you can be changed. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Good luck!

[Chigirlcruzin]

So is it true, Carnival wont tell you right away if you got the seating you want?

 

Yes, it is true. Dining requests made at time of booking are requests. That said, 9/9 cruises I got the seating I requested, and 8/9 times, I requested late. One of the perks of platinum (10+ Carnival cruises) is that your dining assignment is guaranteed.

[OhioJeff]

Yes, it is true. Dining requests made at time of booking are requests. That said, 9/9 cruises I got the seating I requested, and 8/9 times, I requested late. One of the perks of platinum (10+ Carnival cruises) is that your dining assignment is guaranteed.

 

Im curious, if you are Platinum and you link non-Platinum pax to your reservation, would they also get guaranteed dining assignments? I dont think I have ever seen that address before.

[Chigirlcruzin]

Im curious, if you are Platinum and you link non-Platinum pax to your reservation, would they also get guaranteed dining assignments? I dont think I have ever seen that address before.

 

 

Good question. I would think so, but I'm not sure. My platinum cruise is in 7 weeks.

[PastCarnivalLegend]

I thought carnival was going to open seating? Did I hear wrong?

[mom2girls]

I thought carnival was going to open seating? Did I hear wrong?

The only ship that I know of that's doing open seating is the Legend. I don't think it's fleetwide.

 

As for getting the time you pick. The only 2 times I didn't get it I picked late seating, but got early seating.

[KenMo]

Liberty also has open seating.

[AdrenalineRush]

The only ship that I know of that's doing open seating is the Legend. I don't think it's fleetwide.

It willl be an option fleetwide by the end of the year. You can still do traditional.

 

This is the current list.

 

Implementation Dates

Carnival Legend 6/29/08

Carnival Liberty 11/01/08

Carnival Sensation 2/26/09

Carnival Paradise 3/20/09

Carnival Miracle 3/29/09

Carnival Elation 4/26/09

Carnival Conquest 4/26/09

Carnival Pride 4/27/09

Carnival Spirit 6/03/09

[Chigirlcruzin]

I thought carnival was going to open seating? Did I hear wrong?

 

Open seating will be an option, but they will also offer traditional, much like Princess.

[G'ma]

So is it true, Carnival wont tell you right away if you got the seating you want?

 

Dining times on most ships are on request only. When you check-in at the port and get your Sign/Sail card, your dining time, dining room will be printed on the front of that card. If, for some reason it isn't the time you requested, then simply go directly to the Maitre'd. He will be set up in one of the lounges or dining rooms. He and you can straighten it out then.

 

With one exception, I've always been seated at my requested time. The one time I wasn't, a quick chat with the Maitre'd fixed it up.....

[brilliantseas]

I booked my first Carnival cruise on Friday.

We will be sailing on the Valor this summer.

The TA I spoke with told me that I could not have confirmed seating, for 1st or 2nd seating.

Is this true?

We wont be on the ship till about 2pm, to go to the dining hall to make a request. How hard is it to get late seating? What do you seasoned Carnival cruisers think?

I have some back issues and after spending time at a port I will need to ice and rest my back. That will be very hard to do if we have to have the 6pm seating.

Thank you much

Nadine

 

That is true, you can not confirm anything until you are onboard unless you are platinum. Until you are onboard, Carnival considers it a "request" and will do their best to accommodate it, but won't guarantee anything.

 

That being said, there is a spot on the booking form where your TA has to enter a "preference" for dining time. Make sure that they put in your requested time so you are more likely to get what you want. You'll be able to find out your table # and assigned dining room and time when you get your Sail & Sign card at check in.

[murphalina]

I booked my first Carnival cruise on Friday.

We will be sailing on the Valor this summer.

The TA I spoke with told me that I could not have confirmed seating, for 1st or 2nd seating.

Is this true?

We wont be on the ship till about 2pm, to go to the dining hall to make a request. How hard is it to get late seating? What do you seasoned Carnival cruisers think?

I have some back issues and after spending time at a port I will need to ice and rest my back. That will be very hard to do if we have to have the 6pm seating.

Thank you much

Nadine

 

I think it should be easy to get late seating in the summer, because there will be many families traveling, and families tend to prefer the main seating. That is my unscientific opinion.

[PatfromPa]

In answer to the question regarding non platinum getting the same dining time, if your reservation is linked with the platinum member you will also be assigned to the same time and table. Just be sure your reservation is linked.

[Kitt Grey]

Three out of three times I have been denied my requested time and when I spoke to the maitre D I was informed that solos are grouped together at the late seating regardless of request and basically to bad so sad.

 

While I love cruising sometimes I definatly feel like a second class passenger as a solo.

[motherchic]

Thank you all so much.

I am booked about 51/2 months out. So... I guess we will see.

This will be our first cruise with our daughters. And our first on Carnival. My husband will be in his glory surrounded by his "girls"

Thank you again for helping out this newbie

Nadine

[cateyes2u]

Three out of three times I have been denied my requested time and when I spoke to the maitre D I was informed that solos are grouped together at the late seating regardless of request and basically to bad so sad.

 

While I love cruising sometimes I definatly feel like a second class passenger as a solo.

 

This is interesting. I'm putting this to a test. I just called Carnival and changed from late to early. They said they will mail me written confirmatation.

 

PJ

[KenMo]

This is interesting. I'm putting this to a test. I just called Carnival and changed from late to early. They said they will mail me written confirmatation.

 

PJ

 

Looks like you are or will be Platinum. Platinums get guaranteed dining times.

[cateyes2u]

I see.

 

PJ