Your Time Dining Question

[kdrew88]

Hi All!

 

We are sailing on the Liberty on May 30th and we called our TA to request to be switched from Late Dining to Your Time Dining. They said that Carnival said that Your Time Dining was full. Has anyone ever been rejected for Your Time Dining?

 

I was under the impression that Your Time did not have a limit. Is it because we are too close to our sail date?

 

Thanks!

[bcs819]

Hi All!

 

We are sailing on the Liberty on May 30th and we called our TA to request to be switched from Late Dining to Your Time Dining. They said that Carnival said that Your Time Dining was full. Has anyone ever been rejected for Your Time Dining?

 

I was under the impression that Your Time did not have a limit. Is it because we are too close to our sail date?

 

Thanks!

 

When you board the ship, go directly to the Dining Room and talk to the maitre D - we have never not gotten what we've asked for after talking to the Maitre D on a Carnival Ship....on RCCL is another story.

[bunyababy]

I have not dined with the anytime option as of yet, but, we did choose it on our next cruise with the Legend. I was told and have also read that there is a limit on the amount of people that they allow to do this option. I guess it only makes sense being that they need to be able to accomodate alot of people and only have so much room and so many waiters to do so! :D I think the idea of "free style dining" on the Norwegian Cruise line works well because there are so many restaurants to choose from, so essentially it would be like going out to eat in any restaurant....if one is too full, or the wait time to long, move on to the next one.

I was also told that on the Spirit Class ships the anytime dining is on the upstairs tables and the scheduled seating is on the main floor dining. Anyway, we are really looking forward to the experience but are also a little apprehensive because part of the enjoyment of cruising is meeting and socializing with other guests during dinner. We decided if we really miss this part of our cruise then we will ask to be seated at a larger table with others who are anytime dining, or......we will have our breakfast in the dining room and meet people during that meal.

 

Enjoy your cruise and I am sure it will be great regardless. One other thing I did read is you are welcomed to join other "anytime" diners who are booked guests under this option.

 

Smiles, Connie

[SueG]

On the liberty a few weeks ago, the anytime dining was in three locations. Parts of the Balcony of both and part of the downstairs of the silver. Seemed to me they are accomodating the many people changing to anytime dining.

[zqvol]

Hi All!

 

We are sailing on the Liberty on May 30th and we called our TA to request to be switched from Late Dining to Your Time Dining. They said that Carnival said that Your Time Dining was full. Has anyone ever been rejected for Your Time Dining?

 

I was under the impression that Your Time did not have a limit. Is it because we are too close to our sail date?

 

Thanks!

 

There are limits on the number of guests who can use anytime dining just like there are limits on the number at early and late seating.

 

Unfortunately there are only so many table in the dining room.

[mousey]

The DH, DS (now 13), and I had our first open seat dining experience on NCL three years ago. We then cruised on NCL two more years in a row, however, this past April we were on Carnival and traveled with my SIL added to our group of three. Our first night they sat us at a table for 4, we immediately asked to be changed to a table for 8 or 10. Our request was immediately granted and we ended up sitting with a married couple who were all alone at a table for eight. They were so happy when we joined their table because they thought they were going to have to be at that big table all alone for the whole cruise. We really enjoyed meeting this lovey couple and I have been in e-mail contact with them ever since our cruise ended. This last trip on Carnival reminded me why we love sitting with the same people every night. After experiencing both options, we much prefer sitting with other people and making new friends. Also, we had the most wonderful server at our table. We were on the Triumph and our waiter (or "our friend" as he introduced himself) was exceptional. We looked forward to seeing our new friends every single night. While we will still cruise NCL again if the money and itenerary suits us, we much prefer sitting with the same people every night.:D

[Kurbanfan]

The only thing I can think of is maybe they have alot of empty seats in traditional they need to fill.......it makes no sense to have a limit on anytime dining.......it is set up as first come first serve basis........not every table is being used at the same set time........

[bunyababy]

The only thing I can think of is maybe they have alot of empty seats in traditional they need to fill.......it makes no sense to have a limit on anytime dining.......it is set up as first come first serve basis........not every table is being used at the same set time........

 

No, and I believe the reason for that is because they have alloted only so many people to use this form of dining......otherwise if any of the 2000 passengers were allowed to anytime dine then you would more than likely not see any open table nor would you be seated immediately or within a reasonable time of requesting a table.

[jfe724]

When we were on the Pride 2 weeks ago. The anytime dining was only half of the upper level. The wait teams consisted of 3-5 members which was more than the 2 we had a trad. seating on the Glory.

I think the set up is different for the anytime dining, since people are at all stages of their meals vs courses for the whole station.

[CWcruisers]

Princess also limits the number of "Freestyle Dining" passengers. Their ships have two different dining rooms, one is traditional and the other is open. I have not had much success with the open. It seems everyone shows up anyways as soon as the dining room opens because they want to get in and out for the show.

 

RCCL uses percentages based upon the number of people choosing the open dining. They set the dining room up accordingly. They also make you pre-pay gratuties if you want that dining option.

 

I am glad CCL is switching. I don't go to dinner every night and I feel guilty when I don't and I am sharing a table with just one other couple. We usually request a table for two to avoid this, but one of the fun things about cruising is meeting other people, so now, we will have that option because we can request sharing a table.

[shadoo]

We last cruised on the Legend and changed our dining preference when we got on board. There was no problem and we were so happy that we changed.

So much more flexibility and don't feel the need to get back to the cabin and change for dinner at a specific time.

As stated before, just go to the Maitre'D and ask. Hopefully they can change without a problem. :D