We recently cruised on Ryndam and the new As You Wish dining seemed to work quite well.

There had been some questions posted about it so here's how they do it:

They use the upper level of the dining room for those with fixed seating, and the lower level for open dining. Fixed seating is either early at 5:30, or late at 8:00. Open seating is available from 5:30 - 9:00. Reservations can be made between 8am and 4 pm for dinner that day, either by phone or in person, or guests may "simply come to the main level dining room between 5:15 - 9:00pm to be seated based on availability."
People I talked with that had open seating said they never had to wait more than 2 minutes.

Shows were at 7 and 9pm so you had to coordinate your schedule if you wanted to go to the show.

The very special Master Chef's Dinner was listed in the daily newsletter and people in open dining that wanted to participate were asked to make reservations for 5:30 or 8:00pm. The chefs paraded throughout both levels of the dining room, both for Master Chef's Dinner and with the Baked Alaska.

It all seemed to work quite well.

Thank you so much for the feedback. We'll be on Ryndam in less than four months. Although we have a confirmed traditional dining time, our cruising companions do not, so we may have to switch to AYWD. Was it possible to get the same waiter each night and, if so, how difficult was it?

My impression was that they were very glad to do that. There were families that preferred that set up. HAL staff always seems to find a way. And it just may be possible for your friends to be able to join in fixed dining if that's what you'd prefer. The maitre d' will be available in one of the lounges during embarkation to make arrangements, so check the newsletter to see which one as soon as you board, but you probably know that....

That's good to hear. Yes, we're hoping that our travel companions will be able to join our fixed seating table. In fact, that reminds me to contact my TA with their booking numbers so we can be linked.