You could also signup for the Standard Dining and then pick and choose which night you want to do the flex dining....works for us (we do this on the Princess lines which have Personal Choice Dining...On NCL it's freestyle dining all the way....and we like it....Happy sailing....
Bob E
Posts: 746 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: September 01, 2006
One reason to change tables will be my rather limited dressy evening wardrobe. With luggage restrictions I will be limited in what I can bring along.
We've been away for as long as almost seven weeks on our own with two suitcases, but never with the same people so there was no pressure to look different each day.
Hi, We were given "open seating" and the agent said it was because there was nothing else left. If it is so popular that people book early just to get the "fixed" seating why are they changing it? Maybe they should keeep the fixed seatings and have a dining room ( i.e. the $$$ one )just for open seating. How many use the $$$ dining room on any given night? How would they know that this is what peole want? Just because there are a lot of people using the open seating dining room does not mean that all of them wanted this option, but maybe they are there just because this is the only place to eat other than the lido buffet. Maybe a survey should be given to the guests to get the true feeling on this change they are undertaking.
HAL needed this option more than any other line in existance. The VAST majority of their regulars want and demand early dining. Some ships have such high demand for early dining you sometimes have to book up to a year in advance to get it confirmed. Then their Mariner Members (past pax) with lots of sailings try to book and say things to the agent like "I've sailed with them X number of times and am Platinum. I don't care if it's closed for early dining they'll let us in". Then come the faxes and emails with medical conditions and letters from their Dr. You simply have no idea the lengths some of their clients will go to to get their choice of dining time including not booking or cancelling a cruise if the waitlist doesn't clear. For years we agents have had to field the requests, demands, letters, emails & other processes to get early dining. HAL agents and Guest Relations personel get it worse than the outside agents. Fianlly, they experimented with offering room service with all the same menu options on the dining room menu so those who could not be confirmed could get what they wanted whenever they wanted it. Not good enough, people didn't want the same food but in their cabin. They wanted early seating in the dining room. Finally they tried offering the freestyle option on a few newer ships as a trial. It worked and is now being implimented on all ships by fall of 2008. There is still a requirement for booking very very early if you want confirmed early dining but people will take the personal choice option and still cruise with them. The 8:30 dining room must be a very lonely place on HAL ships.
It's true that longtime HAL cruisers like fixed seating times. It's our preference, too. We are confirmed for 8:30 dining (our choice), but on an Alaska cruise. We booked several months ago for August 2008, and when a family member booked the same cruise a few days later, neither the late nor early seatings were available.
One of the reasons we prefer the set times is that it makes it easier on our son. The waiter gets to know him, quickly learns some of his favorite foods, and surprises him with some of them during the meal. Our guy loves the attention, and as it is his vacation, too, it makes him feel special.
I can see how this option might work on large ships where there is a greater variety of dining choices, yet I'm not so sure about HAL's S-class ships. I'll let you all know in August.
We'll be on the Statendam in Feb (2008) and have been assigned early seating. Anyone know whether the open dining will be an option on that ship by then?
As You Wish (AYW) Dining should have already been implemented on Statendam, according to a July press release from Holland America.
If you prefer AYW, I suggest switching from your early seating before you board. It is my understanding that HAL does not permit pax to go back and forth between the two. Would you mind reporting back after your cruise?
No one knows the answer to which dining is best but the cruise passenger. Assigned seating has some social benefits a described in some of the threads above. Open seating provides flexibility. If some days you want to eat early so you can go to shows afterward and still get to bed at a reasonable hour some days. And other days you may want to spend maximum times at ports and not feel rushed to get back to the ship and clean up to head for dinner the personal choice might be better for you. If you like the idea of getting to know your table mates and dining staff throughout the week and be assigned a fixed time each night, stick with what you have.
I just came off the Golden Princess yesterday. I tried their "Personal Choice" dining. I usually prefer the early assigned dining. IMHO I only see one pro in Personal Choice dining (As You Wish, or whatever the program is called on each cruise line). And I see lots of cons to the program. Of course; that is just my personal opinion.
I just returned from a Sunfarer Holiday cruise to panama Canal on The Volendam HAL. The As You Wish Dining was a night mare!!! Because this cruise was during the holidays there were many large families all wanting to eat and sit together at the same time. This was impossible in the as you wish dining format, they went back to regular seating methods but just for this cruise. It looked like it might work during regular cruising weeks. However the staff seemed very confused about it all.
Posts: 1 | Location: Atlanta GA | Registered: January 20, 2008
Have been told, that as soon as we board to try to see about getting a fixed dinner time. I realize that early is out of the question, but would take the late. Heard of two different plans to do this. One was to go to a lounge and some one would be there from the dining room. The other was to go to the dining room and speak to the Matre'D. I was not aware that the main dining room was open at lunch time on the day of sailing. Has any one done this type of request? Appreciate any replies.
Oreo, I've had to do this on another cruise line. The maitre d's location is noted in the daily newsletter you get upon boarding, along with the times he'll be there to take dining change requests.
We're just off a 30 day cruise on the Ryndam with flexible dining.
Our experience was mixed. As an introvert I found it exhausting meeting new fellow diners 3 times a day. So many conversations never got much beyond, 'How many cruises have you been on? How many children/grandchildren do you have? What was your work? etc. We met some delightful people with whom we planned a repeat dinner. With them we enjoyed real conversations. We met a few who left us exhausted trying to dream up open ended questions to keep up some form of social interaction.
But a real complaint was being seated with a couple of other couples who were half way through their meals. One time they were being shown desserts while we were eating our first course.
After several times either racing to catch up with the earlier diners or skippin a course, we learned to state that we'd only sit with others IF they were just seated. There are still kinks for HAL to work out.
Lisa P Just returned for the Volendam/Panama canal cruise and want to let you know that I went to see the dining roon person at the asssigned place as soon as we boarded and had absoutely no problem getting a table for two at early seating. On most nights following the first one, there were noticable absentees from this early seating. It seemed a shame that people who wanted this diniing time could not get it and the ones who did ate somewhere else. Think there needs to be a better way of handeling this new venture. Thanks for your past advice lisa P
oreo, you've hit on one of the biggest areas of complaint with HAL. There is a fight over early dining with HAL passengers for every sailing. Some book a year in advance to be assured of early seating and it fills early consistantly. Then those who book later and want it desperatley cannot be confirmed for early seating or in some cases even waitlisted for it. Then when those who were denied early seating at the time of booking gte back they write letters and call frequently and say the early dining room was not even close to full on any night they went by. I have no idea why someone who will go to any lengths to get early seating would not even bother to show up in the dining room but it happens a lot.
Some just want it both ways; they want the assigned first seating, but then only go when the mood strikes them. This happens on Princess too, although it's not as big a problem because they have so many dining rooms. The problem is, the waiter and the tablemates will politely wait so we can all start at the same time--and then a no-show. Then they come in the next night and tell you about the dinner they had someplace else.
People, one or the other; please! And if you are going to eat at an alternative restaurant some night, have the courtesy to let your waiter know so we're not all waiting for you.
Thank you. Glad to get that off my chest.
Posts: 3053 | Location: Costa Mesa, California | Registered: November 16, 2006
if you are going to eat at an alternative restaurant some night, have the courtesy to let your waiter know so we're not all waiting for you.
Amen! I hate it when that happens. We typically plan ahead so we can tell our tablemates and waiter the night before, but when a spur of the moment change happens I'll get word to the waiter before our seating time starts. It is extremely poor manners to leave everyone sitting there waiting.
