Topic: Open Dining

Open dining for me as it all depends on what we have been doing during the day as to when we will eat

QUOTE:

What I dont like at the moment with the current system of 2 set dining times and then the 'alternative restaurants', is you see so many tables empty in the main dining room obviously as the occupants have chosen to dine in the buffet or elsewhere...

I take your point, but I've never seen many vacant seats in Fred Olsen's main dining rooms. The 'open seating' restaurants are much smaller - the planners know from experience roughly what proportion of customers will prefer 'anytime' dining and cater accordingly.

Regards

QUOTE:

Despite nearly 50% of tables being unoccupied it was a No No
- the table was reserved for whomever
(who obviously were not going to turn)
this was now 15 to 20 minutes past the set dining time.

They should put a time limit on being late to your table
and then be able to offer it to those who would like to dine at a different sitting.

Must agree with this,above..


I take my set dining arrangement seriously, and will honour it
as I expect them to honour my reservation for that time!



Somehow, I wouldn't dream of ducking out of it
-certainly not without letting them know, as a matter of good manners
and having things run smoothly!

Perhaps I'm a regimented Systems person, often considering how-this-all-works
and doing my little bit to understand it all, and help it work however I can.
Be considerate: put yourself in the Maitre d's shoes!
His is not an easy job, seeing that hundreds of ppl get fed!

For me personally, eating's a bit of a chore that must be done
so let's get it out of the way in reasonably prompt fashion
and don't hold up the table once you're finished, please
because there are others to be fed.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. ;)
.

QUOTE:

In a probably vain attempt to get away from the two most written about subjects can I ask for your thoughts on:

OPEN DINING

Do you think that it is about time that the cruise lines stopped messing about with two sittings? Surely it is not beyond their expertise to provide an open dining situation each and every night. People always want to eat at different times and yet they are still regimented into filing sheep-like to the same tables every night irrespective of what they have been doing, what plans they have and what new friends they have made.

One of the best bits of cruising on Azamara, and some of the more expensive lines, is being able to come to dinner when you want and to dine on your own or with different companions each time. There is nothing to stop a party of family or friends having a table to themselves or joining someone on a regular basis but I think that they should give us the option.

I realise that this provision is partly satisfied by the new "My Time" dining schemes but many of them require you to book a time at which you wish to dine and few allow you just to turn up.

I am not saying this is imperative or what must happen....I just want to know what you think. ....Neil

Couldn't agree more. Once having experienced this system we vowed never to go on a ship that had any other system. We eat when we like and with whom we like and have never had to queue or to book. This is one of the enjoyments of our cruising where we feel we are free to do as we like and are not tied to a set time.

There are enough ships offering this style of eating for us not to need to be restricted in our choice of cruise.

Our first priority when picking a cruise is the date, second is the destination and the dining option used to be third but is now a prerequisite.

QUOTE:

In a probably vain attempt to get away from the two most written about subjects can I ask for your thoughts on:

OPEN DINING

Do you think that it is about time that the cruise lines stopped messing about with two sittings? Surely it is not beyond their expertise to provide an open dining situation each and every night. People always want to eat at different times and yet they are still regimented into filing sheep-like to the same tables every night irrespective of what they have been doing, what plans they have and what new friends they have made.

One of the best bits of cruising on Azamara, and some of the more expensive lines, is being able to come to dinner when you want and to dine on your own or with different companions each time. There is nothing to stop a party of family or friends having a table to themselves or joining someone on a regular basis but I think that they should give us the option.

I realise that this provision is partly satisfied by the new "My Time" dining schemes but many of them require you to book a time at which you wish to dine and few allow you just to turn up.

I am not saying this is imperative or what must happen....I just want to know what you think. ....Neil

Hi Neil, When we first started cruising, not all that long ago, we always booked 2nd sitting and asked for a table of 8/10. This usually worked well for us, and we have met some lovely people, but we have found lately that there are lots of empty seats around. Infact, on our last cruise only one other couple turned up the entire cruise on a table for 8. When we are booking our cruise we are always asked which sitting we would like. The people who have no desire to eat in the dining room and who prefer to eat in the buffet should be given that option and therefore no reservation is made for the in the dining room resulting in empty places.

We have used 'My Time' dining and it worked well the first time on The Brilliance, but on The Serenade last September in Alaska, although requesting that we be put on a large table, more often that not, we ended up on a table for 2 stuck up some corner. This has left us with somewhat of a dilema as to what to do on our next cruise on The Rhapsody in February.

I love the idea of just turning up at whatever time suits us and taking our chance of being on a large table or on our own, rather than being regimented to a set time every evening. R.C.I. take note!!

Regards Joan

QUOTE:

Whilst I like having the fixed dining option and the routine, building up rapport with the table waiters etc, the problem is that early sitting is too early and late sitting is too late.
Late sittings seem to have got later and later in time. 8 or 8.15 is not so bad, but more recently we are finding that late sitting is more like 8.45 which means you actually do not start getting served until past 9, then finishing dinner really late, so late that all you then want to do is retire to bed. On some of the Carnival line ships, they actually have split shifts for early and late; 6 and 6.30 then 8.45 and 9.15.
Ideally I like to start dining at somewhere between 7.30 and 8pm, hence I like the new Celebrity option of being able to preselect your dining time on their new Select Dining option. It will be interesting to find out whether as we have selected the same time each evening, if we will be allocated the same table each evening, as this would make it just perfect.

I agree with everything you have said. we are on the Eclipse next year and dont know which dining type to go for mayby both, think they will notice but I know my waist band will:D

Nice thoughts, Joan. It does seem that dining habits are changing. We like you invariably ask for a larger table, after all we are in each other’s company throughout most of the day and it is very pleasant to have other companions at this social time.

Very recently, maybe with the opening of lucrative, for the ship, specialty restaurants, some peoples unwillingness to change into something different to day clothes and the acceptance of buffet food in a more casual style setting for an evening meal could have slimmed down the restaurant customers. Maybe we are old fashioned or reluctant to change but we love the sociality involved in eating with others.

We have three cruises planned and on one it is open dining and another we have opted for "My Time" dining so on both of these occasions we hope to be seated with several others with whom we may not have dined before and that, for us, will be heaven (may not necessarily be for those joining us). The other time is open dining but with a table assigned to us and that we will enjoy too.

This will give us the freedom we like to eat when we want to and with others. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea (sorry) but it suits us. It would take quite a large incentive for us to dine in the buffet when we have the choice of super food and good company in the restaurant. …….Neil

QUOTE:

I find myself with very mixed views on this, but can see the need for change otherwise the large grand restaurants will die, as I have witnessed at times cruising out of the US, down to 50% usage on some cruises. I like the ‘buzz’ of the traditional dining where you all arrive together and the waiters are all geared up to serve, but that said, dining times are getting later & later, particularly on some Med cruises recently, 8.45 and even 9.15pm on one cruise. It’s just too late for ageing stomachs like mine!

I wish it were true that dining times are getting "later & later". That is not universally so - and first sitting on many Princess ships is now at 5.45 pm (which far too early, particularly if you have been ashore all day). Second sitting is at 8.00 pm and for second sitting diners, production shows do not start until 10.15 pm (or even 10.30 pm) by which time, I am often too tired to enjoy the show.

So on the smaller ships without Anytime dining, you must choose between eating very early (with insufficient time to get ready for dinner) - or eating late (and missing the show).

Princess, please revert to first dinner sitting at 6.30 pm. Also, please put on an early show for second sitting diners.

We've only cruised once so I can only comment on that experience. It was with Oceania so it was a mixture of a couple of visits to the speciality restaurants where you booked a specific time and the rest of the time any time dining in either the main Grand Dining Room with waiter service or the Terrace Restaurant with buffet service.

We never queued in any restaurant at any time either for a table or for food. There's a maximum of about 600 guests on the ship so it should never be crowded.

I hate having to keep to times when I'm on holiday so I have to say I preferred the more casual buffet service. The food was fabulous and so was the service. Although it's a buffet, the restaurant staff serve the food which was very hygienic as they always wore gloves. The waiters serve all the drinks and clear, constantly.

I like to eat when I'm hungry, not at set restaurant times where I have to organise my day to suit my meals. With buffets you can also pace your courses more easily, you can have a quick meal or a very slow one. Nice also seeing the food before you choose what you want. I like to try new meals but often they turn out to be very different from what I expected. I never had a meal I didn't enjoy from the buffet.

I know that some people were a bit queasy on a couple of days and couldn't eat at the time their meals were booked in the speciality resaurants so they missed them. You don't have this problem with any time dining.

We're all different so just as well there's such a wide choice of cruise experiences!

We are like you Dave,big fans of Fred Olsen(Its the people stupid).One seems to get the best result possible, whereby you have open seating at lunch(different dining companions to titillate(or is it tittilate) the butterflies amongst us, and regular dining companions at dinner to satisfy our need to get to know people little better.Cheers Stan.