Choosing your own Dining time

red stripe

red stripe

Staff Captain
Many of us are now looking at the "choose your own time" dining options on cruises, and would like to pick the brains of those that have done this.

Yes, we can ask the individual cruise-lines, but sometimes the information on these things is not quite accurate. far better to get feedback from the passengers that have tried it.
[FONT=&quot]On HAL how does it work?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Do you have to pre-pay your tips if you want to book this option? [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Can you ask for a specific time, specific table for your party?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] how about if you want to set a specific time? Do you then have to pre-pay?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Or is it better to just get on board before trying to arrange table and time?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] And I am sure that there are other questions that I do not know to ask.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] So any feedback on this will be a great help.:thankyou:[/FONT]​
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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Holland America Specialist
HAL has the "As You Wish" dining. This simply means that you can chose one of several venues to dine.

When you book you can request the traditional dining time of 5:45 or 8 PM -- which is on the upper level of the dining room.

Then there is the Open Seating on the lower level of the dining room from 5:15 - 9 PM. You can just show up any time you want to and ask for any size table you want to. Or you can make a reservation from 5:15 to 6:15 and 7:30 - 9 PM only. You can make reservations for up to 3 days at a time for any size table.

You also have the choice of dining in the Lido from 5:30 - 8 PM. On the Vista class ships and Signature class ships dinner is completely buffet. On the R and S class ships, your entre will be brought to your table.

There is also the choice of the Pinnacle Grill ($20 per person) or the Canaletto (free). We pre-book the Pinnacle before we leave home -- especially for the last night of the cruise when most of the ships have the Master Chef Dinner in the dining room which we don't like. We do tip the wait staff and the wine steward in the Pinnacle. We haven't tried the Canaletto yet -- but I do know that we would tip extra there as well. There have been a couple of times when we got on the ship and the Pinnacle was completely booked up for the cruise.

On the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam there is the Tamarind Restaurant ($15 per person). We did there as well.

You can also order room service if none of the above suit you. If you wish to order from the main dining room menu (which is posted at the dining room around lunch time) -- you must do so within one half hour of the dining room opening for dinner. You can select any time that you want to have the dinner delivered. There are also menus in your cabin that you can order from -- one for 24 hour service and one for times of Noon to 10 PM.

On HAL there is a Hotel Service Charge of $11 per person per day. Your 2 cabin stewards divide about $3.50 between them and your 2 dining room staff divide about $3.50 between them. The remaining monies are divided among all the people behind the scenes -- kitchen staff, laundry people, etc.

There is a 15% charge added to all bar bills.

People staying in the S, SA, SB, SC and PS cabins can request one of the fixed seating and table size -- there is no guarantee that you will get what you request.

So far we have been granted the 5:45 dining time that we like and a table for 2.
 
Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Holland America Specialist
So many people are having trouble figuring out this new concept on another site I belong to.
 
S

suse

Bar Steward
You are right but it is really easy. You can make reservations in the morning for the time you would like and the size table you will need. You can do that for 2 evenings, if you like.
It does sound complicated, though, all this "as you wish" stuff, like what's that all about.
It's easy to understand NCL's freestyle dining. Maybe HAL should rethink their terminology.
 
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