Dining times

We have taken about 9 cruises but the last cruise to Hawaii was our first
with Freestyle Dining . I must say neither my husband nor I liked this form
of Dining . We enjoy the company of 8or 10 others at our table at set times
.. Also we had a very hard time being able to get to dine in any of the
dining rooms . The cruise lines say eat when you want but you need to
reserve and many times were full. Can anyone tell me if there are any cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

--
Fran

On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 22:43:31 GMT, "Fran & Ray"
wrote:

Can anyone tell me if there are any cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

Hi Fran & Ray,

Almost all of the popular priced lines except NCL offer what you are
looking for.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com
--

Royal Caribbean
Bob
"Fran & Ray" wrote in message
...
We have taken about 9 cruises but the last cruise to Hawaii was our first
with Freestyle Dining . I must say neither my husband nor I liked this
form
of Dining . We enjoy the company of 8or 10 others at our table at set
times
. Also we had a very hard time being able to get to dine in any of the
dining rooms . The cruise lines say eat when you want but you need to
reserve and many times were full. Can anyone tell me if there are any
cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

--
Fran

Thanks folks. Our trip to Hawaii was with NCL . Glad to hear our next cruise
to the Caribbean will be different

--
Fran


"Robert Browne" wrote in message
news:msBsg.4739$pB.611@trnddc06...
Royal Caribbean
Bob
"Fran & Ray" wrote in message
...
We have taken about 9 cruises but the last cruise to Hawaii was our first
with Freestyle Dining . I must say neither my husband nor I liked this
form
of Dining . We enjoy the company of 8or 10 others at our table at set
times
. Also we had a very hard time being able to get to dine in any of the
dining rooms . The cruise lines say eat when you want but you need to
reserve and many times were full. Can anyone tell me if there are any
cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

--
Fran

Princess offers both personal choice and set time dining.
Set times are 6:00 and 8:30
Last cruise we could not get 6:00 so we settled for personal choice dining.
We found out you can reserve a table two ways.
1. Call the dining room each day and make a reservation.
2. Visit the dining room on the day of sailing, meet with the maitre 'd and
make a same-time appointment for every night. (Which is what we did.)
We sat with 6 or 8 other different people each night. By the time the third
or fourth night came around we were meeting another couple outside the
dining room and entering together so we could eat with them an 4 other
different people.

We had no problems getting seated when we wanted because we had a
reservation.
On our upcoming cruise in November we opted for personal choice once again
rather than set-time.

"Fran & Ray" wrote in message
...
Thanks folks. Our trip to Hawaii was with NCL . Glad to hear our next
cruise
to the Caribbean will be different

--
Fran


"Robert Browne" wrote in message
news:msBsg.4739$pB.611@trnddc06...
Royal Caribbean
Bob
"Fran & Ray" wrote in message
...
We have taken about 9 cruises but the last cruise to Hawaii was our first
with Freestyle Dining . I must say neither my husband nor I liked this
form
of Dining . We enjoy the company of 8or 10 others at our table at set
times
. Also we had a very hard time being able to get to dine in any of the
dining rooms . The cruise lines say eat when you want but you need to
reserve and many times were full. Can anyone tell me if there are any
cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

--
Fran

That's strange because on our last NCL cruise there were no problems in
getting seated unless you wanted to eat at around 7 PM. When we left the
dining room at that time there was a small line waiting to go in. (of course
I had no idea how many people had the beepers waiting elsewhere's).

"Fran & Ray" wrote in message
...
We have taken about 9 cruises but the last cruise to Hawaii was our first
with Freestyle Dining . I must say neither my husband nor I liked this
form
of Dining . We enjoy the company of 8or 10 others at our table at set
times
. Also we had a very hard time being able to get to dine in any of the
dining rooms . The cruise lines say eat when you want but you need to
reserve and many times were full. Can anyone tell me if there are any
cruise
lines that still offer set dining times with choice of table size

--
Fran

RichC wrote:
That's strange because on our last NCL cruise there were no problems in
getting seated unless you wanted to eat at around 7 PM. When we left the
dining room at that time there was a small line waiting to go in. (of course
I had no idea how many people had the beepers waiting elsewhere's).


Maybe Hawaii is different ... but I've been on many NCL cruises and
have never had a problem either ... The worst choice was wait ten
minutes or share a table ... Only needed reservations in the specialty
restaurants ...

The ship in Hawaii Pride OF America was very bad . Most people ate in the
cafeteria because they could not get a reservation in the smaller
restaurants. The main dining room was a disaster . They were always dropping
things and the service was terrible We ate there twice . Never once were we
asked to sit with other people the nights we did get to the large dining
room and we did not have any Beepers to carry around . I will never do the
personal choice again unless I am forced to

--
Fran


"number6" wrote in message
ps.com...

RichC wrote:
That's strange because on our last NCL cruise there were no problems in
getting seated unless you wanted to eat at around 7 PM. When we left the
dining room at that time there was a small line waiting to go in. (of
course
I had no idea how many people had the beepers waiting elsewhere's).


Maybe Hawaii is different ... but I've been on many NCL cruises and
have never had a problem either ... The worst choice was wait ten
minutes or share a table ... Only needed reservations in the specialty
restaurants ...

RichC wrote:
That's strange because on our last NCL cruise there were no problems in
getting seated unless you wanted to eat at around 7 PM. When we left the
dining room at that time there was a small line waiting to go in.

Not so strange. Sounds like you went into the dining room at about 5:00
or 5:30 (if you were leaving by 7:00). That's waaaaaaay too early for
me (and I'm sure other cruisers who pick late seating on traditional
dining cruises) to eat dinner, especially on port days, which is what
this NCL Hawaii cruise is all about. I probably wouldn't be getting
back to the ship until daylight was waning or the ship was leaving port
whichever came first). Then nap, shower, dress for dinner. I wouldn't
be showing up at the dining room until 8:00 or 8:30 the earliest. What
were the lines like at that time in the evening???

Lee

The cow and I want our cocktails and ete at 8pm.
"LeeNY" wrote in message
ups.com...

RichC wrote:
That's strange because on our last NCL cruise there were no problems in
getting seated unless you wanted to eat at around 7 PM. When we left the
dining room at that time there was a small line waiting to go in.

Not so strange. Sounds like you went into the dining room at about 5:00
or 5:30 (if you were leaving by 7:00). That's waaaaaaay too early for
me (and I'm sure other cruisers who pick late seating on traditional
dining cruises) to eat dinner, especially on port days, which is what
this NCL Hawaii cruise is all about. I probably wouldn't be getting
back to the ship until daylight was waning or the ship was leaving port
whichever came first). Then nap, shower, dress for dinner. I wouldn't
be showing up at the dining room until 8:00 or 8:30 the earliest. What
were the lines like at that time in the evening???

Lee