Any time / any where dining - HA??
 

Hi there,
at the moment we are booked for late dining on the Noordam.
I have heard about a new dining initiative ( Any time / Any where )
Has anyone used this on a HA ship.
If so, how does it work and what did you think of it???
Thanks
Donna

As a single cruiser on the Noordam I really liked it. Just told the maitre d' I wanted a large table
(to meet other pax) and not near a table of children and was never disappointed. Never waited for a table & I was dining around 7 pm.

This afforded plenty of time to see the show.
Some people feel the need to get to know their waiters. I do not.

You also might want to make a lunch ($15 p/p) or a dinner reservation ($30/p/p) one nite for a change of venue.

oops - the reservations would be for the Pinnacle Restaurant (menu is posted outside as are the Lido & regular dining venue so you can make an informed decision.

HAL has initiated your choice for dining. They still have early and late seatings with the same table/waiter etc but half of the dining room is anytime dining. You also have the option of going to the Lido if you don't want to dress for dinner or as Rhea said you can book the Pinnacle dining room for an extra charge.

Hi again,
when you get on the ship can you change your dining preferences without any trouble?
We do always have late dining and have always had the same staff, although this is not essential. We prefer a table for 2 and if we can't get this, will probably opt for anytime/anywhere.
Can you book that morning for the evening?
How does it work?
Yes, we will go to one of the alternative restuarants.
What did you think of the Noordam in general?
Thanks
Donna

We just came back from Alaska On HAL Volendam.
We made late cruise resv so no time to sign up for the old style preset dining times.

We went with the "anytime" and was allowed to make dinner resv by phone each day..had slight variations in time requested by 15 minutes.

All but 1 resv req for table for 2 honored...seated with 4 others unk ok.
We also made resv for the 2 formal nights this way..esp enjoyed the baked Alaska formal dinner. Next time 1 formal nite will be enough..

You can also order room service off the reg menu any night..for lunch we found the Lido perfect as we could choose time and amount...We did not eat at teh Pinnacle..we found teh seated dinner menu has a lovely prime rib one night that was excellant..and we did not have to pa Pinnacle extra..I do think the Pinnacle is very intimate, excellant wine choices and the wait staff appeared very accomodating to those we saw partake..
We ate breakfast either in the foral dining rm or in suite.

1Jar,
did you make your reservations in the morning for dinner, or did you have to wait until the evening?
Thanks
Donna

In the am..before we left teh cabin...just p/u phone and dial dinig resv..very easy.
Others just showed up at the time they wanted.

We did the same as 1JAR on our 14 day Volendam cruise. No problem at all. A couple of days I called in the afternoon and was told there were no tables for 2 but we walked in and were seated with no waiting time. We usually dined about 6:00 pm. There were several tables for 2 available so maybe they hold some open for walk-ins.
The Anytime Dining seemed to work out very well. I heard many people expressing their satisfaction with this system. It's nice to have a choice to dine with others or not.

We were on the Zuiderdam in June. As we booked late, we were assigned the anytime plan. It worked out OK.
A couple of times we tried to make reservations, but they were always booked. However, we never had a wait for a table. We almost always were placed at tables with strangers, which was nice at times, but less so at others. We did hear some complaints of people waiting for long periods at popular times. In the past we have had assigned tables and times, also wiyh mixed results. We were more likely to go to the Lido with the any time plan.
This limits the selections slightly, but is less fussy. Since the food at any of the reataurants is really only average, there is nothing lost - we did not eat at the Pinnacle.

Thanks for your thoughts.
I think we will see whether we get our table for 2 late seating and if not, try anytime dining.
Donna