Three dining times coming

[Snowwhyt]

They really need around 2 hrs per seating though to give the staff a bit of turnaround time between dinner seatings and to account for kitchen delays and slower eaters. We are the latter because we always did all four courses and coffee/after dinner drinks (DH or I would run the kids up to the club after they ate) so with a 5:45 arrival. We were usually done around 7:15/7:30 I could see we were on the slower side as other tables emptied out before us but we were by no means alone. One hour earlier wouldn’t be nearly enough, and DCL is not going to kick out people who haven’t finish their Mickey cappuccinos.

Now that they are staggering arrivals over a 30 minute period to avoid a big crowd at the entrance. That might mean they need 2.5 hrs between seatings so as to give the last arrival group 2 hrs.

Or they do away with the downtime between seatings to reset the MDR’s and just keep serving through the evening like most non-cruise high-end restaurants. Then the 3 hour dinner patrons don’t “rock the boat” lol and seating would not be interrupted. And I could maybe get service a little quicker as I prefer about an hour and 15 minutes to 90 minutes. Especially since we usually have late seating. I’m starving by then.
I’m sure I’ll be fine with whatever they do. I just want time to do more ship events I think.

 

[insureman]

LOL. See to me, cooked vegetables would be close to soggy because......drum roll....they are cooked. Steamed vegetables would be crisp, warmed but closer to raw. Like I said, it appears to the cooking trend to cook veggies less. And for a cruise line it is pretty amazing that they can prepare hundreds of meals without overcooking something.
And there are differences around the world. My son was traveling across Europe and learned in Spain to order chicken well done because the trend was to cook it with pink still in the middle.

So I kind of agree with you but I think my issue with me was I was born the the mid 1950s when canned vegetables were king at least in our house. When veggies were in season the the Northeast, my mother would still boil the green beans and carrots. As a kid when I was working in a diner all the the non-salad vegetables came from a can so that's where my taste for a more cooked vegetable came from I think.

 

[tvguy]

So I kind of agree with you but I think my issue with me was I was born the the mid 1950s when canned vegetables were king at least in our house. When veggies were in season the the Northeast, my mother would still boil the green beans and carrots. As a kid when I was working in a diner all the the non-salad vegetables came from a can so that's where my taste for a more cooked vegetable came from I think.

My dad worked at a cannery, so canned fruits and vegetables are on our table on almost a daily basis. However, I have fond memories of one on my Aunt's gardens, and shelling and eating raw peas. So I have nothing against raw, or mushy vegetables or anything in between.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I would be OK with this if it was just adding a time and not making any times shorter. We felt like we had just enough time to get through all the courses and enjoy the entertainment during our one and only DCL cruise. If it meant shortening the shows or rushing the meals I would be sad.

 

[katmigordon]

I know it's a stretch, but maybe they could set it up in a way that allowed three shows a night as well? That way we could get things back to normal faster by getting entertainment back on track and still keeping the crowd cut down in the theater?

Although I suspect that would bollocks up the whole schedule for shows and other entertainment.

 

[mmouse37]

My guess would be 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 for dining.

Didn't the Dream offer 3 seatings when she first sailed? I don't think it lasted very long before shifting to 2 seatings -- maybe even just a couple of months. I vaguely remember discussing dining and show times when we first booked.

I remember 3 show times but only 2 dining times when the Dream first sailed.

We were just on the Dream last week (Sept 27th) and I didn't hear anything about 3 dining times but I did notice that we were out of dinner each night by about 9:15 so significantly shorter than dinner length in the past. It was very nice on the Dream to have more room between tables in the MDR's. They definitely took some tables out of each dining room and Cabanas. They also removed the half circle booths in Enchanted Garden which has been discussed previously.

 

[mmouse37]

They really need around 2 hrs per seating though to give the staff a bit of turnaround time between dinner seatings and to account for kitchen delays and slower eaters. We are the latter because we always did all four courses and coffee/after dinner drinks (DH or I would run the kids up to the club after they ate) so with a 5:45 arrival. We were usually done around 7:15/7:30 I could see we were on the slower side as other tables emptied out before us but we were by no means alone. One hour earlier wouldn’t be nearly enough, and DCL is not going to kick out people who haven’t finish their Mickey cappuccinos.

Now that they are staggering arrivals over a 30 minute period to avoid a big crowd at the entrance. That might mean they need 2.5 hrs between seatings so as to give the last arrival group 2 hrs.

My guess is we will see the first group with staggered arrival times between 4:00-4:30, second batch 6:30-7:00 and last group 9-9:30.

Last week on the Dream we decided to go our MDR for the debarkation breakfast instead of our usual visit to Cabanas on the last morning. Social distancing went out the window when we got off the elevator on Deck 2 for 8:15 am Enchanted Garden and there were already about 150 guests waiting in the hallway to get in. We were there for at least 15 minutes and people kept spilling out of the elevators and down the stairs into the hall and people were literally shoulder to shoulder until they opened the doors.

 

[twopackages]

Does anyone know when they are thinking of implementing this? We are cruising in March.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Does anyone know when they are thinking of implementing this? We are cruising in March.

I’m thinking Disney has several things ready to start that are new and helpful. But they probably have a “What if” - wait and see “conditions page” and a bean counter that evaluates weekly weather a program actually starts.
I’m hoping you are able to get you answers when you need them. But from my armchair I’m leaning toward, not going to happen. Would be nice though.

 

[twopackages]

I’m thinking Disney has several things ready to start that are new and helpful. But they probably have a “What if” - wait and see “conditions page” and a bean counter that evaluates weekly weather a program actually starts.
I’m hoping you are able to get you answers when you need them. But from my armchair I’m leaning toward, not going to happen. Would be nice though.

Thank you!

 

[MickeySwirl]

We just got off the Wonder. On the comment card where it asks which dinner seating you had, the choices were first, second, and third. There wasn’t actually a third dinner seating on our cruise, but I thought it was interesting that it was a choice on the comment card.

 

[Snowwhyt]

We just got off the Wonder. On the comment card where it asks which dinner seating you had, the choices were first, second, and third. There wasn’t actually a third dinner seating on our cruise, but I thought it was interesting that it was a choice on the comment card.

I am surprised they released a survey that did not appropriately reflect the experience encountered.

 

[kathi]

We just got off the Wonder. On the comment card where it asks which dinner seating you had, the choices were first, second, and third. There wasn’t actually a third dinner seating on our cruise, but I thought it was interesting that it was a choice on the comment card.

Yep - as I reported in my original post, the 3 times were also on the Fantasy comment card from our 9/25 sailing. A crew member said it's for when the capacity increases, so they can maintain the social distancing in the dining rooms. This will be even more important on longer voyages.

 

[Kwami]

Yep - as I reported in my original post, the 3 times were also on the Fantasy comment card from our 9/25 sailing. A crew member said it's for when the capacity increases, so they can maintain the social distancing in the dining rooms. This will be even more important on longer voyages.

It was on my 9/20 Dream card, too. So I guess they're fleet wide. I just don't see how three times would work, though.

 

[MickeySwirl]

They were already staggering arrival times for the first and second seating in 5 minute increments. We literally walked right in by ourselves every night. No line at all.

 

[Joe Brig]

Is DCL still combining parties or does each family have their own table?

 

[Fruto76]

Is DCL still combining parties or does each family have their own table?

Each family has their own table.

 

[disneydreamer781]

 

[randumb0]

?

 

[katmigordon]

?

I think that was their way of saying "yay! Separate tables!"
As for me after getting the nod from these boards to just let people know I'm not rude, just socially awkward owing to asperges - I'm great with sharing tables - thanks again guys!