first cruise on Anthum

[jam]

Looking for recommendations for dining venue...we will be a family of 16 cruising June 2019. we want to schedule 'my-time' dining. Which of all the dining room options is best for a family (non-formal) casual dining....with all you can eat?

Do you have recommendations for scheduling attendance at the various entertainment venues....a lot of people on this ship! We have 4 prior cruises on smaller RC ships.

All help welcome.  We want to schedule as much a possible ahead of time and NOT have the worry onboard.

Thanks!

[twangster]

If you choose My Time dining the dining room will be assigned for you.  It will be printed on your SeaPass card once on board.  

Most dining on board is all you can eat, including the main dining room.  Two or more appetizers?  No problem, request them all.  One or more entrees?  No problem, just ask.  Three or more desserts?  Sure, why not.  On non-formal nights all dining is casual.   Some specialty dining is not all you can eat.  The Windjammer buffet is all you can eat and always casual, even on formal nights.  Room service includes all you can order on one order for a $7.95 fee per order (not per item).  Order 12 Royal Burgers, 14 orders of chicken wings, 20 fettuccine alfredo  and it's one $7.95 service charge.

You can schedule entertainment in the cruise planner online.  It will warn you if you try to book something during dining that's been reserved.  Don't miss 'We Will Rock You' - it's very good.  

Some items like iFly or NorthStar may be hard to book before as they fill up fast but don't worry they hold many slots for booking in board.  Simply visit the 'Box Office' as soon as you board.  They are usually set up in Boleros on boarding day only.  

 

[HeWhoWaits]

With a group of 16, I don't recommend trying to do the My Time Dining option. It's much easier with a group that size to tell everyone in advance that dinner is at 6:00 every night than to communicate adjustments in MTD each day.

[ellcee]

We did MTD with 17 people. 6pm dinner (Main dining room dinner was before and after - we wanted a specific time). We tried to link ourselves pre cruise but first day after boarding we went to the dining room and arranged it all. We were told it may not happen but it did and every night after we had the same table/waitstaff. If certain parties within the 17 of us didn't want to join- they did not but the table was always ready.

[JLMoran]

The three main shows on board (We Will Rock You, Spectra's Cabaret, and The Gift) all can have reservations booked online through the Cruise Planner. Reservations don't become available until around 45-60 days before sailing. Especially with a group as large as yours, you'll want to make reservations if you plan to see a particular show together. You can either link everyone else's reservations to yours in the Dashboard that's shown after you log in, and then make a bulk show reservation for everyone; or you can work out with everyone in advance which show(s) and day/time for each, then just let everyone make their show reservations separately.

Note that there aren't physical tickets or reserved seats; you'll just have the reservations pre-loaded to your SeaPass card; when you show up, they scan your card and then it's first-come, first-served for available seating. If you don't make reservations for the shows, you'll have to wait in the standby line at least an hour before show start and wait to see if any reserved spots are no-shows.

All of the other shows and performances on-board, including any cover bands, comedians, headliner acts, etc. are all open seating and no reservations required. For such a large group, you may want to show up about 30-45 minutes before start if you want everyone to sit together in one row. If you don't mind splitting up into smaller groups, you can show up closer to start and still be good. Those shows are scheduled around the traditional dining times, however, so you may find that they conflict with whatever time you've decided to have your MyTime Dining scheduled.