Originally Posted by
DanJ
We're the same. I mean, it's nice meeting new people if we end up at a large table each night with anytime dining, but the same old "where are you from, what do you do, how many cruises have you been on" night after night gets tiring.
It can go the other way as well and you can
dislike you're assigned seating tablemates but are stuck with 'em the whole cruise, that's is you want to eat in the MDR (main dining room).
FWIW I've done both on HAL & CEL and have opted for the anytime dining the last 3-4 cruises as I like to have the choice of when to dine, especially depending upon shore ex. times. I also cruise solo so like to mix it up between MDR, buffet and specialty restaurants so I'm not eating at the same time in the same place the whole cruise. To each their own...
Note that not all cruise lines do as RCI/CEL do and require prepayment of the gratuities when opting for the flexible dining as HAL doesn't.