Caronia Restaurant Sittings
On transatlantic voyages there would often be two sittings for luncheon and dinner in both the Sandringham and Balmoral Restaurants. The seating capacity of the Sandringham Restaurant was around 280 while the maximum in the Balmoral could be up to 290 for each sitting, by using the extra space provided by the two private dining rooms.
It follows that only if there were more than 290 First class passengers on transatlantics would there be two sittings in the Balmoral. On major cruises there would only ever be one main sitting for meals in both restaurants, thereby limiting the maximum number of passengers to 570.
However, on the shorter cruises, like the 15 day affairs to the Caribbean, the ship's loading capacity could be increased to up to 830, so both restaurants could have two sittings. First sitting luncheon would be timed for 12.15pm and second sitting started at 1.30pm. First sitting dinner was at 7pm and second at 8.15pm. If you were booked for first sitting, these times applied for both meals. You could not elect for first sitting luncheon then late sitting dinner.
The number of sittings would never affect the food quality or the service standard! If there was no second sitting, this could be a little bit more relaxed, because there was no hurry for passengers to vacate their table by a fixed time. Most first-sitting passengers would be anxious to co-operate anyway.
Whether there was one or two sittings in either restaurant, it didn't affect the wages of either the galley or waiting staff. We were just presented with “a work-up” and more passengers to feed. In a two-sitting situation, there was a tremendous rush at the start of the first sitting and this required a bit of advance preparation.
On the major cruises, it would be the Restaurant Managers and Head Waiters that would take the meal orders. On the shorter cruises this was not possible, so being able to take the orders directly meant that you had the opportunity to steer passengers toward those items that you already had prepared.
Don't for a moment think that anyone was getting short-changed! The advance preparation meant that you could avoid delays by queues in the galley and your “ bloods ” got the benefit of being served their meal quickly.
Planning your strategy and then gently guiding your first-sitting diners would save you a lot of running around. Luckily, neither of the restaurants were heavily carpeted like the lounges, which were an absolute killer on your feet. Overall, the result would be a much happier set of diners.
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