Starry Eyes

You are repeating yourself, so I will repeat my agreement. I dislike Royal’s MTD system. I never, ever write about it on CruiseCritic as an advocate of the new system but rather to alert people to the change. Some people erroneously link the change to covid and thus think it will magically disappear soon; that’s unrealistic as the change predates covid. I hope you are able to convince RCI to change their system.

I agree and it is NOT because of covid.

As a couple of us have mentioned, the new MTD scheme started before covid. I experienced it on Harmony before Covid. Another poster shared a 2019 pre-covid Symphony experience with the new MTD scheme. I assure you: RCI conceived the idea and rolled it out before they heard of covid.

Oh, I totally agree. I liked the original MTD, but as an early-mid diner the new system stinks. I think the new system is about filling seats efficiently in the MDR, not about pleasing cruisers It has always been true that the main production shows on the small/mid sized ships are timed to accommodate the early and late diners. Someone who selected a middle time in MTD always had this issue. The difference with the new system is that they are less able to scoot their dining time earlier to catch the early show. They can catch the late shows.

I’m glad it is working for you and I agree that 6:45 is a very reasonable dining time. I’d like everyone deciding to sign up for MTD to know that MTD is opening later on most of Royal’s ships. Somebody who thinks they can pop in anytime from 5 to 9 is apt to be disappointed; let’s reset those expectations pre cruise if possible. I liked the old MTD system where that flexibility was possible; I don’t know how to bring it back. I think the new MTD system works better for those who eat mid or late. Those who hoped for flexibility in the early to mid range are not well served by the new MTD system. You obviously book fairly early and make your MTD reservations ASAP. snagging good reservation times. That’s great, but remember only a limited number of people will be able to do that or your 6:45 reservation line will be impractical. Less knowledgeable people probably won’t get those prime reservation slots. If ever you happen to book a last minute cruise, you probably won’t have those reservation times, either. On some ships the lines outside the MTD room are really long. Some people tolerate lines reasonably well; others don’t.

Though you evidently did not experience it, the new MTD (not improved) scheme started before Covid on some ships. We experienced it on Harmony before covid. It has continued to spread to more and more ships. First, let’s discuss the very early start time. Realize that when you change early dining start time, you impact late dining start time (and MTD start time). On Wonder early dining is 5 pm and late is 7:45pm. That’s pretty early for “late” dining, and I suspect some people who ordinarily consider themselves late diners can do 7:45. The 5 pm early dining mean MTD can start at 6:30 as the early diners are filing out. What if Wonder’s early dining were shifted to a more civilized 6 pm? Well, late dining would be 8:45pm, which Royal likely found attracted fewer people at Port Canaveral. And with the new MTD scheme, MTD could not start until 7:30. So, making early dining very early shifts people’s dining choices a bit and favorable adjusts the start times of other options. I think Royal is trying to maximize the use of seats in its MDR from the instant they open. If every seat on all three levels is assigned at opening time with traditional early diners, all three levels are filled within about 15 minutes. That’s very efficient use of the seats. Contrast that with the prior arrangement where two levels were early traditional and one was MTD. Two levels filled quickly. The other often filled at a trickle when the opening. Table availability is tracked and groups are escorted to a table each night, so more personnel is needed. The seats in the MTD room are probably not filled for an hour

In all likelihood the dining times on your sailing will be similar to the current sailing on Wonder (she’s not relocating, as some ships will soon). Here are the dining times on current sailing (according to the app): Early 5pm MTD 6:30-9:00pm Late 7:45pm

If you share the ship and sail date, your fellow CruiseCritic members can offer better advice

Be sure you check the opening time of MTD on your ship, especially since you mentioned young kids. On some Royal ships MTD does not open until around 6:45.

For those of us driving to port, bringing wine is much easier. We have a wider selection of wine locally than Royal Caribbean offers on the wine list. Furthermore, Royal has had some difficulty keeping listed wines in stock in the last couple years. Bringing our own assures we will be able to enjoy some favored wines.

People from a variety of tax brackets know the value of a $. I was never more aware of the value of a $ than in my poor student days though my tax rate was low. OTOH, not everyone has experienced (or is otherwise aware of) very high marginal tax rates.

If you have a personal history of consuming up to 20-25 drinks in a day on a cruise, two of you drinking more than $550 worth won’t be much of a challenge. Enjoy your cruise.

I have not had this happen on one of my cruises but I have seen reports of it here on CruiseCritic. All you can do is keep trying with both app and website.

I understand. For many of us the perks became meaningful at Diamond. It takes occasional cruisers a while to get to D, but if you will get there if you keep cruising with Royal.

You must be in a low marginal tax bracket else you would not say that.

A bit of progress. I received an email from RCI today notifying cancellation and refund to my credit card for my 4/8 cruise. The key disappeared from that set sail pass. The three packages purchased for later cruises have not yet been refunded.

If you watch even a bit of their marketing, you will see Royal Caribbean aims their marketing toward active families and a youthful demographic (including the young at heart). That demographic tends to be more casual…or dresses up at their own pleasure and timeframe. Little remains of your beloved dress code of old. You are free to embrace or reject new reality. The Royal Caribbean Group has another cruise line that might suit you better in Celebrity. They even provide Elite benefits as you are Diamond.

Royal Caribbean has a refund policy for covid until April 30, 2023. So, currently there is a refund policy for covid, but unless it is extended, it will have expired before your group sail date of 5/7/23 Are the woman and her son both in solo cabins? Or are they sharing with others?

Eventually language may not matter.🤣

Also, if you wind up sitting in the terminal waiting to board, see if you can log onto the app with ship wifi. Sometimes you can make restaurant reservations in the app while still in the terminal. YMMV, but you can try if you are sitting there.

Whether there are 1, 2, 3 or 4 occupants, the amount entered on the RoyalUp bid page is doubled. I really wish they would make it a per cabin bid; it would be easier for everyone to understand.

Have a great time! Maybe use some of the money you saved for a Bloody Mary that morning to help set the mood

The numbers before the dash on my two set sail passes bear no resemblance to our reservation numbers. Nor do DH’s two. Do you mean the seaboard account number?

So, we know there is a &50 OBC on your reservation. So now you sign out. Then have your husband or son sign in. See if there is $50 on that second reservation, too.

I’d expect it to start at midnight (or soon thereafter) in Rome.