Splendour Dining Times Question

[msredbird51]

We just booked our honeymoon cruise on the Splendour of the Seas from Venice in November. We've sailed Carnival multiple times, but this will be our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. We're very excited to see the Mediterranean and to have our first RCI experience!

 

When booking the cruise I asked our travel agent to request late dining for us, as that usually allows us plenty of time to fully enjoy the ports and leisurely get back to the ship for dinner.

 

With Carnival those late dining times are 8:00 or 8:15. However, our TA told me that the dining options on Royal in the Mediterranean are 7:30 for early and 10:30 (maybe 10:15??) for late.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct? Are those really the only options? Seems like a longer time between seatings than I'm used to.

 

We can make the 7:00 hour work, but still might have to come back to the ship 30-40 minutes earlier than we'd like. So we'd prefer something just a tad later. But if something in the 10:00 hour is our only other option, then I guess we'll stick with the early. That's so late to be eating a heavy meal.

 

Thanks.

[cruisenfever]

We just booked our honeymoon cruise on the Splendour of the Seas from Venice in November. We've sailed Carnival multiple times, but this will be our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. We're very excited to see the Mediterranean and to have our first RCI experience!

 

When booking the cruise I asked our travel agent to request late dining for us, as that usually allows us plenty of time to fully enjoy the ports and leisurely get back to the ship for dinner.

 

With Carnival those late dining times are 8:00 or 8:15. However, our TA told me that the dining options on Royal in the Mediterranean are 7:30 for early and 10:30 (maybe 10:15??) for late.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct? Are those really the only options? Seems like a longer time between seatings than I'm used to.

 

We can make the 7:00 hour work, but still might have to come back to the ship 30-40 minutes earlier than we'd like. So we'd prefer something just a tad later. But if something in the 10:00 hour is our only other option, then I guess we'll stick with the early. That's so late to be eating a heavy meal.

 

Thanks.

Dining times are determined by the region in which you are cruising. Europeans like to eat later than Americans.

 

When we did Splendour from Sao Paulo Brazil to Lisbon Portugal in 2008, early seating was 7:30 and late seating was 10:00.

[smileon]

We are booked on Splendour late May and have early dining which on our invoice says 6.30pm. We previously went to the Med on Voyager and was told 6.30pm but when we were there it was changed to 6pm. I can't recollect what time late was but I think 8.30pm. I'm sure Splendour does My time dining so that may be a better option for you and give you a bit more flexibility

Hope this helps with your decision

[cb at sea]

I believe you will also have the option of My Time Dining...then you can pick your own time....have your TA check on that. If you do choose that, then your gratuities have to be paid in advance....since you have to pay them one way or the other, it shouldn't make too much diffference!

[RSWBADGER]

We are also booked on the Splendour of the Seas in May,

early dining is 6:30 PM, we are booked on the late seating which is 9:00 PM, and are waitlisted for Anytime Dining.

[msredbird51]

Thanks for the help everyone. But, wow, now I think I might be even more confused. I wonder if early dining really is 6:30, like you guys suggested, and our TA just has it wrong as 7:30. I think I'll give her a call again to check up on that. If she's still confused, or I'm still confused, we may just try to do the My Time Dining thing.

[cruisenfever]

Thanks for the help everyone. But, wow, now I think I might be even more confused. I wonder if early dining really is 6:30, like you guys suggested, and our TA just has it wrong as 7:30. I think I'll give her a call again to check up on that. If she's still confused, or I'm still confused, we may just try to do the My Time Dining thing.

Why don't you call RCI yourself. Though they won't talk to you regarding your reservation, they should answer any questions you may have regarding your sailing and in particular dining times............of course, sometimes the information they have is not always accurate.

[Bobal]

The confusion may arise because Splendour is now in a different location to where it will be in May, when it will be in the Med, and times do change along with the sailings. Even within the Med season the times will change as the evenings get longer. The Med does tend to have later 2nd sittings, but the very latest I have heard was 9.30 on Navigator. We sailed on Splendour in August 2 years ago and the second sitting was 9.00 pm.

 

For this reason we've chosen My Time Dining for our last and our forthcoming sailings. That way we get to be flexible what time we eat. If you're happy to pay your gratuities upfront I would highly recommend it. It's also particularly good for those who want to guarantee a table for 2 or 4.

[sandravb79]

We had MTD on the Splendour in October and always asked for 8.30pm. People from first seating were still in dining room (and late seating came in later, duh!)

(I liked being able to see what the people from early seating were eating, it helped making a choice of the menu, haha!)

 

MTD worked very well on this ship: We had the same table every night, same waiter, never had to wait. For us, it had all the good aspects of regular dining with the added positive of chosing ourselves when we wanted to have dinner.

Also, the first night we asked for a table for 2. After two nights, we invited people who were also doing MTD and who we met through roll call and M&M at our table and that was no problem at all.

[msredbird51]

For My Time Dining do you HAVE to make reservations, or can you just show up in the dining room at the time you want to eat? Also, if you do have to make reservations, can those be made prior to sailing or only once onboard the ship (all at once on the first day, or each day you have to make a reservation)?

[RSWBADGER]

For My Time Dining do you HAVE to make reservations, or can you just show up in the dining room at the time you want to eat? Also, if you do have to make reservations, can those be made prior to sailing or only once onboard the ship (all at once on the first day, or each day you have to make a reservation)?

 

If anyone was waitlisted for My Time Dining like we were, you might want to check your on-line reservation status. We have been changed from Late Traditional to My Time Dining. May 22nd Cruise from Venice.

 

I was able to reserve on-line our dining times and table size each night.:)

[Bobal]

For My Time Dining do you HAVE to make reservations, or can you just show up in the dining room at the time you want to eat? Also, if you do have to make reservations, can those be made prior to sailing or only once onboard the ship (all at once on the first day, or each day you have to make a reservation)?

 

You can choose whenever you want to eat either on the day itself or beforehand. I believe there may now be a chance to book online for your MTD times before you board the ship.

 

Our experience was that on the first few days we turned up at the restaurant and were seated within 15 mins. After that we decided what time we wanted to eat the next day (based on our plans for the day) and then booked a table for the time we wanted as we left the restaurant the night before.

 

If you want to eat at the same time each night (eg 8 pm which is usually between the set dining times) just block book 8 pm for each night. Otherwise, if you turn up at any time you may have to wait for a short while until they can seat you, but that's what the bar is for ;)

[msredbird51]

Sold!

 

You guys were so helpful, and we're now completely sold on My Time Dining. Thanks so much for all the help! :)