1st Timers MDR ?

[ATLYankeeFan]

This will be our first RCI cruise (my husband and myself) we will be doing the southern Caribbean on the Serenade of the Seas. I am looking for advice/suggestions about seating for dinner. We know that we want late seating and would like to get to know others on our cruise (so far no meet and greets for our cruise).

 

My question is, what size table would you suggest?

Is it your experience that we will be seated with other couples?

Is there the chance we will be with a family and just us?

I am not sure what to prepare myself for.

 

Any other suggestions or advice people would like to offer would gladly be accepted.

Thanks.

 

Can't wait to sail...

:)

[Goes Cruising]

It all depends how sociable you are. I happen to enjoy the MDR experience, and we always go with a large table. It gives you more opportunities to find someone you connect with in the dinner conversation.

 

You never know what the mix at the table will be. Sometimes I've wondered how RCL did such a good job of matching us up with our table mates! We don't click with everyone we've ever sat with, but we have made lasting friends with others.

 

I was going to book MTD for our upcoming cruise, and my 19 yo daughter strenuously objected! She also thinks the MDR experience is one of the highlights of cruising!

 

There are many who feel exactly the opposite, and I'm sure those opinions will be expressed.

[DarthGrady]

My wife and I have done two cruises in the past where we were seated with strangers. Both times we were matched up with other couples roughly of the same age. Both times were on Carnival and were good experiences with nice conversations.

 

My wife and her mother have done two open seating cruises on RCI and were also paired with other cruisers. Apparently RCI isn't a scientific as CCL, since they were paired with a wider range of people, some with kids.

[boo214]

This will be our first RCI cruise (my husband and myself) we will be doing the southern Caribbean on the Serenade of the Seas. I am looking for advice/suggestions about seating for dinner. We know that we want late seating and would like to get to know others on our cruise (so far no meet and greets for our cruise).

 

My question is, what size table would you suggest?

Is it your experience that we will be seated with other couples?

Is there the chance we will be with a family and just us?

I am not sure what to prepare myself for.

 

Any other suggestions or advice people would like to offer would gladly be accepted.

Thanks.

 

Can't wait to sail...

:)

dw and i have always done tables for 8. so far we have been put with couples only. have a great cruise

[cb at sea]

Get a large table if you wish to meet others....at least, an 8-top,is what I'd suggest. That way, if someone isn't at dinner one night, you'll still have others to talk to. and, by having more tablemates, you're almost guaranteed to find others you really "click" with.

We truly enjoy the tablemate thing, and we look forward to dinner every night BECAUSE of our tablemates! It's fun to compare your adventures and your plans...and if you're lucky enough to be seated with others who have different cabin types, an informal "cabin crawl" can be arranged! We've gotten to see all kinds of cabin catagories, simply by meeting our tablemates!

Have a great time!

[Gonzo70]

My wife and I enjoy dining with others and always either select a large table or we link reservations with people on the Roll Call board on Cruise Critic to form a table. When we have just opted for a large table and not linked tables we generally were seated with other couples, though once with a mother and her daughter (the daughter was about 19 or 20 though; we have never had anybody under 18 seated at our table).

[rummenroman]

I was going to book MTD for our upcoming cruise, and my 19 yo daughter strenuously objected! She also thinks the MDR experience is one of the highlights of cruising!

 

 

I find the MTD is a great big meet and greet. You can sit with so many different people in the same week. You don't have to sit in your own group.

[DonnaK]

My family also finds dining in the MDR to be the highlight of our cruising experience. We usually request a large table, and are usually paired with people who are of a similar demographic to ourselves. I have to admit that the best tablemates we ever had was a newlywed couple and a retired couple, even though they were definitely in a different demographic than us, so you never know.

 

Just remember, if you really clash with your tablemates, you don't have to suffer...you can speak to the maitre-d and have your table changed. No sense being miserable throughout the rest of the cruise.

[Goes Cruising]

I find the MTD is a great big meet and greet. You can sit with so many different people in the same week. You don't have to sit in your own group.

 

I agree with you, as it's similar to breakfast of lunch in the MDR, but daughter had a pretty strong opinion about it :rolleyes:. Not a big deal either way, so I went with her way.

[KirkNC]

I think they do try and put you with tablemates of similar demographics. When we travel with our teenage daughter and select fixed seating (which we don't usually do but I'll save that for another thread), we are always seated with other families with teenage childen.

 

Kirk

[ATLYankeeFan]

Thank you all so much. I am going to call and see if we can be seated at a large sized table in the MDR (I think now we are at a six top).

 

I wish there were others registered for the meet and mingle, but so far no one.

 

I appreciate the advice.

 

:)

[Luetta]

We have never cruised before either.

 

How do you know what size table you are at? We have the 830 seating, and have linked reservations with friends, all 3 parties being parties of 3, so nine of us total. Will we have a table to ourselves or with others? Personally doesn't matter to me, I was just wondering.

[Robbo66]

On our last cruise, we asked for a table of 4 for our family. It was my wife and daughters (13 and 10) first RCCL cruise and we'd previously been on NCL which has freestyle dining - where you dine in your own group each night, in different restaurants and at a time to suit, with different wait staff.

 

When we boarded the ship, I got a phone call to say that they could only offer a table of 10, but they had a nice position by the window. There were no other children on the table and everyone else were in couples (married, two women friends, and grandfather with granddaughter). We were the only Brits on the table with everyone else coming from various parts of the States.

 

We had a nice time talking to different people each night, but we did feel pressured to go the MDR because to skip a night made everyone ask where we were the next day! We didn't want anyone to think that we didn't enjoy their company - but we wanted to try different venues like Johnny Rockets.

 

For our next cruise I tried to book My Time Dining but it is full. So I'm expecting a similar situation to last time. When we ate breakfast and lunch in the MDR we were often put with other people anyway, so even if you dine solely with your own group for dinner, you'll still get to meet other cruisers in my experience.

[Goes Cruising]

We have never cruised before either.

 

How do you know what size table you are at? We have the 830 seating, and have linked reservations with friends, all 3 parties being parties of 3, so nine of us total. Will we have a table to ourselves or with others? Personally doesn't matter to me, I was just wondering.

 

It's hard to say. You could be broke up into side by side smaller tables. The last time I had several reservations linked, we did not have any outsiders seated with us. We had a table for 6, a table for 4, and two 2 tops. We moved around between the tables. That's the only experience I've had with linked reservations.

[lbryant]

We're a family of 5, so would we automatically be put at a table for 8 or 10? If my sister/brother-in-law come, we'll be a party of 7. Could we get a table for 8 or would we automatically be put at a table for 10?

 

Also, I see in the C&A section, there's a place to identify your on-board preferences. Is there a 6:30p seating (that's listed as an option)? My TA put us at 6p - how can I get that changed?

[DHADEN]

We have never cruised before either.

How do you know what size table you are at? We have the 830 seating, and have linked reservations with friends, all 3 parties being parties of 3, so nine of us total. Will we have a table to ourselves or with others? Personally doesn't matter to me, I was just wondering.

 

We're a family of 5, so would we automatically be put at a table for 8 or 10? If my sister/brother-in-law come, we'll be a party of 7. Could we get a table for 8 or would we automatically be put at a table for 10?

 

Also, I see in the C&A section, there's a place to identify your on-board preferences. Is there a 6:30p seating (that's listed as an option)? My TA put us at 6p - how can I get that changed?

 

You both will be seated at a table for 8, most likely. It is not hard to add a nineth chair to one of those.

 

As for changing your seating, it is usually the early seating that fills up first. You shouild have no problem calling your T.A. and telling them you want to change that to late seating. It only takes a phone call to RCI, but your T.A. has to do it.

 

Hope This Helps.

 

Thank you all so much. I am going to call and see if we can be seated at a large sized table in the MDR (I think now we are at a six top).

I wish there were others registered for the meet and mingle, but so far no one.

I appreciate the advice.

 

Philis;

First of all, I'm glad you found our Rollcall, and WELCOME. It has been hard to get our few to be active on it, but hopefully that will change.

 

We (Donna & I) love meeting new people and making friends on our cruises, so we always get as large a table as possible. The "Dinner Party" every night is a big part of what we love about cruising. If you are like that, then I would suggest getting the "Largest Table".

 

Hope This Helps.