Phasing Out Specific Dinner Times?

[yj2cute]

Another traditional, late diner here. Tried MTD for the first time on my Radiance cruise and didn't like it at all. We didn't have an overly large group, just 5 ladies, but we were never able to get our requested dining time when i would call in the morning to make a reservation. If I wanted 7 i could only get 6 or 8. If i wanted 8 i could only get 9. It went on like that for 5 days. Then when we did get a table, there was only about 2 inches of space between our table and the next. While I like the concept, it just didn't work for us. Also didn't like Freestyle on our only NCL cruise. Back to traditional for us.

[Crewzer33]

Briscogun: You should go to the Maitre D first thing when you board the ship and see if you can get things switched, if they haven't been by then. Lots of people switch around the first day on the ship. There is usually a line of people in the main dining room doing this when you board. Good luck!

[Merion_Mom]

For me, it depends on my traveling party.

 

Traditional main seating always works for me when I travel with my "kids". (young adults). They prefer it to an extreme degree.

 

When I travel with girlfriends, we always to MTD, because we are creatures of the relaxed moment, and just go when and where we want. Dinner could be in Johnny Rockets or the Windjammer or "we're not all that hungry" or we could just turn up at the dining room.

 

Me? I just love the options.

[akcruz]

For me, it depends on my traveling party.

 

Traditional main seating always works for me when I travel with my "kids". (young adults). They prefer it to an extreme degree.

 

When I travel with girlfriends, we always to MTD, because we are creatures of the relaxed moment, and just go when and where we want. Dinner could be in Johnny Rockets or the Windjammer or "we're not all that hungry" or we could just turn up at the dining room.

 

Me? I just love the options.

 

I agree with this 100%. Luckily there are options for everyone as not everyone is the same. We have done traditional with large table and small as well as MTD. Depending on the cruise and who is sailing with us we will decide on how we want to dine that time.

 

If you have a preference and can't get it when booking try the wait list or if that is full keep checking. Most of the time all are able to be accomodated with their preference.

[SherriZ366]

Two points: -- 1 -- Difficulty in securing Traditional Dining may be unique to Oasis and Allure. They have an entire deck of MyTime dining while other other ships have 1/2 of a deck. We were looking at a booking on Oasis about 9 months out and traditional was not available.

2 -- RCI opens and shuts dining capacity at various times during the reservation period. When we sailed on a unique 4 nighter on FOS last year, they kept opening and closing late and early traditional. We got our choice of late seating as did our traveling companions but they closed late immediately after only to reopen it a few weeks later. The same thing happened with early.

[beachbuddy]

For me, it depends on my traveling party.

 

Traditional main seating always works for me when I travel with my "kids". (young adults). They prefer it to an extreme degree.

 

When I travel with girlfriends, we always to MTD, because we are creatures of the relaxed moment, and just go when and where we want. Dinner could be in Johnny Rockets or the Windjammer or "we're not all that hungry" or we could just turn up at the dining room.

 

Me? I just love the options.

 

I agree..........it all depends on it we're alone or if we have friends that are sailing with us. I like the options too!

[Saberj]

Thanks for all the input. Just goes to show how much variety there is in what people like. :cool:

[SherriZ366]

Thanks for all the input. Just goes to show how much variety there is in what people like. :cool:

And RCI seems to recognize the need for variety by having choices and not forcing people into one type of dining or another.

[time4u2go]

And RCI seems to recognize the need for variety by having choices and not forcing people into one type of dining or another.

 

Except that the OP was lamenting the fact that they didn't have a choice...MTD was the only remaining option available to them.

[SherriZ366]

Except that the OP was lamenting the fact that they didn't have a choice...MTD was the only remaining option available to them.

I have read on CC (it may have been corrected) that folks have booked Princess traditional and gotten bumped to anytime. And NCL only has Freestyle. Guess the point I was trying to make was unclear.

[akcruz]

Except that the OP was lamenting the fact that they didn't have a choice...MTD was the only remaining option available to them.

 

But, there cruise is a long way away and most likely with a little watching will be able to get what they want. We keep seeing posts on here about not being able to get what you want when booked but hardly any saying once on board they were not able to get what they wanted.

[NYCrews]

We've been forced into MTD more than 6 months in advance on Allure. We're a party of 12 and they won't give us a MTD reservation for more than 10. It's causing mom a lot of stress, but I'm hopeful that by the time we sail we'll get off the waitlist for a traditional dining time and a table that can fit all of us.

[The Big Booper]

Princess was the pioneer in hybrid dining and it hasn't worked out that well for them, IMHO. What with beepers by the truckload and the warning that if you want Traditional you have to book a year or more in advance, we haven't been back to Princess since they started ATD in 2002 or so. We frequently book in a window from 1-4 months before the sailing date.

 

We booked our May B2B on the Allure when we were on the Explorer this past Christmas and had no trouble getting late Traditional.

 

I think that since Oasis/Allure have so many more activities, shows and eateries then the usual RCI "big ship" that more people, as a % to the whole, book MTD so RCI allots more space. I found when booking the entertainment we were able to slot all the shows around late TD.

[SherriZ366]

Princess was the pioneer in hybrid dining and it hasn't worked out that well for them, IMHO. What with beepers by the truckload and the warning that if you want Traditional you have to book a year or more in advance, we haven't been back to Princess since they started ATD in 2002 or so. We frequently book in a window from 1-4 months before the sailing date.

 

We booked our May B2B on the Allure when we were on the Explorer this past Christmas and had no trouble getting late Traditional.

 

I think that since Oasis/Allure have so many more activities, shows and eateries then the usual RCI "big ship" that more people, as a % to the whole, book MTD so RCI allots more space. I found when booking the entertainment we were able to slot all the shows around late TD.

We were given traditional the last time we sailed on Princess in 2002 but it was an off time. The service was not up to what we had had before on Princess and we have never been back.

[shash]

I totally agree with you. One of our favorite parts about the dining room is talking with and getting to know the waiters. It makes it seem much more special and personalized.

 

DH and I just did MTD on LOS and wound up keeping the same time (generally around 6:30) with our same table and waiter/assistant waiter

Best of both worlds IMHO:)

[Familygoboston]

My DH and I love MTD and frankly, had RCCI not offered it we would have probably tried NCL when we started up our annual cruises after a several year break about 5 years ago. We are food for fuel people and away on a romantic trip, so we enjoy dining alone and expiditiously. We can make a 6:30 or even 7 MTD res and still make the late shows. ( we often skip dessert). We've always had the same waiters and a table within feet of the last one.

What's interesting is that I think for a bigger group, traditional dining works better. There's no endless debating what time the group should eat- it's already set. But I've also talked with multi generational groups who struggle with the youngsters feeling early is too early and the elders thinking late is too late! So maybe MTD could work there too- if it's a set time for the whole week?

Anyway- different bites for different likes!

[briscogun]

Briscogun: You should go to the Maitre D first thing when you board the ship and see if you can get things switched, if they haven't been by then. Lots of people switch around the first day on the ship. There is usually a line of people in the main dining room doing this when you board. Good luck!

 

We got lucky! Just happened to be nosing around online and saw that our dinner time slot was moved! Called C&A to verify, and sure enough... They said that if they are able to waitlist you when you make a reservation, you stand a good chance of getting the slot you requested. If it's "full", they won't even bother. FYI to everyone in case it ever comes up.

 

Thanks for the info, Crewzer. I will keep that in mind for next time. With a family of 5, it's good to have options!