Daily schedule & MTD

[Tetra]

Debating doing MTD... I'm trying to figure out how to make dining reservations without knowing what time the evening show is, and when afternoon activities are scheduled.

 

How do you handle this? Is is customary to make MTD reservations same day, once you see the schedule for that day, or is there a way to see a schedule before you cruise?

 

Thanks!

[househunter]

The whole point of MTD is that you don't have to make reservations. You just show up when you would like to eat and they seat you. You may have a short wait but we just head to the nearest lounge and have a pre-dinner cocktail, something we would do anyway. We have never waited more than 15 minutes or so and more often than not, are seated immediatley.

 

Of course, if you do know your schedule in advance, you can make a reservation but for us that defeats the whole purpose of it.

[kc320]

I prefer NOT to make reservations...it worked out fine my last cruise on the Monarch...just showed up when I was ready to eat..never had more than a few mins. wait...will be doing the same thing in Dec. on Jewel...

[sadie8]

We just cruised on the Freedom and did not make any MTD reservations the whole week. We never had to wait for a table for two.

[Tetra]

Ah,that makes sense. I guess I could make a reservation in the morning, once I see the day's schedule, but it's nice to know that it's not necessary. :)

[bmarchal]

On most ships (not the Oasis class) there are generally two shows each evening, one for the early and one for the late dinner seating. The only acception is on the first night and then the show is scheduled between the two seatings so anyone who wants to see it can. Since a lot of people are tired on the first day from traveling, many people skip the first show, that's why there is only one. Hope this helps and you won't find it necessary to make reservations.

[marci22]

I think that the first night on many itineraries, the one show is around 7:45pm. So you have to eat fairly early in order to make it. On the other nights, it's easier when there are two shows.

 

I make a reservation for every night at 6:30pm. Then if I get onboard and there is a show I want to see that conflicts, I'll change only that day.

 

I know a lot of people post that you can just 'show up' but on our last cruise, the MTD woman told us, "at 5:30pm, it is your time dining. After that, it is MY TIME DINING", meaning that as the evening wore on, you would have less choice of seating times/table location and she would accommodate you as best she could.

 

It was so much easier having a reservation in place for the week. We got the table we wanted with the waiters we liked. If we were going to be a little later (say 15 min) we found our table was still available if we let them know in advance.