My Time Dining????

[Rosedeanne]

We have never been on a cruise before.....we are going on a Freedom of the Seas next March and have been allocated MY Time Dining by our Travel Agent. Can someone please explain in detail how this works, do we need to book a time each day for meals????

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[NorbertsNiece]

Hi and welcome to Cruise Critic :)

 

My Time Dining is my preferred way of dining with RCCL. It's not for everyone but it works for me.

 

For a start gratuities are paid up front at the time of booking. If I want to tip above that for service that is exemplary then I can do that.

 

I can eat at any time I like; this means that if I'm tired after an excursion I don't have to rush to get ready for a set time.

 

If I want to reserve a table for a time to suit me I can. The opportunity to reserve a place each night is possible. It's up to me whether I do that or not.

 

I can sit with others if I want or if I want to eat alone I can. Different nights different needs.

 

The dining experience is exactly the same in my experience. I have had the same servers if not necessarily the same table.

 

I love it :D

[eldolko]

I can sit with others if I want or if I want to eat alone I can. Different nights different needs.

 

Me and my wife found that most MyTime diners choose it just so they could dine alone. We had traditional dining on our first cruise and enjoyed the company from our table mates.

 

On our Allure cruise this summer we chose MyTime Dining - thinking it would be like traditional dining only with new company each night and the freedom to choose our own dinner time.

 

We were a little disappointed when there weren't any people to share a table with. When speaking to our waiter about it he told us it was because 99% of the MyTime Dining guest preferred to dine in private.

 

We enjoyed not to be fixed to a certain dinner time. But we will go back to traditional dining and share a big table with others. If we feel like dining i private some night we go for specialty dining.

[rncruiser]

I've used MY Time Dining 3 times on Explorer and had a different experience each time. We also like to share a large table and the first time we had no trouble doing this. We just walked up and asked to be seated at a large table and were given a table for 8. We ended up eating with the same people almost every night. It was almost like traditional dining.

The 2nd time we arranged in advance to be seated with another family that we had met on our Roll Call. We were traveling with our kids this time and the past 2 times we had traditional dining, but no table mates at our large table. One time the other family didn't show the entire week and the other time we had a family that didn't show until we were eating dessert most nights. It worked out well for us to know that there would be another family sitting with us each evening.

The 3rd time, it was just DH and me sailing again. We tried to get a large table, but this time there was no one else looking for a large table whenever we got there. We ended up at a table for 2 each evening. However, most of the tables for 2 are next to each other and you can easily strike up a conversation with another couple. Even though we went a different time each evening, 3 out of 5 nights we were seated next to the same couple.

I would definetly continue to do My Time Dining because it allows for greater flexibilty. I hate rushing to get ready for dinner. I have also seen many of the shows several times, so it is not necessary for me to plan dining times around show times.

[cruisein321]

This is our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.

We have cruised many times with Princess and have always chosen Any Time Dining. We like meeting new people each night, and the flexibility of dining whenever we want.

When we booked our cruise with Royal Caribbean we requested My time Dining, we are now on a wait list.

What are the chances that we will be confirmed in My Time Dining? We have already prepaid our gratuities for My Time Dining.

When dining with Princess, we found that a lot of people who had confirmed dedicated dining times, for example 6:00 pm dining, unofficially attended the Any Time Dining room. Can we do the same?

[Finbar127]

This is our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.

We have cruised many times with Princess and have always chosen Any Time Dining. We like meeting new people each night, and the flexibility of dining whenever we want.

When we booked our cruise with Royal Caribbean we requested My time Dining, we are now on a wait list.

What are the chances that we will be confirmed in My Time Dining? We have already prepaid our gratuities for My Time Dining.

When dining with Princess, we found that a lot of people who had confirmed dedicated dining times, for example 6:00 pm dining, unofficially attended the Any Time Dining room. Can we do the same?

 

Your chances are pretty good. They start to shuffle things around near final payment time. If you don't get assigned MTD go to the MTD room on the day you board and asked to be switched. They usually save some space to accommodate last minute changes.

 

From what I have been told, if you are assigned traditional dining you can't use MTD.