Any Time Dining vs "Traditional" on the Allure

[MWGD87]

My DH and I are leaving this Sunday on the Allure for our 25th anniversary and our very first cruise:). Since it will only be the two of us, we are leaning towards a more relaxed, non scheduled approach to the week (except for shows... all have been booked). We have four boys and have to run our house on tight schedules daily. Doubt we will do alot of the specialty dining.. opting for formal dining room instead. Our travel agent strongly suggested the Traditional dining so that we have same waiters etc. After much debate I am wondering if we may be happier with Any Time. Any thoughts or advice?????

[Kristi5000]

This is really a matter of preference, but I MUCH PREFER anytime dining. My husband and I just got off Oasis for our Anniversary trip, and anytime dining afforded us the ability to have a table for two at every meal. Your travel agent is correct about the wait staff; but you will also be seated at a table with 6 or 8 others all week...the same 6 or 8 others. That is just not what my husband and I look for on vacation. We are not socially awkward, but in our regular daily lives, we get such little quality time together, we want to capitalize on that on vacation. Our perspective is contrary to many others, but we MUCH PREFERED eating based on our own schedule at the time we chose at a table by ourselves. Regarding wait staff, we were seated in the same area of the MDR all week and had two servers rotate. This posed no problem at all. And, all the waiters take notes based on your stateroom. For example, we told our first waiter about a food allergy, and every other waitstaff we had all week knew about it, and told us they were aware when they greeted us. We had nothing but a very positive experience with any time dining.

[cactusflower]

We did my time dining on Allure a couple of weeks ago. It has pros and cons, but with the show schedule I had reserved on the ship, I preferred having the flexibility of dining times. We didn't always have the same waitstaff, but that was okay with us. We were willing to be flexible in order to get seated sooner if our "usual" area was all full.

[cb at sea]

If you want to eat alone, then do MTD....most folks don't want to converse with others. If you would enjoy some conversation during dinner (which really is a social occasion), then go with traditional...

I like having tablemates....hubby and I have PLENTY of time alone during the day...it's nice to have others to chat with at dinner!

[johneeo]

My DH and I are leaving this Sunday on the Allure for our 25th anniversary and our very first cruise:). Since it will only be the two of us, we are leaning towards a more relaxed, non scheduled approach to the week (except for shows... all have been booked). We have four boys and have to run our house on tight schedules daily. Doubt we will do alot of the specialty dining.. opting for formal dining room instead. Our travel agent strongly suggested the Traditional dining so that we have same waiters etc. After much debate I am wondering if we may be happier with Any Time. Any thoughts or advice?????

 

We prefer early seating. By 6:00 I am ready to eat.

 

I do not care to make reservations, I like the idea that there is nothing to think about, 6:00 go to your table, your wait staff, get down to business, and get out.

 

Pretty simple.

[LABCHICK]

We did MTD and really enjoyed it. Our wait staff was so good that we requested them for each evening.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Judi :)

[negc]

If you want to eat alone, then do MTD....most folks don't want to converse with others. If you would enjoy some conversation during dinner (which really is a social occasion), then go with traditional...

I like having tablemates....hubby and I have PLENTY of time alone during the day...it's nice to have others to chat with at dinner!

 

Don't buy into the stereotype that some try to portray that says only people who want to dine alone, choose My Time Dining, and if you do want to avoid certain people who have an opinion about the right way to do everything and don't hesitate to tell you so, you might be best served by choosing MTD since they always choose traditional.

If you want to dine by yourselves you can certainly do so, but if you want to dine with others you can make that request as well with MTD and the staff will do their best to accommodate you. You can eat as early as you wish (sometimes as early as 5:30 with MTD) without reservations being required and you can request, and usually get, the same servers at every meal.

[sharod]

We did MTD and really enjoyed it. Our wait staff was so good that we requested them for each evening.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Judi :)

 

Same with us!!! We requested them, and even had the same table each night. Showed up when we were ready, no wait except for 2nd formal night. Even then, we waited MAYBE 10 minutes.

 

It was great and would do it again!

[johneeo]

.... and if you do want to avoid certain people who have an opinion about the right way to do everything and don't hesitate to tell you so, you might be best served by choosing MTD since they always choose traditional.

 

You talkin ta me?:eek:

 

You might be on to something there, as all of us opinionated idiots opt for traditional dining.:rolleyes:

[tagor]

We are a party of four (4) sailing on Oasis.

I have reserved "traditional" dining in the MDR.

Am I correct in reading the previous posts that we can not get a table for 4 unless we do "my time" dining?

We do like the traditional timing, however would not like to be seated at a large table...

Is a table for 4 an option with the traditional dining times???

[molly361]

We are a party of four (4) sailing on Oasis.

I have reserved "traditional" dining in the MDR.

Am I correct in reading the previous posts that we can not get a table for 4 unless we do "my time" dining?

We do like the traditional timing, however would not like to be seated at a large table...

Is a table for 4 an option with the traditional dining times???

 

 

Yes it is an option but you are not guaranteed that will happen. They could seat the 4 of you at a table that seats 6 or 8. My friends (2 couples sailing together) last year got seated at a table for 8 (they wanted to sit with others) and this year they got a table just for the 4 of them.

[MWGD87]

Thanks for the advice. One other question.... Can you change your dining preference during the cruise?

[Host Faith]

We are a party of four (4) sailing on Oasis.

I have reserved "traditional" dining in the MDR.

Am I correct in reading the previous posts that we can not get a table for 4 unless we do "my time" dining?

We do like the traditional timing, however would not like to be seated at a large table...

Is a table for 4 an option with the traditional dining times???

 

If you would like a table to yourselves during traditional dining, you can email rcldining@rccl.com to request a table for four. They will need your ship, sail date, reservation number (s), and names. They'll do their best to honor your request. I emailed them for my party of 3 on the Liberty of the Seas, and requested a table for 3 by a window. My request was honored and confirmed a couple business days later.

[hazeleyez3]

I think anytime dining is best for Oasis and Allure. You'll have more flexibility when making reservations for shows.

[CruisinDawn]

We are a party of four (4) sailing on Oasis.

I have reserved "traditional" dining in the MDR.

Am I correct in reading the previous posts that we can not get a table for 4 unless we do "my time" dining?

We do like the traditional timing, however would not like to be seated at a large table...

Is a table for 4 an option with the traditional dining times???

I assume you already requested a table for four? When you board the ship be sure to check your table. If it's to big talk to the Maitre'd just outside the dining room, check your Compass for times. We have never had trouble adjusting our table if it wasn't what we requested when we booked. We have done small tables (anywhere from 2-8) lots of times as we prefer to dine just with the family we are traveling with. We don't see our extended family much and enjoy catching up at dinner as well as having the same wait staff each evening.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[gowensricks]

I really think it depends on what you are looking for. Some people really enjoy meeting new people, and some have posted on this Board, how they actually met lifetime friends at the dinner table on a cruise!

[negc]

You talkin ta me?:eek:

 

You might be on to something there, as all of us opinionated idiots opt for traditional dining.:rolleyes:

 

If you thought I was talking to you, you haven't been reading these boards long enough.:)

[terpfan101]

Anyone know the email address to make dining requests? Not sure if it'd be too late, but I think I requested a 10 seater table when I booked and want to make sure that's what I will have.

[Big_G]

Did My Time for the first time on Allure. Wasn't a fan of waiting for a table to open up. I admit we didn't make reservations but on two of the nights, the reservation line was as long as the no reservation line. On one night the no reservation line was moving faster than the reservation line.

 

One advantage was that our first waiter was just awful so it was no problem the next night when they told us she was full and would we take another table. No problem.

 

I guess I'm still stuck in the traditional dining mode of walking in, sitting down at the same table, and the waiters knowing your name and preferences.

[karena1]

My DH and I are leaving this Sunday on the Allure for our 25th anniversary and our very first cruise:). Since it will only be the two of us, we are leaning towards a more relaxed, non scheduled approach to the week (except for shows... all have been booked). We have four boys and have to run our house on tight schedules daily. Doubt we will do alot of the specialty dining.. opting for formal dining room instead. Our travel agent strongly suggested the Traditional dining so that we have same waiters etc. After much debate I am wondering if we may be happier with Any Time. Any thoughts or advice?????

 

We always do MyTime dining and loved it! You still can have the same waitstaff every single night. But you get to eat at your pace, and not someone else's. Since we meet so many people on the cruise anyway, we have found we love eating by ourselves and just talking about the day and what we are going to do the next day. You can take as much or little time as you want. We don't like 2-3 hour dinners, so we love MTD as we can eat and leave. Still relaxed, but our pace, no waiting for anyone else to decide what they want to do.

 

We made reservations for a couple nights when we had shows earlier, but otherwise, just walked in when we felt like eating. I would never go back to traditional dining, MTD is fantastic.

[Host Faith]

Anyone know the email address to make dining requests? Not sure if it'd be too late, but I think I requested a 10 seater table when I booked and want to make sure that's what I will have.

 

Here you go :):

 

If you would like a table to yourselves during traditional dining, you can email rcldining@rccl.com to request a table for four. They will need your ship, sail date, reservation number (s), and names. They'll do their best to honor your request. I emailed them for my party of 3 on the Liberty of the Seas, and requested a table for 3 by a window. My request was honored and confirmed a couple business days later.

[ashmac8]

But you get to eat at your pace, and not someone else's. Since we meet so many people on the cruise anyway, we have found we love eating by ourselves and just talking about the day and what we are going to do the next day. You can take as much or little time as you want. We don't like 2-3 hour dinners, so we love MTD as we can eat and leave. Still relaxed, but our pace, no waiting for anyone else to decide what they want to do.

 

 

This is exactly why we prefer MTD.

[jebl]

DH and I like MTD because we get to pick the time we eat.

 

While I loved the Traditional and meeting new people, I didn't like having to eat at 6 or wait till 8:30.

 

We prefer to get to the dining room around 6:30 to 6:45 so that we eat by 7PM Just right for us. Then if we have an early show booked we can adjust our dining time. If we are in port a little later there is not that rush to get back on the ship and dress for dinner.

 

Both styles of dining have their pluses and minuses so it is just a matter of personal preference.

[negc]

DH and I like MTD because we get to pick the time we eat.

 

While I loved the Traditional and meeting new people, I didn't like having to eat at 6 or wait till 8:30.

 

We prefer to get to the dining room around 6:30 to 6:45 so that we eat by 7PM Just right for us. Then if we have an early show booked we can adjust our dining time. If we are in port a little later there is not that rush to get back on the ship and dress for dinner.

 

Both styles of dining have their pluses and minuses so it is just a matter of personal preference.

You've pretty much summed up our feelings as well. We were skeptical of My Time Dining until we actually experienced it and we find it works very well for us and provides us flexibility in scheduling that we didn't have with traditional. Sometimes we just aren"t ready to eat at six o"clock but don"t want to wait until eight thirty. When we find a particular serving crew that we like, we can usually arrange to have that team for the entire cruise and we like the fact that we are usually seated immediately or at worst, within a few minutes of our arrival. (No beepers on RCI ships:D)

[missymoose13]

I am thinking about doing MTD, but the earliest I could reserve is 6:00, can you get in earlier on the Allure?

 

In TD we have done both scenarios discussed here. On our first RCCL we had just a table for the two of us. We requested it once we got on board. We were supposed to sit at an 8 person table and most nights it sat empty. On our Disney Cruise we sat with a nice group people, we are still friends with one of the couples. We could go either way on this cruise. We like to relax at the dinner table and have coffee with dessert, but when we ate with people we felt rushed to leave when it was only us two at the table with lots of dirty plates.

 

If I could request a table for two by the windows, I would.

 

Missy:D