Dining Times Options - Indy of the Seas

[takevtr1]

Hi all,

Quick question (sorry if this has been answered before, but I need a quick response to this.)

 

We are on the Indy on 8/9/15.

 

We have traditional seating for 6pm. Two of our ports are late ones with departures of 7pm (Falmouth) and 7pm (Grand Cayman.)

 

On the 2 late ports, if we decide to stay as late as possible in the ports and not rush back for our 6pm dinner, can we just go anytime we want (after 6pm) and get seated in the main dining room???

 

We really do not want to eat in the other venues (windjammer, johnny rockets, or the specialty restaurants.)

 

Can we just to the main dining room w/o a reservation? I would fully understand if we had to wait a bit for a table - we are group of 8.

 

THANK YOU,

Mitch............

[PattyW]

No. With traditional seating, your dining time is your dining time. Someone else sits at your table for late seating and the staff needs to completely clear the table and reset them for late seating, so you can't start your dinner at 7:15.

 

Maybe you could switch to My Time Dining and then eat at 6:00pm on most port days and later on late port days.

[takevtr1]

No. With traditional seating, your dining time is your dining time. Someone else sits at your table for late seating and the staff needs to completely clear the table and reset them for late seating, so you can't start your dinner at 7:15.

 

Maybe you could switch to My Time Dining and then eat at 6:00pm on most port days and later on late port days.

Would they allow us to sit at an empty table in the My Time Dining section if it were available?

I know that there are 3 levels -and I think one level is just for MTD. I would not expect to sit at the same traditional dining table if we did not show up on time.

Thanks,

[Clarea]

Would they allow us to sit at an empty table in the My Time Dining section if it were available?

I know that there are 3 levels -and I think one level is just for MTD. I would not expect to sit at the same traditional dining table if we did not show up on time.

Thanks,

No, you cannot switch to the MTD area for one night. As mentioned above, if you want flexibility, switch to MTD now. Otherwise, if you cannot make your dining time, you can go to a specialty restaurant or Windjammer.

[cb at sea]

You will have to be ONBOARD by 6:30, if the ship departs at 7....just get back by 6 and head straight to dinner!

[takevtr1]

No, you cannot switch to the MTD area for one night. As mentioned above, if you want flexibility, switch to MTD now. Otherwise, if you cannot make your dining time, you can go to a specialty restaurant or Windjammer.

thank you Bob - unfortunately that is not the answer I was hoping for, but what can you do?

[takevtr1]

You will have to be ONBOARD by 6:30, if the ship departs at 7....just get back by 6 and head straight to dinner!

you don't know my DW. She has to stay at the beach until the very last second.

she is not the cruise fan in the family, I am. So just getting her to cruise is hard enough.

We are actually considering Chops on those nights, but only 4 out of the 8 in my group are willing to pay "extra" for dining.

Thank you!!

[Scotty G]

you don't know my DW. She has to stay at the beach until the very last second.

she is not the cruise fan in the family, I am. So just getting her to cruise is hard enough.

 

Just make sure you have your credit card with you in case your DW causes you to miss the ship. It has happened!

[takevtr1]

Just make sure you have your credit card with you in case your DW causes you to miss the ship. It has happened!

we came very close to missing our ship in Antigua.

The driver did not anticipate the traffic. He decided to take "side" roads, which only made the situation worse.

They were blowing the horn as we pulled up to the dock.

Very scarey.

 

THANKS!!!

[didicruiser]

DH and I ate in the Windjammer twice last month when doing a B2B on the Indy. Never ate in there for dinner before. The food was very good, lighting dimmed and easy to get a beverage brought to our table. Nice experience 😄

[takevtr1]

DH and I ate in the Windjammer twice last month when doing a B2B on the Indy. Never ate in there for dinner before. The food was very good, lighting dimmed and easy to get a beverage brought to our table. Nice experience 😄

thanks didicruiser

I would have a hard time getting my wife into the buffet, especially for "Dinner." Breakfast yes, lunch maybe.

 

I think that we may just go to Chops etc on those 2 nights. The only problem is, my family is 4 people, so it get expensive dining there.

Mitch....

[LilBlackDress]

you don't know my DW. She has to stay at the beach until the very last second.

she is not the cruise fan in the family, I am. So just getting her to cruise is hard enough.

We are actually considering Chops on those nights, but only 4 out of the 8 in my group are willing to pay "extra" for dining.

Thank you!!

 

You haven't really said why you are against switching to MTD....

 

You can call ahead and sit as a group, Or if I am not mistaken, you can request the dining times all at once for the rest or the cruise.

[takevtr1]

You haven't really said why you are against switching to MTD....

 

You can call ahead and sit as a group, Or if I am not mistaken, you can request the dining times all at once for the rest or the cruise.

originally, it had to do with having to pre-pay gratuities.

 

when they raised the pre-pay a couple of weeks ago, we went ahead and pre-paid to keep it to the $12.

 

we did not even take into consideration that since we pre-paid, we could have switched to MTD.

 

we do like to eat early so we can see the shows after dinner and have our "evenings" free.

 

I am probably not making much sense. this would be our first opportunity for MTD, so we may be just lost in the concept.

 

I still feel that they should allow people to eat outside of their "scheduled" time once in a while - based on space availability.

 

Mitch..........

[Grandma Dazzles]

Just off the Independence. Had second seating and has others have said you have to do regular or MTD. Did meet several people who had MTD and had their reservation for the same time each night - usually around. 7:00 - as they didn't like the early or late seating times. You could do this, or pick a different time each night with MTD.

 

Dining room maitre de was available the first afternoon for changes etc. time was listed in the compass given on boarding. Personally would try to change ahead of time, should you decide to do so. Quite a few people waiting to talk to him and friend said he tried to be helpful (they wanted to change tables) but was limited because of full ship with many large groups.

Edited June 9, 2015 by PMcC1998

[Ocean Boy]

You will have to be ONBOARD by 6:30, if the ship departs at 7....just get back by 6 and head straight to dinner!

 

By all means, don't bother changing or showering after a hot day in a Caribbean port. Just go right to dinner. Everyone around you will completely understand the situation.:rolleyes:

[moshek]

Just off the Independence. Had second seating and has others have said you have to do regular or MTD. Did meet several people who had MTD and had their reservation for the same time each night - usually around. 7:00 - as they didn't like the early or late seating times. You could do this, or pick a different time each night with MTD.

 

Dining room maitre de was available the first afternoon for changes etc. time was listed in the compass given on boarding. Personally would try to change ahead of time, should you decide to do so. Quite a few people waiting to talk to him and friend said he tried to be helpful (they wanted to change tables) but was limited because of full ship with many large groups.

 

we have done MTD on 2 previous cruises, we usually book for 6.30 and you tend to be served quicker than lower floors on traditional 6pm dining as we are not waiting around for others to turn up.

This summer we have 2 late ports and I have booked for 8pm, it is easy also to change bookings if plan changes.

[takevtr1]

By all means, don't bother changing or showering after a hot day in a Caribbean port. Just go right to dinner. Everyone around you will completely understand the situation.:rolleyes:

now that is funny.

[takevtr1]

we have done MTD on 2 previous cruises, we usually book for 6.30 and you tend to be served quicker than lower floors on traditional 6pm dining as we are not waiting around for others to turn up.

This summer we have 2 late ports and I have booked for 8pm, it is easy also to change bookings if plan changes.

I thought there was a "limit" on how many people could book MTD.

I would think that it is "sold out" by now for our 8/9/15 cruise.

[kimala]

you don't know my DW. She has to stay at the beach until the very last second.

she is not the cruise fan in the family, I am. So just getting her to cruise is hard enough.

We are actually considering Chops on those nights, but only 4 out of the 8 in my group are willing to pay "extra" for dining.

Thank you!!

 

Don't stress. I recently (@ 2 years ago)took two couples with us on the oasis. They were practically cruise virgins. I booked all their entertainment and stressed over the details trying to keep all of us together all the time and make everyone happy. You know what? They ended up only attending half the shows and I found that they preferred to dine most evening at the specialty venues whereas we do 75% of our dining in the main dining room so again we were split up and everyone found their way and happiness with out me!!

 

Basically what I'm trying to say is just worry about your wife and yourself and if the other members of your party want to stick to the MDR then they can grab a cab back to the ship at 5:30 and you can arrange to meet them at the late show later that evening. You may all appreciate the break from one another.

[js]

we have done MTD on 2 previous cruises, we usually book for 6.30 and you tend to be served quicker than lower floors on traditional 6pm dining as we are not waiting around for others to turn up.

 

This summer we have 2 late ports and I have booked for 8pm, it is easy also to change bookings if plan changes.

 

 

Hi. Ill be on Indy over NYE with a group of 11 and we have MTD. You say for your cruise this summer you booked 8 pm. Is this for MTD? If so, how did you pre book the time? When do/can I book our times for our group of 11?

 

Thank you.

[takevtr1]

Don't stress. I recently (@ 2 years ago)took two couples with us on the oasis. They were practically cruise virgins. I booked all their entertainment and stressed over the details trying to keep all of us together all the time and make everyone happy. You know what? They ended up only attending half the shows and I found that they preferred to dine most evening at the specialty venues whereas we do 75% of our dining in the main dining room so again we were split up and everyone found their way and happiness with out me!!

 

Basically what I'm trying to say is just worry about your wife and yourself and if the other members of your party want to stick to the MDR then they can grab a cab back to the ship at 5:30 and you can arrange to meet them at the late show later that evening. You may all appreciate the break from one another.

easier said then done, BUT, I do fully understand.

 

I think that is exactly what we are going to do. Whoever wants the MDR - then go for it, then if some want the WJ - then go for it.

 

Yes we may just have to split up on our 2 late ports.

 

Thanks for the words of "encouragement" I think stress is my middle name. I have to make sure things run 100% even though I know it does not always work that way.

Mitch..