Late arrivals to fixed seating in MDR

[Aussie FF]

I'm wondering if RC is creating some of their own problems with this.

I've booked My Time dining on Explorer at the end of the month.

I pre booked my times leaving out nights we will be in specialty restaurants.

I mainly did this hoping for a table to ourselves.

 

My understanding was we would eat on level five.

Just got my cruise docs though and we are booked in on level two which I thought was for normal dining.

 

Are they mixing up My Time diners into the set dining?

I guess I'll find out. :)

 

Yes, that seems to be what I am seeing recently.

 

OK, we usually arrive 10-15 minutes late, because we are enjoying the CL or DL.:o

Last cruise, Christmas cruise, our table mates were enjoying their main course when we arrived.:eek:

They would arrive very early and order, skip dessert, and leave without excusing themselves.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Aussie FF

[Cindy]

We have experienced consistently late arrivals before on another cruise line. It was very annoying because it disrupted the flow of service for an entire section. I know the cruise lines are hesitant to get a passenger angry, but IMO the late arrivals need to be directed to another option for their meal if they're more than about 15 minutes late.

 

Edited January 15, 2016 by Cindy

[gerif]

Yes, that seems to be what I am seeing recently.

 

OK, we usually arrive 10-15 minutes late, because we are enjoying the CL or DL.:o

Last cruise, Christmas cruise, our table mates were enjoying their main course when we arrived.:eek:

They would arrive very early and order, skip dessert, and leave without excusing themselves.

 

Did it ever occur to you that they were annoyed at your rudeness for arriving late and thus did not afford you the courtesy of excusing themselves?

[cello56]

Yes, that seems to be what I am seeing recently.

 

OK, we usually arrive 10-15 minutes late, because we are enjoying the CL or DL.:o

Last cruise, Christmas cruise, our table mates were enjoying their main course when we arrived.:eek:

They would arrive very early and order, skip dessert, and leave without excusing themselves.

 

So you knew what time dinner starts, but deliberately extended your stay in the Diamond Club and arrived late? Sorry, but that is just plain rude. Your table mates arrived on time. They didn't get in early - the doors open for everyone at the same time! Chances are, they were annoyed with you for showing up late every night.

[ryano]

My last cruise on Freedom, we had a family (husband, wife, small child) from Brazil at our table that was at least 30 minutes late every night for FIRST seating :eek: Somehow our waiters were able to accommodate them with big smiles on their faces and never said a word to them about being late.

 

I think they should go back to the old ways of closing the MDR doors 15 minutes after your scheduled dinner time.

Edited January 15, 2016 by ryano

[Ramblin' Ma'am]

Same thing happened to me on Indy last May.

 

We had late seating, and the table next to us (probably 12 people) would consistently show up 30-45 minutes late. It completely threw our wait staff off.

[LA_CA_GAL]

Really? It used to be if you ordered a soup and a solid appetizer they would bring the soup first, let you finish, then bring the second one. However, the last few years it seems like every Royal Caribbean waiter I've had will just stack multiple appetizers in front of you at the same time if you order more than one.

 

Without exception, I always order multiple appetizers. All come at the same time, and the entree comes out at the same time as the others at the table.

 

BTW, a lot of times, I also order two entrees, and we are usually out of the MDR in less than an hour.

 

Maybe it helps to get there when the doors open and the wait staff knows how you like to rock.

[George C]

Just sounds like RCCL and other cruise lines should close the door to MDR 15 or 20 mins past the dinner time, like all the cruise lines used to do.

[pcur]

Most ships we've been on with fixed dining have closed the dining room doors at 9pm. However, this doesn't stop the latecomers for early seating.

 

If what happened to the OP ever happens to us, I see this as a choice for my husband and I, not something that should impact the whole population of diners coming in. We would just talk to the head waiter, and ask to be moved to another section away from the table causing the service disruption. If that was not possible, then we would request to be moved to MTD with a fixed time and table. (That's what we do anyway on all our cruises with MTD.) They can always find another table somewhere.

 

Nobody has to sit through dinner with erratic or poor service. There are alternatives.

[iheartbda]

So you knew what time dinner starts, but deliberately extended your stay in the Diamond Club and arrived late? Sorry, but that is just plain rude. Your table mates arrived on time. They didn't get in early - the doors open for everyone at the same time! Chances are, they were annoyed with you for showing up late every night.

In addition, if it was possible to arrive very early, how would Aussie FF know since they were late?

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Really? It used to be if you ordered a soup and a solid appetizer they would bring the soup first, let you finish, then bring the second one. However, the last few years it seems like every Royal Caribbean waiter I've had will just stack multiple appetizers in front of you at the same time if you order more than one.

 

No, on the Radiance in Alaska last summer even when we asked for multiple appetizers to be brought at one time (usually it was a cold soup and something else), they insisted on one at a time. Annoying.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

So you knew what time dinner starts, but deliberately extended your stay in the Diamond Club and arrived late? Sorry, but that is just plain rude. Your table mates arrived on time. They didn't get in early - the doors open for everyone at the same time! Chances are, they were annoyed with you for showing up late every night.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

And like the poster above stated, they don't allow people in "early". The tablemates were simply conscientious cruisers who know how to read the schedule and adhere to it.

[pcur]

No, on the Radiance in Alaska last summer even when we asked for multiple appetizers to be brought at one time (usually it was a cold soup and something else), they insisted on one at a time. Annoying.

 

This is the way they always serve us multiple appetizers, which we order frequently. Only we don't find it annoying; we like them served this way.

 

They probably insisted one at a time because the head waiter would not be pleased to see multiple courses crowding the table all at the same time. They are fussy about that.

[brimarl]

Wow an entree being served already when they were only 10-15 late

[TravelerThom]

Wow an entree being served already when they were only 10-15 late

Not saying the poster was not being accurate, but I have seen a number of times when other people claim they have only been gone from their pool chair for "10-15 minutes" and I've been in the chair next to "their's" for an hour and never seen them before:rolleyes:

[postmeome]

Yes, that seems to be what I am seeing recently.

 

OK, we usually arrive 10-15 minutes late, because we are enjoying the CL or DL.:o

Last cruise, Christmas cruise, our table mates were enjoying their main course when we arrived.:eek:

They would arrive very early and order, skip dessert, and leave without excusing themselves.

 

I say,the filthy beasts,skip dessert without excusing themselves they should be flogged ....

[brillohead]

Not saying the poster was not being accurate, but I have seen a number of times when other people claim they have only been gone from their pool chair for "10-15 minutes" and I've been in the chair next to "their's" for an hour and never seen them before:rolleyes:

 

 

Like the old hag on Navigator last month who had a hissy fit when I carefully moved her stuff onto her husband's lounger b/c nobody had been in any of the four hogged chairs for well over an hour? :rolleyes:

 

(And of course she and hubby weren't dripping wet, so it's not like they'd been nearby in the pool or hot tub that entire time, either. :rolleyes: )

[Aussie FF]

So you knew what time dinner starts, but deliberately extended your stay in the Diamond Club and arrived late? Sorry, but that is just plain rude. Your table mates arrived on time. They didn't get in early - the doors open for everyone at the same time! Chances are, they were annoyed with you for showing up late every night.

 

Sorry, what I consider rude, is leaving the DL or CL in the middle of a friendly conversation. It is certainly not deliberate. When you stop in the bathroom on the way, it is easy to be 10 minutes late. And it was certainly not every night.

The doors do open at 5.30 for family dining, and our 6pm diners were arriving early, as witnessed by our family members who arrived on time.

The waiter tried to explain to them that the 1st show was for second sitting guests. And he apologised numerous times for their early exit, as he said 'that is not the way to enjoy the dining experience'. He thought it would reflect on him.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Aussie FF

[cello56]

Sorry, what I consider rude, is leaving the DL or CL in the middle of a friendly conversation. It is certainly not deliberate. When you stop in the bathroom on the way, it is easy to be 10 minutes late. And it was certainly not every night.

The doors do open at 5.30 for family dining, and our 6pm diners were arriving early, as witnessed by our family members who arrived on time.

The waiter tried to explain to them that the 1st show was for second sitting guests. And he apologised numerous times for their early exit, as he said 'that is not the way to enjoy the dining experience'. He thought it would reflect on him.

 

Guess that we will just have to have differing standards of what constitutes rudeness. We too enjoy the Diamond lounge before dinner each night, yet we still manage to leave early enough to arrive at dinner in a timely manner. The people that you share your dining table with are equally important as the ones you are chatting with in the Diamond lounge. Both deserve respect. We simply keep an eye on the time and make our excuses early enough to allow us to arrive at the dining room on time. Even with a stop at the restroom!

[davekathy]

Guess that we will just have to have differing standards of what constitutes rudeness. We too enjoy the Diamond lounge before dinner each night, yet we still manage to leave early enough to arrive at dinner in a timely manner. The people that you share your dining table with are equally important as the ones you are chatting with in the Diamond lounge. Both deserve respect. We simply keep an eye on the time and make our excuses early enough to allow us to arrive at the dining room on time. Even with a stop at the restroom!

 

Agree with you 100%. The only difference is we always choose to have a table for two.

[TravelerThom]

Terminating a conversation is "rude", but it is okay to assault an air marshal.:confused: From2004:

 

Airline passenger refuses to shut off cell phone, slaps air marshal

 

A US Airways passenger slapped a federal air marshal after refusing to sit down and repeatedly ignoring orders to get off her cell phone, which she said would be “rude,” federal prosecutors charged Tuesday.

A public defender was appointed to represent Lilia Belkova, who will remain in jail pending a bail hearing Thursday.

Belkova was charged with assaulting a federal officer and interfering with a flight crew after her Miami-Philadelphia flight returned to the gate last Wednesday to drop her off.

The trouble started when she refused orders to turn off her phone while Flight 26 was taxiing for takeoff, saying: “It is rude to hang up on people. I don’t have to turn my phone off.”

A flight attendant told her that she would need to change her seat if she couldn’t follow instructions because she was sitting in an emergency exit row, which was open only to people who follow directions. She was sitting 11 rows ahead of her assigned seat.

Belkova, 38, responded that she was disabled and needed a wheelchair to reach the jet. The flight attendant said that was another reason for her to move because only people who could open the exit door were allowed to sit there.

Belkova said she could lift the 40-pound door and reached for the handle before other passengers yelled at her to stop.

The plane’s first officer was notified and decided Belkova needed to get off the plane. Heading back to the gate, she stood up, walked forward and was told to sit down.

One of two air marshals on the flight told Belkova she was interfering with the crew, told her to be seated and put a hand on her shoulder to show her where to sit.

Belkova reached back and slapped the marshal across the face, causing “minor swelling,” according to court papers filed by another marshal. Belkova was handcuffed and taken off the plane.