First time with Royal Caribbean

[Painter]

Booked and was told 1st and 2nd seating in dining room was fully booked and I would have to take "My Time Dining" ....what does that mean? Thanks.

[hallasm]

I always use My Time Dining

The program let you eat in the main dining room on your own schedule.

You can select times to eat between the hours of 5:30 and 9:30 p.m.

You can choose a different time each day, so you can fit dinner around the rest of your on shore and on board plans.

You can book table in advance or when you are on board - and you can change reservations - or just show up - the there might be a waiting list.

[robtulipe]

It's flexible time dining when you can go to one section of the MDR, typically the upper level, anytime between 5:15 and 9:30pm. You can even make a reservation each evening for a certain time and even request a specific waiting team if you find one to your liking. Typically reservations between 7 and 8 are blocked out, not allowed, as this is the high time for flex dining. Other wise you just show up and they seat you when a table for your group size becomes available.

We actually prefer MTD with its flexibility as to time and with whom you dine with. You can go as a group on a certain evenings to dine with new met onboard friends or even select to dine with others at a large table which enables you to meet other cruisers..

[Painter]

Thanks for your reply...we will be happy as long as we get fed!

[vacationlover_mn]

We did MTD on Allure a few years ago, and were pretty happy with it. I think that we did not pre-book our dining times, there was 5 of us, and we never had to wait too long.

 

On NCL, my DH and I prebooked all of our MTD, and really like that. We had no waiting, and we often showed up early (5:30ish) for our (6pm) reservation, and always got seated right away.

[Biker19]

Thanks for your reply...we will be happy as long as we get fed!

 

Don't totally give up on traditional. You can ask whomever booked your cruise to put you on a wait list before the cruise and failing that, you can ask to be seated in traditional on the ship (do this as soon as you board).

[tserface]

Others have described My Time Dining, but I just wanted to jump in with others and say we always choose this as well. I think RCI is making more of this available and less of the traditional type as time goes on. Unlike traditional dining with MTD you can do different times on different days or the same time if you want. You can also just show up early or late if you change your mind and they often will seat you quickly anyway.

 

If you sit a table with others you can decide to go back there on subsequent nights (say, if you hit if off). Just tell the hostess that you liked the waiter and group and they'll note it. Many times we end up at the same table with the same people like traditional, but we go at a time like 6:15p that we all like. They really do try to be accommodating.

 

The only tricky thing with MTD is you may or may not have the same waitstaff (depending on your preferences) so it's difficult to figure out who to tip, but they make that easier these days by auto-distributing the tips. You can always give extra to anyone you want so that's not an issue.

 

Another thing that is nice is you could be at a table with a group for most nights, but decide to have one night with just two of you. You should just tell the host the night before you plan to do this ... also tell them if you are not going to be there because you're booked at a specialty restaurant.

 

It's not as confusing as all of this sounds. It's mostly just like a regular restaurant experience only you have the option of sitting with other people (seldom happens on land).

 

Tom

[luckyinpa]

i'm new as well and i'm curious about something. on the specialty dining page on NCL it tells you that you must use in SDP in the first two days. is this enforced? we likely would anyway but its weird

 

also regarding MDR, for walkups during non peak times, are there generally tables for 2 available. I don't mind 15 or 20 min wait but just curious how packed the MDR gets. one thing i'm going to have to get used to is that the dining rooms don't have the same menus. on NCL they did

[Biker19]

also regarding MDR, for walkups during non peak times, are there generally tables for 2 available. I don't mind 15 or 20 min wait but just curious how packed the MDR gets. one thing i'm going to have to get used to is that the dining rooms don't have the same menus. on NCL they did

There's just one MDR and it has the same menu. If you have MTD, a table for 2 is fairly common and easy to get within a reasonable wait time at non peak hours (much less than 20 min).

[cb at sea]

The only downside (for us) is that you won't be seated with others....we enjoy tablemates!

[FireStation46]

MTD in the MDR is fine but don't overlook booking a speciality dining room for one night of several. I find the speciality restaurants are not the huge crowds you see in the MDR.

 

The last option is Johnny Rockets and similar food olaces or room service.

 

The additional charge is there but not a budget breaker IMHO