My time dining - reservations - why?

[dreadpirate3]

I've not seen a pager used for Royal's MTD.

 

They did on the Freedom last week.

 

We always do MTD, and I always make reservations. We don't always follow those exact reservations when on the ship, but the staff has always been willing to accommodate us. Except for the second formal night, we've been able to be seated with the same wait team.

[Clarea]

They did on the Freedom last week.

 

We always do MTD, and I always make reservations. We don't always follow those exact reservations when on the ship, but the staff has always been willing to accommodate us. Except for the second formal night, we've been able to be seated with the same wait team.

Appreciate the update.

[03063Dad]

I really didn't know this was an option and just went on to begin reserving specific times. For each night the available times jump from 5:15 to 7:30. Are time in between usually available and just already booked?

[Clarea]

I really didn't know this was an option and just went on to begin reserving specific times. For each night the available times jump from 5:15 to 7:30. Are time in between usually available and just already booked?

So many people report not being able to reserve these times, I suspect that they are not available (or there are very few available) for pre-cruise reservations.

[rukkian]

I really didn't know this was an option and just went on to begin reserving specific times. For each night the available times jump from 5:15 to 7:30. Are time in between usually available and just already booked?

I am pretty sure it is because of the give a reservation for that time, it means the table can only do one seating that day. They can't seat somebody else, because they may not finish, and by the time you are done, there is a chance nobody else will be able to use the table either.

 

You can definitely go at that time, but it is when you will see the biggest lines.

 

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[Jasonmom]

Depends on the ship, on oasis or quantum class, you can pre book the shows, so you will know (at least for the big things) what will be happening. You can always take a quick guess before hand, and just change them when onboard.

Grandure of the Seas is the ship ..... not sure what class.

 

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[Clarea]

Grandure of the Seas is the ship ..... not sure what class.

Grandeur is a Vision class ship, so no pre-cruise entertainment reservations.

[Biker19]

Grandure of the Seas is the ship ..... not sure what class.

The shows are typically at 7 and 9 PM (and last about 45 min) so you can reserve times around that.

[tnt10]

All this hub-bub is the reason we have changed our dining reservations to late seating from MTD.

We don't want to wait for a table, and like to get to know the waiters and for then to get to know us too.

the only way to guarantee this, was to change to late seating. Win-win for us:cool:

[BekkaW]

No, the point of my time dining is not to decide when to eat on the spot - although it does enable that option. The 'point' is to be able to eat at a time other than the 2 traditional times.

 

It's just like a restaurant on land, you can book a time or you can turn up and hope there's not too long a wait

[Jasonmom]

The shows are typically at 7 and 9 PM (and last about 45 min) so you can reserve times around that.

Thanks

 

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[It'sRC4ME]

If you have a large party, making reservations would be a good thing as it would reduce waiting time. If you are a party of two, depending on demographic, you could have little to no wait without reservations.

 

I'm curious - what do demographics have to do with whether a party of two is seated quickly? Are older folks seated ahead of younger folks who have been waiting longer? Are minorities made to wait unnecessarily?

[Clarea]

I'm curious - what do demographics have to do with whether a party of two is seated quickly? Are older folks seated ahead of younger folks who have been waiting longer? Are minorities made to wait unnecessarily?

Some demographics are such that 6pm dining is very popular and lines would be long. Others may have the long lines later, around 7:30pm. These kinds of things are not predictable pre-cruise..

 

 

Why didn't you end your inquiry with the initial sentence? Why was it necessary to look for offense?

[Terre]

We are just home from Serenade and the only time available on the planner was 5:30 so I chose that. It was a mess. It seemed they had everyone book that time. Service was very slow. After the first night we went at 6:30 and had no wait to be seated or with service. We always get a table for two so there is no waiting for the table to fill up. We always get to the shows on time.

 

Click here for my Serenade of the Seas review:. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2576467

[It'sRC4ME]

Some demographics are such that 6pm dining is very popular and lines would be long. Others may have the long lines later, around 7:30pm. These kinds of things are not predictable pre-cruise..

 

 

Why didn't you end your inquiry with the initial sentence? Why was it necessary to look for offense?

 

Because I thought you were referring to the demographic of the party of two, not the demographic of all the passengers on the cruise, and was astounded that you would make that statement as if taking demographics into account when seating a party of two was the most normal thing in the world. Now that I understand that you're talking about everyone on the ship, I totally agree with your observation.

[Clarea]

Because I thought you were referring to the demographic of the party of two' date=' not the demographic of all the passengers on the cruise, and was astounded that you would make that statement as if taking demographics into account when seating a party of two was the most normal thing in the world. Now that I understand that you're talking about everyone on the ship, I totally agree with your observation.[/quote']

Understood, I should have been clearer in my initial post.

[Jasonmom]

What time does anytime dining start? What is earliest time for reservations?

 

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[Clarea]

What time does anytime dining start? What is earliest time for reservations?

Varies, but most often I've seen it starting at 5:30pm, even when traditional starts at 6pm.

[#1packerfan]

I am just off Harmony and we did MTD. I am also gluten free. We did not make a reservation except for the first night. Our Head Waiter gave me his card the first night and told me to request his section each night so I would always have him since he took my order each night. Of all the cruises I have been on, he has by far been the most attentive and most accommodating with my Celiac. He was fantastic!

 

And, I had gluten free dinner rolls rather than that dried up bread I normally get. They were excellent. Even my brother in law who is not gluten free commented on how good they were. We never make reservations on any ship we are on and I have never had any issues at all getting my gluten free meals that I pre-ordered the night before. We like the flexibility of going whenever we want.

 

But as some people have mentioned, it is all a personal choice. There were 4 of us, and we did not wait more than a few minutes on any given night. We just worked around our shows, but typically went later, around 8.

[LuCruise]

We selected My Time over Traditional dining on our Allure cruise. Our reasoning is that so we could book dinner times around shows. This was important to us since we were coming with kids with my younger one being 6 so we didn't want to be set to a late show every night (or late dinner every night). We did pre-book dinner and had no wait but I'm a planner and so I liked knowing what time we were eating. Even with My Time, with pre-booking we actually ended up with the same waiter and same table from nights 3-7 so it worked well for us. I can't comment on how long the wait would be if you don't pre-book but that is also an advantage of My Time.

 

PS - For our upcoming cruise, we are trying traditional since our kids will be a bit older then

[katiel53]

At home I normally have dinner at 7PM and like to do the same on the ship. There is no regular seating for that time, as early is 5:30 and late I think is PM.

 

I make reservations for 7PM nightly except when we have a show time that may conflict with that. Additionally, the line for no reservations many nights is long, especially on the formal nights. Even with reservations on the lobster night, there is a line for us, but it moves faster than the non-reservation line.

[Biker19]

I make reservations for 7PM nightly except when we have a show time that may conflict with that.

For anyone trying to do this (make a reservation for 7PM) online before the cruise, you are not missing anything - it is very unlikely that choice will ever become available, reserve on board.

[Grandma Petania]

I make reservations for the same time each night - a time in between the two seating times - for 2 reasons. First, I cruise solo and find getting assigned to a table with couples or worse, a "singles dump" table extremely awkward and by making a reservation for MTD I know I'm getting my own table and don't have to request and hope it happens with traditional dining. Second, I am gluten-free and have a peanut allergy, and by making a reservation for the same time each night allows me to have the same table and more importantly service team each night. I have been on a cruise with an open seating concept (they seated you at the next available table when you came in) (fathom, in case you were wondering), and it was really unsettling having different servers every night - especially when something I'd ordered came out with bread all over it. Having the same team means they're going to know my needs after the first night and make sure I'm not going to be exposed to an allergen - having different people each night doesn't give me that same confidence.

I am allergic to shellfish. On my last two cruises, once they knew this, at the end of the meal they brought me a copy of the next night's menu, so I could order in advance. It was explained to me that my meal would be prepared in a special room, so there was no chance of contamination, even by someone's apron.

[bennob66]

If we wish to reserve each night of a 12 night cruise on Explorer Of The Seas for MTD, do we have to do 12 individual reservations?

[cb at sea]

Once you are ON the ship, you can make "standing" reservations, if you wish.  Reservations are NOT required.  You aren't able to make reservations in advance for the 'popular times"...like from 6:45-7:30....

 

If you have no reservations, you go to the dining room when you're ready and they will seat you at the next avail. table, just like in any restaurant on land.