My-time dining

[viperrtblck]

how does my time dining work?  i'm use to the traditional where you had 2 times to choose from, 630 or 830 I believe it was.  my TA is stating that it's recommend, but not required, to make reservation times in the main dining room for my time dining....each day.  is this true, it's best to pick and make a reservation for each night on the my time dining in the main dining room?

[Merion_Mom]

You have several ways to handle My Time Dining.

 

You can just walk up to the dining room when you want to eat.  There may or may not be a wait.

 

You can make all of your reservations pre-cruise through your Cruise Planner.

 

You can make all of your reservations after you board at the Maitre D's station on Day 1.

 

You can call from your cabin and make reservations for that night.

 

You can make a reservation for the following night when you are leaving dinner.

[37645]

I would highly recommend making reservations ahead of time via the cruise planner so that you can select the time that works best for you as times during prime hours will fill up. If you don’t make reservations you might have a long wait especially for smaller tables such as for two. 

[katiel53]

We usually reserve our times prior to sailing because we prefer to have dinner about 7PM.  I think even though it's possible to not make reservations for dinner, the 2nd formal night is very popular as that's when the lobster is served and many more people show up for dinner that night and take longer to have dinner because of ordering multiples of food.

 

We have gone on that night and even with reservations on Allure, we had quite a wait to get a table because we choose a popular time.  The line for those without reservations was really long and some, from what I read, were told nothing was available until near 9PM. 

 

Additionally, making reservations for Oasis class ships makes it easier to get to the shows as  you won't be waiting in line to get into the dining room and then rush to get to the reserved shows.

[viperrtblck]

second formal night is on a Thursday isn't it?  our cruise is sunday to sunday, 7 day

also in my cruise planner, 730 is the earliest we can make reservations, is that the earliest seating?

Edited February 3, 2019 by viperrtblck

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, viperrtblck said:

second formal night is on a Thursday isn't it?  our cruise is sunday to sunday, 7 day

also in my cruise planner, 730 is the earliest we can make reservations, is that the earliest seating?

No. All the earlier times have been taken.The 7:30 PM time or later is now what is available for MTD reservations for your cruise. Wait longer and that time will soon disappear.  

 

[viperrtblck]

correct me if i'm wrong but my time dining is the only option now, correct?  there's no more traditional 630 or 830 seating is there

[viperrtblck]

I can't reserve my dining times for the my time each day, I can only select one day and whatever time; how am I suppose to reserve for all other days?  i'm about to just say forget it and do it on board, they can't seat us as 9pm or later being their only open slots!! that's rediculous

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, viperrtblck said:

I can't reserve my dining times for the my time each day, I can only select one day and whatever time; how am I suppose to reserve for all other days?  i'm about to just say forget it and do it on board, they can't seat us as 9pm or later being their only open slots!! that's rediculous

You have to complete the reservation and then repeat the whole process again for each night even if the time is the same for each evening for MTD. It is a bummer to have to do it that way. Another option is you can always show up early for MTD without reservations. You may have a short wait but better than a late reservation.

Edited February 4, 2019 by davekathy

[viperrtblck]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

You have to complete the reservation and then repeat the whole process for each night even if the time is the same for each evening for MTD. It is a bummer to have to do it that way. 

thought that but when I try to do that it only lets me "modify" the my time dining selection from the one I already made, example I picked day 2 @730, try to go select day 3 and it doesn't allow; only says to modify the current selection for day 2

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, viperrtblck said:

thought that but when I try to do that it only lets me "modify" the my time dining selection from the one I already made, example I picked day 2 @730, try to go select day 3 and it doesn't allow; only says to modify the current selection for day 2

 The completed reservation needs to be in your cart as completed before you can proceed with any additional evenings. 

[Merion_Mom]

16 minutes ago, viperrtblck said:

correct me if i'm wrong but my time dining is the only option now, correct?  there's no more traditional 630 or 830 seating is there

 

It may be the only thing currently available on your cruise but there most certainly is traditional dining. Some ships are 5:30 & 8;  some are 6 & 8:30. 

[viperrtblck]

you're correct. thank you.  had to add to cart and then checkout each one individually.  that worked for each day

[Merion_Mom]

Just now, Merion_Mom said:

 

It may be the only thing currently available on your cruise but there most certainly is traditional dining. Some ships are 5:30 & 8;  some are 6 & 8:30. 

 

If you want to be switched into one of the fixed seatings or be waitlisted for one, contact your TA. 

[davekathy]

Just now, viperrtblck said:

you're correct. thank you.  had to add to cart and then checkout each one individually.  that worked for each day

You're welcome. Bon Appetit. 🍷

[erby2283]

22 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

You have several ways to handle My Time Dining.

 

You can make all of your reservations pre-cruise through your Cruise Planner.

 

Wow! I can't believe I never knew this! I saw this post last night and stayed up until 12:30 am making all my my-time dining for my 12 night Mediterranean cruise.  Quick question though. We are going to try and eat as much local food as possible (including dinners) - so what kind of notification and how much notice do I need to give if we're not going to make it to dinner that night? For example: I have an 8 o'clock my-time dinner reservation but we decided to eat in port at 5:30. When I get back on the ship do I need to notify someone that we won't need our 8 o'clock dining reservation?

I'd rather have reservations and not need them than vice versa. 

 

PS - I was able to add all 11 to my cart before checking out instead of having to do each one separately.

Edited February 4, 2019 by erby2283

[TBone2K]

2 hours ago, erby2283 said:

... what kind of notification and how much notice do I need to give if we're not going to make it to dinner that night?...

Glad you figured everything out. You don't *have* to give any notice at all, but they always appreciate knowing as far in advance as possible to make your table available to others for that night. You can let them know in person on the way out the night before, or just call the reservations # once you know.

Edited February 4, 2019 by TBone2K

[SRF]

It depends on the ship also.

 

We cruise on Grandeur, and just walking up, waits have been in the 2 minute range.

[DramaQueen22]

22 hours ago, davekathy said:

You have to complete the reservation and then repeat the whole process again for each night even if the time is the same for each evening for MTD. It is a bummer to have to do it that way. Another option is you can always show up early for MTD without reservations. You may have a short wait but better than a late reservation.

I just did this for my Navigator cruise.  There has to be a better system!   I got all of the times I wanted, but the whole process took almost 45 minutes before I figured it out.

[davekathy]

21 minutes ago, DramaQueen22 said:

I just did this for my Navigator cruise.  There has to be a better system!   I got all of the times I wanted, but the whole process took almost 45 minutes before I figured it out.

Agree. Especially when doing it for longer cruises and B2B cruises. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by davekathy

[HOSKI]

On Navigator they made us check in each night when we went for our reservation which created a line to get in the dining room.  I've seen posted that after the first night you could just go to your table but that isn't what happened to us.

 

Also, in the cruise planner for the Navigator I could do reservations for each night but for our upcoming cruise which is longer I had to do them one at a time.

[TBone2K]

So I guess you can't always make all your MTD reservations in advance. Sounds like one of those frustrating RC inconsistencies. We were able to speak to the reservations desk and request the same table every night at the same time on our Alaska cruise. We've never tried any other time because we prefer MDR.

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, TBone2K said:

So I guess you can't always make all your MTD reservations in advance. Sounds like one of those frustrating RC inconsistencies. We were able to speak to the reservations desk and request the same table every night at the same time on our Alaska cruise. We've never tried any other time because we prefer MDR.

I always do. I do it early for the booking and always get the times we want.  Booking early  is the key. No problem. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by davekathy

[Cobbie48]

Can’t figure out how to make reservations on the website. I was logged in to our cruise. I could make excursion res and buy all kinds of stuff but can’t figure out how to make my time res

 

thanks 

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, Cobbie48 said:

Can’t figure out how to make reservations on the website. I was logged in to our cruise. I could make excursion res and buy all kinds of stuff but can’t figure out how to make my time res

 

thanks 

 

My Time reservations would be under the "Dining" tab.