Dinner reservations for a large group?

[canuckgal]

Hi, we are going a Symphony of the Seas New Year's cruise with my husband's family. My in laws booked the cruise through a travel agent, but it has fallen to me to think through some of the  on-ship details.  I have never sailed Royal Caribbean before. There will be 22 of us- what is the best way to ensure we have 2 large tables in the MDR each night at the same time. We would prefer to eat at 7pm, we find the early seating too early, the late seating too late. I know this makes it a little more difficult to arrange than just using the traditional dining.

Can the travel agent arrange this for us? Can I contact somebody on the ship ahead of time? I am worried if we aren't proactive, it will be impossible to accommodate our unique needs once we step on the ship with such a busy sailing.  Also, how do I book tickets for the water show for all of us? Again, can the travel agent do this for us? Can she book a break out room for us for an afternoon? We would like to have a card game tournament. 

 

Thanks for any help or advice regarding planning for a group!

[Clarea]

You must arrange dinner tables onboard, at the MTD desk at the entrance to the dining room.

[cruisegus]

please with this big of a group all wanting to eat together decide on either early or late traditional seating, trying to do MTD with a big group make it a mess for everyone else as those table sit empty as they try to accommodate your whole group.

 

sorry but just my opinion

[NETSEG]

We did a group of 15 on Allure using MTD with 2 adjacent tables - one with 9 and another with 6.  Before the cruise,  we made sure the booking numbers were all linked as a group, made reservations for everyone on Cruise Planner and then visited the Maitre’d as soon as we got on board.  We ate every night at 6:30 with the same tables and waiter.  It worked out fine.  They will try to work with you but you need to be flexible and work with them on times and table locations.  

[marys350]

5 hours ago, NETSEG said:

We did a group of 15 on Allure using MTD with 2 adjacent tables - one with 9 and another with 6.  Before the cruise,  we made sure the booking numbers were all linked as a group, made reservations for everyone on Cruise Planner and then visited the Maitre’d as soon as we got on board.  We ate every night at 6:30 with the same tables and waiter.  It worked out fine.  They will try to work with you but you need to be flexible and work with them on times and table locations.  

We did the same thing with our party of 16 on our Mariner cruise in June and it worked out fine.

 

OP, if everybody booked through the same travel agent, ask the agent to link all of the reservations. Also check with him/her about your other questions.

 

We made our MTD reservation for 6:15 every night in the cruise planner, but had to be flexible when we spoke to the maitre'd on board and changed it to 6:00 in order to get our tables together, with the same wait staff every night. It may be difficult to get a 7:00 reservation for a party of 22 since that time is midway between the two traditional times. They want to "turn the tables over" at least twice in the evening and not have them sit empty while holding them for such a large group.

Edited August 13, 2019 by marys350

[leisuretraveler223]

10 hours ago, cruisegus said:

please with this big of a group all wanting to eat together decide on either early or late traditional seating, trying to do MTD with a big group make it a mess for everyone else as those table sit empty as they try to accommodate your whole group.

 

Nonsense!  If they can do it, they will!  I often see large tables right next to each other in MTD for this very reason.

[canuckgal]

Ok, thanks everyone for the helpful info. My sister in law reminded me last night that because we are all from the west, an 8 o'clock dinner reservation will still be like eating at 5 or 6 for us, so we might go with the late seating  so it is easier to accommodate us. I will definitely make sure the travel agent links our reservations. Thanks again!

[brucefan21]

It's interesting to hear accounts of large groups being accommodated for my time dining.  We have a group of 16 and was told several times by the groups department that we need to book the standard dining times because it is nearly impossible to guarantee that our group would be seated near each other in my time dining.  They said it is like restaurant dining at home.  You have to wait for a table to clear.

[oracer]

I use rcldining@rccl.com email address each time we have a cruise because we have 4 rooms of 2 with 8 people.  They have always prior to sailing gone ahead and reserved a table for us.  We are leaving on the FOS in 12 days and have already secured an 8 top with Issac Dining Room with an actual table number.   

 

We have My Time Dining designation.

[marys350]

12 minutes ago, oracer said:

I use rcldining@rccl.com email address each time we have a cruise because we have 4 rooms of 2 with 8 people.  They have always prior to sailing gone ahead and reserved a table for us.  We are leaving on the FOS in 12 days and have already secured an 8 top with Issac Dining Room with an actual table number.   

 

We have My Time Dining designation.

Royal Caribbean must be inconsistent about using this email address for My Time Dining table reservations. I sent an e-mail to rcldining@rccl.com for my cruise in June, requesting that my party of 16 be placed at two tables beside or near each other in MTD. Our reservations were all linked and I provided all of our names and numbers. I received an e-mail response, which stated that rcldining@rccl.com is only used to make arrangements/requests for Traditional Dining Reservations, and that I would have to go directly to the Maitre'D as soon as I got on the ship to take care of my request. Fortunately, we were able to have our request honored on the ship and it worked out fine.

[Biker19]

11 minutes ago, marys350 said:

Royal Caribbean must be inconsistent about using this email address for My Time Dining table reservations.

Not really, as their reply indicated, they don't make table assignments for MTD at that address.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Biker19