My Time Dining with a large group

[ETski]

We have a party of eight and can not agree on early or late dining. Thinking of doing My Time and setting up a time for the entire cruise, Does anyone have any experience with doing this? Good or bad? How do you go about doing this? Also concern about the nightly shows, what time are the show?  Any help will be appreciated 

[poocher]

Early is too early, late is too late.  We set up MTD for each night around 7.

[Momofshan]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

Early is too early, late is too late.  We set up MTD for each night around 7.

We decided on this exact time for our cruise next weekend, for the same reasons.  Glad to hear it's worked out for you! 

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, Momofshan said:

We decided on this exact time for our cruise next weekend, for the same reasons.  Glad to hear it's worked out for you! 

Same exact thing here. family Christmas cruise on the Anthem, 4 cabins,9 people. I was able to pre-schedule My time dining for the whole cruise at 7:00pm for all 9 people.

[Momofshan]

18 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Same exact thing here. family Christmas cruise on the Anthem, 4 cabins,9 people. I was able to pre-schedule My time dining for the whole cruise at 7:00pm for all 9 people.

Same!  Four cabins, 7 people!  Looking forward to it 🙂   Several in our group are not 'tech savvy' - so I'm really glad I was able to book it for everyone on my app.  👍

[poocher]

We will be eating at CK for a couple of nights & maybe 1 night at a specialty but for now, we have reservations for our desired time.

[palmettostatecruiser]

17 minutes ago, Momofshan said:

Same!  Four cabins, 7 people!  Looking forward to it 🙂   Several in our group are not 'tech savvy' - so I'm really glad I was able to book it for everyone on my app.  👍

Can you let me know how far in advance you could book on the app?.I'm not seeing an option for that for our October 22nd cruise.

[kwokpot]

Just now, palmettostatecruiser said:

Can you let me know how far in advance you could book on the app?.I'm not seeing an option for that for our October 22nd cruise.

You should definitely be able to do it now. I did my Christmas cruise months ago! Easier to do it online on their website. Go to cruise planner. It's a bit complicated since you have to add all the guests into the planner, but once you do you can do whole cruise dinner reservations at all at once.

[Momofshan]

Just now, palmettostatecruiser said:

Can you let me know how far in advance you could book on the app?.I'm not seeing an option for that for our October 22nd cruise.

Hmm...it's been several weeks and we sail Oct 3.  I actually did it through my account on the website (not the app).  I have everyone's bookings linked to mine within my account.   I went to the Cruise Planner, then to 'Dining'  then 'My Time Dining' and then 'Add to Cart'   - then I had to add each day to my cart, select all the guests in my group, select the time, etc.  It was a bit tedious, but I was able to book for everyone, at the same time, for each day.     I hope that helps!

[Momofshan]

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You should definitely be able to do it now. I did my Christmas cruise months ago! Easier to do it online on their website. Go to cruise planner. It's a bit complicated since you have to add all the guests into the planner, but once you do you can do whole cruise dinner reservations at all at once.

Yes exactly - go to the cruise planner on the website!  

[kwokpot]

8 minutes ago, Momofshan said:

Yes exactly - go to the cruise planner on the website!  

Here's a screenshot of the cruise planner website. Notice the button for Plan all cruise dining. Once you make all your selections you'll 'purchase' it,no credit card needed,and you'll receive an email with all the information. It will also be in you cruise planner calendar.

[poocher]

Just be aware the new cruise planner does NOT look like this nor have I found a way to do every night at once (could just be me). Had to enter each day separately.  Kind of a pain but I was able to get our preferred time for each night for both my reservation and my brother’s linked with me.

[palmettostatecruiser]

Thanks everyone, I am trying to do for a short Mariner cruise and don't see a My Time Dining option or Plan All Cruise Dining button.  I guess you can't do it online for shorter cruises...oh well, I'll do with the Maitre d' once onboard!

Edited September 24, 2021 by palmettostatecruiser

[poocher]

My Time Dining, at least in my experience, has been buried WAAAAY down the bottom of the dining options.  You really have to scroll to find it.  This of course assumes that you opted for MTD and not a traditional seating.

[poocher]

After specialty lunches.  Mariner uses the new format I believe so you won’t see the button shown in a previous post.

Edited September 24, 2021 by poocher

[Serengeti228]

I am a newbie to RCI and have just booked my very first RCI 4 nights cruise sailing in Dec. I chose "my time dining" during the online booking process. I thought it would be "all set"! Then I started exploring the RCI CC boards and found this thread. Following the fellow cruisers' information on the MTD booking procedure, I booked the MTD for all 4 evenings. 

 

I have cruised with other lines, NCL and HAL... where I simply walked in for anytime evening dining. I am surprised to find out RCI has such complicated MTD procedure for the complimentary ones (i.e. not the payable ones), adding that I can only book 1 evening at a time, complete the process, check out, confirm, receive the confirmed email, before I can repeat the same process again, and again... Well, it is a part of the pre-cruise adventure. I will explore other essentials about my cruise, and RCI 🙂 in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

19 minutes ago, Serengeti228 said:

I am a newbie to RCI and have just booked my very first RCI 4 nights cruise sailing in Dec. I chose "my time dining" during the online booking process. I thought it would be "all set"! Then I started exploring the RCI CC boards and found this thread. Following the fellow cruisers' information on the MTD booking procedure, I booked the MTD for all 4 evenings. 

 

I have cruised with other lines, NCL and HAL... where I simply walked in for anytime evening dining. I am surprised to find out RCI has such complicated MTD procedure for the complimentary ones (i.e. not the payable ones), adding that I can only book 1 evening at a time, complete the process, check out, confirm, receive the confirmed email, before I can repeat the same process again, and again... Well, it is a part of the pre-cruise adventure. I will explore other essentials about my cruise, and RCI 🙂 in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

Just so you understand reservations are OPTIONAL,and not required. If you desire you can just walk up without reservation,just like NCL. Unlike NCL, if you desire you can make advanced reservations, so you have a choice. 

You may not know this but when NCL first instituted Freestyle Dining you had the ability to make advanced reservations. They subsequently eliminated that feature. 

 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

 

 

When I log into my app it shows: My Time Dining 6:45pm - 9:00pm for each day, but I don't see any option to reserve any specific time within those hours, as you did to select your 7:00pm slot.  

We will be on Odyssey Oct 23 & Oct 31, then Symphony Nov 6.  I'm not showing an option to pre reserve a set time on either ship.

On 9/24/2021 at 11:26 AM, kwokpot said:

Same exact thing here. family Christmas cruise on the Anthem, 4 cabins,9 people. I was able to pre-schedule My time dining for the whole cruise at 7:00pm for all 9 people.

 

Odyssey lists the options as: Main Dining Room 3 (V*), Main Dining Room 4, and My Time Dining Room (V*). 

Symphony lists Main Dining Room 3, Main Dining Room 4, and My Time Dining Room, however it does not show the (V*) Vaccinated or unvaccinated as on Odyssey