My Time Dining

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, rudeney said:

 

I know the Q class ships have many dining options, but doesn't every passenger still get an assigned MDR seat?  

I don’t know what kind of math RCI does with MDR seats/assignments but no, there are not enough seats to assign everyone to the MDR in just two seatings. Q class was also designed with Dynamic Dining in mind where they counted on turning over the tables three times per night (which kinda what happens with traditional +MTD). 

[Starry Eyes]

7 hours ago, sailor05 said:

We have always done early traditional dining. At one point it was 6:00 pm for a long time, then it became 5:30 which was a little early but now on this cruise it's 5:00 pm. To me that's just WAY too early for dinner. That combined with the fact that our 3 port times on this Alaskan cruise have us likely off the ship until later in the afternoon and evening we decided MTD would be a better fit. But now we're hearing nightmarish stories of long lines for MTD.

I hear you; I feel the similarly about the 5 pm time. Still, the lines for MTD when Harmony was at full capacity were just too off putting for us.  Different ship, different itinerary, etc, so your experience may be different; maybe you will soon gain insight from reviews).  As DH likes to eat early, we generally settle for early dining despite the early time, though next cruise we are trying UDP, so we might not use the MDR much. That is another option to consider if you’d like the specialty restaurants.
 

I’d postulate that with the new system they have moved early up early dining (in the US market…I am not not sufficiently in touch with other markets to comment) for two reasons:  1. With MTD starting after early dining, the sooner they start early dining, the sooner the can post MTD start time.  2. Similarly late dining does not have to be scheduled as late, so perhaps it can attract more people.   What time is late dining for your cruise?  Is that a viable option for you or is it too late?  Or perhaps pack your patience and stick with MTD; hopefully you won’t encounter bad lines but you will be psychologically prepared if you do.  I really don’t mean to bum you out, I just want people to know about the new system so they can think through their options before their cruise and make the happiest choice at their leisure.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I had MTD on Harmony last week. We had made reservations for every night before boarding. I was able to change the time on a couple of reservations after boarding.We ended up at the same table every night but one.  Lines weren't bad at all. We were seated within 5 minutes every night. The line for people without reservations was very short every night. I've read horror stories about long lines but we lucked out. 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by dcgrumpy

[Submariner]

How easy is it to get the MTD changed to early Seating. We are a party of 8 with two teenagers and two old folks. When I called RCL , they said they couldnt change it as it is booked out (we are 30 days out). They did put us on a 'wait list' and also said to contact Guest Relations once boarded if the wait list didnt pan out by the time we set sail.

 

Anyone have success changing it once on-board?

[rudeney]

We have not changed from MTD to fixed-time dining, but we have changed from fixed to MTD, and also from early to late and vice-versa while on the ship.  The only caveat about that is we always cruise in suites and have access to the concierge for these type requests, so I am not sure if that was some sort of magic he was able to work for us, or if it's a simple process that the service desk could handle.

[Hogbay]

You can have your time dining, tryed it once years ago never again ,sat at a two top were the person next table was closer to me than my wife . Love going past and seeing them all lined up 🤣 

[Florida32]

We were on the freedom last month. We made reservations for 7/7:15 and got seated right away each night. Long line if you didn't have one. 

[Oceansaway17]

me thinks the issue of dining times is like chair hogs.  It will never go away and will have issues.

I have heard that the dining room staff just HATE first day of cruises and all the changes they have to make trying to please everyone.   

[c-leg5]

27 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

me thinks the issue of dining times is like chair hogs.  It will never go away and will have issues.

I have heard that the dining room staff just HATE first day of cruises and all the changes they have to make trying to please everyone.   

Pre-covid, Royal had worked out a very efficient system for MTD. Yes, there were teething problems in the beginning but we have done MTD almost since its inception without problems in the main.

 

NOW, I agree with other posters -  they have changed their model and it is simply not working. Initially we thought it was just the ship we were on but the problem is too widespread for this to be the case. People are slowly adapting and the problem is improving. We moved our reservations 15 minutes later and that seemed to be enough to avoid the peak problem. It is not ideal and it means we are dining almost as late as second sitting, which we could have chosen if that was what we wanted to do. The spontaneity and flexibility is sadly not there presently and we HOPE this is just a temporary glitch in something  that had been working well.

 

Obviously it was changed for a reason - lack of staff, tables, whatever.  hopefully it is something they can work through.

[Starry Eyes]

10 hours ago, dcgrumpy said:

I had MTD on Harmony last week. We had made reservations for every night before boarding. I was able to change the time on a couple of reservations after boarding.We ended up at the same table every night but one.  Lines weren't bad at all. We were seated within 5 minutes every night. The line for people without reservations was very short every night. I've read horror stories about long lines but we lucked out. 

 

 

What time did you generally eat?

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

Pre-covid, Royal had worked out a very efficient system for MTD. Yes, there were teething problems in the beginning but we have done MTD almost since its inception without problems in the main.

 

NOW, I agree with other posters -  they have changed their model and it is simply not working. Initially we thought it was just the ship we were on but the problem is too widespread for this to be the case. People are slowly adapting and the problem is improving. We moved our reservations 15 minutes later and that seemed to be enough to avoid the peak problem. It is not ideal and it means we are dining almost as late as second sitting, which we could have chosen if that was what we wanted to do. The spontaneity and flexibility is sadly not there presently and we HOPE this is just a temporary glitch in something  that had been working well.

 

Obviously it was changed for a reason - lack of staff, tables, whatever.  hopefully it is something they can work through.

Some ships were using the new model before covid; that is when we first encountered it.  Other ships likely changed to the new model after the restart.

[dcgrumpy]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

What time did you generally eat?

7-7:30

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

Some ships were using the new model before covid; that is when we first encountered it.  Other ships likely changed to the new model after the restart.

OK, we didn’t have any problems pre-covid and sailed the week before shutdown.

[BirdTravels]

On 5/23/2022 at 2:32 PM, island lady said:

The old MTD was a nice concept with a full dedicated deck just for that venue.  

 

Now.  IMHO...MTD is a total fail.   MTD is now a "fit in" around the early traditional dining pax.  As they leave their tables, they fit you in.   If your table is occupied by "lingering" diners...you will have to wait.  If they eat and leave quickly...you may be in luck.  

 

Used to love MTD...now...avoid it totally and have gone back to traditional dining.  

"your Table" doesn't exist with MTD, in theory. You take what ever table is available. 

 

That being said, we eat around the same time nightly and ask to be seated with the same waiters (who will have our drinks out before we order them). 

[chrismch]

We had my time dining booked at 8:30 - which was the only time we were told was available when we set up our reservation. However, when we got to the restaurant there were long lines for both the walk-ins and the reserved my time dining options. This would be the case for the rest of the cruise. Luckily for us, the concierge in the Diamond lounge was able to get us early dining with an assigned table for the rest of the week. There are three levels for the MDR, but only one is used for my time dining and shared with assigned time dining, thus the delays.

[vjmatty]

4 hours ago, chrismch said:

We had my time dining booked at 8:30 - which was the only time we were told was available when we set up our reservation. However, when we got to the restaurant there were long lines for both the walk-ins and the reserved my time dining options. This would be the case for the rest of the cruise. Luckily for us, the concierge in the Diamond lounge was able to get us early dining with an assigned table for the rest of the week. There are three levels for the MDR, but only one is used for my time dining and shared with assigned time dining, thus the delays.

Did you book your reservations through the Cruise Planner or on board? Reading this thread it’s looking like my reservations for MTD in the Planner may be meaningless lol 

[Biker19]

9 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Reading this thread it’s looking like my reservations for MTD in the Planner may be meaningless

No at all. On most ships most of the time you are much better off having a booking. 

[rebeccac]

We have used MTD previously on Royal and it has never been an issue.  I was unaware of the changes, so I logged on to see what times I could get for our December cruise and except for the first night where I could get 6:45pm, the only other time available for all nights was 9:15!  That is way too late!  We generally eat between 6:30p and 7:30p at home.  I will keep checking back to see if anything opens up, but we may be doing specialty dining and Windjammer as I would rather not deal with long lines.  What time is late dining?  I might consider trying to switch to that if it is not too late.  

[island lady]

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

"your Table" doesn't exist with MTD, in theory. You take what ever table is available. 

 

That being said, we eat around the same time nightly and ask to be seated with the same waiters (who will have our drinks out before we order them). 

 

Many times in the past I would ask the host at the MTD entrance why so many tables empty, but we are still standing there waiting for our table for our reservation.   They would tell me they are trying to set us up at the same table, with the same wait team...without asking if that is what we would like. 

 

IMHO...If the MTD program were run like a regular restaurant, where indeed you take the next available table, much like when you walk in for breakfast or lunch in the MDR....then I think things would go more like it was designed.  But again...that is just my opinion.  

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

This is an interesting thread because we've sailed Royal in the past and took our very first Carnival cruise in March, our 16th cruise overall. They had the entire dining systems down pat with their app, even on a ship that was sailing 100% full, 5500-5900 passengers. 

 

All reservations and notifications were on the app so there was no need to queue up anywhere on the ship. MDR or Specialty Dining. We had My Time dining (or whatever they call it) and when we were ready for dinner, we would click "I'm Ready" on the app. The app would then notify us when our table was ready, similar to those buzzers or texts you get from land based restaurants. We would have ten minutes to get to the MDR to claim our table. But we could be anywhere on the ship enjoying drinks, music, the outdoors, whatever. It was super easy and really nice to not have to stand in long lines.

 

As we are sailing Symphony in December, now I'm wondering if anytime dining is worth it or Royal has just made a royal pain of the system. We've sailed Mariner and Freedom in the past and never had any sorts of long lines, nor issues getting into the dining room when it opened. 

[dcgrumpy]

1 hour ago, WheresWalter said:

This is an interesting thread because we've sailed Royal in the past and took our very first Carnival cruise in March, our 16th cruise overall. They had the entire dining systems down pat with their app, even on a ship that was sailing 100% full, 5500-5900 passengers. 

 

All reservations and notifications were on the app so there was no need to queue up anywhere on the ship. MDR or Specialty Dining. We had My Time dining (or whatever they call it) and when we were ready for dinner, we would click "I'm Ready" on the app. The app would then notify us when our table was ready, similar to those buzzers or texts you get from land based restaurants. We would have ten minutes to get to the MDR to claim our table. But we could be anywhere on the ship enjoying drinks, music, the outdoors, whatever. It was super easy and really nice to not have to stand in long lines.

 

As we are sailing Symphony in December, now I'm wondering if anytime dining is worth it or Royal has just made a royal pain of the system. We've sailed Mariner and Freedom in the past and never had any sorts of long lines, nor issues getting into the dining room when it opened. 

 

 

We sailed on Mardi Gras in October and I loved that feature. We would get read and go into the app as we left the room. By the time we got to the MDR our table was ready. 

 

We didn't encounter any long lines on Harmony last week. I normally don't make reservations beforehand because I want flexibility. For Harmony I made reservations every night because I had read how bad the lines. We were pleasantly surprised. We were seated within 5 minutes every night and were able to change times a couple of nights. Even the line for people with no reservations was pretty short. I don't think I ever saw more than 10 people waiting. I'm crossing my fingers for our upcoming Mariner cruise. 

[mafig]

We've done MTD for years, but if we decide it's better to ask for Traditional on our next cruise, will we be able to get a table for two.  In the olden days, it was luck of the draw.  You could "request" a table for two, but if you found out your table was a large one, you had to line up to meet with the matre'd to get one.

[Starry Eyes]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Many times in the past I would ask the host at the MTD entrance why so many tables empty, but we are still standing there waiting for our table for our reservation.   They would tell me they are trying to set us up at the same table, with the same wait team...without asking if that is what we would like. 

 

IMHO...If the MTD program were run like a regular restaurant, where indeed you take the next available table, much like when you walk in for breakfast or lunch in the MDR....then I think things would go more like it was designed.  But again...that is just my opinion.  

 

 

I think the hosts often try to keep people at the same table or with the same waitstaff even if guests do not make the request.  That may contribute to delays.

 

1 hour ago, mafig said:

We've done MTD for years, but if we decide it's better to ask for Traditional on our next cruise, will we be able to get a table for two.  In the olden days, it was luck of the draw.  You could "request" a table for two, but if you found out your table was a large one, you had to line up to meet with the matre'd to get one.

You can specify your table size request when you book.  More importantly though, email the request about 3 weeks prior to the cruise to rcldining@rccl.com

Doing that seems to give a very high rate of success.  Also, if you have early dining on a ship using the new MTD system, there are lots of tables for two for early diners, as early diners use the small table that will later be used for MTD.

2 hours ago, dcgrumpy said:

 

 

We sailed on Mardi Gras in October and I loved that feature. We would get read and go into the app as we left the room. By the time we got to the MDR our table was ready. 

 

We didn't encounter any long lines on Harmony last week. I normally don't make reservations beforehand because I want flexibility. For Harmony I made reservations every night because I had read how bad the lines. We were pleasantly surprised. We were seated within 5 minutes every night and were able to change times a couple of nights. Even the line for people with no reservations was pretty short. I don't think I ever saw more than 10 people waiting. I'm crossing my fingers for our upcoming Mariner cruise. 

The Carnival app sounds great.  If only…

[island lady]

3 hours ago, mafig said:

We've done MTD for years, but if we decide it's better to ask for Traditional on our next cruise, will we be able to get a table for two.  In the olden days, it was luck of the draw.  You could "request" a table for two, but if you found out your table was a large one, you had to line up to meet with the matre'd to get one.

 

I have never had any problems asking for a "two top" and receiving one.   With any meal in the MDR.  

[taglovestocruise]

On 5/23/2022 at 7:43 PM, rudeney said:

 

I know the Q class ships have many dining options, but doesn't every passenger still get an assigned MDR seat?  I know MTD pax don't get an assignment, but if these ships were in server before MTD was offered. how did they handle that?

Every guest with late or early traditional gets a assigned dining room and table number.  When you choose MTD you are put Into the full group of MT diners. If you have a reservations you are usually seated quickly, no reservations and you just get what opens up.  Way to many with MTD and no reservations insist on eating at 6:30 - 7pm. We had MTD for one night several years ago, people next to us were about 8 inches away.  Never again, we love late seating at a large table.  Usually have at least a three night specialty for alone time.