Dinning time

[futureAG]

Hi All!  We will be on the Ovation for an Alaska cruise in August. I have booked a whale watching excursion for our group of 15 and I just realized that we will be missing our set dinning time by quite a bit. Dinner at 5:15,  tour returns at 7:45. Ship leaves port at 10pm.  Would we be allowed to use Any Time Dinning in the dinning room this day or will we have to find another place for dinner?   How late does the windjammer serve dinner?  I don't think we are interested in booking any specialty restaurants, we have glance at the menu and just not feeling it.  

Edited July 20, 2022 by futureAG
spelling

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, futureAG said:

How late does the windjammer sever dinner? 

Venue operating times are listed in the app. You can discuss potentially using the MDR outside of your fixed time with a host but you are not supposed to. 

[soremekun]

This could also be an opportunity to visit one of the other dining options on the ship.

[futureAG]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Venue operating times are listed in the app. You can discuss potentially using the MDR outside of your fixed time with a host but you are not supposed to. 

My app isn't showing it yet. maybe once we get on board! 

[poocher]

Nope, should be there when you click on individual venues.

[futureAG]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

Nope, should be there when you click on individual venues.

I found it.  Took me a min. This is my first time with RC

[BND]

When we miss our DINING time we go to the WJ.  We are doing a sunset catamaran in Bermuda when we arrive on Sun on Enchantment.  Our dining time is 8 and the sunset sailing is like 6-8 so we'd be late for dinner and we do not go in late as that is so rude to the others at our table and the staff.  We'll just go to the WJ and eat something.  You have a lot more options on Ovation than we do on EN.

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, futureAG said:

Hi All!  We will be on the Ovation for an Alaska cruise in August. I have booked a whale watching excursion for our group of 15 and I just realized that we will be missing our set dinning time by quite a bit. Dinner at 5:15,  tour returns at 7:45. Ship leaves port at 10pm.  Would we be allowed to use Any Time Dinning in the dinning room this day or will we have to find another place for dinner?   How late does the windjammer serve dinner?  I don't think we are interested in booking any specialty restaurants, we have glance at the menu and just not feeling it.  

Ask the MDR host if you could have an 815 or 830 dining for that evening.    We have done it before and they will almost always accommodate you.   

If unable then you could go WJ, maybe Johnny Rockets, should be some decent options.

[rockmom]

Going to the Windjammer after an excursion is a great plan.  They have a ton of different things to choose from, everyone gets what they want and there are groups of lots of tables all together.  Also, it's easy to just head there right from the excursion and not feel like you need to 'dress for dinner' if that's something you would normally do for the main dining room. 

 

You should let your servers in the main dining room know the night before that you won't be there the next night.  That way the table can get used at your normal time by someone who is waiting on a My Time Dining spot to open up for that night. 

[BND]

17 minutes ago, rockmom said:

Going to the Windjammer after an excursion is a great plan.  They have a ton of different things to choose from, everyone gets what they want and there are groups of lots of tables all together.  Also, it's easy to just head there right from the excursion and not feel like you need to 'dress for dinner' if that's something you would normally do for the main dining room. 

 

You should let your servers in the main dining room know the night before that you won't be there the next night.  That way the table can get used at your normal time by someone who is waiting on a My Time Dining spot to open up for that night. 

They do not put MTD in set time dining spots.  

[rockmom]

34 minutes ago, BND said:

They do not put MTD in set time dining spots.  

They did when I was just on Odyssey.  The lines were long and if someone didn't show or had told their server they weren't going to show up--they sat the people from the line. I know because it happened with the table next to us twice during our sailing.  Maybe that's not the normal procedure, but it happened.  

[Biker19]

12 hours ago, BND said:

They do not put MTD in set time dining spots.  

It seems to happen sometimes on Q class when they use Chic/Grande as overflow for MTD customers.

 

Biker, who doesn't like the tassels on the chairs in Chic.

[futureAG]

12 hours ago, rockmom said:

Going to the Windjammer after an excursion is a great plan.  They have a ton of different things to choose from, everyone gets what they want and there are groups of lots of tables all together.  Also, it's easy to just head there right from the excursion and not feel like you need to 'dress for dinner' if that's something you would normally do for the main dining room. 

 

You should let your servers in the main dining room know the night before that you won't be there the next night.  That way the table can get used at your normal time by someone who is waiting on a My Time Dining spot to open up for that night. 

We will let them them know! Thanks for the reminder! I know little things like that make a big difference.

[futureAG]

13 hours ago, BND said:

When we miss our DINING time we go to the WJ.  We are doing a sunset catamaran in Bermuda when we arrive on Sun on Enchantment.  Our dining time is 8 and the sunset sailing is like 6-8 so we'd be late for dinner and we do not go in late as that is so rude to the others at our table and the staff.  We'll just go to the WJ and eat something.  You have a lot more options on Ovation than we do on EN.

I totally agree! We absolutely would not show up late and expect service in the main dinning if arrangements haven't been made and approved by the staff.  We aren't "those people"😂. I've seen this happen and I'm always thinking "wow, some people"

[futureAG]

13 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Ask the MDR host if you could have an 815 or 830 dining for that evening.    We have done it before and they will almost always accommodate you.   

If unable then you could go WJ, maybe Johnny Rockets, should be some decent options.

This is the route we are going to try. The WJ closes at 8pm and our tour returns to the dock at 7:45pm.  Im concerned about getting 15 people (some children, some with mobility issues) off the tour boat, back on the ship, upstairs, bathroom stop, washing hands, plates filled, fining tables, yaada yaada yaada... all in 15 mins!  If they would agree to a 8:30 dinning in the MRD that would be best for us I believe.  I do not understands why the WJ closes at 8pm thats just wild to me, 9pm seems much more appropriate 🤷‍♀️ 

[Marty McFly]

Looking at a recent blog, it looks like the Windjammer is open until 9pm.  That was for a June 2022 Ovation cruise.  Good review with all the compasses posted.  I'd trust what they print in the compass over the app 😝

 

https://cruisespotlight.com/ovation-of-the-seas-cruise-blog-day-3-juneau/

 

 

[bonsai3s]

15 minutes ago, Marty McFly said:

Looking at a recent blog, it looks like the Windjammer is open until 9pm.  That was for a June 2022 Ovation cruise.  Good review with all the compasses posted.  I'd trust what they print in the compass over the app 😝

 

https://cruisespotlight.com/ovation-of-the-seas-cruise-blog-day-3-juneau/

 

 

Agree.

We were on the Ovation last September and it was open until 9pm.

 

* We saw many whales from the ship during our 2 weeks onboard...counted 15 at one time.

* We are currently onboard the Navigator (LA-Catalina-Ensenada) and the Windjammer is open until 9pm. We saw whales while having dinner at Izumi...nice.

[futureAG]

On 7/21/2022 at 10:12 AM, Marty McFly said:

Looking at a recent blog, it looks like the Windjammer is open until 9pm.  That was for a June 2022 Ovation cruise.  Good review with all the compasses posted.  I'd trust what they print in the compass over the app 😝

 

https://cruisespotlight.com/ovation-of-the-seas-cruise-blog-day-3-juneau/

 

 

 

On 7/21/2022 at 10:36 AM, bonsai3s said:

Agree.

We were on the Ovation last September and it was open until 9pm.

 

* We saw many whales from the ship during our 2 weeks onboard...counted 15 at one time.

* We are currently onboard the Navigator (LA-Catalina-Ensenada) and the Windjammer is open until 9pm. We saw whales while having dinner at Izumi...nice.

 9pm would be so great!!  I also trust the printed more than what the app is showing and 8pm just doesn't make sense. 

[BirdTravels]

On 7/20/2022 at 3:28 PM, futureAG said:

Hi All!  We will be on the Ovation for an Alaska cruise in August. I have booked a whale watching excursion for our group of 15 and I just realized that we will be missing our set dinning time by quite a bit. Dinner at 5:15,  tour returns at 7:45. Ship leaves port at 10pm.  Would we be allowed to use Any Time Dinning in the dinning room this day or will we have to find another place for dinner?   How late does the windjammer serve dinner?  I don't think we are interested in booking any specialty restaurants, we have glance at the menu and just not feeling it.  

You can always ask. They probably will not say no (as they should). That’s why we only book MTD now. 

[gcelkk]

15 people including children and guests with mobility issues coming to the dining room right before they close?  I'm sure Royal will say no problem.  Not sure the wait staff would be too happy to see your group arrive.  Please consider others.

 

 

 

 

[tortoisegirl]

If you miss your dining time, don't have time for dinner in port, are too late for WindJammer, I'd consider these options:

 

Room Service.  $7.95 + 18% gratuity per cabin fee.  But that's low per person for 2+ in a cabin.  You can order more food that just for the cabin, but I wouldn't stretch it and order for more than 4 people for example (plus that would only increase the wait time).  It's also the easiest option, especially after a long port day.  You can even get cleaned up while you wait for food.  We found the food fine (at least in 2019) - the biggest issues were wait time and temperature.

 

Sorrento's Pizza.  Included.  Open late.  May have a few sides in addition to pizza.  Last cruise their pizza was actually good, way better than pre-2018/2019, when I considered it nearly inedible.

 

Cafe Promenade.  Included.  Open 24 hours.  Sandwiches and cookies and similar lite fare.

 

Amber and Oak Pub.  Per item fee.  Would likely total more than room service, as a burger is ~ $8 for example.  Open late.

 

Solarium Bistro.  Included.  Seats until 8:30pm per the app for our Ovation Alaska cruise this summer (a bit later than 8:00pm for WindJammer).  So this may be the only option for a complimentary sit down dinner after 8pm.  Dinner is Mediterranean style buffet with some other made-to-order options (some of which may have an upcharge).  Although I'm not sure they'd like you to do made-to-order if you walk in between 8 & 8:30.  We really liked their food on our last cruise in 2019 by the way.  They are also a great option for a quick breakfast that we found way less crowded than the WindJammer, without sacrificing too many options.

 

However, after a long active Alaska port day, we tended to just want to grab something quick or get room service, not even go to WindJammer or the MDR assuming we weren't too late, as we just wanted food, a shower, and sleep!  So knowing your options and keeping things flexible is a good way to go.  I wouldn't try to make arrangements for a different MDR time unless you're sure you'll be up to it.

 

Also, if you're running late for WindJammer or Solarium Bistro, you could either head straight there from the dock, or send one or two people to drop off backpacks and such at a cabin, and get them a plate of food.  You can also take food out of venues, such as if you get there right before they close and don't want to be the last group.  Although on late all aboard time Alaska port days, it's common for the WindJammer to be quite full right at closing, due to all the people who miss the MDR.