MSC specialty restaurant reservations

[OP-cruisers]

Good morning: Sailing on the MSC Seaside in October and was looking at the specialty restaurant packages.  However when we went on the Meraviglia in this past November.  We were always told “no reservations available” both at the Yacht club concierge, we booked “butchers cut” and the only time available was as the ship was initially sailing out of Port Canaveral.  However, every night we went by this restaurant (and many more), they were completely empty. Anyone else run into this problem?  Can you just go to the restaurant and see if the have a table available?  Thanks.