what's the point of picking your dining time...

[Illbcruzn4life]

We picked our dining times for anytime dining 7:45pm on our just completed Oasis cruise. We got the confirmation from Royal. We then picked out shows and times for shows. When we got on the ship all of our dining times were changed to 8:30pm. This then screwed up a couple shows we booked.

 

So what is the point of picking your times when they just change them on you and don't let you know until you are on the ship?

[Tatka]

What do you mean it was changed? It is not normal. Probably it was a mistake.

Anyway, why have you not corrected it if you noticed this mistake?

If you could not get this corrected .. this is My Time Dining, Show up at convenient time an you will be seated. Maybe you will need to stand in line, but still better than missing the show.

[smokeybandit]

That's why traditional dining is the best. Never have to worry about picking a time after the fact.

[Illbcruzn4life]

I didn't know that anytime dining started at 6;30 to 7 pm. I used to pick it all the time and went around 6 or so.

 

I won't make that mistake again. I'll pick early.

 

We only went to the mdr 3 times during the week. Ate elsewhere the other nights. When we got in line at anytime they told us we are early and that our reservation was 8:30pm. After some back and forth they found us a table. Each time we went to the MDR we did this and one night they took us upstairs to another dining room. The waiter did not seem very happy with us.

[c-leg5]

6 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I didn't know that anytime dining started at 6;30 to 7 pm. I used to pick it all the time and went around 6 or so.

 

I won't make that mistake again. I'll pick early.

 

We only went to the mdr 3 times during the week. Ate elsewhere the other nights. When we got in line at anytime they told us we are early and that our reservation was 8:30pm. After some back and forth they found us a table. Each time we went to the MDR we did this and one night they took us upstairs to another dining room. The waiter did not seem very happy with us.

Presumably you made your 7.45pm reservations in advance online?

 

Didn’t you print out, or save to files, your email confirmations to show if necessary on the  ship?

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

When we got in line at anytime they told us we are early and that our reservation was 8:30pm.

You unfortunately experienced some

sort of IT glitch in combination with a poor MTD host - that is not the norm. 

[nelblu]

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Each time we went to the MDR we did this and one night they took us upstairs to another dining room. The waiter did not seem very happy with us.

On Oasis, it seems that all of the dining rooms are also used for my MTD.  In August. we had traditional at 5 (initially it was 5:30) on the 5th deck room and they were accommodating MTD diners as early as 6PM.  On our October sail I requested the dining room on the 3rd deck and this room was also used for MTD guests.  One guest seated next to said that he was on MTD, but yet had the same table and sat at 5:15 every night.

 

Also, why do you care if the waiter was unhappy.  It's his/her job to seat you where instructed.

Edited October 30, 2023 by nelblu

[bavrail18]

We had two cruises on Serenade in August. Both of were for early fixed dining.

When we got on the ship they were both changed to MTD. 

In both cases I was told it was done by the shoreside team. I contacted customer service and was told it was done by the ship. 

I did get it changed to early fixed dining, but like the title says

"what's the point of picking your dining time..."

[island lady]

11 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That's why traditional dining is the best. Never have to worry about picking a time after the fact.

 

Me too.  Used to love MTD....until they really messed it up.  Now we are very happy doing the traditional first seating.  🤗

 

Only trouble I am having is the WC...they won't give us anything but MTD and we booked the day the quarters came out.  Still can't get it changed. 😞 

[smokeybandit]

4 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Me too.  Used to love MTD....until they really messed it up.  Now we are very happy doing the traditional first seating.  🤗

 

Only trouble I am having is the WC...they won't give us anything but MTD and we booked the day the quarters came out.  Still can't get it changed. 😞 

MTD was a great idea that they let grow way too big.

[RFerrington]

I guess we are either extremely lucky or just not very particular b/c we have had nothing but good experiences with MTD - both pre and post-COVID.  Granted, we always make the earliest reservation we can b/c we are generally early eaters but aside from a very short wait, we have always been seated promptly.  Also, we are not particular about our servers.  I have never really understood the obsession with having the same servers night after night.  I have no real interest in making small talk and I have never realized any advantage of having the same servers.  I don't mind having the same servers but I certainly don't have any objection to a new seat on any given night.

[Tatka]

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That's why traditional dining is the best. Never have to worry about picking a time after the fact.

It’s not in a form it exists today. I don’t want to eat at 5:30 or 8. 
Also we cruise for a long time … and we had mistakes in ordering earlier traditional time and getting later. It’s a mistake 

[Tatka]

32 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

MTD was a great idea that they let grow way too big.

None is perfect 

[time4u2go]

43 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Me too.  Used to love MTD....until they really messed it up.  Now we are very happy doing the traditional first seating.  🤗

Agreed.  It used to be a lot better than it is now, sadly.

[Tatka]

29 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Agreed.  It used to be a lot better than it is now, sadly.

It’s also messed up.

 

5:30 is not a good time for traditional seating. It used to be at 6:30

[Illbcruzn4life]

41 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I guess we are either extremely lucky or just not very particular b/c we have had nothing but good experiences with MTD - both pre and post-COVID.  Granted, we always make the earliest reservation we can b/c we are generally early eaters but aside from a very short wait, we have always been seated promptly.  Also, we are not particular about our servers.  I have never really understood the obsession with having the same servers night after night.  I have no real interest in making small talk and I have never realized any advantage of having the same servers.  I don't mind having the same servers but I certainly don't have any objection to a new seat on any given night.

I think you must be extremely lucky. I booked our times the first day we were eligible and got 7:45pm. We eat at 6 everyday at home. The later I eat the harder it is to sleep at night with acid reflux. When we book another Royal cruise I’ll pick early dining for sure.

[LobsterStalker]

3 hours ago, nelblu said:

On Oasis, it seems that all of the dining rooms are also used for my MTD.  In August. we had traditional at 5 (initially it was 5:30) on the 5th deck room and they were accommodating MTD diners as early as 6PM.  On our October sail I requested the dining room on the 3rd deck and this room was also used for MTD guests.  One guest seated next to said that he was on MTD, but yet had the same table and sat at 5:15 every night.

 

Also, why do you care if the waiter was unhappy.  It's his/her job to seat you where instructed.

Personally It wouldn't put me in the right frame of mind to sit and enjoy a nice relaxing meal with my wife  if I have just got done argueing/begging/pleading my case to the host and then being dragged up a couple flights by an unhappy waiter. 

.... I doubt if that's just me !

 

Cheers

[Cruiser 5452]

One of the first things that I do when I get on the ship is go to the dining room and double check my dining reservations, have had a couple of hiccups, but got them taken care of in one visit to the dining room.   Have always walked away pleased with the results.  

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

MTD was a great idea that they let grow way too big.

They could easily limit the number of guests using MTD.  Just like when early traditional "sells out", or late traditional, just limit the number of guests who can choose MTD and force the others to traditional times.

 

The way they handle MTD now is terrible.  It also forces early seating to be way too early in most cases, so it's a lose, lose scenario.

Edited October 30, 2023 by The Fun Researcher

[RFerrington]

29 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I think you must be extremely lucky. I booked our times the first day we were eligible and got 7:45pm. We eat at 6 everyday at home. The later I eat the harder it is to sleep at night with acid reflux. When we book another Royal cruise I’ll pick early dining for sure.

I'm totally with you on the reflux.  I cannot eat a big meal later in the evening.  I'm better off just skipping it altogether.  I'll accept that I am lucky.  Wish I was that lucky in the casino !

[reallyitsmema]

We just got off Serenade and had early seating.  We initially had booked MTD but changed to main dining after hearing all the issues with MTD.  When we booked, early seating was at 5:30, when we boarded, sea pass card said it was at 5:15.  When we went to dinner the first night, there was a huge line into the elevator lobby but with some people bypassing the line and going into the dining room.  Having already checked out our table, we decided to bypass the line, which was the right choice as we found out the majority of it was MTD people.  Dining room was already half full and it wasn't even 5:15.  Waiter told us to come closer to 5 as that works better.  

 

Starting around 5:30, other diners started to be seated at the empty tables as they filled in the dining room with MTD people from the line.  As the week progressed, they MTD crowd came in earlier and earlier.  People were getting beepers and were hanging out in the Centrum until a table was ready for them.  We never saw the huge line after the first night but when we came out of dinner around 6, there were always people sitting in the Centrum with beepers, waiting for tables in the MDR.  We were talking to one couple and their beeper went off.  She commented how quick it was and that they hadn't waited long all week.  

 

We prefer MTD as we always made a 6pm reservation when we ate in the MDR,  Not sure I like the beeper option that Serenade was doing but it was working for people who wanted earlier tables.

[c-leg5]

37 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

They could easily limit the number of guests using MTD.  Just like when early traditional "sells out", or late traditional, just limit the number of guests who can choose MTD and force the others to traditional times.

 

The way they handle MTD now is terrible.  It also forces early seating to be way too early in most cases, so it's a lose, lose scenario.

 

They have always limited the number of MTD even when MTD worked.

 

I have been forced into traditional on late bookings or waitlisted.

[c-leg5]

3 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

We just got off Serenade and had early seating.  We initially had booked MTD but changed to main dining after hearing all the issues with MTD.  When we booked, early seating was at 5:30, when we boarded, sea pass card said it was at 5:15.  When we went to dinner the first night, there was a huge line into the elevator lobby but with some people bypassing the line and going into the dining room.  Having already checked out our table, we decided to bypass the line, which was the right choice as we found out the majority of it was MTD people.  Dining room was already half full and it wasn't even 5:15.  Waiter told us to come closer to 5 as that works better.  

 

Starting around 5:30, other diners started to be seated at the empty tables as they filled in the dining room with MTD people from the line.  As the week progressed, they MTD crowd came in earlier and earlier.  People were getting beepers and were hanging out in the Centrum until a table was ready for them.  We never saw the huge line after the first night but when we came out of dinner around 6, there were always people sitting in the Centrum with beepers, waiting for tables in the MDR.  We were talking to one couple and their beeper went off.  She commented how quick it was and that they hadn't waited long all week.  

 

We prefer MTD as we always made a 6pm reservation when we ate in the MDR,  Not sure I like the beeper option that Serenade was doing but it was working for people who wanted earlier tables.

Beepers are used regularly on other cruise lines and at least you can go and sit somewhere.

 

What I don’t understand is why so many MTD people want to eat so early? Why not just choose traditional and know that you will have a table if you want to eat that early, on a regular basis. 

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, c-leg5 said:

Beepers are used regularly on other cruise lines and at least you can go and sit somewhere.

 

What I don’t understand is why so many MTD people want to eat so early? Why not just choose traditional and know that you will have a table if you want to eat that early, on a regular basis. 

 

It could have been they were forced to choose MTD and wanted early seating.  We booked right before final and only MTD was available.  I accepted that but then called back a week later and waitlisted for early seating.  We cleared the waitlist quickly but others on the rollcall never did and were stuck in MTD.  We also had a few on the rollcall have their choice changed and found out once they boarded as others have experienced.  The cruise line really needs to stop messing with MTD and go back to how it was in the past.  We had decided we wanted to try the MDR this cruise as we hadn't tried the new menus yet since we had been sailing in larger ships with Coastal Kitchen.  Now that we have tried the menus, we will pick and choose from the ones we liked and then do specialty or Windjammer.

[travelberlin]

6 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Beepers are used regularly on other cruise lines and at least you can go and sit somewhere.

 

What I don’t understand is why so many MTD people want to eat so early? Why not just choose traditional and know that you will have a table if you want to eat that early, on a regular basis. 

Actually I did not choose MTD. I was automatically assigned because I have prepaid gratuities. Isn’t it the way it is?