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

[BirdTravels]

10 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

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

MTD is the preferred dining for most contemporary cruisers. Royal's problem is that they cling to traditional dining times. Time to scrap traditional dining and make everything MTD. Time to totally scrap any group dining, and fill the dining rooms with 2-top tables (yeah, they still need a limited number for 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-tops for family groups). 

Edited October 31, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Mick B]

Hi all,

Choosing MTD really depends on you. I mean if like me, I travel now with just my wife, so there are just 2 of us. We choose MTD for a number of reasons.

 

Firstly, although we don't mind sitting with others, there comes a point where other people at the table either come in late for some reason or don't come in at all and this can cause a delay for the waiters and in turn cause us to have to rush our food if we are planning to go to a show.

So we book the 1845 MTD and make the 2000 show. How?

Well on boarding day, we go down to the MTD desk and speak nicely to the Maitre-D. He or she will tell us that 1845 is the earliest time (as that is what they have to tell everyone). However, because I explain that there is just the 2 of us and we are happy to sit at any available table or with anyone else, we get informed that we can come down around 1815 and if a table from the early 1715 sitting is available (due to things like guests booking chops etc) then we can have that.

Obviously, this works for us because we are just 2 and do not demand having the same table and same waiters.

Now if you are a party of 5 or more and start demanding things, then you will limit your chances of getting a table early, you may also lower your chances of getting a table at the time you want after 1845 too.

 

Now, why don't we just have the early sitting and request a table for 2 you may ask?

The reason is that depending on the itineraries during the particular cruise, we may not be back on board until just before sail away and will need to shower and change our clothes and this may mean arriving late for the early sitting.

We do not want to rush on our holiday, we want to be able to do what we want when we want.

 

Since the restart, on the ships I have been on I have noticed a lot more tables for 2 laid out in the MDR at night. 

It looks like some ships have a deck just for MTD and others mix you in where space is available as well as or instead of.

Sometimes we have had the same people next to us on both sides for the whole cruise and sometimes we have had different people on some of the nights.

I find having a slight change of people next to us during the cruise gives the opportunity for fresh and simple conversation.

Years ago when doing traditional seating for 14 nights I found talking to the same people night after night became more and more difficult as after the first few nights we had just about covered all topics.

 

So "whats the point of picking your dining time"?

Being able to have your meal when it suits you.

Not having to wait for late table guests.

Not being that late table guest and Peeing off others.

Not running out of conversation with or upsetting/getting upset with other table guests.

And, sometimes if you are nice to the staff, getting seated every (or most) night at a really nice table - and there are a few!

 

Lastly, don't forget that if when you book your cruise MTD is not showing as available, it is still worth going to see the Maitre-D upon boarding as some guests who booked MTD may have cancelled their cruise or missed it for some reason.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Mick B

[island lady]

19 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

I'm happy it works for you, I really am. However for us it's been a noticeable and significant negative change. 

 

We've sailed 22 days with the new system and the very early, early traditionally dinner time is just too early... and like I mentioned with the Quantum all the lunch venues didn't open until 12pm so by the time you got done with lunch within a few hours you are getting ready to go to dinner.  1) It severely cramps afternoon activities  2)  We weren't hungry for dinner yet. 3)  It cramps port days too, having to make it back to the ship for early dinner.

 

We used to do MTD and prebook the same time each night like 6pm or so.  Worked great, no wait.  If we  liked the table and servers the first night, we just requested them for the rest of the cruise.  Always had the same table.

 

Now you get the luck of the draw, and get to stand in a HUGE line.  We are typically a table of 7-10 so having a reservation or fixed table is pretty important unless we want to WAIT.

 

We have never eaten snacks in the afternoon, just lunch and dinner.  We prefer the late shows since we are still plenty able to stay up until midnight or beyond.  The late show doesn't cramp our style. I get why folks would like the early show though.  It frees up the rest of the evening which is nice too.

 

Agree....so many changes (and not for the better IMHO) and so many cutbacks.  Even the little things...many little things...gone.  

 

Just not the same cruise line now.  Hence why after being "loyal to Royal" the last 20 years, we have started booking other lines.  With RCI, the prices are skyrocketing.  But the experience has lessened...IMHO anyway.  No real reason to stay loyal for us any longer.  

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by island lady

[island lady]

18 hours ago, Beachin2 said:

Celebrity - Aqua class (dining in Blu) and MSC - Yacht Club only.  Those are our top 2 for now.  (Yes, I understand RC & X have the same ultimate corp. masters and feed the same stock).

 

We as well.  Finally booked our first Celebrity cruise on "Connie" doing an 8 night from Tampa up to NO, which we are looking forward to, as we have never sailed up that part of the river.  Aqua Class as well, to dine in Blu.  

 

Add in pricier, but oh so nice Viking to our line up.  Just completed the river ship cruise, will be doing their ocean class next year and their "Expedition" ship.  

 

Also have a river cruise with American Queen.  

[island lady]

19 hours ago, nelblu said:

Plenty of tables for 2 on Oasis, Anthem & Allure.  If need, you may also contact rcldining@rccl.com with any special request about 2-3 weeks prior to sail.

 

Trouble is...those "two tops" are just several inches apart in most cases.  At least it is technically a table for two, so you don't have to wait for the extremely close table next to you to order before you do, and don't have to come or go at the same time.  Just hope you like your close neighbors.  😉 

[Beachin2]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

We as well.  Finally booked our first Celebrity cruise on "Connie" doing an 8 night from Tampa up to NO, which we are looking forward to, as we have never sailed up that part of the river.  Aqua Class as well, to dine in Blu.  

 

Add in pricier, but oh so nice Viking to our line up.  Just completed the river ship cruise, will be doing their ocean class next year and their "Expedition" ship.  

 

Also have a river cruise with American Queen.  

Welcome to the dark side. 😇

[laumicmah]

So, I used to do MTD on Carnival and it was like 5:45-late. Just walk up and if no tables, they give you a pager (or now phone app, I think). Loved it. Early dining was like 6:15 and late was like 8:00 or something like that. Honestly, we are 5:15-5:30 eaters. So we'd go right when MTD opened. 

 

Just got off Adventure OTS and had MTD. Booked late and that's all they had available. I assumed it was same as Carnival. I thought, though, I needed to make resies. I tried before getting on ship and the app only showed 8:30, 8:45 times and no way am I doing that. I have been doing fasting diet and don't eat from 7pm to 11am. Well, that went out the window when the MDR desk guy set us up for 7pm resies. Better than 8:30 but I was thinking more like 6pm. He said earliest is 6:45.

 

We had trouble with shows and wanted to see the ice show one night so we bumped dinner to 8pm that night and went to 7pm ice show. That was late. We had same waiters each night, which I did like as they were good and our table neighbors were nice to chat with. But it really isnt MTD, is it. They should just go back to 2 set times, or do 4 set times so waiters can get 2 dining times and divide the levels of the MDR based on that. Like 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30...some servers do 5:30 and 7:30 and others do 6:30 and 8:30. 

 

We also have MTD for our Dec 14th cruise and I tried to get it switched with my VP and she said nope. Said to try when I get on the ship. This time I just went on to make reises and got 7:15 each night. How can I get 6:45??? Seemed like, on last cruise, they had the 5:15 early dining at our table and did a reset quick to seat us at 7pm. They don't want us at 6:45. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by laumicmah

[Beachin2]

I must be old.  I remember when "My" time dining meant you were the "My" and not them.  Need to change it to (TTD) Their Time Dining or another name that I'd get flagged for posting.

[RFerrington]

No matter what time my reservations say, if I want to eat at 6:45 I just show up at 6:30 and have never been turned away or had to wait more than 5 minutes.  IMO the reservations are meaningless.  Judst show up whenever you want to eat.

[LobsterStalker]

5 hours ago, RFerrington said:

No matter what time my reservations say, if I want to eat at 6:45 I just show up at 6:30 and have never been turned away or had to wait more than 5 minutes.  IMO the reservations are meaningless.  Judst show up whenever you want to eat.

Your experience may have worked , but I can assure based on the standby lines I saw out past the elevators each night as we were leaving early , that that is definitely not a great option !

 

Cheers

[The Fun Researcher]

17 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Your experience may have worked , but I can assure based on the standby lines I saw out past the elevators each night as we were leaving early , that that is definitely not a great option !

 

Cheers

Especially with family sized groups of 5+

[island lady]

15 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

Your experience may have worked , but I can assure based on the standby lines I saw out past the elevators each night as we were leaving early , that that is definitely not a great option !

 

Cheers

 

Totally agree  ^.    Long, long lines on our last Jewel B2B (thankfully we were traditional seating)...and long lines here on Wonder as well.  

[ohiocpa]

We've only had an assigned table and meal time on 1 of the 5 cruises we've taken.  I was very impressed with the way the waiter knew by the third night exactly what most of us would order.  We tend to not really meet anyone else on the ship except for when we get a good trivia team together.  So the assigned table forces us to meet  a couple of people  at least.

 

[Starry Eyes]

We had a “what's the point of picking your dining time...” experience today.

We had confirmed early dining for our Wonder cruise (never waitlisted).  We wanted to check our table location when we arrived on the ship, but we discovered we had somehow been magically moved to MTD.  Ship personnel blame shoreside. I don’t care whether ship or shoreside or IT is to blame.  We are inconvenienced as we do not currently have a table.

 

 

[LobsterStalker]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

We had a “what's the point of picking your dining time...” experience today.

We had confirmed early dining for our Wonder cruise (never waitlisted).  We wanted to check our table location when we arrived on the ship, but we discovered we had somehow been magically moved to MTD.  Ship personnel blame shoreside. I don’t care whether ship or shoreside or IT is to blame.  We are inconvenienced as we do not currently have a table.

 

 

I had this happen 3 times in a row .Bring it to everyones attention possible , including Guest services.

I always ended up getting a table ( night 2 on 1 of the 3 ) . MDR is operating like a $#!t $#0w

 

Cheers

[taglovestocruise]

On 10/30/2023 at 5:03 PM, BirdTravels said:

MTD is the preferred dining for most contemporary cruisers. Royal's problem is that they cling to traditional dining times. Time to scrap traditional dining and make everything MTD. Time to totally scrap any group dining, and fill the dining rooms with 2-top tables (yeah, they still need a limited number for 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-tops for family groups). 

Oasis Class.. First seating traditional is 3000, second seating traditional is 1800, leaving under 2000 for MTD.  Always a waiting list for traditional. MTD is definitely not preferred. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Oasis Class.. First seating traditional is 3000, second seating traditional is 1800, leaving under 2000 for MTD.  Always a waiting list for traditional. MTD is definitely not preferred. 

of course more people are going to opt for traditional early if the earliest you can get is 8pm for mytime.

[c-leg5]

5 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

of course more people are going to opt for traditional early if the earliest you can get is 8pm for mytime.

Exactly.

 

Not sure how you could verify the actual numbers but it stands to reason more people are signing up for first traditional by default if they can’t get early MTD.
 

It doesn’t mean they actually want  to eat at 5/5.30  but they  don’t want to wait until 7pm+.

 

Early has always been the preference in US.

 

MTD  was increasingly popular pre -Covid.

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, c-leg5 said:

Exactly.

 

Not sure how you could verify the actual numbers but it stands to reason more people are signing up for first traditional by default if they can’t get early MTD.
 

It doesn’t mean they actually want  to eat at 5/5.30  but they  don’t want to wait until 7pm+.

 

Early has always been the preference in US.

 

MTD  was increasingly popular pre -Covid.

yes it was. Now it's a cluster. So they took something that was working and messed it up. My own fault for assuming it was the same as pre covid. If I had checked we would have definitely booked early traditional.

[c-leg5]

26 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

yes it was. Now it's a cluster. So they took something that was working and messed it up. My own fault for assuming it was the same as pre covid. If I had checked we would have definitely booked early traditional.

 

I agree.
 

I am disappointed they have messed it up too although reports suggest there was a move towards this model pre-Covid which fortunately we didn’t experience, and fail to understand why.
 

Fortunately for us our preferred dining is anytime between 7.15 and 8 so we are probably not as adversely affected as many.

 

i definitely would not want to do early traditional and could probably tolerate late but it wouldn’t be my preference. 

Edited November 6, 2023 by c-leg5

[island lady]

I am still unhappy that MTD was the only thing we could get on the World Cruise.  Was told that by the Next Cruise agent when quarter bookings first came out, plus several times when I would call to check on it with phone reps.  

 

Read some posters from on the newly created 17 legs that were given traditional, but I still can't get it switched.  Ughh..

 

Absolutely detest MTD...total fail program IMHO.  😠

[nferr]

On 10/30/2023 at 9:34 AM, Tatka said:

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 

 Exactly. 5:30 is ridiculously early for me and 8 is kinda late. On Anthem in December I chose MTD and made reservations on the app for 7:30, on Oasis last month I did the same and made the reservations for 7. Never waited a minute on either ship, and had the same table and waiters each night. Both ships were full. They even had my bottle of wine on the table when I arrived.

[Tatka]

2 minutes ago, nferr said:

 Exactly. 5:30 is ridiculously early for me and 8 is kinda late. On Anthem in December I chose MTD and made reservations on the app for 7:30, on Oasis last month I did the same and made the reservations for 7. Never waited a minute on either ship, and had the same table and waiters each night. Both ships were full. They even had my bottle of wine on the table when I arrived.

 

We originally in 2007(?) started doing MTD because we wanted tables for 2. Times were good, but we wanted tables for two. Our son was rarely attending dinners and several times we had weird matches. We would go back to 6:30 Traditional if we had our table for 2. I am afraid many people now also want a table for two and this won't be possible. (Cultural changes... just like back then we all fought if jeans were not appropriate for Dining room and now it is shorts, not jeans)

[nferr]

1 minute ago, Tatka said:

 

We originally in 2007(?) started doing MTD because we wanted tables for 2. Times were good, but we wanted tables for two. Our son was rarely attending dinners and several times we had weird matches. We would go back to 6:30 Traditional if we had our table for 2. I am afraid many people now also want a table for two and this won't be possible. (Cultural changes... just like back then we all fought if jeans were not appropriate for Dining room and now it is shorts, not jeans)

 I had a table for just me on both cruises. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, nferr said:

 Exactly. 5:30 is ridiculously early for me and 8 is kinda late. On Anthem in December I chose MTD and made reservations on the app for 7:30, on Oasis last month I did the same and made the reservations for 7. Never waited a minute on either ship, and had the same table and waiters each night. Both ships were full. They even had my bottle of wine on the table when I arrived.

Like I said we booked 7:45pm since that was all that was left and that would have worked ok but when we got on the ship our dining times were all changed as well as others on our sailing.