I think I'm doing something wrong, here on RCCL website

[luckyprincess]

I booked Freedom of the Seasssssss (hehheh) for Jan 3rd and was online trying to play with the new (to me) features that lets me choose excursions and dining. It won't let me book excursions since its too far out, but it said that there is no specialty dining venues on my cruise when I clicked that button. Does that mean that there is no Chops or Portofino's? I thought I saw it on there? If I just can't book it YET, I would think they would tell me that like they did for the excursions.

Also, I can't find anywhere to book mytime dining - and does anyone who has used it know if it costs extra? I just want to plan stuff!!:D

[ricko1]

As you said , its to soon for excursions..

You will have Chops and Portofinos on your cruise.. If you can't book online, be the first person in line to reserve your seats right after boarding.

MTD pre-booking is still being worked on for some ships, It might be ready by your cruise , if not you can also reserve once you board.. Hope:)s this helps..

[luvscruising2007]

The specialty dining options is not available for my cruise in Sept either. At least not the last time I checked. Someone on these boards said that often it is not available until about 60 days out. Not sure that is always the case. Just keep checking. Eventually both excursions and specialty dining will be available. A sidenote on excursions, sometimes you can book one ports excursions but another won't be available. RCL is always negotiating with tour operators.

Enjoy your planning, it is one of the best parts of cruising.;)

[grand isle joe]

Be careful with that spelling of Seasssssss.....make sure there are enough "s"s. LOL. :DWish you a great trip.

[cb at sea]

You just have to have patience...it's too early to book all of those things! 3-4 months out seems to be when they start taking bookings for restaurants, excursions, etc... when you booked, you SHOULD be able to state your dining preference, at least as far as main or late (traditional) and table size preference.

[peteukmcr]

The reservations for Chops Grille and Portofinos on FOS for our Sept 20th 2009 sailing opened recently about 5 months out in April so I was able to book. Maybe worth checking back in August for your Jan 2010 sailing.

 

Shore excursions were available earlier than this, but I'm not sure when.

 

Hope this helps.

 

If you haven't been on FOS before, you'll love it! Enjoy your cruise.

[CruiseLover15]

MTD does not cost any extra, you would just have to pre-pay the tips.

[luckyprincess]

Thanks everyone! I'm so excited and want to plan stuff but I guess I'll just have to be patient! :D

Thanks for all the well wishes - I have only been on Soverign and Radiance before. I thought Radiance was HUGE so I guess we're in for a big surprise?:)

[Katie H]

We are just off Explorer of the Seas today and did My Time Dining. All the info we found pre-cruise said we had to book it ahead and pay the tips ahead. We did not want to do that since we had considerable on board credits and wanted to put tips on our sea pass. When we boarded, we found that we could sign up for MTD during the first two days of the cruise. We had to sign up for automatic tipping, but that was what we wanted - it just went on our sea pass account and the OBC covered it. We loved MTD. You can make a reservation or just show up - anytime between 6:00 and 9:30. On the nights we did not reserve, we never waited longer than 10 minutes for a table. We had the same waiter 11 of 13 nights. We will defininitely do it again.